***
Mai Xiaomai thanked him, bid goodbye, and was just about to leave when Qiao Feng asked, "Miss Mai, do you have a lover?"
Upon hearing this, Mai Xiaomai turned back and smiled, saying, "No, I just had a blind date fail tonight."
"Why? You didn't like the other person?"
"No, it's the other person who didn't like me."
"How is that possible? A girl as beautiful, gracious, and kind-hearted as you should be liked by many. Are they all blind?"
"It's not that they are blind; it's that my profession is too frightening—I'm a forensic doctor, I deal with the deceased all the time, and most people can't accept that."
"A forensic doctor?"
Qiao Feng looked mildly surprised.
The attending doctor next to him overheard and sized up Mai Xiaomai, then said with a face full of surprise, "Sister Mai! It's you! You're a legend at South University Medical School, graduating with full marks. I even attended your lecture on human anatomy recently, but I was sitting too far back to see you clearly. I had no idea it was you, Sister Mai!"
Mai Xiaomai saw the admiration in his eyes and felt somewhat surprised herself.
She had always thought that people looked at her oddly, never expecting to have fans, so she simply smiled lightly and said, "Legends are generally not trustworthy, I'm just doing my duty."
"Mr. Qiao, you're lucky that our Sister Mai was here today; if it were someone else, they definitely couldn't have given you emergency treatment quite like this," the doctor said to Qiao Feng.
Qiao Feng nodded, examining Mai Xiaomai carefully.
Mai Xiaomai saw it was nearly midnight, her phone was out of battery, and if she didn't head home soon, her mother would probably be worried. So she decided not to stay for small talk and went straight home.
Arriving at the door, she didn't want to disturb her parents' sleep, so she quietly unlocked the door.
Who would have known, just before she entered, her mother burst forth, looking behind her repeatedly, "Where's our Qinglang? Didn't he escort you home?"
"Mom, what 'our Qinglang'? He's someone else's Qinglang!" Mai Xiaomai said with annoyance, "I told him to go back!"
"Really, how could you let him go? He escorted you home, and you didn't even invite him in to sit for a while. How could you be so impolite? Are you even the daughter of the Mai Family?" her mother scolded.
"Mom, it's already midnight; inviting someone in at this hour would be the impolite thing to do, are you trying to have him stay the night or something?"
"I wish he would! It's not like we're in feudal times. What's the big deal about a future son-in-law spending the night at my house? Do you want to put him in a pig cage or what?"
"Future son-in-law? Mom, you're being too anxious, not even a hint of marriage has been mentioned, and you're already calling him 'son-in-law.' Do you really see your daughter as an unwanted good with a discount?"
"I've set my sights on Qinglang. No stroke has been drawn, and you'd better start drawing one. You're not getting any younger; a woman of substantial age, 28 years old. If you don't marry soon, truly nobody will want you!"
"You old woman, who talks about their daughter like that? Xiaomai, don't listen to your mom. You look so tired. Go take a shower and sleep. You have to work tomorrow. Being unrested affects your work; you might make a judgment error," her father interjected
"What work? Tomorrow is Saturday. I hope her tiredness affects her work so then she'll quit that damn job as a forensic doctor. I regret it so much my intestines are turning green—I should've forced you to choose another major by threatening my own life. Then today, I wouldn't have to be more miserable than death itself."
Seeing her mother start to complain again, Mai Xiaomai hurriedly escaped back to her room.
****