Xu Sui thought last night’s encounter was just a fleeting brush-by, never expecting to see Zhou Jingze at the hospital again the next day. Xu Sui had just come out of the operating room, transparent hand sanitizer squeezed in her palm but not yet rubbed in, when the head nurse hurriedly ran over, her tone urgent: “There’s a patient in the outpatient department who stuck a light bulb in her mouth, she’s extremely anxious, Dr. Song can’t get it out and is calling for you.”

“Alright, I’ll go right away.” Xu Sui put her hands under the faucet for a quick wash and headed directly toward the outpatient department.

The office door was pushed open. Xu Sui walked in with her hands in her pockets and immediately saw Zhou Jingze, along with several nurses and doctors all crowded around the patient looking completely helpless. The patient was a young girl, currently so anxious that tears were rolling around her eyes as she made intermittent, unclear sounds.

Meanwhile, the accompanying man was even mocking the young girl, his cold familiar voice resonating in her ears: “The three-and-a-half-year-old Xiao Ming downstairs also plays this game, you two might as well team up and debut together.”

The young girl couldn’t make a sound and glared at him reproachfully.

Their back-and-forth implicit intimacy fell into Xu Sui’s eyes. She lowered her gaze, hiding the emotions in her eyes.

Xu Sui walked over, took the protective gloves the nurse handed her, walked to the patient, pinched her chin and examined it carefully. She discovered the light bulb was stuck perfectly in her mouth, the size just right.

Zhou Jingze also noticed her at this time. Xu Sui deliberately ignored the gaze on her and turned to ask an intern behind her: “Did you use paraffin oil?”

“Yes, it didn’t work,” the doctor answered.

Xu Sui lowered her head. It seemed the hair tie behind her head had loosened a bit, and a strand of hair fell down and stuck to her cheek. She observed the light bulb in the patient’s mouth again and said: “Go get a surgical bag.”

Five minutes later, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Xu Sui softly told the patient to relax while slowly inserting the surgical bag with a root canal. When the surgical bag completely wrapped around the light bulb, Xu Sui said:

“Bite down hard.”

The girl kept shaking her head, her eyes terrified – what if it exploded when she bit down? Xu Sui comforted her: “Nothing will happen.”

After Xu Sui tried to reassure her for a while to no avail, the girl made “wu wu wu” sounds unable to speak, tears still in her eyes, her nerves extremely tense.

Xu Sui looked at the earrings she was wearing – silver leaf-shaped earrings – and said seemingly casually: “Your earrings are quite pretty.”

The girl’s mouth was stretched open, but her attention was immediately diverted. She took out her phone and opened an app, making “wu wu wu” sounds in her mouth, intermittent but able to piece together what she was saying – I’ll find you the link.

Just when the girl was focused on finding the link for Xu Sui, Xu Sui took advantage of her relaxation, placed her hand on her jaw, and mercilessly pressed down hard with a “crack” – the sound of glass shattering.

The girl was stunned for two seconds, then reacted with “ahhhhhhh” screaming. Zhou Jingze patted her head and let out a slight mocking laugh: “Alright, I’ll take you for ice cream later.”

The girl immediately quieted down and stopped making a fuss.

He rarely coaxed people. As long as he said a few nice words, women would voluntarily surrender.

The rest was left to the outpatient doctor. Xu Sui took off the protective gloves and threw them in the garbage bin, put her hands in her white coat pockets, and left the outpatient department.

The girl looked at Dr. Xu’s cold retreating figure, still shaken: “Soft girls can’t be trusted. I seriously looked for links for her, but she gave me a gentle knife instead.”

Xu Sui returned to the office and was busy for about half an hour. When she went out and passed by the nurse station front desk, a young nurse called out to her: “Hey, Dr. Xu, someone was looking for you just now! It was the family member of the patient who had the light bulb in her mouth. Look, he left these things for you, said it was a thank-you gift.”

Xu Sui looked over – it was a row of lychee white peach flavored milk and a blue hair tie. Her gaze froze and didn’t move away for a moment. Several young nurses huddled together teasingly: “Dr. Xu, that guy is really handsome. He just smiled at Xiao Zhang with the corner of his mouth raised, and Xiao Zhang nearly lost her soul.”

Zhou Jingze indeed had this ability. A playboy who basically didn’t need to do anything – just crook a finger, sometimes even just a look, and countless women would flock to him.

Xu Sui nodded and was about to leave. The nurse called out to her: “Dr. Xu, you haven’t taken your things yet.”

“You all can divide them up,” Xu Sui said calmly.

Xu Sui turned and walked forward, but at a corner not far away, she saw Zhou Jingze and the girl beside him.

The girl was fashionably dressed with bright features, red lips, and an alluring figure. When they were in the hospital room earlier, Xu Sui had already experienced this girl’s coquettish skills.

She looked up to see the girl shaking Zhou Jingze’s arm, obviously acting coquettish about something. Zhou Jingze’s face showed no expression, but his eyes and brows were relaxed – clearly he was very receptive to this approach.

Xu Sui’s hands in her coat pockets unconsciously clenched tight, her fingertips turning white. When the pain came, she snapped back to reality. Hadn’t he always been like this? Liking the seductive and bold type, while she was too well-behaved and proper, too plain.

Good students were never within his range of choices.

Running into them face-to-face like this, Xu Sui could only walk over. They obviously saw Xu Sui too. The girl called out to her with a bright smile: “Dr. Xu, thank you so much just now.”

Xu Sui shook her head: “You’re being polite, this is what we should do.”

The girl stood next to Zhou Jingze. She glanced at the man and clearly felt that after seeing this Dr. Xu, her brother’s mood became strange.

There must be something fishy between these two.

The girl’s eyes rolled and she said: “Dr. Xu, do you and my cousin know each other? I feel like your relationship isn’t ordinary.”

So it was his cousin. But the girl’s question was too bold and direct. Xu Sui couldn’t handle it. She looked up at Zhou Jingze, hoping he would do something.

Zhou Jingze had one hand in his pocket. Seeing Xu Sui’s helpless state with reddening cheeks, he felt playful. His gaze looked straight at Xu Sui, his tongue pressed against his lower jaw as he chuckled, his tone meaningful: “You tell me, what’s our relationship, hmm?”

As if any ambiguity or romantic involvement was for her to decide.

Xu Sui understood from his lazy teasing manner that someone like him, a favored son of heaven, probably never understood what it felt like to truly like someone.

Perhaps he had never put her in his heart at all.

Zhou Jingze originally just wanted to make a joke, but he regretted it as soon as he said those words. Because he saw Xu Sui’s clear bright eyes slowly become moist.

A kind of emotion similar to panic spread in his heart, expanding infinitely. Zhou Jingze cleared his throat, and when he wanted to say something, he saw Xu Sui blink, the previous emotion fading completely clean. Her eyes were calm, her tone frank:

“We don’t know each other, and there’s no relationship.”

Zhou Jingze saw the resolve and decisiveness in her eyes. His heart was wrapped by a thin thread – an indescribable emotion. He finally realized.

The person in front of him truly no longer liked him.