Yu Tian followed Yan Ming into the elevator.

There was no one else in the elevator, just the two of them.

Yu Tian thought for a moment and felt this was the perfect opportunity to clarify things. She cleared her throat: “Brother Yan Ming, I’m sorry, I mistook you for someone else at first. I thought you were the person I was supposed to have a blind date with, so I acted that way to make him back down. I’m not…”

Unfortunately, Yan Ming didn’t give her a chance to explain the whole story. He didn’t seem to care either, just looked at Yu Tian coldly, correcting her ambiguous word choice like correcting a wrong answer in an arithmetic problem.

“I’m not your brother. Don’t call me that.”

He glanced at Yu Tian: “I said we might not necessarily become family.”

Yu Tian was still immersed in the excitement of being in close contact with her idol and almost instinctively nodded obediently: “Okay, Brother Yan Ming.”

“…”

Yan Ming looked like he didn’t want to deal with Yu Tian anymore.

But Yu Tian didn’t care at all.

Yan Ming had too many fans, and Yu Tian was just one tiny, ordinary one among them.

It was the fans’ choice to like their idol—the idol had no obligation to respond to fans.

Yu Tian positioned her mindset correctly. After the initial embarrassment and awkwardness, she quickly became aware of her good fortune.

She could spend an entire afternoon alone with Yan Ming. She was full of interested in his resume and past, very much wanting to understand his journey and thought process. She had watched recordings of Yan Ming’s surgeries and had many questions about the procedures she wanted to ask. Although she could no longer be a doctor, her social media startup could still collaborate with Yan Ming.

No one knows a daughter better than her mother—from Song Chunxiang’s reaction today, she was quite satisfied with Yan Wenhua.

Sure enough, before Yu Tian even left the elevator, Song Chunxiang’s WeChat message arrived:

“Xiao Yu, remember to find out what Yan Ming likes. His father said next month is his birthday and wants to invite us to dinner together, so we should bring a birthday gift.”

It seemed her mother and Uncle Yan were getting along very well.

This might be heading toward remarriage.

So whether out of personal interest or for her mother’s sake, Yu Tian had to unite well with Yan Ming and find out his preferences.

But their first meeting earlier…

While Yan Ming wasn’t paying attention, Yu Tian secretly checked her phone again.

Qi Sihao’s reply had indeed come.

“If you want him to change his opinion of you, you should understand his interests and cater to them. For example, like me, I like collecting shoes. As my good friend, to express gratitude for my advice, you could spend money buying me some limited edition shoes, which would naturally strengthen our friendship… You understand what I mean?”

Yu Tian understood the first half of what Qi Sihao said and automatically didn’t understand the second half.

But it did give her some inspiration.

The cinema Yan Wenhua had booked wasn’t far from the restaurant. After going downstairs and walking through a pedestrian street, they could reach it directly.

Leaving the elevator and losing the indoor air conditioning, the hot weather revealed its true, unmasked, ferocious nature.

Hot, but also stuffy, with a bit of accumulated humidity in the air.

But walking step by step beside Yan Ming, Yu Tian felt this was the best day of her life.

As an action-oriented person, Yu Tian decided to seize every opportunity.

She acted like an eager student: “Senior Yan Ming, what are your hobbies and interests?”

“What do you usually do in your spare time?”

“Do you have any particular favorite foods?”

Unfortunately, such a straightforward approach didn’t seem to appeal to Yan Ming.

He didn’t even spare Yu Tian a glance, just gave a cold and tactful hint: “I don’t like answering such direct questions from people I’m not familiar with.”

Yu Tian paused.

Yan Ming glanced at her but said nothing.

Then she’d change her approach.

“What is Charcot’s triad?”

Yan Ming still seemed reluctant to speak. Yu Tian’s first impression of him was truly terrible.

Yu Tian looked enlightened: “Senior Yan Ming, you work in ophthalmology, right? I wonder if you can still remember Charcot’s triad—you’ve probably forgotten…”

Sure enough, Yan Ming turned to look at Yu Tian and frowned slightly: “In acute cholangitis, when patients present with abdominal pain, chills with high fever, and jaundice, that’s Charcot’s triad.”

He glanced at Yu Tian: “This is the most basic knowledge in clinical medicine overview. Any normal medical student shouldn’t forget it.”

“What type of necrosis occurs in tuberculosis?”

“Caseous.”

“So what are your hobbies?”

“Playing piano and sleeping.”

Yan Ming instinctively stopped talking, but unfortunately, it was too late.

He pressed his lips together, his expression guarded, clearly not wanting to fall for Yu Tian’s tricks again.

Yu Tian smiled cheerfully: “When people are asked professional questions seriously, they mostly answer instinctively. If you follow up with other questions at that moment, due to inertia, they’ll continue answering.”

Yan Ming’s tone was somewhat disapproving: “I just wasn’t paying attention, so you tricked me.”

“How about we make a bet? You’re aware now, but you’ll still be tricked by me, won’t you?”

Yan Ming said coldly: “Impossible.”

“What’s impossible about it? It’s perfectly normal for you to lose to me, because I think I might be smarter than you.”

Although Yan Ming didn’t respond to this, he didn’t refuse either, obviously having his competitive spirit somewhat aroused.

“Let’s warm up with a brain teaser!” Yu Tian said naturally. “The rules are simple—I say an action, and you have to say something of the same type but with a different specific action. For example, if I say ‘I eat rice,’ you should say ‘I eat vegetables.’ The action type is the same—eating—but the specific things eaten are different. Understand?”

Yan Ming’s face indeed showed a “this is too childish” expression. He wanted to back out and refuse this seemingly quite idiotic brain teaser.

However, Yu Tian announced the start first: “I drink water!”

Yan Ming obviously planned to politely decline this activity with silence, but Yu Tian stared at him and even pushed his arm: “Your turn!”

Yan Ming finally said helplessly, “I drink alcohol.”

Yu Tian’s round eyes looked at Yan Ming, as if she was very seriously playing this game: “I buy apples.”

Yan Ming had to respond: “I buy bananas.”

After several rounds, Yan Ming was even less clear about why he couldn’t go home to sleep after working a night shift and instead had to play elementary school games here.

He wanted to suggest that this kind of “brain teaser” should end in a draw.

At that moment, Yu Tian said excitedly: “I sell gold!”

Almost instinctively, Yan Ming responded: “I sell silver.”

“…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yan Ming knew he’d been tricked.

He tightly shut his mouth, glaring at Yu Tian, who was laughing hysterically.

The latter was almost in tears from laughing, looking at him teasingly while seriously advising: “In a society ruled by law, you really can’t do that.”

“…”

During his time at medical school, Yan Ming had known quite a few junior female students, but he’d never discovered that their school could have a junior like Yu Tian.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with junior students asking about his hobbies, but he could usually politely decline by saying it was inconvenient to answer. Even if there were follow-up questions, given Yan Ming’s personality, he’d never been pressed into revealing anything.

He’d never met someone as boring as Yu Tian…

Yu Tian didn’t mind. She shrugged and smiled: “See, under habitual question-and-answer patterns, people are easily tricked.”

Talking about brain teasers and comparing intelligence was a smoke screen released in advance to lower Yan Ming’s guard.

Indeed, Yu Tian cleared her throat like making a closing statement, hinting frantically: “I don’t want to use tricks either.”

She stared at Yan Ming: “So when I ask questions, can there be fewer tricks, and when you answer, can there be more sincerity?”

“…” As if she were the victim.

Yan Ming felt it would be better to walk faster and get away from this junior student.

Faced with Yan Ming’s suddenly quickened pace, Yu Tian wasn’t embarrassed. She smiled and jogged to catch up with Yan Ming: “Could you walk a bit slower? My legs are short, I can’t keep up with you.”

Yan Ming ignored her, but soon Yu Tian found she didn’t need to jog anymore.

He had unconsciously slowed his pace.

Yu Tian began to strike while the iron was hot: “Brother Yan Ming, since I already know your hobbies, that means we’re familiar now, so what’s your favorite food?”

Yan Ming didn’t speak.

Yu Tian showed a helpless expression: “Chronic glomerulonephritis…”

“Cheesecake.”

Yan Ming’s voice was still cold, as if annoyed by the pestering. He glanced at Yu Tian: “Stop asking such superficial clinical medicine concept questions—it makes me feel like I’m back in freshman year. And stop using such boring tricks.”

It seemed he was planning to be more sincere.

But historically, people’s sincerity indeed had to go through society’s trials.

The ten-plus minute walk wasn’t long or short, but it was enough for Yu Tian to ask a series of questions.

When they were almost at the cinema entrance, Yu Tian finally asked her last question.

“So what are your height, weight, and blood type? Do you have any drug allergies? Are there any hereditary diseases in your family?”

“…”

Yan Ming rubbed his temples, as if trying to stay calm: “If asking about my hobbies and leisure activities could be explained as wanting to make friends, then why are you asking for this personal information?”

“Well… since my mother and your father are on a blind date, and I studied medicine myself…”

Yan Ming was almost amused by his anger: “So you’re also doing due diligence for eugenics? Thinking your mother and my father will succeed and might have another child in the future? So you want to see how our family genes are?”

Yan Ming tried to stay calm: “Yu Tian, both our parents are already fifty.”

“No, that’s not it.” Yu Tian thought for a moment and explained sincerely: “I’m not thinking that far ahead. I just thought that if we become family in the future, in case there’s a sudden illness, when I, as a family member, take you to the hospital, I can quickly tell the treating doctors about your physical condition to facilitate medication…”

“…”

Yan Ming’s usually calm voice also rose slightly: “Why would I suddenly fall ill?”

“Of course I don’t want anything to happen to you—I hope you live to a hundred. But from a probability standpoint, in the medical profession, there are indeed many cases of death from overwork every year, and many accidents…”

“…”

“And do you have insurance?”

Yu Tian really wanted to suggest Yan Ming buy customized accident insurance for his hands, because as a surgeon, especially an ophthalmologist, his hands were the most important thing for his career.

Sudden accidents and not having insurance—this was Yu Tian’s biggest regret and source of remorse.

After her right hand accident, she almost neurotically forced all her close medical school classmates to buy insurance whenever she saw them.

Yu Tian knew this wasn’t good and wanted to control it, but often couldn’t help herself.

The aftermath of her accident brought not only physical pain but also certain psychological shadows.

“Insurance is very important. I have such an example around me…”

Unfortunately, just as Yu Tian was about to use her personal experience as an example to explain the importance of buying insurance, Yan Ming interrupted her: “So you gave up medicine to switch to selling insurance? Hoping I’ll buy insurance from you?”

She hadn’t. However, not long after Yu Tian’s accident, she quickly bought personal accident insurance. She remembered the insurance broker who handled her case had given her a QR code—scanning from her would give a discount.

Yan Ming was not only her idol but might also be her family member in the future.

Yu Tian decided to keep the benefits within the family.

She said honestly, “If you scan my code and give my name, you can save five hundred yuan.”

“…”

Yan Ming looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t get the chance, because just then his phone rang. Yu Tian glanced and saw the caller ID was his father.

Yan Ming quickly answered, and the other party seemed to be giving instructions, making Yan Ming’s expression somewhat helpless.

Yu Tian only heard his brief responses.

“I know, I didn’t leave, she’s beside me.”

Without thinking, it was clear this call was mostly Yan Wenhua checking whether Yan Ming was accompanying Yu Tian to the movies.

Yan Ming didn’t have good credit with his father.

But although she could guess Yan Ming was only accompanying her to the cinema due to Yan Wenhua’s pressure, Yu Tian was still very happy.

After Yan Ming hung up, Yu Tian asked enthusiastically: “Do you want popcorn?”

Yan Ming frowned: “Popcorn has high lead content, plus excessive sugar, cream, and artificial colors. Since you studied medicine…”

“I know! Too much lead can harm the human hematopoietic and digestive systems, and popcorn can also cause obesity. As someone who studied medicine, I know all this. But!”

Yu Tian continued seriously: “Precisely because I studied medicine, I know that at the frequency I occasionally eat popcorn, to eat enough to cause health problems would probably take decades.”

Yan Ming glanced at Yu Tian.

“But how many patients come and go from hospitals daily due to sudden accidents that take their lives? To eat popcorn for decades until death—that’s called dying of natural causes!” Yu Tian blinked. “Simply put, being able to eat popcorn to death would also be a kind of luck!”

Speaking of this, she couldn’t help wanting to explain the necessity of insurance to Yan Ming again, but was blocked by his next words.

“Insurance and popcorn—you can only buy one.”

Yan Ming’s expression was as cold as his voice: “You choose.”

Yu Tian looked at Yan Ming’s handsome face, struggled internally for a few seconds, and still decided to settle for immediate gratification: “Buy popcorn!”

Yan Ming said nothing, as if he’d expected this result, and walked toward the popcorn counter to queue with a knowing expression.

Among the crowd of men queuing for popcorn, Yan Ming was undoubtedly the most outstanding.

Yu Tian was admiringly staring at Yan Ming, trying to find another opportunity to convey the concept that “tomorrow and accidents—you never know which comes first,” when her accident arrived sooner than Yan Ming’s.

“Yu Tian.”

From behind her came a female voice full of resentment and slightly tearful.

Yu Tian turned around and saw Ren Yali by the glass railing in the mall’s central atrium outside the cinema.

At this moment, she was looking at Yu Tian with malice and unwillingness, her eyes red, obviously having cried, and her emotions looked very unstable.

Yu Tian suddenly had a bad premonition.

She didn’t know if it was a feng shui problem, but this mall’s central atrium had someone jumping to their death here every year.

Because it made the news every time, over time, this place had become a “suicide hotspot” that suicidal people paid special attention to.

Ren Yali’s emotions looked terrible, and her body was trying to lean over the glass railing.

Yu Tian almost immediately called Qi Sihao.

“Did Ren Yali contact you later? Did she say anything to you?”

Qi Sihao was confused: “She gave me her usual routine, saying if I don’t break up and give her a chance, she won’t live anymore, and something about going to jump off a building near the cinema…”

Yu Tian had no time to say more to Qi Sihao.

She pressed her lips together and ran toward Ren Yali, pulling her away from the glass railing to a safer place.

“What are you doing?” Yu Tian couldn’t care about anything else. She glared at Ren Yali. “Is it worth it? Dying for a man?”

Yu Tian was doing a good deed, but unexpectedly, Ren Yali’s eyes turned, as if she’d caught Yu Tian’s weakness.

“I just saw you come with a man, and you have an unusual relationship. The way you looked at him was glowing! So are you cheating?!” Ren Yali widened her eyes, as if having an epiphany. “I’m going to tell Qi Sihao! You’re cheating on him! You don’t deserve to date him!”

The situation was sudden. Yu Tian was too lazy to explain and felt it would be difficult to explain clearly, so she simply said concisely: “That’s my brother!” Future brother!

Ren Yali had originally been impulsive and agitated, but being pulled by Yu Tian, she had calmed down somewhat. However, facing Yu Tian, she still couldn’t control her emotions.

“Are you here to mock me?” Ren Yali cried resentfully. “You’re beautiful and have Qi Sihao as your boyfriend. You’re the winner—of course you don’t understand my feelings!”

Ren Yali’s eyes showed pain and a flash of hope: “But did Qi Sihao send you here?”

Yu Tian didn’t give Ren Yali unrealistic hope: “No. Even if you threaten to die, Qi Sihao wouldn’t take it seriously. A man who doesn’t like you simply won’t care about what you say.”

“Then why did you pull me back? In this situation, shouldn’t you stay out of it? Aren’t you afraid that if I get involved and something happens to me, it’ll be blamed on you?”

Yu Tian shrugged: “I didn’t want to pull you either. But my conscience won’t allow it.”

Ren Yali was still unwilling: “Don’t give me that fake sympathy. I’ll ask you one thing—since you have such a conscience, can you give Qi Sihao to me?”

“That won’t work.” Yu Tian said seriously. “Precisely because I have a conscience, I can’t give Qi Sihao to you.”

Ren Yali stared at Yu Tian.

“Rather than let that bad guy Qi Sihao out to harm society, it’s better that I nobly recycle that trash.”

This was Yu Tian’s honest opinion. She wondered: “Besides, what’s so good about Qi Sihao?”

“What exactly do you like about him?”

Ren Yali bit her lip: “I like his graceful bearing! I like his gentle elegance! I like his clean, refreshing temperament…”

“Where is he graceful? Is it because he only wears one body-hugging cashmere coat in the dead of winter? Do you know that every time he forces himself to go home like that, he’ll have a fever for five days? His constitution is very poor—what future can you expect from a man with such a poor constitution? If you have such a caring heart and want to take care of weak men, you might as well become a caregiver!”

“As for his gentle elegance, that’s all an act! If you don’t believe me, next time I’ll invite you when he and I team up to play games! His vocabulary of profanity is richer than you think!”

“The clean, refreshing temperament is even more ridiculous—he accumulates dirty clothes and socks for a week before washing them!”

Yu Tian had said all this, but unexpectedly, Ren Yali remained stubborn.

“You’re just trying to comfort me. He’s the best man I’ve ever seen…”

Yu Tian was dizzy: “Have you ever seen the world?”

“That man just now, my brother—you saw him, right? Honestly, isn’t he handsome?”

Ren Yali pressed her lips and said nothing.

“Isn’t he a hundred times more handsome than Qi Sihao?”

Yan Ming’s face was flawless. Even Ren Yali couldn’t refute this, but she still didn’t give up: “Even if he’s handsome, how can he compare to Qi Sihao? He has a benevolent doctor’s heart—not only good looks but also intelligence! And he has the sentiment of saving lives!”

“My brother also studied medicine! He’s Qi Sihao’s proper senior, and he’s a genius who got into medical university at sixteen!”

Once she started praising Yan Ming, Yu Tian became more fluent: “Qi Sihao’s little bit of intelligence is nothing compared to my brother! Qi Sihao is twenty-three and just graduated from undergraduate studies, about to start rotations at the First Affiliated Hospital, while my brother is twenty-eight and already an attending physician at the First Affiliated Hospital! Although he’s so young, he can perform many precise and complex major eye surgeries at a very high level with unlimited prospects!”

Yu Tian was proud, calling “my brother” very naturally, because having Yan Ming as her brother was exactly what she hoped for.

She looked at Ren Yali and continued: “I’ll ask you one question—if you needed medical treatment, would you dare let Qi Sihao prescribe medicine for you?”

“…”

“And even if Qi Sihao got together with you, if a man like my brother appeared to pursue you, could you resist cheating?”

“…”

Yu Tian made her closing statement: “Once you’ve seen the vast ocean, other waters pale in comparison. If I had seen a man like my brother, I would never look at mediocre people like Qi Sihao again!”

Her speech left Ren Yali speechless, but Ren Yali was still frustrated and in pain, crying continuously.

“Stop crying.” Yu Tian felt her head swelling. She patted Ren Yali. “If not, you could find my brother as a boyfriend—that would be better than finding Qi Sihao!”

Ren Yali sobbed: “Really?”

To calm Ren Yali down and prevent her from doing something foolish in her impulsiveness, Yu Tian couldn’t care about anything else.

She blinked: “Of course. If I could decide, I’d be willing to arrange my brother’s marriage to you on the spot! After all, my brother is a truly high-quality man! You’re still too young, too naive! Listen to my advice—good men outside are like leeks, growing in bunches. Go out and see more of the world…”

Yu Tian was originally just reluctantly comforting her casually, since Ren Yali claimed she would only marry Qi Sihao in this life.

But unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Ren Yali stopped crying and stared at Yu Tian: “Really? Then immediately send me your brother’s WeChat!”

“…”

Ren Yali said hypocritically, “Your brother is an attending physician, right? Add WeChat first, mainly so I can find him for medical treatment in the future!”

“…”

After much persuasion, Ren Yali finally temporarily gave up the dangerous idea of wanting Yan Ming’s WeChat.

Just as Yu Tian had calmed Ren Yali down, forced her to call her friends, and watched her be picked up and leave, Yan Ming returned with the popcorn.

This perfect timing made Yu Tian breathe a sigh of relief.

She contentedly took the popcorn and said politely: “Thank you, Senior Yan Ming.”

Yu Tian then checked her phone: “There’s still some time before the movie starts. Should we go sit on the sofa over there and eat popcorn?”

Yan Ming glanced at Yu Tian, pursed his lips, and declined her suggestion: “No, I still have an important matter to handle.”

Yu Tian looked up curiously: “What important matter?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Yan Ming say in a flat tone: “Perhaps getting married.”

???

!!!

Wasn’t Yan Ming single?! He was getting married already?!

Yu Tian’s eyes sparkled with gossip: “Do you secretly have someone you’re dating behind Uncle Yan’s back? Does he disapprove of you two being together?”

In an instant, Yu Tian’s mind had already constructed a tragic story of star-crossed lovers being separated but still insisting on cooking raw rice into cooked rice and persisting in passionate love.

But before she could fully arrange the subsequent development of this drama, she heard Yan Ming speak again expressionlessly:

“Weren’t you the one who just decided to arrange my marriage to someone else?”

“…”

Yu Tian’s smile gradually froze, her expression gradually cracking.