For the next two days, Zhong Ming still didn’t show up. His temperature would go down in the morning and spike again in the afternoon, and he walked around feeling light-headed. Unable to take care of himself, he could only call Cheng Lele daily to hear that she was safe. Later, he felt that the possibility of Cheng Lele being discharged to take care of him was greater, so he gave up the thought of forcing himself to visit.

Therefore, after running into Zhong Jin for several days in a row, Chen An’s mood was approaching volcanic eruption.

“Give me your brother’s phone number.”

Zhong Jin secretly enjoyed this. Can’t hold out anymore, can you? In the end, you’re still humbly asking me for his number, right?

While pulling out her phone, she said in a worldly-wise manner: “Brother Chen, I’ll give you the number. We’ve been sort of friends these past few days, right? Out of friendship, I still need to give you some advice. Don’t be unhappy when you hear it.”

Chen An glanced at her, remembering Zhong Ming’s “long time no see,” remembering Zhong Yueshan’s “if it were someone else, even if they wanted me to serve them food, I wouldn’t be willing to lift a finger,” and silently cursed that the Zhong family members were all so bad at speaking.

Zhong Jin, seeing he didn’t respond, continued on her own: “My brother’s looks really do attract both men and women. When I went to Beijing to visit him, I also ran into men hitting on him. Sigh, how should I put it? You’re the most handsome among them. What a pity, such a pity—my brother has always had someone in his heart. You know what a soulmate is?”

Chen An listened inexplicably and asked: “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying you don’t have a chance.”

Chen An hadn’t fallen so low as to be lectured by a teenager: “If your brother doesn’t come again, even if I don’t have a chance, I’ll create one.”

Zhong Jin rubbed her forehead in distress: “Brother Chen, there’s no need. My brother has liked her for many years. You really don’t have a chance.”

Chen An lost his patience: “If he likes her so much, why won’t he come over?”

Zhong Jin was stunned: “He likes someone else—why would he come see you?”

Chen An: “Why would he come see me?! The person he needs to see is lying in the hospital bed!”

The two were talking at cross purposes, frequencies crossed into a different dimension.

Zhong Jin pondered for two seconds: “You mean Sister Lele? But aren’t I here? There’s no need for my brother to come specifically, right?”

The Zhong family actually had such a casual attitude toward Cheng Lele. When Chen An heard this, he became anxious: “How can your brother be the same as you? Lele has been hospitalized for so long. As her boyfriend, your brother hasn’t even shown his face once. Does that make sense? Is this the extent of his affection?”

Zhong Jin blinked slowly and said: “I understand the logic, but—my brother, my brother isn’t Sister Lele’s boyfriend.”

Chen An stood rooted to the spot and also blinked slowly.

A tiny moment later, Chen An said: “You just came back to the country, so you might not know about the two of them yet.”

Zhong Jin rolled her eyes: “I go to Beijing every summer vacation to hang out with them. If they were boyfriend and girlfriend, how could I not know? Besides, my brother likes my sister—ah, not Sister Lele—anyway, my brother and Sister Lele are im-poss-ible.”

Chen An looked like he’d been struck by lightning. He licked his lips: “What did you say?”

“I said my brother and Sister Lele are not boyfriend and girlfriend. I swear on my idol’s career.”

As soon as the words fell, Chen An rushed into the building. When the security guard tried to stop him, he ran while pointing behind him: “The boss ordered you to switch shifts with me. This is none of your business anymore.”