Shi Wenli opened the class group and answered Wu Xiaofeng: "I wasn't planning to consider marriage at that time. Whether Dean Liu said who it was or not, the result would have been the same."
Xu Qinghe looked at him now.
Whether he was intentionally comforting her or not, it felt soothing.
Wu Xiaofeng: "You're making it sound like an official statement. There's no outsider here. You only think the result would be the same because you missed out. If you had known it was Yu Jianing at the time, the result might not have been the same."
Shi Wenli suddenly looked up at Wu Xiaofeng: "What could the result be? Are you a tapeworm in my stomach?"
Wu Xiaofeng: "... No, why are you getting worked up? Your partner isn't here."
Xu Qinghe: "..."
Wu Xiaofeng was annoyed: "I just said it offhand. Usually when I joke, you don't take it so seriously. There are only three of us in this room. Dr. Xu won't go around telling others. Are you afraid these words will reach a fourth person?"
Shi Wenli didn't care if it reached a fourth person, but he didn't want these words to make Xu Qinghe uncomfortable.
Wu Xiaofeng: "Don't worry. Once I step out this door, I won't mention a word in front of a third person."
He paused.
He wasn't making excuses for himself: "If it weren't Dr. Xu here today, even if it were Jiang Yang, I wouldn't talk recklessly."
Shi Wenli: "So I should thank you?"
Wu Xiaofeng: "... Why are you being so sarcastic?"
In over a decade of knowing each other, it was the first time he saw Shi Wenli being so serious.
It was really strange.
He hadn't said anything that bad.
Weren't those words just human nature?
Xu Qinghe interjected at the right moment: "What Chief Wu said isn't wrong. It's all hypothetical anyway."
On the surface, she was smoothing things over, but actually she was telling Shi Wenli that she hadn't taken it to heart.
Wu Xiaofeng glanced at Xu Qinghe.
At that moment, he found her much more agreeable than Shi Wenli.
He wouldn't argue with Shi Wenli. He reminded him again: "Don't forget to reply to your class group. Explain quickly so the misunderstanding doesn't grow."
Shi Wenli's tone returned to normal: "I already explained."
He picked a few bags of snacks from the snack tray and tossed them to Wu Xiaofeng, then asked: "Juice or water?"
Wu Xiaofeng begged for mercy: "Don't give me food or drink. I'll keep my mouth shut, okay?"
Just then, his phone buzzed with a message from Shi Wenli's college classmate: [Shi Wenli replied to us! Guess what?]
Wu Xiaofeng thought to himself: What else could it be? It's not Yu Jianing.
The other: [False alarm! It's not Yu Jianing! Shi Wenli said it himself—it's a doctor from your hospital.]
Wu Xiaofeng was nonchalantly chewing chocolate when he saw the words "your hospital." Caught off guard, he bit his tongue. The pain made him suck in a sharp breath, and he didn't dare move for a long moment.
Once the piercing pain subsided, he looked at Shi Wenli, who was coming out of the kitchen with two glasses of water: "Your partner is from our hospital?"
Shi Wenli admitted openly: "Mm."
Xu Qinghe took the water from Shi Wenli, truly afraid that in the next second he would say: "The one next to you."
Wu Xiaofeng didn't want to appear so nosy, but since he was already here and had been ridiculed twice, he felt he would be losing out if he didn't ask: "Is it convenient to say which department?"
Shi Wenli: "Dr. Xu knows. Ask her."
Wu Xiaofeng: "..."
This was intentionally making things difficult for him.
He knew Shi Wenli and Xu Qinghe weren't on good terms, yet he had to swallow his pride and talk to her.
Fine, he wouldn't ask.
He would find out sooner or later anyway.
"I'm not curious anymore. If I know, I'll be troubled. When others ask me, I'll have to lie. I'll wait until you make it public yourself."
He grabbed the bags of snacks and stood up: "I'm leaving. Won't disturb your rest."
Xu Qinghe also stood up. She planned to go home to see her parents first, then come back here.
Shi Wenli walked them both to the door. He wanted to call Xu Qinghe back for a few words alone, so that after Wu Xiaofeng went downstairs and left, she wouldn't have to make an extra trip up and down. But just as he was about to speak, he remembered she might be going back to see her parents, so he stopped.
Xu Qinghe waved: "Chief Shi, congratulations again."
Shi Wenli smiled: "Thanks."
He closed the door and turned to go back to the bedroom to continue laying out the quilt.
He wondered if Xu Qinghe had overthought Wu Xiaofeng's words.
She was usually involved in arguments with surgeons and got complaints, even with the ongoing conflict with Wu Xiaofeng—he had never worried. That was work; it wouldn't really hurt her.
But feelings were different.