Xu Qinghe: "..."
That post might have gotten to her father.
The driver's door opened from outside. She turned her head as Shi Wenli got in.
"That was fast?" Xu Qinghe put away her phone and reached for her seatbelt.
"Just saw a few elders to their cars."
Shi Wenli buckled up.
As the car drove out of the garage, Shi Wenli noticed at the hotel entrance that his aunt and uncle were deep in conversation with Dean Jiang and his wife.
Xu Qinghe also saw the four of them chatting and laughing.
She turned to Shi Wenli: "Don't you want to say goodbye?"
Shi Wenli: "No need. They're probably discussing what kind of match to set me up with."
Xu Qinghe took the opportunity to joke: "What are your standards for a partner, Dr. Shi? I'll keep an eye out for you."
Shi Wenli thought someone had asked her to sound him out.
Lately, many people had been trying to set him up on blind dates—not just Dean Jiang, but also a vice president who wanted to play matchmaker.
He asked her for a favor: "If anyone asks you about me again, just turn them down for me."
Xu Qinghe thought to herself, I'm the one asking about you.
Before meeting him, she had never imagined she would have a secret crush.
She was afraid he would find out.
But she was also afraid he would never know.
"Are you free tonight?" she asked instead.
"Yes. What's up?"
"I'm treating you to dinner."
She had mentioned it a few days ago—that she often rode with him over the years and wanted to treat him before he moved. Today was a rare day when both had time.
Shi Wenli said, "My treat. I'm thanking you for switching shifts today to come to Shi Miao's wedding."
All his friends knew that his sister was the most important person to him, which was why everyone who could made it to the wedding despite being busy.
That was also why she had arrived so early.
"What would you like to eat?" he asked.
Xu Qinghe didn't argue about who was paying first. "How about the hotpot place near the entrance of our complex?"
Shi Wenli: "You rarely get a day off—don't you want to pick a restaurant you really like?"
"It's fine. It's cold, so something warm sounds good."
It didn't matter what she ate.
As long as the person eating with her was him.
The entrance to their complex was a lively commercial street with everything you could want for food and entertainment.
She had eaten at this hotpot place once before with Shi Wenli, when he helped her translate references and she treated him in return. Back then, she had joked, "Not going to order an expensive meal? Such a penny-pincher for me?"
Shi Wenli had smiled and said he'd let her treat him to something pricey when she became a chief physician.
She had thought at the time: by the time she became a chief physician, it would be over a decade later, and they would probably both have their own families and children by then.
He wouldn't let her treat him.
And she wouldn't ask him out again.
Sometimes, when she thought about him falling in love with someone else and getting married, she felt the urge to confess, to tell him she liked him.
But she also understood deep down that the reason she kept her feelings a secret was precisely because the chances of success were slim. If she were rejected, they both worked in neurosurgery-related fields—she was an anesthesiologist for neurosurgery—they would be in the same operating room, seeing each other almost daily. How unbearable would that be?
Thinking about that, the impulse to confess gradually cooled down.
They chatted idly along the way, and before they knew it, the car had turned into the complex gate.
Neither of them had eaten much at the noon banquet, so they agreed to go to the hotpot place at five o'clock.
After arriving home, Xu Qinghe took a nap and set an alarm for 4:30 to wake herself.
Usually, when she was catching up on sleep, nothing but an emergency call could jolt her awake. The alarm was useless—she often needed three rounds before she reluctantly got up.
Today, for once, she woke up before the alarm went off.
So this was what it felt like to wake naturally.
In all her years since medical school, this was the first time she had experienced it.
Xu Qinghe got up, washed up, and by 4:50, she was downstairs at Shi Wenli's building. She sent him a message: [Dr. Shi, coming down?]
The advantage of living in the same complex—they could walk to the restaurant together.
Shi Wenli: [Coming right now.]