Since Jiang Xiao wasn't coming, Cheng Yuan absolutely refused to have the surgery. Jiang Yu was hopping mad with anxiety. "President Cheng, please just get the surgery done first. I'll go find the missus afterward, alright?"
"No." Cheng Yuan looked at his bleeding right hand, his eyes void of any emotion, as if it weren't him who was injured but someone else.
His indifferent demeanor made one wonder: Did he really feel no pain at all?
There were still glass fragments deep in his palm. Anyone with feeling would be in pain, and Cheng Yuan was no exception, but at this moment he couldn't spare a thought for his physical suffering.
Thinking of Jiang Xiao on a date with another man, a fire raged inside him, erupting like a volcano and jolting every nerve.
He just wanted to snatch her back, hide her away, and never let anyone else see her again.
But he knew he couldn't. Jiang Xiao had said he couldn't meddle in her affairs.
Yet...
It hurt so much.
He pressed a hand to his chest and groaned.
"Is your heart bothering you too?" the doctor asked.
It wasn't an unreasonable question—Cheng Yuan's complexion was ghastly, as if he might collapse at any moment.
Cheng Yuan said, "It really hurts."
"Your heart hurts?" The doctor took out a stethoscope and listened carefully, but heard nothing abnormal for now. "Besides the pain, any other sensations?"
"Just pain." Cheng Yuan could only feel the pain.
"In that case, I recommend a full physical examination." The doctor looked down at the chart. "Heart attacks are becoming more common in younger people now. Don't think just because you're young you can ignore it. You need to do all the necessary checks." He handed the paperwork to Jiang Yu. "Go pay the fee."
This wasn't Jingbei, so things weren't as convenient; they had to go through all the procedures.
Jiang Yu took the paperwork and helped Cheng Yuan out of the consultation room.
Even after they had walked some distance, they could still hear the murmurs.
"That guy must have a screw loose. His hand looks like that and he won't get treated right away."
"If he keeps dawdling, his hand might be ruined."
"Look at his clothes—even if it's ruined, he'll be fine."
"..."
Jiang Yu was also worried about Cheng Yuan's hand. "President Cheng, we can't afford to delay any longer."
Cheng Yuan looked up. "Has the missus replied to you yet?"
Jiang Yu said, "Yes."
Cheng Yuan had been about to step into the elevator, but he stopped abruptly, his eyes lighting up as he grabbed Jiang Yu. "What did she say?"
"The missus said..." Jiang Yu coughed lightly. "She's busy and can't come. You can have the surgery or not, whichever you want."
The harsh words stabbed into Cheng Yuan's heart like knives, extinguishing any last glimmer of hope. He deflated completely, stepped into the elevator, and, abandoning his usual fastidiousness, leaned against the wall. "Forget it. Let's go back."
"What?" Jiang Yu pleaded. "But there's still glass in your hand! If you don't get it out, the consequences will be serious."
"How serious?" Cheng Yuan asked.
"It could affect your future dexterity," Jiang Yu said. "I can't say how much."
"So I might end up crippled." Cheng Yuan spoke with self-abandon. "She doesn't want me anyway. What does it matter if I'm crippled or not?"
"..." Jiang Yu had seen love-struck men before, but never one as hopelessly obsessed as his boss.
Still, doing his duty as an assistant, he kept persuading. "I found out that President Song has a fiancée in Nancheng. He won't have anything going on with the missus."
"But what if he's just interested in Xiao Xiao?" In Cheng Yuan's eyes, every man was interested in Jiang Xiao.
"That's just your assumption." Jiang Yu helped Cheng Yuan out of the elevator lobby. "The missus isn't so foolish as to get tangled up with a man who has a fiancée."
"Why not?" Cheng Yuan said. "She's soft-hearted. Isn't that how I coaxed and tricked her into being mine back then?"
In truth, Cheng Yuan hadn't been completely indifferent in that relationship. In the beginning, he had put in some effort when he was chasing her—buying flowers and gifts, deliberately engineering encounters to make her think they had a special connection.
He knew she liked guys who were good at basketball, so he practiced hard in private.
But he was the type to lose interest quickly. Once the relationship was established, he reverted to his carefree, devil-may-care ways, treating all the women who flocked to him the same.
Thinking back now, it was damnable.
A lover is a lover. How could other women compare?
"Where is she? Let's go find her now." Cheng Yuan abandoned the rest of his checkups and turned back to the elevator.
"No, wait!" Jiang Yu hurried after him. "You're not feeling well, remember? You need to get checked out."
"I won't die for now." Cheng Yuan glanced at his watch. "I won't let myself die until I win her back."
Jiang Yu touched the tip of his nose and thought to himself: But isn't everything you're doing just digging your own grave?
Oh well. The boss was the boss; he had to listen.
Jiang Yu drove to the restaurant himself.
On the way, Cheng Yuan took two more calls. The first was from Zhou Jin, asking him out for drinks.