Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“He’s not a rich man without a brain. He’s got keen eyes. The money earned by the women who have slept with him must have exceeded his expenses on them.”
These simple words told the utter truth.
Indeed, as Jiang Jiusheng said, Yuwen Chongfeng was not dumb but had superior talent in business and marketing, instead. Otherwise, Tianyu wouldn’t have become one of the three largest enterprises in the entertainment industry.
“No wonder he wouldn’t dare to touch you. You’re more cunning than him.”
Jiang Jiusheng was the smartest woman in this circle. Mo Bing had never doubted that.
Jiang Jiusheng didn’t know what to say. She added ice to the glass, mixed it with the drink, and handed it to Mo Bing. “A light drink for you. Try it.”
Mo Bing took a sip. Of all the bartenders in the world, only Jiang Jiusheng could use the lightest spirits to make a strong drink.
Mo Bing smiled. “You can be a bartender if you quit singing.”
She nodded. It was good advice.
Mo Bing sometimes wondered what Jiang Jiusheng couldn’t master. Smoking, drinking, fighting, guitar, bass, and drums—she mastered whatever she touched.
After one drink, they were both drunk and couldn’t drive. “I’ll have Qiao take you back.”
Mo Bing sent a text to Qiao.
Jiang Jiusheng got up and froze in mid-step, her eyebrows twisted.
Mo Bing moved to help her up. “Feel sick?”
“I got up too suddenly. Dysmenorrhea.” Her complexion went pale.
“I’ll take you to the hospital,” Mo Bing said immediately. “No more arguing.”
Jiang Jiusheng grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
The next morning, at eight o’clock, Mo Bing came to the apartment to pick up Jiang Jiusheng.
Outside Tianbei Hospital, maple trees lined the street, and the fallen leaves added to the colorful autumn of October. The VIP waiting room featured a french window facing the reddish maples. Jiang Jiusheng’s eyes were drawn in by the sight of it whenever she looked up through the window. If she’d had a guitar, playing a gentle and melodious folk song would have been the best for this moment.
The ringtone of Mo Bing’s cell phone brought her back to reality. Mo Bing took a look at it and picked it up. “Mo Bing speaking.”
A male’s voice answered. After a few words, Mo Bing stood up all of a sudden. “Did it hurt badly?”
There was only one person in this world who could make a person as calm as Mo Bing anxious. Her soulmate.
The man on the phone spoke for a minute before Mo Bing hung up. She was still in shock.
Jiang Jiusheng asked, “What is it?”
She took a seat at a corner, with a hat and a mask, only her bright eyes visible.
“Lin Anzhi fell off a horse while shooting. He’s in the Fifth Hospital.” Mo Bing wore an anxious look on her face. “His feet were injured but not too badly.”
Lin Anzhi was Mo Bing’s boyfriend of ten years. They had grown up together, and he was the one she cherished the most. Lin Anzhi had been rather popular before Jiang Jiusheng had stepped into entertainment circle. He’d been the first one from Tianyu to win three Best Actor awards before age 30. Jiang Jiusheng thought Mo Bing had taken the job of an agent for him, though Mo Bing had never said so. But for some reason, Lin Anzhi had gone Warner after leaving Tianyu, while Mo Bing remained where she was.
Their secret love had been going on for 10 years. One day, while drunk, Mo Bing had said through tears, “Lin Anzhi is my life.” It was the only time Jiang Jiusheng had ever seen her cry like a child. She had suspected that the bond between them was strong, but Mo Bing must have suffered a lot to drop her calmness and cry so hysterically.
Thinking of this, Jiang Jiusheng took the register paper from Mo Bing’s hand. “You can go. I’ll call Qiao to pick me up when I’m done.”
Mo Bing hesitated for a while but nodded in agreement at last. “I’ve registered for you. Gynecology, on the fourth floor, the fourth room on the left.” She repeated the location for Jiang Jiusheng, who was a bit incompetent when it came to finding her way. Jiang Jiusheng smiled and said she would find it.
After Mo Bing left, Jiang Jiusheng lowered her hat and turned her body aside to face the wall, covering her face a bit more. There were many people here on weekends, and the doctor Mo Bing had registered with was an authoritative one, meaning there was a long line ahead of her.
Jiang Jiusheng was bored, so she squinted, listening to the chitchat of the nurses at the consulting desk. The one with a round face, big eyes, and long hair appeared cute. Her canine teeth stuck out when she talked. She seemed upset, and she puffed out her cheeks as she said, “That woman came again.”
The other nurse, a woman with short hair, was busy fetching medicine. “Which one?”
“The one who wants to go out with Dr. Shi.”
The short-haired nurse was shocked and stopped in the middle of her work. “How many times has she come this month?”
“This is the sixth!” The long-haired nursed bit her lips and hummed with anger. “Dr. Shi is too kind to her. She badgers him once in a while, pretending to be ill. If I were him, I would have thrown her out.”
“She’s got money and power. What can you do about it?”
“Shameless. Dr. Shi only takes a few outpatients every month. And a lot of people with critical illnesses are waiting. But she has used up six spots on his quota.”
His surname is Shi, too.
Jiang Jiusheng squinted and thought of her new neighbor. After she’d met him, the surname had begun to sound gentler, as if it carried some of his tenderness.
At that moment, the screen on the wall of the VIP waiting room showed her registration number. Jiang Jiusheng got up, reorganized her scarf and hat, and then went in with half of her face exposed.
She took some turns, moving amid the crowd, finding it a bit difficult to locate the room she was going to. At the fourth room on the left, Jiang Jiusheng looked up and saw no nameplate on the wall. The acrylic panel was broken, probably from some sort of impact. The door was half-open, and the patient and the doctor inside were still talking.
“Miss Zhou.” The male voice was pleasant, and Jiang Jiusheng slowed down to listen to this familiar voice.
“Please, call me Minting.” The woman had a fine, gentle voice, and there was a touch of shyness in her tone.
“Miss Zhou,” the man said with tenderness—polite yet distant—repeating the same address.
It was such a pleasure just to listen to his voice. This must have been a decent man.
“You don’t have to come anymore,” he said with ease and elegance.
“Why not?” She sounded unwilling but maintained her composure in a slightly rushed tone.
“Maybe you’ve got plenty of time. But I don’t.”
“Then, after work? Can I have dinner with you?” Aware of her abruptness, she explained, “To thank you for doing the surgery for my father so that he could recover so fast.”
So, this was that Dr. Shi.
Jiang Jiusheng couldn’t help but smile. This must have been the doctor whom the nurses in the waiting room had been talking about.
“Sorry. I don’t think it is necessary.”
The refusal was straightforward but polite. This man was truly decent and noble. Jiang Jiusheng knew for sure that her neighbor was a doctor, and in an age as fickle as the 21st century, men as noble as Shijin were rare.
The woman lost her composure, perhaps because she longed too much for him and couldn’t stand being rejected. “Is it inconvenient for you?” she asked. “If you are busy during weekdays, you can pick a time.”
“I don’t dine with people I don’t know,” he answered plainly.
She wouldn’t give up. “Can I take your number, please?” Then she made up an excuse for fear of being refused again. “My father has something else with his condition to consult you about.”
Shi Jin kept his calm. “Then let him come here to me.”
“I—” She clearly wanted to say something else, but he cut her off.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got other patients.”
Then there was nothing but silence.
He was no fun, but he was infallibly polite and elegant. He had turned the woman down while avoiding offending her. Jiang Jiusheng found her neighbor so charming; he could steal the heart of a woman.
Suddenly, the pleasant male voice said, “Next.”
Jiang Jiusheng was startled for a moment, then went in. She looked up and saw the woman, whose eyes were fixed on Shi Jin. The woman hesitated for a while, then left, filled with regret.
Shi Jin looked up and smiled. “Hello, Miss Jiang.”