Cheng Xi didn’t expect that Ceng Xing would say this, and she choked on the words stuck in her mouth.
Ceng Xing continued rebuking her. “If people heard about a doctor from the psychiatry department being in a relationship with her patient, do you know what they would think? This is made even worse by the fact that the Lu family has both prestige and power…… He’s ill, and as a doctor, instead of treating him properly, you even fell in love with him! If word spreads, then you could drown in just the saliva that people would spit at you! You, you, you…… Why don’t you know to cherish your reputation?!”
Cheng Xi couldn’t refute his words.
She really didn’t expect that Ceng Xing would say something like this. Hadn’t he always thought unfavorably of her? Hadn’t he always erected roadblocks in front of her, trying to chase her out of the department? His sudden outpour of sincere advice for her really left her feeling out of sorts.
Cheng Xi blinked, her anger dissipating, and actually made a joking jab at him. “Are you concerned for me? ……Is this really the Senior Ceng that I know?”
Yes, although she didn’t act unfamiliarly with him anymore, why would Ceng Xing feel his heart become even more stifled?
Cheng Xi accepted his good intentions, but she didn’t intend on explaining her relationship with Lu Chenzhou in detail. Instead, she perfunctorily replied, “Thank you for your consideration, but I know what I’m doing.” And then she nosily asked, “You know Lu Chenzhou?”
As for how Ceng XIng knew about Lu Chenzhou’s illness, she didn’t need to ask. As long as he had the name, he could find out everything about Lu Chenzhou from their hospital database. Although Lu Chenzhou had never officially been registered as a patient of the psychiatry department, he had come for medical consultations a few times, and his records were naturally in the database.
Ceng Xing stiffly replied, “No. Why would I care as to who he is?” He really didn’t know who Lu Chenzhou was. But yesterday, he had ended up tailing them and, in the end, had taken a picture of Lu Chenzhou from afar.
Despite Lu Chenzhou’s low profile, there were still quite a few people who knew him, as he was a businessman. So when Ceng Xing shared the photograph of Lu Chenzhou and asked his friends about this man’s identity, he quickly found the information he was searching for.
And after that, he even looked up Lu Chenzhou’s medical records; after all, everyone went to the hospital at some point for an illness or something, right? So coming at it from a medical perspective would be a good starting place to understand Lu Chenzhou better.
But Ceng Xing could have never guessed that he would find out that Cheng Xi had been Lu Chenzhou’s primary doctor in the past, and his medical records clearly stated: ‘physiological emotional detachment, severe mysophobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.’
Even if he ignored the other two, emotional detachment was exactly what it sounded like: a combination of symptoms that included lacking emotions and having an abnormal thought process. In severe cases, people suffering from this disorder might even have no qualms about killing people or doing vile things. Even in light cases, they often didn’t feel regular emotions at all.
So he had no idea what Cheng Xi was trying to do!
When he saw her brush off his advice, Ceng Xing immediately became weary. He felt like his sleepless night of worry and anxiety was almost like a joke to her, and the unhappiness on his face became palpable. “Fine, just treat it as me being nosy then!”
He was wholly irritated now. Cheng Xi scratched her head, at a loss for what to do. “No, it’s not like that. It’s just that I’m not really used to your concern, senior. You don’t really think that I like you, do you?”
But her words seemed to have touched a sensitive spot, and he exploded in fury. Ceng Xing thought back to his impetuous behavior yesterday, and he felt an intense instinct to bury himself. He hurriedly countered with a “I’d rather you did!” and then rushed out.
But then he came rushing back in just as quickly. “This is my office! You get out!”
Cheng Xi couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd situation before leaving as he’d asked. Perhaps it was because she’d angered him, but Ceng Xing went back to his cold demeanor of before, raising his nose and slanting his eyes at her as usual. Whenever she began discussing treatment plans, he would always criticize them harshly. Others thought that he was just being petty, that he merely wanted to prove himself after Cheng Xi had helped him out that one time. However, Cheng Xi knew that it was because he honestly couldn’t approve of her treatment methodologies—if she was daring enough to enter a relationship with a patient suffering from emotional detachment, then how could he trust her treatment plans? Thus, he had no choice but to criticize them!
But during department parties, he would at least be a bit nicer to her, often saying a few noncommittal words to her, like “Dr. Cheng, come, have a glass of wine,” or “Dr. Cheng, why don’t you perform something for us?”
But Cheng Xi still had a whole host of problems on her mind.
She had been very busy ever since the start of the new year, not only because of this critical senior, but also because of Shen Wei. That afternoon, Shen Wei called her to go out. “Rou said that you and Lu Chenzhou were doing well, right? Let’s have dinner together, and bring him along as well.”
Her tone was easy and relaxed, and she even teased Cheng Xi a little.
Shen Wei’s condition was special, so if she extended an invite, Cheng Xi would undoubtedly go. But she didn’t ask Lu Chenzhou to come, and when Shen Wei saw that Lu Chenzhou hadn’t come with Cheng Xi, she urged Fu Mingyi to call him. “Give him a call. Cheng Xi’s here, so I bet that he’ll come.”
The two of them sat there together in harmony, as if they’d never had a disagreement.
Cheng Xi decided to observe them carefully. If Shen Wei had truly forgiven him and desired to have a good life with Fu Mingyi, then she didn’t plan on saying anything. They were both adults, and they could make their own choices and live their own lives.
But she could see that Shen Wei was looking at Fu Mingyi unemotionally and without any affection.
On the other hand, Fu Mingyi seemed to be at his wife’s beck and call, doing anything and everything she asked of him. He smiled pleasantly and said, “Alright.” And then he really did call Lu Chenzhou right there and there.
Cheng Xi couldn’t stop him, so she simply decided to ignore whatever Fu Mingyi was saying to Lu Chenzhou and instead turn her attention to Shen Wei. “Your complexion’s a lot paler now. Are you still unable to sleep well at night?”
“Of course not.” When Shen Wei faced her, her smile became much more genuine. She even coyly whispered, “My complexion only seems pale because I’m not wearing any makeup.”
“Shen Wei……”
“Alright.” Shen Wei pinched Cheng Xi’s hand under the table. “Let’s not talk about that here, alright? As you know, being pregnant naturally makes a woman feel uncomfortable and ugly. So if you keep going, I’ll have no choice but to ignore you.”
What was that? There was no such thing as a true joke, as all jokes had at least a kernel of truth within them. Shen Wei’s tone may have been joking, but it was evident that she was also quite serious.
She clearly didn’t want to talk about her body at all.
And so Cheng Xi could only drop the subject. At this point, Fu Mingyi’s call had finished, and he announced, “Director Lu’s agreed to come over.” As he said this, he even smiled suggestively at Cheng Xi.
Cheng Xi’s eyes hurt just from looking at him, and she had to glance away. But then, Shen Wei said to Fu Mingyi, “There are so many eligible bachelors by Director Lu’s side, so let’s call Hengjin over as well. Last time, we didn’t manage to introduce her to Lin Fan, and I told her that I’d definitely find her a better match.” She pushed him on. “Go on, call her.” She clutched her tummy, smiled innocently, and gently said, “I won’t make the call, in case any radiation affects me.”
Cheng Xi could clearly see the corners of Fu Mingyi’s eyes twitch and his facial muscles unnaturally clench when Shen Wei told him to call Gong Hengjin over.
He hesitatingly replied, “That’s not a good idea, is it? ……We’re already all paired up.”
Shen Wei smiled nonchalantly. “What’s the matter? We’re just having dinner with friends. After that, it’s not like we’re going to be disagreeable. It’s Director Lu and Cheng Xi who’re in the romantic stage of their relationship.”
Fu Mingyi eventually ran out of excuses and had to call Gong Hengjin. He was just about to get up and leave, but Shen Wei pulled him back. “Call her here. Isn’t it a hassle to keep running around like that?”
Cheng Xi took a deep breath.
Not long later, Lu Chenzhou came, and so did Gong Hengjin. They arrived at almost the same time. For some reason, Cheng Xi didn’t notice Lu Chenzhou, and her attention was instead drawn to Gong Hengjin.
In her mind, she was a very introverted and dainty girl—not too pretty, but her neat facial features made one unconsciously want to protect her.
Her demeanor and mien was completely different from Shen Wei’s.
Lu Chenzhou greeted Shen Wei and Fu Mingyi, and then very naturally sat down beside Cheng Xi. When he noticed her staring at Gong Hengjin, he frowned and bluntly asked, “What’s the matter?”
Everyone looked over.
Cheng Xi was caught by surprise. “……”
She could only stammer out, “Miss Gong’s really pretty.”
Lu Chenzhou glanced at her again, nodded, and said, “She is indeed prettier than you.”
Cheng Xi internally went o(╯□╰)o.
Lu Chenzhou continued, “But don’t worry. I won’t like her.”
Cheng Xi thought, ……No one was hinting that, alright?!
Shen Wei was a little unhappy to hear him praise Gong Hengjin and bash Cheng Xi, but when she heard his followup, she almost fell down laughing. She even intentionally provoked him by asking, “Why not?”
Fu Mingyi and Gong Hengjin listened on very seriously.
And then they heard Lu Chenzhou’s emotionless voice say, “She’s too thin, too short, and her body’s too shriveled. I don’t desire her.”
Everyone made a ⊙＿⊙ face.
