CH 78

In the operating room where one could get daily gossip, Shen Fangyu looked at the laparoscope while saying to Zhang Cheng, “I have something to ask you.”

“Hmm?” Zhang Cheng felt inexplicably anxious, “What is it? Why are you so serious about it?”

Shen Fangyu glanced at him and went straight to the point, “Do you know who Li Yalei and Huo Chengchun liked when we were in college?”

Zhang Cheng was shocked and blurted out without thinking, “You found out?!”

Shen Fangyu gave him a meaningful look, and Zhang Cheng realized that he had accidentally shown some signs of guilt.

So Zhang Cheng shook his head frantically and said, “I don’t know, I don’t know anything.”

“Was it Jiang Xu?” Shen Fangyu asked directly.

“Oh my god,” upon hearing these names, Zhang Cheng realized that Shen Fangyu really knew, and he stammered, “W-who told you?”

Shen Fangyu didn’t answer his question, but continued to press him, “Do Xiao Xu and Fan Fan also know?”

They used to live in a six-person dormitory, and Zhang Cheng and the other two he mentioned were his other roommates.

Zhang Cheng swallowed and said with difficulty, “They know.”

Shen Fangyu felt a lump in his throat, and with a touch of heartache, he said coldly, “You guys are really good roommates… keeping it from me like this?”

“It…it is a long story,” Zhang Cheng smiled awkwardly, “Fangyu, let me explain.”

Shen Fangyu nodded, indicating that he should explain properly. Zhang Cheng immediately expressed his loyalty, “First of all, I have always been on your side. Although they were chasing Jiang Xu, I still firmly believe that Jiang Xu is not as good as you.”

“Hmm?”

“I didn’t want to hide it from you… but… they gave us too much at that time,” Zhang Cheng said with a stiff scalp, “They gave gifts to our classmates, and they invited us out several times. They knew that I had the closest relationship with you, so they even bought me the latest game console.”

“Sorry, Fangyu,” Zhang Cheng self-criticized with some self-awareness, “I wasn’t spiritually enlightened enough to resist the corruption of money.”

Shen Fangyu: “…”

The evils of capitalism.

Zhang Cheng looked at his expression and said, “Xiao Xu, Fan Fan, and I all thought that it’s better to avoid trouble if possible. We are all roommates, and it wouldn’t be good for our dormitory’s unity if we had conflicts because of Jiang Xu, right?”

“Chengchun and Yalei also thought the same, that’s why they asked us to keep it from you. Besides, they just had a crush on Jiang Xu, and they didn’t do anything to harm you…”

His voice got lower as he spoke, “And, they didn’t succeed in chasing Jiang Xu, so you and Jiang Xu can continue to be arch-enemies without any impact.”

To be honest, at that time, he was worried that these two rich kids would fight over Jiang Xu, but later on, they were both rejected, and the dispute was settled.

He never thought that Shen Fangyu would discover this story after such a long time.

“So, who told you in the end?” Zhang Cheng couldn’t help but guess, “It can’t be someone from our dormitory…”

“It shouldn’t be…,” Zhang Cheng said and then answered, “We had such a close relationship with so many snacks and small cakes back then.”

Shen Fangyu remained silent for a moment, and once again deeply understood the meaning of “money can make the devil grind”.

He paused and asked, “Is Huo Chengchun coming back soon? Which day exactly?”

Over the years, their dormitory relationship had always been good. Not long ago, they even chatted on their phones. The reason for their last chat was that Huo Chengchun had said in the group chat that he was coming back, and Li Yalei had replied with a “handshake” emoji.

“It seems like it’s this weekend,” Zhang Cheng said, suddenly realizing something. “What do you want to do? Let me warn you, it’s been so many years since graduation, don’t ruin the unity of the dormitory over this.”

“It’s not that serious,” Shen Fangyu said with a smirk. “I just want to treat them to a meal.”

After getting off work and returning home, Zhang Cheng quickly opened WeChat and created a three-person group chat, bombarding the other two rich second-generation roommates like crazy. “I have to tell you two, Shen Fangyu knows about your crush on Jiang Xu, and he said he wants to treat you to a meal. You need to be prepared.”

Li Yalei: “!”

Huo Chengchun: “?”

Li Yalei: “Who’s the traitor?”

Huo Chengchun: “/knife.jpg”

Jiang Xu, the “traitor”, was unaware of all this. Compared to the two unsuccessful pursuers, he had more important things to worry about, such as the gift-giving skills of his official boyfriend.

There was a gift box tied with a ribbon on the coffee table in the living room, and Shen Fangyu sat on the sofa with a smile on his face, boasting, “The gift I ordered for you has finally arrived.”

Jiang Xu was a little surprised. “What is it?”

“Custom-made clothes,” Shen Fangyu boasted like a snake oil salesman. “Made by a professional master tailor. I’ve been waiting for it for a long time. Try it on quickly.”

Hearing Shen Fangyu’s words, Jiang Xu thought it was a custom-made suit. He was about to say it was too extravagant, but when he opened the box, he saw a pair of gray fluffy thermal underwear.

He couldn’t believe it as he took out the pants and unfolded them, carefully examining them twice to confirm that they were indeed thermal underwear. Then he looked at Shen Fangyu with question marks all over his head.

“I noticed last time at the plum garden that you weren’t wearing thermal underwear, and I’ve been observing you for the past few days. It seems like you don’t have this equipment at all,” Shen Fangyu commented. “It’s not good for your health.”

“The maternity thermal underwear sold in stores is not this long, and men’s thermal underwear has a tight waistband that might constrict you and Xiaoxiao,” Shen Fangyu said. “This one is specially designed for pregnant women’s waist circumference, with great elasticity. It’s perfect for wearing during winter.”

Hearing Shen Fangyu mention the plum garden, Jiang Xu’s ears turned red. He folded up the thermal underwear and stuffed them back in the box, his face filled with rejection.

“I’m not wearing them.”

Although Jiang Xu was past the age of adolescence and looking cool, his persistence in dressing well had never changed.

If it weren’t for being pregnant, he wouldn’t even wear a down jacket.

What young man with a vigorous fire in his youth would wear thermal underwear?

As he was thinking about it, he suddenly realized something and lifted Shen Fangyu’s trouser leg.

Under the light-colored jeans, black thermal underwear clung to the man’s slender ankles, protecting his legs.

Jiang Xu: “…”

A young man wearing thermal underwear is right next to me.

Shen Fangyu always changed into pajamas after taking a shower, but he had never noticed that this guy was so health-conscious.

“I’ve been wearing thermal underwear for many years. It’s a prejudice that young people don’t wear them. Be careful of getting cold legs and rheumatoid arthritis when you get older.”

Shen Fangyu nagged like he was reciting sutras: “Hey, Jiang Xu, I’ve realized that your lifestyle is really problematic. You don’t eat breakfast properly, you don’t sleep well, and you don’t even dress properly. Can you take better care of your body? You have to live with it for fifty or sixty years.”

Jiang Xu had black lines all over his head: “Who’s not dressing properly?”

Shen Fangyu clicked his tongue and added: “Besides, don’t look down on thermal underwear. They come in handy in critical situations.”

Jiang Xu glanced at him, meaning you have experience with that?

“I’m telling you, when I was in M country, those two robbers stole my suit,” Shen Fangyu looked very proud, “Luckily, I was wearing thermal underwear, otherwise I would have frozen to death in M country in the middle of winter.”

He said as he rolled up his outer pants, determined to show Jiang Xu how warm and valuable his heroic underwear were.

Although Jiang Xu felt distressed over Shen Fangyu’s experience, he couldn’t help but feel his love for Shen Fangyu diminishing when he imagined him wearing thermal underwear and struggling on the empty streets of M country at night.

So, in order to continue their love, he pushed Shen Fangyu into the bathroom and threw his loungewear in with him, while also giving an order:

“Take off the thermal underwear after you finish showering and then come out.”

————

Because Dr. Shen’s thermal underwear were despised and he was very upset, he wanted to find a court to plead for his thermal underwear. But before he could start, his phone rang excitedly.

“Jiang Xu!” he shouted from the bathroom. “Help me answer the phone.”

Jiang Xu pulled out Dr. Shen Fangyu’s noisy phone from his coat, thinking it was something from the hospital. But to his surprise, when he answered the call, a string of affectionate English words came from the other side.

“Oh my God, you finally answered the phone, dear Shen. I have good news to tell you.”

Jiang Xu was briefly silent because of the words “dear Shen,” and he looked at the phone screen again.

No contact name and the phone number was from abroad.

The person on the other side seemed very happy and didn’t notice the silence on this side, and kept talking excitedly, “Guess where I am now? You’ll never guess, I’m getting on a plane to Z country.”

There was a pause on the other side, probably looking at the watch. “We’ll be taking off in ten minutes, you’ll see me soon, oh, I’m so happy for you!”

Jiang Xu: “?”

Unhappy, Dr. Jiang hung up the phone expressionlessly, went out, and knocked on Dr. Shen Fangyu’s door.

The sound of water suddenly stopped, and Dr. Shen’s voice came through the mist of steam, echoing and indistinct. “What’s wrong? Who called?”

“Your foreign friend is coming to see you tomorrow, just letting you know.”

He deliberately emphasized the words “foreign friend” with a hint of subtle annoyance.

“I don’t have any foreign friends,” Dr. Shen Fangyu was puzzled.

But Jiang Xu clearly had no intention of explaining to him. He threw Dr. Shen’s phone along with his pillow onto the sofa, and unceremoniously drove Dr. Shen out.

Dr. Shen Fangyu, who had suffered an injustice, lay on the sofa, unwillingly opened the call history, intending to see which good friend had caused him to be forced to sleep on the sofa.

However, the phone number had no contact name, only showing that it was from abroad. Dr. Shen Fangyu called back, but it was already turned off.

“Scam call?”

Dr. Shen Fangyu felt quite annoyed as he spent the whole night pondering whether Jiang Xu’s temper during pregnancy had become more unreasonable. And just when he was wondering about it, he finally saw the “good friend” who had made him sleep on the sofa for a night.

On the next evening, the door of Doctors’ Room 2 in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Jihua Hospital was suddenly pushed open, and a brown-haired man full of enthusiasm immediately saw Dr. Shen Fangyu and greeted him excitedly, “Shen!”

“Dr. Albert?” Dr. Shen Fangyu was stunned. “What are you doing here?”

Upon hearing this name, everyone in the office turned to look at the foreign man. Obviously, the name Albert was not unfamiliar to them. Not long ago, they had just observed his surgery.

Noticing the looks directed at him, Dr. Albert smiled politely and said to Shen Fangyu, “I plan to take a break for a while, and Z country is the first stop of my global travels.”

Seeing Shen Fangyu’s puzzled expression, Dr. Albert nodded happily and shrugged, “You guessed it right, Mr. Baker has woken up and has already left the ICU, so I am a free man now.”

He looked at the clock in the office and said, “if there aren’t any unexpected circumstances, in half an hour, the spokesperson from S country and Mr. Baker will give a comprehensive explanation to everyone… As for me, my responsibilities are over, and now I just want to rest and recover my almost broken heart.”

When Jiang Xu returned to the office, he noticed that it was livelier than usual today, with everyone discussing something enthusiastically.

He glanced at Shen Fangyu’s empty seat and asked Yu Sang, “What’s going on?”

“The patient in S country was saved!” Yu Sang showed Jiang Xu the news on his phone. “It’s said that the patient almost didn’t make it due to blood clots, but now it’s estimated that they will be discharged in a little while.”

The reports from S country were quite arrogant, emphasizing the suddenness and high difficulty of the surgery, and repeatedly mentioning the significant efforts made by their government and medical department to help the patient recover, without mentioning much about Dr. Albert who performed the surgery.

However, obviously, even if they didn’t mention it, the doctors at Jihua Hospital would still remember this name.

“And just now, Dr. Albert actually came to our country!” Yu Sang said. “He said he wished to visit our country.”

“Dr. Albert?”

“Yes,” Yu Sang said. “He seems to be familiar with Shen Fangyu. I even heard him invite Shen Fangyu to have dinner together tonight and even brought a gift for him.”

Jiang Xu suddenly remembered the phone call from last night.

Because it had been some time since Dr. Albert’s surgery, he hadn’t deliberately remembered his voice, and he didn’t recognize who was on the phone yesterday. In this way, perhaps it was Dr. Albert who called Shen Fangyu.

Jiang Xu pinched his brow, reflecting on his inexplicable mood last night for a second.

“Where did they go?”

“The lounge, I think,” Yu Sang said. “Shen Fangyu hasn’t changed his clothes, so he’s probably still there.”

In the lounge, Dr. Albert took the coffee that Shen Fangyu handed to him.

“Why don’t you put sugar in it?” Dr. Albert frowned. “Don’t you find it hard to drink like this?”

“…,” Shen Fangyu handed him two packets of sugar, not mentioning how this person had used bitter coffee to drown his sorrows just a while ago.

“So you still insist on doing the surgery yourself?” Dr. Albert had just finished talking with Shen Fangyu about the surgery for a while and learned about his plans.

“Yes.”

“Compared to Dr. Kenn, whom I have never met and seen only one of his surgeries, I still believe in my own ability,” Shen Fangyu said. “I’m not confident in handing my patient over to him.”

Dr. Albert pondered for a moment and nodded at him. “Well, since you’re so determined and unwilling to listen to my advice, it seems that there’s no point in saying more. However… I admire you, Shen, for daring to take on this surgery under such pressure.”

There had been too much flattery from the other party, which inevitably made Shen Fangyu fell inexplicable, so he didn’t continue with this topic, but instead asked with concern, “What are your plans for Mr. Baker’s follow-up treatment?”

“Currently, the plan Mr. Baker and I have discussed is to postpone the resection operation and use estrogen suppressants for a period of time, depending on the situation.”

He suggested to Shen Fangyu, “If you find that the situation is not good after the laparotomy, I recommend you consider this approach. Just abandon organ removal temporarily after the fetus is taken out, and use hormone suppressants to adjust for a while before finding an opportunity to complete the removal. No need to rush.”

“Okay, I’ll remember.”

Albert added sugar to his coffee and suddenly changed the subject, saying to him, “I plan to stay in Z Country for about a week. Shen, are you interested in accompanying me for a stroll?”

“I have to work,” Shen Fangyu glanced at the scheduling table exported from his phone and looked at Dr. Albert, “if you need, I can arrange the best tour guide for you.”

“Oh, that’s a pity,” Dr.Albert said, taking out a delicate small gift box from his bag, “this is a little something to thank you for visiting me during my most difficult time. You don’t know, I was so bored that I almost went crazy during that period.”

Shen Fangyu didn’t travel just to visit Dr. Albert and they both knew this, so he pushed the gift box back politely and smiled, “No need to be polite.”

“Please accept it, these cufflinks match you very well, and I’m looking forward to seeing you wearing them,” Dr. Albert smiled ambiguously, “so have you made up your mind? Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I’m looking forward to spending a wonderful night with you.”

A smart person knows how to take a hint, and Shen Fangyu was stunned for a moment, suddenly understanding the implicit meaning behind Dr. Albert’s actions.

He remembered when he first chatted with Dr. Albert, he inadvertently mentioned marriage and family. However, Dr. Albert said that life is short, and he wants to be a free-flying eagle, no one can tie him down.

At that time, Shen Fangyu thought that Dr. Albert longed for a single lifestyle, and now he probably understood… it’s just a nicer way of saying “sleep around”.

But he didn’t expect Dr. Albert to set his sights on him.

“I don’t have that interest, sorry.” Shen Fangyu stood up and refused, “Thank you very much for the information you provided me before, but I don’t like to repay in this way.”

“Oh, you misunderstood, I’m not asking for repayment from you, you don’t have to worry.” Dr. Albert continued, “It’s just a mutual benefit, and it won’t have any impact on our relationship. After tomorrow, we won’t have any contact in this regard again, I’m a person who pursues novelty… Shen, I think you are too.”

Jiang Xu had just opened the door of the lounge, and the first thing he heard was this sentence.

Shen Fangyu, who was about to refuse, looked over subconsciously when he heard the door open, and then met Jiang Xu’s gaze.

Dr. Albert also looked over, his lips curved with a hint of a smile, completely unaware of the impending danger, and greeted, “Hello?”

Jiang Xu: “…”

Before coming here, Jiang Xu was still reflecting on whether he misunderstood Dr. Albert last night, but today, Dr. Albert directly and unequivocally proved to him that it was definitely not a misunderstanding.

Seeing that Jiang Xu did not introduce himself immediately, Albert turned his head and asked Shen Fangyu, “Who is this?”

“This is my…”

“Partner.”

Shen Fangyu’s introduction had not yet come out, but Jiang Xu directly and straightforwardly declared their relationship in front of him.

In most contexts, “partner” refers to a stable romantic relationship where unmarried couples live together, which can be understood as a partner in a committed relationship, and it is more than just a “boyfriend”.

Shen Fangyu looked at Jiang Xu’s cold and frosty profile, unable to speak for a while.

Colleagues, friends, old classmates… Jiang Xu used many words to refer to their relationship in front of others.

But Shen Fangyu never expected that Jiang Xu would use this word.

Dr. Albert obviously understood Jiang Xu’s meaning, and his expression became subtle in an instant. After a while, he quickly rolled up his sleeves and left Jihua without looking back.

The background investigation was not done properly… the trouble was big.

The troublemaker slipped away, leaving a pair of disturbed lovers staring at each other in the lounge. Jiang Xu turned and walked away with his hand in his pocket.

Dr. Jiang’s legs were long, and his steps were swift. Shen Fangyu hurriedly chased after him, explaining as he coaxed, “I really didn’t know what he meant. I was just rejecting him.”

Jiang Xu ignored him and walked straight ahead. Shen Fangyu followed him step by step, sticking to his ear like a peacock seeking a mate, saying, “Say that word again, come on, say it again, what am I to you?”

Seeing Jiang Xu raise his foot to return to the office, Shen Fangyu directly took him to a quiet and deserted staircase.

“Don’t be angry.” He gently removed Jiang Xu’s hand from his pocket.

Jiang Xu remained silent.

He wasn’t really angry with Shen Fangyu. Now that they were in a romantic relationship, Jiang Xu was well aware of Shen Fangyu’s feelings for him, and he didn’t suspect him.

But he wasn’t quite sure why he wasn’t happy.

It’s just that when he heard Dr. Albert’s words, he felt uncomfortable.

Shen Fangyu reached out and touched his abdomen, lowering his head to seek help, “Xiaoxia, come on, persuade your dad quickly, let him stop being unhappy.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xu slapped away his hand and glared at him.

Shen Fangyu shamelessly leaned over again and kissed his cheek.

There was a sudden heat on his face, and Jiang Xu turned his head away. Then Shen Fangyu went to kiss his neck.

But before the warm lips could touch the skin, a loud thud came from behind.

Both of them suddenly turned around and saw Zhan Cheng standing stiffly at the door, dumbfounded.