43 Clear Sky

Zhao Mutao almost couldn't hold the coffee in his hand steady, with an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

The feeling of running into my high school homeroom teacher and physical education teacher holding hands and exchanging glances came back to me. I felt thrilled, excited, and a little scared, afraid that I would be discovered and have nowhere to escape.

No matter how beating his heart was, he could only stare at Mr. Yang who got out of Zhou Qi's car. He turned his head and gave Dr. Zhou a crisp kiss, then looked away like a dragonfly touching the water.

"Damn it." Zhao Mutao blurted out some rude words before she could react. What's going on? They were in love at first sight yesterday, and today they're in love with each other... The 21st century is truly an era of rapid development.

"What's up, Mutao?" Xiao Fei came down lazily, carrying a boiled egg. Seeing Zhao Mutao standing there, staring at the lobby door, motionless, he followed her gaze and said, "Damn it."

You know what, these two people have quite a good understanding.

"Someone's heart is going to shatter tonight." Seeing Yang Xiao push the door open, Xiao Fei grabbed Zhao Mutao and hid behind the giant ceramic vase in the lobby. "Tell me, will Mr. Yang kill us to silence us?"

"Shut up." Zhao Mutao didn't even bother to give him a glance. She kept staring at Yang Xiao, who turned back every three steps after entering the hotel lobby. "Boss Yang, you're smiling so happily."

"Do you think we should tell Mr. Yang about this?" Before Xiao Fei could finish his words, Zhao Mutao rolled her eyes at him. "If Mr. Yang doesn't tell us, why would we cause trouble? We're stupid."

"That's right." Xiao Fei scratched the back of his head. Seeing Yang Xiao enter the elevator, he followed Zhao Mutao out from behind the vase. "Let's go shopping on our own today. It would be too late to let Mr. Yang take us."

Zhao Mutao finally felt that Xiao Fei was smart for once.

"Mr. Yang, Xiao Fei and I can just look around by ourselves. Engineer Liu said that some data has not been completed yet and we need to continue working on it at the hotel." Zhao Mutao's fingers nimbly typed on the mobile phone keyboard. After reading it once and confirming that there was no problem, he decisively pressed the send button.

"Okay, pay attention to tomorrow's flight time." Yang Xiao replied quickly, "Have fun, and remember to get an invoice for reimbursement."

"Okay." To be honest, Zhao Mutao really thought Yang Xiao was super cool.

On the day she came to Zhimiao for an interview, Yang Xiao sat opposite her. She looked amiable and gentle, but the questions she asked were very professional and difficult to answer. She was sweating profusely and came out in tears.

So when Zhao Mutao first joined the company, she was more afraid of Yang Xiao than of Boss Yang, thinking she would be a mean boss. But far from it, she was actually very caring and generous to them.

She never asked Zhao Mutao to do things like buying breakfast or drinking coffee, nor did she treat her like an errand boy. She did everything she could do herself. Sometimes, she would even go to the tea room and find the water dispenser was out of water. Too thirsty to wait for the waiter downstairs, she would just pick it up and place it firmly on the dispenser.

"Ms. Yang, be careful." Zhao Mutao reminded her more than once.

"It's okay, that's not the important thing." After saying that, he washed his hands, got a cup of hot water and went back to work.

In Zhao Mutao's opinion, the word "waiting" doesn't seem to exist in Yang Xiao's vocabulary. It's not that she is impatient, but rather that she is extremely independent: she doesn't like to wait passively.

So Zhao Mutao thought she was so charming.

Yang Xiao sneezed as soon as she closed the door. Who was thinking about her? After packing her luggage, Zhou Qi called again.

"A new mountain coffee shop has opened in Yaoshan, and they offer barbecue in the evening. The environment is pretty good, you can take your colleagues there to play." Zhou Qi's voice was more joyful than usual, and his tone was upbeat and cheerful.

"They're probably a little scared of team building with us. Don't worry, let them have fun. They must be tired after working non-stop for so many days." Yang Xiao smiled and turned the conversation to tease Zhou Qi again, "Doctor Zhou, are you not working today?"

Zhou Qi laughed out loud after hearing this.

She had indeed read the Moments she had posted a few days ago.

A while ago, a young girl with heart failure came to the department. She had dark purple lips and was short in stature. Fortunately, she was rescued in time and was brought back from the brink of death. The child's grandfather was an old man who loved children but was not very educated.

I asked around to find out what the department director and the doctors who performed the surgery liked, and they told me I couldn't accept anything else, but I could accept silk banners. So I rushed to get one custom-made. The advertising shop owner asked, "Old man, do you need something to be written on the silk banner?"

He couldn't write much, but he felt that he wanted to show his appreciation, so he gave each doctor who performed the operation a banner printed with "Dr. Zhou, the reincarnation of Hua Tuo, a god descending to earth!"

In this muddled way, he single-handedly unified the surnames of the main force in his department. When taking a group photo, Doctor Liu, Doctor Ma, and the serious Doctor Zhou all held up a banner with "Divine Doctor Zhou" written on it, their expressions neither knowing whether to laugh nor cry.

Zhou Qi simply posted this photo on his Moments, with a rather bold caption: Dr. Zhou’s Medical Department.

Fortunately, unlike the once-popular QQ status updates, Moments doesn't leave any traces of visitors, which just satisfies Yang Xiao's curiosity that she doesn't want others to know.

"I can't go this morning, but I have to go this afternoon." Doctor Zhou said, seeming a little reluctant and regretful. "I also want to take you to the mountain coffee shop."

Yang Xiao glanced at her watch and said, "It's too late, Doctor. Go back and rest for a while before going to work. I'll come back next time."

"good."

Zhou Qi hadn't actually left; he'd been in the hotel parking lot the entire time. He desperately hoped Yang Xiao would say something like, "It's okay, we still have two hours, let's go." If she'd said so, he wouldn't hesitate to go with her, even if it meant sacrificing his lunch break. He'd even thought of some music to play for her on the way.

But Yang Xiao didn't. She told him to go back and have a good rest. He then realized how much he was like an impatient young man, eager to abandon everything just to stay with her for a while longer.

"Then I'll see you off at the airport tomorrow."

"Not going to work tomorrow? No need. Yang Zhi and the others can go together." Yang Xiao felt like she was having a conversation with Wuwu, and she had to be gentle and coaxing.

"Okay. Then I'll take care of it as soon as possible and go to Beijing." Zhou Qi sighed, opened the densely packed schedule on his phone and looked at it again and again. There was really no extra time that could be coordinated.

"Don't worry, take your time." Yang Xiao twisted the beaded chain of the bedside lamp and rubbed it back and forth. "Besides, once this project starts, I might have to run back and forth a lot."

"Okay, be careful." Zhou Qi's tone suddenly became serious.

"I will, but why do you say that?" Yang Xiao let go of the necklace in her hand and sat up straight.

"What I'm doing may lead to retaliation. They don't dare to touch me right now, but they may hurt you. Yang Xiao, when you come back, you must stay with your colleagues. Don't walk alone at night and don't go to remote places. Call the police immediately if you see anything unusual, okay?" Zhou Qi held the phone in his left hand, and his right hand on the steering wheel couldn't help but tighten.

"So your car accident was also a form of revenge? You are afraid that when I come back I will be…" Yang Xiao's thoughts gradually became clear, and she began to connect all these things together.

"Yes. I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you would worry about my safety and come back without caring." Zhou Qi confessed.

"No, Zhou Qi. You are Zhou Qi, and I am Yang Xiao. As long as you think it is right and what you want to do, I will unwaveringly support you. Similarly, I will protect myself, so that I can support myself in doing what I want to do." Yang Xiao spoke sincerely and earnestly, saying these words word by word.

"No matter how much we like and admire each other, we must first protect ourselves, right? I used to read Maomao's novels where the heroine would give up everything for the hero, including her own life. From a romantic perspective, perhaps such feelings are supreme and pure, but I am just a selfish person who is afraid of death."

"I always wonder, why? I've lost my life, will anyone really care about my love?"

Zhou Qi was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was filled with the solemnity of someone deeply moved: "Yang Xiao, thank you."

"Thank you for being so clear-headed and brave. I always thought that keeping secrets from you was protecting you. You're right, love isn't about giving up one's life, but about living better and harder for yourself and each other. I shouldn't have deprived you of your right to know just because I was afraid you'd get hurt."

"But these things, knowing more about them, do increase the danger. So, I can't tell you all the details yet." Zhou Qi's voice was sincere, with some deliberation after repeated consideration. "But I promise you, I won't let you suffer from speculation and anxiety. No matter what happens, I will report to you immediately and discuss a solution with you."

"Okay, it's a deal then."

"It's a deal."

Zhou Qi repeated, as if searing the words into his heart. His tense shoulders finally relaxed a bit, and he breathed a sigh of relief. This phone call had completely torn down the thick barrier between them. Their hearts were finally able to cross the chasm and lean even more firmly towards each other.

Yang Xiao felt the same way. She felt that Zhou Qi had finally taken off that hazy gauze, revealing his true appearance and his originally clear and bright eyes.

A warm current washed away her last remaining concerns, then gently and steadily flowed into her heart. She knew there were still wild beasts lurking in the jungle, but there was no need for suspicion between them anymore. Her long wait was no longer aimless. They had become an alliance of unprecedented trust, solid and supportive.

The corners of Yang Xiao's mouth rose unconsciously, and then she stood up, walked briskly to the window, took a big sip of water, and couldn't help feeling refreshed in her heart.

There is still rain ahead, but at this moment, she just wants to open the curtains and enjoy the clear sky in front of her.