Chapter 27

Zhou Wangchuan broke the silence: "Do you want to answer it?"

Shang Mu hummed.

Zhou Wangchuan tapped the central control screen and answered the call. Fu Nian's voice came from the other end. Shang Mu, however, remained slumped in the passenger seat, silent.

Fu Nian asked again in confusion, "Are you there?"

Shang Mu reached out and teased the bird in the cage, still without saying a word.

Zhou Wangchuan lightly stepped on the brakes to slow down and answered the phone for him: "Mr. Fu, is there anything I can help you with?"

The person on the other side was silent for a moment, then said, "Doctor Zhou, I didn't expect to hear your voice again."

"Thank you, you too." Zhou Wangchuan glanced at the rearview mirror and turned right across the street.

Fu Nian said, "Please ask the owner of the phone to answer the call."

The birdcage had been opened at some point, and the lively bird nestled in Shang Mu's palm, chirping cheerfully. Shang Mu was absorbed in stroking its feathers, making no attempt to speak.

Zhou Wangchuan glanced at him and said to the other end of the phone, "He's not very available right now. If Mr. Fu has anything to say, I can convey it on his behalf."

Fu Nian said: "It's a work matter."

"Of course it's about work." The car stopped at the foot of the building. Zhou Wangchuan loosened his seatbelt and said in a slightly grave voice, "From today on, he will no longer have any non-work contact with you."

Fu Nian seemed frightened by his tone and did not speak for a long time.

Shang Mu raised the corners of his lips, smiled silently, and handed the little red bird over. Zhou Wangchuan was caught off guard and was pecked on the back of his hand. He looked at him helplessly.

After a long moment, Fu Nian said, "Then please tell him that the winter new product launch will begin in a week. If he doesn't want to be a model for me, then please ask him to find a model who will suit the clothes in advance, so as not to miss out on this season's brand promotion." There was resentment in his tone.

This was an area Zhou Wangchuan didn't understand. He tilted his head to look at the person sitting in the passenger seat.

Shang Mu combed the hair on Xiao Huang's forehead with his fingertips and said in a cold voice, "I've already found a model. We can start shooting the day after tomorrow when we go to work. It won't delay the promotion of the new product."

Perhaps he didn't expect him to be right next to him, so Fu Nian suddenly stopped talking. After the car was quiet for several seconds, he suppressed his anger and said, "Happy cooperation!" and hung up the phone.

Shang Mu opened the birdcage and let Xiao Hong and Xiao Huang in. Then he said, "There was no such thing before."

Zhou Wangchuan was puzzled: "What?"

"Non-work connections."

Zhou Wangchuan's expression changed slightly, and he looked at him deeply.

Shang Mu said softly, "I didn't practice with him. You know, I never have any contact with my colleagues outside of work, and I never have any intersection with the person I practice with outside of the hotel."

He paused and added, "Except you." A sly smile flashed in his eyes. His words were 50% sincere and 50% cunning. He no longer insisted on asking Zhou Wangchuan to abuse him. He wanted to use softness and coquettishness to soften the other party imperceptibly and achieve his own goal.

The two knew each other intimately, and their eyes made clear everything. This was a blatant conspiracy, but Zhou Wangchuan couldn't stop himself from being moved.

"Baby." He leaned over and kissed her lips, continuing the interrupted kiss, his voice ringing between his lips and teeth, "That's too foul. No sweet talk allowed."

Shang Mu smiled like a fox and asked, "Why not?"

"You know, I'll be obsessed with it," Zhou Wangchuan said softly. "Maybe my brain will short-circuit and I'll agree to some requests that I shouldn't agree to."

Shang Mu raised his eyebrows: "Really? For example?"

The two looked at each other from a close distance, and every trembling of their eyelashes revealed their myriad thoughts.

Zhou Wangchuan leaned over with a smile, unbuckled his seatbelt, and said, "We'll figure it out."

Shang Mu snorted, pushed open the car door, picked up the birdcage and was about to stand up, but was grabbed by the wrist and pulled back.

"I haven't given you the gift yet."

Zhou Wangchuan took out a beautifully packaged jewelry box from the central control storage box and took out the things inside.

It was a huge, clear, deep blue sapphire, weighing thirty carats.

"Aren't you into designing brooches and bracelets lately? This could be used for something like that."

Shang Mu took the deep blue sapphire and felt its weight in his palm. He looked at Zhou Wangchuan with a complicated expression.

Zhou Wangchuan said, "I'm not picky. I hope it suits your taste."

The gemstone emitted a faint, cold light. Shang Mu examined it carefully and said, "Hmm, the shape is too regular, and the carving marks are too heavy. It loses its naturalness."

"This shape is too difficult to cut and will break easily."

“The color isn’t very pure either.”

"But..." Shang Mu raised his head, "I like it."

He smiled with his round little fangs showing, came over and gave Zhou Wangchuan a light kiss on the face, then got out of the car carrying the birdcage.

Zhou Wangchuan looked at his back, smiled, and quickly caught up with him.

Dinner was a light meal, and Shang Mu didn't eat much. He looked a little listless, and Zhou Wangchuan knew that he had experienced a stomachache from emotional stress while in the sanatorium. After giving him some medicine, the two of them sat down next to each other on the sofa.

A Chinese medicine program about health preservation was playing on TV. Zhou Wangchuan was watching with great interest, occasionally explaining some basic knowledge to Shang Mu. Shang Mu ignored what he was saying and simply lay down, resting his head on his legs, playing with his phone.

Zhou Wangchuan put his arms around his waist and pinched it from time to time.

When the show ended, Shang Mu was still concentrating on looking at his phone. Zhou Wangchuan leaned over to take a look and saw that it was the WeChat chat interface between the two of them.

"What are you looking at?"

Shang Mu turned off the screen and said unnaturally, "Chat history."

After deleting a friend, all chat history would disappear, leaving him with very little records. However, Zhou Wangchuan's phone contained all the records from the past seven years, because Zhou Wangchuan had never deleted him once.

Zhou Wangchuan understood. Thinking of the phone call in the car just now, he said, "If you encounter difficulties at work, you can ask me for help."

Shang Mu looked at him thoughtfully and asked, "Is it okay?"

"certainly."

Shang Mu smiled slightly: "Okay."

Zhou Wangchuan felt that there was something weird in that smile.

On Monday morning, Zhou Wangchuan drove Shang Mu to the company as usual. Before getting out of the car, Shang Mu said, "I have to go to the studio to shoot this afternoon. Come over after get off work to help me. I'll send you the location."

"Okay. I've put the medicine in your bag. Remember to take it after dinner."

Shang Mu looked innocent: "I don't remember what to do."

Zhou Wangchuan laughed out loud: "It's okay, I'll call to remind you."

The new chief physician, Xu Yong, moved into the clinic next to Zhou Wangchuan's. Zhou Wangchuan handed him the department's historical materials and records. Xu Yong asked him to wait while he looked through the documents.

"I'm new to the Municipal Hospital and not very familiar with the procedures." Xu Yong flipped through some signed and approved documents and handed them to Zhou Wangchuan. "But in my previous unit, these should have been approved in advance, not signed afterward. Deputy Director Zhou, please take a look at these documents."

Conventional medical documents require the signatures of both the attending physician and the department director. When Zhou Wangchuan acted as department director, he prioritized efficiency over formal procedures. Sometimes, in urgent cases, he allowed the attending physician to verbally report first and then sign afterward.

"And this CT scan record." Xu Yong pulled out another document, pointed at it, and asked, "Normal, non-emergency CT scans are ready within 24 to 48 hours, but this gastroscopy result was ready just 30 minutes after the end. Deputy Director Zhou, do you remember this?"

Zhou Wangchuan certainly remembered it. It was the day he returned home after the seminar, and he took Shang Mu for a gastroscopy. There weren't many patients that day, and he didn't want Shang Mu to suffer, so he used his authority to shorten the 24-hour scan to half an hour and get the CT report.

Neither of these matters was a major issue; they were merely procedural flaws, common in every department. But Zhou Wangchuan understood that Xu Yong's intention in bringing this up at this time was simple.

He said, "I'm sorry, Director Xu. This was indeed a mistake on my part. I'll attach an explanation to the approval form for your review before noon."

Xu Yong didn't respond and continued looking through the materials.

After digging through another pile of documents, Xu Yong said to him, "Deputy Director Zhou, procedures are a rule of thumb that cannot be ignored. These documents and materials all have obvious procedural issues. I hope to see a report on the rectification by the end of this week."

The pile of materials was an inch thick, and just revising it would take a long time. Zhou Wangchuan agreed, "Okay."

He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes had passed since his consultation and he could already hear the patients talking in the corridor.

Xu Yong said: "Then go see the doctor first."

The morning's consultation passed quickly. Zhou Wangchuan used his lunch break to revise some documents. Of course, he did not forget to call Shang Mu to remind him to take his medicine.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Wangchuan, mindful of his appointment with Shang Mu, was about to leave work on time. But then the internal line rang, and Xu Yong's voice came from the other end: "Deputy Director Zhou, please have all the doctors in the department come to my office for a regular meeting."

Zhou Wangchuan pondered for a moment and immediately understood what a "regular meeting" meant. Hospital regulations mandated that each department hold a weekly meeting to review experiences. But regulations were just regulations, and few departments held them. Doctors and nurses were so busy every day, they had no time for meetings. Zhou Wangchuan only knew about the existence of regular meetings thanks to his photographic memory.

"Okay, I'll ask everyone to come over." Zhou Wangchuan said.

He called Shang Mu and told him that he would be there half an hour late.

It was ten minutes later when all the doctors in the department arrived at Xu Yong's office.

Xu Yong gave everyone a routine work report and asked a few questions. In between, he said, "I hope everyone will carefully read the hospital rules and regulations when they have time and abide by them. Don't be so focused on your work that you don't even notice you've violated the rules."

Zhou Wangchuan finally couldn't help himself and said, "Director Xu, it's not that we didn't have regular meetings before, but the format was simplified. Everyone would exchange information in the work group. This was my unauthorized change, and they were just following my instructions."

Xu Yong looked at him and then looked away after a while.

After the meeting, Zhou Wangchuan rushed to the location Shang Mu sent him, which was a studio shooting address.

Before entering, he heard Fu Nian's voice: "The main promotional style of the new winter products is the couple's style. I think we need another model, right? Xiao Mu, where is your model? I don't want you to affect your work because you hate me."

Zhou Wangchuan lifted the curtain and walked in, and the staff's eyes immediately focused on him.

Shang Mu was sitting on the sofa. When he saw him come in, he immediately smiled and said, "My model is here, isn't she?"

Zhou Wangchuan looked at him doubtfully, and a question mark slowly appeared above his head.

Shang Mu came over and explained to him, "This season's new winter clothing products are mainly for couples, so we need two people to shoot together."

He leaned close to Zhou Wangchuan's ear and said, "Didn't you say that I could ask you for help when I encountered difficulties at work?"

Zhou Wangchuan said helplessly, "I thought you wanted me to pick you up and help you carry your bag and pour you some water."

Shang Mu blinked and asked with a slightly aggrieved look, "Aren't you going to help me?"

Zhou Wangchuan could never stand his tone, not even when they broke up, let alone now that they were in a passionate love relationship.

"help."

The two put on couple's cashmere coats, and Shang Mu took Zhou Wangchuan to a corner. The staff was adjusting the lighting and setting the scene. Zhou Wangchuan had never been involved in such a shoot. He reluctantly leaned close to Shang Mu and said, "Baby, I don't know how to do it."

"Tsk, listen to my instructions." Shang Mu pulled his tie and brought him closer, their noses touching. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"That's all."

Fu Nian, who was not far away, was adjusting his camera, staring at the two people who were intimate in the corner with a gloomy expression.

In the corner, Zhou Wangchuan, under Shang Mu's command, trapped Shang Mu in the corner, propped up his hand on the wall next to Shang Mu's shoulder, and whispered: "Baby, isn't this posture a bit..."

"Stand still." Shang Mu leaned leisurely against the wall and helped him adjust the position of his tie.

The two were wearing couple clothes and were of similar height. They were close to each other, which was very pleasing to the eye. Some staff members secretly took pictures.

Zhou Wangchuan said: "I really don't know how to do it. It's too advanced."

"Then what can you do?" Shang Mu asked.

"I'll feed you medicine." Zhou Wangchuan asked casually, "Have you taken your medicine tonight?"

Shang Mu pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then just feed me the medicine."

Soon, the staff brought a dewy rose.

Shang Mu placed a pill on the rose petals. He asked Zhou Wangchuan to hold the flower branch and said, "Hand it to me later. This is the general manager, right?"

Zhou Wangchuan obediently took the rose.

Shang Mu chuckled and said, "I've thought about it. The theme for this season is, dress warmly, eat well, and take your medicine obediently."

During the official shooting, Zhou Wangchuan trapped Shang Mu in the corner, supported the wall next to him with one hand, and handed him a dewy rose.

Shang Mu reached out to take it, with a faint smile, and stretched out his pale pink tongue to roll away the white pill on the petals.

The shutter clicked, capturing the scene.