Chapter 01

The First Affiliated Hospital of Ting City University School of Medicine.

Lin Shengwen stepped off the operating table, dumped his gloves into the trash, and removed his sterile gown and tossed it into the recycling bin. He emerged from the operating room, glanced at the black, red clock in the hallway, and strode quickly to the medical office.

In the hospital corridors in summer, no matter how low the air conditioning is set, it is still difficult to cover up this unusual smell.

As luck would have it, Lin Shengwen had a pretty sharp sense of smell. Even though he had spent so many years in medical school and hospitals and his senses had dulled a bit, summer was still the season that Lin Shengwen hated the most.

——But, this year's summer doesn't seem so annoying.

When his colleague Li Ye saw him come in, he called out to him, "Hey, Shengwen, your surgery took so long today?"

Li Ye is two or three years older than Lin Shengwen, but they entered the hospital in the same year, so they were considered to be at the same time.

Lin Shengwen was a student in the university's eight-year program, while Li Ye, a graduate from another university, had been admitted after graduating. After graduation, they both entered the residency program. Of the doctors in their same residency program, only Li Ye and Lin Shengwen remained in the neurology department.

"Two machines, made in succession." After Lin Shengwen explained in two words, he walked straight to his workstation and sat down.

Li Ye's butt didn't move at all on the seat of the computer chair. He just kicked it lightly, and the pulleys on the chair legs pushed him to the side of Lin Shengwen's workstation.

Li Ye didn't say anything for a long time, but he was still standing not far from him. Lin Shengwen sighed, tilted his head to look at him, and asked, "Are you on duty tonight?"

"Yes, the night shift," Li Ye said angrily, "You don't know, Vice Dean Yu has been exploiting me a lot recently. I haven't been home many times this week..." After he finished speaking, he bit his lip again, as if he hadn't finished speaking.

Li Ye hesitated for a long time before finally asking what he really wanted to ask Lin Shengwen: "Shengwen, tell me the truth, did Vice President Yu introduce his daughter to you before? He has always wanted you to go on a blind date and get married with his daughter... Is this going to happen?"

Lin Shengwen sighed again. In fact, from Li Ye's hesitant attitude just now, he had already guessed that Li Ye was most likely going to ask him about this.

"I know you don't care much about rumors, but to be honest, Vice President Yu originally graduated from neurosurgery. After you came, you were promoted to attending physician at the fastest speed. You, you, you, you are so handsome! Vice President Yu mentioned his daughter to you in front of everyone after the meeting several times. Almost everyone in the hospital thinks that you are about to become the vice president's son-in-law and inherit his mantle..." Li Ye continued. He nervously observed Lin Shengwen's expression, as if he was afraid that Lin Shengwen would be angry, but he couldn't control his mouth and had to ask this sensitive question to offend others.

Lin Shengwen's expression suddenly turned grim. He really had no interest in this topic and even felt a little annoyed. He frowned slightly. However, this change in expression only lasted for a moment.

He looked at Li Ye and said in a very calm tone, "That's not the case."

"Deputy Dean Yu did want to set me up on a blind date with his daughter, but I refused."

Lin Shengwen pulled the necklace around his neck out from the inside of his shirt collar, revealing a diamond ring hanging on a platinum chain.

"I'm married."

Before Li Ye could exclaim in surprise, the cell phone beside Lin Shengwen vibrated with a buzzing sound.

In a flash, Lin Shengwen took a look at the caller note, made a silence gesture to Li Ye, indicating that he wanted to answer the call, then picked up the phone and pressed the answer button.

"Why don't you answer the phone?"

Lin Shengwen didn't adjust the volume of his cell phone properly, and when he picked up the phone, Liang Xun's voice was like a grenade with the fuse pulled, and the bang almost shattered his eardrums.

Li Ye, who was not far away, was also startled and blinked, looking very curious about the relationship between the caller and Lin Shengwen.

Lin Shengwen had no choice but to press the volume button all the way down and then adjust it up one level at a time.

He explained softly to the person on the other end of the phone: "I was performing surgery just now and couldn't answer personal calls... What's the matter?" He deliberately concealed the idea of ​​calling Liang Xun by his name.

There was a burst of noise on the line, and soon Liang Xun's voice came over: "Oh, I was in such a hurry that I forgot you had surgery today... Well, the sofa set you ordered is ready, and the factory manager said he couldn't get through to you, so he called me."

Lin Shengwen said, "I told Manager Wang to email me if he couldn't get through on the phone. I didn't expect him to call you—they were pretty fast. They said it would take three weeks, but they finished it in less than two weeks."

"People in the factory are used to making phone calls, and they left my phone number."

Lin Shengwen switched the hand holding the phone from his right hand to his left hand, and in an awkward position, he held the phone against his backhand to answer the call, while using the mouse to open his own email page on the computer screen.

"What did Manager Wang say?" Lin Shengwen's voice was flat.

There was another loud clanging and crackling noise from the other end. Liang Xun waited for it to die down before answering Lin Shengwen's question: "He asked if you would be home this evening. The workers are going to deliver the sofa and want you to inspect it and sign the order."

Lin Shengwen was silent for a moment, then said, "I have a meeting later. If it's convenient, I'd like to ask you to go back and sign a bill."

"Should I sign? What about the bill?"

Liang Xun's voice drifted in and out, and when he said the last word, he seemed to suddenly press the receiver on his phone and shout something to the construction workers. Lin Shengwen didn't catch the specific words, but he could tell that Liang Xun was in a bad mood. Overseeing renovations in an unaired room on a hot day would have been no different for anyone else.

He lowered his eyes and whispered, "I'll transfer the money, don't worry."

"Oh, then I'll go back and wait for them to come after I'm done." After Liang Xun said this, the noise around him suddenly subsided, and no one knew where he ran to.

There was silence for a long while. When Lin Shengwen wanted to hang up, Liang Xun's soft-spoken question suddenly came from the receiver.

"...Lin Shengwen, will you come home later for dinner?"

Lin Shengwen pursed his lips and said, "There's some mung bean soup in the refrigerator for this morning. You can have some. I'll be back at eight."

Liang Xun didn't know whether he was embarrassed or shy, and he stammered a few words: "Then, then I will wait for you to come back?"

"Yeah." Lin Shengwen said, waiting for Liang Xun to end the call. Unexpectedly, the air seemed to be frozen. He waited for a long time, but there was no busy tone. Only Liang Xun's hot breathing sounded frequently on the phone.

Lin Shengwen smiled helplessly and gave a clear order: "Hang up, Liang Xun."

Li Ye had no resistance to gossip. He saw Lin Shengwen put down his phone. His face was already filled with shock and curiosity. After eavesdropping on Lin Shengwen's call, his suspicions increased. Li Ye leaned over and questioned Lin Shengwen: "Could this be your marriage partner? What kind of person could win your favor and allow you to get married so quickly? Is the other party also in the surgery department? Could he be from our hospital?"

Li Ye finished his own speculation and then sensed something was wrong: "That's not right. I remember you disdaining office romances. During previous dinners, I saw that you were completely uninterested in hospital gossip... But if you weren't from the hospital, where else could you, a man who only works all the time, meet girls and get married?"

Lin Shengwen helplessly interrupted Li Ye: "Okay, stop."

He paused briefly and sighed for the third time: "Not in the same line of work."

Lin Shengwen raised his gaze, glanced at Li Ye, then stared back at the computer screen. He silently opened the email in his mailbox with the note "Manager Wang - Red Rosewood Processing." The last contact had been this morning—Lin Shengwen's reply to Manager Wang.

Lin Shengwen's email was a single line: "Thank you for your hard work. Contact Liang Xun. Delivery will be at 6:30 PM. Please send the final payment invoice to me."

Lin Shengwen clicked to delete the email, then turned around and met Li Ye's eyes. He blinked slowly and said, "Not a girl either."

"The person who just called is my husband."

Lin Shengwen parked the car and went upstairs.

Before he could take the key out of his pocket to open the door, there were two crisp sounds of metal machinery unlocking, followed by a refreshing cool air, mixed with a little bit of the elm wood aroma placed in the entrance - the door was opened from the inside.

Liang Xun grabbed Lin Shengwen's briefcase and rushed him in, "Close the door quickly, the cold air is about to escape."

Lin Shengwen bought a three-bedroom, fully furnished apartment. The living room was large, with a sliding glass door separating the kitchen and living room. He moved all the furniture he had bought from his previous rental into the apartment.

But a lot of new furniture was also added - such as the newly delivered custom-made mahogany sofa.

"Go check it out," Liang Xun pointed at the sofa. "I've already tried it out for you. I was just lying here watching TV. I don't know much about mahogany, so I can't tell anything. But the sofa cushions are pretty good. They're thick and soft, and have good bounce. They're just as good as a mattress."

Lin Shengwen glanced over and saw a rolled-up blanket on the sofa cushions. Liang Xun must have been watching a TV show in the living room with the air conditioner on too low, so he had dug out this blanket and covered himself with it. Hearing Liang Xun's footsteps coming back, he ran out to open the door.

He narrowed his eyes and noticed that there was a cup of green tea and a bag of corn flakes on the small round table next to the sofa. The corn flakes looked like they were given away as a gift during a promotion at a nearby supermarket. The green tea was not in a tea bag. It was probably brewed with the Mingqian Shifeng Longjing tea he had kept in the refrigerator. After a long time, all the tea leaves sank to the bottom of the glass.

"As long as you think it's good." He turned his gaze back and said to Liang Xun.

Liang Xun muttered: "How can I have the final say on the furniture you buy?...By the way, what are we having for dinner?" He asked Lin Shengwen's opinion as if it was a matter of course.

Lin Shengwen rolled up his shirt sleeves, turned around, opened the sliding door and went into the kitchen, then walked to the sink to wash his hands.

Liang Xun followed him into the kitchen. Seeing that Lin Shengwen had already opened the refrigerator door and started picking out vegetables and meat, he pursed his lips and said, "Can you really taste the flavor of additives?"

"Okay. I'll fry a chicken cutlet. Would you like rice or bread with it? I'll also stir-fry some broccoli and lettuce." Lin Shengwen placed the ingredients one by one on the countertop, then tilted his head and asked Liang Xun, "What kind of soup would you like?"

Liang Xun opened his mouth: "Ah? You want me to choose? What choice do I have? I'm not saying that I can eat anything. I'll eat whatever you cook."

Lin Shengwen said, "I thought the people in Kang Mansion were obsessed with soup."

Unlike Lin Shengwen, Liang Xun was not from Ting City. Kangfu was far from Ting City, and Liang Xun came to Ting City while studying at university and stayed to work after graduation.

"Only the previous generation is so persistent," said Liang Xun.

It is true that the people of Kangfu have a special pursuit for delicious food when they eat in Kangfu.

But Liang Xun was not a picky eater, he enjoyed everything he ate. He could even swallow the food in his high school cafeteria, which was so disgusting that it was hated by everyone, without changing his expression.

"Then I'll make a simple shrimp soup." Lin Shengwen said, "We'll be eating in ten minutes. Take out the tableware first."

The clear instructions were quite useful to Liang Xun, especially since the person giving the orders was Lin Shengwen. He nodded and said, "Okay." He took a pair of knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons from the dishwasher opened by Lin Shengwen and walked out of the kitchen happily.

Liang Xun set the tableware on the dining table. On one side was his seat, with chopsticks and spoons placed directly on the table. On Lin Shengwen's side, he placed an off-white cloth napkin under the knife and fork.

Liang Xun and Lin Shengwen had lived together for a short period of time, and he had already thoroughly witnessed Lin Shengwen's time management. As long as it was something that Lin Shengwen could control, if he said ten minutes, then it would be ten minutes.

Liang Xun was not particularly good at waiting. After setting the table, he had nothing to do. He couldn't sit or stand. He wandered around the dining table for a few circles and then went to the sofa to put away the corn chips he had left.

Less than ten minutes later, Lin Shengwen came out with two white porcelain plates. He called Liang Xun, "Come and sit down."

Liang Xun responded and sat down at the dining table face to face with Lin Shengwen.

In order not to affect the surgical operation, Lin Shengwen usually does not drink alcohol. Liang Xun can only drink one glass of alcohol and basically does not drink except for social events. Therefore, the two of them have not brought a bottle of wine into the house since they moved in.

Lin Shengwen used a knife to cut the chicken breast steak. He had marinated the meat the day before and fried it in cold oil. It was ready to eat. The taste was not as good as that made by professional chefs, but it was barely delicious.

Liang Xun swallowed two mouthfuls of meat and took another sip of the cold green tea he hadn't finished. He blatantly peeped at Lin Shengwen, but unexpectedly, the next second Lin Shengwen raised his head and met his gaze.

Liang Xun was caught, lowered his head and muttered: "I moved in with you, just like a gigolo."

Lin Shengwen chuckled: "How could that be."

"You are already doing me a great favor by being willing to move here." Lin Shengwen looked at Liang Xun with a burning gaze.

Liang Xun rarely saw Lin Shengwen's expression so soft. He wondered if his green tea had been spiked with alcohol, which would have caused him to feel dizzy. Could this be the saying, "It's not the wine that intoxicates, but the person who intoxicates himself"? Liang Xun blinked.

It took him a while to find his voice again.

Liang Xun asked, "So, when will your Vice President Yu come to visit? What if it's revealed that your marriage to me is fake? Do we need to rehearse it in advance?"