Chapter 123 Taking Your Surname

Ruan Yigang stepped through the glass door of the private hospital and took out his phone to check his appointment information.

I didn't realize until I took it out that it had accumulated over 99 unread messages.

After hesitating for a moment, I clicked on the section that only showed [Animated Emoticons].

The latest pop-up message is a series of more than a dozen crying emojis, ranging from a panda wiping away tears to a puppy covering its face and sobbing.

Ruan Yi rubbed her temples, her fingertips tracing upwards, revealing the other person's ever-changing ways of tormenting her.

She sighed helplessly, not intending to reply.

There's still a "duck" clinging to me that I haven't sorted out yet, so how can I possibly manage this energetic one?

In a high-rise office building.

The man stared blankly at the read mark that suddenly appeared on his phone screen, then quickly typed out a line of text.

"You bad woman! I know you saw the message! Stop ignoring me... Even if you want to talk things out with me, you have to come out and meet me."

He had long ago foreseen that Ruan Yi wouldn't reply to his messages, so he sent the text message specifically to see if she would read it.

Sure enough, she couldn't bear it at all.

Fu Wang curled the corners of his lips at the screen, his mind racing with calculations.

He refused to believe that this woman could be so heartless as to kick him out if he met with Ruan Yi alone.

His phone vibrated again, and his eyes lit up, thinking that Ruan Yi had given in. But when he opened it, he saw a photo.

The background is a bulletin board for obstetrics and gynecology in a hospital corridor, with the words "Caring for Pregnancy Health" prominently displayed.

A corner of the photo reveals the girl's snow-white instep wearing a pair of small high heels, indicating that she is alone in the hospital.

There were no other replies.

Fu Wang's smug expression froze instantly, the screen reflecting his shocked expression in the pupils, and the office fell into a deathly silence.

Ruan Yi put her phone back in her pocket, ignoring the commotion on Fu Wang's end, and followed the signs to find the doctor's department.

The best way to shut a man up.

I'm pregnant, but the child isn't yours.

That'll scare him to death.

Ruan Yi ignored it, but what she didn't know was that the information bar didn't stay quiet for long.

The phone screen kept lighting up and turning off repeatedly in my pocket.

"I understand what you mean..."

The two messages were sent approximately one minute apart.

"I'm ready to be a dad!"

"I will love this child as if he were my own! Does the child want to take my surname? Anyway, I already have the same surname as him..."

"How could he not go to the hospital with you! What a scumbag! How could you wear high heels when you're pregnant!"

"Did you two have a fight? You broke up, right?"

Send me your location, I'll come find you now and accompany you to your checkup.

"Let's go back to China and get married after the checkup, okay?"

The man stared at Ruan Yi's unresponsive chat interface.

"Or do you want the child to take your surname?"

"Of course! I can even take your surname!"

At that moment, Ruan Yi was focused on finding the department sign at the end of the corridor, completely unaware of the photo she had casually posted.

A bizarre drama about "whose surname the child should take" has already been stirred up at Fu Wang's place.

Ruan Yi followed the signs to the department. Just as her high heels rolled across the floor inside the threshold, two figures came into view.

Standing by the window was her appointment with Dr. Smith, the foreign doctor. He was facing away from the door and talking to someone, while the person opposite him—

He wore a crisp white shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing a pale, white neck, and silver-white hair that shimmered like snow in the afternoon sunlight.

Ruan Yi gasped, mentally cursing everyone in the hospital.

Has this guy surnamed Pei grown into the background of her life?

What a coincidence!

Almost instinctively, the girl turned her foot on the floor in a magical girl-like arc, and as soon as her upper body peeked in, it was as if she had been put back on.

He turned around with an almost smooth, fluid motion, pretending that he had just glanced at the wrong house number while passing by.

They had already lifted their feet, ready to speed up and make a quick getaway.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Ruan, who had an appointment for this afternoon's check-up?"

A clear voice suddenly came from behind me asking a question.

Ruan Yi's steps seemed to be nailed to the spot. She recognized the voice; it was Dr. Smith on the phone.

The doctor continued speaking.

"You've come to the right place, this is the place."

Ruan Yi stood with her back to the door, her shoulders stiff as a stone.

She could feel the man's gaze had turned towards her without her noticing, carrying a familiar yet strange feeling that seemed to penetrate the fabric.

She paused for two seconds, then pinched her throat, deliberately making her voice high-pitched and distorted, and replied in broken English.

"Oh no! I didn't... I just went to the wrong place..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air behind him seemed to be suddenly sucked out, and it was so quiet that you could hear the wind outside the window.

Just when Ruan Yi thought she could get away with it and was digging her toes into the soles of her shoes, ready to start again...

A very soft laugh came from behind.

The laughter was low, a breathy sound tinged with a nonchalant mockery that sent chills down your spine.

When Pei Lian spoke, his voice still carried a lingering smile.

"I missed this appointment. I'll have to wait another two weeks to see Dr. Smith."

He paused, his gaze falling on her tense back.

"Didn't you have an appointment for a check-up? Come in."

Ruan Yi forced herself to turn around, her movements stiff as a rusty robot. She slowly walked to the patient chair, sat down, and forced a smile that was more like a grimace.

"Oh my! Pei Lian... it's you!"

"What a coincidence, what are you doing here?"

The man raised an eyebrow, his eyes gleaming with a blatant mockery.

"Hmm, what a coincidence."

The girl frantically tried to fix it.

"It's all Fu Jingchen's fault. He made the appointment for me, and I didn't even understand it... Actually, I originally wanted to have you do the check-up."

If a friend is a doctor, and you lied and made an appointment with another doctor, how can you consider the other person a friend?

Pei Lian looked at her with a smile, his tone light and airy.

"Is that so? Just now... I thought I had mistaken someone for someone else."

He paused deliberately, his gaze slowly sweeping over her flushed ears, and added a comment.

"But I know I won't mistake you for someone else."

"Hahaha, yes, yes, we're good friends, of course we wouldn't mistake each other."

Ruan Yi tried to smooth things over with an awkward laugh, unsure of what to do with her hands.

Dr. Smith, who was standing nearby, then realized what was happening and widened his eyes in surprise.

"You two know each other? What a coincidence!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a nurse's voice came from outside the door, calling for Dr. Smith to come over.

"Ms. Ruan, please chat for a while and wait a few minutes." The doctor smiled apologetically, turned around, and quickly walked out.

With only two people left in the consultation room, the atmosphere instantly became awkward.

Ruan Yi seemed to have been put on a start button, her hands stiffly resting on her knees.

"I'm sorry..."

Pei Lian chuckled softly. He leaned forward and gently touched the girl's head, his fingertips feeling slightly cool.

Why apologize?

She looked away somewhat awkwardly and explained softly.

“It’s not that I don’t trust your skills, it’s just… I feel really bad for always troubling you like this when I don’t have to pay you.”

"That's why I decided to come to the hospital myself this time to see a doctor for a check-up."

Upon hearing this, Pei Lian nodded slightly and remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"So that's how it is."

His gaze was fixed on Ruan Yi's face.

His gaze was so focused, and coupled with his exceptionally handsome appearance, it made her cheeks burn, and she subconsciously wanted to look away.

"If that's the reason, it's completely unnecessary."

The man's voice deepened, carrying an undeniable seriousness.

"After all, it's about pursuing someone you like, isn't it only right to help out a little?"

Is Pei Lian still pursuing her...?

Ruan Yi hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up.

"I forgot to tell you, I... am already with Fu Jingchen."

The man's face remained expressionless; he simply uttered a soft "Ah," followed by a look of surprise.

"Really? I see..."

He paused, his tone tinged with grievance.

"Have you been together for a while? I thought we were just friends. You would have told me."

Ruan Yi felt a little embarrassed, as very few people knew that she and Fu Jingchen were together.

"It happened rather suddenly, I haven't had a chance to say anything yet."

“So…” The light in the man’s eyes dimmed.

"Is it because you considered my pursuit that you still felt Fu Jingchen was more suitable and that you liked him more?"

"As I said before, I've always considered you a friend."

Ruan Yi explained somewhat helplessly.

Pei Lian's gaze darkened completely, as if veiled by a layer of mist.

"Is there no chance left? We can only be friends?"

Ruan Yi was flustered by his questioning. In her memory, Pei Lian wasn't the type to force people to give their opinions, so why was he like this today...?

"Yeah, just friends."

The man leaned forward again, his voice very soft, as if he were asking from the bottom of his heart.

"So, you like someone like Fu Jingchen?"

“No, not really…” Ruan Yi shook her head subconsciously, “I guess I go by my gut feeling.”

Pei Lian stared at her for a few seconds, as if finally accepting the answer, and repeated it softly.

Why don't I have any feelings for him?

"I see..."