Chapter 39 I was very worried when you fell ill during the rainy season.
Tu Xia almost fell off the bed, then sat up abruptly: "How did we fast-forward to the topic of having children? Didn't our conversation yesterday end with 'If you don't have children, I won't have children either'?"
Lin Fei was shocked for a few seconds, then nodded vigorously: "You actually gave up clubbing and good wine."
Liang Yanru shrugged, not feeling any shame for her words, and said, "I just thought about it. Anyway, I'll have a baby sooner or later, and having one this year is good. I'll be busy with my master's thesis later, and the pressure will be even greater after I start my doctoral studies. If I finish having a baby now, I won't have to delay my work because of it. What if it happens when I'm evaluating for a professional title or getting a promotion? I can't let my rivals succeed."
Lin Fei and Tu Xia were speechless for a moment.
They had known Liang Yanru for a while. She was a planning fanatic who liked to control everything within a plan. Although she was unhappy that her family arranged for her to get married, she was not against marriage. After learning that she was going to get married, she was depressed for a few days and even hoped that everything would proceed in an orderly manner and not affect her work and life.
She had never thought about having children before. When her family brought it up, she was a little unhappy about being put in this situation again. But after calming down, she realized that if having children could be planned and controlled, it would make her feel much more at ease.
"Have you already started trying to conceive?" Lin Fei asked softly.
Tu Xia: "What is Ji San's attitude?"
Liang Yanru: "I'm telling you this first. If you think it's appropriate, I'll continue to proceed in an orderly manner."
"Wait a minute!" Lin Fei raised his hand. "You're having a baby without discussing it with the father, and you're asking for our opinion instead?"
"In terms of priority, you are above the child's father." Liang Yanru's tone was extremely matter-of-fact.
Lin Fei and Tu Xia exchanged glances, trying to agree on their points, but neither could accurately read the other's emotions. The idea of having a child had come too suddenly, and they were still in a daze.
"Are you sure the child is from a legitimate family?" Lin Fei asked anxiously, silently praying for Ji Peiqian.
Liang Yanru: "...I was just talking nonsense. Right now, my first choice for the child's father is still Ji Peiqian. He has good genes, is smart, and has no family history of hereditary diseases. After all, the child of Liang Yanru must receive the best."
"Aru, don't turn into one of those old-fashioned, feudalistic people in your family, spending the rest of your life just provoking your kids." Tu Xia made an "X" sign.
Liang Yanru smiled happily: "Don't worry, as long as my child is healthy and happy, that's all that matters. Even if he's a little silly, he'll still be the cutest little silly in the world."
After a moment of silence.
Lin Fei broke the awkward silence with a dry laugh: "Then... we'll have it!"
"Yes, yes, yes, have the baby! As long as it's your child, it's our precious darling." Tu Xia would blindly support her best friend as long as she had the right to know.
With support, Liang Yanru felt much more confident and lay down contentedly.
"Didn't Young Master Ji say he wanted to talk to your parents? Did it not work out?" Lin Fei recalled the day Ji Peiqian came to visit.
Liang Yanru: "We've settled things. Ji Chacha has really opened my eyes. She actually managed to get my parents to agree and even told me to focus on my studies at this stage."
"No one's forcing you, so you're happy about it?" Tu Xia rested her chin on her hand. "Aru, has anyone ever told you that you're a masochist?"
Liang Yanru slapped Tu Xia's arm with a righteous hand: "Mind your own business."
"Alright, alright, since we've agreed to have a proper birth, let's stop arguing." Lin Fei pulled the two apart.
Tu Xia turned her face directly to Lin Fei and made a face: "Don't play the good guy. You brought up the topic first, you green tea!"
"Who are you calling a green tea b*tch? You damn white lotus!" Liang Yanru was about to hit her again.
Fearing that the three of them might overdo it and break the hospital bed, Lin Fei once again acted as a peace ambassador: "Stop, stop, stop, let's change the subject."
The following topics were more lighthearted, consisting entirely of entertainment gossip and Liang Yanling's recent sex scandal.
After gaining fame through a Cantonese opera performance, Leung Yin Ling became a popular online opera actress. Her married status was made public long ago, but she has never revealed who her husband is. Recently, several of her tour performances have had bigwigs book the first show, leading some to say that her marriage is a smokescreen and that she is actually being kept by a sugar daddy.
Liang Yanru recounted the story vividly, with exaggerated expressions.
"Aru, you're so mean! Others may not know about your sister's situation, but you do?" Tu Xia said this while enthusiastically cracking sunflower seeds and listening intently.
Liang Yanru: "What's there to be ashamed of? I chatted with her yesterday and even asked her if she knew who the big shot was. My sister has never asked who it is either, and the other party has never suggested meeting. She's pretty laid-back; as long as she can perform, that's enough. She said she's not curious. What if it's some old man? She'd have to put in the effort to think about relationships, and work is already tiring enough. Besides, the biggest taboo in their line of work is getting too close to fans."
Lin Fei swiped two sunflower seeds from Tu Xia's hand, but before he could put them in his mouth, they were snatched back.
"You can't eat any more foods that might trigger allergies, you're just recovering." Tu Xia put the food in her mouth.
Lin Fei could only eat sliced honeydew melon and continued what he hadn't finished saying: "I feel that the women of your Liang family... are all quite amazing, with a kind of calm madness."
"Wow—Mumu, what a sharp tongue! She attacks four people indiscriminately with just one word." Tu Xia added fuel to the fire, "Unlike me, I have a sweet tongue. They're just weirdos."
Lin Fei forked a piece of fruit and stuffed it into her mouth: "You probably already thought that, I'm just more straightforward than you."
Liang Yanru wasn't annoyed by their comments, and even chimed in with her own complaints: "I've already figured it out, the older the generation in my family, the crazier they are. My third sister is just a bit of a troublemaker at work, but my second sister is a sly one, very calculating, and she's always watching my eldest sister. If my eldest sister makes even the slightest mistake, she'll bite like a mad dog. But my eldest sister is no ordinary person; apart from her grandmother, no one has been able to handle her yet. The two of them are vying for power, using both overt and covert schemes, and they never forget to kick each other while she's down."
"Their relationship is very bad?" Lin Fei couldn't imagine what the ruthless Liang Yanyi was like; she might be a completely different person when she was with Liang Yanzhe.
Liang Yanru spread her hands: "They're all businesswomen. On the surface, they're definitely cousins with a great relationship. Grandma loves the harmonious family scene the most. They put on such a great show. But who knows what they're really like in private? People like them, who are so shrewd, won't let us easily know their true thoughts."
"What's wrong? Are you having trouble getting along with her?" Liang Yanru asked with concern. "If she's not treating you well, you should just tell Brother Ze."
“No, we get along quite well.” Lin Fei leaned down. “It’s just that I feel there are many things about her that I don’t understand.”
“It’s understandable that you don’t understand. There’s a reason why she’s being groomed as an heir.” Liang Yanru said to Lin Fei, “I can’t even tell if Ze Ge and she have a genuine relationship or if it’s just for show. After Ze Ge was abandoned, she officially came into the public eye. There’s no way they could be siblings without any issues.”
Lin Fei felt the fog in his mind clear up a bit.
The brother and sister seem to have a peaceful relationship, but many details suggest that they are not as close as they appear.
Just like that time when she wanted to go into the house to mediate, Liang Yanzhe told her not to interfere.
Perhaps they are only maintaining a superficial relationship.
But it doesn't seem like it... Liang Yanyi cares a lot about Liang Yanzhe's thoughts, anyone with eyes can see that.
"Of course, maybe I've watched too many soap operas about rich families. Maybe they're siblings with a strong bond, and their relationship has always been good. After all, although Brother Ze gave up his inheritance rights, he took over the management of Liang's Pharmaceutical's R&D department after entering university. However, my dad said he'll step down in the next two years and hand it over to my second sister. This is my grandma's idea. The Liang family is large, and they need to balance internal power. If my second sister doesn't get any important positions, my uncle's family will be unhappy." Liang Yanru took a deep breath. "Speechless, why are there so many messy things in my family?"
Lin Fei: ...
Tu Xia: ...
Before the two of them could even get annoyed, she was quick to start cursing.
After chatting until the IV drip ended, Lin Fei got sleepy, so the two went home first, agreeing to meet again next week.
She slept until after 5 p.m., which was not yet Liang Yanzhe's off-duty time. In addition, he was on duty tonight and would not be going home. Lin Fei, who had to have an IV drip tomorrow, simply stayed in the hospital for one night.
Lin Fei was much more careful this time. He zipped his down jacket all the way up and wore a mask and hat to prevent the cold wind from getting in any way.
Lin Fei had mentioned her plan to go to the cardiac surgery department in the small group chat beforehand. Tian Ying and Liang Yanzhe were on their way to the pediatrics department for a consultation, and Ye Zhan, who was writing medical records in the cardiac surgery department, could help her. She could wait in Liang Yanzhe's office first.
Ye Zhan was waiting at the entrance of the cardiac surgery department early on. When he saw Lin Fei, he greeted her warmly as "Teacher's Wife".
"Keep your voice down, the whole building can hear you." She was all bundled up like a ball today, unkempt, not wanting to attract anyone's attention for the time being.
She does care about her image to some extent.
Ye Zhan said earnestly, "Everyone in our duty room knows you're here, and they said they wanted to thank you in person for the snacks you brought."
"No, no, the thought is enough," Lin Fei waved his hand.
Ye Zhan helped her up: "Since we're already here, and we're about to hand over the shift, it won't take much time to say hello to everyone."
Lin Fei was thus taken to the duty room.
There were four doctors in the duty room, all young faces. Two of them were also Liang Yanzhe's students. They were just exchanging pleasantries, and after a few words, they added each other as WeChat friends.
Although they hadn't had much interaction with Lin Fei, they had eaten a lot of the delicious food she sent, and their goodwill towards her kept rising.
A student asked, "Madam, we have a team-building activity next week, would you like to come?"
Lin Fei was busy changing their WeChat nicknames, her head down the whole time: "Was this a private gathering? Not the kind of team building event Dr. Liang had?"
"Teacher's wife...would you like to go on a team building activity like this?" the girl next to her whispered. "There's one this weekend, and we'd be 100% happy to have you come."
Lin Fei was just joking, but he didn't expect it to actually happen.
"Can I bring my family?"
Liang Yanzhe's voice suddenly came out, startling several students who scattered.
Lin Fei quickly saved the last student's contact information, then turned around and met Liang Yanzhe's gaze as he stood at the door.
You scared us to death!
She was the only one in the room who dared to make a complaint; everyone else was pretending to be busy.
Liang Yanzhe came over to take Lin Fei away. Before leaving, he wanted to mention tonight's case analysis, but after thinking about it, he decided not to say it, knowing there would be a chorus of groans.
Once inside Liang Yanzhe's office, Lin Fei didn't let go of his hand, absorbing the warmth of his palm.
"You shouldn't have gone out, your hands are cold." Liang Yanzhe touched her palms, worried that she might have a fever again.
Lin Fei said nonchalantly, "I'm used to it. I'll definitely have a fever again tonight, but it'll be a low-grade fever. Actually, I'm in good spirits. I just want to go out for a walk."
Liang Yanzhe raised his hand and glanced at his watch: "Go back to the ward, I'll go buy some food."
"I've been in the ward all day, no." Lin Fei let go of Liang Yanzhe and slumped onto the sofa.
Ye Zhan knocked on the door. They were about to go to the cafeteria and asked if they wanted to bring lunch.
Lin Fei stared intently at Liang Yanzhe, afraid that he would order her a hospital meal.
"Two vegetarian dishes and one meat dish, nothing too bland, two servings." Liang Yanzhe handed his work badge to Ye Zhan. "You can swipe my card."
Ye Zhan accepted it with both hands, "Okay, I know!"
Lin Fei finally felt relieved and lay down again.
"Shall we talk?" Liang Yanzhe pushed a chair over with one hand and sat down in front of Lin Fei.
"Let's talk about what to discuss first. I can't think about anything too profound right now." Lin Fei panicked for a moment. Was she going to have to talk to her about things like whether she liked someone or not, topics she couldn't answer perfectly?
Liang Yanzhe rested his arm on the armrest, interlaced his fingers in front of him, and said in a flat tone: "It's about your health."
"I'm in great health. I had a full physical exam last year, and all the indicators were normal." Lin Fei cherishes her life. Ever since she had fatty liver, she has never missed a check-up, and she even spent extra money to add a few important tests.
Liang Yanzhe got up and walked closer, squatted down, and sighed softly: "Feiwen, I'm very worried about you being sick."
Lin Fei blinked blankly, his gaze falling on the collar of his dark green scrub uniform.
Instead of wearing a shirt and tie as usual, he continued to wear the scrub suit that he usually wore in the operating room.
Thinking back to what they said today, he brought her to the hospital last night while still in his pajamas.
"I... I won't do it again next time." She turned her gaze away, unsure where to look.
Liang Yanzhe felt powerless.
This isn't the first time it's been brought up. Every time, she agrees, but soon after, her health deteriorates again.
But she couldn't control her illness, and if he kept nagging, it would seem like he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Besides, she didn't like to deal with such emotions, and he didn't want to annoy her.
"Go wash your hands, let's get ready to eat." He put on a smile and helped her up.
Lin Fei stood up and said with a smile, "Okay."
-
Lin Fei rested at home for a week. Aunt Ruo was afraid that she would run back to Chunxi, so she called her every day to tell her to rest and not to make a trip, as the shop could handle the workload.
After lying down for five whole days, Lin Fei felt tired of it. She had initially been uninterested in the residency program that Tu Xia had mentioned, but now she couldn't wait to get there and had a blast.
However, his wish was not fulfilled.
Because Liang Yanzhe was traveling with them.
That evening, they were half an hour late, and all the seats near the stage were taken, so they had to sit in the corner booths.
Tu Xia's band hadn't come on yet; it was a guitarist's solo performance. Liang Yanru, who had managed to get a front-row seat, jumped around energetically, waving her arms enthusiastically.
"She comes here often?" Liang Yanzhe could hardly miss it.
Lin Fei covered Liang Yanzhe's eyes with her hand: "Hahaha, just pretend you didn't see it, and whatever you do, don't expose her in front of your elders."
Liang Yanzhe dodged the question and asked with a smile, "In your eyes, am I someone who likes to tattle?"
“Absolutely not,” Lin Fei said. “But I have to protect my best friend. It’s good to be cautious.”
"You three get along well?" Liang Yanzhe had always been puzzled as to how the three of them got along so well. Each of them had their own sharp edges, yet they didn't seem to repel each other.
Lin Fei took a sip of juice, looked at Liang Yanru who was jumping around in the distance, and said, "The three of us looked down on each other back then. I couldn't stand Aru competing with me for first place in the grade, and Tu Xia couldn't stand us fighting. Like most people, we kept our distance from Tu Xia, who had the title of 'heartthrob' and was different from others."
"They can still have fun together?" Liang Yanzhe was curious about this.
"Because of what we found out when we met on the rooftop one day, we realized we were being ostracized by everyone." Lin Fei laughed heartily after saying this. "Tu Xia goes without saying, there's an immediate dislike for her, she's too flamboyant, her breath practically glows. A Ru's family background is too good, her gentle personality is too fake, her grades are too dazzling, no one dares to get close to her, they're just polite on the surface. As for me, I'm better than them, people don't dislike me, but because of something, my reputation isn't very good, so I'm not the first choice for making friends."
The day they met on the rooftop, the three of them disliked each other, yet each felt they were of high moral character, so they remained polite on the surface. After standing quietly for a while, Tu Xia couldn't suppress her gossip and kept asking Lin Fei about the rumors. Gradually, they became more familiar with each other, and Liang Yanru, who had heard the gossip, couldn't very well deny it, so she had no choice but to join in the conversation.
Over time, they became familiar with each other.
There's not so much conflict between girls; once you get to know them, you realize they're all kind-hearted and on the same wavelength.
Something?
Liang Yanzhe wondered what kind of thing required the word "something" to refer to.
Tu Xia and Liang Yanru suddenly squeezed in, nodded and greeted Liang Yanzhe, tugged at Lin Fei, and pointed to a spot not far away under the table.
Who is it?
The bar was too dimly lit for Lin Fei to see clearly.
Tu Xia's eyes blazed with anger: "That idiot."
"Don't say that, there are too many idiots, she doesn't fit the bill." Liang Yanru said, then glanced at Liang Yanzhe.
Liang Yanzhe took a sip of his special drink; "You can pretend I don't exist."
"A crazy girl who pestered you for three years in junior high and confessed her love to you like crazy for three years in high school," Liang Yanru said in a low voice.
Lin Fei thought for a moment: "Oh... Su Liao?"
“Yeah, he came with He Jingshi’s brother. He must have seen my WeChat Moments and knows you guys come to every performance I have.” Tu Xia took out her phone and immediately set someone’s WeChat Moments to be unviewable. “Just trying to annoy me.”
"Forget it, they're probably just here for fun." Lin Fei pursed his lips slightly, suppressing his displeasure.
Tu Xia glanced at the time: "My show is next, I'll head over now."
Before leaving, Liang Yanru instructed, "Don't go near that area. Who knows what crazy things he might do next?"
"Okay, you can go now." Lin Fei pointed to Liang Yanzhe. "Dr. Liang is still here."
After the two left, Lin Fei faced Liang Yanzhe alone and felt the atmosphere was a bit strange. She chuckled twice.
"Is something that happened in junior high school related to him?" Liang Yanzhe asked directly.
Lin Fei didn't hide anything and told me the truth: "Well, we were elementary school classmates, but we were in different classes in junior high. He liked to come find me during breaks, and he was quite handsome, but only in junior high. Later, he couldn't keep up with my height and was kicked out of the tall and handsome group. He was known as the school bully during his school days, the kind of derogatory term. Everyone thought I was dating a delinquent, so they didn't want to get too close to me. I thought I could get rid of that in high school, but his family spent a lot of money, and he became a special student at the top high school. There was no difference between the first year of high school and junior high. In the second year of high school, he suddenly had a brain fart and confessed to me. Then he kept pestering me until graduation. Fortunately, it was difficult to get into Jiangdu University. His score wasn't even high enough for the junior college next door, so his family sent him to study abroad to get a prestigious degree."
"Have you paid any attention to him?" Liang Yanzhe asked.
Lin Fei stirred her juice with a straw: "Before he confessed, we were elementary school classmates, junior high and high school alumni. Although he was a delinquent, he never yelled at me. He couldn't just come to me with a sullen face, could he? We interacted normally, and occasionally we'd chat and have meals together when we bumped into each other at the bookstore on weekends. Who knew he'd start pursuing me? It's like he's been bewitched..."
Liang Yanzhe suddenly understood why Chi Xin had hesitated to speak that day.
"Haven't you thought about developing a relationship with him?" Liang Yanzhe leaned back, arms crossed.
Lin Fei looked at him, a smile playing on her lips, and said frankly, "I have, but he's not my best choice."
Liang Yanzhe raised an eyebrow slightly, signaling her to continue.
"Putting aside the conditions I mentioned before, his personality doesn't meet the requirements either."
"He was too invested in the relationship and expected me to reciprocate in the same way, which made me feel exhausted and unwilling to deal with it."
Lin Fei was unaware that her words caused the man opposite her to frown slightly.
"Lin Fei".
He suddenly called her by her full name, and she quickly looked up.
"If I made the same request of you, would you think the same way?"
-----------------------
Author's Note: [shy] Here it comes! Dr. Liang, being so straightforward, is still not on the same wavelength as Lin Fei, because Fei won't shed a tear until he sees the coffin (just kidding).
Still 66! Love you all!
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