I’ll Take You
Liu Qianxiu stepped out of the operating room and removed his mask.
As a nurse helped him out of his surgical gown, she said, “Doctor Liu, the director is looking for you. He’s waiting in your office.”
Liu Qianxiu removed his gloves.
“All right.”
Then he left.
Tang’er Hospital’s director, Xiao Tan, had been Liu Qianxiu’s senior at Imperial College London.
Tang’er Hospital belonged to the Xiao family’s medical group.
After graduating, Xiao Tan had returned to work there. The previous year, he had become hospital director.
He was also the person who had recruited Liu Qianxiu.
Most people in the department knew the two had attended the same university.
Xiao Tan occasionally came to Liu Qianxiu’s office.
When Liu Qianxiu entered, Xiao Tan was sitting in a chair nearby, looking through several recent surgical case files.
He glanced up and smiled.
“Finished?”
“Mm.”
Liu Qianxiu sat behind his desk.
The chair shifted softly beneath him.
He tilted his head back, rolled his neck once, then lifted a hand and pressed his fingers against the muscles there.
Three hours of surgery had left him tired.
“No more operations today?” Xiao Tan asked.
Liu Qianxiu had known him for years.
He recognized that tone.
He leaned forward slightly and opened his eyes.
“What is it?”
Since Liu Qianxiu preferred directness, Xiao Tan did not bother circling the subject.
He smiled.
“Remember the operation you performed on Doctor Xiao’s grandfather?”
Liu Qianxiu looked at him.
“Doctor Xiao wants to invite you to dinner to thank you.”
Xiao Tan and Xiao Yun were distant relatives, but they were still part of the same extended family.
Xiao Tan’s father valued family ties.
Before Xiao Yun came to Tang’er Hospital, he had specifically asked Xiao Tan to look after her.
Xiao Tan was relatively young for his position, but years of dealing with people had made him perceptive.
When Xiao Yun mentioned wanting to thank Liu Qianxiu, he had understood the real intention from her expression.
Liu Qianxiu was exceptional.
Xiao Yun was elegant and accomplished.
Both were excellent surgeons.
They certainly had enough in common.
The only problem was that one was cool and taciturn, while the other was too proud and reserved to say what she wanted.
Something always seemed to leave them one step apart.
After Xiao Tan finished speaking, Liu Qianxiu’s gaze drifted toward the orchid on the windowsill.
Pale green leaves.
Small blue flowers.
Delicate.
Vivid.
“Qianxiu?”
Xiao Tan called him back.
“Mm.”
Liu Qianxiu looked over.
“It was part of my job. There’s no need.”
“You have plans tonight?”
“No.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Xiao Tan ignored the refusal completely.
“You’re a doctor, but treating patients can’t be the only thing in your life. You should socialize occasionally.”
He shook his head.
“You never attend hospital gatherings. At this point, I’m starting to wonder whether I’m the only person here you actually know.”
Liu Qianxiu said nothing.
“Do me a favor this once.”
Xiao Tan stood and patted him on the shoulder.
“I’ll be there too.”
Then he headed for the door.
“Seven tonight. Masyale Western Restaurant.”
He opened the door and left before Liu Qianxiu could refuse again.
Mu Wan’s final scene dragged on far longer than expected.
By the time filming ended, it was already after six.
She immediately called Liu Qianxiu.
She wanted to know whether he had finished work.
He answered quickly.
“Hello.”
Just hearing his voice sent something sweet through her.
Mu Wan smiled.
“Are you done with work?”
“Just finished.”
The background on his end was very quiet.
It made his low voice sound even clearer.
“Oh.”
Mu Wan’s disappointment was immediate.
She hurried toward the entrance of the film studio and scanned the taxis along the roadside.
The entire day had been brutally hot.
Around six was also when many drivers changed shifts, which made finding a taxi difficult.
“I can’t come wait for you today.”
She looked down the road.
“Should I just go straight to your place?”
Liu Qianxiu did not agree.
“Doctor Xiao is treating me to dinner tonight. I’ll be home later.”
Doctor Xiao?
Mu Wan stopped walking.
Her eyes narrowed.
The female doctor from the past two days immediately came to mind.
Along with that faintly contemptuous look.
Wasn’t she supposed to be dignified and reserved?
So now she’s decided to make a move?
Irritation rose inside Mu Wan almost instantly.
Whether it was jealousy, a sense of danger, or something else could be analyzed later.
Right now, she was annoyed.
Mu Wan lowered the hand she had raised to hail a taxi.
“But you said you don’t eat at restaurants.”
That was exactly what Liu Qianxiu had told her when she offered to take him out.
So why was he going when Doctor Xiao invited him?
Her voice sharpened slightly.
“What time will you finish? Can I still come see the kittens afterward?”
Through the phone, she sounded like an anxious cat stretching out sharp little claws toward a piece of dried fish someone else was about to steal.
And when she could not reach it, indignation mixed with something almost aggrieved.
Liu Qianxiu’s voice remained calm.
“Are you eating alone?”
“Mm.”
Mu Wan frowned.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Do you want to come with me?”
Mu Wan froze.
Her pupils widened slightly.
All the irritation inside her had felt like a mass of cotton candy expanding in the heat.
One quiet question from Liu Qianxiu dissolved it completely.
Sweet.
Gone without a trace.
“I can come?”
Her voice had already softened.
“Mm.”
Liu Qianxiu’s answer was simple.
Then he said,
“I’ll take you.”
Mu Wan smiled.
“Okay.”
— End of Chapter 13 —
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