Chapter 16: Add Fuel to the Fire

“What do you want to eat later?” Tang Xiaohe asked as she helped Lin Xiang put away his things.

“Let’s order takeout. I’m too tired, and I still have to report to the hospital this afternoon.” Lin Xiang had already collapsed onto the sofa.

Tang Xiaohe disapproved. “How could we just eat takeout? You rarely come over. If your sister finds out I fed you with just takeout, she’ll definitely hold it against me.”

“But I really don’t want to go out. How about you cook?”

Tang Xiaohe fell silent for a long time. “Let’s just order takeout.”

Come on, she could cook—she just feared she’d end up sending Lin Xiang straight to the hospital, not as a resident trainee, but as a patient.

She scrolled on her phone for a while and finally ordered from the chicken hot pot place Ji Yanli had recommended last time.

The food arrived quickly.

Tang Xiaohe took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and handed it to Lin Xiang.

Lin Xiang was already sniffling from the spice. He took it and drank a big gulp. “Sss—so spicy! So spicy! Xiaohe-jie, do you eat this stuff every day?”

Tang Xiaohe nodded.

“If you ask me, you should learn how to cook. Or get a boyfriend who knows how to cook. Eating takeout every day is really unhealthy.”

Tang Xiaohe couldn’t help but think of Ji Yanli. Could he cook?
But their relationship was still in the ambiguous stage. She wanted to move it forward but didn’t know how.

Tang Xiaohe felt a little troubled.

“Lin Xiang, if a girl likes you and you also kind of like her, what would you do?” she asked tentatively.

She wasn’t sure what Ji Yanli was thinking, so she wanted to get some insight from Lin Xiang, who was also a guy.

“Who do you like?” Lin Xiang was very sharp.

“It’s not me—it’s a friend of mine,” Tang Xiaohe quickly shook her head and denied it.

This kid’s too smart. Never underestimate a medical student’s IQ and EQ!

Lin Xiang didn’t expose her obvious lie and played along. “Alright, so who does your friend like?”

“Someone she interacts with both at work and in life.”

“And what does your friend want?” Lin Xiang, although he hadn’t dated many girls, had lots of female friends and was often teased as “a friend of all women.”

Tang Xiaohe thought carefully and slowly said, “She wants to define the relationship, but also wants the guy to be the one to bring it up first.”

Lin Xiang raised his eyebrows. In his impression, Tang Xiaohe had always been the type to decisively go after what she wanted. Since when did she become so hesitant and wishy-washy?
So, it’s true liking someone can really make you uncertain and cautious.

Lin Xiang mused, “If it were me, I’d just say it straight. If we can be together, great—make the most of the time and be sweet together. If we can’t, then we’re just not meant to be. Move on!”

Tang Xiaohe suddenly felt enlightened. Right! It’s such a simple truth!

“But… how do you express your feelings without making it awkward?”

“That’s easy! Just have a drink—”

“It’s not me, it’s my friend,” Tang Xiaohe stubbornly insisted.

“Alright, alright. Then let your friend drink and pretend to be drunk. If the confession fails, just say it was the alcohol talking!” Lin Xiang began enthusiastically sharing his tips. “Or, you—oops, I mean your friend—should provoke the guy a bit. Push him, make him a little jealous, and he’ll probably confess on his own!”

Tang Xiaohe’s eyes lit up. That’s a great idea!

Thinking back to Ji Yanli’s cold reaction in the elevator earlier, Tang Xiaohe figured—he was definitely jealous.

So, she decided to add a little more fuel to the fire.

After a brief moment of thought, an idea had already formed in her mind.

She got up, went to the fridge, pulled out some chilled watermelon, dragon fruit, and oranges, and quickly prepared a fruit platter. Smiling sweetly, she brought it over to Lin Xiang.
Lin Xiang got goosebumps from her sudden kindness. “Spit it out—what do you want?”

“Zhao Taohua wants to go out. Let’s take her for a walk in the neighborhood.”

Tang Xiaohe’s idea was simple: she wanted to parade Lin Xiang around in front of Ji Yanli a few more times. Maybe that would be enough to push him into finally confessing to her.

Lin Xiang looked at her like she was nuts. “Are you crazy? Walking the dog at noon?!”

What kind of attitude is that?

Tang Xiaohe, needing a favor, didn’t argue with him. “I don’t want to either, but Zhao Taohua really wants to go out.”

They both turned to look at Zhao Taohua. The little dog blinked her big, innocent eyes and looked around cutely.

“See? She clearly wants to go out. Don’t you, Zhao Taohua?” Tang Xiaohe patted her head, and Zhao Taohua let out a cooperative “woof.”

So, two people and one dog appeared downstairs.

They wandered around the neighborhood for half an hour. Zhao Taohua was panting from the heat, and Lin Xiang couldn’t take it anymore. “That’s it, it’s too hot. We’ve walked long enough—let’s go back!”

Tang Xiaohe was a little disappointed. They hadn’t even seen a shadow of Ji Yanli. They’d spent all this time out in the blistering sun for nothing. Still, she wasn’t quite ready to give up. “One more lap.”

Lin Xiang looked up to the heavens in silent protest. What had gotten into Tang Xiaohe?

He didn’t dare argue or ask, afraid that Lin Jing and Tang Xiaohe would gang up on him later. So, he just silently followed along with her madness.

Tang Xiaohe looked around again, confirming for the umpteenth time that Ji Yanli hadn’t come out. She finally drooped, defeated and frustrated. Lin Xiang would be leaving that afternoon—when would she have another chance to make Ji Yanli jealous?

What she didn’t know was that, on the 20th floor, in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, Ji Yanli had just taken a shower. As he stuffed his dirty clothes into the washing machine on the balcony, he looked up—and happened to see two figures down on the walking path.

Though they were far away, he recognized them by their general build and clothing—it was Tang Xiaohe and Lin Xiang, dressed exactly the same as they had been earlier in the elevator.

Ji Yanli’s eyes darkened slightly.

Lin Xiang had crouched down, refusing to walk any farther. Tang Xiaohe tried to pull him up, but Lin Xiang stood his ground, like an immovable rock—resolute in every direction, unmoved by wind from the north, south, east, or west. In the end, she had no choice but to pick up Zhao Taohua and head back with him.

Their figures disappeared into the entrance of the building.

Ji Yanli lowered the electric blinds. The post-shower calm he had just achieved instantly vanished, replaced by a restless frustration. He sat on the sofa and took a big gulp of ice water, trying to suppress his irritation.

Ding dong—his phone chimed with a message. He picked it up quickly, but it turned out to be from Fang Yun.

“Officer Ji, are you free this weekend to go shopping with me?”

Ji Yanli rubbed his temples, feeling even more annoyed. Shopping? Did he look like someone who enjoyed shopping?

He had just put his phone down when—ding dong—another message came in.

Was this never going to end?

Ji Yanli resisted the urge to block her and opened the message.

This time, it was from his mother.

“Yanli, how have you been lately? Come home for a meal when you have time.”

Every time his mother asked him home for dinner, there was always one underlying theme: pushing him to find a girlfriend.

Ji Yanli was about to type out “I’m busy,” but then his eyes suddenly lit up with an idea…