Chapter 7: Director Qi, Your Chance Has Come  

“…A girl’s fingers are truly soft.”  

Qi Xiaochen’s fingers curled slightly as he turned his hand to grasp hers, averting his gaze to stare at their joined palms. His lips moved, but no words came out.  

Having lived this long, it was his first time being so intimately close to a woman he had just met—even if it was out of her sense of responsibility toward him.  

Dressed in light-colored short-sleeved pajamas, his sharp yet gentle brows framed narrow eyes that shimmered like a flowing spring, exuding warmth that felt like a soothing breeze.  

An aura of tranquility surrounded him, slowly permeating the air of the bedroom.  

*Click*, *click*—he secretly snapped two photos of their clasped hands and sent them to Dean Qin via WeChat.  

Right in front of the young woman, he began teasing the dean from afar.  

**Director Qi:** *”See this? This is the treatment your hospital’s Dr. Song gives. Had I known the perks of getting surgery at your place were this good, you should’ve told me sooner.”*  

**Dean Qin:** *”No way? Dr. Song never even spares a glance at other men—she’s always been so reserved. How is she holding onto your paw?!”*  

**Director Qi:** *”Maybe it’s just my charm? Oh, and she seems to be breaking up with her boyfriend?”*  

**Dean Qin:** *”Seriously? Damn! Old Qi, your chance has come.”* He replied half-jokingly.  

**Director Qi:** *”Help me out!”*  

**Dean Qin:** *”And how will you thank me if this works?”* He added a doge meme.  

**Director Qi:** *”After decades of friendship, you’re still so particular? Fine, I’ll send you a wedding invitation—plus a wedding gift invitation.”*  

**Dean Qin:** *”I’ll think about it.”* He replied with a sly grin emoji.  

While subtly bantering with his old classmate, Qi Xiaochen couldn’t help but glance at their joined hands, his Adam’s apple bobbing involuntarily.  

At this moment, his heartbeat quickened, as if ignited by the woman before him.  

The older man’s faintly peculiar glances went completely unnoticed by Song Ziwan, who lowered her head and pretended to fiddle with her phone.  

Her boyfriend, Zhou Xuyan, kept bombarding her with endless calls, and before that could settle, Miss Zhu from the hospital front desk called.  

Since it was a hospital call, she didn’t need to avoid the patient. Assuming it was work-related, Song Ziwan had a sudden idea—if it was urgent, she could use it as an excuse to leave.  

“It’s the hospital calling. You don’t mind if I take it here?” She pressed the answer button, lifting her gaze to the man reclining against the soft pillows on the bed.  

Qi Xiaochen’s handsome features carried an air of refined politeness, his gentle expression making him seem effortlessly approachable.  

He nodded with a smile, signaling it was fine.  

The moment Dr. Song, seated by the bed, uttered a *”Hello?”*—Miss Zhu’s sharp, irritated voice echoed through the entire bedroom.  

“Dr. Song, a Mr. Zhou says he has something extremely urgent to discuss with you. I told him you’re on extramural service today, but he won’t believe me. You talk to him yourself.”  

Song Ziwan’s earlier languidness vanished the instant she processed Miss Zhu’s words, her upper body straightening abruptly.  

Before she could refuse, her boyfriend Zhou Xuyan’s frantic voice traveled through the phone line—straight into Director Qi’s home.

“Ziwan, where are you? I’ll come find you! We’ve known each other for seven years—don’t you understand my personality by now? My family might have gone too far, but I didn’t follow their arrangements. Can we meet? Don’t avoid me!”

Song Ziwan’s clear, enchanting eyes slowly lifted, unexpectedly meeting the cold gaze of the older man. Their eyes locked for a brief moment before she quickly averted hers, lowering her voice. “I’m not at the hospital. I have extramural service duties this afternoon.”

“You’re lying! I checked the surgery schedule two days ago—you’re supposed to be at the hospital this afternoon!” Zhou Xuyan, having waited half the day without seeing his girlfriend, sounded irritated. “If you’re not at the hospital, send me your location. I’ll come pick you up right now.”

“Even if I sent you the location, you probably wouldn’t be able to get in!” Song Ziwan scoffed.

“Send it! There’s nowhere Zhou Xuyan can’t get into. Share your location—I’m coming to find you now!”

Before her boyfriend could finish, Song Ziwan quickly hung up.

Had she known it was him calling, she wouldn’t have answered in front of a patient. Pressing a hand to her slightly flushed cheek, she stared at her phone, realizing she might have just polluted Director Qi’s ears.

“What’s wrong? Fighting with your boyfriend? If he wants my address, just send it.” Qi Xiaochen raised a brow, leaning slightly closer before adding, “His voice sounds familiar. What’s his name?”

Though he had already recognized who it was, he feigned ignorance, inwardly surprised that this beautiful surgeon was actually the girlfriend of the Zhou family’s son.

Song Ziwan fixed her almond-shaped eyes on him.

Men of his status were far from righteous—scheming and ruthless, nothing like the straightforward Zhou Xuyan could handle.

Her expression remained indifferent. “You don’t know him. No need to learn his name.”

The next moment, she released the older man’s hand and stood up to use the restroom.

When she returned to the bedroom, she carried a copy of *Party Member Digest* and the little whale cushion from the living room sofa tucked under her arm.

The camp bed prepared for her finally came in handy. Nestling the little whale cushion, she half-reclined on it and flipped through the magazine.

Her phone, long silenced, lay forgotten on the small table behind her.

Qi Xiaochen, propped against the headboard, watched as her phone screen lit up repeatedly—either from calls or messages.

Even after his IV drip finished, she didn’t glance back at it once.

“Cold as ice,” he mused to himself.

Even if they were breaking up, she should at least give the guy a proper explanation.

Later that night, Qi Xiaochen went to the bathroom again. Before he even stepped out, he called, “Did I tear my stitches? I heard a *snap*—it hurts!”

Song Ziwan stood outside the bathroom door, watching as the man emerged slowly and cautiously.

She crossed her arms, a faint smirk playing on her lips. “Tore your balls?”

“Tsk! You’ve got quite the mouth on you.”

It was common for men to be captivated by beauty, but a woman as aloof and sharp-tongued as her was a first for Qi Xiaochen.

Obediently lying back on the bed, he let her pull down his underwear.

Under the light of her phone’s flashlight, she inspected the wound—the self-adhesive skin closure had indeed snapped.

“How on earth did you manage to pull it off? Seems the paper skin closure is still too fragile for you. Wait a moment, I’ll replace it with a plastic skin closure for you.”  

Qi Xiaochen lay flat on his back on his own bed, the corners of his lips curling upward as his gaze leisurely drifted over Doctor Song’s attractive profile.  

Having undergone this private reconstructive surgery, he had little privacy left—his body had been examined repeatedly by this woman.  

At the hospital, she had worn disposable latex gloves.  

But now, as she replaced the suture strip on his wound, she was doing it barehanded…  

Her fingers inevitably brushed against his ‘lively dragon and tiger’!  

A strange emotion surged in his chest.  

Perhaps he was getting a bit carried away, but just as his eyes half-lidded, he heard the rogue female doctor let out a cold, mocking remark between her lips:  

“I’m just changing your suture strip, and you’re already having a physiological reaction?!”