Chapter 9.1 Spending Your Birthday Together Tomorrow Night

To her surprise, Min Ting remembered her birthday.

Her birthday was July 23rd—just four days away, and she’d finally get to see him again.

It was strange, really. Beyond knowing the basics about each other, they barely knew anything else. She didn’t even know where he lived. The two of them were practically strangers, yet being with him always felt effortless.

The day before her birthday, July 22nd, an uninvited guest showed up at her office.

Unfortunately for him, she was in the operating room at the time.

“Hello, is Dr. Shi here?”

Jiang Yang had been gulping down water with his back to the door after a busy morning of running around. Hearing the question, he turned slowly, cup still at his lips.

Sizing up the visitor, his eyes narrowed slightly as he recognized the man—it was a relative of Mr. Shao in Bed 57. Jiang Yang had seen him in the ward before.

Jiang Yang wasn’t fond of the family of Bed 57, but he still maintained politeness. “Dr. Shi is in surgery. If there’s something urgent, you can tell me.”

“When will she be out of surgery?”

“That’s hard to say.”

The man glanced at the gift in his hand and hesitated for a moment. “I’ll wait for her.”

Then he asked Jiang Yang which desk belonged to Shi Miao.

Jiang Yang pointed to the desk on the left. “That one.”

The man thanked him, walked over, placed the gift bag on the desk, and casually sat down. He stretched his long legs wide and leaned back in the chair, scrolling through his phone.

Jiang Yang’s desk was diagonally opposite Shi Miao’s, so he could see the logo on the box inside the plain paper bag clearly.

It was luxury—extravagant, even.

He’d heard rumors during his rotations about family members pursuing Shi Miao, and they always went all out.

Of course, they never succeeded.

“Dr. Shi is married,” Jiang Yang added, almost as a warning.

The man looked up. “I know.”

Jiang Yang: “…”

Clearly, this one was determined to persist.

The man waited two whole hours, frequently glancing at his watch.

Shi Miao finally finished at 2:50 p.m. The cafeteria was out of food, and the delivery she’d ordered hadn’t arrived yet, so a colleague gave her an apple to tide her over.

As she walked into the office, eating the apple, she noticed a man sitting at her desk, watching something on his phone. She stopped in her tracks.

Sensing her gaze, the man looked up sharply.

“Tomorrow’s your birthday,” he said, standing as he pointed to the gift on her desk.

Other doctors, along with patients and their families, were also present in the office, so it wasn’t the right place to talk.

Shi Miao said, “Let’s talk outside. Bring the gift.”

She turned and headed toward the end of the hallway, and the man followed her with his long strides.

He carried the gift bag, walking beside her, but she made no effort to start a conversation.

“You deleted Ye Sangyu?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.

Shi Miao calmly chewed her apple and gave an indifferent “Mm.”

The man waited for her to elaborate, but when they reached the window at the end of the hall, she still hadn’t said anything more.

She stood with one hand in her pocket, nibbling on her apple as she stared out the window.

The man fell silent, too, worried that he might be the next one she deleted.

His mother had mentioned that Shi Miao hadn’t visited their house for over six months, always claiming she was busy. But even if she was busy, she should’ve had time for one meal, yet she’d grown distant from all of them.

Last night, he learned about her deleting Ye Sangyu.

All three siblings had been home when Ye Xicun prepared a birthday gift for Shi Miao. When Ye Sangyu saw it in the living room, she thought it was for her and tried to open it.

Ye Xicun stopped her, explaining it was for Shi Miao’s birthday.

Ye Sangyu reacted strongly, saying Shi Miao had deleted her on WeChat, so why bother giving her a gift? Then, in a moment of carelessness, she let slip that Shi Miao had once had a crush on Ye Xicun.

Both Ye Xicun and Ye Shuo were stunned.

Thankfully, their parents weren’t home.

Ye Xicun had only asked one question: “When did this happen?”

Ye Sangyu, realizing her mistake, tried to brush it off. “I made that up.”

But Ye Xicun just stared at her, unrelenting.

In the end, she confessed everything.

Originally, Ye Xicun had planned to deliver the gift himself, but later that night, he knocked on Ye Shuo’s door and handed it over to him instead.

Perhaps he wasn’t sure how to face Shi Miao after the revelation.

Or perhaps he felt it was inappropriate to meet her alone anymore, knowing it might only cause her pain.

Ye Shuo handed her the bag. “The gift underneath is from my brother. The one on top is from me.”

Shi Miao didn’t take it. “Didn’t we agree not to exchange gifts anymore for birthdays?”

That had been the arrangement for years, and everyone had stuck to it.

“You’re the chief resident this year,” Ye Shuo said.

It was both a token of encouragement and a gesture of congratulations for her moving closer to becoming an attending physician.

Shi Miao replied, “I appreciate the thought, but such an expensive gift would require me to reciprocate. My salary isn’t high enough—I’d have to save for a year just to afford something comparable.”

“…Sis.”

“I know this sounds blunt, but it’s the truth.”

Her phone vibrated in her pocket—a message from a colleague letting her know her delivery had arrived.

“You can head back now. I need to eat,” she said.

In the past, she might’ve taken the gift out of consideration for their feelings and status, even if she didn’t want it.

But not anymore.

She wouldn’t put herself in such a position again.

Ye Shuo watched her walk back into the office before lingering by the window for a moment longer.

That evening, Shi Miao received a call from Uncle Chen, the driver

Uncle Chen asked if she was available, explaining that Min Ting had bought something and asked him to deliver it.

Shi Miao instinctively asked, “Min Ting’s back? He’s too busy to come himself?”

“He should be at the office,” Chen replied. “He’ll probably come over after he finishes work, but I can’t say for sure. I’m just here to deliver what he bought.”

Shi Miao didn’t press further. “I’m available. Call me when you’re downstairs, and I’ll come down to get it.”

Chen glanced at the contents of the van and said, “No need to come down—you won’t be able to carry it all. I’ve brought some workers to help.”

Shi Miao paused. “…The security guards might not let you bring large items upstairs.”

“Don’t worry,” Chen reassured her. “Min Ting already got permission from the hospital.”

Shi Miao: “…”

She couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of gift required hospital approval.