Chapter 22 I have known him for a long time, why did she come later and get ahead of me?

Zheng Xuan stared at Gu Rongqing tightly holding Ruan Xiangxiang’s hand, and it felt like a thorn had pierced her eyes. She fixated on those two clasped hands, her heart pounding furiously and her mouth going dry. She needed Gu Rongqing to give her an explanation—why?

“Dr. Zheng, hello. This is my wife, her name is Ruan Xiangxiang. Oh, and as I’ve said many times, please address me by my full name.” Gu Rongqing introduced them with a calm face and steady voice, completely unbothered. He had always refused to let Zheng Xuan call him so intimately, especially since they weren’t even close as coworkers. Then, turning to Ruan Xiangxiang with eyes full of tenderness, he added, “This is Dr. Zheng.”

Ruan Xiangxiang gave a radiant smile and nodded politely. “Hello, Dr. Zheng. I’m Gu Rongqing’s wife, Ruan Xiangxiang.”

“Hello, I’m Rongqing’s attending physician,” Zheng Xuan quickly collected her expression, shot a quick glance at Ruan Xiangxiang, and gave a breezy greeting. Then she turned back to Gu Rongqing with a smile and said, “Rongqing, honestly, what could be more important than your health? You missed another check-up. The director even asked me about your condition today. Come in tomorrow, I’ll give you a thorough examination.” As she finished, she gave Ruan Xiangxiang a subtle glance, her eyes carrying a sense of superiority.

“Oh? Hubby, didn’t know Dr. Zheng was so concerned about your health,” Ruan Xiangxiang said with a smile, while simultaneously pinching Gu Rongqing hard in the palm of his hand.

Gu Rongqing winced in pain, frowned, and turned to Zheng Xuan. “I was just about to tell you: from now on, Dr. Xiao Deng will be handling my medical checkups. I’ll inform the higher-ups later. Anyway, my wife’s hungry. We won’t keep chatting.” With that, he took Ruan Xiangxiang by the hand and strode off.

Zheng Xuan was stunned. What did Gu Rongqing mean by that? What did he mean by giving his checkups to Dr. Xiao Deng? No! She had been handling that for so long—how could he just hand it over?

“Xuanxuan, what’s going on? What happened between you and Captain Gu? How does he suddenly have a wife?” a girl beside Zheng Xuan finally spoke. This was Qi Xiangwei, Zheng Xuan’s childhood friend. They had grown up together with similar family backgrounds and now both worked at the military hospital. Their bond was even stronger.

As Zheng Xuan’s best friend, Qi Xiangwei had always known that Zheng Xuan had feelings for Gu Rongqing. Especially the last time he was injured on a mission—Zheng Xuan had cried for days out of worry. Later, she even begged her father to have her assigned as Gu Rongqing’s attending physician. She had taken great care of him all this time, and everyone around them basically assumed the two were a couple.

Even her father was aware of their “relationship” and had no objections to Gu Rongqing being from a rural background. On the contrary, he thought highly of him. His intention was to wait until Gu Rongqing got promoted again, and then the two could go public. By then, even the Zheng family wouldn’t object to his origins.

But now? Today, Gu Rongqing suddenly brought back a woman! And had the audacity to walk around the base holding hands, while that woman shamelessly called him “hubby”? No shame at all!

Qi Xiangwei glared furiously at Ruan Xiangxiang’s retreating figure.
“Xuanxuan, this is too much. Let’s go home first and talk.”

Zheng Xuan’s face was pale, and tears were on the brink. “Weiwei, I feel awful…”

“Don’t be upset. Let’s go find someone and figure out what happened. You and Captain Gu were fine before—this must be a misunderstanding. I heard Lu Hang went on leave with him this time. Let’s go ask Lu Hang what really happened. This is just too much!”

“Yes, yes, let’s find Lu Hang and ask.” Only then did Zheng Xuan remember that last time someone had said Lu Hang had taken leave with Gu Rongqing.

Just as the two were about to find Lu Hang, they saw him strolling out of the canteen, hands in his pockets, humming a tune, looking quite relaxed.

“Lu Hang! Come here, we have something to ask you!” Qi Xiangwei hurried over and called out to him.

“What’s up, Dr. Qi? Dr. Zheng, you’re here too. Have you eaten yet?” Lu Hang greeted them politely. Qi Xiangwei and Zheng Xuan were well-known as the “doctor duo” in the military hospital and were very respected—Lu Hang was naturally courteous.

“Lu Hang, quickly tell us—why does Captain Gu suddenly have a wife? He was on leave, right? What happened?” Qi Xiangwei asked anxiously.

“Oh, that? Haha, you’re asking the right person! I personally accompanied Captain Gu home to get married.” Lu Hang brightened up as he talked about it.

“What? You accompanied him home for a wedding?” Zheng Xuan felt like she had been struck by lightning. Her ears buzzed.

“When did he even have a girlfriend? What’s that woman’s background?” She really couldn’t accept it.

“Hehe, Dr. Zheng, you wouldn’t know. Captain Gu’s mom found the match for him back in his hometown. The girl is from Shendu and used to work in a textile factory. Auntie Gu asked Captain Gu to go home and have a look, and wouldn’t you know it, our ice-cold captain fell for her at first sight. And she liked him too. They’re the perfect match—talented man and beautiful woman. So they got married. You saw them just now in the canteen, right? Don’t they look great together?”

“Gosh, you wouldn’t believe it—our usually stoic captain is all lovey-dovey now. I got force-fed so much PDA on that trip, I could barely take it! Never expected him to be so good at pampering his wife.”

“That’s enough!” Zheng Xuan covered her ears. She couldn’t take another word.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough from you. You really have no awareness.” Qi Xiangwei glared hard at Lu Hang.

Couldn’t he see that Zheng Xuan was hurting? And he was still going on and on, talking about how perfectly matched they were? What crap! That woman, Ruan Xiangxiang, looked so weird! Especially those water-blue eyes—if this were a few years ago, someone might have accused her of consorting with foreigners!

Lu Hang: …??

Wait, weren’t you the ones who asked me all these questions? Now you’re mad?

The two stormed off in a huff. Outside the military base, Zheng Xuan could no longer hold back. She broke down and cried.

“Weiwei, did you hear that? It was his family who matched him with her. He definitely doesn’t love that woman. I believe Rongqing was forced into it,” Zheng Xuan sobbed.

“Yes, yes, you’re right! Look at that woman, such a strange-looking face, especially those eyes—they’re creepy. Captain Gu must’ve been pressured by his family,” Qi Xiangwei agreed.

“I’ve known him for so long—why should she get him just because she came later?” Zheng Xuan clenched her fists.
She was determined to win back the man she had set her heart on!