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Chapter 13

I’m afraid you’ll burn yourself.

“I won’t get hurt. I already guessed his family background is good, not just a little good,” Chu Zhixia smiled, completely unconcerned, finding it ridiculous.

“Then why are you still—”

“I’m not marrying him, so I don’t have to get through his parents, right? It’s just dating. Do parents still interfere?”

—I’m afraid you’ll burn yourself. Playing with someone you shouldn’t.

But Zhou Haoying looked at her carefree, happily taking pictures of flowers with her phone, and chose not to disturb her mood.

She used to be the best host and should be able to handle this kind of relationship.

“Alright, hurry up and practice. Did you buy your ticket? Driving or taking the high-speed train? Hotel booked? Hurry up, sis. You’re not thinking about a second round, are you?”

“Don’t jinx me!”

After that day, the last few days before the exam flew by.

She finally chose the erhu as an additional test instrument. She thought Dr. Shen was right—her image, her performances, the songs she sang, and the dances she danced were all quite artistic. Piano or guitar would be more expected choices with many other candidates selecting them. Erhu was a bit of a contrast, unexpected.

She also picked a rather lively piece, “Horse Racing,” grand and vigorous.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the final schedule of the root canal treatment.

In these days, Chu Zhixia did not message Shen Qingshi, nor did she explain much about what happened that day.

First, because he really didn’t seem angry, explaining too much would only make it seem problematic. Second, Chu Zhixia was a little emotional herself—he wasn’t upset by Zhou Haoying’s messy remarks, which reassured her; but since he wasn’t angry at all, she found it hard to feel happy.

Was he… completely indifferent?

“New lover,” “three-minute enthusiasm”—didn’t he want to ask?

No doubts or displeasure?

Hadn’t they… held hands? Fingers intertwined, more than once.

Or was it just holding hands?

A moment of impulse, nothing serious.

No matter how much Zhou Haoying said his family was prestigious, Chu Zhixia felt Dr. Shen was pretty innocent about these things.

He probably didn’t have much romantic experience. Or maybe none at all.

But…

Forget it.

Chu Zhixia was a bit confused herself.

Because she couldn’t figure it out, she didn’t want to overthink and affect her exam now. So she chose not to do or say anything—pretending it never happened.

But the 24th was the last scheduled treatment day, so she had to go.

Only two days left before the retest, and she had to arrive at the exam location a day early. Chu Zhixia wasn’t in the mood to dress up, just wore her usual black T-shirt and pants for practice, tied her hair in a ponytail, and went.

Because two sessions were combined into one in the afternoon, there were many patients.

When her number was called, the patient ahead was still finishing, asking detailed questions about a surgery—micro-apical surgery.

Chu Zhixia didn’t want to enter and sit, so she stood a little further away holding her bag.

The patient was a young woman, seemingly just graduated—a round face, big eyes, fluttering lashes, very innocent. Even from afar, Chu Zhixia could see her blushing face, shy posture, and her deliberately prolonged, stammering questions—wanting to talk more with Shen Qingshi.

The young girl’s bashful admiration was unmistakable.

If Chu Zhixia could tell from afar, Shen Qingshi, who was so smart, must have noticed long ago.

Still, he maintained excellent manners and patience, answering all her trivial questions without any irritation.

Chu Zhixia watched quietly, fingers slowly gripping her bag strap, starting to understand.

Maybe in his eyes, she was the same.

What could be done?

So many years of upbringing and etiquette meant he couldn’t embarrass a girl in public, especially a patient.

Chu Zhixia realized her performance that day was very compelling—after all, it was her specialty, and all her actions were deliberately teasing him.

She was secretly seducing him.

He had no emotional experience, was pure and clean, and wasn’t in this profession. Being momentarily confused and charmed wasn’t impossible.

Besides, they’d only held hands, and even that had its reasons.

Finally, the young girl reluctantly left, glancing back several times before softly saying, “If there’s anything, I’ll find you.”

Shen Qingshi responded once and continued writing the medical records.

Chu Zhixia coughed a few times, tossed her bag on the desk corner, and sat on the dental chair.

Shen Qingshi had already noticed she arrived; after finishing the records, he turned and looked at her.

“What’s wrong? Bad mood?”

He was still calm and gentle, like a doctor, handing her a disposable bib and filling her paper cup with water.

“None of your business,” Chu Zhixia snapped lightly while tying the bib.

Her short sentence had three sharp edges. Shen Qingshi looked at her with his dark, quiet eyes, lowered his eyelids, and said no more, slowly arranging his tools.

Had she… snapped at him?

Lying back, Chu Zhixia stared at the ceiling, a bit surprised.

She wasn’t exactly easy-tempered. Young, beautiful girls without a temper were dangerous—they’d be bullied to death.

But a fierce beauty… still so perfectly outstanding and gentle in temper.

Chu Zhixia didn’t expect that.

Whatever. She was just in a bad mood.

Exams were stressful.

Bad mood or not, she didn’t affect Shen Qingshi’s work.

This was the last dental visit. The root canal cleaning last time ended late, so she also took time to get imaging done to confirm everything was fine.

Shen Qingshi had already reviewed the images and now checked them again on the computer before the final examination.

They had agreed earlier that Chu Zhixia’s tooth damage was minor; the remaining tooth could fully support. It wasn’t a front tooth prone to chipping. She didn’t want a crown or to have her teeth shaved smaller.

Shen Qingshi was highly skilled. The root canal was precise, with rare follow-up problems, and recommended observation first.

So the treatment was quite quick, finishing smoothly in about half an hour.

During the procedure, Chu Zhixia purposely didn’t look at him.

Didn’t want to.

Afraid that looking into his beautiful, deep, quiet eyes—like a mysterious deep pool—would disturb her emotions.

Shen Qingshi was as gentle and patient with patients as always, but Chu Zhixia felt he was a little too patient today, moving carefully and delicately, like handling a piece of art.

His long, strong hands were terrifyingly steady.

His downward, focused gaze was calm and serene.

The more she didn’t want to look, the more she wanted to.

Once their eyes met, Chu Zhixia pressed her lips together, quickly looking away.

His hand paused slightly, as if distracted. She felt a very slight moment of discomfort but quickly recovered.

After everything was done, Chu Zhixia sat up, removed the bib and threw it in the trash, then folded her arms and sat on the light blue chair.

“So it’s all done, right? No need to come again?”

“Yeah.”

Shen Qingshi dragged his chair to the computer to write the final record.

Afternoon was the busiest time, with many patients.

Chu Zhixia watched his lean and upright back, fiddled with her long hair, and didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t even know what was wrong with her today.

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Suddenly, she thought again about what Zhou Haoying said that day.

Maybe Zhou Haoying was really overthinking. She hadn’t actually stirred anything up, let alone talked about love or marriage.

Someone like him must be surrounded by many rich heiresses and wealthy beauties.

In his eyes, she was probably no different from that girl just now—at most, a bit bolder and more troublesome.

She felt a little disheartened.

And admitted her own failure.

Anyway, the retest would start in two days. Just three more days of waiting, and everything would be over.

It was time to end it.

It had only been a trivial amusement on the boring exam journey.

Thinking this, Chu Zhixia felt somewhat sad. She let her fingers drop from her hair ends and saw he was still writing the last part of the medical record, the date, with his back to her.

She got up from the chair and picked up her bag beside her.

“Dr. Shen, I’m leaving now.”

—She was still very grateful to him.

Whether for dental treatment or the English and professional retest, he had helped a lot, and it was quite enjoyable.

She sniffled, not letting herself look at him again, and walked straight out. But out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but catch sight of his pale, slender fingers as he took off his gloves and tapped the keyboard, as if hesitating for a moment.

He slightly turned his body, as if wanting to say something, but the next patient rushed in hastily.

Chu Zhixia saw the waiting area was full of people, no seats left.

She didn’t notice when he called the next patient.

She shrugged lightly and made a casual “bye-bye” gesture.

She didn’t look back but felt certain he could see it.

…

After leaving the hospital, Chu Zhixia stood there feeling melancholic for a while.

Maybe because it was Monday, patients came and went at the entrance. The security guards maintained order, and she didn’t want to block anyone, so she went to the parking lot to drive.

She had no time to be sad. The 28th was the retest date. The schedule and classroom assignments were already out on the app today. The retest group chat was buzzing, everyone asking which entrance to enter from.

Chu Zhixia glanced down at her phone, started the car.

She wasn’t eighteen anymore, and the exam was coming soon; there was no time for youthful pain.

Youthful pain…

Damn it.

Chu Zhixia cursed silently in her heart. It had already been over five hours since she got home, almost nine at night, but she still hadn’t studied.

She had realized the problem earlier and started packing various study materials.

But after packing, it was still meaningless.

Forget it.

If she didn’t fight with others, she’d fight with herself.

Chu Zhixia bit her lip and took out her phone.

[Are you off work yet?]

[Why haven’t you messaged me?]

[What did you mean that day? Shouldn’t you have asked me a few questions?]

[And what about today?]

[You even hurt me today!!!]

After sending a bunch of green messages, she scrolled up and saw his last one was [I’ll come over later], recalling how he hurried over in the rain late that night, and felt a little guilty.

She also hadn’t messaged him since that day.

Forget it.

[I’m going to take the exam now. Thanks for everything during this time.]

[People in our field tend to lose their minds sometimes. I’m deleting you now. I think your skills are so good, you don’t need to decide whether to get a crown or not.]

[OKKKK, I’m the Joker in the deck; I’m the busiest in Gotham City.]

Still crazy…

Chu Zhixia still felt frustrated but couldn’t bring herself to delete him. As she hesitated between sending an apology or just deleting, the screen showed he was typing…

Her breath froze. She never expected him to reply.

With his upbringing, he would probably ignore such rude craziness.

Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long. Soon a very clear, concise, and firm message appeared:

[Open the door.]