Chen Zhao didn’t know why, but seeing this message caused a sudden, unexplainable tightness in his rear end.
He shook his head, trying hard to ignore the strange sensation.
Wanwan: 【I’m sorry, Brother, I was wrong (cat crying emoji)】
Wanwan: 【It won’t happen again!】
Seeing the girl’s reply, Qin Er pulled at the corner of his mouth.
“Qin Er, what are you smiling at?” Shen Muxin looked up from his computer screen and was deeply shocked to find Qin Er actually smiling.
In all the time he had known Qin Er, he had never seen him smile.
Qin Er pressed his lips back down into a flat line. “Was I?”
“Definitely!” Shen Muxin walked over, eager for gossip. “In a relationship?”
Qin Er kept his eyes fixed on the computer screen. “No.”
Shen Muxin: “Then something is definitely up!”
Qin Er: ?
Seeing Qin Er’s reaction, Shen Muxin was even more astonished. “Qin Er, don’t tell me this ancient ironwood tree of yours is finally going to bloom?”
Qin Er calmly typed away. “If you have nothing to do, go do another round of ward visits.”
“…Do you have to be such a demon? Though, I really am curious,” Shen Muxin sneaked closer, lowering his voice. “You’ve been single for so many years, how do you deal with that desire?”
Qin Er: ?
Qin Er: “It’s not necessary.”
Shen Muxin: “Not necessary? Don’t tell me you… can’t perform?!”
Qin Er: ?
Qin Er handed him the shift hand-off folder. “Do your duty well. I’m off the clock.”
“Hey!” Shen Muxin tried to call after him, but Qin Er had already grabbed his coat and stepped into the elevator.
He hadn’t been lying just now. All along, he had devoted his entire heart and mind to medicine, and he had never viewed sex as a necessity.
To him, it was optional. Whenever he occasionally needed it, he just handled it himself.
Qin Er felt that he had no need for superficial levels of pleasure.
During the midday clock-out rush, the elevator stopped at every single floor, with people stepping in and out.
The lunch break was short, and most of his colleagues went to the staff cafeteria to eat. However, Qin Er was a germaphobe who couldn’t bring himself to share eating utensils with others, so he drove home instead.
His morning had been relentless, rounds, issuing medical orders, and performing several pleural and lumbar punctures almost without pause.
Once home, Qin Er stepped into the bathroom to take a quick shower, washing away the lingering smell of formalin.
He then went to the kitchen and cooked two simple dishes. Just as he sat down to eat, as if following a meticulously designed divine program, a message arrived from Chen Wan.
Wanwan: 【Brother, what are you having for lunch?】
Seeing this, Qin Er set down his chopsticks and took a photo for the girl. It wasn’t until after he pressed send that he realized he had done something he would never normally do. He wanted to recall the message, but she had already seen it.
Wanwan: 【Brother’s lunch is so simple, my heart hurts for you~ (cat crying emoji)】
Heart hurts.
Looking at those words, an indefinable emotion flickered through Qin Er’s chest.
QE: 【Don’t play on your phone while eating. It’s bad for digestion.】
Wanwan: 【Then aren’t you playing on yours too, Brother?】
QE: 【My stomach doesn’t hurt.】
Seeing this reply, Chen Zhao’s brain stalled for a second.
Flirting with me, huh?
He hadn’t expected Qin Er to be so skilled at flirting. Then again, if he didn’t know how to flirt, how could he be a home wrecker?
Wanwan: 【My stomach doesn’t hurt either, but my heart hurts~】
Wanwan: 【Does a hurting heart need to see a doctor? Then Brother, help me listen to my heartbeat!】
After sending the message, the other side showed “typing…” continuously for a full minute.
Chen Zhao chuckled secretly to himself.
I’ll flirt you to death.
“Lunch is ready.”
Auntie Liu brought out the dishes and utensils. Grandma Chen sat down with the aid of her walking cane and asked Wang Lan, who was scooping food for her son, “Where’s Huanyu? When is he coming over?”
Wang Lan smiled. “He’s on his way.”
Just as she finished speaking, the doorbell rang. Wang Lan hurriedly gestured for Chen Xin to open the door. Reluctantly leaving the dining table, Chen Xin ran to the entryway, opened the door, and called out, “Daddy.”
Chen Huanyu picked Chen Xin up with a beaming smile and walked into the living room. Upon seeing Chen Zhao, he froze for a moment. “When did you get here?”
Chen Zhao took a sip of tea. “Came while you weren’t here.”
Holding Chen Xin, Chen Huanyu sat down with a displeased expression. “You have time to visit, yet you don’t come home, you only know how to annoy me the moment we meet.”
“Huanyu, Chen Zhao is in college now, so he must have a lot to keep him busy,” Wang Lan chimed in attentively, pouring wine for Chen Huanyu. “Even if he’s not at home, Xiao Xin and I are here to keep you company.”
Chen Huanyu patted the back of her hand. “At least you two are sensible.”
“Of course,” Chen Zhao folded his arms. “Chen Xin is in first grade, and the sum of all his test scores doesn’t even break double digits. With grades like that, he really ought to stay home. After all, going to school for him is just going through the motions.”
Wang Lan’s cheeks flushed bright red with anger.
Chen Huanyu said displeasedly, “How can you speak like that? It’s completely normal to struggle a bit at the beginning. As an older brother, you should be helping your younger brother out.”
Chen Zao: “For someone born without natural talent, no amount of help will do any good.”
Chen Huanyu: “You!”
“Enough!” Zhao Yixin said sternly. “It’s rare for us to eat together, and all you do is nag.”
Chen Huanyu turned to Chen Zhao. “Did you hear that?”
Zhao Yixin: “I was talking about you!”
Chen Huanyu was shocked. “Mom, how could you…”
Zhao Yixin: “Zhao Zhao finally came over to visit with great difficulty, and all you bring are buzzkills! If you anger Zhao Zhao into leaving, I won’t hear the end of it from you!”
Chen Huanyu backed down. “Fine, my fault.”
Seeing this, Wang Lan seized the opportunity. “Yes, now that Zhao Zhao is back, say a little less.”
“Oh, right, Mom,” Wang Lan said with a smile. “When we went on that trip to Yunnan earlier, we took so many photos. Huanyu hasn’t shown them to you yet, right? I have them on my phone, let me show you.”
“Oh my,” she suddenly feigned surprise, “I forgot Zhao Zhao didn’t come along, so it’s only the three of us in the photos. Zhao Zhao won’t mind, right?”
Terrible acting, Chen Zhao mocked in his head.
“Of course I don’t mind, Stepmom.” Chen Zhao flashed a harmless smile. “Just ask Dad to convert my share of the travel expenses into cash for me.”
Wang Lan: ?
Grandma Chen added, “Right. Convert it to cash.”
Chen Huanyu glared at Chen Zhao, picking up his phone from the table. “All you do is spend money out there without knowing how to earn a single cent yourself.”
Chen Zhao waited a moment until his phone chimed with a transfer notification. He accepted it with a smile. “You’re right, I really should go out and earn my own living. Don’t you think so, Stepmom?”
After marrying Chen Huanyu, Wang Lan had become a wealthy housewife. Her daily routine consisted of either posting about her lavish lifestyle on social media or asking online if her son could become a child model.
Once, because netizens dropped too many harsh truth bombs on her posts, she had no choice but to delete them in shame.
Now that Chen Zhao was mocking her so sarcastically, Wang Lan felt her face burning with embarrassment. But in front of Grandma Chen and Chen Huanyu, she had to play the part of a gentle, understanding wife. “Yes… yes, that’s right.”
Seeing the family of three deflated, Chen Zhao was overjoyed. He placed a piece of fish, her favorite, into Zhao Yixin’s bowl and grinned. “Grandma, have some fish.”
Zhao Yixin looked at her beloved grandson with delight, hardly sparing a glance at Chen Huanyu and Wang Lan for the rest of the meal.
After dinner, Chen Zhao brought Zhao Yixin upstairs.
“Grandma, look at this.” He handed her the photograph of the pocket watch. “Do you know anyone who can repair a pocket watch like this?”
Zhao Yixin reached out with her wrinkled hands, put on her reading glasses, and examined the photo carefully. “I do.”
Chen Zhao: “You do?”
Zhao Yixin: “A long time ago, a distant cousin went south to Nanyang and worked as a watchmaker overseas. But…”
Chen Zhao had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, his grandmother continued, “We haven’t been in touch for over twenty years. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
Zhao Yixin stood up, walked to the TV cabinet, and pulled an old, worn phonebook from a drawer. She flipped through a few yellowed pages. “Found it.”
Chen Zhao took it to look. On it was a line written in marker.
“Thank you, Grandma. I’ll give it a call and ask.” Chen Zhao took a photo of the entry and returned the phonebook to his grandmother.
Zhao Yixin sat down. “So, did you only come back to visit me today just to ask about this?”
“How could that be!” Chen Zhao sat beside her, gently massaging the old woman’s shoulders and back. “Of course I came back because I missed you, Grandma. Asking about the watch was secondary.”
Zhao Yixin smiled. “It’s rare for you to have such filial piety.”
“Wang Lan made a rare appearance here today, and you happened to bump into her. You’re not upset, are you?”
“There’s no need for me to get upset over unimportant people.”
“That’s good.”
Zhao Yixin patted the back of his hand. “Speaking of filial piety, your mother was the best at it. When she was alive, she would come over every few days to chat with me. It’s just a shame that good people die young, and she left us far too early.”
Chen Zhao pressed his lips together, comforting Zhao Yixin instead. “My mom is happy where she is now, free from all troubles.”
Zhao Yixin looked out the window, her eyes brimming with tears. “It might be better that she left when she did, or else who knows how many frustrating things she would have had to endure over the next few decades.”
“Exactly.” Chen Zhao squatted down beside her. “So don’t overthink things anymore. Let’s just live our current lives well, that’s what matters most.”
Zhao Yixin nodded.
After spending the afternoon chatting with his grandmother, Wang Lan and Chen Huanyu left right after their meal. Chen Zhao intended to stay overnight at his grandmother’s house.
Due to her old age, Zhao Yixin went to bed early. After having an early dinner and washing her feet, she went off to sleep. Chen Zhao returned to his room and began trying to contact Master Zhong, the watchmaker.
Since it had been over twenty years, Chen Zhao wasn’t sure if the number would even connect. Fortunately, after a few rings, someone picked up.
However, the person who answered was Master Zhong’s son.
After a brief exchange, Chen Zhao learned that Master Zhong had passed away over a decade ago.
He expressed his condolences and was about to hang up when Master Zhong’s son spoke up. “Now that I think about it, my dad had an apprentice back in the day who is currently in the country. Do you need me to help you get in touch with him?”
“Really? That would be fantastic!” Chen Zhao thanked him repeatedly, hung up, and added Master Zhong’s son on WeChat.
As everything fell into silence, Chen Zhao collapsed onto the bed. Pale faced, he clutched his stomach. He felt as though his heart had plunged down into his abdomen, beating far more violently than usual.
Truth be told, ever since he saw Wang Lan and Chen Huanyu today, he had been desperately suppressing his emotions. Now, the built-up stress had finally reached its breaking point.
Chen Zhao stared up at the ceiling light, his vision blurring as cold sweat began to bead on his forehead.
The phone beside his bed suddenly vibrated. Chen Zhao assumed it was a message from Master Zhong’s son.
He blinked hard to clear his vision and turned over with difficulty. During the movement, his stomach cramped relentlessly, causing his breathing to become rapid and shallow.
Chen Zhao grabbed the phone and slid the screen open. Instead of a message from Master Zhong’s son, he saw a familiar black avatar.
QE: 【Take your medicine on time.】