Only then did she notice the verification message attached to the second friend request.
Note: I’m Xu Zhiheng.
So it was him.
As the future deputy director in charge of the emergency department, there was nothing improper about adding one of the doctors under his supervision.
“It’s fine now. The other one is my colleague,” Sheng Nianxi said into the phone.
“Then have a good chat with Xiao Lu. Don’t feel pressured—just treat it as making a friend. He’s a second-year graduate student in the acting department at Jingbei Film Academy, and he has plenty of good qualities. Being handsome is actually the least noteworthy of them. Take your time getting to know him.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Sheng Nianxi accepted Lu Yubai’s request first, then Xu Zhiheng’s.
By then, she had already boarded the subway.
Her hand hovered over her phone screen as she pondered how to greet them.
Both men had sent her messages first.
It caught her completely off guard.
Lu Yubai:
【Hello, Doctor Sheng. I’m Lu Yubai. There’s a stage play next Wednesday at Jingbei Grand Theater, and I’m performing in it. Would you like to come watch?】
Sheng Nianxi:
【Sure. What time?】
Lu Yubai:
【Five in the afternoon! I’ll send you the ticket’s QR code. You can just scan it to get in.】
【Doctor Sheng, I’m really, really happy that you can come!!!】
Three exclamation marks.
The corners of her lips twitched.
Sheng Nianxi:
【Okay. See you next Wednesday.】
Sheng Nianxi left the chat and saw the message Xu Zhiheng had sent her.
【Doctor Sheng, I’m Xu Zhiheng. The results of this year’s emergency-department core staff selection were unfair. I’ve already contacted the hospital, and the evaluation will be conducted again. I hope you’ll continue working hard.】
His tone was strictly businesslike, without a single unnecessary word.
Looking at such formal wording, Sheng Nianxi unconsciously straightened, a wave of gratitude welling up inside her.
Sheng Nianxi:
【Thank you, Director Xu. I’ll work hard.】
Xu Zhiheng:
【Mm. Get some rest early.】
The conversation ended.
Sheng Nianxi put down her phone, thinking that Director Xu was a good person.
She gave it no further thought.
At that moment, on the other side of the city, Xu Zhiheng was sitting in a private room at a Japanese restaurant, drinking with two brothers who had grown up with him.
Xu Zhiheng sat by the window. Across from him was Fu Shennian, while beside him sat their childhood friend, the popular director Zheng Xiao.
Zheng Xiao had just finished shooting for a production. He had tanned a shade darker, but his spirits were excellent, and he was currently stuffing salmon into his mouth.
“Shennian, what’s wrong with you?” Zheng Xiao said indistinctly around a mouthful of sashimi. “Your complexion looks awful. Didn’t you sleep well?”
Fu Shennian lifted his glass and took a sip.
“I’m fine.”
“What do you mean, you’re fine?” Zheng Xiao pressed. “I’m telling you, I stayed up every night on this production. I had it much worse than you.”
“Can you shut up and eat?” Fu Shennian cut him off.
Zheng Xiao chuckled twice and wisely fell silent.
Xu Zhiheng’s phone vibrated.
He lowered his head and glanced at it.
It was from Sheng Nianxi.
【Thank you, Director Xu. I’ll work hard.】
The corners of his lips lifted involuntarily, and he typed a few words.
【Mm. Get some rest early.】
After sending it, he stared at the screen for two seconds, then prepared to put his phone down.
“Look at our Old Xu. That smile is so damn flirtatious. He must be chatting with some girl.”
Fu Shennian’s gaze swept over.
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Xu Zhiheng was in an excellent mood as he raised his glass.
Fu Shennian, however, did not clink glasses with him.
“Who are you talking to?”
A pair of dark eyes settled on his phone.
Xu Zhiheng placed the phone facedown on the table.
“A doctor from the hospital,” he said. “What’s it to you?”
Fu Shennian glanced at the phone he had turned over but did not ask further.
“Nothing.”
Zheng Xiao put down his chopsticks and looked at Fu Shennian before suddenly speaking.
“Buddy, did you and your Chen Xuan have a fight?”
Fu Shennian’s fingers paused.
“No.”
“Oh, give me a break.” Zheng Xiao leaned back in his chair. “I’ve watched that face of yours grow up. Whenever something’s bothering you, you furrow your brows. Your left eyebrow sits higher than your right. Look at yourself now.”
Fu Shennian instinctively touched his eyebrow.
Zheng Xiao laughed.
“I guessed right, didn’t I? I knew it. You’re a captain, and you’re always flying, flying, flying. You hardly ever drink, yet today you took the initiative to ask the two of us out. Something’s definitely going on.”
He paused, and his tone suddenly turned serious.
“Shennian, I’m telling you this for the sake of the child. Don’t end up like me.”
The private room fell silent for a moment.
The smile disappeared from Zheng Xiao’s face, and his voice dropped a little.
“You know I was only married for a short time, and I have a child. The thing I regret most now is not giving my daughter a complete family.”
He lifted his glass and took a sip.
“My daughter is with me now. When I’m filming, she stays on set and tags along with the crew. Sometimes she asks me, ‘Daddy, everyone else has a mother. Why don’t I?’”
He lowered his glass, his voice slightly hoarse.
“I can’t answer her.”
Fu Shennian looked at him without saying anything.
“So,” Zheng Xiao said, patting him on the shoulder, “if you and Chen Xuan can make it work, then live well together. Don’t let the child suffer.”
Fu Shennian raised his glass and drained it in one go.
“I understand.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Shennian’s phone rang.
The screen displayed: Chen Xuan.
Zheng Xiao leaned over to look and laughed.
“Is your sister-in-law calling to check up on you? It’s fine, I’ll talk to her.”
“Get lost.” Fu Shennian pushed his face away and answered the call.
“Shennian, where are you?” Chen Xuan’s voice came through the receiver.
“I’m with Zheng Xiao and Zhiheng.”
“Oh…” Chen Xuan’s tone relaxed. “Right, the official account pushed an article saying there’s a stage play at the Grand Theater next week, The Little Prince. Yuan Yuan wants to see it. I heard the tickets are very difficult to get. Can you find some?”
Fu Shennian’s fingers suddenly tightened around his phone.
The Little Prince.
Seven years ago, he had been a fourth-year student, while Sheng Nianxi had been a third-year student.
At the time, they had only recently gotten together.
He had bought two tickets and gone to see The Little Prince with Sheng Nianxi.
Sheng Nianxi, a science student studying medicine, had cried her eyes out.
Back then, she had raised her tear-streaked face and asked him:
“Will you leave me?”
He had held her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
“I won’t leave you.”
“Shennian? Are you listening?”
Fu Shennian was abruptly pulled out of his memories.
A thick sense of loss flooded his entire body.
“Mm.” Even his voice had lost its strength.
“Do you have tickets?”
He opened his mouth, wanting to refuse.
“Tickets are easy enough to get.” Zheng Xiao leaned over and shouted toward the phone, “Sister-in-law, leave a little thing like this to me! Are three tickets enough?”
“That’s enough, that’s enough. Thank you, Brother Zheng Xiao.” Chen Xuan’s voice clearly brightened. “Then don’t drink too late. Come back early.”
“Got it.” Fu Shennian hung up.
He placed his phone on the table, lowered his head, and stared absently at the liquid in his glass.
Xu Zhiheng watched him without saying anything.
Zheng Xiao continued chattering away on the other side.
“This stage play, The Little Prince, is great. It’s perfect for taking kids to see. My daughter likes it too.”
Fu Shennian did not hear a single word. His mind was filled with that tear-streaked face tilted up toward him…
Saturday, at the Grand Theater.
When Sheng Nianxi arrived, there were still very few people in the theater.
She found a self-service ticket-validation machine and held the QR code against it.
The screen displayed:
【The Little Prince, adult ticket, one.】
The Little Prince!
Sheng Nianxi’s hand trembled. Why was it this play?