Shi Miao froze.
Song Hanzhou’s inscrutable gaze settled on her, as if observing her reaction.
Looking at how dazed little Song Shu was, Shi Miao figured he must have mistaken her for someone else.
She bent down and said softly, “Song Shu, you’ve got the wrong person. I’m not your mommy.”
The little boy looked at her through bleary eyes.
His eyes were dark and bright, like black grapes soaked in water.
When Shi Miao finished speaking, he let go of the hem of her dress. His little head drooped, his long lashes lowering with it, and the whole boy wilted, looking utterly pitiful.
Shi Miao’s heart inexplicably tightened. Even she couldn’t tell where this feeling came from.
Even knowing Song Hanzhou was watching her, she couldn’t help reaching out to smooth down Song Shu’s sticking-up hair.
“Auntie has to go now. Be a good boy, Song Shu. Get your shot nicely and you’ll be better soon.”
Song Shu opened his mouth, wanting very much to ask her to stay. But he knew Shi Miao had plans tonight.
He couldn’t—and had no right to—ask her to stay with him.
So Song Shu nodded, didn’t press her to stay, and said obediently, “Thank you, Auntie.”
The child was far more polite than his own father.
“You’re welcome.”
Not quite daring to meet his disappointed eyes, Shi Miao turned briskly and hurried toward the door, as if fleeing from something.
At the doorway, some impulse made her look back at father and son.
There were few patients in the observation room—spacious and quiet, with only the monotonous, cold beeping of machines, “beep, beep.”
The harsh white light fell straight down on the pair, making Song Hanzhou’s profile look even harder and colder, while Song Shu nestled in his arms, a tiny little bundle, radiating an indescribable loneliness, as if abandoned by the whole world.
The feeling was absurd.
Shi Miao quickly looked away and didn’t linger.
Shi Miao went to the water dispenser in the corridor, filled a cup with warm water, and calmed herself down.
A female colleague spotted her in the hallway and teased casually, “Dr. Shi, was that your son just now? He looks so much like you.”
“Like me?”
Shi Miao’s fingers paused. She remembered Xiao Man had said the same thing.
What exactly was alike about them?
The colleague added, “I just saw you following them in, registering for him and buying his medicine. You even knew the kid was allergic to mangoes. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you three were a family.”
“Oh, right—aren’t you allergic to mangoes too? Just like that little boy.”
Plenty of people are allergic to mangoes.
Shi Miao smiled faintly. “That little patient came to my clinic before. We ran into each other on the way, so I just helped out.”
“Just helped out?” The colleague’s tone was meaningful. “Dr. Shi, are you sure it was just helping out? Not that the kid’s daddy is so handsome you couldn’t help giving him extra attention?”
Shi Miao choked and coughed. “Of—of course not…”
“No need to explain, I understand,” the colleague said. “That man really is gorgeous, with such an air of refined elegance—cold and aloof type. The more you look, the more charming he gets. Who wouldn’t be tempted? It’s only human nature!”
“Really, no…”
Song Hanzhou’s face drifted unbidden into Shi Miao’s mind. It was true—he was very handsome… with an added mature charm compared to before, his shoulders broader and his posture straighter.
Just then, Shi Miao caught sight out of the corner of her eye of Bai Zhiyao hurrying over.
The handsome man’s face in her mind instantly vanished, and Shi Miao instinctively turned sideways, her back to Bai Zhiyao.
Her female colleague, unaware of Shi Miao’s odd behavior, looked her outfit over and exclaimed, “Honestly, I didn’t even recognize you just now. I’m so used to seeing you in a white coat—I never realized our Dr. Shi was this pretty off duty. Got a date tonight?”
Shi Miao gave an “mm.” “A blind date.”
“Looks like our Dr. Shi is finally going to be off the market.”
As the two were talking, Bai Zhiyao walked right past behind Shi Miao without noticing her.
Shi Miao waited until she was far away before tossing the paper cup into the trash and saying goodbye to her colleague.
Bai Zhiyao, belatedly, glanced back at the pale purple figure.
She thought the silhouette looked a little familiar—an oddly familiar feeling.
But Song Shu was still inside, and right now the priority was checking on the child, so Bai Zhiyao didn’t dwell on it.
Bai Zhiyao had terrible luck today—she had to run to three pharmacies before she could buy loratadine.
By the time she got back, Song Shu had already been taken away by ambulance.
Then she learned from the restaurant manager that a female doctor had stepped in to help and had even accompanied them to the hospital.
Bai Zhiyao wanted to thank her properly. After all, if not for her, if something had really happened to Song Shu, she herself would never have been able to marry Song Hanzhou in this lifetime.
She was both Song Shu’s savior and hers.
But when Bai Zhiyao asked where the kind female doctor was, Song Hanzhou said coldly that she had already left.
“Oh, she’s gone. Alright then.”
For some reason, Bai Zhiyao sensed a faint melancholy about Song Hanzhou—maybe it was just her imagination.
After all, it was her mistake, and Bai Zhiyao didn’t dare say much, treading carefully.
“Song Shu is fine. You don’t need to stay here. Go home.”
No blame, no anger, not even a trace of emotional fluctuation—but it was precisely this Song Hanzhou that made Bai Zhiyao feel even more uneasy.
She left in the end, looking back every few steps.
Before long, Song Hanzhou’s mother, Zhou Ya, arrived as well, along with his eldest sister, Song Yutong.
Zhou Ya was a well-bred lady of a distinguished family, impeccably maintained, dressed in a Chanel suit, the very picture of a society matron.
Song Yutong was a designer, wearing a white suit, with short hair and a somewhat dashing look. Like Song Hanzhou, she had a small black mole on the bridge of her nose.
Very distinctive.
Seeing how pitiful little Song Shu looked, Zhou Ya’s heart ached. She stroked his little face. “My darling boy, you must be careful next time. Never eat mango again, you hear?”
Song Yutong crossed her arms. “Thank goodness there was a doctor on hand, or the consequences would have been unthinkable. What’s wrong with Bai Zhiyao? Doesn’t she know Song Shu is allergic to mangoes?”
Zhou Ya was a bit angry too, and also a little embarrassed—after all, just a moment ago on the phone she had been singing Bai Zhiyao’s praises to her son, saying she could take good care of Song Shu.
And what happened? Bai Zhiyao went and made such a huge blunder!
Song Shu was the one Song Hanzhou cared about most in the world.
Despite her displeasure, Zhou Ya still put in a good word or two for Bai Zhiyao. “She didn’t do it on purpose, just a momentary lapse. Hanzhou, don’t hold it against her. She probably feels terrible about it too.”
“If it had been on purpose, heaven help us.” Song Yutong had never much liked Bai Zhiyao to begin with. She couldn’t understand why Zhou Ya kept trying to matchmake them.
Her brother clearly didn’t like Bai Zhiyao.
Besides, their Song family was powerful enough on its own—they didn’t need the Bai family’s support at all. Hanzhou had plenty of options.
In her opinion, Bai Zhiyao wasn’t even as good as the female doctor who helped out tonight—calm under pressure and skilled in medicine, far more reliable.
On the way back, Song Yutong learned from Song Shu that the female doctor was also his attending physician.
Song Yutong was surprised: “What a coincidence! You two really are fated to meet.”
Song Shu nodded obediently, a small curve forming at the corner of his mouth. “That doctor auntie is very nice. I like her.”
Song Yutong was even more surprised. Song Shu was reserved by nature, and she had never seen him praise someone so directly—she, as his aunt, was a little jealous.
Zhou Ya also turned to glance at him.
Only Song Hanzhou showed no reaction at all.
Song Yutong said, “Then what’s the name of that doctor auntie you mentioned? Is she pretty?”
“Her name is Shi Miao.” Song Shu pronounced the name syllable by syllable. “Very pretty, very pretty.”
Song Yutong said, “Oh? Then who do you think is prettier—the doctor auntie or Aunt Bai?”