The eldest son of the Fu family had returned, bearing an impressive record of military service. He had helped wipe out the largest drug-trafficking syndicate along the Yuncheng border. He was a hero of the people.
Everyone in the Fu Family was eager to meet the young master.
The driver had been waiting downstairs at the hotel for ages, and call after call had come urging Young Master Fu to return home.
Young Master Fu rose and headed for the door.
Su Yanxi picked up the camouflage jacket he had tossed onto the carpet and hurried after him. “Put your clothes on before you go out.”
Young Master Fu raised an eyebrow. “Afraid people will see my body? Little Sister, you’re awfully possessive of your Big Brother.”
Su Yanxi’s face began to turn red again.
She decided she needed to learn from him and develop a thicker skin.
“It’s not that I’m afraid people will see your body. I think going out shirtless like that would be an eyesore and bring shame on our motherland.”
Young Master Fu’s lips curved. “Do you know why I’m not wearing clothes?”
Su Yanxi asked, “Do you have some kind of unusual fetish?”
Young Master Fu lifted her delicate chin. The calluses his fingers had developed from handling guns were unmistakable as he rubbed her at the corner of her mouth.
“The reason I’m not wearing clothes isn’t that I have an exhibitionist fetish. It’s because some young lady was in such a hurry to do that sort of thing with me last night that she tore my clothes to shreds.”
Su Yanxi: “……………”
Good heavens! She’d actually torn his camouflage jacket to shreds! Just how wild had she been last night?
She hadn’t known she was capable of ripping a man’s camouflage uniform apart with her bare hands. Should she congratulate herself on unlocking a new skill?
A blush spread across Su Yanxi’s cheeks, growing deeper and deeper until her whole face was red.
Young Master Fu opened the door. The attendant waiting outside presented him with a custom-made black shirt and black suit, holding them out with both hands.
Young Master Fu took the clothes back into the room. Without the slightest concern for modesty, he stripped off his camouflage trousers as if no one else were there.
Su Yanxi’s eyes fell on the man’s strong, muscular legs.
Her heart pounded like a deer’s. She squeezed her eyes shut, afraid to look too closely in case she saw something she shouldn’t.
The rustle of fabric sounded beside her.
Once he had put on the shirt and suit, Young Master Fu took his time adjusting his cuff links. Then he opened the door, glanced back at Su Yanxi, and said to the attendant outside,
“Get this young lady a new outfit. I tore her pearl-white qipao to shreds yesterday.”
“…” Su Yanxi said, “Then we’re even.”
“Of course we’re not even. I’m the one who was taken advantage of.”
He strode away, his back straight and his steps steady, his bearing easy and distinguished, his strong, upright figure and noble presence.
“I’ll keep score for now. Once I’ve figured out how you can make it up to me, I’ll come find you.”
Su Yanxi hurriedly asked, “Can I pay you to settle this? I can give you money.”
“Sure.” Young Master Fu paused. “Fifty billion.”
When Su Yanxi told her best friend, Qian Duoduo, what had happened, Duoduo nearly sprayed her salted soda everywhere.
“Fifty billion! That’s extortion! Is his dick made of gold or something?”
Su Yanxi: “…”
She glanced around the coffee shop. “Keep your voice down. Someone might hear you.”
Qian Duoduo lowered her voice. “Young Master Fu has never been one to nitpick. If he keeps pestering you like this, I can only reasonably suspect he hasn’t had enough.”
Su Yanxi: “…………”
“No way, right?”
Countless highborn young women from prominent families were infatuated with Young Master Fu. He had never lacked admirers, from childhood onward. Those haughty society ladies, usually so high above everyone else, turned into completely different people whenever they saw him: eager, warm, forward, and always coming up with new ways to please him.
His social circle was so far above theirs that countless women would do anything to get into it, dreaming of marrying him and rising through the ranks by marriage.
In short, Fu Linchen had never been short of women.
“Why not?” Qian Duoduo clearly disagreed with Su Yanxi. She gazed deeply at Su Yanxi’s face.
“Babe, do you even know how beautiful you are? That face of yours is heavenly—the goddess Nuwa showing off her skills. No tricks, just pure beauty. Even the most stunning woman couldn’t hold a candle to your neck and collarbones.”
“Standing next to you, a gorgeous woman like me gets turned into the ugliest woman alive by comparison.”
“And there’s more…”
Qian Duoduo glanced over Su Yanxi, then traced a generous wave in front of her own chest.
“With a figure like yours—slender branches bearing plump fruit, tiny where you’re tiny and huge where you’re huge—you’re the best of the best. Forget men; even I’d drool if I saw you.”
“Even a dog knows to eat its food while it’s hot. How could Fu Linchen be content with just one night with you?”
Su Yanxi: …Who are you calling a dog?
Qian Duoduo coughed. “It’s a metaphor. I’m just making a comparison. Don’t get hung up on the little details.”
“I think Fu Linchen might be into you.”
“Anyway, your fiancé-brother said he wanted an open marriage. Why not take him up on it? You might as well have some fun. Playing around with Fu Linchen—a rich, gorgeous, top-tier hunk—is hardly a bad deal.”
Su Yanxi said, “Qian Duoduo, stop giving me terrible advice.”
“How is that terrible advice?” Qian Duoduo launched into a well-reasoned explanation. “Loving one person is exhausting. Why not be bolder and love five, six, seven, or eight?”
“One boat is easy to capsize. Eight boats are rock-solid.”
“Open your mind. A husband is a husband, a boyfriend is a boyfriend, a lover is a lover, and a sweetheart is a sweetheart. They can be four different people. They don’t all have to be the same person.”
“Besides, your fiancé-brother doesn’t mind you cheating on him.”
At that, even Qian Duoduo, who was pretty open-minded, couldn’t help marveling.
“I can’t believe Gu Yanze actually proposed an open relationship, where you each do your own thing. I’ve never met a man who wasn’t afraid of being cheated on. Sweetheart, he’s like a little bull doing a dance and drinking too—bullshit on the left, bullshit on the right. He’s one hell of a bull!”
Everyone knew that when you loved someone, you became possessive of them. Who would be willing to hand over the person they loved?
Qian Duoduo was utterly baffled. “Gu Yanze treated you like you were made of glass—afraid you’d melt if he held you in his mouth, afraid you’d fall if he held you in his hands. He wouldn’t hit you or scold you. Back in school, if anyone so much as picked on you, he’d fight them. Every birthday, he made you a cake with his own hands. He showered you with expensive jewelry as if it cost him nothing. He spoiled you rotten, and then he says he’s always thought of you as his little sister? I swear to God, has a donkey kicked his brains out and left him with nothing but an empty skull?”
“I refuse to believe he doesn’t like you at all!”
Su Yanxi lowered her long lashes, hiding the tumult of emotion in her eyes.
Qian Duoduo racked her brains. “Could Gu Yanze be some kind of 2b who can’t figure out his own feelings?”
“Or is there something else going on?”
Qian Duoduo scratched her head until her long hair stuck out in a messy nest. “Aah, my head itches! I feel like I’m growing a brain!”
Adult life meant falling apart and pulling yourself back together, over and over. No matter what happened, you still had to go to work.
As a thoracic surgeon at a top-tier hospital, Su Yanxi arrived for her night shift.
Her smooth, dark tea-colored hair was tied in a low ponytail. Her white coat was spotless, and she always kept several pens in the pocket over her left breast.
Even the most unfashionable white coat seemed to have a particular charm when she wore it.
A doctor’s work involved human lives. Life came first, and safety allowed no room for carelessness. While working, Su Yanxi was always attentive, patient, and compassionate.
She took a group of interns with her on rounds. The ward she was responsible for had thirty-eight patients.
On every round, Su Yanxi carefully checked each patient’s physical condition and took a little time to chat with them, gently putting them at ease.
Illness wore down not only the body but also the mind. When a doctor patiently and kindly spoke with a patient for a few extra moments, it could lift the patient’s spirits considerably.
A good mood helped the body heal.
Su Yanxi was a very patient person. In her white coat, she carried a heavy responsibility and never forgot why she had become a doctor: to honor life, save the dying, and heal the injured.
When she reached the last room, something was amiss.
“Why isn’t this patient in her room?”
The nurse on duty looked sympathetic. “This patient’s situation is complicated. She’s a new mother; her baby is less than two months old. Her husband was killed in a car accident, and then, as if that weren’t enough, she was diagnosed with lung cancer.”
“This mother is scheduled for a lung resection tomorrow. She said she was nervous and went out for a walk to clear her head.”
“How long has she been gone?” Su Yanxi asked.
“An hour.”
She’d gone out for a walk with her baby and still hadn’t come back after an hour?
Su Yanxi immediately sensed something was wrong. Without hesitation, she said, “Come with me. We’re checking the surveillance footage to find her!”