A Man or a Woman?

They both lived in the same residential complex.

An Zhiwu felt she couldn't keep it hidden for long anyway.

They might run into each other one day while taking a stroll around the complex.

Rather than deal with the awkwardness then, she might as well explain now.

"Actually, my boyfriend lives in this complex."

"Boyfriend? Who is it? A man or a woman?"

An Zhiwu was completely thunderstruck by Xia Qian's question.

She could actually ask whether her boyfriend was a man or a woman?

Xia Qian immediately realized she'd chosen her words badly. She coughed a few times and explained, "Well, I just have a wide range of reading interests. You know what I mean, right?"

An Zhiwu shook her head. She didn't.

Xia Qian clearly had no intention of explaining her reading interests to her. "So who exactly is your boyfriend?"

"You know him. It's Dr. Song."

Xia Qian's mouth formed an "O" in an instant. "Girl, impressive! You managed to snatch a man from Tang Jingwen!"

"They're not in that kind of relationship!"

An Zhiwu briefly told Xia Qian the whole story.

After listening, Xia Qian looked at her sympathetically. "Zhiwu, I think you've got it rough."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. He's a third-generation descendant of revolutionary leaders. Not only do you have to beat Tang Jingwen, you also need his family's approval. A high-ranking cadre family like that? Tsk, tsk, tsk, they definitely won't be easy to deal with. What if one day his mother comes to you with a check and says, 'Here's five million yuan. Leave my son'? What would you do?"

An Zhiwu pictured the scene.

Then she said to Xia Qian with a perfectly serious face, "I'd tell her she didn't need to give me that much. Three million would be enough."

"Hahahahaha~"

"Hahahahaha~"

The two of them laughed with unrestrained delight.

An Zhiwu thought about it for a moment. Her landlady seemed easy to talk to, so she probably wouldn't do something like beat a pair of lovebirds apart.

Besides, she didn't know why, but she always felt a sense of trust in Song Yihe. She felt that no matter what problems came up, he could handle them.

By the time An Zhiwu finished taking photos of Xia Qian, it was mealtime.

Xia Qian knew An Zhiwu didn't livestream at noon, but she didn't want to eat alone, so she suggested, "Zhiwu, I think you could actually become one of those restaurant-review streamers."

"Restaurant reviews?"

"Yeah. Right now, you cook your own food and livestream it, right? You're pretty popular at the moment, but once people have watched for a long time, the novelty will wear off. You could change things up a little and review restaurants. You go eat at a place and tell your viewers whether the food is good and stuff like that."

"Wouldn't I have to travel from city to city?"

An Zhiwu knew there were food streamers like that who traveled to different cities to review restaurants, but it obviously wasn't very suitable for someone like her who stayed in City A and didn't go elsewhere. After all, the viewers in her livestream came from all sorts of cities.

She thought Shen Songqing would be quite suited to doing it, though.

Xia Qian frowned when she heard that. "That's true. But you could try it out in City A first. You'd still mostly cook your own food, with restaurant reviews on the side."

"Okay, I'll try it next time."

Xia Qian insisted on treating her to a meal.

An Zhiwu was just about to refuse when Xia Qian immediately clung to her like a koala. "Sweet An'an, come out with me. I have social anxiety. I don't dare go out alone."

An Zhiwu looked at her suspiciously. How come you don't look like someone with social anxiety?

In the end, An Zhiwu got into Xia Qian's BMW MINI.

A classmate of Xia Qian's had opened a Japanese restaurant in City A.

When the classmate saw Xia Qian come in, she put down the calculator in her hand. "Our big star Xia is here!" Then she greeted An Zhiwu beside her. "A big star's friend is beautiful too~"

"Stop flattering me. This lady here is a food streamer. If she enjoys her meal today, your restaurant will be a hit in no time."

The owner immediately perked up. "Really? Beautiful streamer, what would you like to eat today? It's on me!"

Xia Qian's words made An Zhiwu a little embarrassed. "Xiaxia's just talking me up~"

"It's fine, it's fine. Xia Qian's friend is my friend. Order whatever you like."

The restaurant was stylishly decorated.

Each table was separated from the others by screens.

The two chose a table near the side and sat down. They ordered two bowls of chashu rice and a serving of fried pork cutlet.

"Zhiwu, speaking of which, aren't you planning to look for a job anymore? Are you just going to keep livestreaming?"

Over the past few days, both Song Yihe and Xia Qian had asked her this question.

An Zhiwu had thought about it too. Livestreaming wasn't a stable line of work, so she still needed a stable job.

Apparently, Chinese people had a deep-rooted attachment to stable jobs. Even Song Yihe and Xia Qian were no exceptions.

"I'm not looking for now. After a while, I'll start sending out résumés and going to interviews."

At the very least, she had to wait until her little apartment was fit to live in.

Then An Zhiwu looked up. "What about you? Are you planning to keep being a fashion sales influencer?"

Xia Qian speared a piece of pork cutlet with her fork as she answered, "My family's in business. My dad has a big company, also in City A. I can just take any position there. But my dad and I haven't been on particularly good terms these past two years, so I haven't gone back."

"But Zhiwu, if you want to change careers or something in the future, or if you can't find a job you're happy with, I can help you find one. It's easy enough for me to slip someone into my dad's company."

An Zhiwu was touched.

She hadn't known Xia Qian for long. Xia Qian had fallen out with her family and wasn't willing to back down herself, so she'd kept working as a sales influencer, yet she was still offering to get An Zhiwu into her family's company.

"Xiaxia, thank you. If I need help, I definitely won't stand on ceremony."

"Hey~ It's nothing. I don't really have many friends, and you're someone I get along with pretty well."

After they finished eating, Xia Qian went to pay, but the owner flatly refused to take their money.

An Zhiwu felt obliged after accepting the meal, so she filmed the restaurant and its signature dishes, deciding to recommend the place on her platform.

Zhikang Hospital.

Song Yihe was resting with his eyes closed in the operating area's break room.

Then the phone beside him rang.

"Song Yihe, someone's looking for you at the front desk. It's a very pretty young woman."

"Okay, got it."

Song Yihe hurried to his feet. Had his young girlfriend come to bring her a bento to put her at ease?

That made him a little expectant.

When he walked out and saw Tang Jingwen standing at the front desk, he froze. He also felt a little disappointed, and the smile vanished from his face in an instant.

The change in his expression didn't escape Tang Jingwen's notice, and a sharp pain stabbed through her heart.

"Jingwen, what brings you here?"

Tang Jingwen stood there with a hurt expression. "Yihe, I called you so many times yesterday. Why didn't you answer?"

"I was in surgery all day yesterday. My phone was in the changing room."

Tang Jingwen refused to let it go. "Then why didn't you call me back after work?"

Song Yihe rubbed the spot between his brows, feeling a headache coming on. Quite a few patients' family members were coming and going by the nurses' station, and it wouldn't look good if people saw them like this. He glanced at Tang Jingwen and said helplessly, "Come on, let's talk somewhere else."