A chance encounter with Xavier
Xiao Yan got the idea and took out a few little snowmen and snowflakes.
She stuck them around at random.
At the end, she had one particularly tiny snowflake left. She leaned over and stuck it onto the arm of Zayne's glasses.
Zayne did not find it offensive in the slightest. Instead, he gave her a gentle smile. "When we see the director later, what should I say if he asks?"
"How about I explain?" Xiao Yan said cheerfully. "What do you say I make an appearance at the hospital and walk you to your office?"
This was an intrusion from his personal life into Zayne's professional world.
As soon as Xiao Yan said it, she felt she had been a little presumptuous.
But Zayne thought for only two seconds before answering in the affirmative. "They'll be very curious about you. I'm looking forward to seeing their faces as they try to pry into our happy married life."
In Zayne's eyes, their married life was happy.
At the very least, it was gradually moving toward happiness.
Xiao Yan felt tremendously encouraged. "How do I look today? Do I look intellectual enough? Mature enough? Oh, I should've known better than to wear jeans. If I'd dressed a little more professionally..."
"You're perfect as you are," Zayne interrupted her. "You look exactly as my wife should."
Another word of encouragement.
Xiao Yan grew even happier.
After they arrived at Central Hospital and got out of the car, Xiao Yan took Zayne's arm.
And Zayne, abandoning the stern, expressionless look he usually wore upon entering the hospital, tilted his head a little toward Xiao Yan as he led her inside.
They soon ran into a large group of familiar faces on the cardiac surgery floor.
The doctors and nurses stopped what they were doing and crowded around.
"Oh my, Deputy Chief Zayne, is this your young wife?"
"So the eldest young lady of the Xiao family has graced us with her presence!"
"Deputy Chief Zayne has finally invited Miss Xiao over. Are you going to introduce us?"
"What an honor for us! We'd never normally get to meet someone so important!"
"Oh my, why is Deputy Chief Zayne smiling like a beckoning cat? You two must really be head over heels!"
Faced with their teasing and banter, Zayne cleared his throat, the tips of his ears faintly red. "This is my wife, Xiao Yan."
Then Zayne solemnly introduced them to Xiao Yan one by one, giving each person's surname.
Doctor Liu, Head Nurse Wang, Doctor Zhu, Nurse Yu...
Xiao Yan raised her hand with easy confidence. "Hello, everyone, I'm Xiao Yan. It's lovely to meet you! My Zayne talks about you all the time. Thank you for looking after my Doctor Zayne!"
Seeing how approachable Xiao Yan was, everyone became even more enthusiastic.
Before long, even the department chief and Director Zhao arrived.
Director Zhao was sharp-eyed indeed. After greeting Xiao Yan, he spotted the little snowman sticker on the arm of Zayne's glasses.
He immediately began teasing Zayne. "You always used to say you weren't in a hurry to find a wife and wanted to wait a little longer. Now that you have one, even your whole demeanor has changed. You're wearing little snowflake stickers, too."
Zayne gave a dry cough, looking embarrassed. "My wife is still young. She likes these little things."
Xiao Yan thumped her chest. "That's right, I like them. I insisted on putting them on him, so don't laugh at him!"
Everyone paused, then burst into laughter.
Director Zhao patted Zayne's shoulder with particular satisfaction. "Good, good! Young Zayne is a lucky man!"
Just like that, in a single visit, Xiao Yan quickly won over Zayne's colleagues and superiors.
She even heard the department chief mention that he could now feel at ease handing his position over to Zayne, and that he planned to retire and enjoy his later years at home.
"Enjoy your later years? How old could you possibly be?" No matter how Xiao Yan looked at him, the chief only seemed to be in his forties or fifties.
"Oh, Miss Xiao, you certainly know how to flatter someone. I'm already sixty-five. Soon I won't be able to hold a scalpel!"
Xiao Yan was stunned. "Are all you doctors this good at taking care of yourselves?"
That prompted another round of cheerful laughter.
Still, Xiao Yan did not want to keep them from their real work.
Working overtime on the weekend was hard enough. It would be far too inconsiderate of her to keep taking up these medical professionals' time.
She told Zayne of her own accord, "I'll go shopping with my best friend, then. You focus on work, and don't worry about me. Once I've had my fun, I'll go home and wait for you to finish."
Zayne nodded, touched. "Stay safe. I'll message you when I finish work."
"Okay!" Xiao Yan took a few steps backward. "When everyone has some free time, let's go out together! Zayne and I will treat you! Sorry for the interruption today. I'm off. Bye!"
Then, amid their farewells, Xiao Yan skipped off to take the elevator.
Zayne kept smiling as he watched her leave. Even after her retreating figure disappeared from sight, he could not stop smiling.
Now it was Xiao Yan's turn to worry.
Earlier, she had indeed turned down Jiang Miao's invitation to go shopping because Zayne had planned to return to the villa early on Saturday morning.
Now she called to say she was free.
Jiang Miao launched into a tirade. "Well, well, Miss Xiao, putting men before friends! So you're free now? Well, the great Miss Jiang isn't at your beck and call!"
Xiao Yan apologized profusely and spent ages coaxing her before she finally appeased her.
But then Jiang Miao turned mysterious. "Guess who I just saw on the street?"
"Who?" Xiao Yan thought it might be some celebrity.
"Xavier! He was in plainclothes, but he looked pretty serious, and there were a few other men with him. It felt like they were on a mission. Do you want to hurry over and check it out?"
Xavier had not specified what time he would come home today.
But Xiao Yan reckoned he would arrive around dinner.
After all, Xavier was not particularly familiar with her yet. He was only looking for a place to sleep on Saturday night and would not deliberately set aside extra time for them to spend alone together.
With a chance to see Xavier on a mission in plainclothes, of course she had to go take a look.
Xiao Yan got the exact address and immediately hailed a cab.
The place was called Boluo Lane. It had originally been a very distinctive residential neighborhood.
Later, a developer with a good eye acquired the land. The residents all moved elsewhere, and the old houses left behind were renovated or rebuilt, creating a distinctive look reminiscent of the seventies and eighties.
Each home had become a small storefront selling all kinds of trendy little things, distinctive food, or drinks.
When she met up with Jiang Miao, two girls who were classmates and friends of both of them were also with her.
One was named Tang Qi, and the other was Xing Xiaowan.
Including Jiang Miao, all three girls loved gossip and were especially curious about Xiao Yan's husbands.
With Jiang Miao leading them, the four retraced her steps, trying to find Xavier.
They walked all the way out of Boluo Lane and into Bright Moonlight Mall across the street.
At last, outside a men's clothing store on the third floor, they spotted Xavier in a loose cashmere cardigan, white trousers, and white sneakers.
Under the mall's lights, even his hair was glowing.
"Is that him? I remember him looking like that, but I only saw him once at your husband-selection banquet, so I'm worried I've got the wrong person." Jiang Miao patted Xiao Yan's arm. "Is it him? Give me a definite answer."
"Yes, yes, it's him." Xiao Yan tugged at Jiang Miao. "Can we find somewhere to hide while we watch? If he turns around, he'll see us right away. How awkward would that be!"
While they were still tugging at each other,
Xavier and the others suddenly moved.
One of Xavier's colleagues approached two men coming out of the clothing store from behind, seemingly casually.
Meanwhile, Xavier silently circled around onto a route the two might use to escape, ready to cut them off.
"Don't move!" Both men were suddenly caught in chokeholds from behind.