CH 36

Jiang Heng stood up too quickly, his steps unstable, and he swayed slightly.

Because of the angle of the light just now, Ji Yao hadn’t seen his face clearly. Now that Jiang Heng stood up, Ji Yao realized that his complexion was unnaturally pale.

There was fatigue at the corners of his eyes and brows, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, making him appear quite uncomfortable.

“Is your stomach hurting?” Ji Yao couldn’t help but ask.

“Huh?” Jiang Heng hesitated for a moment before responding, “No.”

Frowning slightly, Ji Yao felt that something wasn’t quite right. First, he didn’t catch the trap in Jiang Heng’s words, and then his response was slow. None of this seemed like Jiang Heng’s usual state.

Out of his professional habit, Ji Yao reached out and gently touched Jiang Heng’s forehead with the back of his hand.

The temperature where their skin touched was slightly high, and Ji Yao quickly grasped the situation.

“You have a slight fever,” Ji Yao said.

“Oh.” Jiang Heng turned his head to avoid his hand, and upon hearing this, he didn’t take it seriously. He used the same excuse he had used earlier to deal with Zhou Qingbo: “Probably just a weak immune system from staying up late too often. I’ll just have some vitamin C when I get back, and it’ll be fine.”

Ji Yao: “…”

This kind of incorrect medical knowledge was practically challenging his medical expertise.

“It’s better if you go to the hospital for a check-up,” Ji Yao said, “A weakened immune system wouldn’t cause a low-grade fever. It could lead to a viral infection and manifest as a fever.”

“Forget it,” Jiang Heng politely declined, “A good night’s sleep will do the trick. I don’t want to burden the doctors by going to the hospital.”

Ji Yao furrowed his brows, his face clearly expressing his disagreement.

From a “doctor’s” perspective, Ji Yao should advise him to take care of his health. However, from the standpoint of a “former boyfriend,” Ji Yao indeed shouldn’t meddle too much.

These two completely opposite stances momentarily shook his heart. But before Ji Yao could weigh the results of balancing between his roles as a “doctor” and a “former boyfriend,” Jiang Heng nodded politely, draped his coat over his arm, and turned to walk toward the door.

Watching him walk away, Ji Yao suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

He could guess why Jiang Heng was pushing himself so hard. Even though Jiang Heng claimed it was for his clients, Ji Yao had benefited from it as well. Therefore, he couldn’t simply ignore Jiang Heng’s situation.

He had only undergone surgery two months ago, Ji Yao thought.

Ji Yao’s professional ethics prevented him from letting Jiang Heng leave like that. So, after a brief pause, he couldn’t help taking a step forward and asked, “You’ve been drinking, how do you plan on getting home?”

Jiang Heng’s steps halted, and he belatedly realized that he had forgotten to call a designated driver.

It was currently rush hour, and Zhou Qingbo’s bar was situated in a narrow alley, making it not so easy to find a designated driver.

Jiang Heng couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

After waiting a few seconds without hearing a response, Ji Yao understood that Jiang Heng hadn’t thought of a solution yet. Without further ado, he reached out and grabbed Jiang Heng, saying, “This won’t work. Let Qingbo take you back—”

His voice came to an abrupt stop as he realized that the bar counter, which had been occupied a moment ago, was now empty. Zhou Qingbo had disappeared without a trace at some point, leaving behind only a small floral apron used for work.

Ji Yao: “…”

And, to make things worse, at this moment, a staff member in a vest and shirt walked in from outside the entrance. Familiar with the layout, he bypassed the two of them and walked to the bar counter, opened the passage door, and slipped inside.

Apparently, Ji Yao’s presence was quite noticeable. The bartender hesitated and glanced at him, asking, “Are you two here for drinks?”

Ji Yao took a deep breath and asked as calmly as possible, “…Where’s your boss?”

“Our boss has finished work,” the bartender said, puzzled, “He should have gone home by now.”

Jiang Heng couldn’t help but chuckle. He had probably been holding back laughter for a long time, unable to stop once he started, enduring quite a bit of hardship.

Ji Yao turned his head to look at Jiang Heng, holding his hand in a way that wasn’t quite a pull or a hold, a real-life depiction of being “caught in a dilemma.”

Jiang Heng blinked, taking advantage of the moment when Ji Yao wasn’t looking at him to examine him under the lights for a moment.

During the court session earlier, he hadn’t paid much attention to Ji Yao. It wasn’t until now that he noticed Ji Yao was wearing a light-colored sweater, with a bronze-colored decorative button on the collar of his coat, giving him a very neat, innocent appearance.

Not much different from a few years ago, Jiang Heng thought. He looks even more gentle than anyone, but he’s full of ideas.

For Jiang Heng, today wasn’t the best time to communicate with Ji Yao. But since things had come to this point, avoiding seemed a bit deliberate. So Jiang Heng decided to go along with it.

“Dr. Ji,” Jiang Heng dangled the car key in front of Ji Yao with his fingertip, implying something, “Have you got your driver’s license?”

Ji Yao looked at the car key in front of him, his inner turmoil like little matchstick men fighting.

Honestly, even today, when faced with Jiang Heng, Ji Yao couldn’t maintain his usual composure.

Rationally, Ji Yao told himself that when they broke up, they were both to blame. Neither of them had treated their relationship well. But emotionally, he couldn’t help but think occasionally that if he hadn’t made the wrong choice first, Jiang Heng might not have done what he did.

He had a reputation for being charming and romantic, yet until that day when he was “caught cheating” by Ji Yao, he had never cheated. Ji Yao always felt he had a kind of stubborn purity about love. But because Jiang Heng had never clearly admitted it, Ji Yao wasn’t sure if he was overthinking things.

So, it still wasn’t clear whether Jiang Heng had been carried away by his needs or acted out of revenge that day.

But delving into this question, which was destined to have no answer, would touch on Ji Yao’s most unwanted memories. So, he instinctively avoided recalling it and was unwilling to talk about it again.

The words he had spoken to Jiang Heng before weren’t just out of stubbornness. He genuinely wanted to stay away from Jiang Heng, to cut off any chance of seeing him again.

Only by doing so could he brutally bury everything related to Jiang Heng in a corner of his memory and forget about them as time passed.

But fate was an unpredictable thing. In the vast expanse of China’s 9.6 million square kilometers, he and Jiang Heng happened to reunite in the most unlikely place.

Now, every time he saw Jiang Heng, he would inevitably face it again. It seemed that as long as Jiang Heng appeared, he could easily drag him back to the situation three years ago.

Ji Yao felt like a magnet from an elementary school science lesson – his emotions tugged at his instincts, and even though he knew they repelled each other, he was still drawn upward, unable to resist.

And most importantly, he was conflicted throughout.

Logic told him he should stay away from his ex-boyfriend, but emotions demanded more, prompting him to want to find out what Jiang Heng was really thinking.

Ji Yao reached out and took the car key from Jiang Heng’s hand.

Saving lives, Ji Yao took a deep breath, forcibly persuading himself, “I’m doing my job saving lives, making a great contribution to human life and health safety.”

“I have my driver’s license, but I didn’t bring it,” Ji Yao said. “If the traffic police stop me, you’ll pay the fine.”

Ji Yao weighed the key in his hand and noticed that there was a separate metal loop attached to Jiang Heng’s key. It looked particularly out of place, as if something had once been hanging there but had later been removed.

The metal loop seemed rather aged, with edges that weren’t quite smooth. Holding it, he could feel its cold, hard touch.

“Fine,” Jiang Heng squinted his eyes and said, implying something. “I’ll pay.”