Chapter 74: CH 66

With a loud “thud”, Huang Bin rolled onto the floor with his chair and fell on his ass. Even those watching the excitement couldn’t help laughing out loud.

“Fuck!” Huang Bin wiped his face and stood up, pointing at Jiang Xu’s nose in fury, “What the fuck do you want?”

Jiang Xu fixed his coat, which had been slightly unraveled by his movements, and sat back in the chair, meeting Huang Bin’s gaze, “Are you sure you want me to tell you everything you did?”

Despite the large and noisy venue, word of the commotion spread quickly, and more and more people gathered to watch the drama unfold.

The once-raucous crowd hushed, and Ge Cheng rushed over to investigate. “What’s going on here? What’s all the noise about?” he asked.

Seeing that all eyes were on him, Huang Bin was about to start hurling insults, but as soon as he opened his mouth, someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

“Did he kick you?” Shen Fangyu asked him, pointing at Jiang Xu.

Huang Bin was momentarily taken aback by Shen Fangyu’s sudden appearance, but he quickly remembered that Shen Fangyu and Jiang Xu were bitter rivals. So Shen Fangyu had come to his aid…?

Although Shen Fangyu had berated him over Yang Rui, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And since Shen Fangyu didn’t have his girlfriend’s contact details, Yang Rui’s change of heart couldn’t possibly be his doing. With this realization, Huang Bin broke out into a wide grin.

“Fangyu, are you here to bring me justice? I’m telling you, Jiang Xu is a bad person, he wants my girlfriend to break up with me.”

Shen Fangyu said “Oh,” and said to him, “There’s no reason to be angry about this little matter, just settle your differences later. Director Liu and I were just discussing some new drugs,” he said, gesturing toward the nearby utility room. “Why don’t you come with me and we can talk it over?”

When he heard that there was business, Huang Bin’s eyes lit up, but when he paused, he remembered that he was still angry with Jiang Xu. While he was hesitating, Shen Fangyu put his arm around his neck and whisked him away from this area.

Some people were relieved, others looked disappointed, and some tried to find out more from Jiang Xu.

Jiang Xu, however, hadn’t looked at Huang Bin since Shen Fangyu appeared, but kept his head buried in his food.

So the crowd withdrew their curiosity and whispered, “Huang Bin said Jiang Xu stole his girlfriend? That’s unlikely.”

The point of someone else’s lament was, “Shen Fangyu and Jiang Xu have had a really bad relationship for decades. When Huang Bin had conflict with Jiang Xu, he offered Huang Bin business. I thought their relationship would ease up now that they are colleagues.”

“Hey …… they’ve had a bad relationship since the days when they were studying, you expect them to make up now? It’s only normal for them to tear the other down.”

“Zhang Cheng also went to Jihua Obstetrics and Gynecology Department,” a knowledgeable person revealed, “I heard that the conflicts between the two have become deeper than before after starting work, and they even fought because of a girl. They probably still hate each other but the director kept them under control, so they could barely maintain a superficial peace.”

The third person, who was overwhelmed by their competitiveness and gave up, and even wished for the two parties to resolve their internal competition, quietly remarked, ‘I can’t believe these two are so consumed by competition that they don’t even have time to look at other people except themselves.’

Jiang Xu listened to every word, then wiped his mouth with a tissue and stood up expressionlessly to walk in the direction where Shen Fangyu had disappeared.

“You’re done eating?” Wang Jun quickly pulled his sleeve, “Don’t be upset because of people like Shen Fangyu and Huang Bin, what’s the big deal? Taking care of yourself and having a full stomach is the most important thing.”

Jiang Xu waved his hand and didn’t stop his pace.

He was afraid that if he didn’t go, Shen Fangyu would kill Huang Bin.

In the empty utility room, Huang Bin was paralyzed on the floor, his eyes full of pain. He looked like he was dying, saying breathlessly, “Aren’t you fucking …… afraid I’ll call the police?”

“Call the police?” Shen Fangyu stood by the window with a smile on his face, “I didn’t team up with anyone to hit you, and I didn’t hit you multiple times… Or are you disabled? Pregnant? Under fourteen?”

“Shen Fangyu!” said Huang Bin sternly, “Don’t forget that fighting and causing minor injuries can lead to imprisonment!”

“You’re a medical student, you should know where a blow hurts the most but doesn’t cause any damage,” Shen Fangyu said lightly, “But it seems you’re not thinking straight either, you probably didn’t take anatomy very seriously when you were studying it.”

He put his watch back on. “If you’re not afraid of trouble, go report the minor injury and get examined. If you can really get a minor injury diagnosis, I’ll tear up my medical license.”

“You-“

“Huang Bin,” Shen Fangyu suddenly half-crouched before Huang Bin and met his eyes. The sunlight leaking in through the window stretching his shadow long, “I want to see your clarification in the class group before tonight. And, if you spread rumors about Jiang Xu again…you know what will happen.”

He smiled, but Huang Bin suddenly felt uneasy.

“Your company has many pharmaceutical representatives, you’re not the only one,” Shen Fangyu continued slowly. “I will contact your clients one by one until you can’t work anymore.”

The door was suddenly opened and Shen Fangyu’s last words fell on Jiang Xu’s ears.

“Shen Fangyu!”

He walked up to Shen Fangyu with a stern face, pulling him up by the wrist.

Shen Fangyu’s hostility disappeared immediately. He stood up in a panic and started coaxing, “Why are you here? Have you eaten? Hey, be gentle, my hand hurts.”

Jiang Xu remained silent, dragging him out of the venue by the wrist. The classmates who were just discussing them fell silent, staring at the scene in front of them in amazement.

“Are they going to fight?”

“It doesn’t look like they’re going to fight……”

“But Jiang Xu looks very angry.”

“But it seems like Shen Fangyu was coaxing him!”

“It’s not “just seems”, it’s true! I heard him apologizing to Jiang Xu!”

“Oh my God, I’m blind!”

“Damn,” the person who was just saying that they must hate each other rubbed their eyes, “when did these two develop a relationship where they could hold hands?”

Meanwhile, the third victim of the competitiveness pressed a hand to their chest, took a sip of tea, and tried to suppress their shock. They couldn’t help but mutter under their breath, “I just thought of something incredible, I hope I didn’t stumble onto something real?!”

The people in question were oblivious to this, but Jiang Xu was so angry that he was about to explode.

He walked straight to the parking lot downstairs, shoved Shen Fangyu into the car, closed the door, and exploded, “Shen Fangyu! Do you still want your job?!”

“Do you think you’re the only one who can make recordings? If Huang Bin recorded what you just said, he could sue you for abuse of power for personal gain. Do you know that?”

“The deputy chief of Jihua’s obstetrics and gynecology department threatened the pharmaceutical agency and disrupted the market. Do you want to be on the front page of the social news?”

“Jiang Xu… don’t be angry,” Shen Fangyu carefully smoothed his hair, “I was wrong, okay, I will not do it next time, I just listened to his nonsense and I was too angry, I couldn’t bear it anymore.”

Jiang Xu pressed the center of his eyebrows. “I told you to calm down, is this calm?”

“I’m really sorry,” Shen Fangyu said. “I’ll print the word ‘calm’ and paste it in my office, okay? I can even stick it on your face. I’m sorry, okay?”

Jiang Xu: “……”

“I promise it won’t happen again, okay?” Shen Fangyu gently took Jiang Xu’s hand. “Don’t get upset about things like this; getting too emotional is bad for your health.”

Jiang Xu looked at Shen Fangyu’s expression and remained silent for a while, then turned his head to look out the window.

“Jiang Xu,” Shen Fangyu followed his knuckles and pressed them one by one, whispering, “Don’t be angry.”

“Forget it.”

“Huh?” Shen Fangyu asked, “You’re not angry anymore?”

Jiang Xu turned his face away. “I don’t think Huang Bin is as quick-thinking as you.”

Not many people could remember to make a recording when something happens, especially when emotions get the better of them. Jiang Xu had never met anyone like Shen Fangyu before who reacted so quickly.

Besides, he had interrupted Shen Fangyu early enough, and there was no significant confrontation between them, just a vague statement. Even if Huang Bin had recorded it, it wouldn’t lead to any serious consequences as he claimed.

He was only angry with Shen Fangyu for being so impulsive, for putting himself in such a potentially dangerous situation just to take out his anger.

Shen Fangyu paused at his words, then said with genuine excitement, “Are you indirectly complimenting me?”

“……” Jiang didn’t want to talk to Shen Fangyu anymore.

“Hey, but do you know what’s going on?” Shen Fangyu said. “Did Huang Bin suddenly come to trouble you because of that recording?”

Jiang Xu was silent for a while and told Shen Fangyu about the whole story, including Yang Rui and Cao Suan’s connection to the issue.

“It turned out to be like that; it’s such a small world.”

Shen Fangyu sighed thoughtfully before suddenly reacting, “So you weren’t just having dinner with Miss Cao that day, Yang Rui was there too? You were smiling at Miss Cao because you knew Yang Rui was okay?”

“I smiled at Miss Cao?” Jiang Xu asked. “How did you know?”

Shen Fangyu realized his slip of the tongue. “……”

Jiang Xu instantly remembered the yellow sports car he had seen through the floor-to-ceiling window in the restaurant and asked with a confused look, “Did you follow me on the date?”

“I…I…” Shen Fangyu said “I” for a while, but finally nodded under Jiang Xu’s gaze.

Jiang Xu remembered that Shen Fangyu had drunk a lot that day, and frowned, “You drove drunk?”

Seeing that Jiang Xu was about to get angry again, Shen Fangyu quickly explained, “I drank at home.”

Jiang Xu breathed a sigh of relief, but as he relaxed, the information suddenly came together in his mind to form a somewhat bizarre conclusion: Shen Fangyu had followed him to the restaurant, and had then gone back home to get drunk.

Jiang Xu’s mood became complicated.

He suddenly understood why Shen Fangyu had been in such a bad mood that day and why he had even made him angry.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Shen Fangyu turned his face away and confessed with some embarrassment, “I really thought that you two had a good time, so I felt uncomfortable.”

“First Yu Xin, then Miss Cao, how many times do you want to misunderstand me?” Jiang Xu said helplessly, “Why don’t you also believe Huang Bin when he said I stole his girlfriend?”

Shen Fangyu didn’t sense the sarcasm in his words and responded boldly, “You have a great suitor like me, why would you need to steal his girlfriend instead of wanting me? I don’t believe it.”

Jiang Xu chuckled in exasperation: “You’re quite confident.”

Shen Fangyu, however, did not laugh. He looked at Jiang Xu with a serious expression: “I like you, I don’t want to see you having a better relationship with someone else than me… of course,” he lowered his head, “I’m not saying I’d interfere with your dating life.”

Jiang Xu pursed his lips and looked away indistinctly.

After a long time, he changed the subject and asked, “When is your flight?”

Shen Fangyu’s gaze flickered at Jiang Xu’s words, and the little passion from showing his true feelings dissipated.

Jiang Xu was annoyed with him and wanted him to leave quickly.

His mood suddenly dropped, and he barely managed to keep his face straight as he replied, “The day after tomorrow.”

“Is there a car to take you from the hospital?” Jiang asked.

If not, he could transfer his shift to take Shen Fangyu to the airport.

“Yes,” Shen Fangyu said, “I’m going with Zhang Cheng.”

Jiang Xu nodded, feeling as if there was more he wanted to tell him, but after a moment of silence, he realized that Shen Fangyu did not seem very interested in saying more.

He paused and hesitated for a while before adding, “Leave early and return early.”

Shen Fangyu’s eyes lit up when he heard these words, and he looked at Jiang Xu eagerly, grabbing his hand and saying, “Can I give you a hug before I go?”

He seemed to know that Jiang Xu was in a good mood, so he hugged him before he could think seriously and refuse.

As expected, Jiang Xu did not push him away.

They were both wearing thick clothes, and even though they were hugging, there was a little bit of distance because of the padding between them.

Jiang Xu’s eyes fell on Shen Fangyu’s back. Today, they had come straight from the hospital to the school, and Shen Fangyu had performed two surgeries before leaving. Jiang Xu lowered his head, smelling the disinfectant and alcohol on his body.

And within those smells, there seemed to be a subdued, gentle fragrance mingled with the heavy ethanol, hidden but surging.

The sense of smell can build a picture better than the sense of hearing, and when one smells a particular scent, one’s mind is often reminded of something from the past.

At this moment, this scent inappropriately evoked a part of Jiang Xu’s memory.

Jiang Xu’s heart suddenly beat a little faster.

He backed away from Shen Fangyu’s embrace and looked out of the window in a calm manner, but his ears were tinged with pink.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Fangyu asked.

“I’m a bit uncomfortable, I’m carsick.”

Shen Fangyu wondered, “We’re not even on the road yet.”

Jiang Xu turned his face away, “I get dizzy when I sit in the car.”

“Oh ……” Shen Fangyu said, “Let’s go back then,” he said, starting the car and rolling down the passenger window as he said to Jiang Xu, “You can get some air. “

Jiang Xu said, “Mmm,” and poked his head out of the window. The whistling wind brushed his cheeks, and the scent that had made distracted him finally seemed to disappear.

Sometimes Jiang Xu felt that the sudden kiss was like a key that had opened Pandora’s Box. It was as if, from that day on, he had become more aware of everything about Shen Fangyu. He noticed details that he hadn’t paid attention to before – Shen Fangyu’s body scent, his breathing, his looks, his height, and all sorts of small habits that he weren’t considered important. He remembered every word that Shen Fangyu said and everything he did, causing his heart to waver.

Despite the noisy venue, Jiang Xu could distinguish Shen Fangyu’s voice from the noise, and he could even hear what he was saying. It was strange. He lowered his head and pressed his hand gently against his stomach, trying to calm himself down.

‘Calm down, Jiang Xu,’ he told himself.

‘You can’t tell people to calm down and then end up being the one who’s excited,’ he thought to himself.