Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - 13 012 He Dog Dongzhou Chapter 13: 012: He Dog Dongzhou Chapter 13: 012: He Dog Dongzhou Acidic comments flooded in threes, as if she was afraid the whole hospital didn’t know Wen Changling rode Yan Cong’s motorcycle that morning.

Jiahui sneered, “My brother, as if. Who’s her brother anyway.”

Jiahui had long been fed up with Qiao Yi, who had countless issues and always acted high and mighty. But she did have one merit, she never hid her ambition to climb higher.

“Sisters from the VIP buildings say Qiao Yi used to hook up with Yan Cong. She’s so bitter towards you, it must be true,” Jiahui munched on her melon seeds with relish, “Yan Cong wasn’t even of age then, Qiao Yi really has the guts to devastate the youth.”

Wen Changling just listened without offering an opinion.

Jiahui covered her mouth and whispered, “Changling, there’s really nothing between you and Yan Cong?”

Anybody with eyes could see that Yan Cong treated Wen Changling quite differently. He was such a proud young master, but Jiahui had seen him crouching like a little puppy by the roadside, begging and pleading for Wen Changling to take him home.

Wen Changling’s expression was as serious as an elder’s, “Yan Cong is still young.”

Yan Cong was not yet nineteen.

Jiahui openly double-standardized, “He’s not that young anymore, he’s already of age.”

Eligible to make a will independently.

The latter half was too cruel to say out loud, so Jiahui kept it to herself, thinking there was reason behind Qiao Yi’s past attempts to seduce Yan Cong.

“Jiahui, don’t make fun of him.”

Seeing Wen Changling so serious, Jiahui stopped. It was strange, whenever Wen Changling turned solemn, she felt inexplicably scared. He spoke gently enough, but he had an intangible aura about him.

When it was time to get off work.

Wen Changling was waiting for a ride at the gate when a white sedan stopped in front of her.

The car window rolled down, revealing a stunning face, “Need a lift on my way?”

It was Dr. Jhiang, Jhiang Youyou.

Jhiang Youyou was Dihong Hospital’s most beautiful doctor, at least in Wen Changling’s eyes. Her face was the kind where you just needed one glance, without scrutinizing, to realize: wow, stunning.

Wen Changling never understood why people classified beauty into so many types, like aggressively beautiful, seductive like a fox spirit, or the kind of beauty that men favor most—descriptions she often heard from the female nurses about Jhiang Youyou.

Isn’t praise without any qualifiers good enough?

“No need, I’ve called for a ride.” Wen Changling turned down Jhiang Youyou’s carpool offer.

“Oh.”

Jhiang Youyou pressed on the gas and zoomed away.

Wen Changling checked her phone to see where the driver was.

There were two other female colleagues waiting for their rides behind her; perhaps bored of waiting, they started chatting.

“Dr. Jhiang changed cars again.”

“Are doctors’ salaries really that high?”

“Doesn’t necessarily have to be bought with a salary.”

The two exchanged knowing smiles and understanding looks.

Dr. Jhiang Youyou, an oncologist, had a reputation similar to Wen Changling’s—they were both not well-liked. Wen Changling because she was standoffish, and Dr. Jhiang because of her beauty, even though she dressed conservatively at work: endowed with a curvaceous figure and luxurious cars.

If a young and beautiful lady drives an extravagant car, it may invite some inexplicable, malicious speculations.

Wen Changling got along alright with Dr. Jhiang; they could hold a conversation. The car arrived and Wen Changling confirmed the license plate before getting in.

*****

Today is the birthday of Xiao Congcong, the scion of the construction-materials Xiao Family. Birthday Boy Xiao Congcong held a banquet at Imperial Court and called upon a circle of good friends to gather and drink merrily around the table.

When Birthday Boy drank too much, he rolled up his sleeves and started ranting about everything under the sky.

“What’s so great about Xie Shang, he’s just good at being born into the right family. If it weren’t for his grandpa and his grandfather, what would he be worth? I can’t stand the way he looks down on everyone.”

The woman to his left wearing Chanel style retorted, “How many points did you get on the college entrance exam?”

This was Xiao Congcong’s pain, “What’s it to you how many points I score.”

Ms. Xiaoxiang Wind: “Xie Shang was the provincial top scholar in science that year.”

Dregs Xiao looked down on this, “Yet he didn’t become a lawyer, despite coming from a family with a legacy in law.”

He had been annoyed with Xie Shang for a very, very, very long time!

Ms. Xiaoxiang Wind: “He doesn’t like being a lawyer.”

Look at this, spoken as if she knew the ins and outs of it.

“Oh, did Xie Shang confide that in you by your pillow?”

Ms. Xiaoxiang Wind’s face showed displeasure, warning, “You’re drunk.”

Xiao Congcong felt he wasn’t, how could he be drunk, he had a high capacity for alcohol. He stood up, placing his right foot on the chair, “Does he not want to be or can he just not be? After he beat up Shen Fei like that, if his family’s background hadn’t been so solid, he would’ve been locked up for a few years for sure. Still dreaming of being a lawyer after causing such trouble.”

Xiao Congcong snorted disdainfully, “Failing to become a lawyer, he can only run a pawnshop. If he operated it decently, that would be one thing, but I’ve heard that Xie Shang has been keeping a bunch of lawless thugs on the down low, accepting anything anybody wants pawned.”

Xiao Congcong also heard it from the older generation.

After the elders criticized him, they would always add with a tone of regret that it was a pity, a loss of great potential. A science top scholar, indeed, a good seed.

Ms. Xiaoxiang Wind: “If Shen Fei hadn’t provoked Xie Shang, would Xie Shang have hit him?”

The lady in the spaghetti-strap dress sitting opposite Ms. Xiaoxiang Wind also chimed in, taunting Birthday Boy, “Everyone knows Xie Shang is a master of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. What can you do? And you have the nerve to make up stories about him.”

Look at this, look at these women!

Xiao Congcong shook his head, feeling that women these days have been spoiled rotten, “You’ve all been bewitched by Xie Shang’s love potion, tsk, hopeless.”

Are women all crazy about that kind of figure who is both righteous and wicked, tantalizing yet untouchable to women?

Xiao Congcong placed his cup down and made a grand gesture, “The Xie family has always studied law, yet they’ve produced such a person as Xie Shang—a bad shoot from a good bamboo clump.”

This saying came from Elder Liang, who originally said, “The Xie family has several generations of scholarly prestige, how could they have nurtured a bad shoot like Xie Shang.”

Xie Shang had beautiful handwriting, a high level of skill in calligraphy; Elder Liang initially admired his talent and wanted to take Xie Shang as a disciple. Xie Shang’s grandfather agreed, but when it came to the master-disciple banquet, Xie Shang didn’t even show his face. In the scheme of things Xie Shang had done, this was nothing. He was disrespectful of elders, disdainful of propriety, disobedient to discipline, refusing to follow the path set by the older generation, rebellious, and doing whatever he pleased.

Xiao Congcong turned his head to the right, seeking affirmation, “Right?”

Sitting to his right was He Dongzhou, the Qin family’s adopted son.

He Dongzhou smiled and nodded, looking very approving, “Yes, he is a bad shoot.”

Just as Xiao Congcong was about to follow up with a few more sentences, He Dongzhou lifted his glass and smiled, the most insincere in the room, “Oh, the bad shoot is here.”

Xiao Congcong’s drunkenness cleared up a bit in an instant, he shook his head and widened his eyes, and upon a careful look, it was indeed Xie Shang!

What’s going on? He didn’t invite Xie Shang!

Xie Shang walked straight to He Dongzhou, “The materials.”

He Dongzhou passed over a file bag from his seat, inviting casually, “Have a drink, it’s Birthday Boy’s celebration.”

Xie Shang glanced at Birthday Boy and pulled up a chair to sit down.

Birthday Boy: “...”

Xie Shang: “Happy birthday.”

Birthday Boy: “...Thank you.”

Xie Shang poured himself a cup of tea, “What were you just talking about?”

Birthday Boy immediately cast sidelong glances around the room, “Whoever betrays a friend is a dog!”

He Dongzhou laughed, looking harmless and benevolent, with a decently handsome face that featured a dimple when he smiled, resembling a good guy, “We were saying you’re the only bad shoot from the Xie family’s bamboo grove.”

Xiao Congcong: “...”

He Dog, I thank you!

Who spread the rumor that Xie Shang and He Dog didn’t get along?!