Chapter Forty-Two
When Shen Qianzhan called out to Ji Qinghe, she didn’t know what she wanted to say to him.
After a moment of silence, she recalled the brief moment of softness she had felt earlier. Pressing her lips together, she said, “Since we ran into each other, I wanted to ask if you’re free this Thursday. The initial draft of the outline is set. If you have time, you could come to Thousand Lights to listen in.”
“Alright,” Ji Qinghe agreed, his gaze still fixed on her.
Shen Qianzhan also felt that stopping him just to mention such a trivial matter seemed a bit unreasonable. After a moment’s thought, she added, “Mid-month, I’d like to visit your studio to take some photos. Teacher Jiang and Lin Qiao don’t know much about clock restoration, so they might face technical difficulties when writing the script…”
Ji Qinghe interrupted her, “Taking photos is to help them understand better?”
Shen Qianzhan didn’t see any issue with that. “Yes.”
“The courtyard studio can be open to them long-term. Meng Wangzhou is there. Although he’s not an expert in restoration, he has no problem explaining basic theoretical knowledge.” Ji Qinghe cleared his throat and said, “I thought you were taking photos to provide reference for the art department.”
Shen Qianzhan hadn’t expected him to think so far ahead. “We’ll definitely need that later. I haven’t encountered any other professional palace clock restorers besides you. A large part of the props and set design for the crew will likely draw inspiration from your studio.”
Ji Qinghe nodded, expressing no objection to her arrangements.
With that, the conversation came to an end.
Shen Qianzhan breathed a sigh of relief and took two steps back. “Alright, then… let’s leave it at that for now. We can discuss the details next time we meet.”
In the parking lot, a sharp, brief sound—whether from an alarm or a sensor—pierced the air.
Ji Qinghe glanced in the direction of the noise and suddenly asked, “Does the residential property management arrange for security patrols at night?”
Shen Qianzhan followed his gaze to a concealed door near the stairwell and storage room. It had previously been used to store construction waste—wood panels, nails, paint buckets—all discarded there for the property management to handle with cleaning trucks.
As more residents moved in, complaints and suggestions grew louder. After the property management cleared the waste from the area, the concealed door remained unused.
“You could suggest to the property management that they install surveillance in this area,” he said, withdrawing his hand from the car window and gesturing. “You should head up first.”
His reminder sent a chill down Shen Qianzhan’s neck. Without hesitation, she replied, “Drive safely,” and hurried through the stairwell entrance into the elevator.
—
Mr. and Mrs. Shen were waiting for her to start dinner.
Shen Qianzhan ladled the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall from the thermal container into three bowls, one for each of them.
Since Shen Qianzhan returned to work after the New Year, she often brought home side dishes like braised beef and bamboo shoots to supplement their meals. At first, Shen’s Mother didn’t think of Ji Qinghe, but when she tasted the shark fin in the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, she hummed in confusion, “This isn’t vermicelli—it’s shark fin, isn’t it?”
Old Shen chimed in, “It is shark fin. This serving of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall uses high-quality ingredients. It doesn’t seem like something Dengdeng picked up from a street stall. It tastes like the bowl we had at that hotel in Guangzhou for over five hundred yuan.”
The mention of Guangzhou triggered Shen’s Mother’s instincts. A knowing expression suddenly appeared on her face. “Did Xiao Ji send this over?” Without waiting for Shen Qianzhan’s confirmation, she continued, “That young man seems polite, well-mannered, and generous. He’s quite good.”
She nudged Shen Qianzhan, who had been eating quietly, with her elbow. “What’s Xiao Ji’s personality like?”Shen Qianzhan felt a headache coming on as soon as she heard this familiar opening line. "He's the investor of the project. We haven't even spoken more than a few words in total. How would I know what his personality is like?"
Originally, Old Shen hadn't planned to get involved in the conversation between mother and daughter. But seeing Shen Qianzhan's dismissive attitude, his innate stubbornness and rebelliousness kicked in. "I don't think you and Xiao Ji seem like the type who only exchange a few words."
"Take half of what your mother says with a grain of salt. Dad believes you have good judgment. But Xiao Ji knows how to handle himself, is humble and polite in his behavior, and knows how to cater to others' preferences. Whatever you're thinking, you need to consider it carefully. Don't end up wasting each other's time."
Old Shen's words were fair and reasonable. Shen Qianzhan took them to heart and nodded. "I understand. What about Grandfather's surgery tomorrow?"
Seeing that she didn't want to delve deeper into the topic, Old Shen didn't press further and smoothly changed the subject.
After dinner, Old Shen excused himself to take out the trash and took a walk around the neighborhood. While doing so, he sent a message to Su Zan: "Young friend Su, Uncle has something he'd like to ask you."
Su Zan, who was always keen on gossip, replied instantly: "Ask away, Uncle."
Old Shen said, "My daughter Dengdeng and Xiao Ji seem to have some tension between them. Did they have a conflict before?"
Su Zan's mind worked like a direct line to the heavens. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Nothing like that, Uncle. You and Auntie shouldn't worry about them. It's just a matter of time."
Old Shen: "!!!" That wasn't what he had wanted to know!
—
Early the next morning, Shen Qianzhan took half a day off to drive Mr. and Mrs. Shen to the hospital.
She spent the entire morning helping with payments and collecting medical reports. After lunch, she returned to the office to work.
Around two in the afternoon, Jiang Juanshan submitted the script outline as promised.
Shen Qianzhan specifically reserved a small meeting room and called in Su Zan and Qiao Xin. The three of them gathered to review it together.
The tribute drama was tentatively titled "Time" by Jiang Juanshan. He was responsible for the main outline, while Lin Qiao handled character profiles and summaries.
Shen Qianzhan was quite satisfied with this initial draft. After adding a few comments, she provided feedback for revisions that same day. Once that was done, she left work early to check on the situation at the hospital.
A coronary artery bypass graft surgery typically takes three to five hours. By all accounts, the surgery should have ended by four in the afternoon. However, Shen Qianzhan's phone remained silent all afternoon—no work-related calls, nor any messages from the Shens.
She arrived at the hospital just before the evening rush hour. After notifying the Shens in advance, she went to park the car.
The hospital's underground parking lot had three levels, and parking spaces were scarce. The prime spots near the elevator and stairwell entrances were always occupied. Shen Qianzhan circled the vast parking lot again and again before finally finding a spot in a remote corner of the second basement level.
Her sense of direction wasn't the best. In large, unmarked spaces, getting lost was a common occurrence for her. To make matters worse, the hospital's various departments were interconnected through winding corridors. She wandered through the underground maze for nearly half an hour before finally emerging from the emergency room exit on the ground floor.
Her phone, which had seemed to have lost all signal, finally buzzed to life. Amid the noisy, indistinguishable sounds of the emergency room, she answered the call while pushing aside a curtain.
Unexpectedly, a deep, familiar male voice came through: "Lost?"
Her ears were filled with the chaotic background noise of the emergency room, making Ji Qinghe's voice somewhat muffled, like an oil painting framed and coated with a layer of wax.
Instinctively, she glanced at the caller ID: "Ji Qinghe?""It's me." Ji Qinghe stood by the window at the end of the corridor, looking down at the square. "I heard from your mother that you arrived half an hour ago."
"I couldn't find the exit." Shen Qianzhan hurried out of the emergency room and stepped into the hallway.
The corridor was empty on both sides, with no signs or passing doctors or nurses. Her voice couldn't help but sound urgent. "I don't know where I am."
Recalling the background noise he had just heard, Ji Qinghe turned and headed downstairs as he asked, "Are you in the outpatient department or the emergency room?"
"The emergency room." Shen Qianzhan finally spotted the fever clinic and the rabies clinic next to the emergency department. "Which way should I go?"
She heard him chuckle softly on the other end of the line, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "You're going in the complete opposite direction."
Shen Qianzhan felt a sudden tightness in her throat.
The opposite direction...?
"Stay where you are. I'll come find you." With that, Ji Qinghe hung up.
Shen Qianzhan glanced at her phone screen. After the call ended, the screen dimmed from bright to dark, the light gradually fading.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. All the unasked questions—"Why are you here?" "How do you know the hospital so well?"—dissipated into the air, mingling with the lightly falling snow.
During her first two years in Beijing, Shen Qianzhan had always held a special sentiment for snowfall. For the first snow of the season, she would visit the Forbidden City to admire the snow. While tourists busied themselves with their cameras, she would sit on a bench opposite the Clock Museum, huddled with her hands tucked into her sleeves, staying for hours.
The wind was strong, the snow cold, and her nose would turn bright red, yet she never felt the chill.
Later, she met a scoundrel who couldn't even be considered an ex. He drove her around the outskirts of Beijing. On such a cold day, with all the car windows rolled down, she could reach out and catch snowflakes in her hands. She felt both cold and foolishly amused.
As life wore down her enthusiasm, even snowfall could no longer stir her heart.
She would only complain about heavy snow disrupting filming schedules. Occasionally, when life sparked a flicker of passion, she would heat a pot of wine on snowy days and sit in a makeshift studio, watching the shoot.
But it had been a long, long time since she had felt, as she did today, that snow held warmth.
—
Shen Qianzhan waited for ten minutes.
During those ten minutes, a mother and daughter entered the fever clinic. The girl was still young, her height barely reaching her mother's waist. Her face was flushed with fever, and her mother held her hand tightly as they trudged step by step through the snow, unsteady yet focused.
Shen Qianzhan watched as the pair entered the fever clinic, had their temperatures taken, and then stepped out to pay the fees.
The fever clinic was adjacent to the emergency room, and payment was made at the registration counter in the emergency department.
She watched the mother and daughter cross the hallway, pausing briefly as they turned left. Her gaze followed, and only then did she notice a pillar sign in the corner of the wall, with an aluminum floor plan mounted beside it. Landmarks from the emergency room and outpatient department to the inpatient wards were all marked with red stars.
She had missed it earlier because she had been standing with her back to the wall while on the phone.
Shen Qianzhan felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment. She glanced around, and seeing no one nearby, she walked over along the eaves.
The emergency room was located in the northwest corner of the hospital, with a separate side entrance for ambulances to come and go.
When Shen Qianzhan was in the underground parking garage, she had crossed half the hospital. Even when she parked, she had already deviated from the correct exit, which led to her losing her way and wandering farther and farther off course.
Tilting her head, she studied the map for a while. Just as she figured out that she needed to cross the flower bed to reach the outpatient department, footsteps approached from a distance, growing clearer and clearer.
She turned to look.
Ji Qinghe was walking toward her, holding an umbrella.
One hand was tucked into his coat pocket, the other holding the umbrella. His steps were steady and unhurried, measured and firm.That umbrella looked somewhat familiar. On the afternoon of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Ji Qinghe had held an umbrella just like this, escorting her from the teahouse private room to the parking lot.
On the dark umbrella surface, a few snowflakes had gathered at the top. As he walked, the snow gradually melted, dripping down along the ribs of the umbrella.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, he slightly lifted the umbrella handle, and his deep, dark eyes unexpectedly met hers.
Whether it was Shen Qianzhan’s imagination or not, she felt as if the coldness in his expression softened slightly. His brows relaxed, carrying a warmth different from his usual aloofness, like the faint, refreshing scent of pine lingering in the air, evoking a slightly intoxicating sensation.
Shen Qianzhan silently swallowed.
Damn, another day of being captivated by his good looks!
Before Ji Qinghe could approach, she took a few steps forward to meet him, slipping under his umbrella. The question she hadn’t had time to ask earlier now perfectly masked her unease: "Mr. Ji, what brings you here?"
"Accompanying Grandfather," Ji Qinghe replied, gesturing for her to follow him. "Grandfather and Ms. Meng arrived in Beijing last night. Hearing that Doctor Fei had surgery today, they came for a follow-up check."
Shen Qianzhan understood and politely inquired about Grandfather Ji’s health.
"He’s doing well," Ji Qinghe glanced at her and asked, "Don’t you want to see him in person?"
His tone was sincere, and the question felt genuine. For a moment, Shen Qianzhan couldn’t tell whether he was genuinely trying to fulfill her previous persistent requests or teasing her about the hardships she had endured to meet Grandfather Ji.
While she hesitated, Ji Qinghe seemed indifferent to her response and quickly moved on to the next topic: "I arrived a bit later than you. I heard from your mother that you reached the hospital half an hour ago but never showed up. I guessed you must have gotten lost."
Shen Qianzhan was too embarrassed to admit it and asked instead, "Has Doctor Fei finished the surgery yet?"
"Not yet," he switched the umbrella to his other hand, gently guiding her to his side. "It should be soon, no need to worry."
A partially covered passageway led directly to the outpatient department. Ji Qinghe stayed half a step behind Shen Qianzhan, waiting for her to enter before standing under the corridor, closing the umbrella, and walking alongside her.
Bulletin boards and photos of experts were posted along the hallway, resembling a wall of honor. The entire path was lined with exhibition images from various summits and displays of honorary trophies.
Concerned about her grandfather’s condition, Shen Qianzhan didn’t pay much attention.
Once they stepped into the elevator and Ji Qinghe pressed the floor button, the doors closed from left to right. Only then did he leisurely say, "Grandfather really wants to see you. Would you consider it?"Thanks to the little angels who irrigated with nutrient solution: Mist 37 bottles; eimariachi 30 bottles; Erqi 20 bottles; My Little Turtle, 31739771 15 bottles; 39861448 12 bottles; Weiwei 11 bottles; Qianxia, suasu, Quanxin, Miss Wang 10 bottles each; Xilu, villkan 4 bottles; Xixi Na Mio, Orange Sea with You, Yueyue's Liu Rou Rou 3 bottles each; Shiyi, Xing Kaiyue, rene, karen 2 bottles each; Chu Wuyan, I Crave Jin Lu Yun and Lee Dong Hae, Big Rice Rice Rice, Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ping, Wen Zhuo, Shalala, Momo, chantien, Xixin Bu Guo Q 1 bottle each;
Thank you all so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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