Fu Linxiao and Sui Ran were sitting in the car outside the hospital entrance, waiting for Qiao Jin. Fu Linxiao glanced at the time and said, “He should be out any minute.”
Sui Ran looked toward the hospital, then used the car window to fix his hair.
Fu Linxiao couldn’t help teasing him. “You didn’t even try this hard when meeting your girlfriend.”
Sui Ran sighed and said earnestly, “I’ve never chased someone this hard before. Asked him out ten times—got turned down ten times. Finally managed to get him to agree, and I still have to bring you along.”
Fu Linxiao chuckled. “Want me to leave?”
“Don’t,” Sui Ran said. “If he sees you’re not in the car, he might not even get in.”
Fu Linxiao looked at him for a moment, his expression growing complicated. He couldn’t help saying, “Don’t mess around. Qiao Jin is my best friend. If you pull something, we can’t be bros anymore.”
“I’m not messing around,” Sui Ran said sincerely. “I’m serious.”
Fu Linxiao was quiet for a beat. “You mean it?”
“I do.” Sui Ran nodded, then raised a hand toward the sky. “I swear.”
Fu Linxiao looked at him, then at that raised hand, and felt a headache coming on.
“Then don’t let him work at your company. You want him to do your work and date you too? What, planning not to pay him and just mooch off him?” He reached out and gave Sui Ran a slap on the arm. “Office romance never ends well, man. Even Lu—”
He pressed on, trying to make his point. “Even someone like the boss ended up with drama in the background. And you…”
“Shh, calm down. Keep your voice down.” Sui Ran interrupted him, glancing outside the car—and spotted Qiao Jin standing on the steps.
He was still a ways off and wouldn’t reach the car right away. Sui Ran seized the moment and asked, “What’s the deal between him and President Lu, anyway? That time at Jin Yu Club when we played cards, he looked like some super strict elder.”
Fu Linxiao wasn’t sure how to describe it either.
Sui Ran asked, “Was it a sugar daddy situation?”
“Of course not.” Fu Linxiao frowned at him.
Sui Ran let out a breath of relief. “Good.”
Fu Linxiao didn’t think it was “good” at all. He searched for the right word to describe the situation, but couldn’t come up with anything.
Sui Ran asked again, “Then are they dating?”
Fu Linxiao shook his head.
“Then he must be a suitor,” Sui Ran concluded. “Well, nothing wrong with that. Love is fair game—just because he likes Qiao Jin doesn’t mean no one else is allowed to.”
Fu Linxiao thought he must be crazy—trying to compete with Lu Pingzhang. But the more he thought about it, the more he had to admit Sui Ran made some sense.
For a moment, he felt conflicted too.
“My advice is don’t do it… but,” he paused, “you could give it a shot.”
“How about this—go ahead and try,” Fu Linxiao turned to glance at him, then at Qiao Jin still standing on the steps, and sighed. “If he really likes you back… considering the way President Lu is these days, I don’t think he’d even stop you.”
Qiao Jin walked out of the hospital room and glanced at his phone. The missed call was from Aunt Dai.
She was the housekeeper Lu Pingzhang had been using for years—practically family at this point.
He called her back. When she picked up, her voice was steady and kind.
“Mr. Qiao.”
Before he could ask why she called, Aunt Dai spoke first.
“Mr. Qiao, are you on a business trip? I haven’t seen you around these past few days.”
Her voice was calm, gentle, almost motherly—impossible to feel anything but comfort when hearing it.
“Yeah,” Qiao Jin replied vaguely. “Been a bit busy lately.”
“Busy even right before the New Year? It’s your birthday today,” she added. “Let me know when you’re coming home. I’ll head over early and cook for you.”
Qiao Jin paused. “Mr. Lu should be going back. Ask him about meals from now on.”
“Mr. Lu hasn’t been home lately either,” she said with a chuckle. “You’re both away—it’s so quiet at the house. Mr. Qiao, when will you come back?”
“I probably won’t,” Qiao Jin said gently, always polite and kind toward women of her age. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
Aunt Dai was quiet for a while, then cautiously asked,
“Did you and Mr. Lu have a fight? Why are neither of you coming home?”
Qiao Jin looked out at the hospital parking lot—completely full. The red lights on the overhead sign glared, pressing down on him. The entire atmosphere felt stifling.
“It’s nothing,” he replied, pulling up his scarf to cover his chin as he stepped down the stairs. “If you need anything, you can call me.”
Aunt Dai agreed softly, but didn’t hang up right away. Qiao Jin noticed something was off and patiently waited.
She finally asked, in a gentle voice,
“Where are you going now?”
He pursed his lips. “Getting dinner. With Linxiao.”
“Oh, okay… okay,” she said. “Then I’ll hang up?”
“Mm,” Qiao Jin replied. As he passed the row of ambulances by the entrance, he spotted the black Cayenne parked nearby where Sui Ran was waiting. He walked toward it at a leisurely pace.
“It’s cold. Take care of yourself.”
He ended the call and walked up to the car, opened the door, and got in.
Both men inside looked at him. Qiao Jin was chilled to the bone and pulled off his scarf.
“What? Why are you two staring at me?”
Fu Linxiao and Sui Ran quickly turned their heads away—one fixing his eyes on the road ahead, the other watching Qiao Jin in the rearview mirror.
“What do you want to eat?” Sui Ran asked.
Fu Linxiao said, “Let the patient decide.”
Qiao Jin didn’t think a minor cold warranted any special treatment. “I’m good with anything.”
Usually when someone said “I’m good with anything,” Fu Linxiao took the lead. He was practically an expert in eating, drinking, and having fun. Without missing a beat, he said, “It’s cold—let’s get hotpot. After that, we can hit the sauna. One steam session and your sinuses will be clear.”
Qiao Jin hesitated for a second, and Sui Ran jumped in right away. “Don’t hesitate. If you’ve got concerns, just say it.”
Qiao Jin said, “I have to work tomorrow. After hotpot, my coat’s gonna reek. Can’t exactly walk into the office smelling like broth.”
Fu Linxiao knew he hadn’t moved his clothes out yet and was about to suggest a different place, but Sui Ran suddenly said, “Hey—I’ve got a spare coat in the trunk. Brand new. You can wear it to work tomorrow.”
Qiao Jin exchanged a glance with Fu Linxiao.
Fu Linxiao said, “That works. You two are about the same size.”
Sui Ran gave him a thumbs-up. “Dinner’s on me tonight.”
Qiao Jin looked at the two of them playing their little game without saying much, but he looked more alert than when he first got in the car. His face had some color again.
Being around this easygoing, cheerful energy helped him shake off the cold and sterile weight of the hospital, gave him room to breathe.
Maybe it was the winter chill, or maybe because the year was drawing to a close, but the streets were packed, especially the hotpot spots.
They picked a private booth by the window. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass, they could see the lively streets outside.
Sui Ran opened a bottle of liquor and poured a round for everyone.
“Finally got Little Qiao to come out—what a rare occasion,” he said with a smile.
Qiao Jin put a hand over his glass. “I’ll drive later. You two drink.”
“We’ll call a driver,” Sui Ran said, pushing his hand away and pouring the drink anyway. His hand lingered a moment too long, then he joked casually, “You’ve got great skin. What’s your routine?”
Qiao Jin wasn’t shy, nor was he some green rookie. He had presided over plenty of full-staff meetings and negotiated business deals over drinks with composure and ease.
He smoothly withdrew his hand, then patted Sui Ran on the back, lips curving up. “Same as yours.”
Sui Ran’s eyes lit up—he’d just been playfully countered, and for a second, didn’t know how to respond.
Outside, across the street, heavy, drifting tree shadows partially veiled a low-profile luxury car.
Lu Pingzhang was inside, slightly turned, staring coldly through the windshield, through the restaurant’s glass walls, watching everything unfold.
The scene irritated him so much he almost got out and dragged Qiao Jin home. The urge was burning at the edges of his restraint.
Xiao Chang sat silently in the front seat and could feel his boss’s displeasure in the air. He didn’t dare start the engine. He didn’t even dare make a sound—not a word, not a cough.
Lu Pingzhang’s eyes scanned the two men sitting across from Qiao Jin, judgmental and sharp, but softened slightly when his gaze returned to Qiao Jin’s silhouette by the window.
He watched as Sui Ran handed Qiao Jin a cigarette and a drink, saw him accept both and set them down next to him.
Lu Pingzhang thought, I spent all that time… keeping him clean, pampered, untouched by any of this.
And now, after just three days apart, he’s out here drinking, maybe even smoking, clinking glasses with others.
“Call him,” Lu Pingzhang said, still unmoving. “Tell him he’s on antibiotics. He can’t drink.”
Xiao Chang froze for a beat before realizing the command was for him. He quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Qiao Jin.
Lu Pingzhang watched as Qiao Jin picked up his phone, stared at the screen for a long moment, then finally—slowly—answered.
“It’s me, Qiao-ge,” Xiao Chang said. “You’ve had a cold the last couple of days, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Jin replied.
Xiao Chang swallowed hard and tried to sound casual. “I forgot to remind you—the meds I brought over that day included cefixime. You really shouldn’t be drinking right now.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Qiao Jin turned his head, looking out the window. Xiao Chang practically stopped breathing.
Thankfully, Qiao Jin was just scanning the cars parked outside the restaurant and didn’t look any farther.
He turned back and asked, “You’re the one who gave me the medicine that night?”
Xiao Chang glanced at Lu Pingzhang for guidance, but there was nothing. No cue, no look—nothing.
Lu Pingzhang sat motionless, his gaze locked outside the window. His expression was darker than the shifting tree shadows on the glass. Sitting in the backseat, he exuded the kind of pressure that felt like towering mountains cloaked in moonless night.
“…Yeah,” Xiao Chang replied stiffly. “I saw you coming back to the hotel looking kind of sick. I was worried you’d get a fever overnight, so I brought you some meds. Sorry, Qiao-ge, I shouldn’t have used the spare key to open your room.”
Total nonsense. No hotel would give a driver access to a guest’s room.
But technically, he was Lu Pingzhang’s driver, so it wasn’t impossible to imagine.
“It’s fine,” Qiao Jin didn’t press. Instead, he said, “Thanks.”
“No need for that,” Xiao Chang gave an awkward laugh and looked again to Lu Pingzhang.
Still no response. The dim light in the car made it impossible to read his expression—but the absence of warmth was clear as day.
“Just wanted to give you a heads-up, Qiao-ge, that’s all. I’ll let you get back to your hotpot.”
Qiao Jin paused briefly, then replied, “Alright.”
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