Yao Changying looked out the window as she spoke in a melancholic voice: "The list is endless. The seriously huge 9 year age gap. He"s 20 and still hasn"t experienced life. He clearly comes for an important family and I"m definitely not. The financial situation, is he actually financially independent? I"m not sure if I want a relations.h.i.+p now, I definitely don"t want a fling and I have enough friends. I"m scared."Li Xiuying: "He"s younger than expected." Lai s.h.i.+-on looked like he was 25 or 26.
Ren Daiyu tried to address Yao Changying"s worries. "1. The Lai family is quite prominent, that shouldn"t matter though as he won"t be inheriting. 2. He has his own businesses and can support himself. 3. He probably wants to experience things with you. He is quite young but maybe he"s mature for his age. 4. Everyone is scared to take the first step and make themselves emotionally vulnerable. You could just go on a date and see how you feel? You don"t need to get into a relations.h.i.+p straight away or at all. There is no pressure to make this into something. Going on a date doesn"t obligate you to anything."
Yao Changying: "That"s true."
Ren Daiyu: "Anddddd if you do want to make it into something now or later you can feel comfortable in the knowledge that if he messes up YingYing will take care of it."
Yao Changying: "What about you?"
Ren Daiyu: "My services won"t be needed because YingYing will either make it look like an accident or she"ll make him disappear."
Li Xiuying: "No body. No murder."
Yao Changying: "Aww YingYing, you always know what to say."
All three burst out laughing.
Yao Changying sighed: "I think we"re at different stages in our lives. I"ll go tomorrow and let him down face to face."
Ren Daiyu: "We"ll support whatever decision you make."
Li Xiuying: "Do you want us to go with you?"
Ren Daiyu: "You can"t just go on someone else"s date. I"ll go instead since you have work."
Li Xiuying lip twitched: "What happened to giving Changying time and privacy?"
Ren Daiyu said indignantly: "I"m going to support a friend. It"s not like I"ll sit at their table." She thought "I"ll sit at the table next to hers."
Yao Changying: "Thank you both for the offer. I"ll politely decline. Yu, you would be the obvious third wheel sitting at the table next to ours and YingYing you would be the third wheel of fire, I think you scare him."
Li Xiuying: "A healthy dose of fear is good for the soul."
Yao Changying: "Not if it causes someone to lose their soul."
All 3 laughed and continued joking around.
Li Xiuying could sense that Yao Changying was forcing herself to act normal; she was probably really disappointed with the whole situation. She had a feeling that everything will work out. Lai s.h.i.+-on didn"t seem like the type to give up easily.
...
Emerald hospital - 11:30 pm
Chen Wei sat in his office chair. He undid his top b.u.t.ton and took off his cufflinks.
Chen Wei skimmed the contents of a small pile of doc.u.ments on his desk. The papers contained a list of names, the research they were conducting and a short abstract. He had to make sure there were enough papers published this week. He wanted to get published in as many journals as possible. He needed to completely destroy Unity hospital before they even got off the starting block.
Chen Wei called his father: "h.e.l.lo dad."
Chen Meng: "Wei"er how was this evening?"
Chen Wei: "In general everything was fine. Coincidently, Li Xiuying was also at the restaurant this evening. Li Yu Yan and the other women decided to have a talk with her."
Chen Meng: "Li Xiuying was there? How did she get in? Who was she with? What happened exactly? Will we suffer any repercussions?"
Chen Wei: "I don"t know how she got in. She was with 2 other females and 3 males. The males looked like they had some sort of background. Nothing was mentioned to us as we left, so I don"t expect us to suffer any ramifications."
Chen Meng: "From our infomration, the women were probably Yao Changying and Ren Daiyu of the Ren family. Clearly, we need to do a more in-depth investigation in order to understand who and what we could be potentially dealing with. There are many skilled surgeons in the world, Li Xiuying is the youngest and that alone will bring publicity to any inst.i.tution she works for. Remember, to keep Li Yu Yan in line. We may have managed to outwardly convince some people that LI Xiuying was the third party but we can"t know the color of people"s hearts. "
Chen Wei: "I understand, I"ve already contacted my people. Besides that dad, I think we should be more aggressive with promoting Emerald hospital. I want to sink Unity hospital into the depth of the ocean where they will never see the light of day."
Chen Meng: "Did something happen today that you aren"t telling me about? You weren"t as aggressive with your plans before."
Chen Wei: "Nothing in particular. It just came to my attention that some people need to be put in their place and some people should just disappear altogether."
Chen Meng: "Do whatever you want but make sure it does not affect the hospital negatively."
Chen Wei: "That is a given."
Chen Meng: "Okay, bye"
Chen Wei: "Bye."
He resumed reading abstracts.
10 minutes later there was a knock at the door.
Chen Wei looked up: "Come in."
Dr Yang Zian entered the office.
Chen Wei: "Take a seat."
Yang Zian sat in the chair opposite Chen Wei"s desk.
Chen Wei: "I won"t waste our time and cut straight to the chase. Emerald hospital has pulled a lot of strings and called in a few favors so that you wouldn"t be struck off. So it stands to reason that you owe us a very large debt. You owe us your career and until you retire, actually until you"re 6ft under you will be paying us back. I"m sure you understand that we have taken a major risk that could have jeopardized this hospital."
Yang Zian: "I understand."
Chen Wei: "I called you here so we can discuss the next steps you need to take in order to resurrect your reputation."
Chen Wei had initially planned to have this meeting in a week or so but he was so enraged by the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of Qin Song he b.u.mped the meeting forward. Additionally, since Qin Song had hired Yang Zian"s previous "victims" he would need to strategize to avoid any damage they tried to do in the future.
Yang Zian spoke in a composed manner: "I have a few ideas myself about the course of my future career. First, I would like to ask some questions."
Chen Wei eyed the man in front of him. Yang Zian was immaculately dressed and had a proud demeanor even after almost losing his license and potential becoming a hated figure in society.
Chen Wei humored him: "Such as?"
Yang Zian: "What will happen to my salary?"
Chen Wei: "It will be cut and will be a figure more fitting of your current status."
Yang Zian: "Why? The inquest found no evidence of me affecting the surgery. So just a few teaching sessions and charitable donations will be enough to raise my reputation back to its original state. I don"t see why my salary is being cut or why I have to work like a dog and even take my last breath within these walls."
Chen Wei smirked:" Yang Zian even children know the importance of not only being grateful but repaying what is owed. If your conscience is not enough then perhaps the fact that I still hold the evidence of your sabotage in my hands. I have the original testimonials of the staff who worked in the theater with you, the complaints lodged by your victims and the operation notes."
Yang Zian was nonchalant: "Then we will go down together. Emerald hospital will not escape unscathed if you release this information. You are the ones who "pulled strings and called in favors"."