It was the day Liu Jinfei had been waiting for. Today, he was to come to the hospital in secret, along with Shen Lingqing, to see what was truly going on with his impaired palate.
While the others had taken this time to leave the dormitory early to do some shopping and to sleep in and relax, Liu Jinfei found himself seated next to Shen Lingqing at the backseat of the car, while Qiao Lian and Fu Shuren drove them to the hospital.
“Calm down. Whatever we find out today, you won’t deal with this on your own.” He heard Shen Lingqing said.
Oddly enough, her words were enough to calm his nerves. Liu Jinfei hadn’t received something like this from others for a long time.
Was this the feeling of being cared for by another person? It felt like a long time since someone looked after his welfare genuinely.
“The doctor is one of the best my grandmother knew in the industry, so you can rest a.s.sured that he wouldn’t misdiagnose you,” Shen Lingqing added.
“Your grandmother?” Liu Jinfei blinked at that. Now that she mentioned it, aside from Shen Lingqing’s parents and siblings, he didn’t know anything about the Shen family.
“Hn. My paternal grandmother was a doctor. She has retired now, but she owned several hospitals around the country,” Shen Lingqing explained.
“Ohh…” Now that was something Liu Jinfei wasn’t aware of.
Shen Lingqing arched a brow at him but understood why he was surprised. Most people knew that the Shen family was into the real estate business, with her father choosing to venture on his own and helping her mother create a restaurant chain they now owned.
As for her paternal grandmother who was part of the Zhang family known to produce top-tier doctors and surgeons, Zhang Jingwei was rarely seen by the upper-cla.s.s society. Though, she was known as the previous madam of the Shen family.
“Miss Shen, Chairman Zhang is expecting your arrival today.”
When they alighted at the parking spot, her grandmother’s a.s.sistant had greeted them and led them to a private elevator. Liu Jinfei and Shen Lingqing stood next to each other, and Qiao Lian suddenly felt she was a shrimp next to these tall people.
It wasn’t the first time she noticed it, but she thought about how her boss and Liu Jinfei looked good when they were together. Ah, why didn’t she inherit her father’s tall genes? She wouldn’t look so short next to these two giants if she had.
They soon reached the floor where Zhang Jingwei’s office was located. There weren’t many people in the hallway when they stepped out of the elevator. With sungla.s.ses and her regal posture on as she walked next to Liu Jinfei and her a.s.sistant, Shen Lingqing was still able to attract other people’s attention.
The a.s.sistant opened the door and let Shen Lingqing and her companions enter the room before excusing himself.
Shen Lingqing found her grandmother seated behind her desk, conversing with a man in his late forties. She supposed this was the specialist her grandmother had mentioned to her over the phone.
Zhang Jingwei lifted her gaze, her smile widening upon seeing her granddaughter. She rose to her feet and strode hastily to the younger Shen, taking both of her granddaughter’s hands on hers.
“Qingqing, you’re finally here,” she said with a warm smile.
Liu Jinfei could tell that Shen Lingqing had a good relations.h.i.+p with her grandmother, as he noticed the gentleness in Zhang Jingwei’s eyes. This familial love… he wondered if it was a usual thing among the Shens.
From a closer look, he noticed that Shen Lingqing resembled her grandmother in so many ways. From her brows to the curve of her lips, to her straight nose, to the shape of her face; it was almost identical to Zhang Jingwei’s facial features.
“Mama, we aren’t late, are we?” Shen Lingqing asked, glancing at her grandmother’s face and then at the man seated across Zhang Jingwei’s desk, looking at them with a smile on his face.
“Oh, no, dear. You are just in time.” The older woman dragged Shen Lingqing and introduced her to the man casually dressed, with a white coat. “Dr. Xu, this is the granddaughter I was talking about earlier.”
The man called Dr. Xu stood up and shook Shen Lingqing’s hand firmly.
“Miss Shen. I heard a lot of things about you from your grandmother,” he said.
Shen Lingqing nodded curtly. She wasn’t really good with talks like this, as she felt uncomfortable being praised by someone that wasn’t her family.
“I hope it wasn’t inconvenient for Dr. Xu to meet us in a hurry,” she said in return.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I owe Dr. Zhang from a lot of favors in the past, so I don’t mind repaying her kindness once in a while,” Dr. Xu answered. He then glanced in Liu Jinfei’s way. “So I a.s.sume this is the young man who needed to get checked?”
Liu Jinfei was technically not that young anymore, considering he was already past his 30s, but looking at his face, it was only natural for some that he was only in his late 20s. Perhaps it was his youthful look that made him seem younger than his actual age.
“En. That’s him.” Shen Lingqing nodded, gesturing for Liu Jinfei to join them.
“Chairman Zhang, Dr. Xu, I’m Liu Jinfei,” he politely greeted their elders.
“Liu Jinfei, you say?” Zhang Jingwei tilted her head on one side, glancing at her granddaughter with an inquisitive gaze.
Liu Jinfei stiffened at that. Would this be a problem for Shen Lingqing? Others who had known who he was had stayed at arm’s length, so they could avoid making enemies out of the Liu family.
“Yes, Mama. That’s him,” Shen Lingqing confirmed. It’s impossible for her grandmother not to know who Liu Jinfei was to the Liu family.
“I see.” Zhang Jingwei nodded in understanding, but she didn’t dare to ask more. “Should we start then?”