Of course, Mubai didn"t know about this either. He didn"t know she was going to leave the country.
That night, he called her to invite her for lunch the day after.
After she rejected him outright, he quickly added, "Lin Lin will be coming as well. He said he misses you a lot."
"Of course, I"ll be there," Xinghe agreed the moment Lin Lin"s name was brought up.
Xinghe felt she shouldn"t deprive Lin Lin of the chance to have a real family meal. She was dying so she didn"t want Lin Lin to have this regret.
Mubai was rather ashamed that he had to use his son as leverage but that was quickly overshadowed by happiness when Xinghe said yes.
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step; as long as he persevered, he believed that one day, he would be able to get Xinghe to remarry him.
Mubai extensively prepared for their lunch date.
Xinghe on the other hand, treated it like any other day.
In fact, she even had time to drop by the hospital early that morning.
Lu Qi said he had something to discuss with her. Xinghe a.s.sumed it was to do with the artificial limb technology.
Xinghe was led by a nurse to a meeting room. When she walked in, Lu Qi and a few doctors were already waiting.
They were happy to see her. They treated her with courtesy and respect.
Xinghe returned the same courtesy. She answered all of their questions truthfully and patiently.
When the meeting was over, the room of doctors realized she is as capable as they heard. She was especially gifted in the field of mathematics.
After all, perfection of the artificial limb technology required a whole host of intricate algorithms to complete.
Xinghe"s incredible talent coupled with her unlikely young age earned the doctors" admiration.
Lu Qi even asked her out for lunch when the meeting was over.
Xinghe rejected his offer. "I already have a lunch planned, sorry but we"ll have to take a rain check."
Lu Qi nodded understandingly. "Alright, I will hold you to your promise and invite you next time. You"re leaving, right? Come, I"ll walk you out."
Hopefully, there will be a next time…
Lu Qi treated Xinghe like a true gentleman, considerate and gracious.
In actuality, Xinghe had a good impression of him too because he was truly a good doctor.
Xinghe heard many good things about him like how he devoted his life to the advancement of medicine.
He was affiliated with Doctors without Borders and was deeply involved in international aid.
Xinghe admired his selflessness and his drive to do go for human society in general…
If not for her impending doom, she perhaps would have stayed to help Lu Qi with his medical research.
"Doctor Lu…" A woman greeted Lu Qi when he and Xinghe were walking down the corridor towards the hospital entrance.
She was coming their way in a wheelchair.
The handicapped woman was young, perhaps in her early twenties. She had an interesting presence about her.
Lu Qi saw her and made some introductions. "This is one of my patients. Her surname is Xia as well. Perhaps you two are extended family?"
Xinghe took a look at the other woman and shook her head, "No, I don"t think I know her."
The other Miss Xia replied with a smile, "But from now onwards, we do know each other. Nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Xia."
"The pleasure is mine," Xinghe responded politely but a feeling of apprehension rose in her heart.
For some reason, she didn"t like the way the other Miss Xia kept looking her up and down.
However, Xinghe didn"t fixate on it. Perhaps the other woman was socially awkward; regardless, Xinghe didn"t like to meddle in other people"s affairs. She turned to Lu Qi and said, "Since you have a patient waiting then I shall show myself out. See you next time."
"Alright, goodbye."
Xinghe turned to leave but she could feel the other Miss Xia"s gaze trailing her all the way until she turned the corner and left the hospital…