Dr. Handsome was charmingly attentive to Sophie. Everyone around was watching pleasantly.
Li Du opened the door and walked out of his car. He smiled and greeted, "Hi, good morning, my dear."
Sophie, who was gracefully turning down Dr. Handsome"s flowers, saw Li Du and sent him a death stare. Then, she reached out to accept the rainbow roses as she said, "Dr. Graz, thanks for the gift."
Li Du felt that something was not right so he said, "Hold on, Sophie. I"ve got you a gift too."
Sophie looked askance at him. "Is it for me or Officer Luo Qun?"
Li Du was not angry in the slightest from her act of jealousy. He found it interesting to see this side of Sophie as it was the first time she"d behaved so.
He walked toward Sophie with the flower bud in his hand and said, "This is of course for you. This is a gift only for my girlfriend."
Dr. Handsome was astonished. "Oh, G.o.d. You are not referring to the bud in your hand, right? This is pretty original, but don"t you think that it might not be appropriate?"
Li Du ignored him completely and directed all his attention to Sophie. "My apologies for the miscommunication we had yesterday. I will keep that in mind. I hope that you can forgive me."
Sophie responded, "You seem really sincere but why do these buds look so familiar? Don"t tell me that you picked them out from the daffodils yesterday." On second thought, she added fiercely, "You"re finished if it really is."
Li Du smiled. "No, of course not. This is freshly picked—a flower of tomorrow."
He bowed gracefully and raised the flower bud. Then, in front of everyone, the leaves of the flower bud suddenly began to tremble.
The petals started to open gradually as the leaves trembled. The flower slowly bloomed in front of everyone at a speed the naked eye could see . . .
"Unbelievable!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
"What did I just witness? This must just be an illusion!"
"Oh, G.o.d! How did this kid do it? I"ve never seen a magic trick like this!"
"Am I dreaming? Is this for real?"
Sophie rubbed her eyes unconsciously. At that very moment, there were no more rainbow roses. All her attention was on the blooming daffodils.
"How did you do it?" she said.
Li Du winked at her and said, "That"s a secret. If you want to know, we need to go somewhere private. I crafted this trick with great hards.h.i.+p yesterday."
Sophie immediately took the daffodils. Then, she grabbed his hand and took him to the office.
At the same time, she turned back to Dr. Handsome. "I am sorry, Dr. Graz. I cannot accept your gift in front of my boyfriend. I am still very grateful because it improved my mood."
Dr. Handsome was a true gentleman. He didn"t mind that his spotlight had been stolen by Li Du. He smiled back and said, "Don"t mention it. The pleasure is mine."
n.o.body at the hospital had started to work yet. Sophie had just taken over from her colleague who worked the night s.h.i.+ft. She pulled Li Du into the office and said, "Tell me now. How did you . . . "
Blah-blah-blah. Li Du pushed her against the wall and placed his open lips on hers and began to kiss her.
Sophie tried to push him away by shoving his chest but it was merely just an act. She pushed a couple of times and then withdrew her arms weakly. She grabbed onto his s.h.i.+rt and began to kiss him back pa.s.sionately.
Li Du returned to the cabin. Hans saw that Li Du was immensely pleased with himself and he asked curiously, "Crisis averted?"
"Crisis? What was the crisis?" Li Du pretended to be confused.
Hans gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Alright, alright. I hope that there won"t be any more love crises between you and Sophie. I hope that you can always play dumb."
Li Du responded furiously, "There was no crisis between us. Even if there was a problem, I would be able to take care of it!"
Sophie had decided to resign and follow Li Du back to Phoenix to support his career.
It was a tough decision as she would not only lose her job, she would also be giving up the place where she had grown up and her circle of friends that she"d built.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin actually supported her decision. They believed that the young should explore big cities. They were confident of their daughter"s abilities to get a job in Phoenix easily.
Mrs. Martin was slightly worried and told her, "If you have any difficulties getting a job, you"ve got to tell me and your dad. We will be happy to help you."
Americans were also great at using their connections. Mrs. Martin had been a professor in an elite school for decades. She had plenty of connections in the field.
"Don"t you worry, Mom," Sophie spoke with confidence. "How hard could it be to get a job? I"m not that fussy."
Li Du was not concerned about this at all as he was capable of providing his wife a comfortable life.
In America, amongst the middle-cla.s.s families, women often played the role of housewives while men were responsible to provide for the family.
However, Sophie did not become a doctor for the money, but for her pa.s.sion. She enjoyed the sense of achievement from saving lives and healing wounds.
She stayed in Flagstaff temporarily to arrange her resignation. Big Quinn and Lu Guan arranged to pack up the cabin. Hans and Li Du took a flight to Los Angeles to attend Chris Bell"s charity event.
As soon as they arrived in Los Angeles, Li Du met up with Brother Wolf and then went to the UCLA Medical Centre, where Toma.s.son"s wife was receiving her treatment.
He went to the reception and asked for Mrs. Toma.s.son"s information. After that, he walked into the ward.
Mrs. Toma.s.son was just an ordinary middle-aged white woman. She had a slightly plump body and had neat brown hair. She was reading the Bible on her bed.
They knew each other but they had only met a couple of times before. Li Du usually only dealt with Mr. Toma.s.son directly.
Li Du skipped the formalities and presented his gift along with his best wishes. He then left right after that. He did not stay longer as he did not want to inconvenience the patient or her family members.
The act of concealing one"s illness to avoid treatment was wrong. However, the patient and the family were clearly aware of their issue, so they didn"t need someone else nagging of their condition in their ears.
Li Du and Hans left the hospital and went to the store. They bought a toaster, juicer, television, gaming console, popcorn machine, toys, and some snacks.
Hans also redeemed a 20,000-dollar voucher. These items would be sent to the welfare inst.i.tute. He had experience that lifestyle once so he knew what items that the welfare inst.i.tute needed.
They rented a pickup truck and loaded the items into it. Then, they drove to Bell"s house.
Even though Bell was wealthy, he did not live a mansion but instead an ordinary double-story house in a suburb of Los Angeles. The landscape was breathtaking and the facilities of the house were decent. It resembled a small villa.
In fact, this type of house was not costly. Hans said that it was a little over a hundred thousand dollars . . .