Chapter 43: Jealousy — Your relationship is really good.

Bringing the phone to Ye Zhen Zhen’s room, Ji Zhe Yan gently set the gla.s.s of warm milk on the table.

Ye Zhen Zhen lifted her head up and smiled at Ji Zhe Yan, saying, “Thanks, Dr. Ji.”

Ji Zhe Yan curved his lips into a faint smile and then handed the phone over. “You have a text message.”

“Oh!” Ye Zhen Zhen took her phone and turned on the screen. Xi Cao gege’s text message was quietly resting on top.

Ye Zhen Zhen’s smile stiffened, her hand frozen in place.

“Why don’t you read it?” Ji Zhe Yan’s voice was as soft as water, and with the elusive smile of his, such tenderness made…hearts tremble.

Ye Zhen Zhen set down the phone and gave a hollow laugh. “It shouldn’t be anything important, so there’s no rush.”’

“He sent you a text so late at night; how can it not be important? You should read it first.”

……

Ye Zhen Zhen’s hand, which was on its way to grab the gla.s.s of milk, turned to pick up the phone instead. This time, if she did not read the message, she felt that she would only make matters worse by trying to hide it.

When Ye Zhen Zhen opened the message, she felt as if a desolate wind and chilling rain washed over her.

「I’m sorry for disturbing you so late in the evening. Are you asleep? You wouldn’t happen to be still drawing, are you? Although Gan Zhe pressed on urgency, remember to get some rest. Go to sleep early. Good night. ^_^」  

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

She now felt really uneasy. Ji Zhe Yan was standing next to her, so he should be able to read every word from his angle. She carefully a.n.a.lyzed Xi Cao gege’s message. It was actually very….normal…?…

Ji Zhe Yan chuckled softly, which caused Ye Zhen Zhen’s heart to skip a beat. This feeling of being caught committing adultery…

“Are you not going to reply to him? He might be waiting.”

Ye Zhen Zhen swallowed and said with a strained voice, “That’s n-not necessary; I think he’s definitely asleep. I don’t want to disturb him.”

“Oh.” Ji Zhe Yan nodded and then said, “This person’s name is very strange. His family name is Xi, and his first name is Cao, with the added suffix of gege?”

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

Why did she save his number under the name Xi Cao gege?! She should have saved it as the omnipotent 10086!1

“Is this the same Xi Cao you told

me about, the one that has a puppy crush on you—that Xi Cao?”

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

G.o.d Ji, I have wronged. I’m begging you to speak normally, okay? QAQ

“Your relationship is really good.”

Ye Zhen Zhen wanted to cry. “No, our relationship is not good at all!” Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. She desperately wanted to kneel down and hug Ji Zhe Yan’s thigh. “He is the person doing odd jobs in the compet.i.tion team. We’re not familiar with each other.”

Ji Zhe Yan’s eyes darkened. Hehe, no wonder she had ambiguously stated her teammates to be fellow cla.s.smates when mentioning the compet.i.tion team today. Without a guilty conscience, would she cover up something like this?

He pulled himself free of Ye Zhen Zhen’s embrace and smiled indifferently as he said, “Ye Zhen Zhen, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, three days from now, and all days after for an entire year, I will not make breakfast for you.”

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

She still had yet to return from her grieving state by the time Ji Zhe Yan picked up the milk from the table and left without turning back.

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

That gla.s.s of milk…she hadn’t even drank a sip, ah!

When Ji Zhe Yan returned to his room, he drained the gla.s.s of milk in one gulp. The indescribable emotion welling up in his heart made him a bit jittery. He never knew he would loathe seeing Ye Zhen Zhen interact with another man this much, even if the other person was just a name.

…If Xi Cao gege was only a name.

He set down the gla.s.s and headed to the bathroom. He had barely restrained himself from throwing away the phone earlier, and all his patience had been exhausted. He wrinkled his brows as he stood in the shower, that message once again coming back to his mind.

What did such a familiar way of speaking to a female friend, even wishing good night, mean? Furthermore, that silly smiley—it simply looked stupid instead of cute, no? If he acted like this toward everyone else, then his style was the problem! If he was only like this to Ye Zhen Zhen, then…hehe.

Ji Zhe Yan, in his heart, synchronized all his joints, vital organs, and acupuncture points.

Ye Zhen Zhen was no longer in the mood to continue drawing after Ji Zhe Yan left. At this time, her mood was not suited to drawing wedding dresses; it was more suited for drawing mourning clothes.

She miserably crawled into bed and covered herself

herself with the blanket, dispirited internally.

… Starting tomorrow, would she really not have breakfast made for her?

Several kilometers away, Xi Cao gege rested his head on his desk, waiting…and gradually fell asleep, unable to stay up for Ye Zhen Zhen’s reply.

Early the next morning, Ye Zhen Zhen’s eyes fluttered and flew open when she heard the door close. Last night, she had not been able to sleep well and was easily roused by the slight noise.

Dr. Ji left for work?

She sighed and sat up. She didn’t know if Dr. Ji was still angry; if he ignored her later, what should she do?

She washed her face as usual and then ran to the dining room in her nightgown and slippers. On the table, there was a small gla.s.s of milk and some pieces of bread. Although it was simple and crude compared to past breakfasts, she knew Dr. Ji was reluctant to let her go hungry.

Even if it was just milk and bread, she was just as eager to eat it.

Once breakfast was dealt with, Ye Zhen Zhen went back to drawing, yet she couldn’t find inspiration. She glanced at her phone and couldn’t help but send Dr. Ji a text message. 「Dr. Ji, are you still angry? I really am innocent. QAQ」  

After she sent the message, it was like sinking a stone into the ocean—no response.

Ye Zhen Zhen set aside her phone sorrowfully. Dr. Ji really was angry with her. She looked at her draft designs of wedding dresses and could already make out a prototype. However, she could not put pen to paper at the moment.

Perhaps she should take a stroll to find inspiration?

Ye Zhen Zhen wrinkled her brows in thought and decided to go out to drive away her boredom. Ji Zhe Yan’s apartment was in the downtown district, so Ye Zhen Zhen could just leave and window-shop. She pa.s.sed by a wedding dress store several times, yet she never could bring up enough courage to go inside by herself.

Ultimately, she went into a bookstore and bought some fashion magazines. She then went to the park to thumb through them. The dresses in the magazine were all common, everyday dresses; they were simply useless in helping her design wedding dresses, but perhaps she could still find inspiration. She had intentionally bought the latest 《TOMATO》 magazine, but from the first page to the last, she could not find that model called A’yao.

Ye Zhen Zhen was very disappointed. Even if she was pregnant,

was pregnant, she could still model maternity dresses!

A sudden rainstorm broke her train of thought. In an instant, the sky had become as gloomy as Dr. Ji’s expression from last night. Ye Zhen Zhen shook the raindrops off her hand and held the magazine above her head as she ran to the new slide, to escape the rain.

A child was already hiding beneath the slide, looking as much of a drowned rat as Ye Zhen Zhen.

The child tilted his head and suddenly greeted Ye Zhen Zhen. “Sister Jia Jia?” Ye Zhen Zhen wiped her hand across her forehead only to pause. She looked down at the little boy and asked somewhat hesitantly, “What did you call me?”

The little boy looked at her and then smiled, saying, “Aren’t you Sister Jia Jia? I’m Dou Dou; you don’t remember me?”

Ye Zhen Zhen stared at his missing front teeth and could not recall who he was. “You know me?”

The boy looked at her strangely. “Sister Jia Jia, how come you ran all the way over here? You never finished the portrait of me that you promised to give Little Dou Dou.”

Ye Zhen Zhen’s brows furrowed; her heart felt as if it was a taut bowstring. “You…”

“Dou Dou, found you!” Another little boy ran over with an umbrella and pointed at Dou Dou, who was hiding beneath the slide, as he said, “Next time, you should be the ghost!”

Dou Dou flattened his lips and turned to smile at Ye Zhen Zhen. “Bye, Sister Jia Jia!” He ran off after he said goodbye, yet Ye Zhen Zhen felt urgency in her heart and promptly gave chase.

Pu-tong—

Ye Zhen Zhen fell from the bench and rubbed her head, which ached terribly. She got up from her seated position on the ground.

She had actually fallen asleep in the park.

Surely it was because she didn’t sleep well last night, that she had such a strange dream. Just as she thought this, the sky suddenly began to rain torrentially. Ye Zhen Zhen immediately looked like a drowned rat.

Her heart skipped a beat. She looked at the nearby slide and hesitantly ran over.

There was no little boy hiding beneath. Ye Zhen Zhen unknowingly sighed in relief. The rain’s power was fierce, such that people throughout the park were running all over the place to avoid the rain. The slide soon became crowded with people. Luckily, this downpour left as fast as it came. Ten minutes later, the sky was clear once more.

Ye Zhen Zhenmore.

Ye Zhen Zhen held the magazine close to her as she left, her mind still focused on the dream she just had. When she got home, her clothes had already dried. Ye Zhen Zhen originally intended to take a shower, but she felt completely drained of energy. Furthermore, her head was still dizzy.

She sat down on the sofa and planned to rest for a bit before taking a shower. She didn’t expect to dazedly fall asleep the moment she sat down.

Ji Zhe Yan returned to the sight of Ye Zhen Zhen asleep on the sofa. Although it was now summer, she would easily catch a cold sleeping like this. Ji Zhe Yan’s brows furrowed. He walked over to the sofa. “Ye Zhen Zhen.”

The person on the sofa did not react. Ji Zhe Yan raised his voice. “Ye Zhen Zhen, don’t sleep here.”

Ye Zhen Zhen still didn’t react. Ji Zhe Yan bent down to carry her, but the moment his hand touched her skin, his hand instantly grasped her arm firmly. “Ye Zhen Zhen! Ye Zhen Zhen, wake up!”

Ye Zhen Zhen fuzzily heard Ji Zhe Yan call out to her and strained to open her heavy lids, only to see Ji Zhe Yan glaring down angrily at her. “Dr. Ji…” What did she do to make him so angry…

“Ye Zhen Zhen! Do you realize that you have a fever?!” The low growl resounding in her ear caused Ye Zhen Zhen to wake up instantly. So, she had a fever; no wonder she felt so unwell.

The temperature of her skin under his hand was simply scalding. Ji Zhe Yan recalled the sudden heavy rain that afternoon and tightly furrowed his brows. “Did you change clothes after running around in the rain or did you just go straight to sleep?”

“Ah…” It seemed like it, but Ye Zhen Zhen did not dare to admit it. “Dr. Ji, don’t frighten others with such an expression. I think instead of having a fever, I have some incurable disease.”

The hand on her arm suddenly tightened its grip even more. Ji Zhe Yan was on the verge of dying from anger due to her actions. “You’re sick yet you are still in the mood to make jokes?”

Ye Zhen Zhen actually smiled. “It doesn’t matter. I’m sick, and you just happen to be a doctor.”