Chapter 40: A Chance Encounter — Truly a coincidence…

Unknowingly, it was already the end of June. Ye Zhen Zhen had simply entered a berserk state during this month in order to raise money to buy Dr. Ji a piano. Ji Zhe Yan glanced at the clock, whose clock hand nearly at the numeral twelve, and then back at Ye Zhen Zhen’s room with its lit lamp. His brows wrinkled in displeasure. “Ye Zhen Zhen, go to bed right now.”

“Alright.” Ye Zhen Zhen agreed but still did not put down her pen nor did her movements slow down even the tiniest bit. Ji Zhe Yan’s brows furrowed deeper and directly went to the fuse box. Pa— He shut off the power.

Ye Zhen Zhen, who was now trapped in darkness: “…”

She groped around for her desk lamp, still not listening to Ji Zhe Yan. When she turned around, however, she saw said man standing behind her, a dark look in his eyes. She only had the courage to swallow and climb into bed immediately. “Good night, Dr. Ji, goodnight! Aha, I said goodnight!”1

Ji Zhe Yan: “…”

He used the dim lighting to find Ye Zhen Zhen’s head and ruffled her hair messily, ruining her hairstyle. He then shut off the lamp and walked out of her room. Ye Zhen Zhen yelled at his back as if her life depended on it, “Goodnight, Dr. Ji!”

Once she heard the door close, Ye Zhen Zhen calmed down. This past half month, she had neglected sleep and food in order to draw, but her achievements have been pitiful. She had only drawn a single new summer design and three autumn ones. Not to mention a piano, even an electronic keyboard was out of reach.

“Ai.” Ye Zhen Zhen sighed miserably into her blanket. Time-wise, the end of semester exam season should have just started. She could not go take the exams for Ye Zhen Zhen, yet she still felt a bit mentally uneasy. Though, even if she wanted to go, it was not certain she would even pa.s.s; this thought comforted her several times.

At least, she would preserve Ye Zhen Zhen’s top student rank by not taking the exams.

She blinked and decided to listen to Dr. Ji’s instructions about going to sleep. Tomorrow, she would amend her designs before seeing Zhou Wen.

Perhaps because she was extremely tired, Ye Zhen Zhen slept in till half past ten. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed,

wondering, Dr. Ji has the day off, so why didn’t he wake me up? He normally didn’t allow her to sleep in.

After going through her simple morning routine. Ye Zhen Zhen left the room and was. .h.i.t by a strong aroma of curry pervading throughout the entire living room.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know you are mentally ill?”

Ji Zhe Yan’s voice suddenly rang out from behind her, causing Ye Zhen Zhen to look in every direction of the living room. She found him sitting on the sofa, talking on the phone.

“Regardless of whether I’m a doctor, I cannot change the fact that you are a patient.”

Ye Zhen Zhen blinked. No matter who was on the other side of the call, please allow her to observe a moment of silence on his behalf. She trod softly and quietly to the sofa and took a seat, openly eavesdropping.

“I have not told her about your condition; I’m letting your primary doctor tell her.”

“Naturally I trust her; at least, she graduated medical school while you are merely someone suffering from mental illness. No, I am not discriminating against the mentally ill, but I am discriminating against you.”

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

As a fellow patient, she suddenly felt that her past self was very blessed.

She still had not fixed her expression by the time Ji Zhe Yan set down his phone. She was convinced that the other person had lost their patience and hung up.

“Dr. Ji,” Ye Zhen Zhen called out cutely. She had not seen Dr. Ji’s poisonous tongue in quite a while, so she was more obedient to be safe.

When Ji Zhe Yan saw her beside him with a fawning appearance, he unconsciously smiled a bit. “The small lazy pig finally got out of bed.” Ye Zhen Zhen became a bit embarra.s.sed at his words, causing Ji Zhe Yan to press a kiss to her pink cheeks—his mood excellent now. “Are you hungry? I made curry chicken. You can eat a little  to pad your stomach.”

“Thanks, Dr. Ji!” Ye Zhen Zhen looped her arms around his neck and plopped a kiss onto his lips. She then cheerfully ran off to the kitchen. Once she demolished a chicken wing, Ye Zhen Zhen finally found the time to ask, “Dr. Ji, who were you just talking on the phone with?”

Ji Zhe Yan stopped prepping some ingredients and replied, “A patient.”

“Is his illness severe?”

Ji Zhe Yan thought for a moment and then set

set down his kitchen knife. “He once acted in movies. For one role, his character had the ability to fly. When he joined the show, he really thought he could fly and jumped off the balcony.”

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

This was not a mentally ill person; wasn’t this simply just a r.e.t.a.r.d?

She grimaced and asked in concern, “Is he okay?”

Ji Zhe Yan picked up his knife again and resumed his food preparation. “Fortunately, the balcony was not high up, and only his lower fibula fractured.”

“Oh.” Actors didn’t have it easy either. She nibbled her second chicken wing while lamenting this. “Dr. Ji, you treated a celebrity?”

“Celebrities usually have their own private doctors, but this patient was more familiar with me…”

“Oh.” Ye Zhen Zhen was just finishing up with this chicken wing, so she didn’t hear the evasiveness in Ji Zhe Yan’s voice.

Seeing Ye Zhen Zhen hold onto the chicken wing, Ji Zhe Yan finally could not help but pat her hand. “Alright, save the rest to eat later.”

Ye Zhen Zhen flattened her lips but embarra.s.sedly went to go wash her hands. She couldn’t help Ji Zhe Yan with cooking, so she sent Zhou Wen a text to setup a meeting tomorrow.

That afternoon, Dr. Ji tutored her in English s, during which Ye Zhen Zhen shamelessly took advantage of to an unreasonable degree. Yet, she couldn’t turn her English lessons into a movie emulation lesson, causing her to suffer greatly.

“Ye Zhen Zhen, you’ve been thinking for five minutes. Which tense have you finally decided upon using?”

Seeing Dr. Ji’s brows once again furrow together, Ye Zhen Zhen subconsciously straightened up. “Dr. Ji, if I answer correctly, will I get a reward?”

Ji Zhe Yan smiled shallowly. “What do you want as a reward?”

Ye Zhen Zhen adopted a thinking pose. “Oh, can I kiss you?”

Ji Zhe Yan’s smile did not waver. “If you reply incorrectly, what should your penalty be?”

“Then you kiss me!” She truly was very quick-witted.

Ji Zhe Yan stared at her. “I want to p.r.i.c.k you with a needle instead.”

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

“Alright, choose quickly.”

…He was simply trying to hound her to death. Ye Zhen Zhen bowed her head to stare at the four multiple choice answers and randomly chose 『C』.

So what if he gave her a shot?! Who cared?!  

“…Although I know you guessed randomly, congratulations—it’s correct. It seems that you have previously studied how to guess answers, which is a subject you should consider majoring in.”

majoring in.” Ji Zhe Yan’s penetrating voice made her feel both helpless and powerless to a profound degree.

Ye Zhen Zhen’s eyes brightened instantly. She plopped herself into Ji Zhe Yan’s lap of her own accord. “Then I can kiss you?”

Ji Zhe Yan stifled a laugh, causing his chest to tremble slightly. Ye Zhen Zhen took advantage of his bowed head to very quickly kiss the corner of his mouth. She looked like a cat proud of itself for cheating on its spouse. “Dr. Ji, if I answer everything correctly, can we sleep together tonight?”

Ji Zhe Yan: “…”

He stared at the person on his lap for a spell and said with a completely honest tone, “I suggest you alter the requirement. Otherwise, we’ll never sleep together.”

Ye Zhen Zhen: “…”

She had scored a 33 on a past test, but that did not mean her IQ was only 33!

This fact about her IQ  was confirmed, in that she went to bed alone that night. Lying alone in her bed, Ye Zhen Zhen pondered about the painful experience. It seemed that if she did not study English well, she would not have a happy life.

Perhaps she…really should listen to Dr. Ji and change the requirement. Next time, it would be…being able to finish ten chicken wings in one sitting? How about fifteen?

Nestling in her chest the beautiful desire to sleep together with Dr. Ji, Ye Zhen Zhen fell asleep dazedly. In her dream, she saw with her very own eyes Dr. Ji strip, only for her alarm to drag her back to cruel reality.

Ye Zhen Zhen sighed in despair as she sat up, ruffling her hair before getting up resignedly to wash her face and rinse her mouth. Today, she planned to give the designs to Zhou Wen. They intentionally set up a meeting in the morning because Zhou Wen had something that afternoon, so Ye Zhen Zhen could not arrive late.

Dr. Ji had already left for work, so Ye Zhen Zhen grabbed her bag after she finished eating breakfast and also took her leave. Their meeting place was still Starlight Plaza, but because today was Sat.u.r.day, the streets were especially crowded. She ran into a traffic jam when she left. When Ye Zhen Zhen looked at the time, she saw that she only had five minutes left.

Even though Zhou Wen said she was also stuck in a traffic jam, Ye Zhen Zhen still ran the rest of the wayof the way to the cafe. Ding~ling~ling~ She opened the door at the exact same time someone else was exiting, causing her to run straight into them.

The other person’s strength was greater than her own, so Ye Zhen Zhen ended up stumbling back a few steps and almost fell to the ground.

“Aaahhh, sorry!” A clear, male voice rang in her ear, seemingly panicked. The man had reached out to grab her arm, steadying Ye Zhen Zhen, but the designs she had been clutching close to her chest had all fallen to the ground.

She was still wondering why this voice sounded a bit familiar, while the man had already crouched down to help pick up her fallen designs.

“I’m really sorr…”  The apology came to an abrupt stop, with an exclamation of awe replacing it almost immediately. “You designed these clothes?”

The man looked up. Their gazes met, and the two of them fell silent. The scene was strangely peaceful, though the waiter who rushed over to lend a hand was awkwardly standing there at a complete loss.

With one earbud dangling down, a pair of large, puppy-like eyes, and this familiar voice… Ye Zhen Zhen had not antic.i.p.ated ever running into Xi Cao gege again one day.

She felt that today’s calendar had probably suggested that she should not leave the house.

“Ye, Ye Zhen Zhen, it’s you…” Xi Cao gege stood up from the ground and handed over the tidied stack of designs back to Ye Zhen Zhen.

Ye Zhen Zhen had to admit that hearing the name ‘Ye Zhen Zhen’ was somewhat ear-piercing. Although she did not feel like this at all with Ji Zhe Yan, it unexpectedly made her feel a bit uneasy when other people called her this.

“I didn’t expect to run into you here, truly a coincidence…” Upon seeing Ye Zhen Zhen remain silent, Xi Cao gege could only smile awkwardly.

Ye Zhen Zhen took the offered design drafts, also feeling awkward. Last time, she had given Pei Cui Cui’s number to him. She had thought that the next time she saw him, he would angrily demand for her own…

In any case, she decided to first apologize, except she could not string her words together. He stepped closer and spoke up first, “Oh, that’s right, those clothes just now, you designed them?”

Ye Zhen Zhen saw his brilliant, shining expression and dumbly nodded. “Mn, yes…”

“Amazing!” Xi Cao gege grabbed her arm again and excitedly asked, “Can you come and be our designer?”