The next day, Shi Xing received another call from the owner of that company. He sincerely invited her to visit their factory.

She immediately took a taxi to the location. Since it was in the suburbs, the entire factory looked rather old and run-down.

However, the staff inside were very professional. They answered all of Shi Xing’s questions fluently and confidently, and this time she was clearly more satisfied than she had been during her last visit.

Still, one problem remained unresolved. Now that Song Lin had left, no one knew who would be sent to take over. If the new person was easy to work with, that would be fine—but if they were as troublesome as Song Lin, things would become difficult.

With these concerns in mind, Shi Xing decided to return first and find out more about the situation.

Unexpectedly, just as she walked in, she ran straight into a familiar figure.

Shi Xing froze for a moment, then said excitedly, “Sister Jing!”

Yu Jing was also surprised to see her. After both of them calmed down, Yu Jing slowly began to talk about the entire process of returning to work.

“Actually, not long after you came to my place, Ji Yu came to see me as well.”

Shi Xing was startled and couldn’t help wondering how much Ji Yu had done behind the scenes.

Yu Jing didn’t notice her unusual expression and continued in a calm tone, “He told me he had a way to get me back to work and asked me to just wait for his news.”

So… he had already planned all of this quietly in advance? Shi Xing couldn’t help grumbling inwardly.

After listening to Yu Jing’s account, Shi Xing set her doubts aside for the time being and brought up the topic of the smart moxibustion device.

To her surprise, Yu Jing immediately agreed with her, and her voice unconsciously rose.
“I actually thought about this before. People under me often give feedback that many rookie team doctors can’t control the temperature well during moxibustion, and burns sometimes happen. But products on the market in this area vary greatly in quality.”

Shi Xing smiled and echoed her words.
“What a coincidence. Xie He recommended a company to me before. I just went to their factory for an inspection this morning, and it felt really good.”

Yu Jing looked at her in surprise, clearly not expecting her to move so quickly. Then she nodded and praised her.
“Not bad. You’ve improved a lot over the past six months. You used to be a newcomer who liked to zone out during meetings. Now you can already handle things on your own.”

Shi Xing lowered her head shyly and couldn’t help recalling how she had once been assigned by Yu Jing to follow the badminton team because she was distracted during a meeting. It turned out Yu Jing hadn’t misheard at all—she had deliberately given Shi Xing a chance to be trained.

After Yu Jing took office, the internal work efficiency of the team doctors clearly improved. Back when Song Lin was in charge, bureaucracy was rampant. There were so-called inspections every few days, making it almost impossible for everyone to truly focus on their work.

Moreover, recently, as athletes from other events had been called up for centralized provincial team training, there was an obvious shortage of team doctors.

During her free time, Shi Xing was also pulled over to help out with the badminton team.

She didn’t see Ji Yu there, but she did see the handsome young man from yesterday. He seemed to recognize her too and gave her a small nod in greeting.

Shi Xing returned the nod politely. The training hall was filled with unfamiliar faces.

From time to time, some of the boys would complain about the heat and lift up their shirts, revealing firm, well-defined abs.

Although Shi Xing didn’t particularly like watching, she had to admit that sometimes such scenes were undeniably eye-catching—just like now, when her gaze unconsciously lingered on a few of them.

She suddenly thought that if Ying Xiaoxiao were beside her at this moment, she would probably be screaming already.

Just then, Xie He somehow appeared quietly at her side and said slowly, word by word,
“Ji Yu, your wife is secretly checking out other guys’ abs.”

Shi Xing was so startled that she immediately looked behind her. Fortunately, no one else was there. She rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.

Xie He chuckled softly and said leisurely,
“Doesn’t your husband have abs? Why are you sneaking looks at others?”

Shi Xing gave a soft “shh.” Though embarrassed, she still retorted firmly,
“I wasn’t sneaking a look.”

Xie He clearly didn’t believe her. He glanced around and clicked his tongue from time to time.

Shi Xing really couldn’t stand his sarcastic tone. Rolling her eyes, she quickly came up with a way to counter him.

“Actually, compared to me, Ying Xiaoxiao likes looking at this kind of thing much more.”

She wasn’t lying to Xie He. Back in college, Shi Xing had a crush on Ji Yu. In order to see him more often, she frequently dragged Ying Xiaoxiao to the neighboring sports university to watch matches. Shi Xing went to see Ji Yu—but Ying Xiaoxiao went to see the athletes’ abs.

Back then, there were quite a lot of people at the badminton court. Most of them, like Shi Xing, came specifically to watch Ji Yu play. After all, as a rising star in the badminton world at the time, Ji Yu had already gained some fame and was a hot topic wherever he went.

The person who left the deepest impression on Shi Xing was Huang Yuting, who often partnered with Ji Yu.

Every time Shi Xing went to watch a match, Huang Yuting would be right beside Ji Yu. And since the two of them laughed and chatted a lot on the court, for some reason, a faint sense of bitterness would always rise in Shi Xing’s heart.

Even on Shi Xing’s own university campus, people would talk about their “CP” as she walked by. Whenever that happened, she would pretend not to hear. Then, late at night, lying in bed, she would quietly convince herself that stars were meant only to be admired—not picked.

Xie He waved a hand in front of her when he saw her zoning out, muttering,
“What’s wrong with you?”

Shi Xing shook her head. Thinking about the past, she forced a small smile.

Xie He cleared his throat on purpose and asked cautiously,
“So… you said Ying Xiaoxiao likes looking at that kind of thing?”

Seeing through his intention, Shi Xing nodded and asked mischievously,
“Why do you ask?”

Xie He immediately changed the subject, scratching his head and answering her vaguely while sneaking away from the scene.

Shi Xing looked at his back and laughed helplessly.

Sure enough, not long after she got off work, Ying Xiaoxiao sent her a series of messages.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”

“Do you know what’s gotten into Xie He lately?”

Then Ying Xiaoxiao sent her a photo of Xie He’s abs—posted in his Moments and visible only to her.

Shi Xing was completely stunned. She hadn’t expected Xie He to move so fast.

She quickly typed a reply.

“Isn’t that a good thing? Did you suddenly stop liking abs?”

“But I feel so awkward! We’re too familiar with each other. I can’t feel any desire at all.”

Shi Xing burst out laughing at her message.

At some point, Ji Yu suddenly appeared in front of her. He looked down at her and asked meaningfully,
“What are you laughing at?”

She handed her phone to Ji Yu. The two of them then sat down together on a bench and started chatting.

“He likes Ying Xiaoxiao?” Ji Yu suddenly said, sounding a little incredulous.

“You only just realized?” Shi Xing looked at him in surprise. Xie He had made it so obvious before.

Ji Yu nodded indifferently and said lazily,
“I thought he was just showing off like a peacock.”

Shi Xing finally couldn’t hold back her laughter. Inwardly, she complained that these two really were good brothers who could endure hardship together—but not enjoy good times together.

After joking around, Ji Yu became serious again.
“When the New Year holiday comes around, go meet my dad with me.”

It was the first time Shi Xing had ever heard him mention his father. She nodded naturally and asked curiously,
“In Jinggang City?”

He lowered his eyes and replied softly,
“Overseas.”

Now it was her turn to be shocked. But since Ji Yu didn’t want to say more, she didn’t ask further.

Instead, she tried to sound lighthearted and joked,
“What if your mom agrees, but your dad doesn’t?”

The moment she said it, she regretted it a little—it made her sound as if she were in a hurry.

Ji Yu clearly noticed this. He raised his eyebrows slightly and said softly,
“Don’t worry. No matter what, they’ll still ‘marry’ me off.”

Shi Xing lowered her head and laughed quietly.

Then she suddenly remembered something and looked up at him.
“Did you go see Sister Yu Jing before?”

Ji Yu paused, then nodded after a moment.
“Yeah. She told you?”

He explained the whole process in detail.

“I hope there won’t be any more trouble in the future,” Shi Xing said at the end, almost like a wish.

Ji Yu looked down at her. The look in his eyes was dark and unreadable. After a long while, he finally said,
“It will be fine.”

She wasn’t sure whether he was saying it to her—or to himself.

Perhaps the topic felt too heavy. Shi Xing quickly changed the subject and said cheerfully,
“Actually, at the beginning, I never really thought I’d become a team doctor.”

“You wanted to work at a hospital?”

Shi Xing nodded, then shook her head again.
“Do you remember I once told you I studied traditional Chinese medicine because of my grandfather? At first, I wanted to be like him and help more people in a hospital.”

“But in those years, the doctor–patient relationship kept getting worse. I often saw news about doctors being attacked by patients and their families—some were injured, and some even lost their lives.”

“That made me start wondering whether choosing this major in the first place was really the right decision.”

Although she originally meant to lighten the mood, the more she spoke, the more visibly her emotions sank.

Seeing that she was in low spirits, Ji Yu gently patted her shoulder and said quietly,
“Sometimes, the results we hope for don’t always turn out the way we expect in reality.”

Shi Xing stared straight ahead, nodded heavily, then looked up at him.

“This is also what I want to say to you, Ji Yu.”

“No matter how things turn out in the future, I’ll always stay by your side. Let’s face everything together. You don’t have to carry everything on your own.”

The moon hung high in the sky, casting a faint glow that fell over him. Half of his face was swallowed by shadow. His black, slightly messy hair fell over his forehead, making him look a little distant.

But soon, a gentle smile appeared in Ji Yu’s eyes. After a moment, he spoke softly.

“Okay.”

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