Chapter 223: Chapter 220 Matchmaking
"What’s with this young lady, being all secretive about a phone call?" Lin Wan couldn’t help but mutter.
"Why bother with it so much, just focus on your own duties."
After being chided by Zhang Hao, Lin Wan’s face soured a bit when the other two doctors weren’t looking.
She pinched Zhang Hao’s arm fiercely, causing him immediate pain, and he sharply inhaled a breath of cold air.
He looked at Lin Wan in astonishment, and although he said nothing, his face conveyed a thousand words.
Just at this time, Qin Miaoke had finished her phone call and returned with a preoccupied mind.
"How come after taking a call, you look like you’ve lost your soul?"
Facing Zhang Hao’s concern, Qin Miaoke wasn’t able to conceal her emotions.
"It was a call from my dad. He wants me to go home tomorrow night for a blind date."
Qin Miaoke, in her early twenties, could experience dating or blind dates. It wasn’t a big deal.
"That’s great, getting married early, having kids early. Sometimes delaying things isn’t better."
Zhang Hao felt he was looking at the issue from a neutral standpoint.
But Qin Miaoke didn’t see it that way: "But I feel like I’m still young. I want to experience free love, not something arranged by my family."
Qin Miaoke complained just a bit to avoid affecting their work and then pushed down the negative emotions.
It was evening and time to get off work. Zhang Hao has just finished packing up his things and was ready to visit his dad at the city hospital.
Taking the chance, Qin Miaoke rushed over and grabbed his arm. "Zhang Hao, I’ll give you two thousand yuan if you help me out, okay?"
Unprovoked offers of help suggest ulterior motives.
Zhang Hao extracted his arm from Qin Miaoke’s embrace: "You should tell me what it is first. After that, I can decide whether to agree or not."
Seeing Zhang Hao being so cautious, and among everyone at the hospital, she was closest to him.
After some thought, Qin Miaoke still shared her idea: "I don’t want to go to this blind date, so just pretend to be my new boyfriend. Just fool my parents, and you won’t have to worry about the rest. How about it?"
Zhang Hao didn’t immediately know what to say, as this wasn’t the first time he had pretended to be someone else’s boyfriend.
He could say he had become quite experienced in this role.
"If it really won’t work, you could rent one. We work so closely, and if your parents did even a little investigation..."
"They’d know I’m deceiving them. So maybe you should ask someone else. I’ve got to go; I have things to do."
Qin Miaoke was taken aback by Zhang Hao’s refusal and anxiously paced back and forth in the department. After a long while, she still hadn’t come up with a suitable solution.
She could only wail in the department, causing the patients outside to cautiously poke their heads in,
wondering what could possibly have happened. If even Zhang Hao wouldn’t agree to help her,
who would she turn to?
She couldn’t possibly post a "Boyfriend Wanted" ad online; it wouldn’t sound good if it got out, Qin Miaoke chided herself.
Zhang Hao drove to the city hospital, and although he knew his father was not in serious trouble, he still couldn’t let go of his worries.
Upon arrival, he found that the old man was already able to sit up.
Today, it was his mother taking care of him.
"Mom, take a break. I’ll take care of things here."
"It’s fine. You’ve been busy all day, get some rest."
After a bit of courteous back-and-forth, Zhang Hao put down his bag and checked the time. It was almost dinner time.
He asked his father what he’d like to eat, and everything his dad wanted was heavy in flavor.
These things were not good for his recovery, so Zhang Hao vetoed them one by one.
"I’ll arrange something light for you, which will be better for your health."
Seeing his son say this, Zhang Jian’s face immediately turned sour. He glanced at his wife,
"Look at this, my son is now bossing his old man around, but I can’t even refuse because I know he means well."
"Raising a son to provide for old age, isn’t that the purpose? Don’t be too stubborn with the kid. We’ll both get old one day, and then we’ll have to rely on him."
After this injury, Zhang Jian finally understood the meaning of these words.
"Just go ahead and arrange it as you like. Anyway, I’ve been recuperating in the hospital lately, can’t go anywhere, can’t eat much."
Zhang Hao went to a fast-food restaurant near the hospital and, seeing that there wasn’t much left of the dishes, he switched to another one.
He bought some lightly stir-fried dishes. Although his mother didn’t have any discomfort, Zhang Hao also prepared some light meals for her.
As for himself, he got a takeout order of beef noodles with extra chili to take back.
Just as he got back to the ward, he heard his dad chatting with someone else.
"Being a doctor is great, healing the sick, doing good deeds, and even as a young man, he’s already a director. His future is very promising."
"Unlike my kid, who’s got no skills, can only do manual labor, doesn’t make much in a month."
"And from time to time, he still needs my help. What I hope now is for him to get married and have children soon."
"Once he’s got his own family, I’ll be able to let go completely, hands off."
Zhang Hao, carrying the meal, entered, breaking up the conversation between the two patients.
"Stop chatting, it’s time to eat."
Just as he finished arranging the food, Zhang Hao’s phone rang.
He assumed it was the hospital calling him back for an extra shift since he had run into the surgical director when he was leaving.
Who had said it was very likely he’d need to come back tonight to work overtime.
Only when he saw the name flashing on the screen did he breathe a sigh of relief.
But he couldn’t understand why Qin Miaoke would call him at this time.
With all sorts of guesses in mind, he answered the call.
"Zhang Hao, I’m at the gate of the city hospital. Can you come out and see me?"
"You’re at the city hospital? What are you doing there?"
"Nothing much, just come down if you’re still around. If you’ve gone, then I’ll leave."
Zhang Hao quickly stood up and moved to the window; the outpatient building and inpatient department were side by side.
Looking out the window, he spotted Qin Miaoke immediately.
If it were up to him, he would prefer not to meet.
But then he thought about Elder Qin constantly saying he should take care of his granddaughter.
He really had no reason to leave her standing outside alone.
"Alright, I’m coming down now. Wait for me."
The thought of seeing Zhang Hao soon filled Qin Miaoke with immense excitement.
More than ten minutes later, she finally saw him appear, and Qin Miaoke bounced up to him.
"Why have you come here? Is there something you need from me?"
"Nothing specific, I just wanted to have dinner with you," said Qin Miaoke.
Zhang Hao felt there had to be a catch, and after scrutinizing her for a while, he refused.
"My dad’s still in the ward, waiting for me to take care of him. Let’s have dinner some other time."
"Then I’ll go up and see Uncle. But he won’t mind me coming empty-handed, right?"
Since she had come all this way, it seemed unreasonable not to let her go up for a visit.
"It’s fine, come if you want. Neither of them is the type to care about formalities."
