Chapter 438: Chapter 435: Ugly but Playful
"No matter what, she was always the one being neglected. Just last night, the Elder scolded me because of this matter."
"This morning when I went to the hospital, I was off my game, and you’ve said it yourself, as the head of the department."
"I have to look out for the condition of my colleagues, so I just spontaneously invited her for a meal, and we had a good heart-to-heart during dinner."
He Qianhui listened quietly while clutching Zhang Hao’s arm.
Her fingertips grazed his arm lightly, noticing an uneven patch on the skin.
She hurriedly turned on the bedside lamp for a closer look and discovered a row of bite marks.
"How did this happen? Who bit you?"
"Who else could it be? Wasn’t it that troublesome former nurse?"
Upon hearing this, He Qianhui couldn’t sit still.
"That’s not right. If she can’t handle her own family issues, why is she taking it out on you? You’re innocent."
"This little lady really is ruthless, biting so deep on the first go. If she’d broken the skin, wouldn’t you have needed a rabies vaccine?"
Zhang Hao looked at He Qianhui with eyes full of concern.
He held her hand back: "Don’t worry, it’s nothing. Back in the day, that little lady would pull all kinds of stunts just to get closer to me."
"And now, with her grandfather being my mentor."
"Our relationship is a layer deeper than just ordinary colleagues—I reckon she sees me as a brother."
Whatever Zhang Hao wanted to say or express, He Qianhui understood it all.
"You don’t need to defend her. I understand all that; I’m just feeling heartache for you. Maybe once this bite heals, I’ll give it a bite myself."
"If by any chance you develop dementia in old age, and the police are looking for someone with a distinguishing feature."
"I’ll tell them to look for the bite marks on your arm—clear enough, right?"
When He Qianhui said this, Zhang Hao quickly retracted his hand.
"What’s this, what’s this? My arm isn’t a bone for everyone to take a bite at."
Seeing Zhang Hao’s strong reaction, He Qianhui couldn’t help but laugh.
"What’s the matter? Others can take a bite out of you, but I can’t? That’s very unfair."
"I might as well wait until you fall asleep and then bite you hard. Let’s see what you can do about it then."
The two of them joked around and teased each other until they finally went to sleep past midnight.
The next morning, to the merciless sound of the alarm, Zhang Hao opened his weary eyes.
Although they hadn’t done much the night before, his eyes were full of fatigue.
He dragged himself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom to wash up. He Qianhui, still on holiday, continued sleeping in the bed.
After getting ready, Zhang Hao returned to the bedroom at a leisurely pace.
"Wife, I’m off to work. You rest well at home."
After speaking, he didn’t forget to leave a soft kiss on He Qianhui’s forehead.
In fact, He Qianhui wasn’t asleep at that time but was simply lying in bed, drowsy.
Hearing that Zhang Hao was leaving for work, she muttered a muffled "Be careful on your way."
Then she heard the sound of footsteps fading away, followed by the soft sound of the door closing.
By the time He Qianhui was fully awake, it was already past ten in the morning.
She hadn’t had time for breakfast, but fortunately, there were leftovers from the night before.
Without a second thought, He Qianhui put the rice and dishes into the microwave to heat them up.
One must admit, after soaking overnight, these dishes tasted even better than when they were fresh out of the pot.
After a busy morning, Zhang Hao was surprised to find that Qin Miaoke was in a pretty good state today.
At least she wasn’t allowing Chen Xun’s jumping up and down to affect her work.
Taking advantage of lunchtime, he chatted with Qin Miaoke again.
We’ll have to see what sort of place the two of them are in now.
As the saying goes, a melon forcefully twisted off the vine isn’t sweet, especially when it comes to romance, you can’t force it.
As a result, Qin Miaoke gave him an answer he didn’t expect.
Last night, she had already come to a realization; hanging around Zhang Hao like a pendant on a tree was pointless.
It would be better to let him go and turn to a whole forest of opportunities instead.
After all, Chen Xun had said that he wanted to get to know her because he liked her.
If he didn’t like her, he would have declined politely long ago.
Whether she was a member of the Qin family or not made no difference at all.
He was also an excellent medical student, sure to carve out his own niche in this field in the future.
He didn’t need to lean on anybody else’s name to establish a foundation for himself.
In short, it was because of these few words that Qin Miaoke felt she should give Chen Xun a chance.
Let her try, and give herself a chance, too.
See if the two of them could indeed spark something together.
This answer was unexpected to Zhang Hao, but it made sense.
Chen Xun was a decent guy with a good reputation; at least there were no rumors of him changing girlfriends every other day during his studies.
These days, it’s often the less attractive playboys, while the handsome ones tend to take their personal lives very seriously.
"Isn’t that great? You two give it a try; who knows, I might even get to drink your wedding wine. I’ll have Xiaohui be your bridesmaid," he said.
At these words, Qin Miaoke’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
"We haven’t even started anything yet, and you’re thinking way ahead," she said.
"If we really do get married, I’ll definitely pass the bridal bouquet straight to Xiaohui, encouraging you two to get a move on, too."
"Didn’t expect you to be so concerned about Xiaohui and me. I’ll thank you on her behalf then," she teased.
"No need to be polite."
Right before it was time to go to work, Qin Miaoke suddenly came to see Zhang Hao, asking for the afternoon off.
She wanted to go to the airport to pick up Chen Xun.
It hadn’t been long, but her attitude toward Chen Xun had undergone a complete one-eighty.
"In such a situation, Zhang Hao couldn’t be the heartless Queen Mother.
Plus, he had to show some respect to Elder Qin.
"Okay, you can go. I’ll approve your leave. Be careful on the road, but do take care of yourself," he said.
Qin Miaoke didn’t understand his last remark and looked at him quizzically.
"What do you mean, ’take care of myself’?"
Realizing she hadn’t caught on, Zhang Hao clarified, "I mean, it’s your second meeting; you’re bound to have a lot to talk about."
"You might get tired or sleepy from all the chatting, and if you end up drinking, be careful of a spark igniting into a blaze."
"You two are still so young and aren’t close enough to be considering marriage, so you’ve got to protect yourself."
After Zhang Hao’s explanation, Qin Miaoke understood what he meant.
"I’m just picking him up from the airport; it’s not like anything’s going to happen. You’re overthinking it," she said.
Zhang Hao hoped it was just overthinking on his part, rather than underthinking.
"It’s about time. You should get going."
Yet Qin Miaoke had another request.
It would be difficult to hail a cab at midday; could she borrow Zhang Hao’s car to go to the airport?
Zhang Hao didn’t hesitate, simply handing over his car keys to her.
But he reminded her to be careful driving; they shouldn’t have their date end up at the hospital.
