Chapter 229: A Lai

Only when the voices of conversation in the hospital room faded did Ke Zhongyu raise his hand to knock and walk in.

Jiang Lai turned her head and asked in confusion, "Did you leave something behind?"

Ke Zhongyu looked at Jiang Lai: "I need you to confirm the date for returning to A City."

Actually, a trivial matter like this could have been handled with a phone call or a message, but Ke Zhongyu still came back to ask in person.

In that moment, Jiang Lai had a fleeting feeling that she had truly become the boss.

"The day after tomorrow."

Ke Zhongyu gave an "mm," nodded once toward Director Tang, and left the room, this time without coming back.

Jiang Lai picked up her phone and transferred a thousand yuan to Ke Zhongyu.

This was the agreed daily wage.

A thousand yuan didn't even compare to a single second of income into Ke Zhongyu's bank card.

Jiang Lai zoned out again.

Ke Zhongyu tapped accept.

The car was already waiting for him at the hospital entrance. He bent down and got in, and Chi Ce, sitting in the driver's seat, glanced back at him.

"President Ke, did Miss Jiang upset you?"

Secretary Cen, sitting in the passenger seat, sneaked a glance at the rearview mirror—President Ke's expression was indeed very dark.

Ke Zhongyu looked at Secretary Cen: "Book two tickets for the day after tomorrow back to A City. You and Chi Ce stay here a couple more days. Wait until Ping'an's matters are settled and the situation stabilizes before coming back."

Secretary Cen: "Understood, President Ke."

Chi Ce drove toward the hotel. After getting out of the car and heading to the hotel lobby to check in, he still couldn't help asking in a low voice: "What exactly happened?"

The two had an employer-employee relationship, but even more so, a friendship.

Ke Zhongyu shot him a sidelong glance and recounted what he had heard at the hospital room door.

To sum it up, Jiang Lai couldn't detect even a trace of his feelings.

Chi Ce: "If Miss Jiang can't detect them, then that's your problem."

Ke Zhongyu gave Chi Ce a cold look.

But he didn't deny it, giving Chi Ce three words: "Afraid she'll run."

Afraid Jiang Lai would run.

Afraid Jiang Lai would hide.

Secretary Cen nodded in agreement: "Given Dr. Jiang's situation, that's very likely."

"Haven't you already been lying low for a while? If it's not working, you need to switch approaches." Chi Ce analyzed it seriously with him. "Miss Jiang says you're only here because of work, because of your sister—exactly because your quiet lying low hasn't worked. Step by step, now you should 'advance.' At the very least, you need to make her understand your feelings have nothing to do with the collaboration, and nothing to do with Eldest Miss Ke."

Ke Zhongyu could actually sense that Jiang Lai did feel it—she just didn't dare to believe it.

Chi Ce was right—it was time to "advance."

At the very least, he needed to let Jiang Lai gradually come to believe.

Ke Zhongyu said nothing more, but Chi Ce and Secretary Cen could clearly feel that the temperature around him had risen a little.

……

Ping'an's condition had already improved, and he wasn't averse to Chi Ce—occasionally he could even call out "Doctor Chi."

Of course, this was also related to Chi Ce's own personality. Chi Ce didn't hold a position at any hospital; he only worked at his family's Medical Hall and served as Ke Zhongyu's private doctor. So he didn't have the numbness of hospital doctors who had seen too many patients—he was instead humorous and gentle.

Jiang Lai watched Chi Ce and Ping'an getting along happily, and felt reassured. She paid the fees in advance.

Chi Ce subconsciously looked at Ke Zhongyu.

Ke Zhongyu nodded, and he accepted with a smile.

With the flight back to A City tomorrow afternoon, Jiang Lai and Ke Zhongyu would have to set out from K City for the airport in the morning.

That evening, the group went to the Fuli Yuan.

Truck after truck was parked at the Fuli Yuan, and workers were unloading goods.

Director Tang stood to the side, smiling one moment, worrying the next.

Because these were supplies Ke Zhongyu had donated in his personal capacity—not just supplies, but even renovations and upgrades to the Fuli Yuan's facilities, plus high-salary recruitment of two doctors, one responsible for the children's physical health and one for their mental health.

It could be called thorough.

But Director Tang knew all of this was for Jiang Lai's sake. Right now it looked like a gift, but would there come a day when Jiang Lai would have to repay such a gift?

Yet these things did indeed bring great convenience to the Fuli Yuan.

Mixed feelings of joy and worry.

Director Tang saw Jiang Lai and the others return, smiling as he went up to meet them and explained the current situation.

Jiang Lai looked at Ke Zhongyu.

Ke Zhongyu: "Just accumulating good karma for myself. It's not because of you."

This one sentence not only relieved Jiang Lai of her burden but also resolved Director Tang's worries.

Whether those words were true or false, at least Ke Zhongyu had said them in front of so many people, and afterward it would be hard to truly make things difficult for Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai had just finished saying thank you when a group of children came running over, stumbling and tripping, some calling out "Sister Jiang Lai," some calling out "Sister A Lai."

Last time in the cafeteria, they had only caught a single glimpse of her—before they even had time to speak, Jiang Lai had already gone off to handle matters.

Looking at the younger brothers and sisters who welcomed her like this every year, she crouched down and opened her arms.

Big ones and small ones all threw themselves onto Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai nearly fell backward. Ke Zhongyu stood behind her, like a great tree. Jiang Lai's back leaned against his legs, and she nearly sat on the tops of his feet.

Jiang Lai's expression froze slightly, but the next second she was hugging the children in a pile, listening to everyone chattering all at once, talking about this and that.

Jiang Lai listened to all of it.

Until Director Tang urged the children that it was time to go to sleep.

Jiang Lai would have to leave as soon as she woke up tomorrow, so she could only hug each child once. Upon learning she was leaving, the children looked downcast, and Jiang Lai stroked the head of the child beside her again.

An older child said, "A Lai older sister, we will write you letters."

Jiang Lai nodded: "Okay."

Another child looked up and asked, "A Lai older sister, who is he? What about the older brother before?"

The previous older brother referred to Shen Xun.

Jiang Lai said, "The previous older brother is a bad person; we cannot be with bad people, and he cannot come anymore."

The children nodded: "Bad person, don't come!"

Another child continued to ask, "Then what about this older brother?"

Jiang Lai stood up, stood beside the children, looked at Ke Zhongyu in front of her, and said, "This older brother is my friend."

The child asked, "Boyfriend?"

Before Jiang Lai could speak, the children asked one after another.

"Will you get married?"

"Are you going to get married? If you marry, will we get candy to eat? Can we hold a wedding banquet?"

Ke Zhongyu said nothing, his deep gaze falling on the somewhat dazed Jiang Lai.

Secretary Qin beside them stepped forward and said, "If you get married, of course there will be candy and a banquet; whoever marries gets wedding candy and a banquet."

The children nodded: "Right."

Each child stared with sparkling eyes at the two, already imagining eating wedding candy and holding a banquet.

Chi Ce thought: "Getting married? You're overestimating this older brother; we can't even say if there's a dot in their eight characters, let alone a shadow."

Dean Tang began urging the children to go to sleep; they left reluctantly, waving back every three steps, their dark eyes shining.

A little girl suddenly ran back, extending her hand to give Jiang Lai a shiny, intact dumpling.

"Ah, A Lai sis, sis, eat."

She stammered out the words, blushed, and ran off.

Jiang Lai looked at the dumpling in her hand, Dean Tang said, "This morning the cafeteria had steamed dumplings; I estimate she secretly kept this as her midnight snack."

Jiang Lai's lips curled slightly, thinking, "She saved the midnight snack for me."

Above her head suddenly came Ke Zhongyu's low, pleasant voice of doubt: "A Lai?"