Aunt Xue followed behind Yan Qianyi, "Miss, who is he? How come I don’t recognize him?"
The miss’s friends were mostly known to her.
Yan Qianyi stopped, "Just an ordinary friend I met outside. Aunt Xue, go and cook, I’m starving."
"Okay, I’ll go right now."
Yan Qianyi tightened the robe she was wearing and walked out.
Hei Zai was standing outside, clad in a thin casual outfit, rubbing his hands together from the cold.
Seeing Yan Qianyi coming out, he immediately brightened up with a smile, "I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while."
Yan Qianyi, however, gave him an annoyed glance, "Didn’t I tell you not to come looking for me again?"
"My parents found out the hotel I was staying at, now they’re looking for me everywhere. I really have nowhere else to go, please let me stay for a bit," Hei Zai said with a pitiful face.
"You can’t stay here, my husband will get angry, and if he finds out about you, he will definitely investigate you. Then, my Cat Immortal identity will be impossible to conceal!"
"Don’t worry, he won’t find out about me."
Yan Qianyi frowned, really wanting to beat this bothersome Hei Zai to death.
Hei Zai added, "How about this, let me stay for lunch, have some hot soup, and then I’ll leave. Your husband probably isn’t home right now, right?"
Yan Qianyi thought for a moment, after all, Aunt Xue had already seen Hei Zai.
"Well, this is the last time. Eat and then leave quickly."
Hei Zai’s face broke into a broad smile, "Great, great, great!"
"If you blow my Cat Immortal cover, I’ll kill you!"
"I promise it won’t happen! I swear!"
Yan Qianyi opened the courtyard door and let Hei Zai in.
She also reminded him uneasily, "Remember to call me by my real name, you know my real name, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"If anyone asks, just say you are my patient, and you’re here to seek medical help."
Hei Zai paused, "Do I look like a patient? Others probably won’t believe that, right?"
"Don’t worry," Yan Qianyi sneered, "You look even more like a patient than a real patient."
Due to Hei Zai’s face being pallid from lack of sunlight and his gaunt appearance,
he was the spitting image of the frail boy in a manga.
Hei Zai touched his own face, "I’m clearly full of life and brimming with sunshine. I suspect you’re cursing me."
"Stop talking nonsense and get inside already, it’s freezing out here."
Yan Qianyi tightened her robe again and headed inside the house.
As she reached the doorway, she stopped, turned back and looked at Hei Zai, "By the way, what’s your name?"
"If it’s inconvenient for you to tell me, I’ll just give you a random name, don’t complain about it being ugly."
Though it would surely be better sounding than his nickname ’Hei Zai’.
"Blind Fish?" Yan Qianyi chuckled, "Great, that name is even worse."
"..." Hei Zai’s face darkened, "Xia, Ziyu!"
"Next time you tell someone your name, make sure to pronounce it clearly; otherwise, they will really think you chose such a terrible name, wasting your good looks."
Yan Qianyi went through the door and into the house.
Xia Ziyu, with a grim face, followed behind her.
He was convinced she was doing it on purpose!
He was a local, his pronunciation was obviously standard, how could she possibly misunderstand!
Aunt Xue came out of the kitchen, her gaze sizing up the unfamiliar man following behind Yan Qianyi.
Yan Qianyi hastily introduced, "Aunt Xue, he is one of my patients, named Xia Ziyu, he’s going to have lunch here. Please set an extra place for him."
"Blind fish?" Aunt Xue was puzzled—such a handsome boy, why would he have such an ugly name?
"..." Xia Ziyu almost spat out blood and died on the spot.
Her pronunciation was even less accurate!
But since it was their first meeting, he had to make a good impression.
His mouth formed a smile, revealing a charming grin as he waved at Aunt Xue and obediently said, "Hello Aunt Xue, my name is Xia, Ziyu, it’s nice to meet you. Please take care of me."
After speaking, he even gave Aunt Xue a bow.
All her life as a housekeeper, it was the first time someone had bowed to her.
A pleasantly surprised smile appeared on her face, and her wary gaze suddenly became friendly, "Hello."
After the greeting, Aunt Xue immediately pulled Yan Qianyi to the side and whispered:
"Miss, you can’t do something to betray your son-in-law, he has been so good to you, we can’t be heartless."
"???" Yan Qianyi frowned.
"If Madam were still alive, she would never allow you to do this!"
"What are you talking about, Aunt Xue? I told you, he’s one of my patients."
"Do you think I believe that? You never bring patients home, especially not such a good-looking man. Alright, you don’t have to hide it from me, I won’t tell the son-in-law. But after the meal, you have to send him away quickly, you can’t make one mistake after another and fall deeper."
She knew Miss all too well, from an early age Miss always liked good-looking people.
"..." Yan Qianyi was speechless, "You’re mistaken, he truly is one of my patients. He’s very unfortunate, diagnosed with a terminal illness, not long to live, and doesn’t have money for treatment, that’s why he came here."
"Really?" Aunt Xue looked towards Xia Ziyu standing not far away.
Xia Ziyu heard Yan Qianyi’s words.
He resisted inwardly, unwilling to admit it, but still kept a smile on his face, nodding at Aunt Xue.
Yan Qianyi also nodded, "Really."
Aunt Xue’s eyes suddenly filled with sympathy as she looked at Xia Ziyu, "Oh, that really is quite pitiful."
"Right? After all, he came all this way in the cold weather, and it’s almost mealtime. I couldn’t possibly send him away, could I?"
Aunt Xue shook her head, "No, you couldn’t. Madam used to say, ’Doctors must have a compassionate heart.’"
"Then shouldn’t you get cooking? Look how skinny he is, if he doesn’t die from the illness, he might just starve to death."
Yan Qianyi let out a long sigh of relief.
She turned back and gave Xia Ziyu a helpless look.
During the meal, Xia Ziyu truly ate like someone who had run away from a famine area—wolfing down food voraciously.
Yet, even his voracious eating seemed elegant, as if he had been taught strict etiquette from a young age.
Aunt Xue ate while watching her light screen, occasionally letting out a sigh.
"What’s wrong?" asked Yan Qianyi.
Aunt Xue quickly put away the light screen, "Miss, I just saw a news piece that made my blood boil."
"A girl reported her stepfather for attempted rape, but the surveillance footage was deleted by her stepfather, and now the girl can’t bring forth any evidence. Her stepfather denies it all, claiming the girl is making it up because she doesn’t want to accept him as a stepfather and is trying to ruin their family’s harmony."
Aunt Xue had nothing better to do usually and loved watching these kinds of news stories.
Xia Ziyu said, "If the surveillance was deleted, just have the tech people recover it, it’s not a big deal."
Aunt Xue said, "It happened a year ago. The girl was afraid of being shamed and didn’t report it. Recently she found her stepfather peeking at her while she bathed and got worried he might do something like that again, so she finally found the courage to report him."
Xia Ziyu replied casually, "Even that can be restored."