The woman walked straight to Bao Cheng’s side, leaving him no room to avoid her.
Suppressing the hint of displeasure in his heart, Bao Cheng forced a smile, "Here to eat?"
What a pointless question!
The woman’s smile deepened, "Yes!" After the word slipped out of her mouth, she turned her gaze to the young girl opposite Bao Cheng.
Meanwhile, Jiang Keke was warily watching this strange woman; it wasn’t hard to tell from their conversation that the two seemed familiar with each other.
"Who is this?" The woman’s eyes landed on Jiang Keke, but her question was directed at Bao Cheng.
For some reason, Jiang Keke always felt a sense of crisis from this woman.
"My girlfriend!" When Bao Cheng introduced Jiang Keke, his gaze shifted to the woman in front of him, eyes slightly narrowing with a hint of warning.
"Really beautiful!" The woman, picking up on Bao Cheng’s glance, tossed the compliment towards Jiang Keke.
"Thanks!" Jiang Keke managed a smile and replied with simple words.
"I’ve got an appointment, need to leave. Ah Cheng, see you next time!" The woman intently focused on Bao Cheng, basically treating Jiang Keke as if she were air. After waving at Bao Cheng, she left.
Bao Cheng merely nodded, only relaxing once she was far enough away. When he raised his eyes again, he met Jiang Keke’s scrutinizing gaze.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Bao Cheng took a sip of water from the table, trying to calm his inner restlessness.
Jiang Keke continued to watch him, not missing any expressions on Bao Cheng’s face, "Who was that woman?"
"A distant cousin." Bao Cheng replied without a moment’s hesitation, showing no signs of a slip-up.
Jiang Keke couldn’t believe they were relatives and bowed her head timidly, all her earlier confrontational energy vanished. "Oh, does she not like me?" Otherwise, why wouldn’t she greet me? Jiang Keke wondered inwardly.
"You’re overthinking," Bao Cheng replied with a smile, then quickly shifted the topic when his gaze landed on the jade at Jiang Keke’s neck, "The jade you’re wearing is quite beautiful!"
His casual compliment diverted Jiang Keke from her earlier discomfort. She held out the jade in her palm for Bao Cheng to see more clearly, her tone regretful, "Unfortunately, it’s fake."
Bao Cheng wasn’t interested in such things; his earlier compliment was merely perfunctory. He hadn’t expected Jiang Keke to take it seriously, getting up joyfully and bending over to show him the jade more closely.
"After dinner, I’ll take you to buy a real one." Bao Cheng feigned a careful look at the jade before gesturing for her to sit down.
"Really?" Jiang Keke sat down, exclaiming in surprise.
"Sweetheart, when have I ever lied to you?" Bao Cheng gazed at her tenderly.
"Ah Cheng, you’re so good to me!"
If there weren’t a table between them, Jiang Keke would have definitely moved over to plant a kiss on his face.
"Don’t wear fake jade," Bao Cheng suggested. Follow current novels on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝓷𝓮𝓽
"Taking it off now wouldn’t be suitable either." Jiang Keke looked around at the crowd, speaking in a lowered voice.
Seeing this, Bao Cheng agreed with her suggestion, adding, "Next time you want to buy something, tell me. Don’t go for those cheap imitations."
"This jade isn’t mine." Jiang Keke pouted.
After Jiang Keke spoke, Bao Cheng frowned, recalling their conversation at the hospital last time, plus the woman they just encountered. Bao Cheng felt a bit of a headache coming on.
The waiter approached them with a cart, easing Bao Cheng’s discomfort.
During the meal, the two chatted casually, and the soothing music in the room put them in a good mood.
Once they finished eating, Jiang Keke bid Bao Cheng farewell and, carrying her luxury handbag, headed to the bathroom. Standing at the sink, she retrieved a lipstick from her bag and touched up her makeup while looking in the mirror.
When her gaze fell on the red string around her neck, she hesitated for a moment before struggling a bit to remove the jade, placing it on the sink. Thinking about the real jade pendant she was about to own lifted her spirits immediately.
As she was about to turn on the faucet, a voice came from beside her.
"Hello, we meet again!" The woman’s lips always wore a smile.
Jiang Keke turned her head, it was her!
"H-hello!" Jiang Keke turned off the faucet and smiled at her.
"Ha-ha." The woman looked at the young girl’s innocent face and laughed indulgently, "Did Ah Cheng tell you about my identity?"
Hearing her call him "Ah Cheng" made Jiang Keke uncomfortable. How could a cousin address her cousin by his name like that? But she consoled herself; maybe they were the same age? She told herself not to overthink it.
"He told me you’re his ’cousin’." Thinking about how she was related to Bao Cheng, Jiang Keke couldn’t ignore her, so she engaged in the conversation with energy.
"Cousin?" The woman murmured softly and then nodded, "He sure has a lot of sisters."
Jiang Keke found the woman’s words strange but didn’t think much of it, assuming that people like Bao Cheng always had many relatives.
"I have some matters to discuss with Ah Cheng, so I’ll be going." Jiang Keke didn’t want to stand there making small talk.
After waving at the woman, Jiang Keke walked out of the restroom.
The woman rolled her eyes at Jiang Keke’s back, then turned to the sink. Her eyes fell on the jade left on the counter, and she absent-mindedly reached out to touch it with her fingertips, feeling the coolness seep through her skin. She wasn’t familiar with jade, but recalling who had been standing here, she clasped it in her hand.
When she exited the restroom and passed by Bao Cheng’s previous position, he was nowhere in sight.
The woman slipped the jade into her purse, her eyes showing a sly determination.
On the seventh day of her hospital stay, An Yin finally got discharged.
Assistant Lin handled the discharge procedures for her, and when An Yin repeatedly asked about the cost, Assistant Lin had to consult Bao Shaojin, who eventually relented and revealed the actual expenses.
On the way back to school, An Yin sat in the car driven by Assistant Lin.
"Assistant Lin, did I really spend only a little over a thousand?" Despite seeing the expense report Assistant Lin handed her, An Yin still found it hard to believe.
"Miss An, you really did only incur this amount." Assistant Lin, fearing she wouldn’t believe it, continued, "Mr. Bao has business dealings with this hospital. Some of the equipment here is from Bao Corp, so anyone related to Mr. Bao gets a discount when receiving treatment here."
Assistant Lin had prepared this explanation in advance.
Before coming to the hospital, Mr. Bao instructed him to report reduced fees to Miss An, ensuring the rationale was reasonable.
"Ah, so that’s how it is!" An Yin understood.