Bai Xiao, because of her sister-in-law, Xiaoweng, and Director Jin’s repeated toasts, actually felt obliged to drink the three cups of gratitude everyone else was drinking, and the rest was due to her own loose tongue for proposing a plan to combine traditional Chinese and western medicine, a suggestion that instantly inspired the three men obsessed with traditional Chinese medicine.
As a result, before she knew it, she found herself drinking more than she’d intended.
Although she wasn’t drunk, the slight intoxication painted her cheeks a peachy red, her fair face blooming like peach blossoms, with jet-black hair and red lips, she was so beautiful that it took one’s breath away.
And the person whose breath was taken away was Jiang Shaoqing.
He had finally arrived in Yun Province and only then learned from Shao Ming about the great deeds of Dr. Bai: battling at the gambling stone scene and even acquiring the financial support of a Myanmar tycoon. To put it bluntly, from then on, Bai Xiao could walk sideways when she reached Myanmar territory.
Jiang Shaoqing didn’t know what to feel.
They had agreed she would save people, thus owing him a huge favor, which meant their families’ relationship with Bai Xiao would no longer be based on an unequal treaty, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief, it seemed.
Dr. Bai always seemed to have the ability to turn danger into safety with ease, as others would turn their hands for clouds and their hands for rain.
The dangers he imagined were but a mere dish to Bai Xiao.
His emotions were a complex blend.
In his lifetime, he had encountered countless women, skillful in their means, extraordinary in ability, devastatingly beautiful to overthrow states, and no shortage of vases as lovely as fairies, but none were like Bai Xiao.
This woman, with a face like a vase’s, actually made her living on her abilities and could create a stir no matter the circumstances.
Jiang Shaoqing himself couldn’t figure out what his attitude towards Bai Xiao was now.
Did he hope she’d be intelligent and wise, omnipotent, victorious in every battle?
Or did he wish sometimes she would leave her brain at home, making mistakes from time to time, waiting for someone to come to the rescue?
He did come to rescue her, after all.
But it turned out she didn’t need it.
That was undeniably frustrating, so he drove and parked under Bai Xiao’s building, watching as An Zhiyuan came home and went inside.
Watching the illumination of the lights in that apartment, Jiang Shaoqing, however, did not see Bai Xiao return.
This woman not coming home late at night! Doesn’t An Zhiyuan care?
What an interesting couple.
As he watched, he saw Bai Xiao return home, delivered by someone on a bicycle—a woman who dropped her off and left only after seeing Bai Xiao enter the building.
Jiang Shaoqing decided to go up, but then in the stairwell, he saw Bai Xiao sitting on the stairs, leaning against the wall, burping from the alcohol.
The stairwell was filled with the smell of alcohol, and a dazed Bai Xiao looked at him sitting beside her, grinning as she moved closer to Jiang Shaoqing, grabbed his face with a laugh, let out a big burp, and blew it right into Jiang Shaoqing’s face, causing him to turn his head away.
Could this woman act with a little more propriety, or did she not have any sense of a woman’s decorum?
"You... who are you?"
Bai Xiao rubbed her head, seemingly unable to recall, she sighed, grabbed the railing to stand up, preparing to go upstairs, "An... Zhiyuan... I’m... back... now!"
Her legs gave way and she was about to fall to the ground, with a flight of stairs underneath her. Jiang Shaoqing didn’t dare think further, as he suddenly felt a shiver shoot through his body.
By the time he came to his senses, he realized Bai Xiao was lying in his arms, and his hands were wrapped around her waist.
Bai Xiao pushed him away, her finger inappropriately poking his chest, "What are you... doing? This is... after all... a compound, if you dare... to play the rogue, I’ll... scream... indecency."
"Xiaoxiao!" An abrupt, deep, and magnetic voice echoed through the stairwell from An Zhiyuan.