"Long time no see, junior brother."
Liu Pan couldn’t help but shiver.
This greeting also made Wang Sui realize that someone had appeared silently behind her.
She turned her head, initially displaying a visually pleased expression very much in line with aesthetic instincts.
Then she couldn’t help but furrow her brows.
Wang Sui stood up subconsciously: "Mr. Nan, why are you here? I’ve already decided to stay here with Alu... huh? Xiao Liu, are you okay?"
Liu Pan, who had just been chatting with her in a calm, gentle, and mild manner, suddenly shot up and shrank behind the sofa back.
As if he had thought of something unpleasant, he instinctively covered half of his face, then took a step back, and only then managed to say, "Senior brother, why are you here?"
Nan Zhubin glanced around the room, his gaze a little stiff, but quickly adjusted: "I’m here to find Lin Lulin and Mr. Li Minglu."
Because the people he was communicating with and the audience in attendance were different, Nan Zhubin appropriately adjusted his form of address.
"Are they in the consultation room inside?"
"... Yes," Liu Pan nodded, answering every question.
"How long has the consultation been going on?"
"About, about twenty minutes."
Nan Zhubin glanced in the direction behind Liu Pan, then probed and sat down on the sofa in front of Liu Pan: "Then let’s wait a bit."
Having had his spot taken, Liu Pan didn’t say anything. He looked around and decisively returned to the bench at the front desk.
He sat down and started to remain silent.
While they seemed to be familiarly asking and answering questions, Wang Sui remained standing in the same spot.
In the midst of their back-and-forth, they completely ignored Wang Sui’s initial question—or rather, they acknowledged it, but the same question had been acknowledged when asked by Liu Pan.
This made Wang Sui feel somewhat at a loss for a moment, yet strangely familiar.
She slowly turned to face Nan Zhubin and sat down as well, then began to glance around as if searching for something.
"Xiao Liu, why are you sitting over there?" Wang Sui patted the seat next to her, "Come sit here."
The reception room was furnished with a two-seater sofa and a single-seater sofa. Apart from that, only the bench in front of the small reception desk remained.
The single-seater sofa, previously occupied by Liu Pan, was now taken by Nan Zhubin, leaving only the small bench under Liu Pan and the empty spot next to Wang Sui.
However, Liu Pan glanced at the position directly opposite Nan Zhubin and could only respond with a smile.
"Sister Xiao Sui, I..." Liu Pan wanted to explain and refuse.
"The family of the visitor is here, and I’m not part of the research team, so someone should attend them," Nan Zhubin suddenly spoke up, "Junior brother, come sit here."
As if out of politeness and unwillingness to let his body touch Wang Sui, Liu Pan resolutely chose to sit near the edge of the sofa, letting most of his body be enveloped by the soft fabric.
Wang Sui displayed a satisfied smile, as if Nan Zhubin were simply not there, and turned her body to chat only with Liu Pan: "Where were we just talking?"
"Ah, ah?" Liu Pan, with most of his mental energy not used for thinking, was momentarily stunned.
When he realized it, his eyes involuntarily widened.
"Oh right," Wang Sui said to herself, "We were just talking about you and Mr. Nan."
"Ha... seems like we’re not, right?"
Since the visitor’s family was present, Liu Pan tried hard to control his movements, not making exaggerated defense gestures, and sat up straight like during military training, hands placed on his knees, body tense.
He hadn’t completely lost his survival instinct and wanted to struggle a bit.
"How is it not?" Wang Sui waved her hand in the air as if in reproach, then turned to Nan Zhubin, "Mr. Nan, wouldn’t you say it’s a coincidence? Liu and I were just talking about you."
She instinctively switched her form of address as well.
Unlike Nan Zhubin’s changes driven by psychological and social interests, Wang Sui’s switch was purely subconscious, better reflecting a person’s thoughts and intentions.
Nan Zhubin remained expressionless: "Is that so?"
Although Nan Zhubin wasn’t looking over, Liu Pan couldn’t help but shrink again.
"Yes, I was just talking to Xiao Liu about you two," Wang Sui laughed, "Actually, not just you two, but both of your consulting centers."
Nan Zhubin nodded: "Oh, I see."
The response was brief, the wording concise, seemingly lacking interest in furthering the subject.
Liu Pan felt a slight relief.
However, Wang Sui was intrigued, her whole face beaming with a smile as if happily chatting with a friend.
She spoke to herself: "Right, talking about it, Xiao Liu is Professor Lin’s assistant, right? Mr. Nan, what’s the name of your assistant again, is it... Xiao Shen?"
"Yes, his name is Shen Bing," Nan Zhubin nodded lightly.
"The difference between them is just too big—when Professor Lin consulted with our Alu, Xiao Liu kept chatting with me; whereas when you consulted with Alu, your Xiao Shen didn’t even acknowledge me."
Nan Zhubin nodded, defending his own: "He’s quite busy."
This response made Wang Sui pause, suddenly diminishing part of her smile.
At this moment, although she was still generally smiling, her eyes lacked curvature, and she stared wide-eyed at Nan Zhubin, as if trying to observe every subtle change in his expression.
"Mr. Nan, don’t you think the way this is portrayed shows the difference between your external mini-consulting and the formal consultation like that of school professors?"
Nan Zhubin didn’t respond, merely displaying a puzzled expression.
Wang Sui took it as if Nan Zhubin had responded: "You see, when I’m here for a consultation, Xiao Liu chats with me the whole time. For however long Alu’s consultation lasts, Xiao Liu chats with me for that long."
Nan Zhubin glanced at Liu Pan.
Being mentioned, Liu Pan raised his hands from his knees, wrapped his arms around his chest in protection.
"And your assistant Xiao Shen, instead of properly attending to the patient’s family during the consultation or properly consulting the patient inside, hurried off to do something else—it sounds all wrong, doesn’t it? How can that be?"
Wang Sui slightly raised her chin: "You see, that’s why I’ve returned to Professor Lin and Xiao Liu, precisely because of this gap..."
Nan Zhubin’s eyes shifted subtly.
This was a rare instance where he actively responded to Wang Sui during the conversation.
His words made Wang Sui blink her eyes.
"It’s ’visitor,’ not ’patient’," Nan Zhubin corrected.
Wang Sui blinked and looked at Liu Pan: "Is there any difference?"