When Qiao Yin and Xiao Yang arrived at the hospital, it was exactly ten in the morning.
Zheng Tianxiang happened to be making a call in the parking lot. Seeing Qiao Yin coming out of the car from afar, he quickly hung up and ran up to her, calling out, "Hey, Qiao Meimei!"
**(Meimei is a term used to address a younger sister or a younger girl/woman affectionately.)**
At this time, Xiao Yang also got out of the car, standing on the other side of the car, turning his head with Qiao Yin to look at him. Zheng Tianxiang clearly saw Xiao Yang and the moment he got a good look, he froze. He stopped in front of Qiao Yin, and alarm bells rang in his mind. He had already envisioned the worst possibility, "Officer Xiao?"
With a puzzled and confused expression, Zheng Tianxiang looked at Xiao Yang and then at Qiao Yin, putting the last hope on her, "You guys..."
"Old Zheng," Qiao Yin smiled at him, looked at Xiao Yang, and extinguished Zheng Tianxiang's pitiful hope with a single sentence, "I didn't have a chance to tell you before, Xiao Yang is my boyfriend." Then she turned and introduced Xiao Yang, who was walking towards them, "Zheng Tianxiang, you've seen him during the investigation."
Xiao Yang stood by her side, calmly nodded to Zheng Tianxiang, "Hello."
His 6'4" figure in front of the not-quite-6-foot Zheng Tianxiang indeed made it impossible for him to show any objection. He just couldn't understand. Qiao Yin had lived to the age of twenty-nine, and she had only had three boyfriends in total. How could each one be so different? Did this girl have no sentimentality at all? No, no, no, doesn't she have any type?
"So, that's how it is! I knew it..." Fortunately, no matter how shocked he was inside, Zheng Tianxiang could still make a decent appearance. He immediately put on a smiling face, and shook hands with Xiao Yang, looking very grateful, "Thank you so much for finding Zhou Chengze this time."
"It's our duty, no need to thank us." The reply was casual but impenetrable.
The three of them walked towards the main building of the hospital. Zhou Chengze's ward was on the fifth floor. When they came out of the elevator, Chen Yuehong had just returned from the tea room with hot water, standing outside the ward, she first saw Qiao Yin and Zheng Tianxiang, "Little Qiao, Little Zheng." When she squinted her eyes to see clearly, she was instantly shocked when she saw Xiao Yang, "Officer Xiao!"
Xiao Yang reached out to steady the water bottle in her hand, slightly nodding, "Aunt Chen."
"You guys talk, I'll go check on Zhou Chengze first." Qiao Yin lightly bumped his arm and smiled at Chen Yuehong, then walked into the ward. Zheng Tianxiang didn't dare to disturb both sides, so he took the opportunity to find an excuse to leave, "Aunt, I need to go to the restroom, you guys take your time."
Chen Yuehong had already become excited with tears in her eyes. She had wanted to thank Xiao Yang in person, and now that she finally faced him, she didn't know how to express her gratitude. She just held his hand and bowed, "Thank you so much, you've helped us find both sons... Look at me, I don't know how to thank you..."
Supporting her arms to prevent her from continuing to bow, Xiao Yang also wasn't playing any formalities, he just stated the facts without any personal emotions, "It's our duty, you don't need to thank us."
He had a demeanor of performing official duties, and fortunately, what he said was also true. Otherwise, it would seem like he was a bit lacking in human feelings.
So when Chen Yuehong heard it, she burst into tears, but she was somewhat comforted. She wiped away the tears from her eyes with her hands and sighed, "You are all good police officers, good police officers..." As she spoke, tears began to fall again, and she had to lift her hand to wipe them again, "You see, I don't know how to thank you..."
At this point, Qiao Yin had already entered the ward and saw Zhou Chengze lying on the hospital bed. His complexion was still a bit pale, resting his head and staring out the window at the overcast sky, lost in thought. Qiao Yin walked to the bedside, placed the fruit basket on the bedside table, and then spoke to him, "Feeling better?"
Zhou Chengze was startled as if he just noticed her entering the room. He turned to look at her, still a bit slow in reaction, "Qiao Yin." After a few seconds of hesitation, he remembered to answer and nodded, "Much better."
"Regarding your brother's matter, I will have the best defense lawyer from our law firm help." Qiao Yin sat down on the chair by the bedside for a moment, then took out an apple from the fruit basket, went to the small washstand in the ward, washed it clean, found a fruit knife, and sat back at the bedside, smiling at him, "So don't worry too much, just rest well."
"Thank you." Zhou Chengze's throat was still a bit dry. Seeing her starting to peel the apple, he unintentionally recalled the time when they were dating. Qiao Yin used to give him an apple every day. At that time, Qiao Yin would always wash apples very cleanly and put them in a plastic bag to give to him. She often warned Zheng Tianxiang and their other roommates not to take his apples. It was all seven or eight years ago, but he still remembered it vividly.
"Sorry, I didn't explain to my mom clearly. I caused you trouble these days."
"It's clear now, so it's all good." Lowering her head to peel the apple, Qiao Yin didn't notice the change in his expression. With a joking tone, she complained, "Actually, these days I was more worried about you. You had the accident when you went to find me. What if something happened, how would I explain to your mom and Zheng Tianxiang?"
Zhou Chengze's lips carried a faint smile, as usual, somewhat shy, "Sorry, this is the second time, there won't be a third."
Little did he know that this sentence caused Qiao Yin's movements to pause. She recalled the "first time." It happened during their junior year, the incident of Zhou Kaiming's disappearance. When Zhou Chengze received the news of Zhou Kaiming's disappearance, he left the school quietly, alone, without returning to his hometown in the northeast. Qiao Yin and his roommates searched for him everywhere, getting anxious. The counselor reported to the police, but Qiao Yin, still worried, and without knowing where the courage came from, grabbed her luggage, took a train to Jiangsu, and found Zhou Chengze in Nanchang Train Station.
At that time, Qiao Yin was so happy that she almost went crazy. Regardless of his surprised question about why she was here, she rushed forward, hugged him tightly, and cried, rubbing her face against his unshaved chin that had accumulated a bit of stubble after not being groomed for several days.
But now things were different. She no longer had the courage and enthusiasm she had back then.
"Zhou Chengze, this time I didn't run out to find you." Thinking of this, Qiao Yin took a deep breath, continued to peel the apple in her hand without looking at Zhou Chengze, and said, "People change, so do feelings. We've been apart for so many years, I don't like you anymore, and I've liked someone else. You should find a girlfriend seriously and not be so stubborn."
However, Zhou Chengze was silent for a moment and then asked her, "Are you still angry with me?" Before she could answer, he urgently explained, "I've changed. From now on, I'll discuss everything with you, I won't make decisions on my own. Qiao Yin..."
"I have a boyfriend now." Qiao Yin had to interrupt him, sliced an apple piece and stuffed it into his mouth, finally looking into his eyes seriously and told him, "The officer in charge of your case this time—Xiao Yang, you've met him before, the one who asked me to stay in your community to cooperate with the investigation that day. He's my neighbor, and we're dating now."
Zhou Chengze, with an apple in his mouth, just froze.
Before he could react, Lu Lei, carrying a large fruit basket, rushed in without reservation, "Brother Cheng? Are you feeling better?" Only then did he realize that Qiao Yin was also here. He looked a bit surprised, "Oh, Qiao Meimei is also here..."
Following behind him were several old classmates who came together to visit Zhou Chengze. When Huang Ling saw Qiao Yin sitting by the bedside, she immediately remembered seeing Xiao Yang at the door just now. He didn't come in and didn't mention that Qiao Yin was also in the ward. Xiao Yang's calm performance outside the ward left her quite impressed.
Cunning, Huang Ling couldn't help but admire. Xiao Yang did indeed find a sharp knife. He easily brought in several light bulbs, leaving no chance for Zhou Chengze.
Seeing so many people coming to visit, Chen Yuehong naturally couldn't stay outside any longer. She quickly said goodbye to Xiao Yang and entered, leaving Xiao Yang, who nodded and continued waiting outside the ward. Huang Ling took advantage of this opportunity, reached out, and pulled Qiao Yin over. Unexpectedly, before she could speak, Chen Minyi grabbed the opportunity—she pulled Qiao Yin's arm, raised her chin, proud as a peacock, "Let me talk to her first." Then she didn't say anything to Qiao Yin but directly pulled her outside the ward.
"Hurry up and get the examination done now, don't hold me here any longer." As soon as she stepped out of the ward door, Chen Minyi let go of Qiao Yin's wrist, crossed her arms, and gave the order without refusal.
Qiao Yin only remembered this after she mentioned it like this. She opened her mouth and was about to say something when she was interrupted by a voice suddenly approaching from behind: "What test?"
She turned around and saw Xiao Yang walking behind her, his brows slightly raised. The question should be thrown to Qiao Yin, but those beautiful phoenix eyes turned to Chen Minyi. It wasn't until Qiao Yin raised her head that he lowered his eyes to glance at her, he raised his hand and put it on her head, looked at Chen Minyi again, and lightly introduced himself, "I am her boyfriend."
Chen Minyi was stunned by the appearance of this inexplicable man a moment ago, but now she came to her senses, but instead of smiling as usual, she narrowed her eyes with a bit of hostility.
"Xiao Yang." Qiao Yin reacted quickly. She followed up on Xiao Yang's words and told her his name, and then introduced her, "This is Chen Minyi, my college roommate who opened a law firm with me."
Xiao Yang nodded slightly to say hello, and Chen Minyi also nodded solemnly, then immediately turned her head and glanced at Qiao Yin: "It wouldn't be you've been doing it for so long that you got sick from overindulging?"
"Ah?" Completely didn't expect that she would make such a lewd joke in front of Xiao Yang. Qiao Yin's eyes widened for a moment, "No..."
"I'm too lazy to care about you." Unexpectedly, Chen Minyi was really angry. She rolled her eyes at her, turned around, and went to the ward with her 10cm high heels.
Her mood changed so quickly that Qiao Yin couldn't recover for a while, but Xiao Yang patted her head calmly and returned to the original topic: "Are you feeling well?"
Qiao Yin came back to her senses and looked up at him, "Maybe just a little anemic." She smiled soothingly, as if nothing was wrong, "I think I've been too tired recently and haven't had a good rest. It shouldn't be a big problem, I just thought it would be better to check because I skipped last year's routine checkup.”
Xiao Yang frowned again, he looked at her and pondered for a few seconds, then ruffled her hair like a child: "Then go and register now."
After saying that, he casually urged, "Move quickly, finish the checkup as soon as possible, then let's go back to eat."
~Thank You for Reading, Please Comment Below~
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