How could it be him?
How could it be her?
But the surprise lasted only 0.0001 seconds before both of them, with remarkable tacit understanding, averted their gazes simultaneously.
She went into the elevator to the right.
He exited the elevator to the right.
A perfect brush past.
Grace pressed the floor for the patient’s ward and leaned against the elevator wall, but her gaze inadvertently swept towards the gradually closing elevator doors.
Him—
Grace touched her nose and lowered her eyes. Had Qin Yunxi found a new flame so quickly?
Muttering a silent "Congratulations," she collected her thoughts.
She walked into the ward without any ripple.
As soon as Zhan Lan saw Grace enter, she immediately stood up. "Grace, you're here! Yunxi is outside, did you see him?"
Grace: "..."
Seeing Grace’s dazed expression, Zhan Lan prepared to instruct her husband to call their son. Then she remembered her husband had gone shopping with Rong Jianchen, so she had to call him herself.
Grace quickly stopped the overly enthusiastic Mrs. Qin. "Auntie Zhan, I saw him. I..." She paused for half a second. "We just bumped into each other. He went downstairs to buy a late-night snack."
She didn't want to see him, so she covered for him.
Zhan Lan smiled knowingly. "Oh, that's right, you drove all night. You must not have eaten yet, have you?"
Grace offered a faint, awkward, yet polite smile.
Caroline: "..."
Ning Ni: "..."
Du Ruoxin: "..."
What was going on? They felt like... this Mrs. Qin (Auntie Zhan) was very close with Grace? Like they were sisters?
The three of them looked on with amusement.
Grace intentionally avoided their gazes—cough, cough, cough, don't overthink it, she just had an unspoken agreement with Qin Yunxi, and was just placating Zhan Lan.
Pretending not to see the questioning looks from her friends, she approached Du Ruoxin. "Sister Xin, are you feeling any better?"
Du Ruoxin: "I already told you I'm fine. Aren't you too worried to run over here?"
Grace: "If you leave early tomorrow, you can make it to work."
Zhan Lan immediately chimed in from the side, "What time tomorrow morning? I'll have Yunxi drive you."
Grace: "—"
Du Ruoxin looked at her friend, who had a look of having eaten several cloves of garlic, and almost burst out laughing.
Hahaha.
Auntie Zhan’s support was great, truly great.
She winked at Grace, a little curious about how she would answer.
"Uh..." Grace felt a bit indigestible.
"No 'buts' or 'maybes,' it's settled," Zhan Lan declared unilaterally, holding Grace's hand and looking pleadingly. "My son just needs to be disciplined. You can boss him around, enslave him, and I won't say a word."
Grace: "————"
Well...
For some reason, looking at Zhan Lan's sincere and friendly face, she felt a pang of guilt.
She shouldn't have colluded with Qin Yunxi to deceive her.
Zhan Lan, however, thought Grace was too shy and felt awkward in front of so many people.
She laughed and said to the other girls, "Caroline, Nini, Ruoxin, you are all Grace's good friends. Please keep an eye on my brat. If he dares to upset Grace, if he dares to bully Grace, you must tell me. I'll stand up for Grace, I'll back Grace up."
Caroline and the others were stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded in agreement. "Okay."
"Auntie, with your words, we are reassured."
"Exactly, Auntie. With your backing for Grace, even if you gave Qin Yunxi ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare bully our Grace."
Who would have the heart to hurt such a gentle, beautiful, elegant, noble, and kind elder?
Although Ning Ni and the others didn't understand what had changed between Grace and Qin Yunxi, they smiled and echoed in understanding.