Regardless of whether Shen Xiaoyan became Sima Han's wife in any of those dreams, at least now they didn't know each other and had no feelings. Shen Xiaoyan was now his woman. As long as he kept her firmly by his side, Sima Han would never have a chance.
This thought quickly sparked in Zheng Wei's mind. He was indeed a businessman, quickly grasping the crux of the matter.
"Today..." Zheng Wei looked down at Shen Xiaoyan and thought back to how she felt in his arms earlier. He sighed softly and said, "It was my fault today. I'm sorry."
"If there are any misunderstandings in the future, can we talk them through?" Shen Xiaoyan felt at this moment that communication seemed more important than she had imagined. If she had held back today, would the situation have been any better than it was now?
"It's still early. Let's go to the hospital." Zheng Wei let go of Shen Xiaoyan and reached out to put his arm around her waist.
"I can do it myself." Shen Xiaoyan was not very accustomed to being held around the waist.
"Shen Xiaoyan, I'm your man. Is hugging your waist something to be ashamed of?"
Shen Xiaoyan: "..."
"Alright, let's not waste any more time." Zheng Wei would absolutely not compromise on holding her waist, so Shen Xiaoyan had no choice but to be held by him as they left.
By the time they returned to Tongji Hospital, it was already an hour later.
"The hospital will be closing soon," Shen Xiaoyan glanced at her watch. She knew it was very difficult to get an appointment with this doctor, but since Zheng Wei was here, the hospital would likely make an exception.
Indeed, when they arrived, they were the last patient of the morning for that doctor.
Shen Xiaoyan noticed that as she pushed the door open, the grip of Zheng Wei's arm around her waist seemed to tighten.
"What's wrong?" Shen Xiaoyan inquired with her eyes, feeling very uncomfortable. Zheng Wei's hand was like a plaster, incredibly sticky and impossible to shake off.
"Doctor, please examine her." Zheng Wei shook his head, holding Shen Xiaoyan as he walked forward and sat down. He stood beside her, his tall stature exuding a strong presence. Shen Xiaoyan glanced at him, but he didn't move to sit elsewhere.
"Extend your hand." The man's voice was gentle. It was when he spoke that Shen Xiaoyan looked at him. It was their second glance, but she truly found him somewhat stunning, though in a different way than Zheng Wei.
"How are your menstrual cycle reactions? Do you have cramps?" the man asked while taking Shen Xiaoyan's pulse.
"Yes, the first few days I have stomach pain," Shen Xiaoyan honestly described her physical condition to Sima Han.
He asked, she answered. The atmosphere between them was somewhat harmonious, but Zheng Wei's brow was tightly furrowed, his gaze wishing it could bore a hole through the man.
"Can you take herbal medicine?" Sima Han finally withdrew his hand and began to write a prescription for her.
Shen Xiaoyan nodded; she had taken traditional Chinese medicine before.
"Will you decoct it yourself or use the hospital's machine?" Sima Han, with a pair of almost perfect hands, pulled out a pen from his upper right pocket, signed the medical record, and then said to Shen Xiaoyan.
Before Shen Xiaoyan could answer, Zheng Wei had already made the decision for her. With one hand in his pocket, he said, "Decoct it yourself at home. Machine decocting can cause some ingredients to be lost; self-decocting might yield better results."
Zheng Wei spoke with professional expertise. Sima Han looked up at him, smiled, and nodded.
Just as Shen Xiaoyan and Sima Han thought the consultation was ending, Zheng Wei began to ask again, "Doctor, approximately when can we start planning for a child?"
As soon as Zheng Wei finished speaking, Shen Xiaoyan's face instantly turned crimson. The previous doctor had said her body needed to be fully recuperated, and Zheng Wei clearly knew this. Why was he asking now?
The man sitting there, as if carved from fine jade, did not shy away from the intimate topic. Instead, he met Zheng Wei's gaze directly and said, "That depends on her recovery progress. I can't give a specific timeframe."
"The earliest? Within six months?" Zheng Wei seemed determined to pursue this question.
Sima Han glanced at Zheng Wei, then at Shen Xiaoyan, and asked, "Are you in a hurry to have a child? The lady's body still needs proper care. If the man is impatient for a child, he should at least wait until she's recovered."
After Sima Han's words, if it weren't for his composure, Zheng Wei would have been furious. How could this man be so irritating, making it sound as if he were disregarding Shen Xiaoyan's health and forcing her to have a child?
"It's time to eat. Shall we go?" Zheng Wei took the card and medical record and led Shen Xiaoyan out. After getting the medicine, they quickly left the hospital.
Zheng Wei felt a strange aversion to this hospital.
"Decocting medicine takes a lot of time. You still have design work to do. You can't spend the whole day decocting medicine. I'll call Mom tonight and ask her to help find a nanny." In the car, under Zheng Wei's watchful gaze, Shen Xiaoyan still sat in the passenger seat. However, as soon as she settled in, Zheng Wei leaned over. He was very close to her and gracefully fastened her seatbelt.
Zheng Wei had been exhibiting strange behavior intermittently these past two days. As it became more frequent, she was gradually becoming accustomed to it. Shen Xiaoyan sat obediently in the passenger seat, yet she also felt a sense of dread.
Sometimes, habit was the most terrifying thing.
In this marital relationship, she wanted to protect herself, but Zheng Wei's possessiveness was too strong.
...
As Zheng Wei was personally driving to take Shen Xiaoyan to dinner, Lin Xin called: "Old Zheng, let's go to Sai Jiangnan for dinner! The usual spot."
Sai Jiangnan was the most famous private kitchen in the capital, with extremely high entry barriers, though for their group, it was no issue.
"Okay, got it." Zheng Wei hung up the phone and saw Shen Xiaoyan looking at him.
He surprisingly enjoyed being looked at by her. Zheng Wei curled his lips and asked, "What is it?"
"Take me home first!" Shen Xiaoyan had always known his friends disliked her, and she wasn't someone who deliberately sought to be where she wasn't wanted. So, she proactively asked Zheng Wei to take her home.
"Who said you were going home for dinner? You're coming with me." Zheng Wei frowned, turned the steering wheel, and looked back at her, asking, "Don't make assumptions. You didn't even ask if I was taking you, and you assumed I would abandon you?"
Shen Xiaoyan was speechless.
...
Tongji Hospital was not far from Sai Jiangnan. When Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoyan entered, the dishes had just been served in the private room.
Lin Xin glanced outwards. Seeing it was Zheng Wei, he said while flipping through the menu, "Old Zheng, I ordered some drunken shrimp for you. Do you want anything else... Ah, Shen Xiaoyan is here too?"
Lin Xin had personally witnessed everything that happened in Lingxi Village, so he was actually very polite to Shen Xiaoyan now.
Lu Taobao, after an initial raised eyebrow, had no other reaction. Only Shen Xiaoyan felt uncomfortable. The environment here made her extremely uneasy, especially with those two men present.
"What do you want to eat?" Zheng Wei sat down and pulled Shen Xiaoyan down with him. He put one hand around Shen Xiaoyan's chair and took the menu with the other.
"Anything is fine." Shen Xiaoyan was not a picky eater. To avoid wasting time, she chose the safest answer.
"Alright, Old Lin, ask them to add these two." Saying this, Zheng Wei handed the menu back to Lin Xin, leaving the errands to him.
Lin Xin pouted and complied.
"What grudge do you have with that TCM doctor? He just returned to the country. You must have met him before?" Lu Taobao, who was quite idle, turned and asked Zheng Wei.
Shen Xiaoyan also keenly picked up on this remark and thought, Indeed, Zheng Wei and that Dr. Sima seemed to have some past conflict. The atmosphere between them at the hospital today was strange, almost like they were enemies, as if they intensely disliked each other...
"Nothing, I just don't like the look of him," Zheng Wei sneered. "He looks like a pretty boy."
"Does the pretty boy bother you?" Lu Taobao chuckled, his gaze accurately landing on Shen Xiaoyan.
"I can't really interfere in the affairs of the powerful. If not for that, I would have gladly watched him leave this hospital." Zheng Wei said with a casual tone. He hadn't expected the young man's background to be so solid.
This was a headache for Zheng Wei. Although marriage alliances between people from these two "regions" were normal, this brat's background was so influential that he couldn't even get revenge.
"What is yours will be yours. Just do your best. If you still can't have it under these circumstances, then it clearly isn't meant for you," Lu Taobao said something that sounded like a riddle. Lin Xin was busy on the phone and didn't hear clearly. However, Zheng Wei's expression clearly paused, and he seemed to be contemplating something.
Lu Taobao's words seemed to have struck a nerve.
He became angry just thinking about it. He, a dignified wealthy man, would still be inferior to a pretty boy. How ridiculous!
...
Shen Xiaoyan was unaware of Zheng Wei's internal monologue. She didn't participate in their conversation, quietly eating her meal. If one didn't pay special attention, they might easily overlook her.
"Young Master Lin, Miss Niu..." After a knock, the waiter respectfully said something to Lin Xin, but a woman behind him pushed him aside before he could finish and strode in.
As the person entered, Shen Xiaoyan's vision suddenly brightened. This woman was stunningly beautiful, like a ray of light. As she pushed the door open, it felt as if a hundred flowers bloomed.
"You can go," Lin Xin waved the waiter away and tilted his head at Niu Shufang, indicating she should sit.
Only one seat was left, and Niu Shufang naturally sat next to Shen Xiaoyan.
"Oh, who is Brother Zheng with?" Niu Shufang's gaze met Shen Xiaoyan's directly.
"Call her Sister-in-law," Lin Xin said to Niu Shufang before Lu Taobao or Zheng Wei could speak.
"So it's Sister-in-law. You don't quite match," Niu Shufang chuckled, her eyes filled with mockery.
Shen Xiaoyan remained unaffected throughout, continuing to eat her own meal.
"Sister-in-law, may I ask what method you used to make Brother Zheng turn over a new leaf? He's never brought you out to dinner before?" Niu Shufang clearly had no intention of letting go of the topic. She even reached out and grabbed Shen Xiaoyan's arm with a familiarity that was as if they had known each other for a long time.
Shen Xiaoyan remained silent. She gently pulled her arm away and continued to eat, as if she hadn't heard anything.
Seeing Shen Xiaoyan's unyielding demeanor, Niu Shufang, with her bright red painted fingernails, extended her hand again and pressed down on Shen Xiaoyan's arm: "Sister-in-law, don't you have any manners? I'm talking to you, why are you pretending not to hear?"
Hearing Niu Shufang's words, Lin Xin also frowned and looked at Shen Xiaoyan. He had never liked Shen Xiaoyan, and this incident clearly intensified his aversion to her...
Only Lu Taobao looked at Lin Xin with a knowing gaze.
Old Lin was going to have a terrible day today!
Niu Shufang's hand seemed to be gently resting on Shen Xiaoyan's arm, but the true force of her grip was known only to Shen Xiaoyan and Niu Shufang.