CHAPTER 557: 494 AM I BLIND?

Xiaoer nodded.

Indeed, before this, she hadn’t planned on discussing these matters with anyone.

Exposing too much of one’s thoughts never brought any benefit.

"My parents got married... it was a marriage of convenience."

"Minister Lu?"

"...Yes."

She wasn’t surprised that Song Jing knew about her father’s position.

"Even though it was a marriage of convenience, a woman’s heart can often change over time, and my mother was no exception. Over the years, feelings developed, and my mom did, sort of, for my dad."

"..."

"But she had a lot of pride and cared greatly about face, and she never spoke about her feelings for my dad. What I could see between them was just mutual blame and misunderstanding. They each had their own careers, and even if my mom liked my dad, she wouldn’t be willing to give up her career for him."

"...If we’re talking about being around thirty years old, they should both be in the rising phase of their careers, right?"

Xiaoer nodded,

"That’s how it must have been."

"...So, you want to stabilize your career first?"

"That’s more or less the idea. To be honest... I never thought about getting married before. Later when I thought about it, I felt scared, even at a loss. Would it be ridiculous to suddenly ask someone, ’If you want to get married, what preparations should you do?’"

"Ha-ha, it is a bit funny to hear, and even if you really gathered the courage to ask, no one could give you the answer."

"...Right, no one could give me the answer. All along, my parents’ marriage served as a negative example for me."

"A negative example?"

"Yes."

"So you think by avoiding the issues that appeared in their marriage, everything should be fine."

Xiaoer shrugged nonchalantly.

"Since both of your parents were in the rising phase of their careers and under unstable conditions when they got married, you’re thinking of stabilizing your situation quickly and then considering marriage?"

"It’s just that I didn’t expect... it to be this hard. Heh heh heh..."

She laughed again, this time the laughter was incredibly bitter.

"Of course, besides wanting to avoid the problems my parents faced, if I want to marry someone excellent, I need to become excellent myself. This point is more important than the previous one."

"You’ve thought about it a lot. I didn’t expect a woman of your age to think that much."

Dr. Song Jing gave Xiaoer a thumbs-up.

"Dr. Song Jing, you’re not mocking me, right? Ha-ha..."

"Oh? You heard that I was mocking you?"

Dr. Song Jing looked at her, then said,

"I think there’s only one thing you need to prepare for when it comes to marriage."

"What’s that?"

"To have a mutual understanding with the person you want to get married to."

"..."

"The biggest reason your parents’ marriage faced problems wasn’t because of the subsequent issues, but because their marriage was based on interests, not feelings."

"..."

"To be honest, the path you’ve chosen to become a doctor was never going to be easy. You’re destined to be busy for a lifetime, as long as you’re wearing that white coat."

"..."

"And if you want to become an excellent surgeon, that’s even more difficult. How could you achieve some milestone in a short amount of time?"

With that, Dr. Song Jing laughed,

"How anxious must you be, to be floundering about like a headless fly, treating marriage like a battlefield, like you have to be fully armed to face it, eh?"

Dr. Song Jing’s words were very gentle, dissecting Xiaoer’s psychology in just a few sentences.

"Song Jing, I now feel like even if you can’t enter the operating room, you won’t starve in the future."

"Oh?"

"I think if you became a psychologist, you might have even more potential than as a surgeon."

Xiaoer glanced at him.

"Ha ha ha!"

Dr. Song Jing laughed aloud.

Lu Xiaoer smiled to herself too as she poked at the cake, savoring it delicately.

"I remember you like this kind, right?"

"...How did you know?"

"Wasn’t your boyfriend always buying it for you? Every time I saw you eat it, you looked so happy, even if he wasn’t there, you were still delighted, and..."

Dr. Song Jing hesitated mid-sentence.

Lu Xiaoer’s brow quirked.

"And what?"

"It’s just a small piece of red velvet cake, but you always seem to steal moments to enjoy it alone."

"..."

"It’s clear that you really like red velvet cake."

Lu Xiaoer began to laugh again,

"Actually... I’m not really keen on cakes or sweet stuff."

"..."

After saying that, it was finally Dr. Song Jing’s turn to be stunned.

His expression visibly stiffened.

Lu Xiaoer looked up, "What’s the matter, Doctor Song, how didn’t you notice this?"

Dr. Song Jing adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, saying somewhat awkwardly,

"Seeing you eat this cake, anyone would easily misunderstand... Anyone who saw it would think you really liked it."

"Like... the person who bought the cake."

"..."

Lu Xiaoer had sweet cream in her mouth, but another sensation was irresistibly taking over: her nose was getting sour, despite the sweetness of the cake, she could only taste bitterness, and the more she savored it, the more bitter it seemed.

"Eating the cake... it reminds me of him picking out cakes in the shop, and also of the rush and disappointment on his face when he brought them to me..."

"Zhongli Wuzhi, was he really that good?"

asked Dr. Song Jing.

"Of course, he wasn’t good! Otherwise, would he have hurt you?"

Lu Xiaoer retorted immediately.

Dr. Song Jing couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking his right hand wrapped in a heavy bandage, he said with a light laugh, "Apart from that?"

"Um... he was alright."

"Just alright?"

"..." Lu Xiaoer pursed her lips as the fog before her eyes grew heavier; she was losing control.

"I think your standards are quite high, Xiaoer. The fact that you liked him should prove his excellence, right?"

"Ha ha ha... Maybe I’m just blind?"

Lu Xiaoer hastily lifted her head and joked.

In the moment she looked up, Dr. Song Jing was taken aback, "Xiaoer..."

"Ah... sorry, sorry... Really, if I didn’t look up, my tears would have fallen into the cake..."

Lu Xiaoer tilted her head back, fanning the air with her hand, but even so, her beautiful eyes were still filled with red veins, and tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes.

Dr. Song Jing’s expression turned serious as well. He handed her a tissue,

"I should be the one apologizing. Knowing you were heartbroken, I still talked so much..."

Lu Xiaoer shook her head,

"I should be thanking you instead, for coming so early to chat with me."

"Xiaoer..."

"Yes?"

"...Zhongli Wuzhi, is he the same one... the one you wanted to marry?"

Lu Xiaoer cracked a wide smile, laughing to herself,

"Am I blind?"