Ai Jingchu said nothing from beginning to end, and did not even tell Zhou Wen to do the next work. He just worked silently by himself. When thickening the other side of the wire, he lowered his head, stroked Zeng Li's cheek with one hand, and operated with pliers with the other hand, while his chest was buried in front of Zeng Li's eyes. His collar was slightly open, so that she could smell the scent emanating from his collar. She hid embarrassedly.
"Don't move." Ai Jingchu said.
This was the first sentence she heard him say after entering the clinic.
Time is so long.
Her face was pressed against the front of his shirt, and she lay motionless and silent.
After the consultation, Zhou Wen made an appointment with Zeng Li for the next consultation. Ai Jingchu had been called away by other patients, but he took a few steps and came back, saying to Zeng Li, "Let's have lunch together."
"Ah?" Zeng Li's mind was a little stiff and he didn't react.
He glanced at her and said, "I will try to get off work on time at twelve o'clock. You can go to the office and wait for me, and we will have lunch together." After that, he reached into his pocket, took out a bunch of keys and handed it to Zeng Li.
Zeng Li took it in a daze.
When Ai Jingchu left, he did not forget to tell Zhou Wen, "If you are free, take her there. She won't be able to find it."
Zhou Wen couldn't help but glance at Gu Haidong, thinking that this man was really abominable, even bullying his master on his territory.
Little brat!
Does he know how boring it is to study orthodontics? Does he know how difficult it is to find some gossip for Teacher Ai? Does he know that every time Teacher Ai teaches, students from other departments come to audit, making it difficult to get a seat? Does he know that all the boys in the department, represented by her boyfriend's dormitory, hope that Teacher Ai will find a boyfriend as soon as possible so that the female students will become discouraged and have their chance
But this man is actually competing with Teacher Ai for food here.
She turned to her junior sister without delay and said, "Hold on for me for a while, I'll be right back." Then she asked Zeng Li to follow her.
Zeng Li was misunderstood for the first time but she didn't feel embarrassed. She was secretly grateful to Ai Jingchu in her heart. This way, at least she could avoid Gu Haidong. Zeng Li couldn't help but look back at the man named Ai Jingchu. He was in front of another treatment chair, turning on the light, holding a dental mirror, looking at the inside of the patient's mouth with his face slightly tilted, and never looked up again. Just now, he must have heard her dilemma outside and helped her. Otherwise, with his personality, he would never have the time to waste on talking to others at work.
Seeing this, Gu Haidong took a few steps forward and wanted to call Zeng Li.
Zhou Wen immediately turned around and said deliberately: "Teacher's wife, if you feel tired, there is a bed in Teacher Ai's office. You can lie down and rest for a while until Teacher Ai gets off work."
Zeng Li gritted his teeth and ignored Gu Haidong, running away with Zhou Wen. Let it be a misunderstanding, it was better than letting Gu Haidong stick to him like a piece of taffy.
She followed Zhou Wen to the corridor, turned a corner, and then walked to a door next to the water room at the end.
Zhou Wen opened the door and returned the key to Zeng Li, saying, "This is the lounge shared by Teacher Ai and Teacher Lu, but Teacher Lu doesn't have any outpatient clinics today, so she will definitely not come, so you can do whatever you want." Zhou Wen usually couldn't distinguish between "l" and "n" and was often laughed at, but at this time she pronounced the words especially carefully. If she called "Teacher Lu" as "female" teacher, that would be terrible.
Zeng Li waited until she left before looking around the room.
It was a very small room. There was a wash basin under the window on the other side of the room. The other items were just a locker, a three-seater sofa, and a desk at the entrance. There was no room for the bed that Zhou Wen had rumored about.
Crowded, but well organized.
Zeng Li put down her bag and sat on the sofa. Out of politeness, she didn't dare to touch anything in the room, so she played with her mobile phone. After a while, it was twelve o'clock. She thought Gu Haidong should have left long ago. If he still didn't give up, she would be helpless.
Zeng Li waited for another ten minutes, but there was still no movement from Ai Jingchu.
She knew that he was just trying to help her out, not really wanting to have dinner with her. Just like in Dongshan, just like when he was invited by Director Li to a dinner.
So, she wanted to go and say hello, return the key, and let him continue to do his work and not worry about her. But as soon as she got up, she heard someone knocking on the door. She opened it and saw Ai Jingchu standing at the door with a lunch box in his hand.
He said, "I'm sorry, I'm late."
Zeng Li replied: "It's okay, don't worry."
"It's too late for lunch, so just make do with what you have now and then have a big meal in the evening." He placed the lunch box on the table, walked to the locker and took off his white coat.
Zeng Li said hurriedly, "No, no, just do your thing. Thank you for helping me out just now. I'll go back first."
Ai Jingchu had his back to her. His hand that was hanging the clothes paused, his eyelids drooped, and his tightly pursed lips moved. After a moment, he turned around, looked at Zeng Li and said calmly, "I'm not busy now."
The six words that Ai Jingchu uttered slowly caught Zeng Li off guard and she didn't even know how to respond.
Ai Jingchu did not continue to speak, but turned to wash his hands at the sink. He used the old-fashioned long soap and quietly washed his hands twice, from fingertips to finger joints, palms to backs of hands, and finally wrists.
"I don't know what your taste is, so I ordered some home-cooked dishes." He said casually, and then spread the food out, as if he didn't realize that Zeng Li's previous words were a farewell.
Those dishes were not Zeng Li’s favorites, but they were most suitable for the condition of her teeth.
She stood there, not knowing how to move forward or backward. If she left like this, it really didn't seem right.
So, Zeng Li never dreamed that she and Ai Jingchu would share the second meal of their lives like this.
In fact, while waiting for him, she had thought that if they went out to eat together, she should definitely pay for it this time. Because he had helped her so many times, and she had crashed his car. Besides, isn't it always the patients who treat the doctors to a meal? How can a doctor treat a patient to a meal...
At this time, the only two chairs in the room were moved next to the desk, and the food box was placed on the table. Zeng Li sat right in front of the desk, while Ai Jingchu sat diagonally opposite. With the computer host blocking his way, he had no way to stretch his legs, and his long legs could not be stretched. He could only eat in a very awkward posture.
He was busy for a long time and seemed to be hungry, moving his chopsticks quietly and quickly.
Zeng Li had just changed his braces to thicker wires, which increased the force and made his teeth feel sore and uncomfortable. Fortunately, the dishes he ordered were either tofu or eggplant, both of which did not require much chewing.
Ai Jingchu was always a man of few words, especially during the meal. Zeng Li was also a man of few words, so the two of them spent a long time in silence.
Zeng Li thought that this silence would continue, but he heard Ai Jingchu say, "Do you have a break at noon?"
"No rest." Zeng Li replied.
The room returned to silence. After a moment, Ai Jingchu asked again, "Are you having lunch?"
Zeng Li looked at him and felt that Ai Jingchu was a little different at the moment, and seemed to be trying to find something to talk about, which was totally not his style. He asked her these irrelevant questions in a somewhat awkward way. Could it be that he also felt awkward, so he was looking for topics to talk about
"Order takeout, or bring your own lunch in the morning, or take turns eating out with your colleagues. We can't be short of people." She added a few more sentences in cooperation.
"It's even tighter than our consultation hours," said Ai Jingchu.
"But we are just killing time. We are not as busy as you." Zeng Li smiled embarrassedly.
"The outpatient hours are relatively regular, unlike in the operating room." Ai Jingchu replied.
Speaking of the operating room and eating, Zeng Li suddenly had a question to ask, so he asked curiously: "Can doctors eat during surgery?"
Ai Jingchu glanced at her, not understanding why she asked such a strange question, so he answered, "No." It would be great if you could eat inside.
"Don't some surgeries take more than ten hours? And we can't eat?" Zeng Li asked in confusion.
"cannot."
"Standing?"
"Not necessarily. It depends on where the surgery is performed."
"Going to the toilet?" Zeng Li finally asked the question she wanted to ask the most. She glanced at the food in front of her, and it was obvious that this question was not very... appropriate.
"Hold it."
"What can I do if I can't help it?" she pursued relentlessly.