No one dared to speak to him, to retort to him, or to make him feel less tired when he spoke, like Jian Fei did.
For the past month, in his father’s eyes, he had lived a fulfilling life.
In reality, only he understood the emptiness in his heart.
It wasn't until he met Jian Fei again that Ke Teng felt his vibrant self had returned.
He followed her in, joking.
“You keep mentioning money to me? Are you implying I should share some of my inexhaustible wealth with you?”
Jian Fei plopped onto the sofa, poured herself a glass of water, and completely ignored him.
“What right do I have to imply anything to you? If I had stunning beauty, I’d directly hint at it.”
“Mr. Ke, I don’t want to work hard anymore, just throw money at me. Unfortunately, I have nothing. I don’t even have the capital to hint at you.”
She was quite self-aware.
Ke Teng laughed heartily, sat down beside her, put his arm around her shoulders, and turned her face to look at her carefully.
“Don’t say that, it’s not that bad. Actually, your features are quite good. It’s just your style of dressing that’s really awful.”
“Why don’t you dress up a bit? Maybe you’ll have some leverage to negotiate with me.”
Ke Teng’s words were somewhat restrained.
In fact, he genuinely thought Jian Fei was quite good-looking.
She wasn’t the type of beauty with striking features, but her features were well-proportioned. She was the kind of atmospheric beauty from the Jiangnan water towns, understated and elegant.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and horses need saddles. Even the most beautiful woman, if she always wore the same wrinkled clothes and tied her hair in such a messy ponytail, wouldn’t look particularly good.
He believed that with Jian Fei’s natural foundation, just a little embellishment would surely attract countless admiring glances.
But Jian Fei was not interested.
“Forget it. It’s good enough if I can fill my stomach. Do I have the mood to fuss over my face? Whether I’m beautiful or ugly, nothing is more important than having enough to eat. Don’t joke with me about this.”
In essence, she had never considered a path that relied on her looks.
Otherwise, who would be so indifferent to their own appearance?
Ke Teng held her like that, and neither of them felt awkward.
He looked at the bruises on her face again and pressed them with his finger.
“Does it hurt?”
Jian Fei was completely unromantic.
“It hurts. But the medicine I bought can only have a calming and soothing effect. There’s no need to spend money on such minor injuries.”
“No one will see it anyway, so it’s fine to be ugly for a couple of days.”
“You really are open-minded. Isn’t there anyone at your hospital you care about?”
For some reason, when he said the words "care about," she suddenly thought of Jiang Chuan.
She met him when she was at her ugliest and most disheveled, and not only did he not dislike her, but he had also helped her so much.
The thought that they might never see each other again in the rest of their lives, and that so many years of unrequited love would end so tragically, made her heart ache.
“Besides making money, I don’t want anything else. What’s so good about you men?”
Ke Teng couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Men indeed weren’t that great. It was fine not to want men.
But then he thought of another interesting question.
“Judging by what you’re saying, you probably haven’t been in a relationship. Can you tell me the truth? Are you still a virgin?”
Jian Fei was indeed.
Feeling that his words seemed to mock her, she glared at him and pushed his hand off her shoulder.
“Mind your own business. It has nothing to do with you whether I am or not. Look, your disgusting male nature is showing so quickly. Men are indeed detestable.”
Ke Teng was laughing uncontrollably.
“Alright, alright, I’m detestable. Speaking of which, how much did you drink earlier? You have a good tolerance, you’re not dizzy yet.”
“Who says I’m not dizzy? I’m extremely dizzy. It’s just that I thought it would be inconvenient for you, so I haven’t slept yet. Why don’t you leave quickly?”
“You’re really heartless. You sent me all the way back, and you want me to leave before I’ve even warmed the seat.”
“Then, you can make yourself at home. Stay however you like, and I’ll go to sleep?”
“Fine. I see now, you’re my nemesis. Go to sleep, go to sleep.”
Ke Teng stood up.
Jian Fei watched him walk to the door. “I remember you have several mobile phones, right? How many did you bring out today?”
Just now she seemed to not care about his wealth, but now she was asking about his phones?
Ke Teng stopped. “What for? Want to trick me into lending you a phone?”
Jian Fei was not polite.
“I only have one phone, and there’s no alarm clock at home. I’m afraid I’ll oversleep tomorrow and be late for work. Lend me your worst, least used one, and I’ll return it to you another day.”
That damned girl, the more she called him her nemesis, the more she took advantage of him.
Ke Teng sighed and took out his phone to call his assistant.
Soon, a phone was delivered.
“You know the password. Keep it. I’m leaving.”
The next day, Jian Fei went to work on time, still in her usual clothes and attire, but the director’s gaze towards her was clearly different.
Not only did he greet her with a smile and say good morning, but he also called her into his office alone ten minutes after work started.
Jian Fei could roughly guess what he was going to say and was mentally prepared.
As expected, after a few polite words, the director got straight to the point.
“Are you and Mr. Ke former boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Jian Fei rolled her eyes internally.
A man in his forties, and he was gossiping about people’s private lives?
But she smiled outwardly.
“There’s no need to lie about such things.”
Looking at her disheveled appearance and then thinking of Ke Teng, the director silently concocted a tragic story in his mind about a love torn apart by fate, a marriage into a wealthy family that was difficult to achieve, and a forced breakup.
Thinking that Ke Teng still had feelings for her, he smiled and said,
“I don’t mean anything else, I’m just genuinely concerned. How were you after you got back yesterday?”
Jian Fei said she was fine.
“Mr. Ke sent you back?”
“Yes.”
The director beamed.
“Jian Fei, do you know about the new project our hospital has assigned to our department?”
Jian Fei certainly didn’t.
She had been there for a month, and this was the first time the director had spoken so much to her.
He knew better than anyone what her usual work entailed, so why was he asking the obvious?
“Director, if you have something to say, please say it directly.”
“Haha, I knew you were a straightforward person. Young people don’t like beating around the bush, so I’ll be direct.”
“It’s like this, I’ve already sent the documents to your email. You can open them later and take a look.”
“The hospital regulations require us to secure this project, preferably to start construction before the end of the year, and strive for completion next year, contributing to our hospital’s future technological innovation and rating.”
“You know, in our industry, only by achieving commendable results, building a solid reputation, and obtaining excellent ratings can we attract more customers and get you promoted and receive raises.”
“This is a glorious and arduous task, do you understand what I mean?”
Jian Fei understood his meaning.
However, the director thought a bit too highly of her.
Asking her to approach Ke Teng for investment and help build a research building, where would she get such nerve?
But she couldn’t refuse directly.
She really wanted to achieve results in front of her superiors as soon as possible and get promoted and a raise.