Chapter 6: Cancel the Other Operations and Make Time

Smiling broadly, the department head brought Yan Xi over to Yu Siting. Before he could introduce her, the usually gentle doctor spoke.

“I won’t perform her operation.”

Both he and Zhao Xue’er looked startled.

“Why?” Zhao Xue’er asked before the department head could speak.

He stared at Yan Xi with the same urgent question written all over his face.

Her pale lips curved. She looked at Yu Siting with a faint smile.

“My surgical schedule is full. I simply don’t have time.”

“There are plenty of excellent doctors in our department. Our director is outstanding in this field. Miss Zhao would be in even safer hands with him.”

Pleased by her praise, he was just about to volunteer when Yu Siting’s cool voice sounded.

“Cancel the other operations. Make time.”

He stood directly across from Yan Xi, his expression unchanged, the pressure of his presence impossible to ignore.

His gaze moved from her to the department head.

“Can you arrange that?”

The man looked from one to the other. Something about the atmosphere between them seemed wrong.

For the sake of the hospital, however, he readily agreed.

“Of course.”

He tugged at Yan Xi’s sleeve and murmured, “I’ll do your minor procedure tomorrow. You concentrate on Miss Zhao. The hospital’s funding depends on you.”

Frowning, Yan Xi looked at Yu Siting with undisguised resistance.

“I haven’t been in a good state of mind lately. Do you really trust me with your girlfriend, Mr. Yu?”

“Accidents happen on the operating table. You should think carefully.”

The department head froze, then gave an embarrassed laugh and hastened to apologize.

“Dr. Yan must be exhausted. She’s speaking without thinking. Please don’t take offense, Mr. Yu.”

Yan Xi turned away, her face dark. Looking up, she saw Qin Xicheng waiting nearby.

He waved with a smile. Noticing the weariness in her face, he came over and gently ruffled her hair.

“You look ready to fall apart.”

“You’re so tired. Let’s cancel our date tonight.”

She suddenly remembered the property tycoons he had offered to introduce. If someone bought the idle land, it could give her family some breathing room.

“No. We’re definitely going tonight.”

“I’m not tired at all.”

She rallied at once, strode back to her office to remove her white coat, and left with him.

Watching them go, Zhao Xue’er spoke with a touch of envy.

“Dr. Yan’s boyfriend really loves her. He brings her to work in the morning and picks her up at night.”

She slowly raised her eyes to Yu Siting. His face was grim, an unnamed anger in his dark, icy gaze.

“I’ll have Assistant Chen help you with the admission paperwork.”

“I have something to do. I’m leaving.”

He walked into the elevator without breaking stride.

Zhao Xue’er remained where she was. As the doors closed, her hands clenched at her sides.

Qin Xicheng took Yan Xi straight to the restaurant.

Only three seats in the private dining room were unoccupied.

He pulled out a chair for her before smiling apologetically at the others.

“Sorry we’re late. Traffic was bad. I hope we haven’t kept you waiting too long.”

Everyone present was a prominent figure in Yuncheng’s business world.

The Qins were a long-established family in the city. Although they had focused their business overseas in recent years, they had maintained their local connections.

Qin Xicheng now headed the family, and everyone was willing to extend him some courtesy.

“Not at all. We’ve only just arrived.”

“But since you’re late, you owe us three drinks.”

He agreed with a smile.

Throughout dinner, he took attentive care of Yan Xi. Their evident closeness made the others more receptive to Yan Group.

She knew enough about the company’s projects to discuss them, and with Qin Xicheng supporting her, some of the guests began to consider buying the land.

“The city’s development is moving toward the western outskirts, in the direction of Beicheng. There’s no prospect of significant growth in the southern outskirts for the next ten years. Yan Group’s land there hardly seems worth investing in.”

“You’ve only just returned from abroad, Mr. Qin. You still need to familiarize yourself with Yuncheng’s market and development.”

Yu Siting spoke from the doorway. His voice was mild, but Yan Xi heard the mockery beneath it.

Everyone rose as he arrived.

“Mr. Yu, didn’t you say something had come up and you couldn’t make it?”

“We started without you. That was remiss of us.”

The intermediary who had organized the dinner hurried over and offered his own seat.

“Please sit here, Mr. Yu—”

Yu Siting did not even look at him. He pulled out the chair beside Yan Xi and sat down.

The air around her seemed to grow heavy. She straightened immediately.

She should have known he would not let her have an easy time.

Refusing to help Yan Group was one thing. She had not expected him to sabotage its business as well.

The atmosphere stiffened. Yan Xi bit her lip and looked at him.

He met her gaze serenely, as though he had not just disrupted her negotiations.

The guests took their seats and tried to ease the tension.

Yan Xi steadied herself and was about to speak when Qin Xicheng answered first.

“Not necessarily.”

“You seem to have forgotten the thousand-year-old temple in the southern outskirts, Mr. Yu.”

Yu Siting’s eyes darkened. His gaze lingered on Qin Xicheng and Yan Xi for a few seconds.

She caught the scorn in his eyes. As he opened his mouth to contradict Qin Xicheng, she quickly reached beneath the table and pressed her hand against his thigh.

If he kept talking, no one would buy that land.

At the sudden touch of her soft, weak hand, Yu Siting raised his brows slightly. He looked down at her slender fingers.

A small heat seemed to kindle where she touched him.

Yet the woman beside him looked perfectly composed. She turned and gave him a blatantly false smile.

“Mr. Yu, the southern outskirts may not be included in the city’s central development plan. But if the ancient temple were developed into a tourist attraction with a commercial district around it, wouldn’t that have value too?”

He narrowed his eyes as though considering it.

Her nerves tightened.

She knew only too well that whether her family could sell this land depended on his answer.

She stared at him, her clear eyes flickering, afraid he would say one word that would undo her argument.

“Mm.”

His usually indifferent voice had grown slightly husky.

“With that kind of development, it would have some value.”

Relieved, Yan Xi slowly began to withdraw her hand.

The next second, he pressed it down and held it there.