When Su Tang got up the next morning, her mother didn't mention Fang Haoran again.
Su Tang had a rare quiet morning. After breakfast, she prepared to take the subway to work.
Before she even left the neighborhood, she received a message from Fang Haoran: "I'm waiting for you at the gate of your neighborhood. Let me drive you to work."
Su Tang felt as if she'd almost had a heart - attack.
So her mother had been setting this up for her...
It was really something for her mother to have arranged all this after their fight last night.
Since he'd come all this way, she couldn't very well refuse him.
Su Tang quickly got in the car and reported her destination.
Fang Haoran looked like he hadn't had enough sleep. His home wasn't close to here, and he'd been woken up early this morning by his grandma to pick up Su Tang.
"I'm really sorry about today. It was so abrupt of me to wait for you like this."
Young people valued their personal space, and it was indeed impolite to bother someone like this.
But Fang Haoran had already apologized, and besides, he'd been forced into it. Su Tang wasn't the type to hold a grudge.
"It's okay. We're both in a bind."
Fang Haoran had had a surgery last night and hadn't gotten home until one or two in the morning. He'd only slept for a few hours before his grandma woke him up and told him to pick up Su Tang.
He was so sleepy that his head was in a fog. He splashed some cold water on his face to wake himself up.
But he had to admit that he and Su Tang were quite fated.
"I only knew we were from the same hometown before. I didn't expect our families to know each other."
"It is quite a coincidence."
"Right. And thank you for not exposing me before." Su Tang was referring to the time at the high - speed railway station when Fang Haoran hadn't revealed that they knew each other.
"I thought since you went to the hospital alone when you were sick, you probably didn't want your family to know." Fang Haoran was actually a quite considerate person.
"They wouldn't be able to help even if they knew, and they'd just worry about me."
"That's true. But it's always good to have someone around when you're sick." Fang Haoran replied, "And you're really strong."
"What do you mean?" Su Tang was surprised to hear this adjective. It was the first time someone had described her as strong.
"Generally speaking, people tend to be more vulnerable when they're in the hospital. And going to the hospital alone is a very lonely thing."
"Oh, you're talking about that. I did find a friend to accompany me later." Su Tang said and then remembered that Fang Haoran hadn't met Fang Ting: "Right. You weren't in the emergency department that day, so you didn't get to meet her."
"Something came up in our department that day, so I couldn't go."
"Aren't you from the emergency department?"
"No. I was just temporarily transferred there for a couple of days."
"Don't you doctors have your own specializations in different departments?"
"That's right. I definitely can't perform surgeries in other departments. But I can handle minor ailments like yours."
"In your doctors' eyes, what kind of illness is considered a serious one?"
"Well... it's really hard to say."
Fang Haoran was quite talkative. Before they knew it, they'd arrived at Su Tang's company.
Su Tang quickly thanked him: "Thanks so much for today."
"It's okay. Hurry up and go to work."
"I'll treat you to dinner when I'm free some other day."
"Okay. It's a deal."
Watching Fang Haoran's car drive away from the company, Su Tang then turned around and went upstairs.
As she walked upstairs, she sent a message to Fang Ting: "Oh no, oh no. Do you know who the new blind - date partner my mom introduced to me is?"
Fang Ting had woken up early today and was lucky enough to get some fresh gossip. Sure enough, the early bird catches the worm.
She thought typing was too slow, so she called Su Tang directly.
"Which young talent did your mom introduce to you this time? Is it a university teacher or a civil servant?"
"You know my mom pretty well. This time, my mom changed the profession. She introduced a doctor to me."
"Then your mom must not know that doctors are so busy that they can hardly take care of their families. Then both of you won't be at home."
"The point isn't that she introduced a doctor to me. The point is, do you remember the Dr. Fang I met in the hospital when I was sick a few days ago?"
Fang Ting got excited as soon as she heard this: "Your little hometown friend? Don't tell me your mom knows his mom. Is your new blind - date partner this Dr. Fang?"
Su Tang thought Fang Ting seemed to be gloating, but this wasn't the time to care about that.
"You're almost right. Dr. Fang's grandma and my mom work in the same unit. I don't know what got into my mom this morning. She joined forces with his grandma and made him come and drive me to work. I can't believe they came up with this."
"This is a good thing for Dr. Fang. He already has feelings for you. This is just what he wants. But you're in trouble."
"Actually, it's not what you think. I think Dr. Fang was also forced into this. He's just doing this as a formality."
"I hope so. But what if he really confesses his love to you?"
"What can I do? Of course, I'll reject him."
"Do you dare to tell Dr. Fang that you have a boyfriend? Put an end to his improper thoughts."
"Do you believe that if I tell him today, my mom will know tomorrow? The day after tomorrow, Ren Qingzhou will be summoned to my home for interrogation, and the day after that, my mom will make us break up."
"Is your mom really as scary as you say? In my impression, your mom is a very kind - looking aunt."
"That's just the surface, just the surface! You don't know that she has a whole set of rules regarding my marriage."
"Does Ren Qingzhou not meet any of them?"
"Well, it's not that bad. Except for his job, he's okay in other aspects."
Su Tang chatted with her for a while. When she saw that her colleagues were gradually all there, she hung up the phone and got back to work.
Near the end of work in the afternoon, she received another message from Fang Haoran: "Are you free after work? Let's go out for dinner."
She'd just promised to treat him to dinner this morning. It seemed inappropriate to reject him now.
Su Tang had no choice but to agree to his request.
"Okay. I may work overtime for a while."
"It's okay. I'll wait for you near your company."
These days, she'd been so busy dealing with her mother's aggressive matchmaking that she'd somewhat neglected her boyfriend.
When she opened her phone now, she realized they hadn't contacted each other for two days. She wondered what Ren Qingzhou was up to.
Thinking about what had happened recently, Su Tang felt a twinge of guilt. Although she had a clear conscience, going on blind dates behind her boyfriend's back wasn't a good thing.
Not to mention neglecting her boyfriend because of the blind dates.
If Ren Qingzhou knew about this, he'd be furious.
She should take the initiative to let Ren Qingzhou remember that he had a girlfriend even when he was busy.
Actually, Su Tang didn't think it was anyone's fault that Ren Qingzhou hadn't contacted her for a day or two.
She was different from ordinary girls. If this happened to someone else, they might have a fight.
It would even escalate to the cliché question of whether you really love me or not.
But Su Tang thought that they were all adults, with jobs and careers.
When they were busy, they couldn't even take care of basic physiological needs like eating and sleeping. How could they have time to call others?
This was perfectly normal. Besides, she hadn't contacted him either.
Thinking about it this way, maybe she and Ren Qingzhou were really well - matched.
"What are you doing?"
"I just realized we haven't talked for two days."
"I miss you a bit."
Then she sent an emoji.
Emmmmm, why did she feel so strange?
It didn't seem to be her style.
Was it because she felt guilty?
Ren Qingzhou was really busy. He wished he could spend 24 hours a day with his girlfriend.
However, this was unrealistic. He had to date and also work.
Dating definitely couldn't affect his work.
These days, they were counting down to the end of filming. In fact, there were only a few scenes left for him.
But there were still some important scenes to shoot.
These days, they happened to be shooting the most difficult scene.
It was a group scene. With so many actors, it was naturally difficult to shoot.
Moreover, this scene was a confrontation scene. There were not only many actors but also a lot of lines and actions.
This scene took a whole day and night to shoot.
After it was over, he felt like the world was spinning, and his head was in a daze.
Gu Xiaowei saw that he was so disoriented that she unscrewed a bottle of water and handed it to him: "Drink some water first and take a break."
"You haven't shot a TV series for a few years. When you first joined the crew, I could tell you were a bit out of sync with the rhythm of shooting a TV series. But now you've improved a lot."
They'd been working together for a month, and now they had a good relationship. Gu Xiaowei had a straightforward personality, so they often joked with each other.
Hearing her say this, Ren Qingzhou first took the water and took a big gulp. Only then did he feel less muddled. He replied, "Staying up all night is really exhausting. I didn't even know what I was saying when I was reciting the lines just now. I was just mechanically repeating them."
"Go back and rest early. I don't see any more scenes for you today. And you'll probably be the first one to finish filming. Then you can rest for a couple of days."
After the filming at the film and television base for this show was over, Gu Xiaowei would have to go abroad to attend an awards ceremony. Her schedule was very full, and she probably wouldn't have any time to rest.
Ren Qingzhou estimated that he would also take on some variety shows or evening - party gigs. He'd taken on too few gigs this year. If this continued, his annual performance might not meet the standard.
Ren Qingzhou thought for a while and decided that Li Momo should pick a gig that would allow him to stay in City S.
The entertainment industry in City S was also very developed, so he should be able to find a suitable one.
"You go and rest too, Sister Xiaowei."
After they said goodbye, Ren Qingzhou went back to the hotel and fell asleep immediately. He slept for a whole day. When Su Tang sent the message, he was still in a deep sleep and didn't respond at all.