My Youth Began With Him

-At the office –

Huo Mian sat there spacing out, looking a little down.

“What’s wrong, Vice Director?” Chen Jie asked when she walked-in on Huo Mian looking like this.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“You rarely have that kind of expression on your face, what’s going on? Was it the morning meeting? Or is it because it’s been busy at the hospital and you’re stressed out? Maybe you should take a vacation.”

Huo Mian shook her head. “It’s not about the morning meeting. Jie, do you think…”

“Huh?” Chen Jie poured Huo Mian a glass of water.

“Do you think Zhang Manlin is a darling to everyone?”

“Um… Why are you mentioning her all of a sudden?”

“I want to know what you think.” Huo Mian took a sip from the glass.

“In my opinion, Zhang Manlin is very cunning. On the surface, she’s friends with everyone and appears to like everyone. But, who knows what she’s thinking deep down? If you look at the things she does on a daily basis, she’s always friendly with the male doctors and doesn’t really keep any distance. She’s flirting with everyone and probably wants to use all the men as a backup. So, I wouldn’t say she is a darling to everyone. At most, she’s a social butterfly, dancing around all kinds of men. I don’t really like her, I don’t know what other people think of her.” For the most part, Chen Jie disliked Zhang Manlin because of Huo Mian.

“Well, she’s a rather young girl, it’s natural to be a little scheming. On the other hand, am I too rigid? Do our colleagues dislike me?” Huo Mian slumped her shoulders and kept her gaze low. For the first time, Huo Mian began to question the way she handled things.

“Of course not! Vice Director, you’ve been here for several years, and many of us watched you grow every step of the way. You’re actually skillful and talented. If it weren’t for you, who would dare to attempt those complicated surgeries? Only you and the main surgeons are always staying late to ensure the hospital is afloat. So, we all respect you very much and we all think you deserve the promotion of becoming the vice hospital director.”

“Really?”

“Of course! Don’t think too much, Sister Mian. If it’s because of that woman, you can just ignore her. How can she even be compared to you? Also, don’t take any of that hospital gossip seriously, it’s all nonsense.”

“Okay.”

After Chen Jie left, Su Yu came knocking.

“Mian.”

“Hey, did you finish up with what you were busy with?”

“Yes. I was too busy, so I forgot to mention that I accidentally hit her when I ran through a red light. I felt guilty, so I gave her a ride to the hospital. I don’t really know her.” Not really knowing why he had to explain himself, Su Yu didn’t want Huo Mian to misunderstand his relationship with Zhang Manlin.

“No worries, Zhang Manlin is a nice person; she won’t blackmail you for insurance money.”

“That’s why I felt even guiltier and came here, that she was a nice person that wasn’t going to blackmail me.”

“Is she okay now?” Huo Mian asked.

“Yes, the doctor said it wasn’t too serious, she just needs to rest.”

“That’s good to hear.” Huo Mian nodded.

“Have… you not been sleeping well?” Su Yu gazed at Huo Mian and asked.

“Why do you say that?”

“You have panda eyes.” Su Yu smiled.

“Ah, I do?” Huo Mian immediately took out a small mirror from her drawer and looked at her reflection. Staring back at her was someone with heavy dark circles and puffy eyes.

“I guess I’ve been staying up for too many nights.”

“Maybe don’t work so hard? Try to rest, don’t be a workaholic.”

“Okay.”

“I will head out then, you can get back to what you were doing.”

“Okay；

Su Yu nodded and walked out. Within a couple of steps, someone behind him called out, “Su Yu, wait.”

He turned his head and saw that Zhang Manlin was limping over towards him.