Becoming a Scum A in an Old-School Melodramatic Novel - Chapter 43

After coaxing the little one to sleep at night, Lin Qinghan sat on the sofa watching TV, while Shen Xian was playing on her phone not far from her.

Lin Qinghan glanced at Shen Xian, then turned her gaze back to the TV and asked, “Are you busy tomorrow?”

Shen Xian turned to look at her and said, “Not really, things are fine these days. Why? Do you have something planned?”

“It’s not exactly something important. It’s just that the office is organizing an outing tomorrow. If you want to come, you can join me,” Lin Qinghan said, sneaking a glance at Shen Xian.

Shen Xian put her phone down entirely, leaned closer to Lin Qinghan, looked at her thoughtfully, and smiled, “Do you want me to come?”

Lin Qinghan raised an eyebrow and glared at her. “You’re overthinking it. I just thought you might be bored on your own, so I’m reluctantly bringing you along.”

Shen Xian laughed and said, “Alright, then I really have to thank you, Qinghan. You always put me first.”

She thought for a moment and added, “It works out. The company is still under renovation, and there’s not much going on tomorrow. I might as well give everyone the day off. That way, I can go on the outing with you.”

Lin Qinghan lifted her chin slightly, gave Shen Xian a sideways glance, and corrected her, “I’m bringing you along.”

Shen Xian leaned her head against the sofa, lazily looking at Lin Qinghan with a smile on her lips, “Alright, you’re bringing me. Whatever Qinghan says is right.”

Lin Qinghan kept her eyes on the TV, but Shen Xian’s gaze never left her face, which made Lin Qinghan feel a bit awkward. The tips of her ears started to turn red. She turned her head and asked, “Why are you staring at me?”

“Nothing,” Shen Xian replied, still watching her. “I’m just tired and resting on the sofa.”

Lin Qinghan simply turned off the TV and got up, muttering, “Then rest by yourself. I’m going to bed.”

“Hey, Qinghan, what time are we leaving tomorrow? Do we need to bring anything?” Shen Xian quickly asked when she realized Lin Qinghan was annoyed.

“The office is providing food and drinks. Just bring the usual daily essentials,” Lin Qinghan said while walking to the bedroom.

“Got it. Good night, Qinghan,” Shen Xian said with a smile.

Lin Qinghan turned her head and saw Shen Xian still smiling, which made the redness on her ears deepen. She quickly said “Good night” and hurried back to her bedroom.

Shen Xian leaned back on the sofa, her smile widening. Back when they weren’t close, she never noticed that Qinghan was actually quite shy.

Shen Xian picked up her phone and gave the employees a day off in the group chat, which immediately caused a wave of cheers. Only then did she get up to wash up.

The next morning, Shen Xian was in a good mood, excited to go out with Lin Qinghan. After coming back from her morning jog, she hummed a tune while making breakfast for Lin Qinghan and the little one — cheese shrimp sandwiches.

Lately, the little one had taken a liking to cheese. Even before opening her eyes, she smacked her lips and mumbled with her eyes still closed, “Mom, did Mommy make cheese? Smells so good~”

Lin Qinghan opened her eyes and, seeing her daughter thinking about food before even fully waking up, chuckled and poked her chubby little cheek. “You haven’t even opened your eyes and you’re already thinking about eating. What a little foodie you are.”

Shen Tian giggled from being poked, dimples appearing on her cheeks. She opened her eyes and said, “Tian Tian is not a foodie! Mommy definitely made cheese for me.” She sat up and, as if trying to prove herself right, scooted backward on the bed, reached the floor with her short little legs, and ran to the kitchen in her slippers.

Seeing this, Shen Xian knew the little one must have smelled the food again. She picked up the still-messy-haired girl and said, “Come on, little President Shen, see if today’s breakfast meets your standards — cheese sandwiches with milk.”

Shen Tian rubbed her little face against Shen Xian’s shoulder and said sweetly, “I’m happy. Tian Tian loves cheese~”

“You and that super nose of yours. Go wash up first,” Shen Xian said, gently bouncing her before setting her back down.

Lin Qinghan had also come out of the room. The little one ran over and hugged her leg, dragging her to the bathroom to wash up together.

Once they were ready, Shen Xian had already served breakfast. The little one munched on her sandwich enthusiastically. Seeing this, Shen Xian took the opportunity to say, “Mom and I have work today, so Tian Tian will go to Grandma’s house, okay? After we finish, we’ll come home and buy you something tasty.”

The little one swallowed her bite of cheese and looked up in confusion. “But… but why do Mom and Mommy always have work?” She couldn’t remember exactly which day her moms rested, but she knew she had spent several days at Grandma’s already.

Shen Xian took a sip of milk to ease the awkwardness before replying, “Because Mom and Mommy have to earn lots of money to buy yummy things for Tian Tian.”

Shen Tian took a few more bites of her sandwich before nodding. “Okay, I’ll go play with Grandma.”

Shen Xian quickly gave her a thumbs up. “Mhm, Tian Tian is awesome.”

After breakfast, Shen Xian and Lin Qinghan first dropped the little one off at Fang Jinglan’s place before driving to meet up at the hospital. Since Lin Qinghan had mentioned that food and drinks were provided, the two only brought one small bag. By the time they arrived, many colleagues were already there and some had boarded the bus.

Shen Xian followed beside Lin Qinghan. Before they even got on the bus, they ran into Liu Wenwen and Zhao Qing.

Liu Wenwen looked Shen Xian up and down, then teased Lin Qinghan, “Dr. Lin brought a plus-one? I remember you never used to attend these events.”

“Yeah, I had time this time. Besides, I’m not the only one bringing someone — some colleagues even brought their kids. We’ll go ahead and get on the bus. You do as you please,” Lin Qinghan replied as she and Shen Xian headed toward the tour bus.

“Tch, what’s she so proud of? Isn’t she just here with her ex-wife?” Liu Wenwen glared resentfully at Lin Qinghan’s back and muttered under her breath.

“Exactly. And that ex-wife of hers is a good-for-nothing gambling addict. What’s there to be proud of? But I guess it’s a good thing — if her ex-wife is tagging along, Lin Qinghan won’t have time to cling to Dr. Lu,” Zhao Qing said with a smile, giving Liu Wenwen a playful nudge.

That immediately cheered Liu Wenwen up. “You’re right! And Dr. Lu asked us to help hand things out later too. Let’s go help.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zhao Qing eagerly pulled Liu Wenwen along to find Lu Jianbai. He was still quite popular at the hospital — whenever word got out that he needed help, everyone wanted to be involved.

Lu Jianbai was carrying a box of bottled water when he saw Zhao Qing and Liu Wenwen approaching. Smiling, he asked, “Did you see Dr. Lin?”

Zhao Qing’s smile stiffened for a moment, but then she seemed to recall something and said, “Oh, Dr. Lin and her ex-wife already got on the bus. They looked pretty cheerful, chatting and laughing. Maybe they’re getting back together soon.”

At her words, Lu Jianbai’s expression darkened, clearly caught off guard by Shen Xian showing up again. But he quickly returned to his usual demeanor. “Nurse Zhao, once I bring the water up, could you help distribute it to everyone?”

“Sure, no problem!” Zhao Qing beamed, clearly pleased to be asked first.

Liu Wenwen wasn’t about to be outdone and quickly asked, “What about me, Dr. Lu?”

“You can help hand out the food later. Really, thank you both — I couldn’t handle all this alone,” Lu Jianbai said with a smile to both of them.

“It’s no big deal. Everyone’s happy to help you out, Dr. Lu,” Liu Wenwen quickly said.

When Shen Xian and Lin Qinghan got on the bus, the seats were already full. Han Rui had taken a two-person seat for herself, but when she saw the two approaching, she smiled and said to Lin Qinghan, “You and your Shen Xian can sit here. I’ll go sit with someone else.”

Lin Qinghan gave her a light, playful slap. “Don’t talk nonsense. Thanks,” she said with a smile and sat by the window.

Shen Xian took the seat beside Lin Qinghan and smiled at Han Rui. “Thanks, Dr. Han.”

“No problem. I’m by myself anyway — it doesn’t matter where I sit.” There happened to be an empty seat across the aisle from Shen Xian, so Han Rui simply sat there.

There were quite a few people from the hospital, and they had chartered four buses in total. Lu Jianbai had found a few alphas to help move the food and distribute it. He himself got on the same bus as Lin Qinghan and the others.

Zhao Qing boarded with Lu Jianbai, taking the supplies to the back of the bus to distribute, while Lu Jianbai started from the front. They were well-organized, and when it came time to hand items to Lin Qinghan and Shen Xian, Lu Jianbai didn’t pause at all — he simply took the supplies out of the box and handed them over like a machine.

Once he had nearly finished distributing everything, he remained in the aisle counting heads and said to Zhao Qing, “Nurse Zhao, looks like we’re short on bottled water. I’ll go grab another half-case.”

“Alright. The food’s just enough, so just bring more water, Dr. Lu.”

Watching all this, Shen Xian felt something wasn’t quite right. She turned to Lin Qinghan and asked, “Qinghan, isn’t it usually logistics that handles food and water on work trips?”

Lin Qinghan glanced at her and replied, “I’m not too sure either, but logically, yeah, it should be the logistics department.”

A doctor sitting in front of them overheard and turned around to say, “I heard all the food is from Dr. Lu’s family’s company. He sold it to the hospital at a low price — I guess it’s kind of a free promo for their products.”

Even after hearing that explanation, Shen Xian still felt something was off. She leaned in and asked in a low voice, “Qinghan, has he still been bothering you lately?”

Lin Qinghan thought for a moment and replied, “No. When we run into each other, it’s just a polite nod or greeting. He hasn’t gone out of his way to talk to me. Why?”

Shen Xian shook her head. “Nothing. If I’d known we were going to be eating his food, I’d have brought our own. My cooking is way better than this vacuum-packed stuff.”

Lin Qinghan glanced at her, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. “Alright, alright, I know your cooking is good. But we’re here already, so let’s just make do with this for lunch.”

“Yeah, guess we have no choice. We’re heading to a mountain out in the suburbs — no food stalls around, so it is what it is.” Shen Xian shook the bottled water in her hand.

Once the food was fully distributed and almost everyone had arrived, Lu Jianbai ended up sitting with Zhao Qing, which made Liu Wenwen furious — she looked like she wanted to glue her eyes to Lu Jianbai and Zhao Qing.

Lu Jianbai sat near the back of the bus, in the outer seat, chatting idly with Zhao Qing. But his gaze kept drifting over to Shen Xian and Lin Qinghan.