Song Wenqing is, after all, a steady old father, and now he started questioning his daughter.
"Dad, Master Zhang is going back to school, let’s send him back to Chunping Campus first."
After getting in the car, Song Wanqing lay back comfortably and then started speaking to Old Song.
"Alright, is this Xiaozhang? Qingqing ntioned you’re studying at the Ji Da School of Veterinary dicine?"
Song Wenqing asked with a smile, at the sa ti glancing at the rearview mirror inside the car.
The mirror reflected the two people sitting in the backseat.
"Yes, third year in the School of Veterinary dicine, a top student. Master Zhang, feel free to call my dad Old Song."
Song Wanqing helped Zhang Lingchuan respond and then introduced him to Xiaoying.
"Would calling him Uncle Songo be better?"
The nickna Old Song seed fine behind his back, but saying it face-to-face felt a bit too intimate.
"It’s fine, Qingqing suggested you call Old Song, so just call Old Song! No problem!!"
Song Wenqing said with a chuckle.
No one saw Old Song’s expression while driving, but his voice sounded rather normal.
"I’d better call him Uncle Song."
Zhang Lingchuan’s expression was puzzled; he was worried there might be an issue.
"It’s just a title. By the way, Xiaozhang, I heard from Qingqing that you’re also a popular veterinarian online? When you co to our clinic, how are you planning to charge? Surely you won’t be offering free services?"
Song Wenqing asked with a smile.
"Dad, there’s no way Master Zhang would give free consultations at our clinic. I was thinking the fee could be split fifty-fifty."
Fifty-fifty is a fee-sharing arrangent typically used for expert consultations in veterinary practice. If the clinic earns a thousand yuan from a consultation, five hundred yuan would go to the expert.
"Sure, a fifty-fifty split sounds good, let’s decide on that. Xiaozhang, what do you think?"
Old Song nodded.
"Huh???"
Song Wanqing knitted her brows slightly upon hearing her father’s easy acceptance.
She couldn’t understand how her father reacted with such alarm when she suggested Zhang Lingchuan could offer free services, yet seed so relaxed about the fifty-fifty split.
Could it be that her father was bewitched during the one month she was away?
"Sounds good, sounds good, Uncle Song, you can make the arrangents."
Zhang Lingchuan, being a man, knew what Old Song was thinking. It was Wanqing’s series of peculiar moves that had led her father to misunderstand, constantly testing to see if anything transpired between them over the past month.
They were, in fact, completely innocent.
As for the fee splitting arrangent, it was certainly preferable, as he’d earn based on how many clients he saw.
And offering free consultations is certainly doable if Wanqing asks for it, given how she’d helped him imnsely; he wouldn’t mind returning the favor.
"Master Zhang, over there is our pet clinic."
As they drove halfway, Song Wanqing tugged Zhang Lingchuan’s arm, pointing to a clinic in the distance.
Old Song had his eyes on the rearview mirror the whole ti and his eyelids twitched.
"Spring Cos Again Pet Clinic? Uncle Song, is that na taken from Du Fu’s poem, ’The seasons and human affairs hasten in their ways, During winter solstice when spring is born again’?"
For so reason, the poem popped into Zhang Lingchuan’s mind.
"Xiaozhang actually knows quite a bit, doesn’t he? Yes, this na was given by Qingqing’s grandpa, probably derived from there."
Song Wenqing answered with a smile while driving.
"Master Zhang, don’t bother asking my dad, he knows nothing about this. By the way, our clinic is conveniently located between Chunping District and Chun Nan Vanguard Campus, so don’t take a bus there tomorrow, I’ll just have my dad pick you up."
Song Wanqing took the opportunity to expose her father’s cluelessness and volunteered Old Song for the pick-up duty.
"???"
Old Song was once again bewildered.
Sothing seed off.
His little cotton-padded jacket had gone south, how did things start leaking everywhere?
"Dad? Is there sothing wrong?"
Zhang Lingchuan sat behind Old Song, while Song Wanqing was diagonal to her father; she suddenly noticed his expression was odd.
"There’s no problem at all! What could possibly be wrong! Xiaozhang! I’ll pick you up tomorrow!!"
Old Song spoke firmly.
"Wanqing, Uncle Song, no need, I’ll co over by myself tomorrow."
There’s no need to pick him up, he can make it there himself!
Also, if Old Song did co to pick him up, he feared he might get dragged sowhere else to interrogate about his relationship with Wanqing.
"No need! Xiaozhang! I’ll pick you up tomorrow!!"
Old Song displayed a very amiable smile.
Finally.
A half hour passed.
The gate of Northeast People’s University appeared before them.
Zhang Lingchuan was back at school.
"Goodbye, Uncle Song, Wanqing."
He waved to them both as he said his farewell.
"Alright, alright, see you tomorrow, Xiaozhang."
Old Song nodded.
"Bye-bye, Master Zhang, send a ssage when you reach your dorm~"
Song Wanqing got out, helped Zhang Lingchuan with his things, then opened the passenger-side door while speaking.
"???"
Old Song was a bit dumbfounded.
Wasn’t she supposed to sit in the back, complaining about stuff at the passenger-side footwell? Why did she suddenly open the passenger-side door after all?
"Let’s go, Dad, what’s got you staring off blankly?"
Song Wanqing confidently took the passenger seat, buckling her seatbelt and looking at her father.
"Alright, alright!!"
Old Song nodded repeatedly.
Seems he’d better have a chat with Xiaozhang tomorrow, to figure out why his little cotton-padded jacket was acting so peculiar!
"Phew—"
Watching the black rcedes drive away, Zhang Lingchuan let out a slow exhale.
He pulled his suitcase and made his way toward the graduate student dormitory.
Room 108.
"Holy cow! President Zhang! You’re finally back!!!"
As Zhang Lingchuan opened the door, he suddenly noticed soone on the bed lifting their head with difficulty, looking a bit worn.
"Whoa, Prince, what happened to you?!"
Zhang Lingchuan was taken aback.
This roommate had been by his side throughout five years of undergraduate studies and was entering his third year of graduate studies, marking their eighth year of friendship.
His roommate’s surna was Guan, nad Guan Suo, a Manzu.
The nickna Prince stems from a joke during a late-night snack at the start of freshman year.
Because his surna was unusual, during a chat they found out he was the dorm’s only Manzu.
Curiosity and drunk banter led one guy to shout, ’We actually have a Prince in our dorm!!’
Then everyone asked him about Manzu language and so Manzu gossip.
This brother responded with a very heavy Northeastern accent, saying, ’What Prince, I’m a Northeasterner, who the heck speaks Manzu?!!’
But he did know so Manzu gossip, chatting away about many things like Cixi’s escape. Delving further, everyone asked which Banner his ancestors were from, since TV shows had taught everyone about Manzu Banners - to which he jokingly responded, ’Under the Five-Star Red Banner.’
At that mont, the whole dorm group got stuck like computer screens frozen!!
He was a rather amusing person.
From that day, everyone privately called him the Prince under the Five-Star Red Banner.
It was ant as a playful jab.
No one expected that over the years, this guy would always be generous with food and drinks, never eating alone, and it turned out he was a second-generation wealthy, so Prince Guan naturally beca his nickna.
Because why not refer to the boss by a title?
Yet now, the guy had a yellow tag hanging above his head, what was all this??
...
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