“Can’t I e to see you if there’s nothing wrong?” Pang Yanyan continued asking, “But, what’s the matter with you? Is your studies too demanding, or are you feeling unwell?”
Tian Xiaobei shook his head, “I’m not feeling unwell.”
“Then is it your studies that are weighing you down? Did you go out with Imperial Physician Wen again today? Were you treating some minister?” Pang Yanyan asked with a smile, feeling somewhat happy for Tian Xiaobei, because being able to go out for medical visits indicated that Tian Xiaobei’s opportunities were increasing, and that Imperial Physician Wen valued him highly.
Tian Xiaobei didn’t speak but just looked at Pang Yanyan, having some words in his heart yet unable to voice them.
But he knew that these words must be spoken now; if he delayed, he would never be able to say them.
Pang Yanyan had no idea what Tian Xiaobei was thinking. She asked again, “Xiaobei, I came to see you yesterday because I wanted to suggest that in a few days we go to see the lotuses. There’s a Lotus Pond on the outskirts of the capital about to bloom, how about joining us?”
“No, I won’t go,” Tian Xiaobei finally rejected Pang Yanyan again.
“Don’t you have the time? That’s okay; when are you free? Then we can go together,” Pang Yanyan still asked with a smile.
Tian Xiaobei clenched his fist tightly, gradually loosened it, and finally took a deep breath. “Yanyan, you should stop ing to see me from now on.”
“Why?” Pang Yanyan’s bright smile faded like a wilting flower.
A woman’s intuition is always sharp; she sensed that Tian Xiaobei had something to say to her, so she didn’t interrupt, just quietly watching him.
By then, the evening had fallen, and the lanterns at the entrance of the Imperial Medical Institute had already been lit. By those two large stone lions at the entrance, the bright and confident girl waited for the reserved young man to speak.
After quite a while, the young man finally spoke, “Yanyan, to be frank, I have a fiancée back home, whom I haven’t married yet. In two years, I’ll have to go back to her.”
Pang Yanyan felt as if her heart had been fiercely struck.
These days, although the two never talked about the future, every time she invited him, he had e, whether in a group or just the two of them.
Pang Yanyan wasn’t a frivolous person; she could mess around with a large group of people but wouldn’t easily go out alone with other young masters. Thus, her intentions were very clear: she was taken with Tian Xiaobei.
Every time she had not rejected her, he ate what she brought, went out when she asked, and all her attention was focused on him. And now he was saying he had a fiancée back home?
After a long time, she managed to ask, trembling, “Then, do you like your fiancée?”
Tian Xiaobei hung his head, and after a while, raised it again, looking elsewhere, “She is the only girl I have ever liked.”
Tears swirled in Pang Yanyan’s eyes, “Then, have you ever liked me?”
Tian Xiaobei then looked at Pang Yanyan’s face, feeling extremely cruel, but ultimately he opened his mouth, “Yanyan, I… have only regarded you as a friend, and also, used you as a stepping stone. I wanted to meet influential people through you, I’m sorry, but I won’t do this anymore. From now on, I just want to focus on my studies; let’s… not continue our acquaintance.”
Pang Yanyan wouldn’t be dismissed so easily; she grabbed Tian Xiaobei by the collar, “But I heard that Yin Cheng came to see you. What did he tell you? Did you stop seeing me because you’re afraid of him?”
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