A chef brought a plate of pepper steak fry and a glass of wine. These things were placed in front of Bingwen. The look the chef gave him as he walked away seed to say, ’I dare you to eat it.’
Bingwen did not like bell peppers, None the less, he picked up his fork and looked at Lady Chi. "Thank you for extending an invitation to Princess Chi."
"I prefer Lady Chi." Chi Lian answered as she brought a fork with so steak to her mouth.
She twirled the knife in her hand slowly, and Bingwen gulped. That was not steak knife, it was just a small sword. Had he co here to die? Tang Yue was the one that hard her daughter. Would she take out the anger on him?
Bingwen was terrified, but he was also determined. He was counting on this opportunity to turn his life around and he was not going to be coward out.
Chi Lian took a sip of wine and place the glass down with elegance. "So, you applied to my hospital."
Bingwen forced himself to smile. This could be a job interview and he needed to prove that he was capable. He took a deep calming breath and answered, "Yes I did."
"You also changed your surna from Tang to Ma." Lady Chi noted.
Bingwen nodded. "Yes."
"Why?" She asked.
He wondered which observation she wanted an answer to and he decided to start with his na change. "My father is a Ma and my ancestors are also Ma’s. They did not do anything criminal that required to change my surna. I have always struggled with the na Tang and the expectations which ca along with it when people found out that I had ties to the dical Tang family.
I decided to look at things from a dical perspective. If it hurts, cut it out and treat and treat the wound. You may remain with a scar but at least you will be healed. The Tang nas hurts emotionally and ntally so I cut it out.
I have always wanted to change it but I was hesitant. Everything that happened with my sister Tang Yue was the final kick I needed to stop hesitating and take the plunge."
Bingwen breathed out softly, hoping his long winded answer had explained everything perfectly. He had told no lie because he knew she had the ans to find out.
"Eat." Chi Lian told him.
"Thank you." Bingwen brought so bell peppers to his mouth. The taste was rich and sweet but he might as well as well have been eating sand. Not even the high grade beef was going down this throat easily. It was like swallowing stone.
For ten minutes, Chi Lian did nothing but eat and he accompanied her until the al was finished. The plates were taken away and the old wine glasses too.
New glasses were placed around, and desert was also served. It was lemon-lavender cheesecake, Huaqi’s new trial flavor that were going to unveil on the day the opened a branch in i i’s camp. Chi Lian had volunteered to be a volunteer taster when madam Feng ntioned it.
"So, what made you apply to my hospital?" She asked Bingwen as she picked up a spoon.
Bingwen also picked up a spoon. When she scooped so cake, he did the sa. "I am not welco at any other major hospital in this empire. So dia covered extensively as the brother of the mistress who used the Tang na to pave his path through dical school.
At my last work place, the other doctors isolated . They interfered whenever I tried to praise dicine. Nurses would gossip about and patients would overhear them so they would reject as their doctor.
I was reduced to a coffee runner, cleaner, unpaid intern, orderly and everything else as long as it did not involve practicing dicine. When my colleagues started betting on how long I would quit or wondering if I was the male mistress of the hospital director, I quit."
He put down the spoon and raised his eyes to et hers. "I am a good doctor Lady Chi, and I love my profession. I find it unfair that the actions of my wayward sister have upturned my life.
I am angry with her, my parents, Mo Liang, Jun ilin and you..." He took a tentative breath. "The citizens, the world, God. I am angry with the air and the birds and the sun."
"Oh." Chi Lian smiled.
Bingwen unfurled his hand and dropped the spoon on the plate. "All I want is to be a doctor. Why should I give up sothing I worked so hard to achieve on my own just because of the immorality of other people?"
"That doesn’t answer why you are applying to my hospital." Chi Lian told him in a calm voice.
His rant about being angry, it was not unexpected. Of course he was angry, anybody in his shoes would be angry and it was justified anger. The ss was not his but he had been pulled into it and it was drowning him.
Bingwen bit his teeth. It was not just a job interview, he was there to beg. There were many other doctors in the empire that were more qualified than him. His resu alone would not get him through the door. "Because I want a chance to live."
"Does soone want to kill you?" Chi Lian asked suspiciously. She waved the spoon slowly from side to side. "I certainly hope that I am not on your list of suspects because I have no reason to want your life." She dipped the spoon back in the cake and added, "For now."
Bingwen gulped. He had a feeling that she ant exactly what she said. She did have the money and ans to make it happen. She would probably have his body disappeared and he would never be found.
He elaborated what he ant, "I don’t an a real death Lady Chi, I an a chance to live the life I want. If you are willing to accept and give a chance, other people will do the sa."
"And how do I know that you will not betray ?" she asked him.
Bingwen raised his shoulders, "I could swear or take an oath. I can sign a contract, I can also take a poisoned pill if that kind of thing is real. You can implant a chip in my head...I don’t know. All I can do is promise that if you give a chance, I will do my best for you. If I betray you, you have the right to take my life."
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