In the early morning, Lin Jie, dressed in brand-new sportswear, ca to the living room and saw An Keng hopping around as she exercised.
Her tight-fitting sports T-shirt and shorts, along with her sneakers, were all pink, making her look very cute.
The ponytail tied at the back of her head bounced playfully with her chest-expanding, leg-kicking, and waist-twisting movents, bringing a burst of youthful vitality.
Lin Jie walked up to An Keng, surprised, and exaggeratedly said, "It's just past six o'clock, right? I clearly rember that during the days at my house, soone wouldn't get out of bed without several reminders in the morning."
"Could it be that my eyes are deceiving , and this isn't the An Keng, the notorious sleepyhead?"
An Keng stopped exercising, snorted forcefully, and said arrogantly, "It's because your ho's environnt is bad, not because I'm lazy. At ho, I get up early every day to exercise with my dad in the park!"
Lin Jie clicked his tongue, looked around, and asked, "Where's Uncle An and Kexin?"
"They're still in the study having a video conference with so foreigners."
An Keng ran to the water dispenser, eagerly poured a cup of water for Lin Jie, and said, "Brother Jie, have so water. Drinking a glass of water after waking up is good for your health."
Lin Jie took the cup and gulped down the water as he listened to An Keng continue, "I've carefully prepared a childhood dream journey over these past two days and plan to take Miaomiao out to play tomorrow, to show her my sincere apology."
"I'm afraid Miaomiao won't agree. Brother Jie, can you help ?"
"Miaomiao has work tomorrow," Lin Jie reminded her.
"I'll ask my sister to give Miaomiao the day off."
An Keng grabbed Lin Jie's hand and shook it, saying, "Brother Jie, for tomorrow's apology, I've spent all my pocket money and manuscript fees, and I even asked my sister for so money."
"If Miaomiao doesn't agree, everything will be wasted. You must help !"
Lin Jie caught one point and asked, "You have manuscript fees? What kind of manuscript fees?"
An Keng smiled smugly, "The story I wrote, 'Unrelenting,' has surpassed two hundred thousand clicks on the website, and quite a few readers have given rewards."
"Brother Jie, guess how much money I made?"
"A few hundred?" Lin Jie said offhandedly.
"Don't underestimate . I made over thirteen thousand. One rich reader alone rewarded with ten thousand."
"Brother Jie, you didn't expect my novel to be so popular, did you?"
Seeing An Keng flaunting, Lin Jie said jokingly, "Only a bit over ten thousand, what's so special about that? I can easily earn over a million with a single surgery."
Seeing An Keng about to retort, Lin Jie changed the subject and said, "You said you've been practicing your wrists and fingers; show now."
An Keng snorted without a word and raised her hands to start her performance before Lin Jie.
Her two jade-white wrists swung rapidly, while the fingers of her left and right hands interlocked from ti to ti, following a certain rhythm, touching each fingertip in turn at rapid speed.
Because of the speed and rhythm, it was dazzling but also had a rhythmic beauty.
Lin Jie nodded lightly, saying, "Well, not too bad, but you need to keep at it."
An Keng stopped her movents and said, "Brother Jie, teach a new practice move; I've mastered this one."
Lin Jie put on a stern face and said, "Don't be greedy; this move will be enough for you to practice for a lifeti."
"Hmm..."
He pondered for a mont and then smiled, "You can do another very practical exercise."
An Keng excitedly asked, "What kind of exercise?"
"In surgeries, opposite to slicing open a patient with a scalpel, is suturing. I'll give you a set of needle holders and suturing needles. You can practice sewing with them on torn pants and shirts."
Lin Jie laughed, saying, "This practice has a lot of practical use in daily life."
"When you beco adept, you won't need outside help for nding your or your family's torn clothes, you'll do it yourself."
An Keng pouted and said, "Our clothes are replaced with new ones before they wear out. But I'll pick a few old clothes and purposely cut them to practice."
That...
Lin Jie forgot for a mont that An Keng ca from a wealthy family.
An Keng grabbed Lin Jie's hand again and complained, "Brother Jie, you're off-topic. You haven't agreed to help set up a playdate with Miaomiao tomorrow."
Lin Jie thought for a mont and ca up with a plan, "Do you mind having an extra person on tomorrow's outing?"
"You're coming with us? Sure, that'd be great," An Keng said, looking welcoming.
Lin Jie shook his head and said, "Not , but Sister Xiaoxiao."
"With the excuse of having Sister Xiaoxiao relax and unwind, Miaomiao surely won't refuse to co out with you. It'll really give Sister Xiaoxiao a chance to unwind too, it's a win-win..."
At this mont, footsteps could be heard.
Lin Jie looked towards the sound and saw An Weize, also in sports gear, holding onto the railing, coming down the stairs.
An Keng and Lin Jie went to greet him.
An Weize looked at Lin Jie and gently smiled, "Keng and I are going for a walk in the park, we won't be back for breakfast. You and Kexin feel free at ho, we'll probably return around nine o'clock."
Lin Jie always felt that An Weize's words seed to have a hidden aning, as if there was sothing implied.
Seeing him and An Keng out the door, Lin Jie, his mind slightly fluttered, took a few steps to the second-floor study.
As he pushed the door open and entered, he saw An Keng, formally dressed, sitting behind the desk, speaking fluently in English to a computer screen.
Still discussing work matters, which left Lin Jie slightly disappointed.
An Kexin saw Lin Jie enter and waved to him, continuing to converse in English with the person in the video.
Lin Jie listened for a mont and knew that An Kexin was negotiating with a partner in the United States about the follow-up service issues for several dical devices, with so disputes over the software upgrade prices.
The market for high-end dical equipnt has always been monopolized by a few large corporations from developed countries.
In addition to the hefty costs hospitals endure in purchasing these dical devices, every software upgrade cos with a significant expense as well.
Besides hearing the slightly accented voice of a middle-aged man occasionally coming from the computer, Lin Jie also heard the laughter and play of several children.
Among them, a child's giggling was reminiscent of a woodpecker pecking a tree, catching insects—it was entrancing.
The "giggling" laughter, sotis strong, sotis weak, always pierced into the ear, hard to ignore.
Lin Jie refilled An Kexin's glass with water and was about to leave when the entrancing laughter echoed again.
Lin Jie frowned slightly; the laughter seed off.
Hearing the laughter once more, he felt sothing was wrong.
However, although Lin Jie felt sothing was unusual about the laughter, he couldn't pinpoint what it was. It was as if a veil was draped over his eyes, seeing the outline faintly but not clearly, which made him quite uncomfortable.
Lin Jie decided to stand in front of the desk, ready to listen carefully to the laughter.
At this ti, a man's loud voice ca from the video: "Slole, take your brother and sister upstairs and play in the room. Don't interrupt ."
(Slole, take your brother and sister upstairs to play, don't bother .)
"Miss Ann, I'm sorry. My sister brought the kids to my house for the sumr. There are so many children here."
(Miss An, I'm sorry, my sister brought her kids over for the sumr. There are too many noisy kids.)
An Kexin smiled and said: "It's all right. The kids are a little naughty, but they're cute."
(It's okay; they're a bit naughty, but very cute.)
Seeing that the other party was about to send the kids upstairs, Lin Jie quickly spoke up in Chinese: "Kexin, find an excuse and tell him not to let the kids leave for now."
"I need to hear that giggling again; that child might have a problem."
Just as Lin Jie finished speaking, the man's voice ca from the computer imdiately: "Might have a problem? What problem?"
The sentence was spoken in Chinese.
Although it was spoken awkwardly and with an inaccurate pronunciation, Lin Jie understood it.
Damn, this foreigner knows Chinese, which made Lin Jie feel a bit embarrassed.
An Kexin stood up, playfully glaring at Lin Jie.
She picked up the laptop on the desk, turned the cara toward Lin Jie, and said, "Mr. Slophel, let introduce you to my fiancé, Lin Jie."
"He is also an excellent clinical surgeon. Not to brag, but he is the best doctor I've ever t."
At this mont, the "giggling" laughter ca over again.
Lin Jie imdiately realized why he felt sothing was wrong.
He saw a chubby face full of stubble on the computer screen, and the man's expression seed rather displeased.
He started to explain: "Mr. Slophel, please excuse my presumption. I noticed so issues from the 'giggling' child's laughter just now."
The chubby face on the screen showed signs of moving from displeasure to anger.
Lin Jie smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Slophel, please also pay attention to see if the 'giggling' laughter is very regular?"
Seeing Slophel's confused expression, Lin Jie further explained: "The pattern I'm referring to is in the intervals between the laughter, very regular, basically laughing every thirty to forty seconds, either loudly or softly?"
"For many people, laughter is a spontaneous expression, without any pattern."
Upon hearing this, Slophel remained silent, An Kexin did not speak either, only the noises of the children laughing and playing, and the occasional "giggling" laughter echoed in the study...
A few minutes later, Mr. Slophel said with a serious expression: "Mr. Lin, thank you for your reminder, thank you."
"Miss An, let's end today's conversation here."
"Alright, goodbye!"
An Kexin disconnected the video, and teased: "A-Jie, Mr. Slophel studied in our country for five years and is very proficient in Chinese."
Lin Jie chuckled, moved behind An Kexin, and wrapped his arms around her, whispering in her ear: "Uncle An and Keng went to the park to exercise, they said they won't be back until nine o'clock, Uncle An told to feel free with you..."
Along with these words, Lin Jie's hands beca quite free...
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