No one dared to talk back to him or challenge him like Jian Fei, making him feel less tired when speaking.
For the past month, in his father's eyes, he had been living a fulfilling life.
In reality, only he knew the emptiness in his heart.
Until now, meeting Jian Fei again, Ke Teng felt his vibrant self had returned.
He followed her in, joking.
"You keep mentioning money to me? Are you hinting that I should share some of my inexhaustible fortune with you?"
Jian Fei plopped onto the sofa, poured herself a glass of water, and ignored him completely.
"What right do I have to hint at anything? If I had stunning beauty, I'd directly hint at you."
"Mr. Ke, I don't want to work anymore. Throw money at me. Unfortunately, I have nothing, and nothing at all. I don't even have the capital to hint at you."
She certainly knew herself.
Ke Teng chuckled, sat down next to her, put his arm around her shoulders, and turned her face to examine it closely.
"Don't say that, it's not that bad. Actually, your facial features are quite good. It's just your fashion sense that's truly abysmal."
"Why don't you dress up a bit? Perhaps you'd have some leverage to negotiate with me."
Ke Teng's words were somewhat restrained.
In fact, from the bottom of his heart, he thought Jian Fei was quite attractive.
She wasn't the type of dramatic beauty, but her features were regular, making her a subtle beauty with the ambiance of the Jiangnan water towns.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man, or in this case, the woman. Even the most beautiful woman, if she always wore the same wrinkled clothes and tied her hair in a messy ponytail, wouldn't look that good.
He believed that with Jian Fei's natural appearance, a little adornment would surely attract countless admirers.
But Jian Fei was not interested.
"Forget it. It's good enough if it fills my stomach. Do I have the mood to fuss over my face? Whether I'm beautiful or ugly, nothing is more important than having enough to eat. Don't joke about this with me."
In essence, she had never considered a path that relied on her looks.
Otherwise, who would be so indifferent to their own appearance?
Ke Teng kept his arm around her, and neither of them felt awkward.
He looked at the bruises on her face again and pressed them with his finger.
"Does it hurt?"
Jian Fei was remarkably unromantic.
"It hurts. But the medicine will only have a soothing effect. There's no need to spend money on such minor injuries."
"Besides, no one is looking anyway. I'll look ugly for a couple of days."
"You really think optimistically. Isn't there anyone at your hospital you care about?"
For some reason, when he said "care about," she suddenly thought of Jiang Chuan.
She met him at her most unattractive and embarrassing moments, and he not only didn't dislike her but also helped her so much.
The thought that they might never see each other again in the rest of their lives, and that her years of unrequited love would end so tragically, made her heart ache.
"Other than making money, I don't think about anything else. What's so good about you men?"
Ke Teng couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Men indeed weren't that great. It was fine not to think about them.
But he suddenly thought of another interesting question.
"Judging by what you're saying, you probably haven't been in a relationship. Can you tell me the truth? You wouldn't happen to still be a virgin, would you?"
Jian Fei was indeed.
Feeling that his words seemed to mock her, she glared at him and pushed his hand off her shoulder.
"Mind your own business. It has nothing to do with you whether I am or not. See, your disgusting male nature is showing so quickly. Men are truly detestable."
Ke Teng was laughing uncontrollably.
"Alright, alright, I'm detestable. Speaking of which, how much did you drink over there earlier? You have a good tolerance for alcohol; you're not dizzy yet."
"Who says I'm not dizzy? I'm extremely dizzy. I just haven't gone to sleep because I know it's inconvenient for you. Why don't you leave quickly?"
"You're truly heartless. I brought you all the way back, and before I've even warmed the seat, you're kicking me out."
"Then make yourself at home. Stay however you like, and I'll go to sleep?"
"Fine. I've seen through it. You are my nemesis. Sleep, sleep."
Ke Teng stood up.
Jian Fei watched him walk to the door. "I remember you have several phones, don't you? How many did you bring out today?"
Just now, she had appeared uninterested in his money, but now she was asking about his phones?
Ke Teng stopped. "What for? You want to trick me into lending you a phone?"
Jian Fei was direct.
"I only have one phone, and there's no alarm clock at home. I'm afraid I'll oversleep tomorrow and be late for work. Lend me your worst, least used one, and I'll return it another day."
That girl, the more he called her his nemesis, the more she took advantage.
Ke Teng sighed and took out his phone to call his assistant.
Soon, a phone was delivered.
"You know the password. Keep it. I'm leaving."
The next day, Jian Fei went to work on time, still in her usual clothes and attire, but her director's gaze was clearly different.
Not only did he greet her with a smile, but he also called her into his office alone ten minutes after work started.
Jian Fei could vaguely guess what he was going to say and was mentally prepared.
As expected, after a few polite words, the director got straight to the point.
"Is it true that you and Mr. Ke are ex-partners?"
Jian Fei rolled her eyes inwardly.
A grown man in his forties, gossiping about someone's private life?
But on the surface, she smiled.
"There's no need to lie about such things."
Looking at her, who seemed to have given up on herself, with a plain face, and then thinking of Ke Teng, the director silently concocted a tragic story in his mind about their forced breakup due to their families, a case of star-crossed lovers and a marriage into a wealthy family that was difficult to attain.
Assuming Ke Teng still had feelings for her, he smiled and said.
"I don't mean anything else, I'm just genuinely concerned. Were you alright after you got back yesterday?"
Jian Fei said she was fine.
"Was Mr. Ke the one who sent you back?"
"Yes."
The director's face bloomed into a smile.
"Jian Fei, do you know about the new project our hospital has assigned to our department?"
Jian Fei, of course, did not know.
She had been in the department for a month, and this was the first time the director had spoken so much to her.
He knew better than anyone what her usual work involved, so why was he asking the obvious?
"Director, if you have something to say, just say it directly."
"Haha, I knew you were a straightforward person. Young people don't like beating around the bush, so I'll be direct."
"It's like this, I've already sent the documents to your email. Please open them later and take a look."
"The hospital regulations require us to secure this project, preferably starting construction before the end of the year, with the aim of completing it next year to contribute to our hospital's future technological innovation and grading."
"You know, in our industry, only by achieving impressive results, building a solid reputation, and obtaining excellent ratings can we attract more customers and get promotions and salary increases."
"This is a glorious and arduous task, do you understand what I mean?"
Jian Fei understood his meaning.
However, the director was perhaps underestimating herself.
How could she have the audacity to ask Ke Teng for investment and to help build a research building?
But she couldn't refuse outright.
She genuinely wanted to achieve results in front of her superiors as soon as possible to get a promotion and a raise.