Chapter 326: The third wheel

“Nurse Qi!” Shin yelled and called her.

Nurse Qi immediately entered the cabin and was stunned to see her boss so angry.

“Dr. Liang?”

“Who gave you the permission to send her in!?”

She took a step back in fear. She glanced at Mu Shuchun.

“I-I told her that you are busy, but she said that she knows you. I tried to stop her, but she didn’t listen to me…”

Mu Shuchun glared at her.

“So!? Do you work under me or her!? Should you listen to what she says or what I say!”

Nurse Qi bowed. “Sorry, Dr.! Please forgive me! It won’t happen again!”

She cursed herself for listening to this woman. Shin was never in such a bad mood before.

Huian slowly steadied herself in his arms.

Mu Shuchun narrowed her eyes as she saw Huian.

She calmed herself after Shin’s outburst and stepped in.

“Get. Out,” Shin enounced each word, gritting his teeth.

Mu Shuchun awkwardly smiled. “Shin, it’s been a long while, and I just came to meet you since I realized that you were in Beijing. I am also on a trip here-“

“I don’t give a damn! Leave!”

With every passing second, Shin’s temper was flaring for the worse.

Mu Shuchun bit her lip, and her eyes teared up. “Can we just not talk even for a minute?”

She looked at Huian and said, “Excuse me. Can you leave us alone for a while?”

Huian somehow didn’t like the tone with which she asked that. She seemed sad and distraught, but there was a hint of arrogance in her tone as if Huian was unnecessarily the third wheel.

Shin laughed angrily. “Since when did you get to decide who stays here and who leaves? This is my place!”

Huian could obviously see that Shin was uncomfortable with that woman’s presence.

They seemed to have some history, she thought.

“Shin only five minutes,” then she glanced at Huian again and furrowed her brows, “you are still here?”

Now Huian was pissed off. Nobody talked to her like that.

She inwardly hesitated a bit, but seeing how Shin was uncomfortable with all this, she decided to help him. In the past few weeks, it was his encouragement and treatment that was helping her recover so quickly.

I could at least help him this much as my gratitude.

Huian then gave her a sideways glance and raised her brow. She curved the corner of her lip into a sly smirk.

Mu Shuchun frowned.

Huian balanced herself a little and wrapped her hands around Shin’s neck. Shin instantly froze on the spot.

What is she doing?

She tiptoed near his ear and quickly whispered, “Just follow my lead.”

Huh?

She pouted. “Shin darling, who is this woman interrupting our lovely time?”

Huian raised her hand and circled on his chest with her index finger as if she was angry at him.

Mu Shuchun widened her eyes.

Huian bit her lip. “Shin, who is she? Why is she acting as if you two are so close?”

Shin instantly understood what she was doing. He stared at her with a complicated gaze.

Huian looked at Mu Shuchun up and down sizing her up. “Who are you to tell me to leave from here? You are being the third wheel here.”

Mu Shuchun stared at Shin, hurt.

“Shin…You…”

But Shin didn’t spare her a glance.

“What?” Huian snapped at her. “You are only talking like a broken recorder since you have stepped in. You are irritating us. And how can you just enter when there is a patient inside? So arrogant!”

Mu Shuchun clenched her fingers into a fist. “Who are you?”

Huian laughed. She sensually brushed her thumb along his cheek. “Darling, I think along with her broken voice, she has some problems with her eyesight too. I mean…” Huian shyly lowered her head, “with us so close and intimate; it is obvious that I am your girlfriend. Wait. I am your girlfriend, as well as your patient.”

She giggled mischievously.

*Thud*

The bag fell from Mu Shuchun’s hand.

“Right, darling?” Huian secretly winked at him.

Shin smiled. “Of course, honey. I am sorry she ruined your mood.”

Huian pouted. “That she did. But who is she!?”

“Nobody important.”

Mu Shuchun froze. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Nobody…important?

“Then send her away! She is wasting our time! After our…’treatment’ session, we also have our date!”

Huian emphasized treatment with a hidden, naughty meaning.

A weird feeling pricked Mu Shuchun. “So, you are in a relationship?”

Shin snapped. “So? Do I need your permission? Now get out!”

Mu Shuchun quickly picked her bag and ran away, covering her mouth with her hand.

Nurse Qi also immediately went back to her desk, wondering about Huian and Shin’s relationship.

As the cabin got quiet again, Huian immediately withdrew her arms.

Shin also awkwardly stood there in silence.

Huian was standing for quite a while now, so it was beginning to hurt a bit.

Shin helped her in wheelchair.

Silence.

“Ehh…”

“Ehh…”

Both said together. Huian quickly said first, “I apologize for doing that so suddenly. I-I just thought to help you out a bit. Sorry if I crossed the line.”

“It’s okay,” Shin slowly nodded, “I understood your intentions. And…thanks…you really helped me out there.”

Their gazes met, but they suddenly felt a little weird and quickly looked away. He thought that Mu Shuchun’s sudden appearance would affect him, but to his surprise with what Huian did, he quickly forgot about her.

“Let’s continue with your treatment.”

—

Natsukashi.

Nana said, “Please leave you two. I don’t have any jobs to give you.”

She turned, but Serena and Jinhai both caught her hands at the same time; Serena left and Jinhai right.

“Hey!” Nana exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

Jinhai said, “Nana, I am not fooling you. Didn’t you talk to Dad just now? Do you not believe him too?”

Serena did feel a little guilty for that small lie, but…

Well, it is just a teensy tiny bit of a lie for the bigger goal of my redemption.

Serena sobbed. “Nana, please at least think about the baby inside me. Where and how much will I look for jobs? I was already tired after the third one.”

Jinhai icily stared at her. “Leave her hand.”

Serena gritted her teeth. “Why should I? You leave her hand!”

“Enough!”

Nana shook her hand away from both of them.

She pointed at the door. “Didn’t I just say to leave? The door is over there.”

They thought it wasn’t wise enough to make her any more hyper and excited.

Their shoulders drooped, and they slowly turned, feeling hopeless.

Nana felt as if they looked like children who didn’t get the toys they wanted.

They stepped out of Natsukashi but didn’t leave the place.

I have to get the job here anyhow. Let me try again later sometime, both Jinhai and Serena thought the same thing once again.

Nana harrumphed and went back to her work.

Meiling reached some half an hour later, and she was dumbstruck to see the two of them just standing there, doing nothing.

“U-um…don’t you want to go inside?”

Jinhai didn’t respond.

Serena sighed. “She threw us out, but I am looking for a chance again to talk to her.”

Meiling confusedly went inside. When she asked Nana about it, she simply told her to ignore them.

It was almost an hour and thirty minutes, but apart from Meiling and one other girl Qiu, none of the other staff came. There were three of them still left to come.

Nana got a call from one of them saying that he was sick. He couldn’t come for the next three-four days.

Then a while later, she got another call that one girl, the cashier, met with a minor accident so she couldn’t make it either.

And just now she got another call where the man said that he had to go out of the city for a personal emergency for a few days.

“…”

All three of them at the same time?

Nana highly doubted it to be Jinhai’s work.

She thought she would manage it with Meiling and Qiu, so she opened Natsukashi for business.

But to her shock, it soon became too crowded mostly because Nana was back, so everyone jumped in on today.

The orders piled up in a matter of seconds.

Meiling worriedly said, “Mam, this is too much of workload.”

Nana said, “Don’t worry. Meiling you help me in the kitchen and divide waitressing work with Qiu while Qiu, you do the cashier job too, okay?”

They nodded. But soon, they realized that Meiling and Qiu were finding it difficult to manage both jobs.

The whole Natsukashi was full, and if one placed an order, then another wanted his bill, and if they served them their dishes to one customer, then another one would just enter.

All this chaos already caused Qiu and Meiling to make mistakes. Some customers got dissatisfied.

Qiu sobbed. “Mam. This cannot go on.”

Meiling supported her. “This is too hard with just the three of us doing everything.”

Nana rubbed her forehead, thinking about what to do next.

Slowly the door opened, and Jinhai and Serena came inside

Nana squinted her gaze.

Serena coughed. “I see that’s so hard for you.”

Jinhai anxiously said, “I cannot watch you doing so much work all alone.”

Both unanimously asked, “So can I help you?”