Chapter Nineteen: Are You Free Tonight?

Ho Yixun ended the kiss.

A man's sense of responsibility forbade him from continuing. He released Jiang Shiyi, who leaned aside to straighten her disheveled clothes.

He looked at her flushed face with a faint tone: "Wasn’t it Dr. Jiang who deliberately tried to seduce me?"

Immediately, a sharp slap landed on his cheek.

Ho Yixun tilted his chin ambiguously, watching the woman’s retreating figure. A subtle and unexpected sense of satisfaction, as if from a small revenge, stirred within him.

Jiang Shiyi was furious this time, but she did not forget her task.

Returning to the dormitory, she checked her affection score.

Fifty!

Seventy!

Ninety!

For three consecutive days, her affection value rose steadily.

Jiang Shiyi laughed bitterly in disbelief.

“Minister Ho, you really are a stubborn mule.”

“Fine then, I’ll play along to the end!”

She then exchanged 300 affection points for 3,000 system credits.

With 3,000 credits, she redeemed thirty bottles of “Life Essence.”

Suddenly, Jiang Shiyi gained three years’ worth of life all at once.

The next day, Monday morning, Jiang Shiyi woke early and prepared to go to the hospital.

With three extra years to live, she felt refreshed and radiant, her complexion unusually vibrant and rosy even without makeup, as if she were glowing.

She changed into her work uniform and attended the department’s handover meeting.

In contrast, Chen Wanzhou’s complexion was particularly poor.

Her face bore the exhaustion of sleepless nights, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, standing listlessly beside Jiang Shiyi.

Seeing Jiang Shiyi’s dazzling appearance, she couldn’t help but glare fiercely.

Jiang Shiyi paid her no mind and went on rounds after the meeting.

As everyone walked out of the office with their heads held high, a girl dressed in a florist’s uniform approached, holding a bouquet of red roses.

She glanced at the group before stepping directly in front of Jiang Shiyi.

“Excuse me, are you Dr. Jiang Shiyi?”

Jiang Shiyi nodded.

“Dr. Jiang, these are from Mr. Ho. Please accept them.”

Jiang Shiyi glanced at the flowers, puzzled. “Which Mr. Ho?”

She knew Ho Yixun’s nature well—he would never do something so ostentatious as sending flowers.

“There’s a card inside the bouquet. You’ll know once you see it.”

With that, the girl handed her the roses.

After the florist left, Chen Wanzhou couldn’t help but sneer.

“Dr. Jiang sure is popular—now her suitors are sending flowers right to the hospital.”

Jiang Shiyi bent down to smell the flowers, smiling brightly at her.

“What? Do you find the color of these roses too bright and irritating to your eyes?”

Chen Wanzhou was speechless.

She truly wanted to rip Jiang Shiyi’s mouth apart.

Since receiving the bouquet, rumors began swirling behind Jiang Shiyi’s back.

She paid no attention to them.

Jiang Shiyi pulled out the small card from the bouquet. It read:

“Fairy Sister, there’s a banquet at the Ho family tonight. May I invite you to be my date?”

“—Ho”

Below the signature was a phone number.

Jiang Shiyi: “…”

So it was that silly rascal.

Disgusted, she tossed the flowers into the trash bin.

Just then, Chen Wanzhou passed behind her and caught sight of a few words—Ho family banquet, date, and the like.

She immediately connected it to Ho Yixun.

Recently, the Ho matriarch had been gravely ill, and many had visited her. Tonight, the Ho family was hosting a banquet to thank everyone.

Chen’s own family had been invited as well.

Moreover, whispers circulated that the matriarch intended to use the occasion to find a suitable bride for her grandson.

Last night, Chen Wanzhou had deliberately sought out Ho Yixun to ask to be his date, only to be rejected.

Only then did she realize that Ho Yixun had refused her because of this country girl.

Chen Wanzhou clenched her fist slowly.

“Jiang Shiyi…”

She repeated the name over and over in her mouth, as if wanting to chew it to pieces and swallow it whole.

Elsewhere.

Jiang Shiyi sent a message to the number on the card, agreeing to the invitation and asking him to pick her up at the hospital at six in the evening.

Ho Shaoqin, holding his phone anxiously, jumped up and down when he saw the message. He insisted on taking Ho Tai Tai out to buy a woman’s evening dress.

Knowing her youngest son’s temperament, Ho Tai Tai warned sharply, “Don’t bring just anyone in front of your grandmother.”

Ho Shaoqin scoffed, “Mom, I swear you’ll love my girlfriend this time—well, to be precise, my future girlfriend.”

Ho Tai Tai curled her lip disdainfully.

“Don’t you say that every time? And how did that turn out?”

Ho Shaoqin pounded his chest in assurance.

“My fairy sister is a one-in-a-million beauty, and very capable. She works at the Second Military District Hospital and even saved Grandpa Xu’s life.”

Ho Tai Tai raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Such an outstanding girl actually likes you? I find that hard to believe.”

Ho Shaoqin: “…”

You really are my mother.

At six o’clock in the evening.

Ho Shaoqin arrived at the hospital entrance in a flashy sports car, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

Who would drive such a car to a hospital, especially one affiliated with the Second Military District?

Jiang Shiyi twitched at the corners of her mouth. She admitted she had been careless in allowing this rascal to pick her up at the hospital.

As she stepped outside, Ho Shaoqin immediately got out and opened the passenger door for her, bowing slightly with a polite gesture.

Jiang Shiyi was reluctant to engage with him. All she wanted was to get in the car and leave the hospital as quickly as possible.

This scene was just witnessed by Chen Wanzhou.

A dark gleam flickered in her eyes. She knew Ho Shaoqin—he was notorious as a playboy.

For him to show such respect to Jiang Shiyi could only be because of Ho Yixun.

With this realization, any lingering guilt Chen Wanzhou felt toward Jiang Shiyi vanished completely.

She was determined to see what qualification a woman with a sullied reputation had to marry Ho Yixun.

The Ho matriarch, a shrewd businesswoman who valued appearances above all, would never permit it, even if Ho Yixun didn’t mind.

Meanwhile.

After finishing his work, Ho Yixun returned to his dormitory to shower before attending the banquet at the Ho residence.

Emerging from the shower wrapped only in a dark green towel, his chiseled abs glistened with droplets, the sharp lines of his mermaid’s belt disappearing beneath the towel at his waist.

He stared at his still-damp black hair, then walked to his desk and picked up his phone.

He instinctively opened the message inbox he had labeled “Cunning Fox.”

After several silent minutes, his long, slender fingers hovered over the keyboard.

“Are you free tonight?”

…

Ten minutes passed.

There was no reply.

Ho Yixun held his phone, his lowered gaze gradually hardening.