"Mr. Miao, I wasn’t avoiding you!"
Yan Feifan put on his best model-student face and explained, "The moment my part was done, I rushed out of the operating room without even staying to watch the other seniors’ resuscitation efforts. I was just worried about making you wait."
He made a show of glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Oh, I can’t believe it’s almost five-forty!"
"Mr. Miao, it’s dinnertime. How about we go eat first?"
Yan Feifan then offered enthusiastically, "My treat, Mr. Miao. You can have whatever you like."
Miao Quan stood up from the long bench, calling him out. "Don’t I know you? Your explanation is just a cover-up. And you’ve gotten awfully talkative."
After a pause, he added, "That said, a talk after dinner would indeed be more productive."
"Alright, let’s get dinner first then."
"That private kitchen will do. No need to go anywhere too fancy."
"I’ll wait for you outside..."
Cornered like this, Yan Feifan couldn’t drag his feet any longer.
He quickly showered, changed his clothes, and left the surgical wing to rejoin Mr. Miao, who was waiting in the family waiting area.
"Mr. Miao, I just got off the phone with Luo’s Private Kitchen Restaurant. As luck would have it, they had one last small private room available."
Thanks to word-of-mouth, the private kitchen’s business was booming. It had gotten to the point where even Wang Chuan, Yan Feifan, and the others couldn’t get a private room unless they booked several days in advance.
This annoyed the partners, so they established a rule with Mr. Luo.
He had to reserve one private room for them every day.
If they didn’t show up by 9:30 PM, the room could then be given to other customers.
A little over half an hour later, Yan Feifan and Miao Quan were seated in a small private room at the restaurant, large enough for six people.
Miao Quan wiped his hands with a moist towelette. He waited until Yan Feifan had finished his call and put down his phone before asking, "The surgery tomorrow?"
Yan Feifan grunted in acknowledgment and added, "The one at the PLA General Hospital."
"I was just confirming with the lead surgeon, Mr. Qin, that there haven’t been any significant changes to the patient’s brain tumor or overall condition these last few days."
He then stood up, poured Mr. Miao a cup of barley tea, and apologized with a look of sincerity, "Mr. Miao, I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you with that last incident."
Miao Quan waved his hand dismissively. "It was a small bit of trouble, but I was much happier to see you saw through that man’s facade and didn’t let him escape punishment."
"However, that incident also confirmed one thing for me..."
Miao Quan stared into Yan Feifan’s eyes and said, enunciating each word, "You, my boy... you really do have a problem."
Yan Feifan flinched.
He struggled to maintain his composure. "Mr. Miao, you’re not just trying to bluff me, are you? How could I possibly have a problem?"
"What kind of problem could I possibly have?"
Miao Quan’s gaze softened. He said gently, "You think I don’t know your personality?"
"You’re a bit meek, conflict-averse."
"And yet, that night, you threw all caution to the wind and pretended to be an assassin with a terminal illness. You actually managed to scare the man."
"That plan was so out of character for you. It was so outlandish, you’d have to have a screw loose to even think of it."
"Combined with my earlier suspicions, it confirmed it for me. You really do have something wrong with you..."
Seeing Yan Feifan’s face turn pale as he fidgeted restlessly, Miao Quan quickly reassured him, "Feifan, there’s no need to be scared."
"I just said you have a problem. I never said it was serious enough to require mandatory treatment."
He waited as Yan Feifan chugged more than half a cup of hot tea, only to get scalded and start panting with his tongue out like a puppy. Miao Quan couldn’t help but chuckle.
"Feifan, to be honest, I’ve been observing you for a while now—both at work and in your daily life."
"And from what I’ve observed, you seem to have yourself well under control, both in your personal life and at work."
"In fact, your performance at work has become more and more exceptional."
After a pause, Miao Quan said seriously, "Feifan, I sought you out today to tell you that you don’t have to avoid me anymore."
"Your... your issue is a minor one. It won’t affect your life or your work."
Hearing this, Yan Feifan made an exaggerated show of wiping sweat from his forehead and exclaimed, "Mr. Miao, you can’t just scare people like that!"
Miao Quan chuckled. "You little rascal, you keep avoiding your regular counseling sessions with me. Who else am I supposed to scare?"
At this, he suddenly grew very serious. "Feifan, if you ever feel like you’re finding it harder and harder to control your emotions and actions, you must remember to seek help."
"Trying to suppress and fight something like this on your own can easily lead you down a darker path. Things will only get worse."
Yan Feifan nodded. "I will, Mr. Miao."
"It’s just... I find that my condition has been getting better and better. *They* haven’t shown up in a very long time..."
As soon as he said it, Yan Feifan froze, realizing he’d let his guard down and said too much.
He gave an embarrassed smile and quickly raised his teacup, pretending to take a sip to hide his blunder.