Reluctantly Willing

"Sir, Mr. An found a job."

"Oh, there are still people in the city who dare to go against the Gu family?" Gu Jun said, swirling a glass of wine in his hand.

"Liu Cheng, President of the Hua Kang Hospital, helped him," Chen Chen said.

"The Liu family is just a small family. How come they dare to do that? Does Liu Cheng owe An Xiaoyan something? Why does he help him so much?"

"It is heard that he felt guilty about it the incident even though he was only observing the surgery back then. And the Lius isn't the richest, but they had helped old Gu before. We can't touch them so easily."

Gu Jun obviously knew about this. That was why he'd said all this. "We won't touch them now. We'll see."

"Yes sir."

Gu Jun didn't care about the insignificant Liu family at all. He didn't care about Liu Cheng either. Anyone that made life better for An Xiaoyan was his enemy and he wouldn't let them go easily!

After An Xiaoyan returned home, he received a text.

"Yan Zi, I got you a job. Come find me at the hospital tomorrow. Same place."

An Xiaoyan read the words one by one. Warmth flared inside him. What touched him most was the help when he most needed it.

Liu Cheng put the work uniform on the table and waited for An Xiaoyan. He could imagine An Xiaoyan's joy when he saw the uniform.

When An Xiaoyan finally arrived, Liu Cheng took out the clothes to give him a surprise. However, An Xiaoyan didn't respond with any special reaction when he saw it.

"What's wrong? You're not happy? Being a pharmacist is related to what you studied."

"Liu Cheng, you can't do this. The law says that pharmacists must have more than a bachelor's degree."

Seeing how An Xiaoyan followed the rules so closely, Liu Cheng was frustrated. Other people couldn't even dream about getting something like this. It was handed to An Xiaoyan but he didn't want it.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I won't do it."

An Xiaoyan turned to leave. Liu Cheng grabbed him just as he was about to reach the door.

"Yan Zi, don't you know? Someone is purposely making it impossible for you to find a job. If you can't find one, how do you plan to support yourself?"

An Xiaoyan stiffened. Yeah, how was he going to support himself? He even promised his parents to go back during the national holiday. How could he go back if he had money?

"Aren't you afraid that that man will pick up on you if you help me like this?"

"Yan Zi, I can handle it. Just listen to me this one time."

An Xiaoyan smiled bitterly. He didn't have any choice. At present, he was like a puppet, controlled by others. "Okay. When do I start work?"

"How about tomorrow? I told the owner of the pharmacy. Where do you live? I'll pick you up."

"Okay."

An Xiaoyan's reaction ignited the hope within Liu Cheng again. He believed An Xiaoyan would turn back into his former self instead of being so dull and dead.

As soon as An Xiaoyan got home, he saw Ye Qing standing outside with a bag of stuff.

"Why did you come?" An Xiaoyan asked while opening the door.

"To visit you. We only have each other in this big city."

"What's inside the bag?"

Ye Qing put the bag behind her mysteriously. "It's a secret. Brother, you can't look now. Look after I'm gone."

Ye Qing's childishness made An Xiaoyan more curious about what was in the bag, but he obeyed and waited anyway.

"There's a new guy at work today," Ye Qing said excitedly. "He's really hot. A bunch of fangirls had their eyes on him."

"I take that you're one of the fangirls."

"Stop kidding, brother, He's so hot. He would never notice someone like me." Despite her words, Ye Qing blushed. She really did like that guy because he had a unique temperament—like An Xiaoyan.

"If you like him, then go for it."

Ye Qing widened her eyes while her eyes sparkled. She didn't think An Xiaoyan would say something like that. To her, An Xiaoyan was like an angel aloof that didn't care about the desires of mortals. He would never talk about dating.

An Xiaoyan sensed Ye Qing's shock and thought he'd said something wrong. "If you don't like him, you don't need to suck up to him, of course," he hurriedly added.

Ye Qing waved her hand quickly. "No, no, I just realized that people like you understand love too."

An Xiaoyan lowered his eyes. He understood, but he also didn't. He wanted to love someone properly and be happy, only that he was not in a position to have it.

"Alright, I'll always support you. As long as you're happy."

After Ye Qing left, An Xiaoyan opened the bag on the sofa. There was a suit inside.

Brother, this is my first gift for you. It's not expensive, but I think you'll look good in it. I hope you'll wear this when you find your new job.

Feeling the soft texture of the suit, An Xiaoyan felt warm inside. This girl was really thoughtful.

When An Xiaoyan woke up in the morning, he stared at the suit hanging by his side. After thinking for a bit, he put it on. He looked at himself in the mirror. He couldn't believe his reflection. Could he really look like this?

He hesitated for a bit and still took the clothes off in the end. Smoothing the wrinkles, he put it back on the hanger. It seemed like a waste to wear it at work.

It was his first day going to work. His palms were all sweaty when he sat on the bus. He didn't know what he was about to face or whether he could succeed. As time passed, the accident from four years ago left a deeper and deeper mark in his heart. Could he continue?

When he reached his workplace, An Xiaoyan went to Hua Kang Hospital instead of the pharmacy. Inside, nurses and patients went to and fro. An Xiaoyan made his way to Liu Cheng's office using his memory.

When he reached the door, Liu Cheng was talking to a chief physician about the hospital matters. An Xiaoyan waited in the distance. When Liu Cheng finished, he looked up and saw An Xiaoyan standing at the door.

"Yan Zi, come on in. You've been waiting for a while, right?"

"No, I just got here. I saw you were busy and didn't want to disturb you. I came to thank you. Thanks for helping me."

Liu Cheng pressed An Xiaoyan's shoulder to gently shoved him into the chair. Then he started talking about work.

"Being a pharmacist isn't hard, but you have to pay attention to detail. Arrange different medicine according to the labels and check the amount every day. Refill any medicine that runs out and that's it."

"Okay."

Liu Cheng nodded. "About the salary," he continued, "I told the owner to treat you like other people. I know you. You wouldn't want a cent more."

This was indeed how An Xiaoyan thought. He'd wanted to ask for a lower salary since he didn't actually qualify for this job, but he couldn't object to Liu Cheng's arrangement.