Wednesday, 7 a.m.

Lin Jie called Chen Shi and scheduled Pan Keying's surgery for Friday night.

After hanging up, he and Lin Miao started sorting out the ingredients sent earlier by the Fu Family, which included two foam boxes of food, a bag of 20 pounds of rice, and a five-pound barrel of canola oil.

One box was filled with vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, beans, and peppers—common household veggies.

The other box contained a slaughtered chicken, a duck, two fish, five pounds of pork, twenty organic chicken eggs, and twenty duck eggs.

Lin Miao cheerfully said, "Brother, with so much stuff, the two of us can't finish it all in a week. Good thing we already have a plan!"

Lin Jie pinched her earlobe and said, "Now that we have the ingredients, why not hold that organic food tasting event you wanted to organize tonight?"

"Okay, but first check if Lu Kaicheng is free! If he is, we won't need to hire a chef!"

"Brother, you really know how to get people working!"

Lin Miao grinned and said, "I'll contact them separately in a bit! Wednesday is also a good day, it doesn't interfere with everyone's weekend plans with friends."

Talking about dates, Lin Jie casually asked, "Miaomiao, now that you're working, are there any colleagues or outsiders being especially attentive to you?"

Lin Miao wrinkled her nose and hummed, "Brother, if you want to ask, just ask straightforwardly. I know what you mean."

"I'm only twenty. I won't date before twenty-five, and maybe I'll never date, so you can take care of me for life."

"That's just silly talk. How can you never date!"

Despite saying this, Lin Jie felt quite happy inside and cautiously added, "But if someone pursues you and you find them okay, you must tell me, and I'll check them out for you!"

"There are too many sweet-talking guys out there who deceive girls; you have to be careful."

Lin Miao didn't engage further on this topic and instead asked, "Brother, do you have any other friends to invite?"

Lin Jie thought for a moment and said, "I'll invite Chen Lan and Yao Siyuan, though I'm not sure if they're free."

"Then call them and ask! By now, they should be awake unless they're sleeping in!" Lin Miao urged impatiently.

Lin Jie had to call Chen Lan and Yao Siyuan.

Luckily, both of them were free that evening and accepted his invitation...

Lu Kaicheng and Chen Lili were the earliest guests to arrive.

They came before 3 p.m., bringing two boxes of American ginseng and two bottles of wine as gifts.

"Lin Jie, let me see your all-natural vegetables!" Lu Kaicheng said eagerly.

Lin Jie took him to the kitchen, pointed to a foam box, and said, "In here, they look like the ones sold in the market..."

Before Lin Jie could finish, Lu Kaicheng opened the box, grabbed a cucumber in one hand, and a tomato in the other, and started eating!

He closed his eyes, savoring them slowly, and reminisced, "Mmm... authentic cucumber taste, authentic tomato taste, haven't had this in years..."

"Can you really taste the difference?" Lin Jie was skeptical.

Lu Kaicheng opened his eyes and said nostalgically, "My grandpa was also a chef, later he moved back home and grew an acre of veggies without pesticides, fertilizers, or plastic greenhouse covers, only seasonal vegetables."

"The taste of those vegetables has stayed with me. Nowadays, market vegetables all come from greenhouses, lacking real vegetable flavor!"

"And these taste even better than the ones my grandpa grew!"

He took a big bite of the cucumber and said, "Actually, my first love is cooking; discerning flavors is my specialty."

"But my family thought I shouldn't waste my decent grades on cooking, so they sent me to university, and that's how I became a doctor."

Chen Lili giggled and said, "I can vouch for that."

"Kaicheng's grandpa said, times have changed, it's time for the Lu Family to have a college graduate. So, Kaicheng went to college."

Lin Jie nodded, "So you're also the genius type, who casually got into Binhai University Medical School."

"Compared to you, my so-called genius is nothing."

Lu Kaicheng finished the cucumber and tomato in a few bites, took out a thick-backed chef's knife from Chen Lili's bag, and said fondly, "This is my treasure; I rarely use it."

"For cooking tonight's meal, it's just perfect."

With Lu Kaicheng as the head chef and Chen Lili as the assistant, they made quite the harmonious pair, leaving Lin Jie with nothing to do but chat on the side.

Shortly after five, An Kemeng arrived!

She linked arms with Lin Jie, exclaimed, "Brother Jie, I skipped the last class, took a cab and came early, did you miss me?"

Lin Jie said with mock disdain, "Why would I miss you? Once you're here, you, Miaomiao, and Lele will turn the place upside down."

At this moment, Lele ran over, wagging its tail incessantly, jumping around An Kemeng!

Seeing a layer of sweat on her face, Lin Jie kindly said, "Go wash up with warm water, be careful not to catch a cold."

An Kemeng wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and giggled, "We had gym class today, I got all sweaty, I'm going to take a shower! Lele, stop running..."

Saying this, An Kemeng let go of Lin Jie's arm and chased after Lele, "You little thing, where do you think you're going, you're showering with me..."

Lin Jie headed to the kitchen to wash some fruits for the guests.

"Lin Jie, you get along very well with the An sisters, are you planning..."

Lu Kaicheng left the latter half unsaid, just giving him a knowing look.

Lin Jie rolled his eyes at him and said, "What are you thinking? I treat Kemeng like a sister!"

Lu Kaicheng elongated an "oh" and said, "So you like the older one..."

Lin Jie glared and huffed, "Lu Kaicheng, I see your medical skills might not have improved much after your trip to the US, but you've gotten bolder, daring to joke with me..."

Lu Kaicheng chuckled awkwardly and said, "Sorry, I was influenced by the straightforwardness of foreigners. Just got back, haven't adjusted yet..."

Just then, the doorbell rang!

Lin Jie opened the door and found Chen Lan.

But she wasn't alone; with her was a familiar face, Qi Xingfen, dressed in a dark women's casual suit, looking quite professional.

Qi Xingfen smiled softly and said, "Dr. Lin, hello! I came without an invitation, hope you don't mind my intrusion!"

"Dr. Qi, you're very welcome, please come in!"

"Chen Lan, please come in as well!"

Taking the vintage-looking bottle of Pavie wine from Qi Xingfen, Lin Jie showed them into the living room.

After some casual chatting, Qi Xingfen, a bit embarrassed, said, "Dr. Lin, I audaciously came here because I need your help with something."

"I have a patient whose surgery plan I can't quite finalize, and I'd like to ask you..."

Lin Jie made a soft acknowledgment, "Let me first see the patient's condition!"

Qi Xingfen immediately took out a tablet from her bag and showed Lin Jie a set of cranial CT scans!

Lin Jie carefully examined the CT images and reviewed the three surgery plans Qi Xingfen had drafted, selecting one and making a few modifications!

Seeing the modifications, Qi Xingfen, after a moment's thought, said, visibly moved, "Dr. Lin, I'm genuinely impressed, you're even more amazing than the rumors say."

"Those seemingly minor adjustments not only significantly lower the surgery's difficulty but also greatly enhance the patient's postoperative quality of life."

"Thank you, Dr. Lin!"

Lin Jie suddenly had an idea and smiled, "Dr. Qi, no need to rush your thanks, maybe you can express your gratitude through actions!"

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