"Sounds good. Why not? You might get an acute renal failure, and then you won't be able to mess around with women anymore," Evelyn mocked.
Sheffield stared at her, his interest piqued. "Oh, I didn't expect you to know about acute renal failures."
"I have a customer with that disease."
"I see. ARF is curable, as long as he receives the right treatment in time. But if it's chronic, there's no radical cure for it according to the current medical situation. Ask your customer to come and see me whenever he's free. I'll see if there's anything I can do. I specialize in nephrology." This wasn't a joke. He did work in the nephrology department.
"Why did you choose to study nephrology? Is it because..."
Seizing the chance to taunt him, Evelyn sized him up and asked, "You've had issues with your kidneys?"
Sheffield didn't mind such scorns.
He faked a half-serious look and said casually, "Yes, you're right. I've indulged myself in so much carnal pleasures, my kidneys couldn't take it anymore. I chose to be a renal physician and had both of my kidneys replaced."
He made it seem like he had slept with many women.
Evelyn felt a pang in her heart. "Wow, Dr. Tang, you're amazing. You even operate on yourself. Quite a talent," she said with sarcasm.
Instead of replying to her taunt right away, he turned around to face her. While walking backwards, he asked with a mischievous smile, "Why are you so concerned about my kidneys? Do you want to find out in person if they are working fine?"
Realizing what he meant, Evelyn blushed. She picked up her pace to catch up with him, in an attempt to punch him in the face.
Sheffield knew what she was thinking. He picked up his pace too, always staying one step ahead of her.
Frustrated, Evelyn began to run. It was then that Sheffield turned around to run too.
"Sheffield Tang, you are such a jerk!" No one had dared to flirt with her like this.
Sheffield turned his head to smile at her as he ran. "Hey! You started it!"
"How dare you?" Evelyn ran as fast as she could.
Without warning, he stopped in his tracks, turned around and spread his arms. Caught off guard, Evelyn couldn't stop her momentum in time and bumping into his arms.
His scent reached her nose. Her heart began to race in her chest.
"Slow down. You might trip." Afraid that she would get angry again, Sheffield let go of her quickly.
His tender words echoed in her mind, striking a chord in her heart. She straightened up and moved away from him. In no time, she returned to her usual aloof self. She asked, "Dr. Tang, you are so good at caring for women. I can see that you've practiced a lot with the girls around you."
'Crap!'
The playful smile froze on his face. This was a tough question for him. He explained awkwardly, "Um...it's just a game. I wasn't serious about any of them."
Evelyn smoothed her long hair and looked into the distance. A brook was sparkling under the sunlight. She mocked calmly, "I bet there are a lot of girls involved in your game."
"No...it's not like that... Evelina." He caught up to her. "I just play around with them, but I've never..." Sheffield knew he was embarrassing himself in front of her. He didn't know how to continue.
But his words caught Evelyn's attention. She stopped walking and stared at him curiously.
She found herself eager to hear what he wanted to say. But then, she realized that she was being over concerned about his private life. They were strangers, after all. Why did she care so much about the women around him?
Sheffield looked up at the sky, sighing heavily. "I have a friend named Joshua Fan."
Evelyn was confused. 'Why did he bring up his friend now?' She knew this Joshua Fan; he was the youngest son of the mayor of Y City. "Okay… You...like him?" That was too much to take in. She thought that he only loved fooling around with women, but she didn't think he liked men too.
Sheffield rolled his eyes at her. "For your information, I'm straight." He cleared his throat and continued, "My friend, Joshua, always says this one thing about a guy. A guy always cracks dirty jokes and dates different girls, but is still a poor virgin boy."
"So?" Evelyn didn't understand where he was going with this. Sheffield quit beating around the bush and admitted it honestly.
"I am that guy."
He wore a serious expression on his face as he said it. He genuinely wanted to date Evelyn; that was why he had decided to open up to her and tell her his secret. He was afraid that she would misunderstand and refuse him.
Evelyn was amused by his words, the corners of her lips lifted upwards. "Didn't you just say that your carnal pleasures were too much for your kidneys to take? And now you are telling me that you are a virgin boy. Dr. Tang, which one is the truth?"
"I was joking earlier. My kidneys are very much healthy. You will know it if you give it a try." The evil smile returned to his handsome face.
Evelyn shifted her eyes away from him. "We better drop this topic. We are in the Elephant Valley now. Is it the right place to talk about this?"
Sheffield scratched his hair. "Well...no. Not the right place." He looked her in the eye. "But Evelina, please let me pursue you. I'm willing to give my virginity to you."
"Ugh!" The ever-calm girl choked on her own saliva.
A ton of men had tried to win her heart through the years. She had heard all kinds of romantic words in her life, but this was the weirdest of all.
Sheffield looked like a teenage girl who adored her idol while telling him, "I'm all yours. I want to give myself to you."
"Are you stupid?" She wondered how this guy had written all those medical papers and how he had managed to become the deputy director of his department.
Sheffield felt humiliated.
He stared at Evelyn with a sad pout. "I only said that because I really want a future with you."
He looked funny and pitiful. He was shrouded in the sadness of being turned down.
And now, he made her look like a bad woman who dumped him after playing with his feelings.
"Sheffield?"
"Yes, ma'am?" he replied in a knee-jerk reaction.
"We're not right for each other."
"Why not?" He was unconvinced.
"Because I know what I want. I want someone who is older than me; a man who can take care of me." She remembered that she had already said this to him. Why hadn't he given up on her yet?
Sheffield smiled, his eyes narrowing into a thin line. "You are only three years older than me. Age is not a problem. Besides, what makes you think that I can't take care of you just because I'm younger? Please, give me a chance. Let's try to date. Maybe for ten days at first, and then, you will know if it'll work or not. After ten days, if you still believe that we are not right for each other, I'll never pester you again. We won't contact each other after we leave this city. How does that sound?"
'Ten days?' Evelyn hesitated. She wanted it, but... "Sheffield."
"Yes?"
"I've had four boyfriends in the past."
"I don't care." He really didn't give a damn about her past. He only wanted to have a future with her.
"Three of them are dead..." She stopped and looked at him with a very serious expression.
Sheffield was smiling.
"They were all killed," she said. All those incidents in her past had slowly led her to depression. But that was not the end of it.