To be honest, before transmigrating to the Marvel world, Shi Xiaolei was quite fond of the actress named Bingbing.
It wasn't because she had acted in good plays or sung good songs, leaving a deep impression on Shi Xiaolei with her works and moving him. It was purely because her figure, neither too plump nor too thin, perfectly matched his personal preferences.
So, upon seeing Dr. Wu, who looked exactly like that Bingbing, Shi Xiaolei subconsciously took a few extra glances.
He truly had no other intentions.
And this little interlude was far from enough to affect the pre-operative meeting.
But to Shi Xiaolei's slight surprise, after the meeting, at the welcome party Stark specially prepared for these doctors, this female doctor named Wu Jiaqi actually came up to him on her own initiative.
"You're here, I've been looking for you for a while." Half because of Shi Xiaolei's fellow countryman status, and half because she had something in mind, Wu Jiaqi's tone carried a hint of familiarity as she greeted him: "Why did you come outside? Is it too noisy inside?"
"..." He wanted to say, 'Are we that familiar?', but seeing as the other party was pretty enough, Shi Xiaolei still maintained his gentlemanly demeanor: "I'm not very accustomed to this kind of occasion. Dr. Wu, is there something you need?"
"It's nothing big, I just wanted to ask, have we met somewhere before?" The sea breeze ruffled her sideburns, and Wu Jiaqi subconsciously looked up to tidy them: "During the meeting just now, you looked at me several times... Last year, when I went back to my hometown, I met a friend I used to play with as a child, and his gaze at that time was exactly the same as how you just looked at me."
Feeling the embarrassment of being caught peeking, Shi Xiaolei laughed awkwardly and raised a hand to scratch the back of his head.
"I don't think so." It was hard to explain, so he could only come up with a barely plausible excuse: "You look a bit like a friend of mine, that... I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself just now, it was rude."
"It's okay." Shaking her head, Wu Jiaqi casually asked: "What does your friend do? Do you have a picture?"
"Uh." He didn't expect a follow-up question, Shi Xiaolei was a bit helpless and had to pull out his trump card: "I think she's an actress, but I'm not really that familiar with her... We haven't even chatted much, it's just the kind of 'we know each other's faces, and we'd nod if we met on the street' kind of relationship."
The conversation was thus killed by Shi Xiaolei.
Feeling a little stifled, but knowing her goal hadn't been achieved, Wu Jiaqi could only suppress the thought of turning to leave and continue to find other topics to make awkward small talk with Shi Xiaolei.
One was a female doctor who had been studying medicine for more than ten years, with zero housework skills. The other was a rough guy who had never touched medical knowledge and made a living running a small restaurant... Their life paths had absolutely no intersection, and finding a common topic they could both talk about was truly not that easy.
Plus, she wasn't very good at socializing to begin with... Honestly, these ten-odd minutes were extremely awkward.
"Jiaqi, oh? Little brother Shi is here too."
Finally hearing a third person's voice, Shi Xiaolei breathed a huge sigh of relief. His toes, which had almost dug a map into the ground, also suddenly relaxed: "Dr. Wu, hello."
Returning a kind smile to Shi Xiaolei, Dr. Wu approached the two with a glass of juice in one hand: "What are you two chatting about?"
"Nothing much, just some trivial matters of daily life." Really not wanting to continue the previous topic, Shi Xiaolei quickly responded before Wu Jiaqi could speak.
Having the first move, it was much simpler to change the subject: "Dr. Wu, how many days will you be staying in the US this time? I think I heard you mention in the meeting that you're going to New York after Tony's surgery?"
"Yes." Dr. Wu nodded: "We are going to New York. Before Christmas, the Henrik Clinic, part of Osborn Corporation, is holding an academic exchange conference,
and I received an invitation from them."
Though called a clinic, it was actually a very powerful private hospital.
Affiliated with the Osborn Group, which excels in biochemical technology, the technical level of the Henrik Clinic... from basic medicine to clinical medicine, and even cutting-edge technologies not yet in the public eye, it could be said that the technical accumulation of this clinic was even deeper than some official medical research institutions.
Comparatively, its status in the medical field was in no way inferior to the Mayo Clinic on Earth.
"Christmas, huh, so that means you'll be staying here for over a month?" Shi Xiaolei smiled: "Since that's the case, when you get to New York, you two must do me the honor of letting me treat you to a meal. Hehe, to tell you the truth, my main profession is a chef, and I opened a small restaurant in New York. It's currently being renovated, so I'm free and had time to join Stark on a road trip. Once his surgery is done, my shop should be back in business, and if I calculate it, it should be around the same time you go to New York."
"Is that so? I'll definitely go, and I might even have to bother you for a few more days." Dr. Wu agreed, with a hint of relief in her expression: "Jiaqi is young, so she's fine with steak and pasta. But I can't do it, I'm old, and my stomach can't handle all sorts of random things. If I had to eat Western food every day, I couldn't stand it. Little brother Shi, with your words, you've helped me a great deal."
"I can't promise anything else, but I guarantee you'll eat comfortably." In a really good mood, Shi Xiaolei smiled and promised: "Honestly, if you want me to cook as exquisitely as a five-star hotel chef, I really don't have that skill. But when it comes to 'homemade taste,' I'm quite confident."
"That's exactly what I want!" Dr. Wu emphasized: "Last time I came, one of my students took me to a Chinese restaurant that they said was very high-end. Bah, what kind of stuff was that, I say. They served dishes one by one, and each dish was just a tiny bit, not even enough for a cat. And that General Tso's Chicken, what is that? There's no such dish in authentic Chinese cuisine. I, you know, still prefer the original flavors."
"Leave it to me." Shi Xiaolei listened with increasing delight: "I'm just like you, I don't like what they call 'improvements.' Dr. Wu, where are you from? I'll do some good research later and try to make a table full of dishes that are most to your liking."
"I'm fine with anything." She first said politely, but seeing Shi Xiaolei's firm attitude, Dr. Wu had to say: "My hometown is Yangcheng, and I've lived in the Imperial Capital for over forty years. Southern and Northern dishes, I'm fine with both."
"Can you eat spicy food?" Shi Xiaolei nodded while continuing to ask: "How about sour and sweet flavors?"
"Spicy is fine too. When I was doing my internship after graduation, I stayed in Sichuan Province for three years. Sour and sweet flavors are a bit less, I'm older now, and that taste is a bit too rich for me."
"Okay, I understand."
Talking about food, Shi Xiaolei was clearly much more excited.
Unconsciously, they chatted for almost half an hour. It wasn't until 2B called that he reluctantly bid them farewell.
Watching Shi Xiaolei walk towards Stark, Wu Jiaqi felt a little disappointed and a bit puzzled: "Teacher, didn't you say you wanted to talk to him about purchasing medicine? Why..."
"No need to rush." Dr. Wu shook her head: "Everything needs to be gradual, right? This is only the first meeting, we're not familiar enough yet. It's not too late to bring it up after we've met a few more times and built a good relationship."