【023———】
“I was afraid you’d get the wrong idea.”
“If you were afraid I’d get the wrong idea, why did you bring me here in the first place?”
“You had to come so you could see for yourself exactly what I’m doing here.”
Zhuang Yiyi had no idea what he was thinking. Over the next ten or so minutes, she saw five or six girls come up to Chen Ding asking for his WeChat. Chen Ding didn’t say a word; he simply kept his gaze fixed squarely on her.
The girls took one look and immediately understood the situation; they apologised and walked away.
“Are you asking me to fend off your admirers?”
“Mm.” Chen Ding replied with a hint of meaning. “Who knows how many more nights I’ll be spending here all alone.”
That was just another way of saying she didn’t have time to keep him company.
Zhuang Yiyi said, “Then you might have to come every day. I’ve got to keep working on my project for a while.”
“No problem. I’ll pop round to the lab in the evenings to keep you company.”
Zhuang Yiyi didn’t respond; she unscrewed the cap of the bottle of water in front of her and took a sip.
Yao Mu watched Zhuang Yiyi and Chen Ding, whilst Fang Zhixi stared intently at him.
The gaze was so intense that Yao Mu asked helplessly, “How long do you intend to stare at me?”
Fang Zhixi continued to stare at him, saying nothing.
Her mobile rang, but she didn’t answer it. Fang Zhile, who was on the phone, saw his sister standing there silently, staring at him, and sighed. He walked over to them and nudged Fang Zhixi’s shoulder.
“Brother…” Her voice was unusually calm, a far cry from the usual loud and boisterous Fang Zhixi.
“Mum wants to speak to you.”
Fang Zhixi didn’t respond.
Fang Zhile emphasised, “She wants you to call her back right now.”
Fang Zhixi looked at Yao Mu. “It’s been 28 minutes.”
Fang Zhile frowned, whilst Yao Mu looked at her in confusion.
“It’s been 28 minutes since you walked in. I’ve been watching you for 28 minutes, and you haven’t shown the slightest concern for me.”
“Yao Mu, I’ve decided I don’t like you anymore.”
Yao Mu knew he truly didn’t like Fang Zhixi, but faced with such sincere feelings, he couldn’t reciprocate and felt sorry for her. “You’ll find someone better.”
“Of course.” Fang Zhixi never doubted that.
“Well then, congratulations in advance.”
“Thank you.”
Fang Zhixi held her head high and walked out with her chest puffed out.
Fang Zhile, too, had nothing to say to Yao Mu; he gave a slight nod and went to find his sister.
It was precisely because of the two of them leaving so suddenly that Zhuang Yiyi noticed Yao Mu, hidden in the shadows. Why on earth would her senior brother be here? In Zhuang Yiyi’s memory, her senior brother didn’t drink or smoke, nor did he like going to entertainment venues such as bars. Although he was approaching thirty, he spent most of his time drinking tea and reading books.
Chen Ding noticed Zhuang Yiyi’s reaction and spotted Yao Mu as well. He nudged Zhuang Yiyi and whispered in her ear, “Let’s go.”
“Leave now?”
Chen Ding replied, “I’ve already shown you my charm.”
Zhuang Yiyi followed Chen Ding out of the bar, slightly puzzled. Once in the car, she asked, “Did you really just bring me here to show me your charm?”
Chen Ding gave a noncommittal grunt.
“……”
Zhuang Yiyi remained silent; sometimes Chen Ding’s ideas were simply unpredictable.
On the way home, Chen Ding said, “Are you free this weekend? I haven’t met your friends yet. “Why don’t we meet up this weekend?”
Zhuang Yiyi replied, “She probably won’t be free. She’s planning to set up an account on Bilibili and has been recording videos recently.”
“Set up an account? What’s she planning to talk about? Philosophy?”
“Yes.” Zhuang Yiyi briefly outlined Xiang Yajun’s plans. After listening, Chen Ding remarked, “That’s quite a challenge.”
“It is a bit.”
“If you need any help, you can come to me.”
“Right.”
“Right what?” Chen Ding chuckled lightly. “You don’t even know what sort of help I can offer, and you’re just saying ‘right’?”
“……”
Chen Ding laughed. “I handled a case before—it involved a blogger terminating their contract with an MCN agency. I’m fairly familiar with things like account traffic generation; feel free to ask me if you have any questions.”
“Is this—buying followers?”
“It’s not just that.” Chen Ding explained the various related operations to her. After listening, Zhuang Yiyi remarked, “I didn’t realise this was such a specialised field.”
“So, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”
“Right.” Zhuang Yiyi accepted the olive branch Chen Ding had extended.
Another day.
On her way to work that morning, Zhuang Yiyi was walking towards the break room with her bag when she happened to spot Yao Mu just stepping out of the lift. He was wearing a mask, revealing only his eyes; the outer corner of his right eye appeared to have a scratch.
Zhuang Yiyi wasn’t the type to have a thick skin; she couldn’t, like some people, feign innocence or play the victim to beg for forgiveness after realising she’d made a mistake. She simply stood there, wanting to speak her mind but held back by an inner barrier that prevented her from saying a word.
By the time their eyes met, she still hadn’t mustered the courage to speak, and Yao Mu had already turned away.
At lunch with Han Rong, she told him that Yao Mu had been beaten up.
“Beaten up?”
Han Rong said, “Yes. Strange, isn’t it? Yao Mu is such a gentle person; he usually just goes home after work. And yet he got beaten up?”
“Why would he get beaten up?”
“I don’t know.” Han Rong took a bite of meat. “The meat in the canteen is absolutely dreadful.” She put down her chopsticks. “During rounds today, a patient asked Yao Mu if he’d caught a cold, since he was wearing a mask. Yao Mu said he had. But when Old Zhang went to the bathroom later, he happened to see Yao Mu take off his mask, and the right side of his face was bruised.”
“Did Old Zhang ask what happened?”
“He did. Yao Mu said he’d fallen over by accident. Old Zhang said that bruise looked like it was caused by a punch, nine times out of ten.”
Zhuang Yiyi fell deep in thought. She’d seen her senior at the bar yesterday—could it have happened there?
A plate of meat was suddenly placed in front of her, snapping Zhuang Yiyi back to reality.
She looked up to see that the person had already turned and walked away. It was the intern.
She asked Han Rong, “You two?”
Han Rong took a bite of meat. “We’ve split up. This meat is really tasty; you should give it a try.”
Zhuang Yiyi didn’t move.
Han Rong teased her. “It’s just a piece of meat. It’ll go to waste if you don’t eat it. “We might have split up, but the meat’s innocent, isn’t it? Oh, and by the way, what’s the story with you? Qian Zhang and Chen Ding—are you after both of them?”
“No.”
“It’s fine if you are,” said Han Rong. “Sis, I’ve got high hopes for you!”
That afternoon, Zhuang Yiyi was summoned to the meeting room by Professor Jiao. Besides her, there were Professor Jiao’s master’s and PhD students, as well as her senior.
It was time for the weekly group meeting.
Professor Jiao was someone who set high standards for both himself and his students. By the end of the meeting, everyone was on edge.
Yao Mu was kept behind for a private chat.
Zhuang Yiyi was the last to leave. As she walked out, she heard Professor Jiao ask her senior, “What’s the story behind that bruise on your face?”
Escaping the hellish atmosphere of the seminar, the junior students were all relieved to have survived. A junior colleague slipped over to her side. “Senior, can I have a word with you?”
Zhuang Yiyi saw the anxiety and hesitation on her face and smiled. “Of course.”
The two went to Zhuang Yiyi’s break room.
“Senior, I wanted to talk to you today… actually…” The junior looked conflicted and somewhat embarrassed. “Well, I’m graduating this year, but I’m not sure if I want to continue as a doctor. I’m currently on rotation, working overtime every day, dealing with patients’ complaints, and the pay isn’t great. To be honest, I don’t think this is what I want. But… I also feel that after all these years of study, and with my parents and all my relatives, everyone just assumes I’ll become a doctor after graduation. So, I’m really torn… I don’t know what to do.”
“I might not be able to give you an answer to this. Or perhaps I can only offer a cliché, like ‘follow your heart’.”
They both laughed.
”But I can understand how you feel. Back when I was doing my clinical rotations, I also felt it wasn’t worth it—the pay was low, and my supervisor would sometimes make me take the blame for no apparent reason. The phrase I heard most often back then was, ‘It’ll be fine when you’re older; doctors are becoming more and more in demand.
“My thought at the time was, I don’t even know if I’ll live that long. At the rate I’m pulling all-nighters and working overtime now, the chances of a sudden death are pretty high.”
“But in the end, I still chose to go into hospital practice. Just as you were thinking a moment ago, I’ve studied for so many years, and when I chose this specialism, it was with the aim of becoming a doctor. I simply couldn’t bring myself to give up at the very last hurdle. On the other hand, when you hear those patients’ words of gratitude, you feel a great sense of fulfilment. Because with your help, they get better step by step—that’s a truly rewarding experience.”
“Of course, that’s just my personal view. You can make your own choice. My opinion is merely for your consideration. Or perhaps you’d prefer to join the Health Commission or stay at the university as a lecturer?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Then you could speak to senior students in different professions to find out what their working lives are like. Then choose the one you dislike the least.”
“Why not the one I like?”
“Because there isn’t a single job that isn’t a bit of a pain.”
They both laughed.
As the working day drew to a close, Zhuang Yiyi bumped into Yao Mu in the lift again; he was still wearing a mask.
The lift was crowded. Zhuang Yiyi glanced at Yao Mu several times before lowering her gaze.
The lift arrived. Zhuang Yiyi walked slowly, and just as Yao Mu was about to step out of the hospital entrance, she jogged up to him. “Senior, what did the professor want to see you about today?”
Zhuang Yiyi’s sudden initiative took Yao Mu by surprise.
He had actually noticed that every time she encountered him, Yiyi would pretend not to see him. Although he had been the one to speak harshly first, she was, after all, the one who had been in the wrong.
If she apologised and made amends, he would forgive her.
But Yiyi had, on the contrary, grown cold towards him.
Yao Mu actually felt a little pleased inside, but he still remembered the so-called ‘three-way relationship’. He said in a calm tone, “It’s nothing.”
“Oh.” Zhuang Yiyi fell silent. She thought to herself that she’d better not ask any more questions in future.
That evening, when Zhuang Yiyi returned home, Chen Ding was there too.
After a quick wash, Zhuang Yiyi went to the study, where Chen Ding was also sitting. The two went about their own business without chatting, yet the atmosphere was remarkably harmonious.
Zhuang Yiyi was researching; Xiang Yajun had already decided on her topic. Although the subject was straightforward and easy to grasp, presenting it in a fresh and engaging way was, in truth, no small undertaking.
Chen Ding’s phone rang.