After Su Wanqing snapped back, she felt a rush of relief and went out to work.
Lin Man’s petty jealousy was too obvious to even bother with.
Compared to her, Su Weiwei’s moves were the ones that truly needed caution.
After the apology incident, Su Weiwei seemed to have restrained herself.
But since yesterday, there had been a stream of endless rumors:
About Su Wanqing agreeing to a culinary competition with Su Weiwei.
Yesterday, when Su Wanqing went to the storage room to fetch something, she overheard some female workers saying, “Su Wanqing already agreed to compete with Weiwei in cooking, but she’s dragging her feet, probably scared of losing and looking for excuses.”
“No wonder, Director Li invited several leaders to be the judges. This is going to be entertaining.”
A cold light flickered in Su Wanqing’s eyes.
Su Weiwei, seeing that Su Wanqing kept refusing to respond, had brazenly spread news that she had agreed.
So impatient…
Su Wanqing didn’t bother to expose it.
To deal with a rat hiding in the shadows, you have to knock it down in one strike.
Exterminate the weeds completely, leaving no trouble behind.
The midday sun blazed overhead, and the kitchen took a brief pause from work.
Director Li shouted at the entrance with a roster in hand: “The routine blood tests scheduled for the afternoon are moved to noon. Everyone follow me to the clinic.”
Su Wanqing had just put away the remaining seafood, wiped her hands, and followed the crowd to the clinic.
The island clinic wasn’t large. The white walls radiated heat under the sun, and faint sounds of clinking instruments could be heard from inside.
Su Wanqing held her test sheet and froze as she stepped into the blood-drawing room, her eyes wide with surprise.
Why was Lu Yan here too?
At the examination table, Lu Yan stood with his back to the door, sleeves of his army green uniform rolled up to the elbows, revealing half of his forearm. The skin was pale with cool undertones, and an old scar above his wrist stood out.
The scar, roughly two fingers wide, ran across the wrist bone. Its edges had already scabbed over and faded, but the depth of the original injury was still evident.
At this moment, Lin Man—the same one who had provoked her earlier that morning—was gently cleaning it with an iodine swab.
Wearing a pristine white coat, Lin Man’s fingers moved delicately as if handling something fragile, softly advising, “Old injuries are never fully healed. Be careful during training, or it’ll itch on rainy days.”
Lu Yan slightly nodded and responded with a string of simple sign language.
Su Wanqing understood—it meant “thank you.”
Lin Man’s eyes flicked toward Su Wanqing at the doorway, a faint, subtle smile appearing at the corner of her lips.
She set down the medicine bottle and picked up gauze, deliberately slowing her movements, her fingertips brushing lightly against Lu Yan’s skin.
Lu Yan furrowed his brow.
Lin Man looked at Su Wanqing with an aloof tone: “Comrade, please line up outside for the blood test. Lu Shouzhang’s injury cannot be delayed or interrupted.”
The tone carried both disdain and a subtle claim of ownership. Su Wanqing heard it loud and clear.
She ignored Lin Man’s hostility, focusing instead on Lu Yan’s old wrist injury as she hurried over, her almond-shaped eyes full of concern: “Lu Yan, how did you get hurt?”
Hearing her voice, Lu Yan paused slightly, turning his head. His dark eyes swept over her worried little face.
He paused again, then quickly wrote in his notebook: “Minor injury, grazed during training.”
“A graze can leave a mark this deep?”
Su Wanqing frowned, about to ask more.
Suddenly, Lin Man raised her hand and signed a long, complex sequence of gestures to Lu Yan.
Her fingers moved quickly and densely.
Su Wanqing, who had only been learning sign language for a few days, could only recognize a few scattered signs and couldn’t piece together the full meaning.
Lu Yan’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly as he glanced at his curious little wife frowning at him.
After a moment of silence, he responded with his own gestures.
His movements were small but carried steady strength.
Their silent communication lasted nearly half a minute.
During this time, Lin Man kept glancing at Su Wanqing, a subtle sense of pride in her eyes.
As if to show off, “Only I can understand him.”
“What are they saying?” Su Wanqing pressed her lips together, feeling annoyed.
She recalled how timid Lu Zhengming had looked when he mentioned Lin Man a few days ago.
Seeing this “tacit” interaction between the two now confirmed her suspicions.
Lin Man wasn’t just acquainted with Lu Yan…
Lu Yan paused, noticing her worried expression, then wrote in his notebook: “Nothing important.”
He avoided the topic, showing no intention to explain.
Su Wanqing puffed her cheeks, clearly displeased.
Why brush her off with “nothing important”?
What could he not tell her?
She suppressed the pang of disappointment in her heart.
Lin Man, seeing this, promptly fanned the flames.
With a practiced tone, she added, “Lu Yan, remember to change your dressing on time. I’ll check again tonight.”
Then she turned to Su Wanqing, chin slightly raised: “Comrade Su, you may have your blood drawn now. Don’t hold up the others.”
Lu Yan raised his dark eyes, giving Lin Man a cold look.
That icy gaze carried a clear warning…
Lin Man froze.
Su Wanqing smirked and walked straight to the blood-drawing window to sit.
The icy needle pierced her skin, and she couldn’t help but glance sideways. She just caught Lu Yan turning to walk out.
His steps didn’t falter; his back was straight as a pine, the natural dignity around him tinged with a faint chill.
It was as if the few days of closeness and shared moments of tacit understanding had been nothing but her illusion.
After the blood was drawn, she stepped out into the glaring midday sun.
Su Wanqing walked slowly along the shaded path, the sense of loss in her heart growing like a creeping vine.
She knew Lu Yan was reserved and poor at expressing himself.
But the obvious feeling of him “hiding something from her” still made her uncomfortable.
Was she always just an insignificant person in his heart?
Even his old injury wasn’t something she had the right to know.
The more Su Wanqing thought, the more frustrated she became, kicking a small stone by the roadside.
And he had left just now without even a word of goodbye!!
Forget it.
She punched the air in front of her.
“I’ll settle this with him later.”
In the evening, Su Wanqing returned home with a small bag of groceries.
As soon as she entered, she saw Lu Zhengming lying on the sofa, writing a self-criticism report.
Seeing her, his eyes brightened: “Sister-in-law, you’re back! What are we having tonight? Do you want me to help?”
In just a few days, Lu Zhengming seemed completely won over by her cooking.
At first, he had been stubborn and unyielding, but now, when mealtime came, he eagerly followed her, waiting to be fed.
Su Wanqing, still in a bad mood, glanced at him and went straight into the kitchen.
She washed the freshly bought yam and lotus seeds, then took out the soaked white fungus from the jar, simmering it slowly over low heat.
Lu Zhengming scratched his head and leaned over to sniff: “Sister-in-law, what’s this? Smells so good.”
“Stomach-friendly sweet soup,” Su Wanqing replied without looking up. “By the way, your brother’s wrist injury—is it related to his past missions? And his anorexia…”
“W-what anorexia?!” Lu Zhengming’s expression instantly changed. He stammered backward: “I-I don’t know anything about that! My brother never told me!”
Su Wanqing glanced at him.
Lu Zhengming blinked, realizing something, and cautiously asked: “Did he tell you?”
Su Wanqing waved it off casually: “I figured it out myself.”
Lu Zhengming patted his chest, mumbling softly: “I knew it… How could my brother bring it up on his own…”
But from the look of it, his brother’s anorexia seemed to be improving.
Thanks to the meals his sister-in-law had made, he hadn’t skipped a single one.
He would have to check with Dr. Lin later.
If Dr. Lin had already cured his brother’s anorexia…
The old man would be delighted!
Perhaps, in his joy, he might even forgive the trouble Lu Yan had caused recently…
Su Wanqing squinted, recalling the fragmented scenes from that morning.
Lin Man skillfully tending to Lu Yan’s old injury, giving careful advice, communicating complex ideas in sign language…
Suddenly, an idea lit up in her mind. She realized the answer.
Her fingers traced the rim of the cup as she casually asked: “Dr. Lin is the attending physician treating your brother’s anorexia?”
Lu Zhengming’s eyes widened: “So that’s what you guessed?”
“All right, I got it,” Su Wanqing said, stopping her questioning.
Lin Man was Lu Yan’s attending physician.
But that wasn’t the point…
Su Wanqing froze.
She suddenly realized something.
Lu Yan had never told her anything about himself.
Neither his anorexia nor his past injuries…
Su Wanqing’s hand, holding the soup ladle, hung in mid-air.
To say she wasn’t disappointed would be a lie.
After all…
The sweet soup simmered over low heat in the clay pot, steam blurring her features.
“Sister-in-law, isn’t the heat a bit high?” Lu Zhengming leaned over, pointing at the slightly overflowing soup, whispering a reminder.
Snapping back to her senses, Su Wanqing quickly turned down the heat.
“You watch the pot. I’m going out for a walk.”
She handed the ladle to Lu Zhengming, took off her apron, hung it over the chair, and walked out.
Lu Zhengming watched his sister-in-law’s huffy back and felt a sense of unease.