Wen Li leaned half her body against Xiao Jinyu, limping along with him toward the treatment room. He carried a faint scent of disinfectant mixed with the fresh smell of laundry detergent—unexpectedly pleasant.
Actually, her leg didn't hurt that much, but if someone was offering support, why not take it?
The treatment room was right next door, a small, quiet, and tidy space. He helped her sit on the edge of the bed, then turned to wash his hands.
Wen Li watched him wash, thinking how beautiful his hands were—long, slender fingers with prominent knuckles, and faint blue veins clearly visible on the backs of his hands.
Truly born to be a doctor.
After washing up, he brought over the dressing tray and crouched in front of her. "Bear with it."
Wen Li nodded.
The wound on her knee wasn't deep. He dipped a cotton swab in iodine and gently dabbed it on.
She had other scars on her legs—one on the outside of her calf, and a bruise above her ankle, all leftover from injuries that hadn't fully healed.
Her skin was pale, making the scars especially noticeable.
His brow furrowed slightly.
How exactly did Ji Cheng treat her on a daily basis?
Wen Li watched his focused profile and suddenly felt reluctant to let this end so quickly. So when the swab touched her wound again: "Hiss…"
She sucked in a sharp breath, her brows scrunching into a knot.
Xiao Jinyu's hand paused, and he looked up at her.
"It hurts," she said in a weak voice, feeling guilty herself.
Xiao Jinyu didn't say anything, but his movements became noticeably gentler, barely brushing the edge of the swab against the wound. He worked patiently for a full ten minutes before finishing the bandage.
"Don't get it wet for the next couple of days. Remember to change the dressing tomorrow." He tidied up the tray and prepared to leave.
"Hey, wait." Wen Li stood up from the bed, but in her haste she forgot about her leg injury and stumbled, nearly falling. Xiao Jinyu caught her with quick reflexes.
Only after Wen Li steadied herself did he let go.
She sat back down, rubbing her knee wrapped in neat gauze, and said pitifully, "It still hurts a lot."
Xiao Jinyu checked her knee again, then looked up at her. "Bear with it."
"I can't bear it." Wen Li pouted, maintaining a "I'm in so much pain" expression, as if she might cry at any moment. "It really hurts, so much that I can't even walk. What am I supposed to do?"
Xiao Jinyu wasn't good at comforting people. After a brief silence, he asked, "Should I prescribe you some painkillers?"
"That's not necessary." This man really had no sense of romance. Wen Li said, "I'll just rest in your office for a bit."
Xiao Jinyu: "…"
"Can I?" She blinked a couple of times, tugging at his sleeve coquettishly.
The girl had a pair of bright, dark almond-shaped eyes. When she looked at you like that, it made you feel that refusing her and hurting her feelings would be a grave sin.
"Come along then."
Wen Li's eyes lit up. She immediately stood, took two steps, then remembered her leg was still "hurt" and quickly slowed down, limping along behind him.
The office door was half open. Inside was a mess—chairs knocked over, documents scattered across the floor.
Wen Li remarked, "What a disaster."
Xiao Jinyu didn't respond. He went in and picked out a chair that looked relatively intact for her. Wen Li sat down, propping her chin on her hand to watch him work.
He seemed to do everything with great care—neatly stacking documents with edges aligned, wiping every corner of the desk with a wet wipe. Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on his profile, casting a small shadow beneath his lashes.
He was really good-looking, just a bit quiet. But she didn't mind—she talked enough for both of them. She could out-talk ten people on her own.
"Do you get a lot of medical disputes at your hospital?" She initiated the conversation.
"No."
"Oh, so today was a special case. Why did that person come to cause trouble?"
"Don't know."
"Dealing with situations like that must be pretty annoying." She continued, "I once heard about a guy who, after surgery, insisted his leg was shorter and claimed the doctor had sawed it down. Then they measured it, and both legs were the same length. So the guy said the doctor must have sawed both legs."
"…"
"But orthopedics is fine, at least. No one's going to come cause trouble claiming a bone is missing—bones are something you can see on an X-ray at a glance. It's internal emergencies like heart attacks or brain hemorrhages that are the worst. You can't see or touch those, so if someone says you didn't cure them, you can't even prove otherwise."
"…"
She chattered on by herself for half an hour until Xiao Jinyu's expression finally shifted slightly. He glanced at her. "Aren't you thirsty?"
Wen Li actually thought he was concerned about her. "Nope, not thirsty."
Xiao Jinyu: "…"
"Also, orthopedics has another advantage." Wen Li grew more animated. "I heard that orthopedic doctors are super strong—regular people can't beat them in a fight. And they can set bones with their bare hands. Can you do that?"
Xiao Jinyu didn't answer. He set down what he was doing, walked to the water dispenser, and poured her a cup of water. "Have some water."
Wen Li looked at the cup and finally realized—he was annoyed by how much she talked.
She pouted, pushing the cup away slightly with a hurt expression. "Just water?"
Xiao Jinyu: "What else do you want?"
Wen Li blurted out: "Your WeChat."
Another stretch of silence followed.
"Maybe you don't know this, but a lot of people have asked for my WeChat, and I've turned them all down. Having my WeChat is a pretty glorious thing. Aren't you happy that I'm asking for yours?"
He still said nothing.
Wen Li met his eyes, and her heart suddenly began to race.
Actually, this wasn't the first time she'd asked a guy for his WeChat.
Back in high school, she'd had her eye on the study committee member in the class next door—a fair-skinned, refined-looking boy. She'd fallen for him at first sight and brought Xiang Kui and Zhu Zhiyi along to corner him in an alley and ask for his WeChat. She thought she'd put on her friendliest smile, but he apparently thought she was about to bully him, and was so scared he transferred schools the next day.
Her first budding romance had died in its cradle.
But the situation now felt different from before. She was way more nervous this time—mainly because the man in front of her had such a blank expression that she couldn't read what he was thinking at all.
He probably didn't want to give it. Forget it. Wen Li was already mentally planning how to save face when he turned her down.
"Phone."
Wen Li froze. "Huh?"
"Give me your phone."
Like a puppet, she numbly pulled her phone from her pocket, unlocked it, and handed it over. He took it, tapped a few times on the screen, then gave it back.
Wen Li looked down—
【You've added XJY. You can start chatting now.】
Wen Li clutched her phone, struggling to suppress the grin stretching from ear to ear. Just then, her senior colleague pushed the door open and caught sight of the gauze on her knee. "Oh, you hurt your knee?"
"It's nothing. Dr.—I mean, the doctor already took care of it." Wen Li flipped her phone face-down, keeping her tone as natural as possible.
"No other injuries?"
"No, no."
"I'll call Ji Cheng and have him come pick you up."
"Don't." Wen Li hopped off the chair and grabbed his arm. "Don't tell him I was here. He'll scold me again if he finds out. I'm leaving right now anyway."
The senior colleague looked at her obedient face with nothing but concern in his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. You go ahead and get back to work, Senior."
"Take it easy."
"Mm-hmm."
He watched her leave, then turned to tidy up his workstation, which had been knocked every which way. There was a crushed insulated lunchbox on the floor, its lid dented inward, the food inside long since ruined.
He held it up and studied it for two seconds, then it clicked: "So the girl came to deliver Ji Cheng a homemade lunch."
Xiao Jinyu was sorting the scattered documents on his desk. His fingers paused briefly, but he didn't look up.
The senior colleague set the lunchbox on the table, his tone full of indignant outrage: "What a waste. The girl came all the way to bring him food, and he actually yelled at her. Is Ji Cheng even human?"
Xiao Jinyu stacked a pile of medical records neatly and set them at the corner of the desk.
The senior colleague leaned in, refusing to let it go: "Hey, do you think… does he yell at her often?"
Xiao Jinyu finally looked up, expressionless. "How would I know?"
The senior colleague sighed to himself. "True. You and Ji Cheng don't get along, so you wouldn't care about his business. I just think the girl's a bit wronged being with him."
Xiao Jinyu gripped the stack of records, his gaze darkening.
_
On the way back to the dorm, every step Wen Li took felt like walking on clouds, and there was still a sense of unreality about it all.
She had Xiao Jinyu's WeChat.
The first thing she did after adding him was change his note name to "Little Goldfish," with a pink heart attached. The second thing was to show off in the group chat.
Big Pear: 【Ladies, I'm in love】
Moring: 【You can have anything in your dreams /picks nose】
Daddy: 【Wind's strong tonight—pull up two blankets so you don't get blown awake】
Her roommates were used to her dramatics, so naturally they didn't take her seriously.
Big Pear: 【[Image]】
Big Pear: 【How did you guys know I got my crush's WeChat】
Moring: 【?】
Daddy: 【Wait, not joking? You're serious?】
Wen Li was in a great mood and was about to keep bragging when her phone buzzed. The screen lit up with the name "Ji Cheng."
She answered, and the first thing out of his mouth was: "Where are you?"
"On my way back to the dorm."
He seemed to let out a sigh of relief, then said: "I got back and heard there was a medical dispute in our department—desks, chairs, computers all smashed. But before the police even showed up, these two guys got taken down by some girl. She pinned them to the wall so hard they couldn't get off. I thought it might've been you. Glad it wasn't."
Wen Li: "…"
Unfortunately, it was her.
She opened her mouth, about to say something, then swallowed it back down.
There was a two-second silence on the other end, then his tone suddenly turned wary: "It wasn't actually you, was it?"
Wen Li laughed. "I'm just being a good Samaritan."
"Good Samaritan my ass! Are you a cop? Why do you have to stick your nose in everything? Your injuries haven't even healed, why are you out there playing hero? How many times has Mom told you—behave yourself, behave yourself…"
She knew she was about to get scolded. Wen Li deliberately held the phone away, waiting until the volume on the other end dropped a bit before bringing it back: "Oh, the signal here is pretty bad… I'll call you back in a bit…"
Wen Li raised her voice and said "hello" twice, then decisively hung up.
The world was peaceful again.
She tucked her phone away and headed toward the dormitory, running into Cheng Xiling at the entrance. Beside her stood a tall, thin boy holding a bag of apples in one hand and holding her hand with the other.
Cheng Xiling had something going on!
Human nature is to gossip.
Wen Li slowed her pace, pretending to play with her phone while keeping her peripheral vision locked on the target.
As she got closer, she noticed the boy spoke with difficulty, only managing to string together a few words like "for you" and "apples." Anything longer had to be conveyed through gestures, and as he gestured, he kept pushing the bag of apples toward the girl.
Cheng Xiling frowned slightly, her tone carrying an irritation Wen Li had never heard from her before: "I don't want them."
The boy wouldn't take no for an answer, shoving the apples toward her: "They're good."
Cheng Xiling grew annoyed, reluctantly accepting them before heading into the dormitory without looking back. The boy stood there watching her walk away, then turned and left.
Wen Li was so absorbed in the gossip that she didn't pay attention and bumped shoulders with someone.
The boy gave her an apologetic smile and quickly ran off.
Wen Li rubbed her shoulder, watching his figure disappear around the corner.
He looked unfamiliar—not like a student from their school.
Wen Li excitedly wanted to catch up with Cheng Xiling and ask about it, but she saw Cheng Xiling wasn't heading upstairs—she turned into the first-floor washroom instead.
Following her over, she watched Cheng Xiling throw the bag of apples into the trash can.
The green apples rolled a couple of times in the grime, lying conspicuously on top of the cardboard box.
Cheng Xiling turned around, her gaze colliding with Wen Li's.
Both of them froze.
"Why are you here?" Cheng Xiling asked.
Wen Li didn't know what to say for a moment, pointing dryly outside: "I, I just came back from outside…"
Cheng Xiling let out an "oh" with a slightly evasive look.
Wen Li couldn't hold back and asked, "Why did you throw them away? Wasn't he your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend." Cheng Xiling turned and went upstairs.
Wen Li had never encountered a situation like this and was momentarily at a loss for words.
This gossip was a bit hard to chew on.
But after all, it was someone else's private matter, and Wen Li didn't feel it was her place to interfere. When she returned to the dormitory, Fu Qin and Jiang Zao immediately crowded around her like two puppies catching the scent of meat.
"Did you really add Xiao Jinyu on WeChat?"
Wen Li generously offered up her phone: "See for yourselves."
The two immediately started studying the screen.
"Is it really him?" Jiang Zao expressed doubt.
"No idea, we've never seen him either," Fu Qin said, resting her chin on her hand.
"Should we ask him to send a photo first?"
"That might not be appropriate."
As the three were discussing, the dormitory door opened and Cheng Xiling walked in carrying a basin of water, her hair damp—she must have just washed her face.
Jiang Zao excitedly wanted to share the news with her: "Lingling, guess what? Our Lili's made it big—she added Xiao Jinyu on WeChat."
Cheng Xiling gave a flat "mm" and walked straight to her bed, set down the basin, and climbed up. The bed curtain blocked the three's view completely.
Jiang Zao stiffly turned her neck and mouthed: "What's going on?"
Wen Li shook her head, mouthing "no idea."
"Forget it, let's not worry about her for now." Jiang Zao waved her hand and pulled her attention back to the phone screen. "Have you chatted with Xiao Jinyu since adding him?"
"Not yet," Wen Li said. "Just added him."
"Chat with him now."
"I don't know what to say."
"Just say something casual and see how he reacts—like asking what he's doing or if he's busy with studies?"
Wen Li nodded, about to send a message when Fu Qin stopped her.
"That's too old-fashioned," she said. "Only people from the last generation flirt like that."
Jiang Zao: "So what's your brilliant plan, madam?"
Fu Qin said, "If you ask me, just send a set of sexy swimsuit photos and ask him, 'Handsome, are you asleep?'"
Wen Li: "?"
No way—she was afraid she'd be arrested as a creep.
Wen Li slumped in her chair, scrolling through Xiao Jinyu's Moments to find some common ground. He hadn't set it to show only three days, but his posts were mostly professional content with no personal information at all.
One post was a public account article about an academic conference, with an English title so long it seemed to stretch on forever. She braced herself and clicked it, barely managing to understand "osteosarcoma," "limb salvage treatment," and "biomechanical reconstruction" with a translation app.
Someone commented under the public account post: "God Xiao, you research this direction too?"
He replied: "Mm."
That person replied again: "Impressive. I heard Dean Wu's team is top-tier in this field domestically."
Wen Li stared at that single "mm" for a long time. Maybe he wasn't that aloof after all—at least he was willing to reply with one character.
A stroke of inspiration hit Wen Li. She went into that public account, scrolled around for a while, and picked an article with particularly long English words to forward to him.
Big Pear: [Hello there, I'm very interested in this article. Could Dr. Xiao help me interpret it? /cute]
He replied in the afternoon: [Are you sure?]
When the message came in, Wen Li had just gotten out of class. Seeing his chat bubble, she nearly jumped with excitement. She suppressed her excitement and quickly replied.
Big Pear: [Mm-hmm, I'm very interested, want to learn more]
After a moment, the other side sent over a Chinese version.
Little Goldfish: [Long-term efficacy of intracavernosal injection therapy for erectile dysfunction]
Wen Li: "…"
Ahhhh what the hell is this!!
Little Goldfish: [The author of this paper is Director Sun from the Urology Department. Let me know if you need me to connect you]
Why would she need to be connected! She doesn't even have that thing!
Wen Li replied shakily: [No need, thanks]