Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 93
by Little PandaVolume 3: Transition
Mistress
Your current pose looks a lot like acting in AV
That night, it seemed like a lot happened, yet it also felt like nothing happened at all. However, Lu Qingshi knew that she had moved Gu Yanzhi from the “friend” circle to another circle. She had never dated a girl before, but she didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. When she kissed her, her heart, which had been quiet for many years, started beating wildly.
Gu Yanzhi was her light, her salvation.
In the end, of course, nothing happened. Gu Yanzhi kept her promise and noticed her nervousness, patiently calming her emotions, helping her dry her hair, put on her underwear, slip on her coat, and take her back to the hospital.
That night, Lu Qingshi slept very deeply, deeper than she had since Lele passed away, sleeping soundly through the night until dawn.
What she didn’t know was that while she was asleep, her close friend was also with someone else, rolling around on another bed.
When Xiang Nanke picked up Qin Xuan from the bar, a few hooligans were pestering her. She punched one down and instructed her people to take these little thugs back to the station for investigation, while she helped Qin Xuan into the car.
“I don’t want to go home, don’t want to go home!” The person, drunk as a skunk, started making a fuss in the car, and Xiang Nanke had to free up one hand to hold her down.
“So where do you want to go?”
Qin Xuan leaned on the passenger seat, watching the thousands of lights flickering, saying she was drunk but very clear-headed, with loneliness quietly flowing in her eyes.
Xiang Nanke hesitated for a moment, then turned the steering wheel left, driving onto a road familiar to her but completely unknown to Qin Xuan.
At midnight, Yu Gui walked home with heavy steps, carrying a thick book and some sheets of paper under her arm. She had performed a major surgery today and planned to organize her notes and write a paper with her senior. She wondered if Zhiyou had eaten at home, so she took out her phone to send a message.
The reply came quickly: “I made dinner and am waiting for you at home.”
A smile spread across Yu Gui’s face, and she quickened her pace.
As she rounded a corner, a bicycle sped toward her. Holding her phone, she couldn’t dodge in time and narrowly missed the handlebars. Her papers flew out, and she fell on the sidewalk. The cyclist swore at her, “F*ck your mother, can’t you watch where you’re walking?”
Yu Gui clutched her bleeding arm and apologized, “Sorry, sorry…”
Even though it was clearly his fault for hitting her.
Thinking this, Yu Gui picked up the scattered papers from the road. Some had drifted to the sewer drain and were soaked by dirty water.
Her heart ached as she picked them up, carefully drying each one before running home.
“Zhiyou, I’m back,” she knocked on the door twice. Fang Zhiyou ran over to open it for her.
“Why so late again today? I made sausage rice with some cured meat I brought from home last time. Hurry and eat,” she said excitedly, lifting the pot lid, only to be stunned instantly.
Yu Gui washed her hands and went over to have a look. She was a bit stunned too but said nothing, her smile fading away.
Fang Zhiyou patted the old rice cooker, looking anxious: “That’s impossible, I plugged it in, why didn’t it cook the rice?”
Yu Gui lost interest, feeling utterly exhausted, and the series of events had spoiled her appetite: “Forget it, if it’s not cooked, then just leave it. I won’t eat, let’s sleep.”
Seeing how tired she looked, Fang Zhiyou felt guilty, knowing it was her fault today: “I’ve already washed and cut the vegetables. Just wait a bit, eat something before you sleep.”
Yu Gui put her bag by the desk: “I forgot to tell you, we’re out of oil. And that rice cooker broke once before…”
She meant to say not to take it to heart, as she really wasn’t hungry at all. But unexpectedly, the other person got upset immediately.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier that we’re out of oil?! There’s no fridge at home, and now all this food is wasted!”
Yu Gui raised her voice too, never having felt so tired before: “Do I have time to tell you? You’re at home playing games every day. How many times have I come back and your computer’s still on, and when I left, you hadn’t even gotten up!”
“I…” Fang Zhiyou was at a loss for words, her face feeling hot and her eyes slowly becoming tearful.
After shouting, Yu Gui calmed down, silently went to wash up, and threw herself onto the bed.
To hell with work, to hell with the paper.
Sleep!
After a while, Fang Zhiyou calmed down and brought a bottle of red flower oil (a traditional Chinese remedy used for bruising and muscle pain) over, gently massaging Yu Gui’s bruised arm that was exposed.
She didn’t ask how it happened, but Yu Gui’s eyes welled up with tears at this rare moment of tenderness, and she turned to embrace her.
The two of them held each other, and Yu Gui choked out, “I’m sorry… I’m just… just…”
Fang Zhiyou said nothing, only kissed her forehead, but her eyes were more desolate than ever.
A woman’s body is softer than a man’s and can be bent and folded into any position. Qin Xuan screamed aloud in ultimate pleasure.
The phone on the bedside table started vibrating, the screen lighting up intermittently. A slender, fair arm reached out from under the covers to turn it off.
Xiang Nanke bent down to kiss her sweat-dampened hair. The night was still long.
The next morning, Qin Xuan woke up from a hangover, her head splitting with pain, her whole body aching, and she couldn’t help but groan.
A pair of hands pressed on her temples, gently massaging: “Feeling better?”
It wasn’t Old Bao’s voice, and she suddenly woke up, jumping straight out of bed. The air conditioner blanket slipped off, revealing her bare skin and the large suggestive marks all over her chest.
Xiang Nanke squinted at her, also not wearing a stitch of clothing, with similar suggestive marks on her neck.
“Ahhhhh!” Qin Xuan screamed, completely sober and utterly shocked, grabbing a pillow and lunging at her.
“I’ll kill you, ahhhhh!”
“Damn…” Xiang Nanke was caught off guard, the whole bed turned into chaos, with blankets and pillows thrown everywhere. After much effort, she managed to pin her down, and without thinking, she grabbed a pair of handcuffs from the bedside table and cuffed her.
“What are you freaking out about this early in the morning?” She picked up her clothes from the floor and put them on piece by piece.
Qin Xuan, with red eyes, glared at her from the bed, “Let me go, or I’ll sue you for assault.”
Xiang Nanke pulled down her own collar: “What a coincidence, I want to file a report too. We can go together. I wonder if assaulting an officer would get a heavier sentence.”
From her neck down to her collarbone, there were hickeys all over, which she couldn’t have made on herself. Qin Xuan blushed instantly, her bravado fading away.
“Uh… Officer Xiang… A night together should count for something, let me go… I have to work today…”
Xiang Nanke put on her suit pants, pulled a belt from the wardrobe, and swung it in her hand as she walked towards her step by step.
“Your current pose looks a lot like acting in AV (AV refers to ‘Adult Video,’ which is a common abbreviation for adult films),” she said with a hint of admiration in her eyes, slightly licking her lips.
Qin Xuan suddenly tensed up, tightening her legs, her voice trembling a bit: “Don’t… don’t come any closer…”
Xiang Nanke raised the belt high, and Qin Xuan shut her eyes tightly, bursting into tears: “You… you jerk… wuwuwu…”
The sudden tears caught the officer off guard: “Hey? Hey, don’t cry… I’m just putting on a belt…”
Qin Xuan sobbed uncontrollably: “Don’t tell anyone about last night.”
Xiang Nanke held up two fingers and swore to the heavens: “I won’t tell.”
“Then let me go… wuwuwu…”
“Okay, okay,” she quickly released her restraints and hugged her to calm her down: “Don’t cry, I’ll take you to work.”
“No…” Qin Xuan clutched her clothes tightly, choking up, feeling more wronged the more she thought about it: “Lend me your clothes to wear, I can’t let anyone know I didn’t go home last night.”
“Okay, okay,” Xiang Nanke helped her up, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, gently soothing her: “You go freshen up first. You can pick any clothes from my wardrobe, and if nothing fits, we’ll go buy something.”
“Qin—” Yu Gui stepped into the hospital and just saw her jump out of the car, about to greet her, but she had already rushed into the outpatient hall.
As the vehicle turned, she happened to catch a glimpse of a handsome profile through the lowered car window, it was Officer Xiang.
When did these two get so close? She remembered Qin Xuan had a boyfriend, right?
Yu Gui was puzzled, shook her head, and walked into the outpatient hall as well.
Once inside the hospital, it was like being separated from the peaceful world outside, every minute and second was a battle.
Yu Gui rushed to the locker room to change clothes, just putting on her white coat when she heard someone shouting outside: “Bed six is in trouble, someone come quick!”
While pulling her ID badge out from her collar, she ran into the emergency room.
A door opened, marking the boundary between life and death.
Outside, the family members were wailing and lamenting. Yu Gui wiped the sweat from her forehead and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. The head resident doctor came over again and said, “Yu Gui, bed eleven is being discharged. Go check it out.”
“Okay, I’m on it,” she said, getting up from the wall and quickly walking towards the ward with the medical folder.
Bed eleven was the little boy Lu Qingshi had rescued from the tunnel. He was recovering well and could already get out of bed and walk. Standing next to his mom and dad, Yu Gui examined him, completed the discharge procedures, and saw them to the hallway, patting his shoulder.
“Don’t run away from home so casually next time, okay? We worked very hard to save you.”
The boy’s parents had heard that a chief doctor nearly didn’t make it out alive while rescuing their child and were deeply grateful, always saying they wanted to see Lu Qingshi. However, they were always politely declined, so they had to hand the banner to Yu Gui.
The boy had a collar wrapped around his wrist, made from his dog’s collar, crafted into a keepsake.
The family of three stood in the sunlight, bowing to them. Yu Gui smiled as she watched them leave.
The young boy suddenly turned around and gave her a thumbs-up, showing his bright white teeth with a big smile.
“Thank you, Sister Yu, and thank you, Doctor Lu. I’m a bit sad I couldn’t thank her in person, but it’s okay. When I get into medical school, I’ll come thank her face to face.”
Yu Gui put her hands in the pockets of her white coat, smiling softly: “Well, you better work hard then, medical school isn’t easy to get into.”
The little boy made a funny face and gradually walked away.
Even though life is tough, struggling to make ends meet, and there are often times when patients don’t understand, these small moments of happiness are what keep her going step by step.
Some of the people who were lucky to survive that accident have been discharged, while others couldn’t endure the follow-up treatments. The elderly woman whom everyone tried so hard to save in the tent passed away in the ICU this morning. Her husband was crouched in the hallway, crying uncontrollably, and all the children were huddled together, crying as well.
When they came out of the ICU, everyone was feeling a bit down. It was Xu Qiankun who first broke the silence: “Alright, alright, cheer up, let’s go have lunch. In the afternoon, those who need to see patients, go see patients, those who have surgeries, go do surgeries. Dismissed.”
This half-year of residency training didn’t bring Yu Gui much technical improvement, but it made her deeply understand one truth: sometimes, the things we pour our hearts into the most don’t turn out as we hope.
But why do we still push ourselves so hard?
She looked down from the building.
It was already late autumn, and ginkgo leaves covered the entire street. The sky was a clear, bright blue without a cloud in sight. Children were playing soccer in the park, and the water from the fountain was splashing up, reflecting colorful lights in the sunshine.
“Qingshi, keep going, Qingshi…” A doctor wearing a blue and white hospital gown stood up from the wheelchair, slowly walking toward her future.
She walked very slowly, her body swaying from side to side, having to stop to catch her breath every two steps, and soon sweat was dripping from her forehead.
Gu Yanzhi stood under the ginkgo tree five meters away, tall and upright, her flame-blue uniform blending into the golden background.
Lu Qingshi looked up and, slow but determined, took another step forward.
“Qingshi!” A startled cry rang out as Gu Yanzhi took a step forward.
The person who had fallen on the ground slowly but firmly made a stopping gesture, gritting her teeth and wobbling to stand up on her own.
Gu Yanzhi’s eyes were slightly red: “Qingshi, keep going!”
“Teacher Lu, keep going!” From afar, Yu Gui cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted.
“Sister Lu, keep going!!!” Hao Renjie suddenly flung open the office window and stuck his head out.
More and more people joined in to cheer her on, including familiar colleagues and unfamiliar children playing on the lawn.
Lu Qingshi took ninety-nine steps forward, leaving the last step for Gu Yanzhi to complete. She picked her up and spun around in the air, as ginkgo leaves rustled down, creating the most moving scene of this autumn in blue and white.
Hao Renjie wiped his nose with a tissue: “So… so touching… I also want… to fall in love…”
The head nurse rolled her eyes and knocked on his desk: “Look, look, what are you looking at? The nursing log is due!”
Yu Gui placed a cup of warm water into her palm. One was sitting in a wheelchair, the other standing beside her, while Gu Yanzhi played soccer with some kids not far away.
“Thank you,” Lu Qingshi looked up to express her gratitude. It used to be Qin Xuan who often handed her water and coffee. Thinking of this, the smile on her face faded a little; she hadn’t seen her in a while.
The mentor and apprentice chatted off and on.
“That little boy was discharged this morning.”
“Really? How’s his recovery?”
“Pretty good, lively and jumping around,” Yu Gui tightly gripped the coffee can in her hand. “But that elderly person passed away.”
Lu Qingshi looked up, noticing her somewhat forlorn profile. Yu Gui had truly grown a lot, not just in technical skills but also in maturity, which showed in her appearance. She still remembered the first time she saw her, with a face full of innocence and brightness, the kind of carefree smile only someone unscarred could have.
“Come here,” she beckoned slightly with her hand.
The young woman, not sure why, leaned down: “What is it, Teacher Lu?”
Lu Qingshi helped her pull the lanyard with the ID badge out from her collar, smoothing out the wrinkles on her white coat and straightening the crooked badge.
“Go to work.”
In that moment, she felt the kindness of a teacher and the warmth of an older sister.
The young woman’s eyes welled up: “Teacher Lu…”
From afar, Gu Yanzhi’s roar came: “Yu Gui, what are you doing!!!”
Yu Gui placed the coffee can on the seat and dashed off: “Teacher Lu, I’m leaving now!”
Gu Yanzhi ran over and grabbed the cup from her hand, gulping it down: “She makes me so mad, what was she trying to do being so close to you!”
Lu Qingshi chuckled: “You’re even jealous of her.”
She grumbled: “I’m even eating vinegar for French Fries.”
Lu Qingshi tugged on her clothes: “Come here.”
“But…”
“Come here.”
For once, speaking to her in a slightly playful tone, Gu Yanzhi felt warmth in her heart as she turned around and leaned down to look at her.
Their foreheads touched, their eyes met, and her pupils, so dark they had a hint of deep blue, were captivating, drawing her in.
Lu Qingshi held onto her collar, her chest rising and falling slightly with her breath, her pale pink lips parting and closing.
Gu Yanzhi stared intently, instinctively swallowing.
“Still angry?”
She obediently shook her head: “Not angry anymore.”
Lu Qingshi let go of her, with a mischievous fox-like smile on her face: “Then take me home.”
Gu Yanzhi let out a cry of dismay: “That’s it?!”
“That’s it.”
The defeated fire instructor had no choice but to accept it, pushing her back into the hospital with a bitter face—too tragic, she resented Yu Gui.
“Haven’t seen Qin Xuan in a long time,” Lu Qingshi suddenly said while passing the elevator marked for the obstetrics and gynecology floor.
“Want to go see her?” Gu Yanzhi pressed the button for the floor.
She still reached out and canceled it: “No need, let’s go back to the ward.”
After lunch, Qin Xuan pulled out her ID badge from her pocket, putting it on as she walked. The nurse at the triage desk stood up: “Dr. Qin, there’s a flower delivery for you.”
A large bouquet of colorful flowers, with water droplets on them, was handed to her, and she had to free up a hand to hold it: “Which patient’s family sent this?”
“No, a tall, handsome policewoman came looking for you around noon. You weren’t here, so she left it.”
The young nurse winked, as both Qin Xuan and Lu Qingshi were considered eligible singles in the hospital, with many admirers but none successful.
Qin Xuan’s expression froze for a moment, and she tossed the flowers into the triage desk: “They’re for you, little sister. Let me tell you, don’t let just anyone in here. That person is a scoundrel in a police uniform. Didn’t you see the news? There are many who pretend to be police or military to deceive innocent young women, then do horrible things…”
She was speaking enthusiastically when someone suddenly slapped her shoulder from behind.
“Don’t touch me!” She flinched, shaking off the hand on her shoulder.
“Are you Dr. Qin Xuan from the obstetrics and gynecology department?”
She finally turned around to see a middle-aged woman with a kind face holding a fruit basket. She felt the woman looked familiar but couldn’t remember from where.
“Who are you?”
“I’m…” the middle-aged woman said, pulling something out of the fruit basket and hurling it at her face. Egg liquid splattered everywhere, and the smell of rotten eggs filled the air.
A great horror rose in Qin Xuan’s eyes as more rotten eggs came crashing down on her.
“Someone come quickly, she’s hitting the mistress! Watch me beat you to death today, you seductive vixen! Luring my husband away! Even living together! Ugh! Shameless thing! A plaything for anyone and everyone!”
0 Comments