Peerless Beauty – Chapter 108

Double Stars Accompanying the Moon

Disappeared without a trace

Snow falls in flurries.

            

Thirteen dynasties’ ancient capital, silver-adorned and plain-wrapped.

Jian Qing lies on the bed, gazing at the snow scene outside the window.

She gropes for the phone on the bedside table, turns the phone brightness to the lowest, gently pats the person in her arms, showing them the time.

            

The person in her arms, with snow-white skin and black hair, shoulders and neck bearing ambiguous marks, is gently patted awake, eyes sleepy, glances at the time on the phone screen, swats away her hand, disregards, continues sleeping.

Jian Qing then puts away the phone, turns off the alarm, places her hand on the chest of the person in her arms, and also continues sleeping.

Yesterday’s physical exertion was too much, they sleep until midday before both get up to wash.

            

On this snowy day, the two go to eat a steaming hot lamb hotpot meal.

“Today we’ll just stroll around the city center, not go far.” Lu Yinxi says while blanching beef, “Should we go walk on the city wall? I remember under some city gate, there’s a stele forest museum. The two places are close, we can go see them together, let you receive some historical and cultural influence.”

“Mm.” Jian Qing follows her arrangement.

            

Next, Lu Yinxi eats while using her phone to look up historical information, planning to explain to Jian Qing later.

For this kind of historical ancient capital, if one doesn’t understand the history and culture of each scenic spot, aimlessly wandering around is no different from taking a walk in the park.

They bought tickets and stepped onto the snow-covered city wall.

            

After walking a few steps, Lu Yinxi couldn’t walk anymore, making a fuss about wanting to rent a bicycle.

“I checked, it’s over ten kilometers long in total, I’ll be exhausted if we walk the whole circle.”

Jian Qing flicked Lu Yinxi’s forehead: “You’re the one who wanted to come play, and you’re also the one who can’t walk.”

            

She went to rent a tandem bicycle.

She pedals in front, Lu Yinxi sits behind slacking off, with a faint smile at the corners of her eyes and brows, muttering some historical information found on the phone.

Snow fell all night, the pristine white snow covering the dark gray wall bricks, as if time had flowed back to the distant Chang’an city.

            

Reality and history intertwine, virtual and real overlap.

Lu Yinxi looks at the person in front, the smile at the corners of her eyes and brows gradually fades away, replaced by a strand of worry.

The last month, how many more days can they accompany each other?

            

Without artificial manipulation, the clamorous public opinion subsides like receding seawater, gradually calming down.

Lu Yinxi bought many local specialties and wrote several postcards, sending them to those who had helped them: Wei Mingming, Ren Jiajia, Director Yan’s family, reporters, medical field self-media, He Bei’s parents… and also Lan Zhou. Lan Zhou’s repost led to many entertainment industry figures reposting. She wrote letters one by one, thanking them for their help.

Although younger than Jian Qing, having stayed long in the entertainment circle where shrewd people frequent, she’s more seasoned than Jian Qing in handling interpersonal relationships.

            

He Bei’s parents received the specialties and gratitude sent by Lu Yinxi, their eyes welling up. Early the next morning, they went to He Baozhen’s house again, persuading them to withdraw the lawsuit.

He family’s other relatives had been mostly persuaded by them, each returning home, no longer meddling. They pointed at He Baozhen and scolded:

“Now the whole country is cursing you, we Hes, our backbones are about to be bent! We can’t even hold our heads up walking on the street!”

            

“Now your own shop has been reported and is gone, Baozhen you’ve also lost your job, if you continue to be obstinate, I’ll consider our family not having relatives like you!”

“If you don’t think about yourselves, at least consider the child. When he goes to school in the future, how will others look at him? Saying his family are medical troublemakers? Saying his father is ungrateful and sued the person who saved his mother to court?”

After making a fuss for nearly two months, achieving nothing but bringing trouble upon themselves, He Baozhen also felt very frustrated.

            

His parents insisted on making a fuss to the end, stubbornly believing that it was fake medicine that killed his wife, demanding the doctor compensate four million.

No matter how he persuaded, they wouldn’t listen.

Now hearing He Bei’s father mention the child, He Baozhen couldn’t help but sigh heavily: “I’m not managing this anymore. In a few days, I’ll take the child to work in another city. Let them make a fuss if they want, I can’t do it anymore.”

            

In mid-December, Jian Qing received a notice of lawsuit withdrawal from the court.

By then, they had been traveling in X City for half a month, and were planning to move to the next city for tourism.

Jian Qing looked at the notice and casually tossed it aside. Lu Yinxi picked it up to look, then tore it up and threw it in the trash can.

            

Days passed one by one, Jian Qing’s mood recovered a lot, gradually showing smiles on her face, only occasionally revealing a trace of bewilderment.

One-third of her life had been accompanied by medicine.

Putting aside medicine, she didn’t know what she would do next.

            

Sometimes she would unconsciously bring up familiar things.

The medical field likes to use food shapes to describe symptoms, like cauliflower-like or cheese-like. When eating, if encountering familiar ones, she would mention it.

When the two were eating crab, Lu Yinxi talked about how some malignant tumors look like crabs, a solid center with branches radiating outward like crab legs.

            

Jian Qing said: “Hippocrates initially named malignant tumors ‘karkinos’, which means ‘crab’ in Greek.”

Lu Yinxi nodded and smiled: “The English word for malignant tumor, ‘cancer’, also means the constellation Cancer.”

She was about to say more when Jian Qing, as if suddenly realizing something, stopped talking about medicine and abruptly changed the topic—

            

“Do you want to meet my younger sister?”

Lu Yinxi froze for a second, then nodded like a pecking chick: “Sure.”

“We need to go back to the villa in the countryside.”

            

“Then let’s go back to Jiangzhou City first, and drive back from Jiangzhou City.”

Transportation in the countryside isn’t as convenient as in the city, it’s better to drive there ourselves.

Jian Qing gave an “mm” in agreement.

            

After finishing the meal, as Jian Qing stood up to pay the bill, a mother holding a child at the next table suddenly cried out: “Baby! Someone help! My baby is choking!”

The waiter hurriedly dialed 120, and the restaurant manager went over to comfort the mother’s emotions.

Jian Qing saw the child in the mother’s arms, about one year old, mouth open, unable to make a sound, lips somewhat blackened, little face flushed red, limbs constantly struggling and moving. The mother wanted to give him water, to help him swallow.

            

People around gradually gathered, wanting to help, but were at a loss.

“Don’t give water.”

This time Jian Qing didn’t hesitate, pushed through the crowd, walked straight over, took the child, laid him face down on her lap, head downward, forcefully patting the child’s back.

            

After about ten seconds, the child spat out a meatball, and let out a cry.

Jian Qing checked the child’s complexion and lip color, handed him back to his mother, and instinctively assuming the role of a doctor, reprimanded: “How could you feed meatballs to such a small child?”

The mother cried while thanking her and explaining: “He grabbed it and put it in his mouth when I wasn’t paying attention…”

            

Family members comforted: “It’s okay now, it’s fine, let’s go to the hospital for a check-up.”

They asked Jian Qing again: “Hello, from which unit are you a doctor or nurse in? We’re so grateful to you, we’d like to send a banner of appreciation to your unit!”

Jian Qing shook her head, didn’t answer, paid the bill, and pulled Lu Yinxi to leave.

            

After walking a few hundred meters, Jian Qing’s brows and eyes faintly revealed some joy.

Lu Yinxi knew why she was happy this time, pinched her ear, and said: “Move it.”

Jian Qing obediently wiggled her ear.

            

In the winter countryside, mountains covered in snow, all was silent, mountains and plains alternating.

The rice fields were already desolate, a thin layer of ice formed in the fields, not far from the field edges were scattered several households, no towering buildings, only black-tiled white walls, faint wisps of cooking smoke could be vaguely seen.

Jian Qing’s silhouette was faintly reflected in the car window.

            

Very faint.

That silhouette sat upright, back straight, seeming even straighter than the snow-covered pine trees outside the window.

The car drove through a long tunnel, the light dim, the silhouette reflected in the car window became clearer.

            

Lu Yinxi looked at her silhouette, as if she could never look enough.

Ruan Xi’s grave was on the mountaintop.

Jian Qing brought Lu Yinxi to pay respects at the grave.

            

The two of them wiped the dust off the tombstone together, cleared the scattered snow around the grave.

“What did your sister like to eat?”

“Sweets.”

            

“What cartoons did she love to watch?”

“Ultraman.”

Lu Yinxi burst into laughter.

            

The two asked and answered questions about Ruan Xi.

After coming down the mountain, Lu Yinxi and Jian Qing asked for a photo of Ruan Xi, and used software to simulate Ruan Xi’s appearance from childhood to adulthood.

8 years old, 15 years old, 18 years old, 25 years old… Lu Yinxi drew them one by one and gave them to Jian Qing.

            

Jian Qing looked at the portraits while looking at Lu Yinxi.

Lu Yinxi muttered: “You know, we really do look quite similar…”

The tear mole, face shape, eyes and brows, were about 30-40 percent similar.

            

Jian Qing put away the portraits, looked at Lu Yinxi, and said lightly: “You are you, she is she.”

Lu Yinxi let out a soft hum, said nothing more, and stood up to leave the living room.

She put on medical gloves, took two pet bowls, filled one with cat food and the other with water, and walked to the door.

            

Outside the door on the carpet, several cats were curled up, white, black, orange, multicolored, huddled on the wool carpet to keep warm.

As soon as they saw Lu Yinxi, they raised their heads, stood their fur on end, stared vigilantly for a few seconds, then as if recognizing her, pitter-pattered over, rubbing their fluffy little heads against her trouser legs, mewing “meow~ meow~ meow” as if coquettishly.

Lu Yinxi squatted down, put down the pet bowls, and the cats rushed to bury their heads in the bowls, scrambling for food.

            

She saw an orange kitten lying down, almost its entire body in the bowl, occupying a large space.

She picked it up by the scruff of its neck, not letting it eat the cat food, carrying it like a bag into the house, and poured a bowl of goat’s milk.

There was a litter of stray cats nearby, she had seen them these past few days, so she brought them back to the villa.

            

The villa had floor heating, and a fluffy carpet was laid at the door, which could help this litter of kittens get through this cold winter.

Jian Qing followed the sound to the door and saw a bowl full of fluff.

Lu Yinxi walked straight past her, put the kitten on the ground, and pressed its head to drink milk.

            

The kitten stuck out its tongue and slurped the milk, its lips quickly rimmed with white milk stains, looking soft, obedient, and adorable.

Jian Qing looked at this bowl of fluff, then at Lu Yinxi beside the bowl, and said: “Let’s keep them inside.”

It’s warmer inside.

            

Lu Yinxi had previously been concerned about Jian Qing’s love for cleanliness, so she didn’t let the stray cats into the house, only placing a cardboard box lined with several layers of fluff on the carpet under the eaves for them.

“We’re not planning to keep them long-term, if we let them in, what will we do later?” she asked Jian Qing.

Jian Qing said: “I don’t come here often, give it to them as a den.”

            

Having a place to shelter from wind and rain is always better than wandering outside with no fixed abode.

“They can’t enter the bedroom and bathroom,” Jian Qing reminded.

“Then we’ll keep the doors closed usually,” Lu Yinxi brought the cats into the house, “By the way, how long are we staying here?”

            

“How long do you want to stay?”

“Can we stay until the end of the month?” Lu Yinxi asked.

She didn’t know what would happen next, hiding here, minimizing activity and not seeing people, was the best choice.

            

Jian Qing: “You like it here?”

Lu Yinxi lied with her eyes wide open: “I like the plum blossom forest outside.”

In the original plot, her fate was to commit suicide and be buried by Jian Qing in that plum forest.

            

Jian Qing glanced at the plum forest outside, an icy crystal world, winter plums blooming alone.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month.

Life in the countryside was very peaceful, feeding cats and playing with dogs, comfortable and carefree.

            

Jian Qing’s colleagues would occasionally call to check in, but Jian Qing was unwilling to chat much, only asking about the condition of old patients.

Wei Mingming was transferred to other mentors, but still frequently contacted Jian Qing, pestering her with questions.

Sometimes Jian Qing would answer, sometimes she wouldn’t.

            

There was no longer a teacher-student relationship between them.

“【Double Stars Accompany the Moon, Welcoming the New Year】 Around 5 AM on January 1st, Venus and Jupiter will successively conjunct with the Moon in the southeastern sky, creating a ‘double stars accompanying the moon’ celestial phenomenon. Astronomy enthusiasts should not miss it.”

The TV host broadcast the astronomical information with clear and precise pronunciation. Lu Yinxi sat on the sofa, hugging her knees, watching with a serious expression.

            

Jian Qing walked over, kissed her forehead: “Do you want to watch? It appears in the early morning.”

Lu Yinxi shook her head: “No.”

She just, didn’t know if something unexpected would happen at that time in the early morning.

            

She didn’t dare to close her eyes all night.

After four o’clock in the early morning, approaching five o’clock, Lu Yinxi still had no trace of sleepiness.

She got out of Jian Qing’s embrace, walked to the living room, and opened the curtains.

            

Outside the window, the snow was silver-like.

Several sleepless cats wandered in the living room. Seeing Lu Yinxi, they all gathered around, circling her feet, rubbing their heads.

Lu Yinxi looked at the sky, feeling uneasy in her heart.

            

She paced back and forth on the spot, after hesitating for a few seconds, found paper and pen, and wrote down a message:

【Although it’s absurd, you can imagine that I’m a person who came from a parallel space-time. The day I came, there was a celestial phenomenon of double stars accompanying the moon in the sky. I told you before that the stars brought me here, you thought it was a joke. Tonight this phenomenon appears again. If I mysteriously disappear from this world, leaving no trace, please don’t worry about my safety, and especially don’t do anything rash. Live well, wait for me, I will find a way to come back to you.】

Lu Yinxi wrote the date and name on the note, and placed it on the coffee table.

            

If she was still here after dawn, she would tear up this note and forget about that world, staying here obediently.

At 5 AM, Venus and Jupiter rose from the distant snowy mountains, forming a celestial phenomenon of double stars accompanying the moon with a bright moon over the Tianshan Mountains.

Lu Yinxi stood up, walked to the window, looking at the moon and stars.

            

The clingy cats followed her from the coffee table to the window.

She looked up at the stars, the cats squatted on the ground, looking up at her, wagging their tails.

In an instant, the silhouette reflected in the cats’ eyes suddenly disappeared.

            

The cats, as if frightened, stood their fur on end, their pupils contracted, “meowing” in alarm, scattering in all directions, trying to find the familiar figure and scent.

The cat cries rose one after another, waking Jian Qing in the bedroom.

Jian Qing frowned slightly, waited for a few seconds, but the group of cats still didn’t quiet down.

            

She opened her eyes, sat up from the bed, feeling irritated, wanting to grab the cats and put them in the storage room to reflect on their behavior.

But upon opening her eyes, she didn’t see the figure of the person beside her pillow.

She was stunned for a second, looked at the time.

            

It was only 5 o’clock.

Where did she go?

Jian Qing instantly became fully awake, ignoring the existence of the cats, turned on the light, stood up, wearing cotton slippers, searching for Lu Yinxi’s figure.

            

“Yinxi?”

Jian Qing went around the guest room, bathroom, and study, but didn’t see anyone.

Could she have gone outside to look at the moon?

            

She opened the door, and the cold wind hit her face.

The sky was still dark, visibility was poor.

She put on a large coat, braved the cold wind, using a flashlight, searched in the plum garden.

            

“Yinxi? Are you outside?”

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The author has something to say:

Happy Children’s Day to little friends and big friends!

            

Dr. Jian: Where did my beautiful girlfriend go?

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