Peerless Beauty – Chapter 98

Painting

Landscape painting of mountains, rivers, and snow

In the height of summer, in a coastal city, the nights are often rainy.

            

The rain moistens the flowers in the corner of the wall; the flowers tremble and droop, soaking in the water.

Outside, the night rain pours heavily. Inside, Lu Yinxi retrieves the painting paper from the water, enters the bedroom, and carefully begins to paint.

On the back of the painting paper, there was already a flower as alluring as fire. She traces the outline of that flower with her fingertips, then gently turns the paper over.

            

She smooths it out, unfolds it, picks up her brush, and gazes at it with stillness, her eyes filled with infinite tenderness.

On this paper, she intends to learn how to paint a landscape of mountains, rivers, and snow.

With her wrist suspended, she paints. The brush falls on snowy peaks, full and winding, varying in height, with a pleasing balance of thick and light strokes.

            

Two red plum blossoms are dotted above the snowy peaks, their bright red against the white snow strikingly eye-catching.

Lu Yinxi is particularly fond of these two red plum blossoms, using many strokes to hook, dot, and press the ink.

The ink and water dampen the painting paper.

            

In an icy, snow-covered world, searching for plum blossoms through the snow, yet her heart burns like a wildfire.

A thin layer of sweat forms on Lu Yinxi’s forehead. She holds the brush with extreme lightness, not daring to apply pressure, fearing she might damage the paper beneath.

“Don’t be afraid, you can use a bit more force,” Jian Qing, though blindfolded, doesn’t forget to guide her.

            

“Oh, alright…” With Jian Qing’s instruction, Lu Yinxi’s cheeks burn with embarrassment, her voice trembling with nervousness. “You must tell me if I’m not doing something well…”

She closes her eyes, adjusts her breathing rhythm, and gradually increases the pressure on the brush.

Opening her eyes again.

            

The brush falls on the plains, creating graceful curves, winding downwards, depicting deep forests and ravines, with streams gurgling.

Jian Qing gives the most genuine reactions based on her painting.

The sound of rain is shut out beyond the window; inside, only their breathing and the sound of the brush on rice paper remain.

            

Jian Qing suddenly chuckles softly, his voice also trembling slightly: “You indeed… should call me teacher now.”

The painting student, not willing to concede, let out a soft hum. Her right hand covers her mouth, while her left hand continues painting, secretly vowing to show her a thing or two.

Outlining, texturing, dotting, coloring…

            

The student had previously learned the basics of painting from the teacher. Being naturally intelligent, she now understands how to apply these skills creatively. Her brush moves with rhythm and order, starting light then becoming heavy, from shallow to deep, the ink flowing freely, rising and falling without cease.

Snowmelt emerges from the deep ravines, gathering into pools, moistening the rice paper.

Having held the brush for too long, her left arm grows increasingly sore. The student switches to her right hand, patiently and meticulously continuing to create waves on the paper.

            

In the quiet of the deep night, the teacher who had been giving instructions earlier now speaks drowsily: “Do you… still want to continue?”

“Yes, continue,” Lu Yinxi says, sweat beading on the tip of her nose, droplets falling onto the snowy peaks of the painting.

Jian Qing sighs softly: “You are… too eager to learn…”

            

Allowing her to work late into the night, Jian Qing nearly arrives late for work the next day.

Lu Yinxi wakes up before her and prepares a steak sandwich and hot milk for her.

Jian Qing hurriedly packs it to go. Before leaving, to retaliate against Lu Yinxi for nearly making her late, she coldly assigns a task: “Face the wall for ten minutes, and tonight when I return, recite 《Ode to the Red Cliff》 for me from memory.”

            

Lu Yinxi, massaging her sore arms, wants to protest that she didn’t punish or blame Jian Qing last time. After some thought, deciding that a mature person doesn’t hold grudges over small matters, she refrains from arguing. She obediently responds with an “Oh” and watches Jian Qing leave.

Fortunately, the hospital is only a street away from home.

Jian Qing arrives at the office before the department head, Hu Jianjun.

            

Doctors don’t need to clock in, but they cannot be absent from the morning shift handover without good reason.

The nurse on duty reports on the patients’ conditions from the previous night. After listening, Hu Jianjun, as usual, emphasizes once again the issues of medical quality and safety.

Today there’s no grand ward round by the department head. After attending the morning handover, Hu Jianjun hurriedly leaves, intending to attend a city-level meeting.

            

At the doorway, he is stopped by a young couple.

“Professor Hu, do you have time to examine my wife?”

Hu Jianjun recognizes this young couple.

            

The husband’s surname is He, and the wife’s is Li. A few years ago, during her pregnancy, Mrs. Li was diagnosed with lung cancer at their hospital.

He and the multidisciplinary consultation team recommended terminating the pregnancy as part of the treatment plan. Mrs. Li refused. After undergoing surgery in the thoracic surgery department, she didn’t accept further postoperative radiotherapy or chemotherapy, insisting on giving birth to her child. Now, her lung cancer has recurred post-surgery, and she has been transferred to the oncology department for treatment.

Hu Jianjun glances at the time and hurriedly asks, “Our department’s doctors have briefed me on your wife’s condition. Have you decided to continue with the treatment?”

            

During the last hospital evaluation, Jian Qing gave a PR (Progressive Disease) assessment result, which left Mrs. Li feeling discouraged and considering giving up treatment.

When the oncology nurse called for a follow-up, she offered some words of encouragement, and Mr. He brought his wife back again.

“Our family is facing some difficulties, but we’ll get through it if we endure a bit longer. The child is too young and can’t be without a mother. Professor Hu, please examine her again.”

            

Mr. He pleads quietly to Hu Jianjun, while Mrs. Li, with red and swollen eyes, looks at Hu Jianjun with hopeful eyes.

Hu Jianjun checks his watch again: “Look, I have a meeting to attend now. I’ll have one of our department’s doctors examine you first.” He turns his head and calls into the office, “Ah Qing, admit the patient.”

Jian Qing had been under Hu Jianjun’s team since she was an intern. Back then, she was responsible for admitting Hu Jianjun’s patients and writing admission records.

            

Even though she no longer needs to personally admit patients now, Hu Jianjun is still in the habit of calling for her.

She then delegates to Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue delegates to interns and graduate students.

            

Each level pressures the one below.

Jian Qing sees this couple and quickly recognizes them as well.

“Have you decided to continue with the treatment?” she asks straightforwardly.

            

The husband says, “We plan to try again. Our child at home is too young and can’t be without a mother.”

Jian Qing takes Mrs. Li’s medical card, swipes it, and registers: “To treat this disease, your whole family needs to be prepared for long-term treatment. Your family members shouldn’t put too much psychological pressure on her, and should pay more attention to her emotional state.”

She remembers that Mrs. Li came alone for her last consultation.

            

Cancer treatment relies heavily on family support.

A family’s attitude towards the disease and treatment directly affects the patient’s mental health and adherence to treatment.

Especially for internal medicine treatment, unlike the swift and decisive nature of surgery, it is a long treatment process that requires mutual trust between doctors and patients, and mutual support among family members.

            

Otherwise, it’s difficult to cross the river alone in a small boat.

Jian Qing asks about Mrs. Li’s recent condition and prescribes some pain medication, saying: “I’m prescribing you some pain relief medication. Currently, we don’t have any beds available in our department. It will probably take about one to two weeks. I’ll have someone call you to come and complete the hospitalization procedures, then we’ll arrange some examinations and a second-line treatment plan for you.”

Mr. He asks anxiously: “Is this treatment plan confirmed by Professor Hu?”

            

They initially transferred to the oncology department because of Hu Jianjun’s reputation, and the female doctor before them seems relatively young.

Medical trust depends on age and experience; patients naturally distrust doctors who seem too young.

Jian Qing says: “Professor Hu is my superior. He will review all treatment plans in our group, so you can rest assured.”

            

After saying this, she takes out a prescription form and writes down some nutritional support medications.

Cancer patients often face malnutrition problems due to disease burden and side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, such as bone marrow suppression, vomiting, and diarrhea, so nutritional support is necessary.

“Go to the pharmacy to buy these.”

            

Mr. He asks: “Doesn’t the hospital have these?”

Jian Qing explains calmly: “It’s an insurance issue. Our hospital’s pharmacy doesn’t stock these medications. She’s bought them from pharmacies before.”

Mrs. Li takes the prescription: “Yes, I’ve bought them before. I know where to get them.”

            

Since Mrs. Li’s cancer recurrence, her husband has only accompanied her to the hospital once. For subsequent medication purchases and doctor visits, she has mostly managed on her own.

Mr. He glances at Jian Qing, his eyes revealing a hint of suspicion.

Jian Qing, of course, knows what he’s suspecting.

            

Prescribing medications for patients to buy at pharmacies can easily be misinterpreted as the doctor receiving kickbacks from the pharmacy, intentionally directing patients to buy there.

However, it is indeed due to medical insurance negotiations and cost control issues that the hospital simply doesn’t stock these medications.

“You can buy them at any pharmacy that carries them,” she says, without specifying any particular pharmacy. She doesn’t have time to explain further, quickly resolving Mrs. Li’s issues before leading junior doctors and interns on teaching rounds.

            

A teaching round typically takes at least 2-3 hours, with continuous questioning and guiding the educational process.

Every time she asked a question, the students were like quails, lowering their heads, not daring to make eye contact with her.

She particularly enjoyed asking more questions, scaring these students a little.

            

After the rounds, Wei Mingming was writing up the ward notes, while Zhang Yue was helping patients with admission procedures.

Jian Qing, standing until her back and waist ached, sat in the office drinking coffee, gently massaging her lower back.

Young people indeed had better stamina; next time, she couldn’t let that kid at home wear her out so recklessly…

            

At noon, a patient in the unit became critically ill, requiring emergency treatment. Jian Qing stayed to work overtime, not going home for lunch.

Lu Yinxi went to a nearby restaurant to pack her favorite bento box, delivered it to her office, and also packed one each for Wei Mingming and Zhang Yue.

The takeout box had a small blue heart-shaped note attached. After returning to her office, Jian Qing washed her hands, sat down, tore off the note and threw it in the trash, then opened the meal box and started eating.

            

Wei Mingming, having finished tidying up the ward, came back and also sat down to eat.

The heart-shaped notes usually contained some well-wishes written by the restaurant. Wei Mingming habitually glanced at them.

Looking at the note, she smiled and said, “This note must be from Xiaolu.”

            

Hearing this, Jian Qing reached out and snatched it to look.

The note had a sketch of Wei Mingming with a baby face.

She looked at it for a few seconds, then stared at the trash can under the desk with a look of disdain.

            

The trash can under the desk wasn’t for medical waste, but specifically for paper scraps.

The garbage bag had just been changed, so there was no other trash yet, only the note she had discarded.

Jian Qing looked disgusted for a few seconds, then made up her mind, bent down, and retrieved the blue note from the trash can.

            

On the paper was a poem:

【Last night in the bridal chamber the red candles were still,
At dawn we’ll bow before the parents-in-law.
Makeup done, she softly asks her husband,
“Are my eyebrows drawn fashionably enough?”】

Jian Qing read it over and over, but couldn’t understand its meaning.

            

She opened her phone to search for the allusion. Online sources said it was a poet, after taking the imperial examination, using the analogy of a bride asking if her eyebrows were drawn appropriately to seek the examiners’ opinions on his composition.

As for Lu Yinxi’s intention in writing this poem…

After pondering its implications, Jian Qing smiled faintly and sent her a message:

            

【On a scale of 0 to 10, you score 8 points.】

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LP: The poem is a famous work by the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Jian. Traditionally, it’s interpreted as an allegory for a scholar seeking feedback on his performance in the imperial examinations. The newlywed bride asking about her eyebrows represents the scholar inquiring about his exam performance.

Ahem… Lu Yinxi painting is actually her topping Jian Qing… so y’know, she’s asking how her performance is ( ∩´͈ ᐜ `͈∩)

            

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