In the Midst of Fate
Never harm her
At noon, the sun was shining brightly, and the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves cast dappled shadows on the ground.
Lu Yinxi squinted as she observed the halos of light on the leaves, trying to make sense of the myriad threads.
She attempted to change a person’s fate, once believing she had succeeded, thinking she saw hope…
But now… How did it come to this?
Was there a misstep somewhere?
Was it an accident, or a destined arrangement? Is a person’s fate unchangeable?
Previously, the death of Teacher Zhao was just a vague speculation, but now, He Bei’s death seemed to further confirm this guess.
Jian Qing sat at the stone table in the pavilion, leisurely finishing her meal. She glanced at Lu Yinxi’s back and consoled her, “Life and death are predestined, don’t dwell on it.”
Lu Yinxi turned around, looked at Jian Qing, and hesitated to speak.
Is life and death predestined? But what if it was your fate?
Jian Qing sensed a hint of something unusual, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked her, “What’s wrong?”
Lu Yinxi looked at her, shook her head, and softly said, “I do not accept fate.”
Why should she accept such a fate?
Her usually gentle expression suddenly turned serious, and she continued speaking to Jian Qing, “You are not allowed to accept fate either.”
Jian Qing was silent for a moment, the corners of her lips slightly lifted, and her cold expression softened a bit, “Sit down.”
Lu Yinxi restrained her serious expression and obediently sat down.
Jian Qing took out a pack of tissues, pulled one out, and wiped the corner of Lu Yinxi’s lips, speaking softly, “You need to eat properly.”
Lu Yinxi grabbed the tissue from Jian Qing’s hand and wiped herself, not understanding the connection between not accepting fate and eating properly.
Do you need to be full to fight fate?
She didn’t understand, so she asked, “What great principle is this?”
Jian Qing slowly tidied up the table, glanced at her, and said honestly, “There’s no reason, you’ve lost a lot of weight.”
Lu Yinxi: …
“Being thinner… is also good,” Lu Yinxi raised her hand to look at her wrist, the ulnar styloid process was particularly prominent, she touched that small bone, “After a major illness, no need to diet…”
Jian Qing didn’t say anything else, threw away the trash, sat with Lu Yinxi in the pavilion for a while, then urged her to go back to the ward for a nap.
Lu Yinxi stood up, took a step, then stopped: “Teacher Jian, carry me on your back.”
Jian Qing’s expression was indifferent, she glanced at her sideways, and said, “Your lungs are not good, not your legs.”
Lu Yinxi tugged at her clothes and swayed them, smiling brightly, with a bit of coquettishness in her smile: “Just carry me once, okay? It’s hard to lose weight, and when I get back over a hundred pounds, you won’t be able to carry me.”
Jian Qing stared coldly at Lu Yinxi.
Lu Yinxi, undeterred by the cold, continued to sway her clothes.
Jian Qing waved her hand away, squatted in front of her with her back facing her, and sighed, “Such a big person.”
“Not big, only 20.” Having achieved her goal, Lu Yinxi laughed as she lay on Jian Qing’s back, hugging Jian Qing’s neck.
After work, Jian Qing did not wear a white lab coat. She wore a half turtleneck white wool sweater, black jeans, flat white shoes. White, black, white, tall and slim, very casual and relaxed outfit, like a quiet neighbor’s sister.
Lu Yinxi lay on her back, whispering in her ear: “Have you been eating well these days?”
Jian Qing carried her, walking step by step in the corridor, neither saying good nor bad: “The same as usual.”
The actions of the two attracted some attention, and quite a few people looked over. Their gazes lingered on Jian Qing’s face for a few seconds, showing a hint of amazement. When they met Jian Qing’s cold gaze, they quickly looked away, but after a few seconds, they timidly and curiously glanced over again.
Noticing their gazes, Lu Yinxi’s eyes turned, she patted the bend of her own leg and said in a trembling voice: “Sister, when will my legs recover? The doctor said my hope of standing up in this life is slim? Is it true?”
Jian Qing’s steps paused, she was silent for a while, then cooperated with her performance: “No, I will find a doctor to cure you.”
Lu Yinxi buried her head in Jian Qing’s neck, her shoulders trembling: “Then why are they always looking at my legs? Are they laughing at me because my legs are lame?”
Jian Qing glanced around and said: “No, no one is looking at you.”
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The people around, hearing Lu Yinxi’s sorrowful tone and receiving Jian Qing’s warning glance, no longer dared to look over.
Lu Yinxi buried her head in Jian Qing’s neck and secretly laughed, her warm breath making Jian Qing’s heart itch.
They walked a bit further, arriving at a place with few people.
Jian Qing asked, “Is it fun?”
“Quite fun. Your breath is still steady now, you have good stamina.” Lu Yinxi patted her shoulder to praise her, continuing the previous topic, “Then have you been sleeping well these days?”
Jian Qing replied indifferently, “The same as usual.”
Actually, these days, food has no taste, and sleep is restless. Whether her eyes are open or closed, all she sees is Lu Yinxi lying weakly on the hospital bed.
Lu Yinxi continued to ask, “Did you get bumped or bruised while crossing the street?”
“Are you cursing me?”
Lu Yinxi hugged Jian Qing tighter and chuckled softly, “No.”
She couldn’t bear to curse her.
She just felt that her illness had come suddenly and strangely, and she worried that Jian Qing might also be affected by some irresistible force.
After all, it was she who had dragged Jian Qing along to try to change the fate of the characters.
Lu Yinxi made up her mind that from now on, whatever actions she took to try and change the plot, she would not pull Jian Qing into it.
Even if, in the depths of fate, there was some kind of karmic cycle of retribution, let it all fall on her, and may it never hurt Jian Qing.
Jian Qing said nothing more.
Lu Yinxi recalled the middle-aged couple who had rushed to the emergency room that day, crying and almost kneeling in apology. She gently touched Jian Qing’s back of the head with her forehead and asked, “Will Miss He’s parents be very sad? They must be full of regret and self-blame.”
Their daughter had narrowly escaped death, only to not escape her fate in the end.
To experience such highs and lows in a short time, to gain and then lose, how could that middle-aged couple bear it?
“If Miss He had died in the park initially, they would also have felt regret and self-blame for not taking her to the hospital sooner,” Jian Qing replied. “Everyone must take responsibility for their own actions. The hospital had repeatedly emphasized not to leave, but they insisted on going home for the New Year.”
Lu Yinxi said, “I don’t know if saving her in the park was right or wrong.”
Jian Qing asked, “Why do you think this way?”
Lu Yinxi said, “If Miss He had just passed away in the park, her parents might have accepted it more easily. Now, they’ve lost both their daughter and their money, gaining and then losing again, which must be more painful.”
Jian Qing: “Let me ask you, if I were destined to die, but spending tens of thousands could give me a few more days to be with you, would you be willing to spend it?”
“Yes.”
Even if it meant losing everything.
Lu Yinxi tightly hugged Jian Qing: “You mustn’t make such comparisons in the future; it’s unlucky.”
Jian Qing smiled.
People who work in hospitals, do they still care about luck?
Lu Yinxi continued, “There must be many such people and stories in the oncology department.”
Jian Qing replied with a hum and said, “Many patients are destined to die, and those families are destined to lose both their loved ones and their money. But as long as they want treatment, we must provide it.”
Patients in the late stages of cancer, doomed to die, are almost always spending money to buy time. Some families, even if it means losing everything and being heavily in debt, will still buy medicine to treat their loved ones.
Patients don’t want to lose both life and money, dragging down their families, while family members only hope the patients can live a bit longer to spend more time with them.
Companionship and love cannot be measured by money.
Lu Yinxi leaned against Jian Qing’s neck, no longer speaking.
Jian Qing walked to the internal medicine building and stopped: “You should get down now.”
Lu Yinxi responded with an “Oh” and jumped off Jian Qing’s back: “Thank you, Teacher Jian.”
Jian Qing glanced at her indifferently: “You’re welcome.”
Little ancestor.
In the afternoon, Jian Qing returned to work in the oncology ward, while Lu Yinxi was on the hospital bed, managing her Weibo account.
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Last time, the hot search attracted tens of thousands of followers. Not only on Weibo, but other short video platforms also brought in a lot of traffic. Some economic companies even called her to sign contracts, including major live streaming platforms as well as unknown small film and television companies on the verge of bankruptcy.
Lu Yinxi rejected all offers, managing the account herself. Occasionally, she wrote a few science articles, drew some medical science cartoons, and the official media would help to share them. She would then post a few selfies, causing her follower count to surge.
She spent two days and nights drawing some cartoons about pneumonia and writing a science article, which she posted on Weibo and video platforms. Then, she withdrew all the money she had received from fans’ tips since she opened the account.
Lu Yinxi originally planned to use this money to rent a house outside and move out of Jian Qing’s home.
Next month, she could officially join the filming crew, and the first payment would be deposited into her account.
Therefore, by the end of the month, she could find a good place and move out.
Now, she wanted to transfer this money to He Bei’s parents.
Lu Yinxi borrowed a computer from the doctors in the Respiratory Medicine Department to check He Bei’s hospital records.
The doctor knew she was an acquaintance of Jian Qing and currently interning in the second oncology ward, so he lent it to her readily.
She accessed He Bei’s medical records in the system, where she could find the contact information of the patient’s family.
It listed the phone number of He Bei’s father.
She opened Alipay, searched for this number, and directly transferred the money.
From now on, she would no longer intervene randomly in matters involving life and death for others. Otherwise, she wouldn’t know if it might bring them even greater harm.
She would only try again in trivial matters.
Whether she could change her and Jian Qing’s fate or not, she had to try.
There was no other choice.
She couldn’t resign herself to fate.
On the day of discharge, Jian Qing was working overtime at the hospital.
Lu Yinxi was accustomed to the busyness of this profession, so she completed the discharge procedures herself and carried her luggage back to Jian Qing’s home.
The so-called home was actually just across the street.
The houseplants at home were well taken care of by Jian Qing. As soon as she entered, she saw the lush green vines and spotless leaves of the green radish.
The fridge at home was stuffed full, and a small note was stuck on the fridge door: 【I’ll cook dinner when I get back.】
In front of the sofa on the coffee table, there were several fruit plates, including the sugar tangerines that Lu Yinxi loved to eat, various flavors of potato chips, and other miscellaneous snacks.
Finally, it felt a bit like home.
Lu Yinxi smiled.
But next month, when the crew’s first payment arrived, she planned to move out.
She didn’t want to be treated by Jian Qing as a pet kept by her side.
Lu Yinxi always remembered the feeling Jian Qing initially gave her, like she had picked up a pitiful stray cat by chance on the roadside. Jian Qing neither liked nor disliked cats, but out of a sense of responsibility, provided the cat with the necessary water, food, and shelter for survival, and then paid no more attention.
Even though this feeling had weakened a lot later on, Lu Yinxi never forgot the sense of inequality of being kept as a pet.
The more she liked Jian Qing, the more she feared that sense of inequality.
She was afraid that one day she would love Jian Qing deeply, while Jian Qing could easily take everything back.
What would she do at that time?
She liked Jian Qing, but she couldn’t live depending on Jian Qing; she had to have the ability to live independently in this world.
If she didn’t even have the ability to survive independently, how could she protect those she wanted to protect in the future?
After organizing her luggage and belongings, Lu Yinxi took a shower, opened her laptop, and planned to go online.
The laptop hadn’t been used for too many days; as soon as it was turned on, it began slowly updating automatically.
Lu Yinxi didn’t have time to wait, so she walked into the study, sat in front of the desktop computer, and opened the notes on her phone while calculating expenses on paper.
She meticulously calculated all the expenses over the past month and a half, including the cost of this hospitalization, item by item.
Once the money arrived, she would repay Jian Qing.
After deducting the repayment, the remaining money needed to last for three months. When the three-month shoot ended, the crew would pay the full remuneration.
Lu Yinxi searched online for rental listings in Jiangzhou City, recording them one by one on paper, listing the pros and cons, and comparing options.
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Jian Qing came home late from work. Lu Yinxi couldn’t bear to let her go to the kitchen to cook for herself, so she stopped her search for housing halfway, put away and hid the papers, and went to the kitchen to cook.
When Jian Qing came home from work and opened the door, she heard the sound of stir-frying coming from the kitchen. Her cold face melted like ice and snow, revealing a faint smile.
She took off her coat and first brought the documents in her hand to the study, intending to read them later.
The computer on the desk was still on. She sat down and habitually cleaned up the trash and ran the antivirus software to scan for any viruses.
There was a stack of A4 papers on the desk. Jian Qing casually picked them up, planning to organize them and put them back into the printer.
As soon as she picked them up, she noticed that the top sheet was covered with dense marks, both numbers and words, as if someone had used it as a pad for writing something.
The handwriting didn’t look like her own, and Lu Yinxi usually wouldn’t come into the study.
Jian Qing took a pencil and lightly shaded over the paper with the side of the lead.
The handwriting gradually appeared.
Jian Qing looked at the rows of expenses and the various housing listings, pursing her lips in silence.
“Teacher Jian, come eat!” Lu Yinxi rushed to the study door, beaming brightly. “Come quickly and taste the dinner prepared by the great chef for you.”
The author has something to say:
Jian Qing (At noon): Little ancestor
At night: Little ingrate
Thank you to the cuties who sent moonstones, heart. Currently, I have enough to use for over 20 novel covers, so I won’t need more for now. Muah muah~~