Cold War
It’s better to just break it off like this.
The ward was bustling, with patients to attend to on one side and various inspections to handle on the other.
No one’s personal emotions could be considered. Lu Yinxi was pulled by the head nurse to decorate the facade, sparing her the awkwardness of direct contact with Jian Qing.
Jian Qing was busy in the ward, too busy to step away. She habitually made coffee for her and suddenly thought she hadn’t eaten breakfast.
She poured out the coffee, replaced it with a cup of hot milk, and placed a few small breads on Jian Qing’s seat before leaving.
She went to the piano room to play the piano, to show the leaders of the health administration department the hospital’s humanistic care for patients, and also took a group photo with the leaders.
After the leaders left, Lu Yinxi continued to play 《Amazing Grace》.
This was still the piece that Teacher Zhou taught her back then.
The melody was soothing and tranquil. Sangsang, who was sitting beside Lu Yinxi, tugged at her sleeve: “Sister, play something more stirring. The cells in my body are fighting, and they need a cheer.”
Sangsang had come for chemotherapy again. This time, she was already able to walk flexibly with a prosthesis and no longer needed to lean against the wall.
Lu Yinxi peeled a candy for her and, without a word, switched from 《Amazing Grace》 to the stirring melody of 《Symphony of Destiny》 (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5), which was so loud that the beard of the old grandpa accompanying the patient in the next ward stood up high. He came over with a cane to comfort her: “Little girl, did you had break up? You’re playing like you’re slaughtering a pig!”
Lu Yinxi had no choice but to cover her face and admit that her skills were not proficient and that she only knew a few pieces.
Sangsang laughed with a giggle, did not force her, and continued to let her play 《Amazing Grace》.
Halfway through, Lu Yinxi went to the restroom.
Walking in the corridor of the ward, Jian Qing came towards her.
Meeting on a narrow path, Lu Yinxi wanted to take the initiative to greet her, but Jian Qing’s gaze skimmed over her like a dragonfly touching water, with an indifferent and cold look that froze her courage to speak first.
So she also withdrew her gaze and remained silent.
The two brushed past each other, pretending not to know each other.
Lu Yinxi tried to see Jian Qing as an unimportant tool person again, not caring about her attitude.
As they brushed past each other, she still couldn’t help but stop and wanted to turn around to look at her back.
She stood still for three seconds.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, and Lu Yinxi restrained herself from turning around to look at her.
Back in the piano room, Lu Yinxi continued to play the piano. Sangsang threw a few candies into her pocket.
At first, Lu Yinxi didn’t pay attention and declined, saying: “I don’t eat candy, it’s easy to gain weight. You eat it yourself.”
Later, she noticed that Sangsang’s pocket was bulging with a pile of candies, so she asked, “Who gave you so many candies? Aren’t you still changing your teeth? You can’t eat so many, you’ll get cavities.”
Saying this, she fished out one candy from Sangsang’s pocket into her own hand, looked at it from all angles, and it increasingly resembled the brand of milk candy that Jian Qing had once stuffed into her own pocket.
The packaging was identical.
She fished out all the candies from Sangsang’s pocket, leaving two for Sangsang: “You’re still changing your teeth, you can’t eat so many at once. Sister will keep them for you first.”
Sangsang had a good temper, still giggling, not arguing with Lu Yinxi, and pulled over a bag from the side, which contained various candies, small breads, and small biscuits. She gave them all to Lu Yinxi and even handed her a bottle of milk.
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Lu Yinxi inserted a straw, ate the small bread, drank the milk, and roughly guessed who had given these snacks.
The milk had been heated, and drinking it warmed her stomach, warming her five viscera and six bowels1, sweeping away all the negative emotions.
The taste of the cold war was unpleasant. Lu Yinxi felt that Jian Qing still cared about her, and she wanted to take the initiative to reconcile with her.
Apologizing was also fine, speaking soft words was also fine, as long as she responded to her.
“This year we are piloting DRG payment2 here, and I still haven’t figured it out.”
“Tomorrow the Medical Insurance Office will come down to the department for training.”
“Tsk, this healthcare reform is making the power of the Medical Insurance Bureau bigger year by year.”
“These days, whoever controls the money is the boss.”
During lunch break, everyone was chatting idly in the office. Lu Yinxi took off her white coat and returned to the office, not seeing Jian Qing’s figure.
A doctor waved at her: “Xiaolu, your cousin went on a blind date with the director’s nephew. She ordered food for you. Come sit with us and eat together. Maybe after eating, your cousin will come back with a new cousin-in-law for you.”
Everyone laughed heartily.
The news of the blind date hit Lu Yinxi like a bolt from the blue, instantly dispelling her thoughts of reconciliation.
The laughter of the crowd was too piercing, she couldn’t laugh along, so she left the office, walked to the changing room, grabbed her coat, and left.
A blind date?
How come Jian Qing never mentioned this?
Also, they hadn’t even exchanged a glance in the past two days, so how could she know that Jian Qing was going on a blind date with the director’s nephew?
Lu Yinxi walked out of the hospital, feeling as if she had been doused from head to toe with a bucket of cold water in the middle of winter, chilled to the bone.
Today, the temperature suddenly dropped, and the cold wind from all directions made her shiver.
She wanted to put on her coat, and looking down, she realized—
—she had taken the wrong coat.
What she held in her hand was Jian Qing’s black coat.
Lu Yinxi stubbornly decided not to change it.
Ha, she would rather freeze to death outside than wear that traitor’s coat.
Five minutes later, Lu Yinxi’s stubbornness was completely blown away by the cold wind, and she put on Jian Qing’s coat.
The psychological pain extended to the physical, causing her heart to ache intermittently.
Her mind was somewhat chaotic. Lu Yinxi didn’t know what she was aimlessly wandering on the street for.
Jian Qing still had to work in the afternoon, so she definitely wouldn’t go too far for a blind date.
She would only be near the hospital, finding a well-decorated place to chat with someone.
She was looking for her.
What was she looking for her at this moment for?
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She didn’t know.
Probably to see that scene with her own eyes and give up completely.
—She guessed right.
Following Zhongshan Street near the hospital to the end, at an intersection’s western restaurant, she saw Jian Qing, along with a man in a suit and tie.
The two were sitting by the window, talking about something.
Beside Jian Qing, there was also a large bouquet of flowers.
Lu Yinxi rubbed her eyes, looking at that scene over and over again, her heart shattering into pieces.
She held back her tears, turned around to leave, then seemed to remember something, tightened the coat around her, glanced at Jian Qing, and walked towards them.
Pushing open the door of the western restaurant, a waiter came to inquire. She pointed to the table by the window and smiled, saying she had a reservation, then walked straight over, taking off her coat and sitting down without hesitation.
The man in the suit and tie was somewhat surprised: “Miss, are you in the wrong—”
Jian Qing looked at Lu Yinxi and said calmly, “She’s with me.”
Lu Yinxi put on her signature smile: “Hello, I’m her cousin. I was just passing by this place and saw my cousin from outside the window. I couldn’t help but come in to say hello. I hope I’m not disturbing you both?”
The man nodded, showing a gentle smile: “No problem, I recognize you. I’ve seen you on TV. You have a very beautiful name, ‘Frost falls, the bear ascends the tree; the forest is empty, the deer drink from the stream,’ Lu Yinxi.”
He was a graceful man, mature and gentlemanly, without showing any displeasure at being interrupted. He called the waiter to take the order, hung up Lu Yinxi’s coat, and actively sought topics for conversation to ease the atmosphere between them.
“My father gave me that name. He loves Mei Yaochen’s poetry.”
The man still wore a smile on his face: “That is indeed the founding master of Song poetry, and he is mentioned alongside Ouyang Xiu as ‘Mei-Ou.'”3
Lu Yinxi didn’t know much about literature and was at a loss for a moment, then changed the topic.
“May I ask your surname, sir?”
“My surname is Shen.”
“Mr. Shen, which field are you specializing in?”
“I’m a teacher, teaching at XX University.”
Lu Yinxi asked for his name, his profession, his family background, asking as if she were the one on the blind date with him.
The man patiently answered each question.
Jian Qing quietly ate her meal beside them, occasionally looking up to glance at Lu Yinxi.
Lu Yinxi never looked at her, acting as if she didn’t exist.
After asking the last question, Lu Yinxi raised her hand to check her watch, as if she were really there to vet her cousin’s date. She smiled and said, “Mr. Shen, you and my cousin make a perfect couple, a match made in heaven. I wish you a long and happy life together and hope you soon become my cousin-in-law. I have an appointment with someone, so I must take my leave. Please continue your conversation.”
She looked at Jian Qing: “Cousin, you forgot your coat when you went out. I brought it for you. Remember to wear it when you leave; it’s cold outside, don’t catch a chill.”
This was the first sentence she had spoken to her since entering.
After speaking, without waiting for Jian Qing to respond, she stood up and left directly.
As soon as she stepped out, she couldn’t hold back her tears anymore, and they streamed down her face.
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She raised her hand to wipe away the tears, blinked hard, and walked aimlessly along a road.
In the end, she didn’t even know which square she had walked to. She randomly found a bench behind some flower bushes and sat down.
She repeatedly raised her hand to wipe away the tears, but they kept coming, blurring her vision every few seconds.
She stopped wiping, lowered her head, her mind replaying those heart-wrenching scenes over and over, letting the tears fall to the ground.
In fact, she didn’t even have the right to be sad. What was their relationship, and what right did she have to be sad?
Suddenly, a familiar pair of boots appeared in her blurry vision. Lu Yinxi blinked, squeezing the tears from her eyes, and her vision gradually cleared.
She sat on the bench, slowly raising her head, and saw the familiar black coat, the tall figure, and above that, a pair of cold yet beautiful eyes.
Jian Qing stood in front of her, looking down at her tear-stained face.
The author has something to say:
Lu: QAQ! QAQ! QAQ!
Jian: Crying again? The water will flood Jinshan.4
Footnotes
- “Warming her five viscera and six bowels” (暖盡了五髒六腑): a traditional Chinese expression referring to the feeling of warmth and comfort spreading throughout one’s entire body, symbolizing emotional and physical healing.
- DRG (Diagnosis-Related Group) payment: a system for hospital payment that classifies patients into groups with similar clinical conditions and resource usage.
- “Mei-Ou” (梅歐): refers to Mei Yaochen and Ouyang Xiu, two prominent poets of the Song Dynasty, often mentioned together for their significant contributions to Chinese poetry.
- “The water will flood Jinshan” (水漫金山): is a reference to a famous Chinese legend where the White Snake, a mythical character, causes a flood to save her husband, flooding Jinshan Temple. It is often used metaphorically to describe excessive crying or a flood of tears.