Jumping into the Lake
A leap into the lake
“When… when did you find out?”
Jian Qing stopped as well, her face composed. “That night at the villa, you cut my hand and saw my blood. Your face turned very pale. Later, every time there was an emergency, especially with patients suffering from massive bleeding due to ruptured lesions, you always avoided them. At first, I thought it was related to your childhood experiences, so I took you to the psychiatric department to try to treat it together, but…”
She glanced at Lu Yinxi.
Lu Yinxi continued her sentence: “But I got angry and begged you not to send me to the psychiatric department.”
So, it turns out there was this reason behind being taken to see the psychiatrist back then.
No wonder, every time there was an emergency rescue, which by rights should have been a rare learning opportunity, Lu Yinxi always avoided it. Jian Qing never said anything, much less forced her to watch. Even when her white coat got blood on it, she would avoid Lu Yinxi and change into a new one before seeing her again.
Lu Yinxi walked ahead, head lowered, hands clasped behind her back, slowly reminiscing. Suddenly, she thought of something and turned around. Jian Qing was right behind her, and when she turned, there was less than half a meter between them.
Caught in Jian Qing’s deep gaze, Lu Yinxi’s initial aggressive momentum diminished significantly. She quickly took a step back and accused, “That night you figured it out and still smeared blood on my lips?”
Like a pervert!
Jian Qing’s face showed no trace of regret. “Just testing.”
Lu Yinxi turned away and continued walking towards the cafeteria, scoffing, “Testing? What if I fainted?”
At its worst, she would faint at the sight of blood. Five years have passed, and the situation has improved significantly, though she still feels nauseous.
Last time, when she saved He Bei in the park, He Bei’s forehead was cut open. She wiped the blood off her forehead and took her to the hospital. Afterward, she ran to the bathroom and vomited quite a bit, even throwing up bile.
Jian Qing followed behind her and said, “I would perform CPR.”
Lu Yinxi waved her hand dismissively, “I would just faint, my heart wouldn’t stop. There’s no need for CPR.”
Just say you want to take advantage of me.
Jian Qing asked, “Have you seen a doctor?”
Lu Yinxi’s eyes darkened. “Yes, I’ve had desensitization therapy. It’s gotten much better, but… like you said, it’s not suitable for long-term clinical work.”
Jian Qing said, “Your psychological shadow isn’t from childhood. What happened the year you developed hemophobia?”
Lu Yinxi lowered her head in silence, not ready to speak.
Jian Qing patted her head. “Let’s eat first.”
It’s okay if you don’t want to talk.
They sat face to face in the cafeteria. Jian Qing’s tray had two vegetable dishes and one meat dish, while Lu Yinxi’s had two meat dishes and one vegetable dish. Lu Yinxi liked to use her chopsticks to take the only meat dish, shredded chicken, from Jian Qing’s tray.
Halfway through the meal, Lu Yinxi finally said, “That incident has nothing to do with my split personality. Don’t send me to the psychiatric department.”
Jian Qing acknowledged with a sound and then asked, “Are you sure it’s really unrelated?”
Lu Yinxi said, “It’s really unrelated.”
But she felt a bit shaken inside. That incident happened when she was 20, and now she’s here, also at 20.
Is it a coincidence? Are the two really unrelated?
Jian Qing glanced at Lu Yinxi and gave her most of the shredded chicken from her plate.
Zhang Yue, who had just sat down next to them, couldn’t help but comment, “It’s not like we’re in a famine. It’s just a few pieces of meat, why keep passing them back and forth? If you like it, just go get more from the auntie. You two look like a lovey-dovey couple dripping with honey.”
Lu Yinxi was drinking soup and almost choked when she heard that, coughing a few times.
Jian Qing put down her chopsticks, glanced around, and pointed to the most secluded spot for Zhang Yue. “Go there.”
Zhang Yue put down his bun and muttered, “Is this necessary? Who’s your real junior brother?” Then he picked up his tray and moved to the corner.
Wei Mingming, seeing her mentor, also carried her tray over to sit nearby. But when she saw Jian Qing sending people away, she instinctively changed direction and went to the corner with Zhang Yue. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to flatter, “Boss, you’re my real boss!”
Lu Yinxi turned to glance at the two in the corner, smiled slightly, and when she turned back, she found Jian Qing looking at her.
Their eyes met.
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Lu Yinxi thought of Zhang Yue’s teasing about being a lovey-dovey couple, her ears turning a bit red. She lowered her head and silently ate, not daring to take food from Jian Qing’s plate anymore.
“Next month, I’ll be joining the team and leaving the hospital.”
After lunch, the two of them were basking in the sun under the corridor of the internal medicine building.
Winter had passed, and spring had come. The grass and trees were sprouting anew, but some people would remain in winter forever.
The patients in the oncology department were counting their days one by one. They had survived one winter and spent another New Year with their families. As for the rest, who knows how many days they had left.
Jian Qing was accustomed to the comings and goings of life and death. For this temporary separation, apart from a slight heaviness in her chest, she felt no other emotions and simply said, “This semester, I’ll be at the university town on Tuesday afternoons, evenings, and Wednesday mornings.”
Filming would only take three months. After three months, they would have plenty of time—many years together.
As long as the other person didn’t leave.
Thinking of this, Jian Qing’s mind was filled with the dense messages Lu Yinxi had left on the paper. Her thoughts surged as she closed her eyes, sitting silently on the wooden bench under the corridor, back to back with Lu Yinxi, basking in the sun.
Lu Yinxi reached out and grabbed a handful of sunlight, watching the people coming and going in the corridor.
There were medical staff in white coats walking briskly, and patients in blue and white striped hospital gowns, slowly moving with the help of their family members.
Inevitably, she thought of her mother, Gu Mingyu.
Twenty years old, hospital—these two key words overlapped in both the real and virtual worlds.
Who would support her mother when she grew old and sick?
Her unfilial daughter had left home for five years because of a quarrel at the age of twenty.
Over these five years, Lu Yinxi had constantly dreamed of returning to her twenties, returning to the hospital. Now that this dream had come true, she still thought about going back. She still remembered that she was an actress, habitually observing people, observing the scenery, feeling emotions, and accumulating material to shape her characters.
She asked herself, if she stayed here, at the age of twenty, would she choose to study medicine again?
Why did she study medicine back then?
Because both her parents were doctors, she grew up in the family quarters of the hospital. Her neighbors were also doctors. Her father, Lu Ming, was an oncologist who sacrificed his life in this position. Her mother, Gu Mingyu, was a thoracic surgeon who, for the sake of this profession, had almost neglected accompanying and caring for her family from childhood to adulthood.
When she was filling out her college applications at the age of seventeen, she was confused and ignorant, not knowing what she wanted to do in the future. Her impressions of various professions were based on books and TV dramas. Gu Mingyu said not to study medicine, so she stubbornly filled all her applications with clinical majors.
Besides doing it out of spite, thinking back now, it was likely her subconscious wanting to understand this profession—the one Lu Ming dedicated his life to, the hospital where Gu Mingyu nearly abandoned her mother and child for.
In those first few days after she crossed over, she did think about escaping. But first, she had no money, and second, she was attached to the medical environment.
So she stayed for the time being.
Survival of the fittest. She was attached to this environment because of her parents, but she never considered whether she was suited for the medical field.
Does she truly love it?
No, she doesn’t. It’s just familiarity and fondness, far from love.
If it were love, she wouldn’t have left so easily.
Years after leaving, the idealism and indignation of her youth fermented into dissatisfaction, and her fondness was diluted by that dissatisfaction.
If she could handle things with the mindset of a twenty-five-year-old, she might not have given up on medicine. But to ask her twenty-five-year-old self to choose medicine again and stay in this field long-term, she would probably be unwilling.
The warm sunlight bathed her body as Lu Yinxi leaned against Jian Qing’s back, a smile forming on her lips.
Now, what she cherished was the time spent with Jian Qing.
The teaching building of First Affiliated Hospital was behind the internal medicine building. From the outside, it looked quite old, with Boston ivy and violets growing at the corners.
In the afternoon, Lu Yinxi helped Jian Qing deliver the mentor’s handbook to the Medical Education Office.
The clerk in the Medical Education Office had seen her on TV and in trending news, and warmly invited her in for a few cups of tea. They asked about her recent heroic act in the park and lamented the unpredictability of He Bei’s fate.
Lu Yinxi exchanged a few polite words and was about to leave when the desk phone on Director Chen’s desk rang. She overheard a few sentences, and it happened to be about the students’ complaints that morning regarding their teaching assistant.
Director Chen truthfully explained the students’ feedback about the poor teaching attitude and the incident of making students wash dishes on New Year’s Eve. He asked Dr. Gong on the other end of the line, “Is this true?”
Dr. Gong defended himself over the phone, saying, “Director, absolutely not. It’s all a misunderstanding! They just didn’t want to do chores or listen to instructions. They hid in the office playing on their phones. When I said a few words, they weren’t happy. This kind of thing happens often. Director, you know, our clinical work is quite busy, and sometimes we can’t always look after them. It’s normal for them to have grievances.”
Director Chen asked, “Is it really not true?”
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“Really not, it’s just a misunderstanding, Director. I’ll personally explain everything to the students.”
“Alright, that’s fine. As long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, you can get back to work.”
After hanging up the phone, Director Chen said, “These students don’t do their work properly. All they do every day is cause trouble!”
A clerk below suggested, “Director, should we make him write a self-criticism?”
Director Chen vaguely replied, “I’ll think about it…”
And just like that, the matter was brushed aside.
Students reported issues with trepidation, seeking justice, but here, it was dismissed with a few light words.
In the hospital, colleagues are considered insiders, but what are students to them?
Colleagues within the system are people one might work with for a lifetime, so naturally, they look out for each other. Director Chen didn’t want to offend a colleague for a group of soon-to-graduate students, especially since it was a department under the Vice Dean.
As for how the students would be treated afterward, as long as it didn’t escalate to the Medical Education Office, he wouldn’t care and would pretend not to know.
Taking on less work and offending fewer people has always been Director Chen’s way of handling things. However, there was a Director Yan in the unit who often opposed him, not tolerating any nonsense. He sometimes took on work from other departments and frequently offended people, occasionally causing the Medical Education Office to score poorly in the end-of-month evaluations of administrative departments.
He was very displeased.
Lu Yinxi sipped the light tea from her cup. Director Yan came in from outside, holding a few report forms, his expression gloomy.
He returned to his desk, pulled out a tissue, blew his nose, wiped his face, and threw it into the trash can. The tissue had faint traces of blood.
Lu Yinxi put down her tea cup, stood up, greeted him, and casually chatted with the clerk from the Medical Education Office: “First Affiliated’s oncology department’s reputation in the province is almost surpassing that of the specialized oncology hospital. Everyone prefers to come here for treatment. Now that the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival are over, the number of patients has increased. Without the help of interns and standardized training students, who knows how long we’d have to work overtime? Well, I have a lot of work to do back in the department, so I’ll head back now.”
She specifically mentioned the interns to remind Director Yan.
The clerk stood up to see her off: “Take care! Come back for tea next time.”
As she was leaving, Lu Yinxi vaguely heard Director Yan speaking in his office: “Did Dr. Gong from the oncology department call… How did he explain the situation with the interns?”
His voice was loud. Lu Yinxi slowed her pace, and after hearing “official reprimand, revoke this year’s teaching qualifications…” she felt relieved and quickly left.
Back in the office of the second district, Lu Yinxi asked Zhang Yue: “In your Medical Education Office, who listens to whom between Director Chen and Director Yan?”
Zhang Yue replied: “Neither listens to the other. Both are considered second-in-command. The first-in-command is Director Gao, but Director Gao is retiring next year, and his successor will be chosen between the two of them. However…” He lowered his voice, whispering, “Director Chen is better at dealing with people, so he’s more likely to be the successor…”
Lu Yinxi smiled and probed, “So, which one do you think is better?”
Zhang Yue replied, “Director Yan is really strict. Their Medical Education Office often has to catch teachers and students who are late for classes, right? If a teacher is five minutes late, they get reported, and their annual evaluation and promotion qualifications are canceled. Students also get points deducted if they’re late. Everyone is afraid of him. Director Chen is easier to talk to, but he tends to procrastinate. A task that could be done in an hour, he can drag out for a week. Director Yan, on the other hand, is more efficient and gets things done quickly.”
As he was speaking, Zhang Yue suddenly exclaimed, holding his head. He looked up to see Jian Qing tapping his head with a pen.
Jian Qing put the pen back into her pocket, pulled out a chair, and sat down, saying calmly, “Write the medical records, less chatting.”
Zhang Yue rubbed his head, “Senior Sister, that pen looks familiar. Did you take it from me?”
Jian Qing said, “No name on it.”
Zhang Yue let out an “oh” and obediently went back to writing medical records.
Lu Yinxi casually pulled out the pen and saw the name “Wei Mingming” on it.
She smiled slightly and waved the pen in front of Jian Qing.
Jian Qing’s eyes followed the pen’s movement, and she saw the name “Wei Mingming.”
Lu Yinxi stuffed the pen back into Jian Qing’s pocket, “Bribe me with spicy crayfish tonight.”
Jian Qing nodded in agreement.
Zhang Yue leaned over and asked, “Bribe for what?”
Both of them said in unison, “Go write the medical records!”
In the evening, while Jian Qing worked overtime, Lu Yinxi went jogging on the track by herself.
After running ten laps, she took out her phone to contact Jian Qing.
Jian Qing sent a message saying she had finished work and was heading to the store at East Lake Bridge to get takeout.
Lu Yinxi, holding her jacket, looked down and replied: 【Let’s meet at Bai Lu Park.】
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East Lake Bridge is on the eastern side of Bai Lu Park. Starting from the hospital, she could reach the park’s west gate.
The west gate is the busiest, while the east gate, near East Lake, is quieter. Parents usually don’t let their children play there for fear they might fall into the lake. It’s generally closed in winter but opens in spring and summer for visitors to enjoy boating on the lake.
They opened the real-time map, and the two little red dots on the screen got closer and closer.
Jian Qing, carrying the takeout of spicy crayfish, walked attentively, occasionally glancing at the position of the little red dot on her phone.
The little red dot stopped moving near East Lake.
Jian Qing entered the park’s east gate and walked forward. From a distance, she saw the shimmering surface of the lake.
As she got closer, she spotted Lu Yinxi’s figure.
A faint smile appeared on her lips unconsciously, but it lasted less than three seconds. She saw a middle-aged man standing by the lake, whose back looked very familiar.
Just as she was about to take a closer look, the middle-aged man suddenly leaped into the lake.
“Director Yan! Don’t do anything rash!” Lu Yinxi shouted, glancing around. There were four or five onlookers, and she saw Jian Qing running from afar.
Jian Qing couldn’t swim…
Lu Yinxi hesitated for a few seconds, watching the man struggling in the lake. She took off her shoes, dropped her jacket and phone, and leaped into the lake to save him.
The author has something to say:
Goodnight~~~
