Getting Along
There will always be a day when you need my help
Lu Yinxi instinctively leaned back.
Jian Qing stood upright, tapping her fingers on the table twice, producing a crisp “tok tok” sound.
She looked at Lu Yinxi, the corners of her lips slightly raised, and for once, she smiled.
It wasn’t a condescending sneer but a calm, confident smile of a young scholar who has everything under control.
Like an adult unconditionally tolerating a child’s naive provocative behavior.
Lu Yinxi’s face suddenly turned red.
She indeed thought this person had some moral corruption, even wanted to check her papers for any academic misconduct.
Being smiled at like this, it seemed as if she was judging others with a petty mind.
Jian Qing rolled up the cuffs of her white coat: “I’m going for a consultation, you take your time checking. I’ll come back later and print a test for you to take.”
Shame and guilt were instantly overshadowed by the fear of an exam. Lu Yinxi grabbed Jian Qing’s wrist: “You didn’t mention an exam just now…”
She suspected this person was deliberately taking revenge.
Jian Qing responded calmly: “It’s not too late to mention it now.” After a pause, she brushed off Lu Yinxi’s hand and said coldly, “In the hospital, don’t touch me without washing your hands.”
Lu Yinxi withdrew her hand sullenly, put away her phone, and dared not check Jian Qing’s papers anymore.
She realized that this person was indeed publicly avenging private grievances.
Obsessive cleanliness, petty-minded.
After the consultation, Jian Qing didn’t return to the department. She turned and left the oncology building, took off her white coat, and walked into a beverage shop at the south entrance of the hospital.
It was the end of the term, and the shop was almost full of medical students, each with thick blue books and white materials in front of them, all looking worried and deeply engrossed in their studies.
Jian Qing was reminded of Lu Yinxi, who was sulking while studying in the office.
A young female shop assistant greeted her with a smile: “Welcome, what would you like?”
Jian Qing looked down at the menu.
The terms on the menu were all unfamiliar to her, so she asked the assistant: “What are the top three bestsellers?”
“Oh, these few, Four Seasons Milk Green Tea, Boba Milk Tea, and Boba Milk Green Tea, are all popular among the students nearby.”
“Two cups of each, less sugar, hot, mix the toppings randomly.”
“Got it.” After paying, the assistant smiled and sized up Jian Qing, chatting, “You’re a doctor from First Affiliated Hospital, right?”
Jian Qing nodded.
The assistant continued to guess: “Buying milk tea for the interns in your department?”
Jian Qing hesitated for a second, then continued to nod.
That kid’s mood was a bit off, like a cat being caught and brought home, anxious and extremely uncomfortable with the unfamiliar environment.
She needed to comfort her a bit.
The assistant showed an expression of realization.
The doctor in front of her was wearing a white wool sweater, with a white coat draped over her arm, and a light blue mask covering her mouth and nose, revealing only a pair of deep eyes. Her cool and refined demeanor was completely out of place with the youthful atmosphere of the beverage shop.
Like a calm scholar suddenly breaking into a snack shop to buy candy for kids.
When packing up, the assistant added some extra sweets.
Jian Qing thanked her, took the milk tea and sweets, and returned to the office in the second oncology area. She didn’t see Lu Yinxi or her graduate student Wei Mingming.
The large office only had the chief resident Zhang Yue and the advanced trainee Zhao Wenqian left.
She put down the milk tea and sweets and asked Zhao Wenqian, who was at the computer: “Where are they?”
Her tone was very calm.
Because the remaining two in the office—Zhang Yue was taking a break to video chat with his girlfriend, and Zhao Wenqian was quietly typing up the medical records.
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It wasn’t a tense atmosphere, indicating that during her absence, there hadn’t been any particularly urgent situations in the ward.
“The two young ladies went to the teaching room to study.” Zhao Wenqian, who was buried in writing the medical records, looked up and, seeing the milk tea and sweets, jumped up with joy, quickly ran to wash her hands, “Leader, I love you!”
The department’s second on-call duty would occasionally cover the breakfast for the on-duty staff, but buying milk tea and sweets for a night snack was indeed rare.
Jian Qing expressionlessly nodded, indicating she received the love.
Afraid that the milk tea would get cold soon, she took a few cups and put them in the warming box to keep warm.
When she came out, she saw Zhao Wenqian still writing the medical records, and said: “Go back early, write it tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll go after finishing this one.”
Different departments have different atmospheres. The oncology department is considered relatively depressing, constantly dealing with various cancer patients. Those who can stay in this department for a long time are mostly optimistic, open-minded, or indifferent and not easily empathetic.
Although there are also the usual issues in public institutions, like seniority-based hierarchy and forming cliques, most of the time, the interactions are relatively friendly and harmonious.
Shortly after Zhao Wenqian left, Lu Yinxi returned to the office from the teaching room.
“Dr. Jian, I finished studying, ready for the test.”
Jian Qing handed the printed test paper to Lu Yinxi: “45 minutes.”
The test content covered the basic introduction of First Affiliated Hospital of Jiangzhou, the business scope of the Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Center, and some basic knowledge about oncology.
It was like an entry exam.
Half an hour later, Lu Yinxi handed in her paper early. Zhang Yue gave her a cup of milk tea and smiled, “Here, my senior sister is treating everyone. It’s still hot.”
Zhang Yue and Jian Qing were taught by the same mentor and were still pursuing their doctorates. He was currently enduring the toughest phase as a chief resident, and once he got through it and graduated with his PhD, he could directly take the exam to become an attending physician.
Chief residents, commonly referred to as “laozong,” have to stay at the hospital 24/7, 365 days a year. They are responsible for routine consultations, supervising interns, and handling various administrative tasks in the department.
When the Quality Control Department or the Medical Department conducts clinical inspections, the first thing they ask is: “Where’s your chief resident?”
Originally, the Medical Education Department assigned Zhang Yue to mentor Lu Yinxi, but later Jian Qing took over using the excuse of being an acquaintance.
Lu Yinxi accepted the milk tea: “Thank you, Brother Zhang.”
Jian Qing perked up her ears, waited for a while, but didn’t hear Lu Yinxi thank her. She paused slightly while grading the paper and changed a score of 98 to 89.
When Lu Yinxi received the test paper and saw the score, she was so angry that she puffed up like a pufferfish.
She had only gotten one multiple-choice question wrong, how could it be 89?
Jian Qing ignored her resentful look, took a sip of coffee, and said indifferently, “It’s late, go rest.”
After finishing the milk tea and digesting for a while, Lu Yinxi was sent to rest in the on-call room.
The on-call room in the hospital was dark and narrow, without windows, and the bed was the kind of iron-framed bunk bed.
Lu Yinxi recalled that when she was very young, before her father passed away, he would sometimes bring her to the hospital during his on-call shifts because he didn’t feel safe leaving her at home alone.
At night, he would let her sleep in the on-call room.
It was also a dark room, with the same old bunk bed.
In winter, her father would put a thick coat on the bed for her to use as a blanket.
She didn’t like the hospital blankets, which always smelled of disinfectant.
Now, this bed had no strange smell, only a faint, cold fragrance that penetrated her lungs.
It was the same scent as Jian Qing’s.
That cleanliness freak always brought her own sheets, blankets, and pillowcases from home when she was on call, very particular about it.
Lu Yinxi, feeling a bit unsettled about the bed, couldn’t fall asleep. She lay on her arm, silently calculating the time in her mind.
It was early January in the new calendar. The director had the actors intern at the hospital for two months, and the filming would probably take about three months.
In the domestic market, young actors’ pay is usually given in installments, not all at once. After about five months, when all the pay is in, it would be around one or two hundred thousand yuan.
Not comparable to the millions big stars make, but enough for her to live abroad for a while.
She didn’t plan to get involved in the paper people’s dramas or interfere with the storyline. Her initial plan was to hide abroad, stay away from these plot characters, and quietly wait for the story to conclude.
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Maybe then she could return to the real world.
Lu Yinxi turned over and pondered—was there any way to avoid staying by Jian Qing’s side for these five months?
This medical drama would be filmed at First Affiliated Hospital, hiring its experts for guidance. She was playing an oncology doctor, and as long as it involved oncology, she couldn’t avoid Jian Qing.
Unless she didn’t take this role.
But in this unfamiliar world, she was penniless and alone, with no trustworthy friends. How could she survive?
It’s not that she couldn’t lower herself to do part-time jobs. In her early years, she handed out flyers, was an extra, acted as a corpse, modeled; she had done all kinds of part-time jobs.
But the cost-effectiveness wasn’t high.
Besides taking the ready-made acting job, what kind of part-time job could earn her one or two hundred thousand in five months?
Anyway, the ultimate goal was to survive, to tough it out until the story’s end, and return to the real world.
After some self-consolation, Lu Yinxi lay on her arm and glanced at the direction of the door.
A faint light seeped through the gap at the bottom of the door, coming from the office.
Jian Qing let her come in to sleep, but she herself stayed outside.
Wasn’t she tired?
Lu Yinxi stared at the light, lost in thought for a while, then slowly got up, quietly opened the door, and walked out.
In the office, Jian Qing, wearing a thin white coat, was lying on the desk, resting her head on her right arm, eyes closed. Her thick long eyelashes cast a shadow, covering the faint dark circles.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired, she just didn’t want to sleep in the pitch-black on-call room.
She seemed used to sleeping in the light.
Bright moonlight, the bright lights of a bedroom…
Lu Yinxi stood there watching for a while, not waking Jian Qing.
She went to the changing room, took down Jian Qing’s coat, and gently covered her with it, then returned to the on-call room to rest.
The night passed.
Lu Yinxi woke up early.
She remembered that Jian Qing had stitches in her left palm yesterday and shouldn’t get it wet. Washing up might be a bit inconvenient.
But she felt too embarrassed to offer help proactively, as it would seem like she was being overly attentive for no reason. So she leaned against the bathroom door, watching Jian Qing brush her teeth, waiting for Jian Qing to ask for her help.
Jian Qing didn’t look at her once. With her bandaged left hand behind her back, she brushed her teeth with one hand.
Lu Yinxi thought, “You can brush your teeth with one hand, but surely you need both hands to wring out a towel to wash your face?”
Jian Qing ignored Lu Yinxi’s presence, used her right hand to scoop water, wet her face, applied cleanser, rinsed clean, and then pulled out a disposable face towel to wipe off the water.
She did the entire process with one hand.
After washing, her face was clean and white. She walked up to Lu Yinxi and looked down at her: “Standing there doing nothing, waiting for me to wash you?”
Being coldly ridiculed, Lu Yinxi huffed softly, walked in to wash up, and thought, “You can brush your teeth and wash your face with one hand, let’s see who helps whom when you take a shower!”
While brushing her teeth, she fantasized about the aloof Doctor Jian pleading with her in a low voice at night to help her shower, to help dry her hair and body. She used this mental victory method to comfort herself.
After a night on duty, they still had to endure the morning in the hospital, and could only rest in the afternoon.
The oncology department, part of the internal medicine system, didn’t have the large surgeries of the surgical system. After the morning handover, teaching rounds began, lasting one to two hours. The remaining time was for prescribing, seeing patients, and writing medical records.
After work, Lu Yinxi and Jian Qing returned home, sharing a room without much conversation.
Lu Yinxi guessed that maybe Jian Qing was naturally taciturn. Because of her work, she needed to communicate a lot with patients, their families, and colleagues at the hospital. Naturally, she didn’t want to talk much when she got home.
Many healthcare workers have this problem—
Having seen so much life and death and struggle in clinical practice, their emotions are repeatedly stimulated, their emotional threshold becomes very high. Unless it involves life and death, they become more indifferent to the illnesses and emotions of those around them, leaving comfort and companionship to unfamiliar patients.
Just like her mother, Gu Mingyu.
Cold is cold.
Lu Yinxi didn’t care about Jian Qing’s attitude at all, nor did she have any interest in Jian Qing.
She didn’t even see Jian Qing as a real person, just as a paper character in a virtual world, like an NPC in a game, a tool to be used to clear the game.
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Do you need to care about the attitude of a tool?
Of course not.
Having slept only a few hours, Lu Yinxi was so sleepy her eyelids drooped. She had a few bites of lunch and went back to her room to sleep.
When she woke up from her nap, she walked out of the bedroom groggily, finding the living room empty.
This apartment, located on the 27th floor, had four bedrooms and one living room, with a duplex structure, and was decorated simply—so simply it didn’t look like anyone lived there.
There was no trace of everyday life, like the palace of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess, truly embodying the phrase “high places are unbearably cold.”
Just like the owner of the apartment.
Lu Yinxixi wandered around and, not finding anyone inside, wandered out to the balcony off the living room.
On the balcony, the sunlight was bright.
Lu Yinxi walked over and saw the woman lying on the chaise longue, wrapped in a white bathrobe, with a graceful figure and beautiful face.
She was lying back with her eyes closed, her fair neck exposed, her soft chest rising and falling gently with her breath. Her thick, seaweed-like hair hung down naturally, still wet, water droplets falling from the tips, hitting the ground and shattering.
The golden sunlight bathed her, adding a hazy filter to her, like the east wind thawing the frozen land, melting the ice and snow, revealing her myriad charms.
Lu Yinxi stayed in place, admiring for a moment, then moved a small chair, sat down, and gently poked Jian Qing’s shoulder, speaking softly: “Hey, let me dry your hair for you.”
The person on the chaise longue opened her eyes and looked over coldly.
