Yin Jie and Yu Hua brought breakfast.

“We saw Vice President Lin downstairs when we arrived. He asked us to bring the porridge up… I think his housekeeper made and delivered it,” Yu Hua explained while opening the thermos.

Meanwhile, Yin Jie was wandering restlessly around the hospital room.

Having discovered that I wasn’t seriously injured, she had quickly shed her guilt and was now excitedly examining every corner of the room.

“Wow, Xiguang, you got a private room! Vice President Lin is generous.”

Yu Hua, being more of the responsible housewife type, sat beside my bed watching me eat the porridge while worrying about medical expenses: “I don’t think our insurance covers private rooms like this, does it?”

“Oh, what are you worried about? Vice President Lin paid for everything yesterday,” Yin Jie said dismissively. “If it weren’t for his female friend screaming, Xiguang wouldn’t have been startled and fallen. But Xiguang, don’t blame Vice President Lin, okay?”

Yu Hua asked curiously, “How do you know she’s just a female friend and not his girlfriend?”

Yin Jie replied matter-of-factly, “You didn’t see it yesterday. Vice President Lin was terrifyingly stern. When Xiguang fell, that woman was probably scared too. If she were his girlfriend, wouldn’t he have comforted her at least? But he didn’t at all. I overheard that they were former classmates or something.”

Yin Jie leaned over my bed, speaking seriously: “Xiguang, don’t say Vice President Lin doesn’t treat you well anymore. Yesterday at the hospital, he handled everything himself. You know, being a former doctor showed – he was amazing, performing first aid and examinations before the ambulance arrived. It was so cool! Later, when an intern was being rough with procedures, he scolded them and told them to change careers, saying they shouldn’t be a doctor if they’d harm both others and themselves. I’d never seen him so fierce before, I was stunned.”

I was stunned too.

“Oh right, you also threw up all over him.”

…

This time I was completely dumbfounded.

Some vague memories started coming back – was there a time when he woke me up and I just threw up on him?

“He had to hold you steady so you wouldn’t fall while you were throwing up on him. Oh, and his hand might be injured because he caught you with just one arm… Xiguang, Vice President Lin fell to his knees when he rushed to catch you…”

After breakfast, I sent Yin Jie and Yu Hua back to work. I was fine now, and although my feet had some scratches that made walking a bit uncomfortable, it wasn’t serious enough to have them skip work to keep me company.

I thought about Lin Yusen.

Although I wouldn’t have fallen if it weren’t for his friend’s scream, he had been the one taking care of me afterward. Even if his attitude was… not exactly friendly and rather strange, I should probably thank him, right?

I hesitated before looking up his phone number.

I’d always had his number for work purposes but had never used it. After agonizing over the message content for ages, I finally sent a brief text:

“Thank you for yesterday.”

There was no reply for a long time.

I thought perhaps he didn’t recognize the number and was about to send another message to explain, when his reply came through, very polite and formal: “You’re welcome.”

With the courtesy exchange complete, I put down my phone. Seeing it wasn’t even 8 o’clock yet, I contentedly went back to sleep.

When I woke up from my nap, my phone was blinking continuously. When I picked it up, there was an unread message – surprisingly from Lin Yusen.

“How are you feeling?”

I checked the time – it had been sent over half an hour ago. I quickly replied: “Feeling fine now.”

His response came quickly: “I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

Huh?

I sat there clutching my phone, still undecided on how to reply, when there was a knock at the door and Lin Yusen walked in.

I stared at him rather stupidly.

“I was just downstairs,” he said, standing in the doorway.

“Oh.”

He paused before coming in. I tried to sit up, but he stopped me. “Lie down, you should rest in bed as much as possible.”

“I feel fine,” I said, still sitting up slightly, hugging my blanket. “Um, I’m sorry. Yin Jie told me I threw up all over you yesterday.”

“As a doctor, I’m used to it.”

He had changed into fresh clothes and was back to his usual neat and upright appearance. I had trouble imagining him being used to patients throwing up on him… Then I remembered his hand. “And your hand – Yin Jie said you might have injured it…”

“It’s fine,” he answered briefly.

The room fell silent.

He looked at me and suddenly asked, “Nie Xiguang if I forget everything that happened before, will you do the same? Can we write off how I treated you before?”

Was this… a peace offering?

I quickly calculated in my mind: he had made me work overtime before, but then I somehow (through psychic power?) caused his car accident… Then his friend made me fall off the building, and I threw up on him… We were even, right?

After carefully counting twice, I said generously, “I never hold grudges anyway.”

He gave me a deep look and nodded: “That’s good.”

But…

“Why suddenly…” make peace and all that?

“I’m afraid you… I’m most afraid of sick people crying,” he awkwardly changed course mid-sentence.

I stared at him blankly, thinking that his first half-sentence was probably going to be “I’m afraid of you crying”? Even though he stopped himself… Remembering how I’d been sobbing yesterday, my face suddenly felt hot, and I deeply regretted asking the question.

Fortunately, a group of doctors in white coats entered at that moment.

It was time for rounds.

The first one in was a young doctor in his early thirties, who broke into a smile as soon as he entered.

“Oh my, Dr. Lin, you’re still here? No sleep all night yet still so energetic today – truly worthy of being our medical school’s number one beast!”

“Let me introduce everyone,” he said to the doctors behind him. “My junior from both university and overseas studies, Dr. Lin Yusen.”

“I know Dr. Lin! I’ve read your paper on brainstem tumors,” a female doctor behind him exclaimed excitedly, extending her hand to Lin Yusen. “It’s a shame that when I went to your hospital for further training, I heard you’d already left. Where are you practicing now, Dr. Lin?”

Lin Yusen shook her hand, but his response was notably more reserved than her enthusiasm. “I’m no longer practicing medicine.”

The female doctor was shocked: “How… how could that be?”

Lin Yusen said briefly, “Everyone has their path.”

“Okay, okay! We can catch up later,” the young doctor interrupted them, turning to me. “So you’re our Dr. Lin’s girlfriend? How are you feeling today? Any discomfort?”

“My colleague,” Lin Yusen said coolly before I could react.

“Oh, haha, my mistake. Let’s get acquainted – Nie Xiguang, right? I’m Dr. Fang, your attending physician.” Dr. Fang asked me a few questions and looked through my charts and scans. “Not bad, very lucky, no major issues…”

“There was vomiting and temporary loss of consciousness earlier. Although the scans look clear, it’s better to keep her under observation, with a follow-up CT scan in 48 hours,” Lin Yusen said, taking the scans from Dr. Fang and examining them.

“Oh yes, of course,” the attending physician looked at me with a smile. “After falling from such a height, it’s safer to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days.”

I nodded and asked this somewhat unreliable-looking doctor, “How long do I need to stay?”

“Two weeks.”

The attending physician said effortlessly, then turned to ask Lin Yusen, “How’s that?”

Lin Yusen’s expression remained unchanged as he handed back the scans: “You’re the attending physician.”

“Oh? Well then…”

“Don’t waste resources.”

“Don’t worry, this room is usually empty anyway.”

Dr. Fang made some notes in my chart, then looked up and winked at me.

…Why did something feel off about this?

The doctors came and went like the wind, and the room fell quiet again. I turned my questioning gaze toward Lin Yusen, who immediately nodded and said, “I’ll come by another day.”

Then he put his hands in his pockets and left too.

I was left pondering deeply why I needed to stay in the hospital for two weeks when I was nearly back to normal.

I thought Lin Yusen’s “I’ll come by another day” was just a polite phrase, so I was startled to see him the next morning. My surprise must have been too obvious because his expression became momentarily awkward.

However, he quickly composed himself. “Your attending physician is my old classmate. They have surgery in my area of expertise, so they invited me to discuss the surgical plan… and I thought I’d check on you while I’m here.”

“Oh… I see. Don’t you have to work?”

“I worked until three AM yesterday.”

“Huh?”

“Then I took annual leave.”