The place where Yan Ming parked wasn’t close to the hospital, and in the heavy wind and rain, it seemed particularly far.

Yu Tian couldn’t care about Qi Sihao’s fate anymore as she dragged her water-laden, heavy dress hem: “Doesn’t the hospital have an underground parking garage? Qi Sihao said Employees have fixed underground parking spots, so why is your car parked so far away?”

She had taken a taxi to bring Yan Ming an umbrella, and Yan Ming politely and courteously offered to drive her home, so the two were now walking together toward where Yan Ming had parked.

“I do have a parking spot, but I’ve been letting a young patient use it recently. She’s a disabled child who can’t walk, has severe eye disease, and serious dry eye symptoms. She needs to come to the hospital daily for physical therapy or nebulization. Since she needs a wheelchair, if she can’t park in a close spot, it’s very inconvenient. Our hospital’s parking spots are extremely hard to find, and she’ll be coming frequently for treatment shortly. As a healthy person with good legs, I can just walk a few extra steps to the outdoor independent parking lot.”

Yan Ming’s tone was calm, as if he had just casually done something very ordinary.

But precisely because of this matter-of-fact attitude without seeking credit, Yu Tian felt moved.

Yan Ming was very cold, yet paradoxically also very gentle.

These completely contradictory elements combined in him didn’t seem discordant at all, only extraordinarily well-matched, making people yearn for him, willing to endure long coldness and distance for that tiny bit of deeply hidden gentleness.

Yu Tian’s heart felt as if it had been soaked by rain, too, becoming sensitive and moist.

She looked at Yan Ming walking a few steps ahead of her, unable to help but sigh inwardly. Fortunately, they would reach the parking lot soon.

But just as Yu Tian was about to breathe a sigh of relief, from the corner of her eye, she saw that not far from here, at a street corner, a delivery scooter was losing control due to the slippery road surface in the rain. The delivery man’s face showed terror, but unfortunately, the brakes seemed to have failed. Before he could even react, the scooter was rushing toward Yan Ming’s direction at lightning speed…

Yan Ming’s umbrella blocked his view, and he had no idea of the approaching danger.

And the delivery man in his panic had even forgotten to honk his horn to warn surrounding pedestrians, only lowering his head to fiddle with something, seemingly trying to regain control of the scooter’s direction.

At this critical moment, the scooter was getting closer and closer.

In this moment, Yu Tian barely thought at all. Without thinking, she threw away her umbrella. There was no time left, she couldn’t think of a comprehensive way to handle it, and could only push Yan Ming forward with all her might regardless of everything.

After a piercing sound of brakes, the scooter crashed into the bushes behind Yu Tian, stopped by the resistance, and finally came to a halt. The delivery man tumbled into the bushes, but because he wore a helmet, he didn’t seem seriously injured and immediately scrambled up to help his scooter.

Yu Tian wasn’t hit either, but was scraped on the arm by the scooter’s handlebar and fell to the ground under the force of inertia. Fortunately, her arm only had surface wounds, and though the scraped area was now oozing some blood, it wasn’t serious.

As soon as she stood up, not caring about her rain-soaked, disheveled state and injury, she instinctively looked toward Yan Ming.

Fortunately, Yan Ming was fine.

He seemed not to have reacted yet. After being pushed away, he hadn’t fallen either, just got splashed with muddy water from the puddles stirred up by the delivery scooter.

Yu Tian, not caring about herself, quickly ran to Yan Ming’s side, took his hands, and carefully examined them. Only after finding no wounds did Yu Tian feel somewhat drained.

“Thank goodness.” She was drenched with rain, her hair stuck to her face, completely without any beauty, full of dishevelment, but couldn’t help smiling from the bottom of her heart, “It’s good that you’re okay.”

For a surgeon, hand injuries would be a huge disaster in their career.

Yu Tian had paid the price for her future dreams being shattered for this. For such an excellent ophthalmologist as Yan Ming, these hands were more precious than her own, bearing the hopes of so many people’s vision.

Yu Tian had experienced tremendous pain because of her hand injury, and she absolutely couldn’t bear for the same thing to happen to any other excellent doctor. At the moment she pushed Yan Ming away, she had only one belief.

Yan Ming was a very, very excellent surgeon, still so young, with an unlimited future ahead. He could save many, many people from blindness, while she was just a medical student who could never practice again. Yan Ming’s safety, especially the safety of his hands, was far more important than her own.

She would protect Yan Ming and his hands at any cost.

And absolutely couldn’t tolerate the same tragedy repeating itself before her eyes.

Fortunately, Yan Ming had no problems at all.

The delivery man who had caused it all had already pushed his scooter over. Only now did Yu Tian see clearly that this was a very young man, looking like a college student doing part-time delivery work for work-study. The boy looked full of guilt and nervousness, probably not having expected such a situation, and apologized profusely.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened to the scooter suddenly. I had it checked before, and there was no problem. I can compensate for any losses I’ve caused you…”

Those who worked part-time delivering food in such heavy rain were mostly not from wealthy families.

Although he wasn’t seriously hurt, all the food in his delivery bag had spilled, and the compensation for just these orders would probably be quite a lot.

Seeing his anxious appearance, Yu Tian waved her hand: “I’m fine, just be careful of slippery roads in the rain.”

The young deliveryman apologized repeatedly and confirmed several times before leaving.

Only then did Yu Tian feel the pain from the scraped wound on her arm.

Yan Ming had also noticed her wound. His voice was somewhat urgent and full of anger: “Yu Tian, do you know how dangerous that was just now?”

He stared into Yu Tian’s eyes: “Fortunately, this time it was just a scrape. If it had been unlucky just now, you could have been very seriously injured!”

Unfortunately, facing Yan Ming’s accusation, Yu Tian didn’t take it seriously at all. She smiled at Yan Ming: “It’s good that you’re okay. I’m fine.”

She muttered, “If I had been a step later, you would have been hit. Why don’t you thank me at all?”

Yan Ming’s voice was low: “You should have called out to me, I would have dodged. If I hadn’t dodged, that would be my problem, not you rushing up directly to push me away and leaving the danger to yourself.”

Yu Tian didn’t take it seriously: “Well, no matter what, at least now you’re fine, and I just have a little surface wound.”

Recalling the scene just now, Yan Ming still felt shaken. He remembered Yu Tian’s instinctive action of pushing him away at the critical moment, and besides being shaken, his heart was filled with indescribable emotion.

The Yu Tian across from him wasn’t refined at all right now. Her clothes were completely soaked, every strand of hair and even her eyelashes were covered with water, the sleeve on her injured arm was also torn, pitifully clinging to her body. She looked extremely cold, shivering slightly in the wind and rain, but her eyes were clean and earnest, like a pitiful yet well-behaved stray puppy, hoping for someone’s affection but not even daring to bark loudly.

Like a stray puppy Yan Ming had once kept.

Facing these eyes, Yan Ming finally couldn’t continue his accusations. He looked away, took Yu Tian’s hand, pressed his lips together, and without caring about anything else, led Yu Tian directly to his car in the parking lot.

He took out a spare blanket from his car, found a towel, and gave them to Yu Tian.

Yu Tian was now shivering with cold; not only had her movements become sluggish, but her mind had also become dull.

She made an “oh” sound, took them, and tried to lift both hands to dry her hair, but when she raised her injured hand, she realized that not only was the surface skin scraped, but there was also some bruising and stretching injury, making that hand unable to lift flexibly.

So Yu Tian switched to her other hand.

She was working hard to dry her wet hair, her thoughts scattered and wandering, when the towel in her hand was suddenly pulled away by Yan Ming.

Yu Tian was startled. Before she could ask, Yan Ming pursed his lips and used both hands to help Yu Tian dry her hair.

“You’re too slow.”

Yu Tian’s vision was covered by her wet hair and the towel moving above her head, so she couldn’t see ahead, but when her vision was limited, her hearing became more sensitive.

Even the water droplets falling from her hair as the towel moved, the sensation of them dropping on her skin became delicate and lingering. In a trance, Yu Tian felt like she was a calm lake surface, forced to feel the small ripples created when raindrops hit the water, and eventually these ripples grew larger, spreading through her entire heart.

Yan Ming was actually much taller than her, and his voice should have come from above her head, yet at this moment, perhaps to accommodate Yu Tian’s height, Yan Ming bent down slightly, so that his voice was close at hand, as if right by Yu Tian’s ear.

Her body was very cold after getting wet, but at this moment, Yu Tian felt as if she was split in half. The part above her neck felt slightly warm, especially her face, as if it were about to steam up, while her body still shivered.

Yan Ming’s hands were large and warm, but his movements were gentle and tender.

He patiently dried Yu Tian’s hair, then his gaze inevitably fell on the wound on Yu Tian’s hand.

He pulled Yu Tian’s arm: “I’ll take you back to the hospital to treat the wound.”

Yu Tian didn’t think it was a big deal: “It’s just a surface wound, it’s nothing…”

She smiled: “What a coincidence, it was this same hand that got injured last time. Did you see my scar? At that time, my whole palm was almost severed, the wound was so deep you could see bone…”

Yu Tian neurotically began to recall that scene again, until Yan Ming’s voice brought her back.

“Yu Tian, that’s in the past.”

“Even though it’s just a small injury now, you can’t be so rough with yourself.”

Yan Ming’s voice was still light, but carried a power that made people want to listen and obey.

“Don’t get hurt again in the future.”

His voice became somewhat strange: “Even for… someone you like, you shouldn’t get hurt like this.”

Yan Ming said this while glancing at Yu Tian, then looked away: “Although sometimes this kind of risking one’s life to protect another person’s feelings is often greatly praised in movies and TV shows, and it is indeed very moving, no matter how much you like someone, no one is worth you doing this.”

Yu Tian was somewhat puzzled, not knowing how Yan Ming had gone so far off topic, even bringing up the people she might like in the future. This train of thought was too scattered.

But fortunately, perhaps realizing he had gone off topic, Yan Ming looked somewhat embarrassed and at a loss. He finally handed the towel back to Yu Tian: “Dry yourself off first. At this time, my patient should have finished physical therapy and gone home, so my parking spot should be free. I’ll drive back to the hospital’s underground parking garage, go up for simple wound disinfection, then drive you home.”

He said this while glancing at Yu Tian: “And change your clothes.”

Yu Tian waved her hands repeatedly: “No need, no need, that’s too much trouble.”

But Yan Ming was very insistent: “It’s not about trouble or not.”

He paused, adding somewhat unnaturally: “You’re not very safe like this.”

Not safe?

Yu Tian didn’t quite understand.

Seeing her slow reaction, Yan Ming looked somewhat helpless: “Are you female, Yu Tian? Your clothes are all wet.”

Only then did Yu Tian belatedly look at herself and realize that the light yellow dress, completely soaked, was clinging tightly to her body. Although not exactly transparent, her body curves were indeed completely exposed, with no privacy left.

“Go to the duty room and change clothes. The hospital has several extra volunteer T-shirts and pants. I’ll find you a set to wear for now.”

After Yan Ming finished speaking, he pulled Yu Tian into the car without allowing any argument.

“Let’s go.”

The rain was still heavy, but Yan Ming turned the heat up high, so that even though Yu Tian was still wet all over, wrapped in the blanket, she no longer felt so cold.

Unfortunately, plans can never keep up with changes.

Yan Ming had just parked the car when his phone rang. After answering and saying a few words, he looked at Yu Tian with a grave expression.

“Is it a patient who suddenly had complications?” Yu Tian almost didn’t need to think to know what Yan Ming’s expression at this time meant.

She said generously, “Don’t worry about me, I can handle the wound myself!”

A doctor’s mission is to put patients’ lives and health first. As a medical school graduate, Yu Tian believed in this too.

Yu Tian urged, “Go quickly, Brother Yan Ming! I’ll handle the wound myself and take a taxi home!”

Yan Ming didn’t say anything more because another emergency call came. He answered it, glanced at Yu Tian again, and then could no longer care about anything else. Abandoning his usual calm composure, he almost sprinted toward the hospital’s operating room.

Yan Ming had received an emergency surgery notification. A child patient had been playing at the construction site where his parents worked, was pushed down by a companion, and was pierced through the eyeball by a steel wire. The entire left eyeball was ruptured, with the wound in the center of the cornea extending to the sclera. Tissue prolapse had occurred inside the eye, and the situation was very critical. The doctor on emergency duty that night couldn’t handle such severe and complex injuries, so they had called Yan Ming for help.

“Dr. Chen from neurosurgery is already in the operating room. Dr. Yan, after you go in, please see if we need to perform eyeball removal surgery…”

Yan Ming quickly changed into surgical clothes and rushed into the operating room.

The patient’s condition was worse than he had thought. The wound in the eyeball was very large and located right in the center of the cornea. Performing eyeball removal surgery would definitely be the safest option, since first, the risk of complications would be small; second, there wouldn’t be post-operative sequelae from preserving the eyeball; third, even if they sutured and preserved the eyeball, vision might not be restored post-operatively. After all, the size and location of the wound were not good, and the white scar left on the cornea post-operatively might not only damage vision but also harm the eye’s appearance. Most importantly, if they performed eye-preserving surgery, the child’s family would have higher expectations for post-operative recovery than direct eyeball removal, and once those expectations weren’t met…

Yan Ming understood all these reasons.

But the patient was only twelve years old. If he didn’t even get a chance to try and directly lose an eyeball…

Yan Ming pressed his lips together and ultimately chose the higher-risk, longer-duration approach.

Debridement, eyeball suturing…

Step by step, Yan Ming’s mind was highly focused.

Fortunately, everything was worthwhile. The surgery was very successful, and the child’s eyeball was preserved.

When he wearily left the operating table, he realized this surgery had taken three hours.

Only then did Yan Ming remember Yu Tian again.

It was still raining, and the sky had completely darkened, but she should have gotten home by now, right?

Yan Ming took out his phone to call and confirm, but soon realized it wasn’t necessary.

Because on a bench in the waiting area outside the nearby operating room, he saw Yu Tian sleeping against the backrest.

Her wound had been simply treated, but she hadn’t changed clothes. They had dried by now, making the mud spots and stains on the light yellow hem even more prominent and clear.

When Yan Ming approached, she seemed to sense something and groggily opened her eyes.

Again, those confused, pitiful puppy eyes.

When she saw Yan Ming, her spirit seemed to quickly return, her eyes lighting up instantly like a lamp being turned on. If she had a tail, it would probably start wagging vigorously.

“Brother Yan Ming! You’re back!”

This was even more like the puppy Yan Ming had kept as a child.

Every time it could only stay alone at home, waiting all day just for Yan Ming. The moment Yan Ming came home, it would run to the door carrying slippers, welcoming Yan Ming with eager, passionate eyes, waiting for his touch and companionship.

Yu Tian’s hair had completely dried but was nowhere near as smooth as usual, all frizzy. Her dress hem was also dirty, and her hand bore a freshly bandaged wound, making her look even more like a pitiful stray puppy.

Perhaps not valuable, but with genuine and passionate feelings toward people.

She looked at Yan Ming with completely trusting eyes.

Yan Ming instinctively avoided her gaze, pretending to look at the night scene outside the window: “Why didn’t you take a taxi home? Waiting until so late.”

A full three hours, without changing clothes, in the noisy, coming-and-going environment with poor conditions outside the operating room corridor. Yan Ming didn’t know what kind of mood Yu Tian had spent these three hours in.

But Yu Tian didn’t seem to have any intention of complaining, much less of using this to gain Yan Ming’s sympathy. She said carelessly, “I tried calling for one, but probably because of the heavy rain, no cars accepted the order, so I just waited here.”

“Did you eat dinner?”

Yu Tian didn’t answer directly. She smiled: “The nurse gave me some chocolate.”

So she indeed hadn’t eaten.

With such heavy rain, there probably weren’t many delivery riders taking orders either.

Yu Tian looked up and smiled at Yan Ming: “So, Brother Yan Ming…”

Yu Tian’s bright, moist black eyes looked seriously at Yan Ming, as if he were the center of her universe, with a kind of sincere trust and admiration.

Yan Ming was defeated by this kind of gaze, feeling that if Yu Tian’s next suggestion was for the two of them to have dinner together, he would have no way to refuse.

However, just when Yan Ming thought she would naturally suggest the two of them have dinner together, he heard Yu Tian’s cheerful voice—

“Is that child’s eyeball saved?”

Yan Ming was startled, then instinctively nodded.

Yu Tian’s eyes were round, looking innocent and pure, yet the corners of her eyes and eyebrows carried a touch of charm and allure, a very beautiful natural shape.

She stared at Yan Ming with these eyes, very excited: “I heard the nurses and interns discussing it. To be able to save the eyeball under those circumstances is amazing!”

Thinking that the person who preserved a bright future for this child is you, I feel like I’m amazing! Because your future achievements are like half my achievements!”

When Yu Tian said this, her tone was proud and somewhat self-congratulatory.

But she was indeed very proud. After all, if she hadn’t pushed Yan Ming away at the critical moment today, preventing him from getting hurt, he might not have been able to perform surgery for this patient properly. Especially if his hands had been injured, even if not as severely as her injury, it would inevitably affect his short-term surgical schedule.

You know, the ophthalmology department of Rong City’s First Affiliated Hospital was nationally famous, with beds hard to come by. Many who came seeking treatment were ordinary patients from all over the country who had saved money to come here. If Yan Ming’s surgical schedule were disrupted, it would be a huge upheaval in many patients’ lives.

So for the success of Yan Ming’s surgery, she felt she had good reason to claim half the honor.

But she didn’t know that this sounded completely different to Yan Ming.

A beautiful girl was staring at him with shining eyes, constantly hinting that half of Yan Ming’s future achievements and success would include her presence…

Rather than calling this hinting, it could almost be called explicit.

But Yu Tian’s eyes were as frank as could be. She always seemed so fearless.

Obviously, she usually seemed like a girl who would be shy, but when it came to love, she was surprisingly bold.

Yan Ming wasn’t unfamiliar with being pursued by patients, classmates, or colleagues, nor was he unfamiliar with people who continued to persist relentlessly after being rejected. But almost all persistent pursuits ultimately made Yan Ming feel not moved but bothered and annoyed.

But Yu Tian didn’t give him that feeling.

She was like a stray puppy that people couldn’t hate.

Although passionate and impulsive, she seemed obedient and well-behaved. Even without coaxing her, she could chase her tail and play for hours. She liked companionship but wasn’t clingy. Even if you left her aside without paying attention to her, as long as you beckoned to her again, she would come over without holding grudges, wagging her head adorably.

And what she cared about was never herself, but you. She didn’t care whether she was injured or hadn’t eaten, but always cared about how you were, how the people you cared about were, and how your work was going.

You were her whole world.

Yan Ming thought randomly, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward Yu Tian.

After being left behind for so long, Yu Tian showed no sign of anger at all, smiling quite brilliantly, chattering and asking about the operations and issues from the surgery that interested her.

When asked such professional questions, Yan Ming naturally couldn’t avoid answering.

Through their back-and-forth, by the time he realized it, the two of them had been sitting at a roadside stall discussing that thrilling surgery for an hour.

This was almost Yan Ming’s social quota for a week, but he surprisingly didn’t feel tired at all.

But frankly speaking, the stray puppy’s quality indeed made it impossible for Yan Ming to be heartless. Besides, if Yu Tian were a stray puppy, she would probably be quite a good-looking stray puppy.

It’s just that she liked him a bit too much, liked him to the point of disregarding her safety. This was a bit too selfless and humble.