Chapter 7

The partnered stretching lasted ten minutes. Throughout, Tang Feiwan stared at the floor and the white wall behind Lin Ye, fully focused. The occasional accidental eye contact made her flinch as if burned, and she’d quickly look away. When they got close, the other person’s breath drifted toward her nose, and she could only stiffen her back and mechanically perform the movements.

Just like years ago, when Lu Yuqing played third wheel and watched Lin Ye feed her ice cream, teasing, “Xiao Tang, why do I feel like you’ve been dragged into a spider’s den and are afraid Lin Ye will eat you?”

Only now, the proactive one was no longer proactive, yet the nervous one was still nervous.

Finally, they moved to equipment training. Tang Feiwan felt as if she’d been granted a pardon and waited for the female coach to assign them. But of course, the two people the coach was responsible for were none other than her and Lin Ye. Tang Feiwan grumbled internally as she followed them to the equipment area.

The female coach asked the routine question: “Any experience with strength training?”

“Yes.” Although Tang Feiwan had only started working out last year, she’d been going to the gym twice a week consistently, so she was much more skilled than most people who bought a membership and only showed up a few times a year.

Lin Ye trained on the machines beside her. When Lin Ye did lat pulldowns on the Bumblebee machine, Tang Feiwan did the Hummer row. When Lin Ye did straight-arm pulldowns, Tang Feiwan did the seated row. Thus, throughout the 50 minutes of strength training, Tang Feiwan didn’t look sideways, her eyes as determined as if she were taking an oath of office.

Fortunately, post-workout stretching was free-form, and she finally kept a tacit distance from Lin Ye.

At 4:50 p.m., Tang Feiwan showered, changed, and finally escaped the gym. She told herself she’d only been nervous because it was the first time. After a few more visits, she’d get used to it. After all, she’d chosen the small-group classes. The 6,000-yuan annual membership was already paid, and she couldn’t waste it.

Dinner at Juhua Restaurant at 6 p.m., 2.3 kilometers away. Walking from the gym would take 33 minutes, a taxi 9. Tang Feiwan thought for a moment and chose to walk. Juhua Restaurant was in Haitian Tower opposite the First Affiliated Hospital, convenient for Jiang Junli, and also for Jiang Mu, who worked in the traffic police brigade patrolling the streets containing the First and Second Affiliated Hospitals and the two sub-districts around Shujiang University.

After the rain, the weather had cooled slightly, but by early afternoon, the sun had quietly reappeared. Walking along the roadside, the unshaded stretches were still a bit hard to bear. Tang Feiwan walked unhurriedly. Passing the west gate of the Second Affiliated Hospital, two old ladies carrying canvas bags saw her and cheerfully pressed a plastic fan into her hand.

“Thank you.” Tang Feiwan fanned herself and examined the fan’s text: “XXX Proctology Hospital.” Shujiang is in the southwest, where the diet favors spicy and numbing flavors, so proctology hospital ads were everywhere.

But Tang Feiwan had lived in Heidelberg for years and rarely ate spicy food; her tastes had gradually changed.

She crossed a street and turned left. Pedestrians were shoulder to shoulder, mostly elderly grandparents leading children by the hand. The children’s little backpacks read “Shujiang City Shatan District Experimental Kindergarten.” Why do kindergartens get out at 5 p.m. now? Tang Feiwan muttered to herself, stepping forward. She slowed and suddenly stopped.

Looking up, she saw Lin Ye in a light blue dress standing by the banyan tree outside the kindergarten gates. Her long hair, normally tied back at work, hung loose. So different from the distant way she’d been during their earlier interaction. Now, facing the kindergarten, her brows and eyes were full of smiles.

“Mommy.”

Tang Feiwan instinctively stepped back two paces, but she could still see a little girl of about four or five with twin ponytails release the teacher’s hand and dive into Lin Ye’s arms.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” Lin Ye took a Disney rabbit plush from her bag and handed it to the little girl.

“Wow, StellaLou! Thank you, Mommy!” Lin Yangyang pressed her little cheek against Lin Ye’s face in thanks, then obediently left her embrace and took her hand. The little girl was flanked by Lin Wenhui on her left and Lin Ye on her right. But Tang Feiwan didn’t know Lin Wenhui and assumed she was the man’s mother. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law seem to get along well.

Lin Ye was walking in the same direction, so Tang Feiwan, suppressing the ache in her chest, took a detour via a path behind the kindergarten. Her steps quickened, and her heartbeat followed, but she still couldn’t shake the beautiful image she’d just witnessed.

Beautiful for Lin Ye, but for Tang Feiwan, it felt like a knife suddenly stabbed into her chest, the pain tearing her apart. She understood that this late-coming, one-sided affection of hers was absurd, especially when the other person had clearly forgotten the past. So she kept reminding herself to be free and easy, to treat Lin Ye as just an ordinary colleague and sincerely wish her happiness.

Turning right at the end of the alley and crossing the street would bring Haitian Tower into view. A mango lover, Tang Feiwan bought a cup of mango pomelo sago with extra ice and sugar from a roadside stand, choosing to use food to stimulate her taste buds and release dopamine to suppress her emotions. Otherwise, if she met Old Tang with a sour face, she’d be grilled with questions once she got home.

Juhua Restaurant was in the dining area on the fourth floor of Haitian Tower. Tang Feiwan arrived first. She sat in the waiting area outside and messaged Tang Anhua: “I’m here.”

Tang Anhua replied quickly: “Your mom got called in for a last-minute surgery this afternoon. We’ll be a bit late. Here’s Jiang Mu’s phone number.”

Call her? Won’t it be awkward?

Reality proved it would.

Tang Feiwan dialed the number. When it connected, the other person spoke first. “Hello.”

“Hello, I’m Tang Feiwan.”

“Hello, Jiang Mu.”

Tang Feiwan, never good at socializing and forced to actively adapt after returning home, was speechless. Luckily, Jiang Mu said, “I’m at the third-floor escalator, almost there. Wearing a coffee-colored T-shirt and black baseball cap.”

“I’m in the outdoor waiting area at Juhua. White T-shirt.”

As Tang Feiwan finished, a figure appeared at the escalator entrance to her left, slightly taller than her by two or three centimeters. Coffee-colored T-shirt, light trousers, black baseball cap over long hair, a black cord around her neck with a silver skull pendant, a black backpack on her back. A total cool girl. But unlike those who deliberately tried to look cool, she exuded an innate heroic spirit, with a hint of charm when she smiled.

Tang Feiwan tentatively greeted, “Hello.”

Jiang Mu’s eyes curved into crescents. “Hello.”

Tang Feiwan finally forced out three words: “Little Aunt.”

Jiang Mu refused again and again. “No, no, no. Just call me by my name. I’m two years younger than you.”

A peer, and seemingly easy to get along with. Tang Feiwan grew more talkative and couldn’t help sighing. “My mom said the hierarchy can’t be messed up…”

“Suit yourself then.” Jiang Mu didn’t argue, sitting down beside Tang Feiwan and playing on her phone.

The correct way for two strangers to spend their first meeting: each doing their own thing.

Tang Feiwan also took out her phone and idly browsed the Group 2 chat. Someone complained that the night shift had only one patient before midnight, but four patients arrived simultaneously after; someone complained they hadn’t published their article yet and couldn’t even get a foot in the door for this year’s chief resident selection; someone shared the sense of accomplishment from successfully rescuing a critical patient.

Beside her, Jiang Mu suddenly asked, “Want some milk tea? I’ll order delivery.”

Tang Feiwan thanked her. “No need. I just finished one before coming.”

“One more won’t hurt. Are you doctors really that health-conscious? You can’t eat this, can’t drink that.”

Tang Feiwan smiled and shook her head. “No. Milk tea, cola, instant noodles, burgers. The foods we tell patients to avoid are often in our office. Because they’re convenient, make us happy, and relieve stress. For example, we always tell patients not to stay up late, but when we’re on duty, we have to.”

“That sounds tough.”

They chatted, unaware that two people who had come out from a restaurant across the way to pick up a cake had been watching them for three whole minutes.

It was Lin Yangyang’s fourth birthday, and Lin Ye had invited Lu Yuqing out to celebrate. At that moment, Lu Yuqing complained with a dark expression, “She told me she had plans tonight and would reschedule, but here she is meeting someone else. By the way, does Tang Feiwan use that same-sex dating site?”

“Don’t know.” Lin Ye’s expression was calm.

Lu Yuqing’s imagination ran wild, and she casually voiced her thoughts to Lin Ye, “Think about it. Neither of them is straight. What are they doing out eating together?”

Lin Ye’s emotions didn’t seem stirred. “Maybe they know each other.”

“Know each other? One just returned to China, the other just transferred from a township on July 20.”

Lin Ye seemed indifferent but was actually biting her lip lightly. “Didn’t you say yesterday that before you two parted ways, Jiang Mu promised to only date you? Don’t you trust her?”

“She and I are just online friends. We date for mutual benefit. I don’t know her well.” Lu Yuqing paused, then said, “Should I just ask her directly?”

“Eating?”

Within ten seconds, a reply came: “Mm, with a relative.”

Lu Yuqing was furious, pointing at her phone. “See that? She lied to me, saying Tang Feiwan is her relative. What kind of relative?”

“Maybe she really is a relative.” Lin Ye noticed that when Jiang Mu replied, she deliberately avoided Tang Feiwan’s sight. She didn’t say this to Lu Yuqing because both reasons were plausible. But Lu Yuqing had also caught the detail. “She’s hiding her messages from Tang Feiwan. She definitely doesn’t want the other person to know about me.”

“Tang Feiwan’s mother’s surname is Jiang. Maybe…”

“You always trust her unconditionally! Have you forgotten that she said she was busy and didn’t reply to your messages, yet ended up playing with that little foreigner until midnight?”

“I…” Lin Ye couldn’t argue and changed the subject. “Yuqing, it’s Yangyang’s birthday. They’re waiting for us to get back.”

“I’m going to ask her clearly one day. If she doesn’t tell the truth, it’s over.” Lu Yuqing was pulled back to the restaurant by Lin Ye. She immediately changed her expression and walked toward their reserved room with a smile.

The brief break ended, and new challenges awaited. The motorcycle had been sitting in the parking lot for two days. Tang Feiwan rode with Tang Anhua, so she arrived earlier than usual.

The computer on her desk had just booted up when she heard colleagues greeting Lin Ye behind her. Lin Ye replied to each with “Good morning.” Tang Feiwan also greeted her politely. To her surprise, she got no response.

Tang Feiwan suspected her voice was too soft, and since she had work to do, she didn’t dwell on it. She finished handoff and was drinking water when Sun Qinhe’s urgent words interrupted her: “Doctor Tang, where’s Director Lin?”

“Doing rounds.”

“There’s been a car accident on Wenkai Road. Three victims are coming in, about five minutes out.” Emergency patients sent via 120 were like blind boxes—you never knew what ailment the next one would bring. Sun Qinhe relayed the news and ran off to summon help from the other two groups.

Three accident victims, one per group.

Tang Feiwan went to the resuscitation room early. The medical staff made urgent preparations.

Three minutes later, the first patient was wheeled in, directly to Bed 4, their assigned bed.

Tang Feiwan asked the accompanying doctor, “What’s the situation?”

“He was following too closely. A steel bar went through the car and impaled the driver.” The doctor kept it brief, helping transfer the patient to the resuscitation bed. “The firefighters cut off the excess bar in the vehicle, but the rest couldn’t be touched.”

Tang Feiwan leaned down, patted the patient’s shoulder, and listened to his chest with a stethoscope. “Do you know who you are?”

The patient’s mouth opened slightly, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.

“Suspected lung injury, which could affect breathing. Let’s intubate first.” Tang Feiwan examined the patient, frowning. “Difficult airway.”

The resident beside her quickly said, “I’ll go get Doctor Lu.”

“Wait. Hand me the intubation kit.” Tang Feiwan positioned herself at the patient’s head, hands moving constantly. “Sister Sun, please call for a surgical consult.”

A dozen medical staff worked feverishly in the resuscitation room. Outside, the family wailed to the heavens, begging the Bodhisattva for protection. Jiang Mu, in uniform, had just finished speaking with the at-fault driver and was about to leave when Lu Yuqing, passing through the hall, called out to stop her and asked point-blank, “Who’s the relative you had dinner with last night?”

“Hm? Tang Feiwan, Doctor Tang from your hospital.”

So she didn’t hide it. Lu Yuqing’s eyes flickered. “Cousins?”

“I’m her little aunt.”