Yi Qingzhuo had heard of this man before.
Han Yecheng was the doctor who had come with the ambulance. He had been the one to start the rescue efforts when her heart stopped and showed no reaction. After a full round of emergency procedures with still no effect, and once the optimal window for resuscitation had passed, he had already been ready to give up.
Then Shen Chaoyi arrived, and everything was given new hope.
Yi Qingzhuo’s eyes gleamed with a chilling light. Her hat covered most of her forehead, making her gaze all the more terrifying.
She didn’t speak. She just looked at Han Yecheng.
She couldn’t judge him for abandoning the rescue—after all, a full round of procedures had already been completed.
But it made her more certain than ever: the person who had given her a chance at life was named Shen Chaoyi.
A certain distance separated her and Han Yecheng as they stared at each other. He straightened his posture.
Thinking she hadn’t heard him because of her earphones, he raised his voice. “Yi Qingzhuo, if next time you run into someone other than Chaoyi, you might not be so lucky to survive.”
“And then?” Yi Qingzhuo spat out three cold words.
Her face was sickly pale, and her frame seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
Yet she remained calm. It was hard to imagine that this was a woman who had endured so much—scars upon scars.
Compared to Shen Chaoyi’s gentle elegance, Yi Qingzhuo exuded only an unapproachable coldness.
Han Yecheng gave a dismissive laugh. “Then you should pray to the heavens that your luck holds out forever.”
“And while you’re at it, stay away from Chaoyi. Do you have any idea how much trouble your appearance has caused her? If you know what’s good for you, transfer to another hospital, or switch to a different attending physician. Got it?”
“Doctor Han, you…” Chen Ya, standing at the nurse station, seemed unable to listen any longer and tried to intervene.
But she knew better than to offend Han Yecheng. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
This was between Doctor Shen and Doctor Han. As a mere nurse, what could she change by getting involved? She might even end up burned herself.
Hearing her voice, Han Yecheng turned his head. “What? Am I wrong? Chen Ya, don’t you know what kind of person she is too? Do you really think she’s worth Chaoyi going to all this trouble for?”
“I… actually…” Chen Ya wanted to say that Shen Chaoyi treated all patients the same way. And while she did seem to pay a bit more attention to Yi Qingzhuo, it wasn’t as serious as Han Yecheng was making it out to be.
But seeing the anger already written on his face, she could only say, “Doctor Han, please stop. There are so many people around. It’s not good if others hear.”
The doctor-patient relationship was always a sensitive issue.
“Hmph.” Not getting the answer he wanted, Han Yecheng turned back and looked at Yi Qingzhuo provokingly.
Yi Qingzhuo tilted her head back, resting it against the wall, watching Han Yecheng’s face redden with rage.
She curled her lips. “Has anyone ever told you that other people’s business is best left unheard, unsaid, and unmanaged?”
As the words fell, Yi Qingzhuo’s gaze shifted slightly, and between breaths, she caught a faint wisp of Shen Chaoyi’s light fragrance.
Yi Qingzhuo pressed her lips together, then said coldly, “What business is it of yours?”
What happens between me and Shen Chaoyi—what does it have to do with you?
Yi Qingzhuo had always been a woman of few words. She condensed an entire sentence into five simple words, dancing lightly and maddeningly over Han Yecheng’s sore spots.
Hearing this, Han Yecheng felt a surge of fire rise from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. He clenched his fists.
His usual composure nearly abandoned him. Gritting his teeth, he walked up to Yi Qingzhuo.
“Chaoyi… she is my girlfriend. So how is it none of my business?”
When Han Yecheng said the word “girlfriend,” a flicker of guilt passed through his eyes, but he blurted it out anyway.
The moment it left his mouth, he regretted it. But Yi Qingzhuo’s indifferent gaze was fixed on him.
In a fit of impulse, Han Yecheng threw caution to the wind. “Stay away from her. Don’t cause her any more trouble.”
“Doctor Han.” Chen Ya had only been worried that Han Yecheng, with his clenched fists and aggressive approach, might lose his temper and cause an incident. But she hadn’t expected to hear him say that as she drew closer.
A surprised exclamation slipped from Chen Ya’s lips involuntarily.
But Han Yecheng, now hyper-focused on confronting Yi Qingzhuo, had no attention to spare for Chen Ya’s shock.
After hearing that first sentence, a shadow flickered across Yi Qingzhuo’s eyes—so fast that Han Yecheng, staring right at her, didn’t catch it.
It felt as if her mind went blank for an instant. Even Han Yecheng’s following words became blurred and inaudible.
They were so close. There was no sound coming from her earphones. So how could she have not heard what he said next?
Perhaps that first sentence had been too deafening, stirring up the calm waters of Yi Qingzhuo’s heart.
In a brief moment, the temperature around Yi Qingzhuo plummeted, even colder than when Han Yecheng had been provoking her earlier.
She ground her molars. “What relationship you two have has nothing to do with me. If Doctor Shen doesn’t want to be my attending physician, she can switch me to someone else anytime. I have no objections. But I’m very satisfied with Doctor Shen, so I won’t be requesting a change on my own.”
She said it deliberately. If not for Han Yecheng’s earlier provocation, Yi Qingzhuo wouldn’t have cared.
Even if she had some complicated feelings, she truly didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble for Shen Chaoyi because of herself.
But Han Yecheng just had to provoke her. And Yi Qingzhuo knew that after all this time, if Shen Chaoyi hadn’t suggested she change doctors, she probably wouldn’t bring it up now.
Yi Qingzhuo watched with satisfaction as Han Yecheng’s face cycled through shades of red and white.
“Yi Qingzhuo, why the hell are you even out of prison?” Han Yecheng’s eyes bulged wide, veins popping on his temples. His whole body shook with agitation.
It drew the attention of passersby.
In contrast, Yi Qingzhuo remained remarkably calm, her thin lips pressed into a straight line.
She crossed her arms. “Am I to understand that Doctor Han is throwing a tantrum? But it was you who called me over again and again, insisting on discussing this. What kind of person am I? In your eyes, isn’t this exactly what I’m supposed to be like?”
Don’t let Yi Qingzhuo’s quiet demeanor fool you. Whether it came to logic or mental fortitude, she was far superior to the so-called high-achieving Han Yecheng.
Every word she spoke landed precisely on his sore spots.
Han Yecheng had come to provoke her, yet he was the one left furious while she remained unscathed.
“You…” Han Yecheng was at a loss for words.
“Han Yecheng!” Just as he was about to say more, a forceful voice rang out from behind him.
Zhou Jinglong barked coldly, “With so many people around, whose face are you trying to lose?”
That familiar voice doused Han Yecheng’s anger with a single sentence.
A flicker passed through his eyes as he regained some composure.
He lowered his hands but kept his fists clenched, unwilling to let go. “Chief Doctor.”
Zhou Jinglong swept his gaze over the onlookers, then fixed Han Yecheng with an eagle-like stare. “What a disgrace! Come to my office immediately!”
Then Zhou Jinglong turned to Yi Qingzhuo and gave a slight nod, signaling her not to take it personally.
Yi Qingzhuo straightened herself, dropped her gaze, and slipped her hands into her pockets. She pivoted on her heel.
Slowly, unhurriedly, she moved forward.
Han Yecheng watched her go, resentment burning inside him. He could only clench his teeth and glare at her back.
Then, following Zhou Jinglong’s orders, he headed toward the office.
A scolding was inevitable, but Han Yecheng still held his breath.
The more he looked at Yi Qingzhuo, the more she rubbed him the wrong way.
But Yi Qingzhuo didn’t care about his displeasure.
Gripping the corridor handrail, she walked silently forward.
The jacket Shen Chaoyi had given her seemed to form a protective layer—like armor wrapped around her, shielding her from the outside world.
Yi Qingzhuo pressed hard on the handrail, her fingertips turning bloodless. Only the faint blue veins on the back of her hand stood out.
Her hand in her pocket trembled almost imperceptibly. For some reason, she felt her breathing quicken. She parted her lips slightly just to relieve the suffocating sensation.
Han Yecheng had said so many things, but only that one sentence echoed in Yi Qingzhuo’s mind: “She is my girlfriend.”
It wasn’t surprising.
Shen Chaoyi was so beautiful, gentle, and generous. Anyone’s heart would beat faster just looking at her.
If she didn’t have a partner, that would be the real surprise.
A sprout that emerges after the rain is always so fragile. Before it can grow, the next storm snaps it in two.
Her steps felt unbearably heavy. Even that short distance of a few dozen meters seemed impossibly long.
Yi Qingzhuo simply blamed it on her body not having recovered enough to support her walking back.
Finally, she pushed open the door to her hospital ward and quickly closed it behind her.
She leaned against the door, slowly pulling her hand out of her pocket.
She opened her palm, which was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Lying quietly in the center was a ripple-patterned plain ring.
Maybe Shen Chaoyi had taken it off and put it in her pocket without thinking. It had no adornments, just some curves along the band.
Simple yet tasteful—very fitting for Shen Chaoyi’s personality.
But paired with Han Yecheng’s words just now, it was all too easy to connect the two.
Yi Qingzhuo stared at the ring, lost in thought.
