Chapter 35: A Leaping Conversation

“Huh? A chat with Doctor Shen?” Yi Changhuan looked confused.

Yi Qingzhuo nodded, then repeated herself at a slow, steady pace. “I want to say a couple of things to Doctor Shen alone. Mom, can you go buy me something to eat first? I’m a little hungry.”

At that, it wasn’t just Yi Changhuan who was taken aback.

Even Shen Chaoyi raised an eyebrow and stared at Yi Qingzhuo in confusion.

Yi Qingzhuo had already told her mom about being a lesbian—what could she possibly have left to say that Yi Changhuan couldn’t hear?

Shen Chaoyi thought that, and Yi Changhuan thought so too.

But curiosity aside, since Yi Qingzhuo had made her wish clear, Yi Changhuan wasn’t going to be tactless and insist on staying.

So Yi Changhuan let her gaze linger between Shen Chaoyi and Yi Qingzhuo for a few seconds, then nodded. “Alright, you two talk. I’ll step out for a bit.”

The sound of the door closing rang out as Yi Changhuan quickly left.

Shen Chaoyi took a couple of steps toward Yi Qingzhuo, glanced at the faint palm print still visible on her cheek, her eyes flickering with emotion. She said quietly, “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Yi Qingzhuo fixed her gaze on Shen Chaoyi. There were a thousand words in her eyes.

But she was Yi Qingzhuo. Silence was her default.

She wouldn’t pour out her heart with a thousand words.

Shen Chaoyi stood still, waiting half a minute without hearing Yi Qingzhuo speak. Finally, she had to break the silence with a small smile. “Didn’t you say you wanted a private word with me? Then at least say a couple of words, right? Otherwise, it’s just us staring at each other—pretty awkward.”

Shen Chaoyi deliberately used a light tone.

Though the distance between them wasn’t that close, Yi Qingzhuo seemed to sense the forced cheerfulness in Shen Chaoyi’s voice.

She swallowed hard, her face devoid of any smile. “Take off your mask. Let me see how bad the injury is.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a flash of surprise crossed Shen Chaoyi’s face.

She had imagined many opening lines from Yi Qingzhuo, but she never expected her to directly ask her to remove the mask.

Shen Chaoyi lowered her head slightly, doing her best to hide her emotions.

On the surface, she looked calm, but inside, a faint sense of disappointment began to sprout.

Even after misunderstanding the relationship between her and Han Yecheng, she was still so unbothered. If Chen Ya hadn’t said that Han Yecheng had admitted it right in front of Yi Qingzhuo—and everyone around had heard it—Shen Chaoyi might have believed that Yi Qingzhuo hadn’t heard anything at all.

But she knew. The strange details that had once nagged at her now all pointed to one thing.

Yi Qingzhuo knew. She knew, and she had misunderstood.

Yet still, she showed no reaction.

Thinking like this, Shen Chaoyi felt she might be overthinking it again.

Yi Qingzhuo had indeed said she didn’t like men.

But in Yi Qingzhuo’s eyes, Shen Chaoyi was just a doctor worth thanking.

How could she let her mind run wild like this?

Shen Chaoyi’s thoughts wandered aimlessly, tangled and messy.

She had gradually come to realize what these unusual feelings—only ever triggered by Yi Qingzhuo—meant. Her rationality held her back, telling her this wasn’t allowed.

From every angle, it was forbidden.

Yet her emotions gave rise to a tiny shred of hope.

Shen Chaoyi didn’t answer, and Yi Qingzhuo waited quietly.

“It’s fine, just a little red. Besides, I put a band-aid on it, so even if I take off the mask, you won’t see anything.” Shen Chaoyi tried to keep her voice as normal as possible.

Hearing that, Yi Qingzhuo didn’t push. Her gaze flickered.

She’d see it sooner or later.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this.” The apology was crisp, sincere, and burning with guilt.

Shen Chaoyi smiled softly. “Then how are you going to thank me?”

This time, there was no polite refusal. The end of her sentence rose playfully.

All the negative emotions she had received outside this ward were perfectly hidden beneath her mask.

Perhaps the question caught Yi Qingzhuo off guard. For a moment, she was at a loss. She couldn’t think of how to thank Shen Chaoyi.

What did she have? Nothing. She had nothing to give Shen Chaoyi.

“Just owe me a meal, Yi Qingzhuo.” Shen Chaoyi saw through her hesitation.

In truth, Yi Qingzhuo wasn’t troubled by the idea of giving something in return—she was troubled because she couldn’t think of what to give.

So Shen Chaoyi decided for her.

“A meal? Isn’t that a bribe?” Yi Qingzhuo asked very sincerely.

Wasn’t that the same as stuffing a red envelope into a doctor’s pocket?

Shen Chaoyi found it amusing. Holding back her laughter, she answered with a serious face, “After you’re discharged, we won’t be doctor and patient anymore. So it won’t count as a bribe.”

“Mm. Okay.” Yi Qingzhuo nodded.

And just like that, an agreement was reached. Simple and direct.

No fake pleasantries, no awkward refusals.

“So, is that it? Anything else you wanted to say?” Shen Chaoyi stepped closer to Yi Qingzhuo’s hospital bed, the hem of her coat swaying in a small arc.

Yi Qingzhuo swallowed. Then she voiced her real purpose. “My current condition won’t let me leave the hospital yet. So… please assign me a different attending doctor. I’m very grateful to you, but I’ve also brought you a lot of trouble. Switching doctors would be good for both of us.”

She didn’t want to cause Shen Chaoyi any more trouble.

Shen Chaoyi had never shown a hint of dissatisfaction, but she was different from Yi Qingzhuo. Yi Qingzhuo had long grown accustomed to gossip.

Shen Chaoyi, however, still had to work at the hospital. Her career and her future were here.

Yi Qingzhuo didn’t think she was worth Shen Chaoyi going this far.

For now, she’d take it as Shen Chaoyi’s kindness, combined with the compassion of a healer. But precisely because of that, Yi Qingzhuo was even more unwilling to cause her trouble.

“I’ve put you through a lot these past few days.” Yi Qingzhuo’s face was pale with shame.

Shen Chaoyi’s eyes constricted sharply. Every trace of expression on her face froze.

She hadn’t expected this to be what Yi Qingzhuo wanted to talk about.

She bit her lip hard, took a deep breath, and said, “Yi Qingzhuo, I thought that since I didn’t care about this, you wouldn’t either.”

Maybe the weight in her voice was too heavy. Yi Qingzhuo sensed her emotion.

But she could only turn her head away, her expression stiff. “I really don’t care. But I don’t want it to affect you.”

“I don’t care either. Actually, even without you, I’d still get gossiped about for all sorts of reasons. And it’s not just me—my colleagues, even the patients—whenever there’s something worth talking about, people will chatter away in every corner. There are always gossips wherever you go. We can’t stop everyone’s mouths. The only effective way to fight it is to ignore it and not let it affect us.” Shen Chaoyi spoke faster than usual, a hint of panic hidden beneath her words.

She was trying to convince Yi Qingzhuo.

That Yi Qingzhuo would suddenly ask to switch doctors was something Shen Chaoyi had never imagined.

So caught off guard, she was a little flustered.

Yi Qingzhuo listened and shifted her position slightly.

The dark pupils in her eyes moved. After a moment of silence, she suddenly asked, “Then what do they gossip about you?”

Was it the same kind of stuff she’d heard?

And when Shen Chaoyi heard those things, didn’t it hurt?

When it happened to her, Yi Qingzhuo was already numb, so she felt nothing. But if it was Shen Chaoyi, the thought of her feeling bad because of it made Yi Qingzhuo unhappy too.

“Huh?” Shen Chaoyi felt like she couldn’t keep up with Yi Qingzhuo’s train of thought.

Weren’t they just talking about switching attending doctors?

How did they jump to this?

“What do they… gossip about you?” Yi Qingzhuo’s voice was soft, as she rephrased the question.

Gossip. Yeah, that was the better word.

The mist in Shen Chaoyi’s eyes cleared a little. “They gossip about how I got scolded by the chief again today. They also gossip about how I have a boyfriend.”

“Actually, I’m single.” Shen Chaoyi quickly clarified.

Thinking about how Han Yecheng had spread rumors about their relationship right in front of Yi Qingzhuo made her chest feel even tighter—more stifling than when she’d taken that punch from Zhou You.

It was annoying. It made her feel blocked up inside.

Yi Qingzhuo raised an eyebrow, a glimmer of light in her dark eyes. “Then Doctor Han…”

He didn’t? There was no relationship?

Then what about what Han Yecheng had said that day?

“You believed him? Just because he said it, you believed it?” Two questions in a row, revealing Shen Chaoyi’s frustration.

Yi Qingzhuo had so easily believed someone else’s one-sided story.

Shen Chaoyi pressed her tongue against her back teeth, her tone laced with helplessness. “Yi Qingzhuo, do you believe that kind of gossip too? Everyone knows about it, but you had so many chances to ask me after that day. You never did.”

Shen Chaoyi felt so wronged. Even Yi Qingzhuo believed it.

That hurt more than the whole department knowing while she, the one involved, was left in the dark.

Perhaps Shen Chaoyi herself didn’t realize that her words carried a hint of reproach toward Yi Qingzhuo.