Chapter 25: 25. Alps and Lollipop Part 2

Yu Qinjiu wanted to say more, but seeing Ji Qingyou’s exhausted expression, she knew it wasn’t the right time to disturb her. She had to do as Ji Qingyou said and leave.

After Yu Qinjiu left, the room fell silent again.

Ji Qingyou sat on the sofa for a while longer. Her hand, pressing on the sofa edge, was a little too forceful, the knuckles turning white from the effort.

Soon after, she stood up, packed her things, and went to shower. The emotional release from waking from her dream was precisely timed within ten seconds.

After showering and drying her hair, lying in bed, she couldn’t help but think about the short dream she just had:

A room full of roaring flames. Pages of books burned to ash everywhere. With every step she took, her body was burned by the raging fire, leaving wounds covered in blisters.

But she couldn’t escape the dream. The doors and windows were all sealed. The suffocation in her throat made her speechless. It hurt so much she felt she would be lost in this world. In her dazed state, she struggled to open her eyes. Suddenly, she saw a swimming goldfish in the firelight, leading her out of the inferno.

When she got out, she dazedly looked back at the butterfly, only to find the little goldfish was dying, unable to escape its fate of being burned.

It turned out this goldfish could only survive in water, yet in that moment, it had performed a miracle by entering the fire to save her.

“Buzz—”

The phone on the bedside table vibrated several times, snapping her out of the daze caused by the dream.

She picked it up. Miss Alps had sent her a WeChat message.

【I made the appointment!】

Below was a screenshot. Yu Qinjiu had just booked an appointment at their hospital.

Ji Qingyou breathed a sigh of relief. The name “Yu Qinjiu” brought her back to reality. She was about to exit the screenshot when she saw “Gastroenterology Department.” She pursed her lips.

【You probably need a gastroscopy, right?】

Miss Alps replied: 【???】

Ji Qingyou typed a line, but only sent four words: 【Are you scared?】

After this message was sent, the chat screen showed “Entering…” for a full twenty seconds. After twenty seconds, Yu Qinjiu’s reply came.

【I’m twenty-eight, not eighteen, Dr. Ji.】

【Go get some rest.】

Ji Qingyou’s typing fingers hesitated. She was just thinking about whether to delete the unsent sentence “If I have time” when Miss Alps sent another WeChat.

【Did you have a nightmare?】

It seemed Miss Alps was still worried about her reaction when she woke up.

Ji Qingyou replied: 【Yeah. I dreamed about something from when I was little.】

She naturally connected the burning world in her dream to the fire she experienced at age five, and she concealed the existence of the swimming goldfish from Yu Qinjiu.

Yu Qinjiu seemed relieved: 【Oh, okay.】

【I thought it was because of me.】

【You scared me /sticking out tongue】

Ji Qingyou denied it: 【How could it be?】

Yu Qinjiu replied curtly: 【You should rest now.】

After the conversation ended, Ji Qingyou tapped on Yu Qinjiu’s profile picture. It was still that pure white building, the complete opposite of the dark, burning world in her dream.

For the rest of the night, Ji Qingyou had no more dreams.

The next day at work, her spirits had recovered considerably. Li Nanli’s condition was also improving. She could be transferred to a general ward soon.

The day passed uneventfully.

In the office, someone saw her eating a strawberry Alps lollipop again and teased her. “I remember Dr. Ji used to never eat sweets. She’d refuse anything sweet. Now her desk is full of candy.”

“What do you know? None of us can compare to Miss Alps.” Ji Xiruan, familiar with the drill, pulled an Alps lollipop from Ji Qingyou’s drawer. She hadn’t even opened the wrapper before Ji Qingyou snatched it back, replacing it with a cookie.

Ji Qingyou said calmly, “You have this. Your Little Jiu asked me to give it to you.”

“Fine.” Ji Xiruan said, sulking a bit, but she tore open the cookie and stuffed it in her mouth. Then she said to the other person, “See? I’ve been her classmate and colleague for years, but I still can’t compare to her.”

“Of course.” Someone chimed in. “We’ve never seen Dr. Ji use any of your whatever mountains as her wallpaper. By the way, do you have any mountains or candy? I’ll use it as my wallpaper too. Learn from Dr. Ji.”

“Hey, can’t you come up with something new? Always copying others?”

“Come on, I’m not nearly as romantic as Dr. Ji. How about I don’t use a wallpaper. I’ll print the mountain out as a poster and hang it on me every day. Then when a patient comes in, I’ll slap it on them?”

“Hey, you guys are going off-topic. Isn’t Dr. Ji and Miss Alps just friends?”

“Friends?”

“Uh, yeah. Friends.”

At this point, someone grinned and asked the silent Ji Qingyou, “So, Dr. Ji, is your pretty friend single?”

Ji Qingyou’s eyes remained fixed on the computer screen. She pressed her thin lips together.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Ji Xiruan interjected in surprise.

Ji Qingyou finally looked away and nodded. “Right. I don’t know.”

“Then what does she do? She came to the hospital every day before. She seemed a lot more free than a doctor…”

“She’s not free.” Ji Qingyou cut him off, looking him straight in the eye, speaking word by word. “She’s just back on vacation. She’ll be leaving soon.”

“Ah?” The person who asked seemed a bit let down. “Well, where to?”

Ji Qingyou answered curtly. “Abroad.”

Yu Qinjiu never belonged here. She was going to leave.

There should only be one person stuck in this inescapable position. And that was Ji Qingyou.

“Alright, stop trying to flirt just because she’s pretty.” Ji Xiruan cut in, ending the topic with a joke.

Once the office chatter moved on to other gossip, Ji Xiruan’s gaze subtly returned to Ji Qingyou. Her expression hadn’t changed; she was still focused and intent. But if you watched closely, you could see:

She was scrolling the mouse idly, taking her watch off and putting it back on, pulling a lollipop out of her drawer, then hesitantly putting it back in.

She looked anxious and restless, nothing like her usual calm self.

Noticing Ji Xiruan’s gaze, Ji Qingyou looked over. “What are you staring at me for?”

Ji Xiruan shook her head and smiled. “Nothing.”

She used these words naturally, perfectly playing the role of observer.

Like the day she discovered that Ji Qingyou, who couldn’t handle spicy food, insisted on going with her to eat a super spicy hotpot. Ji Qingyou was brought to tears by the spice, and Ji Xiruan had watched her for a long time, ending up just saying, “Nothing.”

She had said “Nothing” many times.

For example, on the winter solstice of 2012, Ji Qingyou, who had just returned from London, was holding a strawberry cake from a convenience store. She clutched it tightly, refusing to let it go. Ji Xiruan thought it was strange but only said “Nothing” at the time. Later, Ji Xiruan found out that despite knowing she was allergic to cream, Ji Qingyou, in her right mind, had swallowed an entire cream cake.

And that watch Ji Qingyou had always refused to change. It was very old, and she refused to replace it. But she immediately switched to a new one after Miss Alps returned.

She never ate egg fried rice. She kept a jar of origami cranes in her drawer, with a few blue and green ones inside. When she slept in the on-call room, she always had a strange song on repeat in her headphones. She often sat at the bus stop, watching buses pass by one by one…

Ji Qingyou had never been a bland person.

But this was hard for others to see. Ji Xiruan, having known her for ten years, could only catch a glimpse of the vibrant details hidden beneath her calm, controlled exterior.

Ji Xiruan suspected it had something to do with Miss Alps.

She also had an inexplicable feeling:

Without Miss Alps, Ji Qingyou’s life would be even duller—it was like a strange correspondence, something you’d only see in a beautiful fairy tale.

But she had no proof.

~ ~ ~

When she got off work, it was drizzling again.

This time, Ji Qingyou wore a scarf and took an umbrella, so she didn’t get wet. When she got home, she put away the umbrella, and the door opposite opened. Yu Qinjiu poked her head out.

“Ji Qingyou?”

The door wasn’t fully open, so Ji Qingyou couldn’t see what Yu Qinjiu was doing. She tilted her head slightly. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Qinjiu’s eyes curved into a smile. “Come help me out.”

Ji Qingyou pursed her lips, clenching her fingers with some restraint, but she still involuntarily walked over. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Qinjiu opened the door. Behind her was a glass fish tank, a freshly made white architectural model, and other tools for keeping fish.

Ji Qingyou didn’t understand what was happening.

Yu Qinjiu dragged the fish tank out and gestured with her chin. “You can help me bring the other stuff over.”

Ji Qingyou, still in the dark, followed her. Together, they moved all her prepared items into Ji Qingyou’s living room.

When everything was ready.

The large fish tank was placed in the warm room, filled with clear, clean water. Inside was the white architectural model she had just carried over. It was three stories high, spacious, with a visible spire.

Two red goldfish swam nimbly beneath the white structure in the water.

A vibrant splash of color had entered her world.

“I didn’t have much to do today, and I had some model materials at home. So I spent a little time making a three-story castle for these two little fish I just invited home.”

Yu Qinjiu said this, gently poking the glass wall of the fish tank with her soft finger. When she looked at Ji Qingyou, her beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons. The bright color of the goldfish shone through the glass, painting her full cheeks with the same vividness.

“Do you know what kind they are?”

Ji Qingyou found it hard to answer. She just lowered her eyes and shook her head.

“Alright.” Yu Qinjiu’s voice was very soft, amidst the sound of water flowing in the tank. “It seems there are things even our Dr. Ji doesn’t know. These are Fenggao goldfish. Look at their white tails. When they swim, it looks like they’re wearing a veil. Beautiful, isn’t it? They’re also not hard to keep. Just pay attention to water quality and feeding. Normally, they can live for six or seven years without a problem.”

Ji Qingyou looked at Yu Qinjiu quietly and asked, “But why did you buy two?”

Yu Qinjiu looked sideways at her. Her clear eyes reflected the shimmering water.

“Maybe because it was a buy-one-get-one-free deal?”

Ji Qingyou pursed her lips. She didn’t quite believe that Yu Qinjiu got a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

Yu Qinjiu stopped teasing her. She curved her eyes in a smile, her gaze soft and bright. “Okay, okay. Because good things come in pairs.”

“Look how fast they swim. With two fish, living in a three-story castle, they won’t be lonely.” After answering her question, Yu Qinjiu watched the two fish intertwined in the tank for a moment. “Do you want to give them names or something…”

Suddenly, as if realizing something, she changed the subject.

“Oh, right. I forgot to ask you the most important question.”

Ji Qingyou clenched her fingertips. “What?”

Yu Qinjiu’s beautiful crescent-shaped eyes curved again. “Does Dr. Ji like these two goldfish?”

The last time she was asked a question like this.

Ji Qingyou had watched with her own eyes as the little goldfish was crushed. She had watched with her own eyes as her kitten was taken away. She had permanently lost everything she had ever liked.

It was hard for her to answer this question again.

But under Yu Qinjiu’s gentle, direct gaze, under her soft, coaxing tone, she instinctively blurted out what she was thinking.

“Maybe they can be called… Alps and Lollipop.”