However, Shen Fangyu, who had just been standing on the same side as Jiang Xu, very quickly defected.
In Jiang Xu’s twenty-odd-square-meter bedroom, a surround-sound speaker that was loud enough to shake the room was looping the theme song from The Legend of the White Snake in 360 degrees with no dead angles. The big bed that was usually quiet was rocking like crazy, and the bed frame, unable to take it, was letting out creaking noises.
The two doctors on the bed were tangled up in a fight. Jiang Xu didn’t hold back at all, every move went straight for Shen Fangyu’s weak spots. Shen Fangyu, on the other hand, put all his effort into protecting the speaker. He let Jiang Xu attack however he wanted and stood firm like a mountain. Even though he took plenty of hits, the speaker never fell into Jiang Xu’s hands.
“Shen Fangyu!”
There was a roguish grin on Shen Fangyu’s face. “Doesn’t it sound good?”
This all started an hour earlier.
The two of them still drove home in separate cars as usual. Before Jiang Xu could even invite him, Shen Fangyu followed him inside, as if it were his own place, and came into Jiang Xu’s apartment again.
The floor bedding in the bedroom was still there. Nothing was missing from the bathroom toiletries. Even the bath towel looked like it had just been washed, and it even seemed to have that sun-dried smell on it.
“You washed my towel?” Shen Fangyu was quite surprised.
“Washed by the washing machine.”
Shen Fangyu said, “That still means you put it in the washing machine.”
Jiang Xu shot him a glance and looked away toward the ceiling. “The cleaning aunt did it.”
He had hired a cleaning lady who came once a week to do a thorough cleaning.
Shen Fangyu was puzzled. “Then why didn’t she wash it for me last time?”
Jiang Xu rolled his eyes at him. Before he could say anything, Shen Fangyu hugged the pink rabbit on Jiang Xu’s bed and said, “I’ve been sick these past few days, did you miss me?”
“No.”
“I wasn’t asking you. I know even if the sun rose in the west, Doctor Jiang wouldn’t miss me,” Shen Fangyu said, holding the rabbit in his arms. “I was asking it.”
They had agreed that if Jiang Xu’s leg cramped again at night, or if he felt any other discomfort, he would throw this rabbit at him and he would definitely wake up. After so many days, you could say they had developed a kind of comrades-in-arms friendship.
Jiang Xu snatched the rabbit back. “Go take a shower first.”
No shower, no getting on the bed and no touching anything on Jiang Xu’s bed, including his rabbit. Shen Fangyu pouted and took his clothes into the bathroom.
They took turns showering. Just as Jiang Xu came out of the bathroom, he saw Shen Fangyu fiddling with something. He took a look and realized it was a portable speaker.
He was drying his hair with a towel. Shen Fangyu, as if he’d been waiting for him, glanced at him and unhurriedly pressed the play button on the speaker. A melody that was extremely familiar from memory suddenly burst out, and a string of “ah~~~ ah~~~” instantly filled Jiang Xu’s ears.
The Legend of the White Snake was something Jiang Xu had watched years ago with his parents. That drama where people would suddenly break into song was simply too memorable. Jiang Xu might not remember much of the plot anymore, but that string of brainwashing, earworm “ah—ah—ah”s felt like it had been carved straight into his DNA, sending him back more than ten years in an instant.
The speaker had already skipped ahead to the lyrics. Teacher Zuo Hongyuan’s voice was full and resonant:
“The West Lake in March is beautiful, ah…”
“Spring rain like wine, willows like mist, ah…”
The song was just too familiar. Jiang Xu bit the tip of his tongue to keep himself from singing along. Shen Fangyu, on the other hand, didn’t care at all, he hummed a couple of lines with the speaker and said to Jiang Xu, “I haven’t heard this in ages. I always remembered it as super catchy, listening to it now, it’s actually kind of nice.”
At that moment, Jiang Xu still hadn’t realized how serious the situation was. He only felt contempt for how quickly Shen Fangyu had surrendered to Director Cui.
What he never expected was that Shen Fangyu, guarding his speaker, would start a one-hour single-track loop right beside him. Even when Jiang Xu turned the hair dryer up to its highest setting, he still couldn’t drown out that sound.
“Are you sick or something?!”
Jiang Xu threw the hair dryer aside and lunged for the speaker. The two of them chased each other around the room. The music, as if adding fuel to the chaos, grew louder and louder. Jiang Xu was so angry he felt his temper boiling over, but Shen Fangyu always managed to slip away from him. They went back and forth for ages, and somehow, without knowing how, it all ended up on the bed.
Unable to take it anymore, Jiang Xu began to miss the days when Shen Fangyu had been sick. Back then, he’d thought it was too quiet, now he just wanted to throw Shen Fangyu and his surround-sound speaker out the window together.
Home really did need to be quiet.
He never should have thought about Shen Fangyu.
After failing to grab the speaker for the third time, Jiang Xu finally lost his patience. He sat up on the bed, covering his ears, and threw a pillow at Shen Fangyu’s head. A dark storm was brewing in his eyes.
“What exactly do you want?”
Seeing that Jiang Xu had truly been pushed to his limit, Shen Fangyu finally spoke leisurely: “Agree to perform with me, and I’ll turn the speaker off.”
Jiang Xu looked at him with a face like still water. “Not happening.”
Rubbing his ribs, Shen Fangyu said, “Then I’ll keep playing it.”
After that, he didn’t forget to twist the knife a little more: “This speaker’s pretty cheap, the sound quality’s not great, its only advantage is that it’s loud. Considering how much you like wrecking the place, I bought more than one. Even if you smash this one, I can bring another tomorrow.”
Jiang Xu took a deep breath and once again fell into self-doubt: why, exactly, had he let Shen Fangyu move into his place?
The music kept chattering on by his ears:
“Fated, we meet across a thousand miles…”
“Unfated, we face each other yet can’t hold hands…”
“Ten years of cultivation to share a boat ride…”
“A hundred years of cultivation to share a pillow…”
What kind of karmic sin had he committed to end up with this karmic tie to Shen Fangyu? First, somehow, they’d ended up “sharing a pillow,” then there was the utterly baffling matter of pregnancy, and now Shen Fangyu was in his home, threatening and blackmailing him.
“I’ll give you ten seconds,” Jiang Xu said. “If you don’t turn it off, I’m leaving.”
He stood by the bed with his glasses on, a sharp gaze falling on Shen Fangyu’s face through the lenses. “Ten, nine, eight…”
The music stopped.
Shen Fangyu pouted. “You little human timer.”
Jiang Xu pointed at the floor bedding by the bed and said to Shen Fangyu, who was occupying his bed, “Get down.”
Shen Fangyu obediently hugged his speaker and climbed off the bed, then lay down properly on the bedding on the floor. But as soon as he lay down, he suddenly sensed something was off.
The padding under the sheets had gotten thicker.
Warmer than before. Softer than before.
“…Did the aunt thoughtfully add this for me too?”
Jiang Xu snapped off the bedroom light and didn’t bother responding to the noisy person in front of him.
Ruan Xiufang was about to be discharged. Her surgery had gone very smoothly, and her recovery was quick. The pathology report after the cervical conization showed negative margins, which meant she had successfully been able to keep her uterus.
During this time, Jiang Xu mentioned that Ruan Xiufang’s illness was related to HPV infection. This virus is often transmitted through sexual activity, so to prevent recurrence and to ensure safety, he recommended that Ma Hao also get tested.
In the past, many family members of cervical cancer patients were unwilling to get tested, always feeling that the hospital was just making up excuses to swindle money. They thought that since they had no symptoms, how could they possibly be infected? Some people didn’t listen to the doctor’s explanation at all and would open their mouths and curse: “The one who’s sick is my wife, why are you telling me to get tested?”
Probably every doctor in Jihua’s obstetrics and gynecology department had been called a “quack” a few times for this reason.
Jiang Xu had originally thought Ma Hao would also be very resistant, after all, his first impression of him really wasn’t great. What he didn’t expect was that as soon as Jiang Xu brought it up, Ma Hao agreed. After getting the results, he was the first to run over and ask Jiang Xu to take a look and see if there was any problem.
Ma Hao’s HPV test result was negative, which made the medical staff responsible for Ruan Xiufang all breathe a sigh of relief.
Jiang Xu handed the report back to Ma Hao, who bowed to him again.
Since Ruan Xiufang’s condition was good, aside from routine rounds and listening to Shao Le’s reports, Jiang Xu didn’t devote much extra attention to her anymore. So when he saw Ma Hao on the day of her discharge, he was actually a bit surprised.
Because of the chemotherapy, Ruan Xiufang’s hair had thinned out quite a bit. Ma Hao carefully put a knitted hat on her, then took out a silk banner from his jacket and handed it to Jiang Xu.
There was an envelope pressed under the banner. Jiang Xu thought it contained money, and with a slight frown, he tried to hand it back. Ma Hao, flustered and a bit tongue-tied, said, “D-Doctor Jiang, take it, it’s n-not a red envelope.”
He looked a little embarrassed. “It’s a thank-you letter I wrote for you.”
There hadn’t been time during the day. It wasn’t until after ten at night, when he finished surgery, that Jiang Xu finally had a chance to open the envelope. Ma Hao hadn’t lied, inside the kraft paper envelope were indeed just a few pages. Jiang Xu took a sip of plain water to moisten his throat and read the letter by the light of the desk lamp.
Ma Hao’s handwriting was crooked and uneven, and it looked a little strained, but Jiang Xu read it through with great patience.
Although it was addressed to him, it felt more like Ma Hao talking to himself. He apologized to Jiang Xu and reflected on some of his previous views. By the end, he had completely gone off-topic, swearing that he would treat his wife well from now on, there was hardly a trace of Jiang Xu left between the lines.
Jiang Xu’s lips curved ever so slightly. He folded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope, then pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk. Inside, neatly stacked, was a thick pile of thank-you letters. Jiang Xu placed Ma Hao’s letter inside as well and closed the drawer again.
“I saw Yu Sang hang the banner Ma Hao gave you right next to your disciplinary notice,” Shen Fangyu said early in the morning, washing his face amid the splashing water. “The contrast is extremely eye-catching.”
How could it not be eye-catching?
Above was the disciplinary slip from when Ma Hao had caused a disturbance and Jiang Xu had hit someone; below hung the banner from Ma Hao praising Jiang Xu’s “benevolent hands and compassionate heart.” It was practically a ready-made promotional display on the notice board. In no time, it became a hot topic in the obstetrics and gynecology department at Jihua during breaks, and yet another “classic story of Doctor Jiang” told to students.
Jiang Xu’s profession was that of a doctor. Healing and saving people was his job. He didn’t think patients or their families had to be grateful or indebted to him. Compared to that, he cared more about whether patients followed medical advice and about their prognosis and recovery.
Still, no doctor would be unhappy to receive this kind of recognition, and Jiang Xu was no exception, especially when it came from someone who had once not acknowledged him.
As a male doctor in obstetrics and gynecology, he had endured more eye-rolls and mockery than female doctors. Since choosing his specialty, Jiang Xu had encountered countless people like Ma Hao. The harshest insults he had heard were far worse than what Ma Hao had said that day.
In fact, very few male OB-GYN doctors hadn’t originally applied to other departments and then been reassigned due to insufficient scores.
But Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu had both entered as their first choice. They could have chosen something else.
Shen Fangyu asked, “Honestly, I’ve never understood, why did you choose OB-GYN back then?”
The freshly bought soy milk was still steaming. Jiang Xu took a sip. “I’ve also never understood why you chose OB-GYN.”
“Well, that’s a long story.” Shen Fangyu’s gaze turned subtle.
Jiang Xu glanced at him. “I know you asked around about my specialty choice.”
Shen Fangyu wiped the water off his face and paused. “And that person told me your first three choices were ophthalmology, cardiothoracic surgery, and neurosurgery.”
“That was what I originally put down,” Jiang Xu said. “I changed it after I heard you’d been asking about my choices.”
Jiang Xu honestly didn’t mind which department he entered. Wherever he went, he would still be treating patients. He had roughly the same level of interest in all departments and didn’t think any of them were beneath another. And he was confident that wherever he went, he could secure the best mentor.
So when it came time to choose, since he couldn’t decide, he followed his seniors’ advice and listed the most popular departments.
But then his roommate suddenly told him that Shen Fangyu had been inquiring about his specialty selection. At the time, Jiang Xu thought Shen Fangyu was going to follow him into the same department again. After years of intense competition in university, he was exhausted and didn’t want to compete with Shen Fangyu anymore. So he crossed out all his previous options and put obstetrics and gynecology, what the seniors least recommended, as his first choice.
Every department needed people, didn’t it?
At the time, Jiang Xu thought it through very clearly. If soldiers came, he would block them; if water came, he would dam it. He wasn’t afraid. Even if OB-GYN was considered undesirable by others, he could still shine there.
As long as he could get away from Shen Fangyu.
What he never expected was that Shen Fangyu would also choose OB-GYN.
To this day, Jiang Xu still hadn’t figured out why. After changing his form, he hadn’t shown it to anyone and had even been the last to submit it. Logically speaking, Shen Fangyu had no reason to know his choice.
“…I asked about your specialty to avoid you,” Shen Fangyu said, his expression even more complicated than Jiang Xu’s.
And just to be safe, he had even put OB-GYN, the department Jiang Xu was least likely to choose, at the top of his list, thinking that even if Jiang Xu changed his mind at the last minute, they would absolutely never collide.
Jiang Xu: “…”
It was clear how important communication between people could be.
“We really are… fated to meet across a thousand miles,” Shen Fangyu said, and as he spoke, he started singing again: “Ah~~~ ah~~~”
The lingering, resounding melody was deafening. Jiang Xu, who had finally managed to temporarily forget that tune, jolted. All his previous efforts to forget it were instantly undone.
Heaven knew, yesterday, during surgery, he had inexplicably started humming those “ah~~~” notes. It wasn’t until he saw Yu Sang staring at him like she’d seen a ghost that he realized what he’d been doing.
Jiang Xu absolutely did not want to relive even one more second of that embarrassing moment in the operating room. He directly tossed his tray into the dishwasher, grabbed his briefcase, and walked to the entryway to change his shoes.
“Wait for me, let’s go together, Jiang Xu!”
“Not waiting.” Jiang Xu’s face was cold and expressionless.
“Do you have a lot of surgeries today?” Shen Fangyu asked while eating soup dumplings.
“Not many.”
Hearing that, Shen Fangyu said, “Then come back for dinner tonight. I’ll cook myself.”
Jiang Xu’s hand paused on the doorknob. With a straight face, he said, “Now that I think about it carefully, it’s actually quite a lot.”
“Could your acting be any more awkward?” Shen Fangyu said. “I don’t care, you have to come back for dinner today. Otherwise I’ll be heartbroken. Can you really bear to leave me all alone—”
“I can.”
Doctor Jiang neatly closed the door, leaving Shen Fangyu with nothing but a dashing silhouette.
“Tch.” Shen Fangyu sat back down at the dining table and bit viciously into his dumpling. “Heartless.”