Chapter 9

***

Outside the conference room of the hospital

“Xia Feng your proposal was quite good, the hospital will consider it carefully.” Dr. Cui said, nodding.

“The two American experts also expressed their interest in your new treatment for the tumor, and said they would be interested in working with us.” Dr. Cui continued.

“President, I will continue to work hard.”

“Young people sure are energetic!” Dr. Cui nodded and left.

At this time, Shao Yifan, who was hiding in a corner came out and heard Dr. Cui’s parting words:

” ‘Young people are energetic,’ President Cui was praising you a lot. It seems that your publication will go well this time.”

“What did you do yesterday?” Xia Feng looked at Shao Yifan.

“Yesterday I was singing karaoke. It was too noisy, and I didn’t hear your initial phone call and when I called you back later, you said you didn’t need help.” Shao Yifan remembered that Xia Feng had called him yesterday but couldn’t get through. He only saw the texts asking for help later in the night. “But I see you managed to finish it in time.”

“If Yu Dong didn’t help, I reckon I’d still be sorting out through my data.”

“Really?” Shao Yifan was shocked to hear that Yu Dong helped. “Does she know medicine?”

“She helped me translate my data into English.” Xia Feng explained.

Xia Feng was too lazy to further explain, so he just started walking towards their office.

“Not necessarily, many people in the hospital are scrambling for a place in New York’s Edward Hospital, I might not necessarily get chosen.” Xia Feng shook his head.

“How can that be, other people rely on hospital recommendations, but you directly showed your face in front of American experts. Didn’t the president just say that the other side is very interested in your new treatment idea.” Shao Yifan said.

“You spent the whole night sorting through your data, and literally just finished a 2 hour presentation. How are you not sleepy!” When Shao Yifan saw that Xia Feng had no intention of stopping and was going to see his patients, he couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Oh, look at this public display of affection!” Shao Yifan exaggerated.

It was already 6:00 p.m when Yu Dong woke up with a headache and her biological clock in disarray. She stayed in bed for a few minutes before managing to feebly get out of bed.

When she went into the kitchen to get some water from the refrigerator, she found a post-it note on it.

‘Although it’s summer, it isn’t good to directly drink ice water. There’s honeyed water that I made on the table, just drink that if you’re thirsty, and I cooked some egg fried rice, just microwave it when you get hungry.

P.S Thank you for helping me with my files!

–Xia Feng. ‘

After eating, Yu Dong felt much better.

Suddenly her phone rang.

Yu Dong looked at her phone screen and saw the caller to be her brother, Yu Song.

Yu Dong suddenly felt morose as she held her phone. She had been happily living for more than a month since her rebirth. She had never called home, had never thought about it, but now that she was confronted with this situation she became afraid.

Before Yu Dong’s rebirth, her family’s urging to get married reached unprecedented heights after she turned 28. Even her older brother, who always ignored family affairs, began to join pressure her.

Yu Dong often got pulled aside and lectured about it. That marriage was so integral to life, how this relationship was similar to the relationship between the left hand and right hand. How her likes or dislikes were no relevant when picking a man.

Yu Dong remembered one time when she went home for a visit, she happened to bump into Yu Song who just came back from work. When he saw her, he opened his mouth, and the first thing he said to her was: “What the hell are you going to do? Being so picky, do you think you’re still in your early 20s ah, thinking you’re so high and mighty. You think we’re willing to take care of you? If it weren’t for the fact that you’re my sister, I wouldn’t even bother with you. Look at you, every day you get older and older. Did you not think that everyone else has already married out except you?”

Then her mother, who was usually picky said, “The last man was good, you complained that he was a little short at 166 cm, but you’re only 158 cm anyway. Any taller and he’d be a tree. You also complained about his low salary, but it’s not like you can’t live with 3000 yuan a month. Better than nothing.”

Even her father finally said, “I beg of you, stop being picky and get married quickly.”

No matter how close she was with her loved ones, in the end, they became a miserable existence.

So she began to dread festivals and holidays.

Yu Dong didn’t even dare visit her hometown, because even the street next to theirs knew of a girl who can’t marry out of her home!

The phone stopped, and after a while, it started it ring again. Yu Dong gathered her courage and connected the phone.

“Answer your phone!” Her brother’s voice roared, “What have you been doing lately? You didn’t really marry your boyfriend did you?”

“No!”

“No? Because you ran away from home with your suitcase, mom got sick.” Her elder brother yelled some more, then asked: “Where are you, what are you doing now?”

“Work, love.”

“What? Have you found a job?” Yu Song said, “It’s good that your boyfriend’s family doesn’t disagree with the marriage, but at least bring him back first. Don’t be in such a rush marrying when you’re still young.”

“Brother?” Yu Dong suddenly asked, “If I break up with my boyfriend and end up not marrying, will you dislike me?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Is that man bullying you? You tell me, brother will find him!”

“No, I was just asking.”

“That’s no good, if you’re being bullied you tell me, and pay attention to your surroundings, a girl out in the big city alone has to pay extra attention to her safety. And don’t wait for mom to get angry before calling home!”

“Why are you asking this?” Yu Dong said, “We never had any real objections towards you marrying, but we’ve never even met your boyfriend, and we always hear from others that you’re working hard to earn money to buy things for him. We never hear anything about what he does for you, that’s why we’re uneasy, afraid that you’re being bullied. You have to find a good man, someone worthy of my sister.”

“Brother, would you always think so?”

“Of course.” Suddenly she heard another voice on the other end, someone seems to be calling out to him. Yu Song hastened to tell her: “Call home sometime later, and bring your boyfriend back on New Year’s Day.”

After she hung up, Yu Dong felt tears suddenly falling for no reason. How long has it been since my brother spoke to her with such affection?

Yu Dong wiped her tears and said, “It’s alright. I just called home, and my mom scolded me.”

Xia Feng remembered that she had run away from home and comforted her: “It’s alright. Your parents won’t stay angry for too long, when you go back for a visit, they’ll surely let it go.”

“It went perfectly.” Xia Feng smiled. “You helped me a lot.”

After translating Xia Feng’s documents the whole night, Yu Dong naturally knew that the presentation was about cancer research, so she said, “It was nothing. If your research succeeds, it’ll benefit millions of people and save countless lives.”

“That’s the dream, but I don’t know if I can actually make it happen.”

“Yes, you can!” And it won’t even take that long, just 10 years.

“Yes! Before penicillin was discovered, even inflammation was incurable, so I should be more confident.” Xia Feng laughs.

Yu Dong just laughed with him.

Xia Feng noticed that Yu Dong was still wearing pajamas, so she reminded her: “Aren’t you going to work?”

Yu Dong blinked and looked towards the clock, seeing it was past 10:00 p.m., just how long did she talk with her brother on the phone?

“Ah?? I don’t have time to talk to you, I need to quickly change!”

After hastily changing, Yu Dong came back out to see Xia Feng standing by the front door.

“Are you going out?” Yu Dong asked doubtfully.

“I’ll take you to work!”

“No, no, the bus stops right at the gate.” Yu Dong refused, “And you stayed up all night and worked all day. You’re on 24-hour duty again tomorrow, you have to get some rest.”

After that, she brushed past him, opened the front door and left.

Xia Feng stared, but in the end, he didn’t chase after her.

Yu Dong went on to host Midnight Phantom, but perhaps because of her recent thoughts regarding her brother, the songs she played tonight had a lonely mood. On the computer in front of her, a bunch of listeners sent messages begging her to change to happier songs as the previous songs made them all want to cry.

Suddenly a lot of people sent messages scolding Fish Jelly, wondering if she had brain damage.

Yu Dong felt a lot better all of a sudden.

……

Xia Feng who had just finished showering, suddenly heard the sound of pattering outside his window. Looking out, he saw that it was actually raining.

Did Yu Dong bring an umbrella?

Seeing that it was 12:30 a.m., Xia Feng took a book and sat by the window to read.

Suddenly, a dull thunder roared, and the rain became heavier. Xia Feng looked at the clock again, 1:30 a.m. He put his book down, picked up his car keys on the table, changed slippers and headed to the underground garage.

……

After her live broadcast, Yu Dong stepped out of the station only to find it drizzling outside. How come it rained?

The bus stop opposite the road was 200 meters away, she could only run over.

Yu Dong brought her bag on top of her head for cover and was about to run. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice that cut through the sound of rain. Turning, she saw a figure holding an umbrella.

“Xia Feng?” Yu Dong was surprised.

Xia Feng saw her bag on top of her head, smiled and helped Yu Dong bring it back down. Laughing, he said, “You were planning on running out like this?”

“Ah?” Yu Dong was still too shocked to see Xia Feng.

“Why are you so surprised?” Xia Feng was confused with Yu Dong’s behavior.

“You…why are you here?”

“If you’re not letting me drop you off, then I’ll have to pick you up.” Xia Feng said.

“Didn’t I say there was no need?”

“You don’t always have to act so brave, my mom used to say that girls who act a little more spoiled are more attractive.” Xia Feng handed Yu Dong another umbrella and said, “Come on, the car is this way.”

Yu Dong took the offered the umbrella, but didn’t open it, continuing to look at Xia Feng like a fool. This was the first time someone picked her up from work, the first time someone told her to be more spoiled.

Xia Feng was stunned and then laughed and said, “It’s alright. It’s easy to learn.”

Yu Dong looked at the umbrella in her hand, then looked up at Xia Feng who was standing in the rain. Finally, she put the umbrella into her bag and walked directly into Xia Feng’s umbrella, hugging his arm.

“You’re not using the umbrella?” Xia Feng wondered.

“Who brings 2 umbrellas when picking up a girl on a rainy night? Having 1 umbrella is more elegant!” Yu Dong shuffled closer to Xia Feng, whether she was afraid of getting wet or found Xia Feng to be warm, he didn’t know.

Xia Feng looked down towards Yu Dong and saw her ears turning red. He smiled and started to walk away with Yu Dong.

***

help, I’m drowning in all the fluff