18 – Rules

Ersan and Jing Bei gravitated toward each other as they spoke about their shared interests relating to design and architecture. Whereas, Wen Nali was naturally charmed by Li Yun's easy-going conversation and gentle smile that displayed warmth and friendliness. She couldn't remember the last time she immediately liked someone on the first encounter. It helped that Li Yun was handsome, but not to the point where it made other people uncomfortable.

"How do you know I am an English teacher? Most people can already guess that I'm not born here because of my accent."

"It's the way you carry yourself," Li Yun explained, but it was the slight cleft on her chin that gave it away. She had make-up on to reduce it a bit, so it was a trait she did not want others to focus on. "Teachers are constantly in front of kids, so they need to control how they present themselves."

"So, what are you currently studying, psychology?"

"I'm a medical intern."

"Ah, I guess as a medical intern, you need to watch people's body language."

"I don't know about the other interns, but body language is part of both understanding face ready and meridian," Li Yun explained.

Wen Nali laughed. "So you're also studying TCM?" Wen Nali took a sip of wine. "Any interesting story behind your scar?"

"Battle scar, being stupid in high school."

"Weren't we all?"

Li Yun liked that Wen Nali could converse without feeling awkward. Usually, most inexperienced women were difficult to talk to because they were too self-conscious. Wen Nali could talk about various topics and change the conversations if she felt bored. She was very well aware of dating rules.

There were a lot of rules for dating. For Li Yun, there weren't rules, but women to avoid. Avoid women who have messy relationships and the ones who talked about their exes on the first few dates. Talking about the exes early usually signified that they were inexperienced dating or that they were still hung up on their previous relationship.

As the night passed by, Li Yun decided that he liked Wen Nali. She was sophisticated and open-minded, but wasn't overbearing with her opinions. After he asked her out, she agreed and sent him her contact.

After midnight, Ersan and Li Yun escorted the two lady friends back to their apartment. Li Yun kept in touch with Wen Nali on Ourchat even as he returned to his internship after the New Year celebration.

Bufu: You have a thing for teachers.

LiYun: Oh great, you're going to talk to me about relationships?

Bufu: I'm just stating FACTS.

Fatty: Oh, now that you mentioned it, two of your exes were in the education department.

LiYun: Why are you guys keeping track?

Ersan: Not specifically for you, you only have 8 of them. But we have a chart for Bufu.

Ju De: chart.img

Xuxu: Not surprised Bufu has exes in every department.

Bufu: *heading back to work*

Inside the hospital's intern lounge, Li Yun chuckled as he looked through Bufu's dating history. They were still young, and there wasn't a need to be so serious in a relationship. He closed out the app as he rested his head on the arm of the couch. His eyes closed and he drifted to dreamland.

"Li Yun, what the hell, couldn't you at least put in some effort?" Gu Ren glared at Li Yun.

Li Yun yawned and slowly got up into a sitting position. He was still tired after preparing his residency applications and using Zuowang to watch robotic surgeries. He wanted to nap and restore some energy, but barely 10 minutes after falling asleep, Gu Ren had woken him up.

However, Gu Ren looked worse than him. His face looked pale and his body was tense. The stress from studying and work must have gotten to him. Other than looking stressed and moody, there was also something odd about Gu Ren, his outfit. The weather was also getting warmer, which resulted in more accidents and more workload, but Gu Ren was still wearing long sleeves. Something clicked in Li Yun's mind and his face scrunched briefly as he cursed at himself silently.

"You're right, I was being a bit selfish for neglecting all the scut work," Li Yun admitted. "Do you need help writing the medical reports?"

"But they are assigned to me, do you want me to end up failing like you?" Gu Ren knew Li Yun didn't care about his grades.

"It's harder to fail than you think, it reflects poorly on the school, so they wouldn't do it." The doctors would only fail him if he did something drastic, but no one really cared if the medical reports were basic as long as they provided the correct information. "Give me half of the assignment."

"You're going to do them?"

"Yeah, sure."

Gu Ren hesitated. "Are you going to copy and paste?"

"I'm not that irresponsible. I might not be as detailed as you, but the important points are noted."

Gu Ren passed Li Yun some of his assignments, and they started furiously typing on the computer.

After sweating a bit, Li Yun changed out his dress shirt and into a plain white tee.

"Wouldn't it be more comfortable to change clothes? Your shift is over," said Li Yun.

"Ah, I'm fine," Gu Ren replied, shifting uncomfortably in the task-chair, but continued typing.

Li Yun looked at Gu Ren for a moment. Unlike Bai Wushen, Gu Ren had no strong backing. Everything about Gu Ren was average, except for his ability to follow orders. It wasn't a bad quality, but it also meant his type was easy to be taken advantage of. He was also the type who would eventually end up becoming bitter and tyrannical later in life like Doctor Huang.

"If your wrist hurts, stop and take a break," Li Yun advised.

Gu Ren subconsciously pulled his sleeves down and stared at Li Yun cautiously. Gu Ren had few encounters with Li Yun at the university, but he had heard rumors. It wasn't something that was known throughout the university, but through word of mouth, students would often seek out Li Yun to solve their problems. Gu Ren didn't know if he should ask Li Yun for help.

"You're being harassed by Doctor Ping?" asked Li Yun upon seeing Gu Ren's hesitation.

"How did you!?" Gu Ren cried out, forcing his task chair to almost tip backward.

Once the thought of his secret being revealed sank in, he wanted to crawl under a dark corner of the Earth. Gu Ren wondered how Li Yun could have known. He forced himself to calm down, maybe Li Yun meant something else. It wasn't common for women to sexually abuse men.

"It's common for anyone in power to abuse their position," Li Yun elaborated. "Women, like men, are also people with greed and desires. But it's not commonly reported because most victims feel too ashamed and embarrassed."

Gu Ren grabbed hold of his left wrist and crushed it tightly to calm himself down from panicking.

"How did you find out?" Gu Ren asked again after deciding to confide in Li Yun.

Li Yun thought it was a bit obvious. Even some of the nurses had noticed, but for them, it was easy to turn the other way. They had seen or experienced abuses themselves, and for a male to experience something like such, it didn't phase them as much. No one wanted to risk their jobs and livelihood for others.

If it had happened to a female colleague, they would still ignore it, but they would at least feel a sense of guilt. It was the same sort of double standard that made Li Yun neglect Gu Ren until now. Had it happened to a female intern, he may have stepped in to help her. Did he ignore it because he thought Gu Ren would be able to handle it himself? He was wrong; he didn't think Gu Ren would be so traumatized by that woman.

"It doesn't matter how I know, but you should consider how you want to handle the situation," Li Yun advised.

Gu Ren shifted uncomfortably, but he needed help. "How?"

"First, you can ignore the situation, and bottle up your resentment until you're in a better position to fight back. However, that resentment will turn you into someone like her. Second, ignore the situation entirely and switch careers. However, you'll end up always running away from problems and never achieving stability. Third, you confront her and face the consequences, possibly ending your career path. It will feel like you have hit the lowest point in your life and someday you might regret it. However, you will be able to start from scratch and hopefully, the scars will be a distant memory."

Gu Ren held onto his wrist tightly as he thought about the three options. He rubbed his sleeves that were used to hide the scars he had inflicted on himself. Punishment for being stupid and naive.