Chapter 19 - Research

'Don't associate yourself with men like him' rang in Song Luli's mind.

Long Jie didn't tell her to not associate herself with other men, only men like Peng Wu, who wants to take advantage of women. She wasn't sure how to feel about it. Was he upset about what she did tonight? But he also didn't try to control her by forbidding her to hang out with other men, since men and women can be friends. It was only for men like him.

Was he concerned?

Still, she didn't understand him. He helped her tonight, but it could be out of duty and obligation. Also, he didn't appear upset at all; he just followed with her plan, sprucing it up, which turned out to be her win.

Song Luli followed after Long Jie, trying to wrap her head around how to proceed with their—possible friendship?

He was tall and fast with his legs, and just when she thought he was about to leave her behind, he paused at the entrance waiting for her.

Long Jie didn't turn to face her; he merely stood until he heard her heels click closeby, and he opened the door for her, leaving the building together.

They both took separate cars to get there, so Song Luli went to find hers and drove out.

Once they both arrived, Long Jie went inside the house ahead of her. He ascended the stairs, walking towards the east wing, disappearing altogether without a word.

'So it was back to square one again,' she thought.

Song Luli sighed, lifting her legs, and heading towards her room. She slumped on her bed, thinking about how to win him over as friends. They had to be friends, even if he didn't want to!

...

Su Xiang rose out of bed with a stretch of her arms in the morning; she yawned loudly, pushing away her golden hair from her face as it tumbled over her eyes.

She walked, stripped, and stepped into the shower, washing her hair and body thoroughly.

Afterward, she changed into scrubs, tying her hair into a bun, and placing on light makeup. She dabbed extra concealer under her eyes as she hadn't had much sleep lately due to running the company.

Today, she had a hospital shift.

Song Pharmaceuticals funded a hospital her mother owned known as the Rui Institute.

Sun Group—her father's company—recently began to fund the Rui Institute, a decision made by Su Chen to have a secure place to perform clinical trials.

Su Chen would often visit there to see or test the experiments, while Su Xiang oversaw the other departments such as the Trauma centre, cardiology, ICU, Oncology, and more. It was her mother that ran the hospital, who also mentored her in the field.

Su Xiang visited a patient with an unknown diagnosis; he had been sick for consecutive weeks, but even after tests and tests with professionals, it was difficult to determine what it was, except for that it was rare.

She asked the patient how he felt; the thirty-year-old young man told her he kept experiencing fevers and night sweats, and he was supposedly healthy until recently.

Su Xiang performed some small tests and searched for her mother at the main office.

"Mom," she called out.

"Xiang," Song Ren responded with a small smile. "What's wrong?"

Su Xiang stepped into her office, removing her hair tie to loosen her curls over her shoulders. She slumped on the chair in front of her desk, "I have a patient with an unknown diagnosis," she said.

Her mother sighed. "You're frustrated, aren't you?" she asked.

Su Xiang nodded. "I dislike not knowing the answers; that we could be wasting time by looking at the wrong angles."

Song Ren smiled grimly. "This is something for the Radiology department, but if anything, we need to bring Chen in. He's keen on determining the right diagnosis."

Su Xiang loosed a breath. "All right," she answered.

After visiting her mother, she called Su Chen.

He picked up after a few rings.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Chen. Do you have time to drop by the hospital?" she asked.

On the other line, Su Chen was silent, but the background held chatting noises.

"If you're busy then—" she began to say.

"I'll come now," he said, cutting her off.

"I'll see you soon," she responded before hanging up the call.

Su Xiang headed towards the Radiology department and waited until Su Chen arrived.

He wore a full-grey suit; his raven-black hair jelled to one side; some strands had fallen loosely. He opted for his suit jacket for a lab coat before walking into the radiology department.

Su Xiang had the results and passed it to him once he arrived. Su Chen then asked her to take him to see the patient, where he performed more tests on him.

Afterward, they both went to visit their team at the department to determine a possible diagnosis.

Some of the doctors spat out possible ones, but Su Chen ruled them out as the patient did not demonstrate any of the assumed symptoms or biological factors. One thing they can't do is make assumptions because they needed facts, evidence.

Even Su Chen was stumped. "This requires more research and observations. I need the patient to be monitored at least once an hour, and tests need to be done regularly, as I research more possibilities of a diagnosis."

The team nodded, listening to his words. Su Chen was good at directing what needs to be done, and he used a respectful, mellow tone to address people. He respected every person for their professions, and never acted like he was above them.

Su Chen dismissed the team, leaving him behind with Su Xiang.

She watched as he read over the reports again carefully, though he looked at it for the tenth time, and nothing about it changed. But Su Chen wasn't reading because he thought he missed something. He was reading again to memorize the report for the research he will be synthesizing.

Su Xiang unconsciously smiled, knowing how hard he was willing to work.

"Chen," she called him.

"Mhm?" he answered without glancing up.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Su Chen raised his head to face her. His deep-set lashes lifted, his eyes met hers. "It's not necessary," he said low and mellow.

"But the work can be done faster together," she responded.

Su Chen considered it. "Would it not interfere with your work or studies?" he asked.

Su Xiang smiled, shaking her head, "Nope!"

Su Chen sighed, leaning back in his chair. He chuckled, "There's no stopping on how hard you work," he said.

Su Xiang's smile broadened. "I can say the same for you," she responded.

Silence stretched between them suddenly. "We can work on this at home, we both have other things to do in the meantime," he said.

"All right," Su Xiang answered to his suggestion. He then rose from his seat, leaving her behind.

She wasn't busy, so she spent the rest of the afternoon, assisting the hospital staff.

Once the evening fell, Su Xiang gathered her things and returned home. She quickly made something to eat and waited until Su Chen arrived.

Su Xiang watched as the evening darkened until the stars peeked through the blanket of night. Her head began to loll against the cushions of the couch she sat on until sleep swept her away.

It was late at night when a tap of her shoulders woke her. She opened her squinted eyes, catching a glimpse of Su Chen. "If you're tired, then you should go to bed," he said.

Su Xiang lifted her head, shaking it. "No. I rested now. I can help you," she said.

Su Chen released a helpless sigh. "You're such a night owl," he teased. Su Xiang smirked.

"Where were you?" she asked.

Su Chen went to sit in front of the coffee table. "I went to look for these," he said, taking out a briefcase. Inside, there were textbooks and medical records she's not familiar with.

He laid them out on the low coffee table. Su Xiang slumped onto the carpeted floor; it was a table that didn't require chairs.

They both sat across each other as Su Chen scattered what was in briefcase across the table.

Su Xiang began to read a textbook while Su Chen read medical records of other rare cases.

They spent nearly two hours reading and asking each other questions about some terms that they didn't understand or theorizing some of the possible diagnoses.

Su Xiang was glad that Su Chen wasn't intimidated by her intelligence, and she wasn't intimidated by him either.

When she was studying for her last degree, most people in her program didn't want to work in group projects with her, afraid to be out shown or outsmarted. She hated it because it was challenging to make friends.

Many people wanted to be seen as the one who knew it all, but Su Chen wasn't like that. He valued others for their hard work, incorporating their knowledge because there wasn't such thing as someone who knew it all.

After another hour, Su Xiang wasn't sure at what time in the night when sleep claimed her again.

Su Chen was engrossed in the documents he read. It was fascinating as whoever written it organized it well. He lifted his worn-tired eyes from the folder when he noticed Su Xiang sleeping with her head propped on the table. She folded her arms beneath her head, pillowing them.

Su Chen then laid his head down, watching as she inhaled and exhaled with shallow breaths; her chest rose and fell, and there was something about her face that puzzled him. Her brows knitted tightly, almost as if she felt uncomfortable but couldn't tell why. It made him chuckle slightly, not knowing it was because she didn't realize that she fell asleep on the table.

Some of her golden curls tumbled over her eyes, so he lifted a hand, reaching out to push her hair out of her face. Slowly, her knitted expression softened; she sighed in satisfaction at his touch. His fingers then lingered a bit longer, skidding across her cheek gently. He made gentle strokes across her cheek in a half-daze of restlessness.

He then drifted without realizing that his palm laid rested on her face as sleep washed him away, too.