CH 54.1

Shen Fangyu returned from his class at A Medical University, and instead of going to the office, he first went to the operating room.

“Jiang Xu hasn’t come out yet?” He glanced at his watch. “It’s been hours.”

“The situation is still complicated as expected,” the doctor who was talking said, shaking his head. “It’s not an easy operation.” He said, “Dr Jiang probably knew it and scheduled only this one today,” he glanced out the window, “I don’t know how long it will take.”

“Has he eaten?” Shen Fangyu asked.

“No,” the doctor said, “he did all the work on the metastases. If you’re a little distracted, you can’t cut the tumor cleanly, and you can’t change people, so you can’t stop at all.”

Shen Fangyu frowned slightly at his words.

He went to the locker room to change his clothes, took a carton of milk from the lounge, and roughly disinfected the surface of the box. When he inserted the straw and walked into the operating room, Jiang Xu was operating on the case of the Kuchenbur tumor.

The removal of the primary tumor was over, but An Wei was in no hurry to leave. He nodded at Shen Fangyu when he saw him coming, though Jiang Xu didn’t notice him.

He went around behind Jiang Xu, signaled with his eyes to the nurse beside him then leaned over and lifted Jiang Xu’s mask slightly before putting the straw into his mouth.

Long-term surgery tends to reduce physical strength. Generally, nurses or assistant doctors will use this method to replenish energy for the chief surgeon. Jiang Xu kept moving his hands and subconsciously opened his mouth to hold the straw. Shen Fangyu watched his Adam’s apple roll until the milk soon bottomed out, then he withdrew the box and helped him fix his mask with one hand from the back.

The nurse beside him wanted to say something, but Shen Fangyu made a shushing gesture, indicating that he didn’t need to make a sound, then turned and left with the empty milk box. The nurse was left looking at his back, dumbfounded.

He was wearing a surgical cap, and his mask was pulled up very high, so the nurse didn’t look at his face carefully just now, thinking that he was just the nurse who usually came to supplement the doctor’s nutrition at mealtime. It was only after Shen Fangyu gestured to him that he recognise the person. It was actually Dr. Shen!

Shit, weren’t Dr. Shen and Dr. Jiang arch-enemies?

He glanced at Jiang Xu in shock, only to realize that Jiang Xu was fully focused on the scalpel and he didn’t realize who had come.

“Wipe the sweat.”

Jiang Xu suddenly spoke out.

“Ohhhh okay.” The nurse hurriedly wiped the sweat from the corner of his forehead, throwing the slight surprise he had just felt into the air.

After wiping the sweat, he also found a reasonable excuse for what he had just seen—it was probably the nurse on duty who was busy, and she asked Dr. Shen to help. Dr Shen was eager to help no matter how small the favor.

He hadn’t even glanced at Jiang Xu just then, and he probably didn’t know that it was Jiang Xu who was operating.

Convinced by his thoughts, the young nurse looked at Jiang Xu and nodded with conviction.

After waiting for another two hours or so, Jiang Xu came out of the operating room with a tired look on his face, and when he saw Shen Fangyu, the tiredness in his eyes dissipated.

“How did it go?”

“It went well,” Jiang Xu said. “I think …… she has hope.”

Shen Fangyu put his hands on his shoulders and massaged him hard, not forgetting to remind him, “You better tell this to only me, not to the patient.”

The relief in his sore muscles relieved Jiang Xu’s nerves a lot. At Shen Fangyu’s words, he turned his head to glance at him before withdrawing his gaze and saying, “Yes, I know.”

Shen Fangyu nodded and moved his hand towards the middle, ready to massage the back of his neck for him, but Jiang Xiu raised his hand to block it.

He gave Shen Fangyu a meaningful look, “Don’t touch my neck in the future.”

“Are you afraid I won’t be able to control the pressure on the carotid sinus?” Shen Fangyu finished speaking and suddenly remembered something, saying with a little teasing smile, “Or are you still ticklish?”

Seeing that Jiang Xu did not say anything, he leaned forward and blew a breath into the back of Jiang Xu’s neck, who suddenly stood up and glared at him with a bit of anger.

Shen Fangyu immediately raised his hands above his head and quickly apologized, “I was wrong.”

Then, under Jiang Xu’s not-so-friendly gaze, he said the next sentence stiffly: “……I won’t dare next time.”

Ren Miao’s post-operative recovery was fast, and the radiotherapy program was gradually put on the agenda. Before taking a break, Jiang Xu went to the ward to check on her, but he didn’t expect to bump into Shen Fangyu just as he reached the door.

The wards were triple rooms, and there were cloth curtains between every two beds. The bed closest to the door was unoccupied, but the curtain between it and the middle bed was drawn.

Ren Miao was sleeping in the bed in the innermost room, and Jiang Xu was about to ask her how she was doing when a sudden force came from behind him. Shen Fangyu held him in his arms, raised his hand to block the words he was about to say, and made a shushing gesture.

Jiang Xu was stunned when his back fell into the warm embrace, and was about to fight back when Shen Fangyu suddenly threatened in a low voice, “If you move, I’ll touch your neck, okay?”

Jiang Xu: “……”

He was wondering what Shen Fangyu was smoking today when, a moment later, he heard a sound coming from inside the cloth curtain.

The breeze outside the window blew the white curtain, and two shadows loomed over it. Jiang Xu couldn’t see anyone and could only tell that it was two girls talking.

“I just found out that your name is Ren Miao, that’s too much of a coincidence,” the livelier one said, “I’m Ren Han, don’t you think our names are the same as those of sisters.”

“It’s a coincidence,” said the fainter and softer voice, “and we seem to be about the same age.”

“Yes, what’s wrong with you?” After Ren Han asked her, she didn’t wait for an answer and spoke about her situation first, “I didn’t think I would get sick, but I accidentally found a fibroid of some kind.”

“The doctor said that I’ve been bleeding heavily during my period because of this, and they even found out that I’m anemic! It scared me to death, I’ve never had such a serious issue before, and I’m having an operation in a couple of days,” she said, sounding genuinely scared, trying to find a little comfort in warming each other up, “Did you already have an operation?”

Ren Miao looked at her, her gentle eyes shining with a bit of envy, “I did, but I seem …… to be very sick, and my parents won’t tell me what’s wrong with me, always saying …… it’s not serious.”

“Ah?”

Ren Miao sighed softly, “Ever since I was little, they have controlled me very strictly, forbidding me to play on the computer for more than an hour, confiscating my extracurricular novels, and making me practice the piano. But after I got sick, they asked me if there was anything I wanted to do and said they would not restrict me anymore.”

Ren Miao had a little bitter smile on her face, “I think it’s probably because, well, I don’t have much time left.”

“How can that be? You look fine and healthy now,” Ren Han said, “Maybe you are thinking too much, your parents are probably just concerned about you.” She said, “I envy you, so many family members come to see you when you’re sick, and your parents are always with you, unlike me, I’m about to have an operation and my parents don’t even have time to come, they say they’ll come back on the day of the operation.”

She had wanted to talk to Ren Miao before, but Ren Miao’s parents were always by her side, so she couldn’t say anything, and only when Ren Miao’s relatives came over to see her, and her parents got up to see them off, did she find a chance to talk to Ren Miao.

“Don’t your parents care about you?” Ren Miao looked at Ren Han’s green hair and tattoos and suddenly felt a little envious.

Ren Han shook her head, looking a little aggrieved, “They are very busy, busy investing and making money ……” So she is always alone; the nanny will only take care of her but not care for her.

But no matter what she did—even dying her hair an outrageous color or doing even more rebellious things—her parents would remain indifferent.

She deliberately skipped school, didn’t study, let her grades drop, got her class teacher to call her parents, only for her mother to call her and tell her that she would be sent abroad if she didn’t want to study, and then they worked even harder to earn tuition fees for her to go abroad.

She didn’t even know what to say.

She knew her parents loved her, but she just wanted a bit of attention. One night while surfing the internet, she accidentally found a brochure from the Association for Women’s Rights.

She felt she needed help too, but she didn’t fit the Association’s description of lacking money or having a major illness.

She just wanted someone to keep her company.

With little hope, Ren Han picked Yan Hua, who seemed to be a good person, out of a group of members, chose a random, serious-sounding illness, and sent her an email. To her surprise, Yan Hua contacted her quickly.

Being around Yan Hua, she finally felt a little cared for, but Yan Hua was also very busy with her work and helping others who needed help more than she did.

“Then let me care for you, okay?” Ren Miao suddenly said.

Ren Han: “Huh?”

“Although I may not be able to care for you for too long,” Ren Miao looked at her, “ I promise that I will care for you every day while I am alive.”

Ren Han’s heart warmed up, and she squirmed a little, so she replied with something else: “I told you that you wouldn’t die!”

Ren Miao pursed her lips, “Actually, I secretly read my mother and aunt’s chat one day,” she explained. “I only read a few sentences; I didn’t see what my illness was, but they mentioned chemotherapy, and I saw it in the TV series…only cancer needs chemotherapy.”

Ren Han subconsciously replied, “Really?”

But then she finished and thought that something like that couldn’t be wrong, and her expression suddenly became a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry ……”

“It’s okay,” Ren Miao smiled, “I’m happy to know you and talk to you.” She looked out the window at the white clouds and seemed a little helpless. “Everyone else is careful when talking to me.”

“It’s okay, Ren Miao,” Ren Han said. “I’ve heard that cancer doesn’t necessarily lead to death.”

“But the death rate is very high.”

“What’s the fear of a high mortality rate!” Ren Han said, “As long as the death rate isn’t 100 percent, you could be the lucky one!” She said in a loud reassuring voice, “Be confident, you’re so good, God won’t let you die!”

As she said this, she grabbed at her hair. Ren Miao’s eyes widened as she watched Ren Han pull the green hair off with ease.

“It’s a wig,” Ren Han said, “I have many more wigs like this,” she held up a strand of Ren Miao’s hair. Ren Miao had beautiful black hair that fell over her shoulders, “I heard that chemotherapy will make you lose your hair. I can give you my wig when the time comes. I have all colors; those are even prettier than this one.”

“You won’t even need to wear a hat when you lose your hair, which is very convenient. I have a lot of matching cosplay costumes for you to wear too.” Seeing Ren Miao’s somewhat bewildered look, Ren Han asked, “Do you know what a cosplay costume is?”

Ren Miao shook her head.

“It’s this kind.” Ren Han took out her phone and clicked on the photo album to show Ren Miao, “These are all anime characters, we can dress up as them, it’s called cosplay. You are so pretty, you look just like anime characters so you will definitely look good. I will even take pictures for you, do you have any favorite comics?”

“My mum …… won’t let me read those.” Ren Miao said.

“She will probably let you read them now,” Ren Han said. “You will be my best friend, and from now on, you can do whatever you want; I’ll be there for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes!” Ren Han said, “If you don’t believe me, let’s make a promise.”

The white curtain swayed gently, and the girls’ shadow was struck by the light slanting on the curtain. One could see the overlapping shadows making a promise with their pinky fingers and short but beautiful laughter.

Jiang Xu moved out of Shen Fangyu’s embrace with a frown, then turned to walk out of the ward.

Shen Fangyu chased after him, asking, “Not going to check the room?”

“Let’s wait until they’re done talking.” Jiang Xu couldn’t quite bear to interrupt the scene, “ Ren Han hasn’t had her surgery yet?”

“No,” Shen Fangyu said, “I’ll do it tomorrow. I was just going to check on her. I’ve switched shifts with someone for the clinic shift scheduled for the day after tomorrow, so I’ll go back to B City with you after the surgery tomorrow night.”

He handed Jiang Xu a high-speed train ticket and asked, “Are we coming back the night after tomorrow?”

Jiang Xu nodded. Time off was limited, he had one surgery after another and couldn’t rest at all, a day was plenty of time.

On the speeding high-speed train, the trees outside the window quickly passed by. Jiang Xu leaned back in his seat to read something, when Shen Fangyu glanced at him and shut down his screen without question.

“Sleep.”

“It’s still early.” Jiang Xu retorted.

“Get some sleep,” Shen Fangyu said, meaningfully, “you might not be able to sleep at night.”

Jiang Xu paused, but finally, put away the tablet and closed his eyes.