CH 22

Yu Zhou was so angry that she wanted to punch Xiang Wan. 

But then she thought, why bother with a kid? She lifted her foot to walk away.

Still strolling along the street, she noticed Xiang Wan glanced at her three times.

“If you have something to say, just say it,” she said without giving Xiang Wan a single glance.

“Curious.” Xiang Wan replied.

“Curious about what?”

“Considering the gap between you and Miss Su is so huge, how did you meet, and how did you get together?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhou laughed: “In the hospital.”

“What?”

“Unexpected, right? I met her when we were both in the hospital.”

In the face of illness, everyone is equal, whether you are a beloved daughter of heaven or a salted fish in the human world.

Moreover, in River City, where medical resources are so scarce, the best doctors are all in public hospitals. As long as your condition isn’t overly special, no matter if you’re rich or poor, everyone has to wait for a hospital bed, just an ordinary one.

By chance, Yu Zhou was assigned to a double room in the hospital due to her family’s concern after she had contracted a serious illness right after graduation. She had never stayed in a hospital before, so her family paid extra for the comfort of this more private space.

The double room in Pingji Hospital was the best one available, aside from the legendary VIP suites that existed only in rumors.

As fate would have it, the other person in this double room was Su Chang.

Yu Zhou and Su Chang were scheduled for different surgeries, but in the same department. Su Chang’s illness was slightly less severe than Yu Zhou’s, but she had to wait for the head physician to perform the operation; consequently, although she arrived at the hospital a day earlier, her surgery was scheduled for the day after Yu Zhou’s.

To facilitate management, the hospital had a strict no-visitors policy, except for seriously ill patients, they were not allowed to have anyone stay with them, only private nurses. When Su Chang first met Yu Zhou, she was carrying a bulky black backpack on her back on a hot day, with a temporary basin hanging on the right while a large bag of paper rolls on the left.

However when Yu Zhou saw Su Chang the first time, she was wearing a hospital gown, playing with her phone at the head of the bed, looking like a sick beauty.

Yu Zhou really regretted not dressing up better herself at that time, having never expected to encounter such an elegant beauty in a hospital ward. Had she known, she would have at least tried to spruce up her clothes, which were piled up like pickled vegetables.

In the presence of Su Chang, Yu Zhou felt as if she was dressed to be sent to jail.

Su Chang was not particularly talkative and didn’t seem interested in making small talk. She glanced at Yu Zhou before returning to her phone.

Yu Zhou, on the other hand, was an inherently radiant person.  She quickly found a way to feel better about herself.

She compared their blankets and noticed that hers had a small flower pattern, whereas Su Chang’s was plain.

In Yu Zhou’s mind, she had finally found something in which she could triumph over the beauty.

Not embarrassed at all.

Life in the hospital was undeniably dull, but Yu Zhou, who was always uneasy, was an exception. 

She would amuse herself by rocking her hospital bed upwards to sit and then back down to lie down, marveling at the impressively efficient hospital meal-ordering system, as well as feasting on the barely palatable boxed meals for which Su Chang had little appetite. Yu Zhou would even ask Su Chang, “Is that really all you’re going to eat?”

“You have to eat more; you’re so thin. You might faint on the operating table.”

Though it wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing to say, Su Chang couldn’t help but smile, perhaps because the tone of this young woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, was reminiscent of the gossipy matron in the neighboring room.

Later, Su Chang asked Yu Zhou how she could be so joyful in the hospital, to which Yu Zhou replied, “I’m actually quite excited to be here. You see, I’m a novelist, so I plan to use this experience as material for my stories.”

At the time, Yu Zhou thought that her newly acquired surgery experience might make her stand out among her fellow writers and even catapult her to fame.

However, she later learned the importance of following data-driven insights.

And also realized that there were plenty of novelists who had undergone surgery, thus making her experience not as unique as she once thought. 

Joy quickly turned to sadness for Yu Zhou. On the second day, she was weeping uncontrollably in her hospital bed. Her sudden outburst of tears startled Su Chang, who had just returned from washing up.

This was the first time Su Chang initiated a conversation with Yu Zhou, asking her, “What’s wrong?”

The sound of her actively initiating conversation was much more pleasant than her passively chatting, perhaps because it sounded lively.

Yu Zhou cried out, “Damn it, I feel so much pain.”

“What?”

“I just saw someone in the corridor with drainage tubing inserted into their abdomen. I can’t stand it. I really can’t handle this; my stomach is already hurting.”

Su Chang paused for a moment, then a smile crept into her eyes. She asked, “Is it really hurting?”

“Yes, it is. Like us authors, our imagination and empathy are so strong that they easily manifest physically, causing genuine physiological reactions.” Yu Zhou fabricated as she continued to cry.

“But, neither of our surgeries would require drainage tubes,” Su Chang said.

Yu Zhou looked up at her questioningly.

“Don’t you know what kind of surgery you’re having and what the procedure entails?” Su Chang asked indifferently.

“I…” Yu Zhou realized she always tends to zone out when someone is giving a lecture, the same thing happened during the nurse’s briefing.

However, this cry wasn’t completely without merit. Her crying prompted Su Chang to smile gently, and from then on, the two began to converse.

Yu Zhou believed they had become friends, so she took the initiative to help Su Chang experience everything firsthand. She shared all her feelings and sensations, detailing even the skin preparation and enema process.

Su Chang was initially a bit awkward, but she soon got used to it.

On the day of the surgery, a nurse came in early to help Yu Zhou onto the bed, covering her with the blanket to remove her patient gown inside. Since the nurse was male, he stepped out to wait for her before coming back in.

Following the nurse’s instructions, Yu Zhou did as she was told, undressing inside the blanket before handing her clothes to her only ally, Su Chang.

After lying in bed for a while without seeing the nurse return, Yu Zhou began to daydream. She absentmindedly lifted the blanket as she started feeling warm, only to be suddenly struck by the realization that she was not wearing any clothes when her exposed chest caught her eye.

She quickly turned her head, noticing that Su Chang had averted her gaze.

My god, Yu Zhou thought to herself, I didn’t need to be this frank with my ally.

She prided herself on being an innocent and unsullied girl, believing her chest had never been seen by another person, with the exception of her family when she was a child. This made her extremely uneasy, constantly worrying about this issue. Even after the surgery, when the anesthesia had worn off, she couldn’t help but dwell on the matter.

From Su Chang’s perspective, the girl seemed to be lost in thought, turning her head to sorrowfully staring at Su Chang after the surgery.

Eventually, Su Chang couldn’t bear it anymore. After fetching some water, she sat on the hospital bed as she asked, “Does it hurt a lot?”

Yu Zhou shook her head before asking her, “Did you see my chest?”

Su Chang was taken aback, recalling how she had casually glanced when Yu Zhou had made a move to lift the covers before the surgery. The sight had been a fleeting glimpse, so she couldn’t make out any specific details except a field of white body. 

However, Su Chang neither denied nor confirmed it. She simply smiled, lowering her head to look at her phone.

Leaving Yu Zhou guessing. 

For the next few days, Yu Zhou felt awkward. On the day she was discharged from the hospital, she packed up her belongings and then bid farewell to Su Chang, who was still lying in the hospital bed. 

Unexpectedly, Su Chang said, “Let’s add each other on WeChat.”

After all, she had “Since… I have seen that.”

Yu Zhou couldn’t quite remember how she felt when she heard Su Chang say that, but she guessed it might have stirred something in her heart.

She wasn’t sure whether Su Chang was interested in her, or simply found her amusing. 

And so, they added each other on WeChat.

Yu Zhou, besides writing, rarely surfs the Internet. At that time, she only knew that Su Chang was a voice actress. It wasn’t until some time after they became friends that she suddenly remembered to ask Su Chang if she had a Weibo account. They knew each other in real life and had become friends on WeChat, so it wasn’t common to think of following each other’s life updates on Weibo.

Su Chang replied that she did have a Weibo account, which was called Su Chang.

Yu Zhou was puzzled at the time. Su Chang must have registered quite early, she thought. Otherwise, how could she have registered with just these two simple characters without any additional numbers or characters?

Yu Zhou looked it up and found that Su Chang’s account was indeed called Su Chang, with a yellow verification.

At that time, Su Chang had already become well-known in the voice acting circle, but not as much as she is now.

Yu Zhou felt quite vain at the beginning, thinking that she had hit the jackpot by finding such an excellent girlfriend.

However, if only things could have stayed as they were in the beginning.

For example, when Yu Zhou first met Su Chang, she found Su Chang’s ability to spout nonsense on any topic quite entertaining.

But now, Su Chang would say – stop lying to her.

Yu Zhou wasn’t sure if it was because her memories had suddenly turned dark, or because it was too late, but the always mischievous Xiang Wan didn’t tease her any further.

As they reached the gate, she asked again, “If you can’t let her go, why chose to cooperate in the first place?”

Yu Zhou answered without thinking, “I didn’t want to cooperate at first, but since it’s happening, I think I need to desensitize myself.”

“Desensitization means you keep staring at something you care about until your heart becomes as calm as if it were dead. Then you can truly let it go.”

Xiang Wan tried her best to understand the concept, finding it quite intriguing.

“In recent years, voice actors have become very popular. There have been a few trending topics in the past few months, including Su Chang who appeared once for an officially announced audio drama. Sometimes when I see something related to her, my heart still skips a beat.” Yu Zhou admitted.

“You don’t understand? Difficulties are like springs; the weaker you are, the stronger they become. You have to face them head-on, and suddenly, they’ll pass.” 

Xiang Wan nodded in agreement.

“Moreover,” Yu Zhou added after some thought, “She is really suitable for the role of Shen Bai. The voice acting is her work, while the text is mine. If I let my emotions interfere and prevent this collaboration, keeping Shen Bai from meeting the perfect person, and not allowing ‘Shrine’ to become the best ‘Shrine’, neither she nor I would be proud of myself.”

Yu Zhou rarely spoke with such seriousness, yet as she did, Xiang Wan strangely felt that under the streetlights, she seemed to shimmer and shine.

In truth, Yu Zhou was a slightly stubborn and proud person, although she hadn’t even realized it herself.

“I wonder if one day, I could be worthy of your characters in voice acting?” Xiang Wan asked Yu Zhou.

Yu Zhou laughed, it was the first time a voice actress had ever offered to be part of her story. Though, she was still just a “Ci Wei” now.

“Well, that depends on whether you’re up for the challenge,” she replied, “You never know, this play might just be the thing that makes me famous.”

Xiang Wan smiled at her confidently, the corners of her mouth curving up as they entered the elevator and returned home.

It was supposed to be an exhausting night, but fate had other plans for the pair.

For Xiang Wan, it was her first time eating crawfish; perhaps because she had traveled through time, her stomach was rather sensitive. As soon as they got home, she began to suffer from diarrhea. Yu Zhou rummaged through every cabinet in search of medicine for her; she also worried about possible side effects, so opted for a Chinese herbal remedy with only a third of the original dose. After administering the medication, she sat by Xiang Wan’s bedside, keeping an eye on her condition.

Fortunately, Xiang Wan seemed to tolerate the reduced dosage. After struggling until around two or three in the morning, she finally drifted off to sleep.

Yu Zhou felt sore from the waist down, but as exhausted as she was, she didn’t want to move an inch.

She pulled out her phone to scroll through her social media, expecting no one to be awake at such an hour.

Yet, to her surprise, a post from the account with a pure blue profile picture appeared on her timeline.

It was a blurry nightscape, where shadows appeared indistinct so it was impossible to discern the location. At a glance, there was only varying shades of black.

There was no accompanying text, only the simple “share photo” provided by the Weibo automatically.

Su Chang hasn’t slept yet? It’s already 3 AM. Although she didn’t need to record “Shrine” tomorrow, it was unknown if she had any other work planned.

Yu Zhou’s first thought was – why isn’t she asleep yet?

Her second thought was, why would she suddenly post something like this?

The third thought – did the bad mood the photo conveyed have anything to do with tonight’s dinner?

And fourthly, if so, what on earth could she be thinking?

Yu Zhou only allowed her desire to pry to stay at the first level.

However, as she stared at the photo and considered the timing, it was all too easy to imagine Su Chang experiencing insomnia. She was reminded of when Su Chang had pleaded with her in the bathroom not to lie to her again.

Suddenly, an unprecedented thought struck Yu Zhou. Was she truly as manipulative as Su Chang seemed to believe?

And had Su Chang ever managed to see through her lies?