“Can I give you a suggestion?” he asked seriously.
“Go ahead,” I replied.
“Next time, cook more noodles!”
I couldn’t help but smile. “This is the most sincere compliment I’ve ever heard!”
“This is the most sincere praise I’ve ever given!”
“Thank you!”
After Ye Zhengchen left, I sat in front of the computer, video chatting with my mom while enjoying freshly made Belgian LEONIDAS chocolates. They were smooth and rich, melting instantly and leaving a fragrant aftertaste.
Mom asked, “Why are you laughing so happily?”
I realized I was, indeed, laughing. “The chocolates from a friend are delicious!”
“A friend? Male or female?” she probed.
“Don’t overthink it; he’s my neighbor!”
“I’m told by Aunt Li that overseas attitudes are open-minded; many international students think they can do anything abroad without consequences, moving in together or breaking up casually, with no moral sense or responsibility. Some even have families back home while fooling around outside. You can’t let anyone deceive you!”
“Don’t worry, I’m more likely to be the one not deceiving others!”
“You little girl, Zhong Tian…”
Here we go again; I automatically blocked out her praise and enjoyed the delicious chocolate. After eating the last piece, I looked at the empty box, swallowing hard. Some things, once tasted, become addictive.
Author’s note: I’ll start counting words from this chapter. Someone said twenty thousand words would be enough. I’ll keep my eyes wide open to see how he’ll charm my daughter!
Nanzhou City is fictional, as it involves a corruption case. The heart of a person is deep. Just entering the research room, the associate professor didn’t assign me a formal project but let me observe the morphology of some cancer cells and bacteria to familiarize myself with the project background.
In the fifth-floor laboratory, after observing the proliferation of lung cancer cells all morning and completing the experimental records, I was exhausted, with my waist and back aching. I stood up, rubbed my waist, and walked to the corridor to catch some air.
Inadvertently, my gaze was drawn to the other side of the corridor.
There, a sterile laboratory came into view. Through the glass window, I saw a man in a white coat and mask suturing a wound on a rat. He leaned slightly, the silver needle dancing lightly between his slender fingers. I had never seen such a figure—white tranquility, unwavering stillness, and a sacred solemnity. His gaze was full of respect and tenderness for life, serious and cautious. Every twitch of the rat made him furrow his brow, as if beneath his fingers was not just a rat but someone he deeply loved.
After a time, I remembered to call Qin Xue and invite her to lunch at the cafeteria.
She took a long time to answer, her voice hoarse, “I’m not feeling well today and didn’t go to school.”
“Are you okay? Do you have a cold? A fever?” I asked nervously.
“It’s nothing, I just didn’t sleep well last night and have a bit of a headache…” I recalled her furrowed brow and tear-filled eyes. I couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Why bother?!
“Then eat something, take some painkillers, and get some sleep. That’ll help.”
“Mm! I know, bye!”
“Xiao Xue! Wait a moment…”
“Though I knew I shouldn’t meddle, I said: ‘Some pain comes on fiercely and leaves quickly… Grit your teeth, you can get through it!'”
“Thanks!” Without further words, she hung up directly.
Perhaps she didn’t understand my meaning or was annoyed by my interference, but she was my first friend in this strange country, and I truly felt sorry for her.
A long, deep sigh escaped me.
…
“Are you friends with Qin Xue?” I was startled, not by the voice’s intrusion, but because the sentence was in Chinese.
I turned around and saw the male doctor from the sterile laboratory. He pulled off his plastic gloves and removed his mask.
A slight side profile, a gentle raise of an eyebrow… almost took my breath away.
“Ye…” I almost called out his full name but caught myself: “Senior brother!”
He nodded slightly, waiting for my answer. I noticed that once he put on the white coat, his demeanor changed, becoming serious.
“Uh… we’re quite close. Xiao Xue took good care of me when I first arrived.”
“Oh, then could you advise her: her headache is neurogenic, and painkillers can only temporarily relieve the pain…”
“I understand,” I said.
He seemed unsure. “Do you really understand?”
“You want me to tell her: neurogenic headaches must stop drug dependency and be regulated through emotions…” I paused. “Short-term pain is better than long-term suffering, right?”
“Yes, and… Don’t say it was from me.”
“I get it!”
He couldn’t promise anything to Qin Xue and didn’t want her to have false hopes, so he took ruthless actions to make her give up on him, preventing her from wasting her emotions.
This was the second day I knew Ye Zhengchen, and I found myself perplexed. If he was compassionate toward the little rat, why did he brutally cut open its skin and then stitch it? If he cherished women, why cause them pain only to try to minimize it? This was the cruelest kindness I had ever seen.
Was Ye Zhengchen a devil in God’s clothes or a god in devil’s clothes? I couldn’t tell! But one thing I was sure of: he was a profoundly deep man.
That evening, Ye Zhengchen came to my home for dinner, bringing pork, beef, vegetables, fruits, and drinks, filling my refrigerator for two whole weeks. We bustled about and finally prepared the hot pot.
Steam rising, water bubbling, we sat facing each other.
He opened a can of Asahi coffee-flavored beer and, when I declined, poured me a full glass of apple juice, refilling it consistently.
During the meal, we chatted about our research lab and his life experiences in Japan. Though he didn’t speak much, he was witty and made me laugh, easing the loneliness of being in a foreign land.
He found my nicknames “Bingbing,” “Xiao Bing,” and “Bing’er” cheesy, so he opted for “kid,” which felt more intimate. I asked if it was okay to call him “senior brother,” and he replied, “As long as you don’t call me ‘husband’, anything goes.”
We ate late into the night, but eventually, all feasts must end. Before leaving, he transferred his phone number to mine, advising me to reach out if I faced any problems. Curious about the infrared function, I transferred my number to his phone too. Seeing my name on his device made me feel happy, as if the barriers between us were fading.
At the door, I said, “Feel free to find me if you want to eat spicy hot pot or dan dan noodles.”
“Thanks!”
In the days that followed, I became busy.
The workaholic associate professor gave me a thick stack of Japanese materials, and I worked tirelessly in the lab or apartment, reading Japanese to the point of near fainting and culturing cells to the brink of vomiting blood. Qin Xue improved her mental state over several days, and we returned to the cafeteria together, laughing with a group of Chinese people. Her face regained its brightness, seemingly emerging from the shadow of heartbreak, but she never mentioned Ye Zhengchen.
I didn’t have many opportunities to interact with Ye Zhengchen. However, since we lived close, we would often encounter each other in the hallway or elevator, exchanging greetings and brief chats.
One late night, I dragged my weary body back to the apartment, craving a hot cup of milk, air conditioning, and sleep under a blanket. When I searched for my keys in my bag, I realized I had left them on the bed during my morning rush. How frustrating!
At this hour, the apartment office was tightly closed, and many rooms were dark.
Standing outside the locked apartment door, I felt homesick, missing my father’s sternness and my mother’s nagging, wishing to cry on my bed.
I rubbed my frozen hands and looked up at the door next to me.
