Five Years of Studying Medicine, Three Years of Flirting With Guys - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Tang took a sip of water, trying to suppress his somewhat churning and restless stomach. It had to be said that the dish in this bento, with several red chili peppers scattered over it, looked truly enticing to an average person; however, in his eyes, it looked like something baring its fangs and brandishing its claws in a provocative manner.

As for the fact that he could not eat spicy food, he had also found out through a bento box.

Back when Tang was a student at the B University School of Medicine, he was a “man of the hour” famous throughout the medical school and even the entire university. This was not only because he was handsome and gentle, or because teachers of both professional and public courses used him as a model example, but also because he won first prizes in scientific innovation at the B City and national levels every year. When he walked through the laboratory in his white coat, he was heroic and dashing, the hem of his coat fluttering a sight that charmed a multitude of “fangirls”… and “fanboys.”

Once, he was doing an experiment until very late. The data was only missing the final part, but it just wouldn’t come out. He and his good friend Chen Tianyu were famished while waiting for the data. Back then, there weren’t various food delivery apps; the two of them even considered whether they should set a small aluminum pot over several alcohol lamps to boil some plain water noodles.

When Chen Tianyu went to the fridge to get the noodles, he discovered a layered lunch box sitting inside! Upon opening it, there were actually three layers of food!

“Brother Sheng, your suitor has stopped sending love letters and started sending lunch boxes! They really get it; it looks like enough food for two!” Chen Tianyu carried the lunch box over joyfully and handed him a note, teasing: “Girls these days have so many tricks for pursuing people, but I like this one it’s like sending charcoal in the snow!”

Tang took the note. The text on it was printed in bold black font, telling him to take care of his health and not stay too late for experiments. It also featured two trees drawn with incredibly stiff lines as a signature; they were bare, without a single leaf.

Chen Tianyu leaned over to take a look and burst out laughing: “Isn’t this the girl who sends you love letters?! Hahahaha, these two trees are so ugly; if she’s from medical school, she definitely won’t pass Cytology or Physiological Anatomy. This drawing is just too hideous, hahahaha.”

Chen Tianyu mocked to his heart’s content until Tang spoke up; only then did he hurry over to heat the food and stop talking.

Once the food was heated, he laid the dishes out on a clean table nearby. While pulling apart disposable chopsticks with his teeth, he said: “I’ll say, even though the girl’s drawing is ugly, at least this ‘loving heart’ is quite on point. Mm, delicious! You try.” Chen Tianyu stuffed a mouthful into his mouth and gave Tang a thumbs-up with wide eyes, mumbling for him to hurry up and eat. “The taste is actually pretty good! Who is this girl anyway? She didn’t leave a phone number. Next time let’s write a note back and ask for her number, that way we can find a long-term ‘meal ticket,’ hahaha.”

Tang took a mouthful. It was a stimulating taste he had rarely experienced before; the sensation stimulated his tongue, bringing a hint of pain along with a numbing, burning feeling. “Is this spicy?” Tang spoke only after eating several mouthfuls of rice.

“Yeah! Although there’s no red color, I reckon there’s pickled pepper water in it. It’s got a kick. Spicy food is the best! Eat, eat!” Chen Tianyu spoke while shoveling down the food. Looking at his posture, it was as if he were rushing to a deadline. His stomach was still empty; it was Tang’s first time eating spicy food, and while he wasn’t quite used to it, he couldn’t deny that the taste was good.

The two starving people quickly finished the bento. Chen Tianyu, full and satisfied, was about to go check the experiment results when he saw Tang’s face turn pale. Furrowing his brows and clutching his stomach, Tang hurried out. He didn’t return for half an hour. Chen Tianyu, wearing his mask and gloves, mocked him relentlessly: “Brother Sheng, you just don’t know how to enjoy a good thing!”

To his surprise, as soon as the words left his mouth before Tang could even swallow a sip of water his expression changed. With a tight frown, he strode outside again, not returning for another half hour. When he finally came back, he sat on a stool; though his back was straight, his face was white, and faint beads of cold sweat appeared. Chen Tianyu didn’t dare to mock him anymore; he quickly ripped off his gloves and ran over to ask: “What’s wrong with you? Your face looks terrible!”

Tang’s stomach was churning. A strong physiological urge for metabolism surged from his transverse colon to the descending colon, turned past the sigmoid colon, and pressed straight toward the rectum… He closed his eyes, stood up abruptly, and walked quickly outside, leaving behind a single sentence: “Wait for me to come back and take me to the ER.”

Chen Tianyu: “…”

That night, he was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis. Tang, both vomiting and having diarrhea, left behind his only university “black mark” with Chen Tianyu. Compared to Tangin other areas, Chen Tianyu had always been at a disadvantage; now that he finally had a little leverage over Tang, he would bring it up to tease him from time to time, all the way until they graduated.

Thinking of the past embarrassment caused by eating spicy food, Tang felt the bento in front of him was very troublesome. His usual upbringing told him he shouldn’t carelessly trample on someone else’s hard work, but his heart struggled as he didn’t want to touch this meal.

Just then, someone walked into the pantry. He asked: “Hello, do you know who this meal belongs to?”

Liu Junxian had woken up and come to the pantry for a drink of water to prepare for work when she saw Tang was also there. She glanced at the unfamiliar lunch box and said: “I don’t know. Is Professor Tang on duty today?”

“Yes. Sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s nothing.”

After Liu Junxian left, Tang霖晟 looked at the lunch box. After a moment of contemplation, he picked it up and walked away.

====

As it was Tang Linsheng’s first night shift in Cardiology, tonight was so quiet it was almost hard to believe. Tang Linsheng sat in the treatment room, ka-cha ka-cha munching on an apple given to him by Nurse Fang. It was said that “one apple makes the night peaceful” though it was a bit superstitious, it served as psychological comfort.

After finishing the apple, he did a round of the wards. Seeing that everyone was sleeping well, he returned in a great mood.

“It feels like it’s not very busy tonight.” He sat down and said a word to Nurse Fang with a smile. To his surprise, as soon as Nurse Fang heard it, she quickly said: “Pei, pei, pei! Don’t say such things! If you say that, the apple I gave you won’t work anymore!”

Hearing this, Tang Linsheng quickly pressed his lips together and said cautiously: “I… I didn’t say anything…”

Liu Junxian turned around in her chair and said: “But are we just going to spend the whole night bored, looking at medical records and wandering the wards?”

“Patrolling wards, drawing blood when the time comes there are plenty of things to do,” Nurse Fang said with a smile. “Young lady, don’t be too naive.”

Tang Linsheng laughed, put the organized medical records back onto the chart trolley, and said enthusiastically: “How about I tell you guys a story?”

“What story? Is it stimulating?!” Upon hearing this, Liu Junxian quickly leaned in.

Nurse Fang’s face turned serious: “If it’s too scary, I, Nurse Fang, won’t listen!”

Tang Linsheng gave a hehe laugh: “It’s not scary!”

“Mainland China is vast, with rising and falling mountains and plains. The story we are going to tell today happened in an inconspicuous corner among these countless mountains and plains.

It was a very mysterious village. There were only two types of people in the village: one type was the elderly, old and frail; the other was children, thin and boney. You could almost never see a single young or middle-aged person. It was as if they suffered some kind of curse evaporating at a certain age and reappearing at another time as an old person. Thus, such a special village was created”

“Is it really not scary?” Nurse Fang suddenly interrupted him, her face full of disbelief.

“Really, Nurse Fang, keep listening!” Tang Linsheng continued.

“To the east of the village is a small river. Water for washing clothes, cooking, and quenching thirst is all taken from here. Not far from the village, about a li’s walk, the older sister always brings her younger brother. The sister eats more and has more strength, so she lifts the water effortlessly; the brother follows behind, stomping in puddles for fun when it rains. Sometimes the river flows clear, sometimes it flows muddy, depending on whether it rains.

To the south of the small river is a field where the villagers’ food is grown—mostly Chinese cabbage, green vegetables, and bok choy. In season, they also plant carrots and corn. Rotten carrots are fed to rabbits, and leftovers are fed to pigs. The pigs are very thin because they eat little; no one leaves leftovers, except the younger brother.

To the south of the field is a large hill. The mountain is a barren one, overgrown with weeds, and the trees are very tall because no one goes to gather firewood or hunt. Therefore, naturally, there are no paths on the mountain.

One day, the sister and brother decided to go play on the mountain. They left just as dawn was breaking. They walked to the foot of the mountain and pulled a few weeds. The grass was very long and difficult to pull; the brother got a cut on his hand, and the sister gave him a harsh scolding.

The two of them simply ignored the weeds and climbed up the mountain, stepping through the dew. It was wet underfoot and they kept slipping, but the brother laughed hehe.

When they reached the halfway point of the mountain, the sister discovered a few small pits carved into the ground. They looked up and found a patch of pitch-black color higher up—not the gray typical of exposed rock.

The brother suggested climbing up to see. The sister couldn’t control him, so she followed him up. Only then did they discover it was a crude cave. There was nothing in the cave. On the ground was a pile of broken stones, looking as if a massive rock had been heavily smashed onto the ground. It was shattered thoroughly; the sister felt the sensation of stepping on sand and stone was very distinct.

At this time, the sun rose, and a sliver of light slipped into the cave. Out of the corner of the sister’s eye, she caught a flickering glint. They turned their heads to see that a rectangular mirror was actually installed neatly on the wall.

How could there be a mirror in the middle of nowhere? The unease in the sister’s heart grew stronger and stronger, but driven by curiosity, she tightly pulled her brother and walked forward. The moment she saw the mirror, she suddenly fell silent…

Guess what appeared in that rectangular mirror a mirror that had spent untold years on a barren mountain, a mirror standing alone in a cave…”

Liu Junxian swallowed and said nervously: “What?”

“In that rectangular mirror appeared the sister’s deathly pale face, and half of the brother’s face!”

Just as Tang Linsheng finished speaking, an old, hoarse voice came from the nurse’s station, eerily asking: “Are you dead?”

“Aaaaah!”