Five Years of Studying Medicine, Three Years of Flirting With Guys - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tang Linsheng looked at the newly minted nickname and thought happily: This way, even if my parents see my phone, they won’t know the other party is my Senior! His heart felt an itch as he tapped open the chat box and sent a WeChat message: Professor Tang, thank you for today ^__^

Our goal is

Pursue the Senior and become a couple; vary the flirting methods so they never repeat!

Step One: Start with a subtle, “under-the-radar” flirtation on WeChat!

However… It wasn’t until Tang Linsheng was about to climb into bed to sleep that he realized he still hadn’t received a reply from his Senior. That puffed-up, valiant heart of his suddenly felt like a punctured soup dumpling, deflating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Sigh!” Tang Linsheng let out a sigh, turned off his phone, and pulled the blanket up with a huala sound, covering even his head. Time to sleep; he’d fight again tomorrow!

“Ding.” Just as he closed his eyes, he heard the WeChat notification sound on his phone. He quickly poked his head out and reached for the device.

The lock screen lit up. A second later, under the dim white light, the uncontrollable smile on Tang Linsheng’s face was clearly illuminated. His two large eyes seemed to sparkle, shining brightly.

The green notification bar read: Future Partner Big Tangtang: You’re welcome. It was only right.

Tang Linsheng’s eyes curved into smiles. He puffed out his cheeks in an attempt to suppress his laughter, but found it was a futile effort. Thinking that no one could see him anyway, he indulged himself in a “creepy fan” grin.

Tang Linsheng: Is Professor Tang not resting yet?

The other party replied very quickly. Tang Linsheng widened his eyes, focusing intently.

Future Partner Big Tangtang: Just finished checking on the surgical patients.

Tang Linsheng quickly typed: Professor Tang, you’ve worked hard! Hurry back and get some rest

After waiting for about ten minutes, Tang Linsheng finally received a reply. Future Partner Big Tangtang: Okay. You too, Xiao Tang.

Tang Linsheng: “…”

He looked at his Senior’s reply, his expression twisting slightly: Why does this reply look more and more like something a university lecturer would write?

“Eek!” Tang Linsheng was revolted by his own thoughts. He shook his body to shrug the idea off, replied “Goodnight,” turned off his phone, and went to sleep.

This must be my imagination.

====

Tang Linsheng rested for a few days this week. When he returned to work, it was time for his first night shift in the Cardiology Department.

As a second-year trainee nurse, as long as he was with a qualified teaching instructor, he could work the night shift independently. However, as it was his first night shift in this department, Teacher Wang, the instructor, arranged for him and Liu Junxian—two trainees—to follow the senior Nurse Fang on the night shift.

Although the night shift officially started at midnight, he arrived at the hospital after 9:00 PM and changed into his uniform. He poked his head into the pantry and looked left and right down the corridor. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he finally pulled out the lunch box he had been hiding behind his back.

Step Two: Win over his stomach to capture his person!

He opened the cabinet reserved for the Directors and placed the lunch box in Professor Tang’s usual spot, closing the cabinet door softly with a guilty conscience.

“Tang Linsheng? You’re here so early?”

A voice suddenly came from behind, startling Tang Linsheng. He nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around and said to Liu Junxian, who was drinking water, “Aren’t you here early too?”

Liu Junxian curled her lip: “The subway service ends after 10:00 PM! It’s so unsafe for a girl to walk at night, I’m so scaaaared~” She patted her chest, drawing out the last few words. She asked with a smile: “What were you just doing?”

Tang Linsheng breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately, she hadn’t noticed. “Nothing,” he glanced at the water cup in Liu Junxian’s hand and thought quickly: “Just like you, I came for a drink of water!”

Hearing this, Liu Junxian gave him a strange look: “…Then where is the cup in your hand?”

Tang Linsheng raised his hand; his palm was completely empty.

“And you’re standing in front of the food lockers, not the water dispenser cabinet…”

Tang Linsheng’s heart skipped a beat. Internally, he prayed: Don’t say any more! Don’t say any more! Don’t say any more!

He quickly set the water cup in Liu Junxian’s hand aside and pushed her toward the women’s locker room: “Alright, go to sleep quickly! You must be too sleepy and didn’t see clearly! Believe me, you’re just too tired!”

Liu Junxian: “…”

Having finally stuffed Liu Junxian into the women’s locker room, Tang Linsheng immediately returned to the pantry to look at the food cabinet. He frowned: The food cabinet was insulated but not transparent. What if the Senior didn’t see it at all?

He glanced at the transparent water cabinet nearby, and his eyes lit up! Seniors would always need to drink water!

He felt a secret joy and quickly wrote on a sticky note he carried: Professor Tang, I brought you a midnight snack (∩_∩). Just as he peeled the note off to stick it on Tang Linsheng’s cup, he thought better of it and peeled it back off what if Senior recognized it was him and didn’t like the food? Wouldn’t he be digging a hole for himself?!

Tang Linsheng quickly shook his head to reject that sticky note. He tore it up, threw it in the trash, and wrote a new one: Senior, I brought you some midnight snack (∩_∩). In any case, Senior didn’t know who “he” was. He would see the results; if Senior was satisfied, he would reveal himself. If the Senior wasn’t satisfied, he would abandon this method.

He stuck the note onto Tang Linsheng’s black thermos, closed the cabinet door, and ran back to the duty room to sleep and gather his energy for the night shift.

====

Tang Linsheng (the Professor) sat at his desk, flipping through the documents in his hand with a grave expression. He put the documents down, leaned back, took off his glasses, and used his right index and middle fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose, which was sore from the glasses.

The notification for a text message rang. He put down the glasses in his left hand and took out his phone to check the new iMessage.

Professor Hope: Tang, how is progress going? I have a new research project here that needs you. I hope you can return soon. Best wishes.

Tang Linsheng: No progress at all. I signed a two-year contract with the hospital here. If the two years are up and I still haven’t found that person, I will return.

Professor Hope: OK, waiting for your return.

Tang Linsheng moved his stiff neck, put the thick stack of documents on his desk into a drawer and locked it, then stood up to go to the pantry for water. It was already past 11:00 PM. All the patients in the ward were asleep, leaving only two nurses sitting at the nurse’s station chatting softly.

He opened the water cabinet and saw the note. The characters on the note were written stroke by stroke, very neatly; one could tell the writer had a serious attitude, though the overall appearance looked somewhat like a primary school student’s handwriting. Holding the yellow sticky note with his slender fingers, he opened the adjacent food locker and saw a white patterned lunch box sitting in his usually empty spot.

Tang Linsheng took out the lunch box and sat at the dining table. Who sent him a midnight snack? Why wasn’t it signed?

He wasn’t surprised by the title “Senior.” After all, Mingzhu Hospital was the most famous affiliated hospital of B University, and many of the doctors and nurses in the hospital were trained by the B University School of Medicine. He knew very well that the news of his return to work in China had likely spread throughout the entire hospital long ago.

But the fact that it wasn’t signed truly puzzled him. He opened the lunch box. Inside was a four-compartment bento box, containing side dishes and soup—very hearty.

However… Tang Linsheng looked at the dishes, and for once, a trace of awkwardness and clearly visible refusal appeared on his usually gentle face.

He closed the lunch box lid and knit his eyebrows together.