I Quit Being This Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 56

Mang Ke grasped her hair in despair. She remembered discussing with Xun Fangyun how they would go grocery shopping the next day and how Xun Fangyun promised to make curry rice while cuddling her.

Just as Mang Ke was blissfully rolling around and falling asleep on the bed, she opened her eyes to see a familiar face right in front of her.

Si Nan sat on the chair, looking at Mang Ke bouncing and shouting on the bed, feeling a bit hurt. She tearfully asked, “Xiao Ke, do you hate seeing me that much? I don’t recall doing anything to upset you, did I?”

After speaking, she secretly wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Ah…” Mang Ke said, a little flustered. “No, no, I don’t mean to blame you. I just…”

I just suddenly came back and haven’t quite adjusted yet.

Si Nan looked at Mang Ke’s bewildered expression, sniffled helplessly, and said, “Then tell me, why haven’t you been in touch with me for a month? You didn’t even react when I knocked so loudly just now. I thought…”

Looking at Mang Ke’s confused expression, Si Nan said weakly, “I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

“That’s not it,” Mang Ke sat on the bed trying to explain everything at once, but a sudden sneeze interrupted her: “Achoo—”

Si Nan reached out and tucked Mang Ke back into the quilt, saying helplessly, “It’s early in the morning, and you’re still in your pajamas, so stop messing around. I’ll see if you have any milk or congee. It’s still a bit early now. Let’s talk after you eat breakfast.”

Mang Ke held the quilt, watching Si Nan leave, then turned in confusion to look at the clock in her bedroom.

The time was 5:15 AM.

Mang Ke: “…”

Why did Si Nan come looking for her so early in the morning!!!!

Five o’clock in the morning! That’s too early!!!

With all the commotion early in the morning, Mang Ke couldn’t go back to sleep. She was now sitting at the dining table after brushing her teeth and washing her face, watching Si Nan in her pink and white cat apron humming happily in the room with a spoon, seemingly in a good mood.

“Si Nan,” Mang Ke chewed on the bun Si Nan had bought from outside, asking confusedly, “Why did you come to my house so early in the morning? Don’t you need to sleep?”

“Sigh, speaking of that, I have to complain to you.” Si Nan held the spoon and said to Mang Ke, “Do you remember my patient? She spat up blood at 3:00 AM. After I went over, I didn’t help much and was told to go home. But where could I go so early in the morning? Since I live relatively close to your house, I decided to come and see you.”

Mang Ke chewed the sweet meat bun, smacking her lips: “She spat up blood? Is it serious?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll go check when I start work today.” Si Nan placed the warm milk she had heated on the table, serving a bowl to Mang Ke: “I can’t cook, so just make do with the milk and buns.”

“This is great,” Mang Ke couldn’t help but smile. “I remember you always liked bringing me buns and milk when we were in school. I still think they taste delicious now.”

Si Nan smiled with her eyes curved: “I was in the 12th grade, and you were in the 9th grade. We lived two buildings apart, yet you still insisted on walking home with me.”

“I couldn’t help it. We have such a good relationship.”

“That’s true. If you hadn’t moved in next door in the 7th grade, I don’t think we would have known each other for so long.”

Si Nan watched Mang Ke drink the hot milk, getting a milk mustache all over her mouth. She couldn’t help but pull out a tissue and lean over to wipe her mouth: “You, why do you still drink milk like that?”

Mang Ke licked her lips, smiling: “It tastes good.”

Somehow, Si Nan felt that this simple interaction was quite nice. Maybe they could just quietly be friends like this forever.

“Alright,” Si Nan untied the apron and said, “I have to go to work. If you can’t finish the remaining buns, eat them at noon. You must finish the milk though. You have to drink it all, even if you drink it like water. Understand?”

“Are you just going to eat those few buns?” Mang Ke asked Si Nan. “You woke up at 3:00 AM. Aren’t you going to sleep a little longer at my place?”

“No,” Si Nan put on her trench coat, showing off her cotton slippers and pajama pants. She laughed: “I need to go home and change, otherwise the nurses at the hospital will laugh themselves to death.”

“Oh, right, wait for me at home tonight,” Si Nan said. “I have something to give you. No more ignoring me, okay?”

Watching Si Nan wave goodbye, Mang Ke suddenly felt sentimental holding the door frame. How long had it been since she felt this kind of peaceful life?

Since that inexplicable phone call, Mang Ke felt her life had undergone earth-shattering changes.

The time spent in the book was much longer than she thought—sometimes three or four months, sometimes one or two months. But when she woke up from the big dream, she realized that winter hadn’t even arrived yet.

Mang Ke didn’t know when she would see Xun Fangyun again, nor was she sure if what Jia Yun told her was true.

Looking at the gradually reviving city, Mang Ke suddenly started to lose track of what was reality and what was merely illusion…

Municipal Hospital.

Si Nan had changed into her clothes and was pinning her work badge on her chest when she saw her colleague and friend walk into the locker room, yawning.

He was the one who had informed her about the patient spitting up blood last night.

“Off the night shift?” Si Nan greeted him.

“Yeah,” the person yawned while taking off his white coat. “There was an emergency case this morning, and I got called in. They only just let me go now.”

“So, are you going home or resting in the lounge?”

“I want to go home. I haven’t been home in three days.”

Si Nan smiled wryly: “That sounds exhausting. You should go home and sleep. If you sleep here, they’ll probably call you back if they’re short-handed.”

“God, why is being a doctor so miserable? If I have children later, I won’t let them study medicine.”

“Exactly, exactly. Advise someone to study medicine, and lightning will strike you.”

The two chatted and laughed while changing. Si Nan asked her friend, “How is my patient who was brought in yesterday?”

“I heard she was thrown into the ICU, but she seems to be fine.”

“I’ll go check on her then.”

“Go on, go on. I’m leaving now. Bye~”

“Okay, bye.”

Leaving the locker room, Si Nan went to the Intensive Care Unit. She greeted the nurse, changed into a protective suit, and walked in.

The entire ICU was filled with the smell of medicine. Even with a mask on, the pungent odor was noticeable.

The hospital beds were lined up, the sounds of oxygen tubes and heart monitors rising and falling, as if competing to see who would stop first.

“Doctor Xiao Nan,” the head nurse walked over and said, “The patient brought in this morning is over here.”

“Mhm.” Si Nan nodded.

Hospital staff are sometimes particular, so some older or long-time staff members call Si Nan ‘Doctor Xiao Nan,’ while others who don’t mind address her as ‘Doctor Si,’ like other physicians.

Si Nan followed the nurse to Xun Fangyun’s bedside. Looking at the medical record hanging at the foot of the bed, she softly murmured, ‘Oh.’

The nurse leaned closer and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

Si Nan looked at the values on the medical record and said, “This person seems to have recovered quite a bit.”

“Really? That’s great news! Her family would be thrilled if she woke up.”

“Mhm…”

Si Nan looked at the short-haired girl on the bed with suspicion, feeling a sense of confusion.

Why is she recovering so quickly?

In the evening, Si Nan worked a little overtime, dealing with a patient’s issue. By the time she got off work, it was almost 7:00 PM.

Si Nan sent a message to Mang Ke: [I just finished. Come to the Outpatient building to find me. I’ll pack up, and we can go eat hot pot.]

Mang Ke: [Okay, I’ll come up.]

Just as Si Nan was packing her things, she heard a knock at the door.

“Hello,” an ordinary-looking man said to Si Nan, “Can we still see a doctor now?”

Si Nan looked at him, thinking it wouldn’t be right to turn them away since they had already arrived. She sat back down at her desk and said, “Yes, I can. What seems to be the problem?”

“It’s not me,” the man stepped aside for the person entering and said, “It’s our young lady.”

Si Nan was perplexed by the girl wearing a hat and sunglasses in front of her. Why come to the hospital looking so clandestine?

But perhaps the person had some private matter she couldn’t speak of, so Si Nan didn’t pry and motioned for her to sit down.

“Tell me about your symptoms,” Si Nan opened the medical record book. “What are you feeling uncomfortable about?”

“Headaches.”

The girl said softly, “Sometimes it’s a migraine, and sometimes my whole head hurts. I wanted to see if there was a problem with my brain.”

Si Nan nodded and said, “Please take off your mask and sunglasses. I need to examine you.”

The woman paused, then removed the items covering her face. She was a delicate-looking girl who seemed to be in her early twenties, perhaps even younger.

“How old are you?”

“21.”

“Have you been diagnosed at any other hospital?”

“No.”

“Then you…”

At that moment, Si Nan saw a small, chestnut-haired head darting in and out of the doorway and couldn’t help but clear her throat. Mang Ke, realizing she had been noticed, pretended to be invisible, quietly slipped in, and sat down on a nearby chair to wait.

After asking a few questions, Si Nan wrote a few orders, instructing the person to come back for a CT scan the next day to determine the specific condition.

“Here you go,” Si Nan tore off the order forms and handed them to the girl: “Bring the scans back to me tomorrow. I’ll be in the same place.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

The girl stood up, looking at her medical record book, and said, “Doctor, you misspelled my name.”

Si Nan paused, taking the book back to check: “Did I make a mistake?”

“Yes,” the girl said. “My name is Jiang Chun’er, not Jiang Chun.”

At that very moment, Mang Ke, who was playing with her phone, dropped it with a jolt, causing it to clatter onto the floor.

Instantly, everyone in the room looked over.

Mang Ke blinked. She looked at Si Nan, then at the girl named Jiang Chun’er, and wondered if the world… wasn’t so small after all?