Running Towards You - Chapter 12

Ji Yin asked Dr. Lu what he wanted to eat, and Dr. Lu casually suggested a light-flavored restaurant on the back street. It didn’t require passing through the main gate, and the prices were reasonable.

The three of them headed toward the back door when the eldest sister’s phone suddenly rang.

After a hurried conversation, her face filled with worry and fear, she anxiously said to Ji Yin, “Xiao Ji, my grandson fell off the table, and there’s only an old man at home. I’m afraid”

“You should go back and check on him. I won’t need your help for now.”

“Thank you, thank you. I have to hurry back.” The eldest sister rushed out to hail a taxi.

Ji Yin reached for the wheelchair, and as soon as she touched the wheels, it began to move.

She turned around to see Lu Jiahe standing behind her. “Dr. Lu, you don’t have to trouble yourself. I can manage.”

“Not afraid of crashing into the door?” Lu Jiahe pushed her out the back door.

Ji Yin recalled their first meeting and couldn’t help but laugh. “If I hit a wall, I’ll know to turn back. It’s not like I’d keep crashing into it forever, right?”

Lu Jiahe smiled as well. “It’s no trouble at all. But if you fall again the day before discharge, then I’ll really have a problem on my hands.”

“Well, thank you for your help, Dr. Lu.”

It was dinnertime, and the restaurant was quite busy. Lu Jiahe pushed her to an empty table inside.

“Dr. Lu, you order. Feel free to pick whatever you’d like,” Ji Yin said generously.

Lu Jiahe selected two dishes. The restaurant didn’t have QR code ordering, just the simplest handwritten menu.

After jotting down two dishes, he handed it to her. “Would you like to add anything else?”

Ji Yin took a look. “Wow, Dr. Lu, your handwriting is so neat. I thought all doctors wrote in scribbles.”

“That’s a stereotype,” Lu Jiahe chuckled.

“Right, right.” Ji Yin nodded repeatedly. Seeing that the dishes he’d chosen weren’t expensive, she suggested, “How about some crab?”

“No, that’s too pricey.”

“It’s fine, my treat.”

“No crab. You don’t earn much, and besides, I’m allergic to it,” Lu Jiahe said.

“Allergic? Alright then, let’s pick something else. Anything else you’d like?”

“How about crucian carp and tofu soup? Good for calcium.”

“Sure.”

While waiting for the food, Lu Jiahe sent a message to his mom and replied to a few unread work messages.

Once he finished, he looked up and met Ji Yin’s unwavering gaze.

“Sorry, there were a few work messages I needed to reply to.”

Ji Yin blinked, then waved her hand. “No need to apologize. It’s just checking your phone go ahead.”

Lu Jiahe smiled, wiped the table with a napkin, and pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer from his bag. He glanced at Ji Yin. “Give me your hand.”

Ji Yin extended her palm, and a drop of cool liquid was squeezed onto it. She rubbed her hands together, watching his meticulous routine with fascination. “Do you always perform such a sacred ritual before meals?”

“Not just before meals before dishes, we also bathe, burn incense, and pray.”

Seeing her stunned expression, Lu Jiahe couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You actually believed that?”

Ji Yin’s expression turned deadpan. “It’s just that with your harmless face, it’s hard to suspect you’re lying.”

“Harmless as a lamb?” Lu Jiahe raised a delicate eyebrow, her lips curving into a smile. “Isn’t it possible that the more harmless someone appears, the more skilled they are at deception?”

Ji Yin studied her for a few seconds before asking curiously, “So who have you deceived?”

“Many people. I’ve told patients their surgeries would be simple, assured friends they’d lost weight when they hadn’t, and lied to my boss about not being able to drink.”

Ji Yin burst into laughter. “Dr. Lu, talking with you is truly fascinating. I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”

“Like me?”

The word carried weight, one step further would imply intimacy, one step back would sound like flattery. Yet the speaker’s gaze remained clear and bright, her smile genuine, striking the perfect balance of sincere praise.

Lu Jiahe chuckled. “You flatter me.”

“Honestly, I’m not just saying this to get closer to you,” Ji Yin emphasized.

She’d met plenty of people, but whether due to circumstance or personal disposition, few had Dr. Lu’s combination of gentleness and wit.

It wasn’t that no one had been kind to her before, but their motives always revolved around either money or desire take that Xu Changxu, for example. Someone like Dr. Lu, who offered pure, uncomplicated care, was rare. Her voice was pleasant too, her words like a spring breeze. Ji Yin loved listening to her speak, loved hearing her laugh, it always lifted her spirits.

As they talked, the first dish arrived.

“Dr. Lu, why haven’t you asked me what happened earlier?” Ji Yin split apart a pair of chopsticks and handed them over.

“Just another admirer causing trouble, I assume.” Lu Jiahe poured two cups of tea, sliding one toward her.

“Brilliant!” Ji Yin took a sip before launching into the story. “Xu Changxu, that man from before used to be my colleague. We were rivals, always at each other’s throats. The way he brownnosed our boss was disgusting. After I quit to start my own business and made some money, he suddenly started pursuing me. Can you believe”

“Eat more greens,” Lu Jiahe interjected with a smile.

“Oh, right.” Ji Yin obediently picked up a stalk of Chinese broccoli. After a few chews, she suddenly asked with gossipy intrigue, “Dr. Lu, do you have a boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. Why that look?”

Ji Yin stared at her in disbelief. “I thought someone as remarkable as you would already be taken…”

“No time. What about you?”

“No interest. A boyfriend would just get in the way of making money. I’d have to worry about him scheming for my earnings too.”

After the meal, Ji Yin wheeled herself toward the counter to pay, only to find Lu Jiahe had beaten her to it.

“Dr. Lu! I said I was treating you!” Ji Yin protested.

“You treated me to the meal, I’m just handling the bill. Consider it proper AA etiquette,” Lu Jiahe replied.

“…” Ji Yin frowned. “I genuinely wanted to treat you.”

“I know, and I appreciate the gesture. Save your money for now, you can treat me properly once you’ve made your fortune.” Lu Jiahe began pushing her wheelchair back toward the hospital.

Just as they entered the lobby, the wheelchair abruptly stopped.

Puzzled, Ji Yin turned to find Dr. Lu staring intently at someone in the distance.

“Dr. Lu, you like checking out beautiful women too?” Ji Yin teased.

“Who doesn’t appreciate beauty?” Lu Jiahe averted her gaze with a smile and continued forward.

“Go ask for her number then.”

“What do you want to add me for?”

“Just to chat, what else?” Ji Yin said. “Let me tell you, lots of girls used to add me on WeChat before.”

Lu Jiahe looked at her with amusement. “Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why I seem to be more popular with girls. Yanzi said it’s probably because I give off some kind of maternal vibe… What maternal vibe? I just want to punch her into a gorilla!” Ji Yin clenched her fists.

Lu Jiahe burst out laughing, then glanced back in the direction they had come from. The figure was completely out of sight now.

Maybe she had imagined it.

The elevator was crowded. Ji Yin was fine since she had her wheelchair to sit in, but poor Dr. Lu was nearly squashed flat.

“Dr. Lu, come here, sit on my lap. I’ll hold you,” Ji Yin patted her thigh.

“…”

Two people got off on the second floor, but several more squeezed in immediately after. Lu Jiahe’s feet were blocked by the wheelchair, leaving her unable to move, while the crowd pushed her upper body forward, pressing her almost entirely against Ji Yin.

She gripped the wheelchair arms tightly, bending slightly to steady herself, and found herself face-to-face with Ji Yin.

Their eyes met.

The elevator was stuffy and hot. Ji Yin suddenly felt parched but didn’t dare move, afraid of jostling Dr. Lu. She patted her thigh again, but before she could speak, Dr. Lu abruptly said, “You really do have a face that girls would like.”