MFLL 06

Chapter 06

At 3:30 AM, outside the dormitory door.

Xia An pulled the key out of her bag, gently pushed it into the keyhole, and opened the door. To her surprise, the lights inside the room were still on.

The graduate student dorms were apartment-style double rooms with excellent living conditions.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Xia An closed the door softly behind her. Ke Ruochu was still sitting at her desk, propping up her chin as she looked toward Xia An. With dark circles under her eyes, she looked like a giant panda.

“You weren’t back, so I couldn’t fall asleep.”

“Didn’t I tell you I’d be fine and not to worry?”

Ke Ruochu stood up. Detecting the smell of alcohol on Xia An, she knit her brows. “Are you still working part-time at that place?”

Xia An didn’t give a direct answer to the question. “Go to sleep. I’m going to take a shower.”

“Xia An—” Ke Ruochu’s voice had always been soft and delicate, but tonight she suddenly put her foot down, only to immediately soften up again. “Can you stop going there? I feel like it’s really dangerous…”

Last time, Ke Ruochu had mustered up all her courage to look for Xia An at Ye Se. The moment she stepped inside, she was nearly scared away by the wildly partying crowd. When she saw Xia An drinking with people, and how those men all had sleazy looks in their eyes, she became terrified. What if something happened? Ever since then, whenever Xia An came home late, she couldn’t sleep.

“It’s fine, I know my limits,” Xia An repeated. She knew Ke Ruochu was worried about her, and she felt quite guilty for constantly coming home late and disrupting her roommate’s rest.

“Right, I have ten thousand yuan here. Take it to help pay for your uncle’s surgery deposit.”

Xia An gripped her bag a little tighter, then forced a relaxed smile. “No need. I can cover the surgery fee on my end. Seriously, don’t worry.”

“But every little bit helps…” Ke Ruochu hesitated. She knew Xia An was incredibly stubborn and independent; no matter what hardships came her way, she always wanted to shoulder them alone, never uttering a single word of complaint.

Xia An always loved to smile, but the more she smiled, the more Ke Ruochu’s heart ached for her. As her roommate, she knew better than anyone how difficult Xia An’s life was.

“Ruochu, you have to go to the hospital tomorrow. Go to sleep early, or your body won’t handle it.”

“You’re one to talk. How many days have you gone without sleep?”

“I’ll take a good rest tomorrow.”

Ke Ruochu didn’t know what else to say.

Long before filling out her college entrance examination preferences, Ke Ruochu had heard that Clinical Medicine was a punishing major, but she hadn’t believed it. Now, choosing the 8-year clinical medicine program had become her single greatest regret.

The grueling coursework, endless skill assessments, and the constant anxiety of not passing her licensing exams meant she hadn’t had a good day since her freshman year. She had finally endured the first five years, only to find her first year of graduate school turning her into a literal pack mule. On top of completing her graduate courses, she had to undergo standardized residency training at the hospital. She was stuck in a strict routine between school and the hospital, seven days a week, with practically non-existent holidays.

Even under these circumstances, Xia An still managed to do part-time work. Ke Ruochu genuinely suspected her friend possessed the power of cloning herself; otherwise, how could she handle all of this simultaneously? The clinical work and medical papers alone were exhausting enough.

Everyone else in the department envied Xia An for her top-tier grades and her popularity with their advisor. Only Ke Ruochu felt sorry for her. Since Xia An couldn’t actually clone herself, she could only sacrifice her sleep. On multiple occasions, Ke Ruochu had seen Xia An return at 4:00 AM, sleep for two or three hours, and then head right back to work at the hospital.

Both Xia An and Ke Ruochu were doing their residency training at Changnan Hospital. Xia An was currently rotating through Cardiology, while Ke Ruochu was in the Emergency Department. Ke Ruochu was thankful Xia An wasn’t in the ER; the Emergency Department was a total nightmare. With Xia An’s current pace of life, she would surely suffer sudden death there.

The next day, on a rare day off, Xia An slept until evening, completely unaware of when Ke Ruochu had left the room.

It wasn’t until nightfall that Ke Ruochu sent her a crying emoji, saying she had to pull an all-night shift and wouldn’t be returning to the dorm tonight.

Unlike Ke Ruochu, Xia An’s goal ever since her first year of high school had been to get into medical school and become a doctor. For so many years, she had been walking toward her goal. Though the process had been a bit rocky, the results were ultimately satisfactory.

With her hair tied up and wearing a white lab coat, Xia An gave off a completely different vibe. Even though she still wore light makeup, she looked like an entirely different person compared to her self at the nightclub.

During the lunch break, as Xia An walked past the corridor of the Cardiology inpatient department, she saw an elderly woman in her seventies sitting on a bench, enthusiastically taking selfies with her phone. Xia An sat down beside her. “Grandma, you look really beautiful today.”

“Am I not beautiful usually?” The white-haired elderly woman put down her phone, pretending to be displeased as she spoke to Xia An.

“No, I mean you look especially beautiful today.” Xia An smiled and sat closer, praising her as if coaxing a child. “Your lipstick looks great. This shade really suits you.”

“Little Dr. Xia, play cat’s cradle with me.”

“Sure.”

When people reach old age, they gradually begin to live more and more like children.

Many people disliked the atmosphere of a hospital, finding it too cruel and depressing. Xia An, however, didn’t think so. To her, the hospital was actually the place filled with the most hope.

Take the interesting old lady in front of her, whose name was Liang Su. Even though she knew she didn’t have much time left to live, she remained optimistic. She would discuss lipstick shades with young people, feed snacks to the hospital’s stray cats, and play silly games with children, never getting tired of it.

When a person enjoys smooth sailing in life and smiles, that isn’t called hope. But when a person goes through countless hardships and still smiles, that is true hope. After studying clinical medicine, Xia An felt this way more and more. Real healings were far too rare; in most cases, people were simply working hard toward hope.

The midday sun was intense, bleaching the ground white. Xia An squinted her eyes as she looked out at the massive planetree outside the corridor—lush, verdant, and teeming with leaves. It still felt very much like summer.

Xia An just so happened to be born in summer, which was why she was named “An” (meaning peace/safety).

Unfortunately, life had failed to live up to that wish.

Staring at the green leaves rustling in the wind.

Leaves… (Ye…)

Xia An spaced out for a moment, suddenly wondering out of nowhere: Will I ever run into her again? Thinking of her made Xia An recall the misunderstanding from that night. She felt a bit embarrassed. She wouldn’t really think I’m… working in that line of business, right?

“Little Dr. Xia? It’s your turn.”

“Oh…” Xia An snapped back to reality, looking down at the string in Old Mrs. Liang’s hands. She laughed helplessly. “Grandma, I don’t know how to do this step.”