With Feeling

Hua Yu got up early to take Wei Yin for a checkup. Wei Yin had a whole list of tests, but just after the paperwork was handed out, Hua Yu had to leave.

“You go on ahead. I’ll line up slowly. I’m not in a hurry.”

Hua Yu glanced at the exam slip and told Wei Yin the order to do them in. “The lines for these departments are long. Go get a number first...”

“Dr. Hua,” Wei Yin said with a smile as she took the slip from her, “you’ve said that three times already.”

It was already time for work. The two of them were standing at the corner of the fourth-floor connecting corridor, and doctors and nurses passing by kept greeting Hua Yu.

In just half a minute, four groups of people had gone by.

“Everyone’s already on the clock,” Wei Yin urged her. “Hurry up and get to the outpatient clinic.”

Hua Yu still had clinic duty today. There were twenty minutes left before she had to start, and the conscientious doctor was already changing into her white coat in the outpatient room.

Hua Yu was particular. She usually changed in her office before going out.

She patted Wei Yin on the head, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Wei Yin watched Hua Yu’s back until it disappeared at the elevator.

Hua Yu’s white coats were always steamed first, every wrinkle pressed smooth before being hung in the closet, waiting to be worn. So every coat looked crisp and neat on Hua Yu; they suited her especially well.

And if she wore a mask, only those exquisite, deep eyes were left visible. One look from Hua Yu, and it felt like a person could be drawn right in.

Wei Yin, who spent her days blankly staring at Dr. Hua’s back, zoned out for three minutes. Then she rubbed her face, collected herself, and slowly started lining up for her checkups.

By the time Hua Yu reached the consulting room, the junior doctors were already there, and there were still seven minutes before the numbers would start being called.

“Director Hua, Director Li was here a little while ago,” said the buzz-cut girl. “She asked you to go to her office this afternoon.”

Hua Yu nodded and said nothing.

Director Li was the one who had foisted Wang Qiyao— that girl who was still very young but whose glands had already atrophied, leaving her looking like a seventy-year-old woman—onto her.

According to Director Li’s arrangements, Wang Qiyao had been following the clinical trial. There had been some phased results a while ago, and she was recovering well, so Director Li probably wanted to ask about the progress.

“There are a lot of people today,” the buzz-cut girl said, glancing outside. “Quite a few extra appointments.”

Hua Yu’s clinic already had fewer slots to begin with, and follow-up patients tended to pile up more easily than they did with other doctors.

“It’s fine. You all take turns going to eat at noon.” Hua Yu opened the computer, dropped a few drops of eye medicine into her eyes, checked the time, and said, “Let’s begin.”

Wei Yin’s checklist looked long, but if she went through it step by step, it was only bloodwork, an ultrasound, a brain CT, a Doppler, and a total of seven items. One morning was enough.

At eleven o’clock, she finished the last test and went to sit outside Hua Yu’s consulting room.

Wei Yin wanted to wait for Hua Yu to get off work, have lunch with her, and then go home together.

Hua Yu was busy, and she had nothing to do, so she sat by the door and waited without disturbing Hua Yu or anyone else.

With nothing better to do, Wei Yin opened the livestream platform, logged into the workshop account, and checked the fans’ messages and group chat.

Most of the account was managed by Xu Ya Qing. Occasionally, when Xu Ya Qing was away on business, she’d ask Wei Yin to help keep an eye on things.

Under Xu Ya Qing’s coaxing and encouragement, Wei Yin had set up her own private account. Feeling her way forward, she’d picked up a little know-how; she knew she had to keep up with her fans, stay at least somewhat active, reply to comments now and then, let the black fans graduate, and so on.

The workshop account was calm and uneventful, with only a few private messages asking for quotes. Wei Yin sent Xu Ya Qing’s contact information to each of them and told them the reply would come a little later.

Xu Ya Qing had taken a flight that morning and gone to Rome with Pedro for business. It would be a long trip.

Because of the trip, Xu Ya Qing had been so excited last night that she couldn’t sleep, and she kept dragging Wei Yin into conversation without stopping.

Wei Yin remembered that before falling asleep, Xu Ya Qing had even sent her a fifty-nine-second voice message. Transcribed, its contents were roughly: thanks to Wei Yin, thanks to Hua Yu, thanks to everything wonderful that had appeared in her life.

Well, once people start living well, they do become grateful.

Wei Yin felt that her own life was pretty good too. When she replied to fans’ messages, her mood stayed lifted the whole time.

【What can such a tiny plate even hold?】

Wei Yin replied: Cute things :D

【Why keep lifting it up and pressing it down all the time?】

Wei Yin replied: You have to knead it evenly.

【Give me a handful of yellow earth and I feel like I’m terrifyingly strong right now】

Wei Yin replied: My eyes are the ruler.jpg

Sometimes she would upload videos of herself making things, sped up so the whole process took less than a minute. The clay behaved beautifully in her hands; it looked smooth and effortless, and many people liked watching it. One video got over a hundred thousand likes, and overnight she gained thirty thousand followers.

But along with that came inexplicable, endless black fans, hopping around like grasshoppers in autumn.

Wei Yin had no idea that even making a cup could attract hate. The attacks included, but were not limited to, insults about her looks, doubts that her frail body could possibly make the entire cabinet of ornaments behind her, and plain dislike of the mud stains on her work clothes.

But clay does splash; how could a ceramic artist stay clean?

Still, Wei Yin became more careful later and tried to change into clean work clothes when filming videos. But soon people started questioning that too, saying she was definitely staging it.

【Real ceramic artists are covered in mud!!】

Wei Yin: [smile] Your dad.

There was no point arguing with these people. After quickly grasping the essence of the internet’s darker side, Wei Yin reached inner peace.

Just as she was replying with that calm, dead-serious expression, the surroundings suddenly became anything but calm.

A group of people came this way, escorting a young man in a baseball jacket and a baseball cap in the middle. As they walked, they shouted at the people waiting by the door to move aside.

“What are you doing?”

“Has your number been called?”

“I’m waiting for the doctor to read my test sheet. If you got here later, don’t shove in.”

The woman behind the young man gave them an indifferent look, as if she couldn’t even hear them, and pushed the door open to go in.

The people outside exploded instantly.

“Is this some kind of privileged treatment?”

“Yeah, so the rule about being called in order only applies to us.”

“What kind of people are these? Why is the doctor like this? We’ve been waiting so long. It’s already eleven o’clock, and there are still nine people ahead. Can she even finish?”

“I’m last in line. Why should some random person cut in front of me?”

Hua Yu’s clinic already had a lot of patients, and most of them were difficult cases. Because the line moved slowly, the wait outside could be long; especially toward the end of the morning, people would grow anxious and resentful.

Still, some people tried to calm the crowd in low voices, saying Dr. Hua would work overtime to see everyone on the list.

“Finishing them is what she’s supposed to do. We all paid the registration fee!”

“Exactly. The point is, that person shouldn’t be cutting in line!”

Wei Yin’s brows drew together. She couldn’t help standing up and saying, not loudly but enough for everyone to hear, “Everyone, please calm down. Dr. Hua isn’t that kind of person.”

“Who are you?”

“What gives you the right to say that?”

Wei Yin opened her mouth to say, “I...” but then got stuck.

She wasn’t hospital staff, and she did have a private relationship with Hua Yu. Honestly, she also didn’t know whether the young man was really cutting in line. Things like using private connections or privilege to get medical resources happened far too often in hospitals; but she just had the feeling that Hua Yu wouldn’t do that.

Hua Yu might be busier and more tired; she might sacrifice her own time to give extra care to patients looked after specially by higher-ups, but she would never build that care on other patients’ sacrifice.

If you let one person cut in, then I have one more patient to see, and the patient who came from far away might end up delayed even further. A checkup that could have been finished today would have to wait until tomorrow.

Tomorrow doesn’t sound like much. But what if someone had already bought a ticket home? The hotels near the hospital were expensive; why should other people have to pay for these privileges?

More importantly, the people who could cut in line didn’t care about that little bit of money, but those who could only rely on drawing numbers and scrambling for a slot, paying thirty or fifty yuan for the most basic outpatient visit, were mostly not wealthy.

Just as Wei Yin was hesitating, the consulting room door was shoved open from the inside.

The young man at the front looked livid and stormed out.

Three or five people followed close behind him, all with ugly expressions, chasing after him.

They had burst the door open and hadn’t closed it. Hua Yu’s voice came from inside the consulting room, cool and steady. “Xiao Wu, close the door.”

Then the electronic number-calling voice rang out.

【Number 20, Wang Jiayi, please go to Consulting Room 17.】

Wang Jiayi was also one of the people causing the commotion. Hearing her number called on time, her face immediately turned red and she hurriedly lowered her head and went inside.

Only then did Wei Yin realize there were still eight people left. It was now 11:27. At fifteen minutes per person, Hua Yu’s lunch break seemed, probably, possibly, definitely doomed.

Wei Yin sighed and decided to buy something from a nearby bakery, then bring it back for Hua Yu.

Passing the inpatient department, she slowed her steps. There were many people walking in the garden; a little girl bumped into her leg and let out a soft, milky “Ow.”

Wei Yin immediately crouched down. “Did you get hurt?”

The little girl hugged her leg; when she crouched, the child let go and clung to her back instead.

Wei Yin couldn’t help laughing. “You’re trying to scam me. Where are your parents?”

The little girl wore her hair in a messy pair of sheep-horn braids. Her cheeks were red, and there was still a bit of candy residue at the corner of her mouth. She was soft and fragrant all over, and her clothes were clean; whoever had brought her out had taken good care of her.

Soon, a tall female alpha walked over, lifted the little girl up in one motion, and apologized repeatedly to Wei Yin. “I’m so sorry. She likes sticking to people. Didn’t she bother you?”

Wei Yin shook her head and smiled. “It’s fine. She’s very cute.”

The little girl was only four years old. When the alpha lifted her up, she looked like a cat being grabbed by the scruff of the neck and immediately went obedient, her limbs hanging down as she stared at Wei Yin with dark, grape-like eyes, not moving at all.

Wei Yin waved at her. “Goodbye.”

The little girl had been very well-behaved in the alpha’s arms, but when she saw Wei Yin leaving, she immediately panicked.

Her little legs kicked wildly in the air, and she reached out her plump hands toward Wei Yin. Her voice turned anxious and tearful. “Mom, mama...”

The alpha lifted her higher and held her in her arms, pressing her down firmly.

“She’s not mama,” the alpha said, her voice carrying restrained sorrow. “Don’t run around. You’ll be taken away by bad people.”

“Mama isn’t a bad person.” The little girl sounded terribly wronged.

Wei Yin’s steps away from them instantly felt heavy. But when she turned back, the alpha was already carrying the child away, the two figures, one big and one small, disappearing around the corner.

A four-year-old child couldn’t possibly fail to recognize her mother. In just a few childish words, it was clear that something was wrong with her cognitive development.

When the little girl had clung to Wei Yin’s back, Wei Yin had turned her head and seen the gauze over the gland on her neck; she was another child with gland problems.

Coming to the hospital was like this; all you saw were patients. Wei Yin took a deep breath and tried hard not to let it affect her mood.

Like Hua Yu and many other doctors, people were trying their best. One day, gland disease would eventually be conquered; she believed in Dr. Hua.

By the time Hua Yu finished her numbers, it was already after one. She didn’t go eat lunch and went straight back to the inpatient department to knock on the director’s office door.

Director Li was still busy and told Hua Yu to wait ten minutes.

“Qiyao’s parents came to see her today. They were especially grateful to you when they saw that she’d grown black hair,” Director Li said with a chuckle.

Hua Yu also smiled. “Her condition is serious; the early effect will be more obvious. After that, it will probably relapse. I still hope the parents can keep a normal mindset.”

“Everyone else only says the good things and not the bad ones. You,” Director Li pointed at her and scolded with a smile, “you can’t say that to the parents.”

Hua Yu nodded. “I know.”

“You just finished clinic and haven’t eaten yet, right?” Director Li opened a box from the drawer and handed it to her. “Take this and eat.”

Hua Yu stood up and took it. She opened it, glanced inside, then quickly closed it and handed it back.

Director Li glared at her. “Hua Yu.”

Hua Yu shook her head. She didn’t say much, but her attitude was firm. “There are still patients to see. If there’s nothing else, I’m going.”

Director Li was helpless but proud; she waved a hand, looking pained. “Get out.”

After leaving Director Li’s office, Hua Yu was planning to find Yang Cha and Liu Rannran for some snacks. Just as she turned the corner, she ran into Wei Yin waiting ahead.

“Xiao Yin? You haven’t left yet?”

Before she could say anything, Hua Yu’s lips were already curving into an involuntary smile.

Wei Yin was standing right outside her office. Seeing Hua Yu walk over, she slipped inside quickly.

Hua Yu followed her in. Before she could say a word, Wei Yin had already thrown herself into her arms.

Hua Yu instinctively wrapped an arm around Wei Yin’s waist. Wei Yin’s hand found her stomach.

“It’s flat,” Wei Yin declared firmly. “It needs the little cake I bought you to puff up.”

Hua Yu shot back, unable to help laughing. “So does yours.”

Wei Yin clung to her long enough before finally climbing down from Hua Yu and sharing the six-inch double-layer chocolate cake with her, one bite at a time.

“Go rinse your mouth,” Hua Yu said, handing Wei Yin a cup of water while pinching her left cheek with a little force. “You had blood drawn this morning, and you didn’t eat breakfast. It’s already two o’clock; it’s been nineteen hours since last night’s seven o’clock dinner. If you keep at it, you really can go a whole day without eating.”

Wei Yin knew she was in the wrong and let Hua Yu pinch her cheek without fighting back, smiling ingratiatingly.

Her words came out muffled. “I won’t do it again.”

Seeing her smile like that, Hua Yu lost her temper too. She let go and said flatly, “As if I care.”

“Of course it’s our beautiful and kind Dr. Hua who cares,” Wei Yin said, rushing over to hug Hua Yu around the waist and staying sprawled against her on the bed, refusing to get up. “You put a bed in your office just so you can nap at noon, right?”

Hua Yu tried to pry her hands off, but couldn’t. With a deadpan face, she said, “Yes.”

“But Dr. Hua often gives up her lunch break,” Wei Yin said, rubbing against her in her arms until her hair—if it could even be called a hairstyle—turned into a bird’s nest. “You get too busy with work and forget to eat. I was waiting because I wanted to eat with you; you can’t just ignore me.”

Hua Yu couldn’t help pressing down on her restless head, amusement already showing in her eyes, though her voice stayed calm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were waiting?”

“What would I tell you for?” Wei Yin said. “I’m so sensible; I never disturb Dr. Hua while you’re working... and besides, you’re already so tired from work, and you always run into weird patients. I don’t want to make trouble for you.”

Hua Yu caught the oddness in that. “Weird patients?”

Wei Yin nodded like a pecking chick. “Yes, the guy in the baseball cap. Wasn’t he trying to cut in line?”

“Were you outside then?” Hua Yu thought about it and immediately understood, sounding a little heartbroken. “You waited that long?”

Wei Yin swayed her waist. “Say it. Say it.”

Amusement slipped into Hua Yu’s voice. Helpless, she said, “He was a minor celebrity. The crew rented the west-side morgue of the provincial hospital to film a scene. While they were shooting, his glands started itching, and he thought it was because the hospital environment was bad, the air quality was poor, it was all viruses, and he wanted me to examine and treat him.”

“Acting? Environment? Viruses?” Wei Yin clicked her tongue. “Did he not even register?”

Hua Yu nodded. “Mm. He said registering would expose his privacy. He also criticized the hospital’s security for being terrible and said fans had slipped in.”

Wei Yin: “Pfft.”

Hua Yu curved her lips. “Curiosity satisfied?”

Wei Yin asked, “What did Dr. Hua say to him then?”

Hua Yu thought back. “I didn’t say much. He came in while I was reminding the previous patient of some precautions, so I ignored him. After I finished speaking, his agent pushed him to sit down and immediately asked me to check his glands.”

Wei Yin pressed on, “And then?”

Hua Yu said flatly, “I was just calling the next number, so I told him, ‘Get up, and get out.’”

Wei Yin’s eyes went starry: (O.O)!!

“He hadn’t registered,” Hua Yu said very calmly. “And there were too many people coming in. I didn’t even notice who he was at the time. The junior doctors told me about all this afterward.”

Wei Yin imagined Hua Yu in a white coat, sitting in front of the computer, calm and serious, all professionalism. She had seen people like that too many times; Hua Yu probably wouldn’t even spare the other party a glance, just keep her head down and say, “Get up, and get out.”

Sexy to the point of suffocation.jpg

Wei Yin sniffed. “Dr. Hua, can you say ‘get out’ to me once?”

Hua Yu lowered her eyes to look at her. “?”

“Aaaah, I just want you to say it,” Wei Yin shamelessly begged. “A colder voice, a sexier voice, and your gaze has to change too; it should be that kind of cold, disdainful look, like I’m just a piece of trash..."

Before she could finish, she was smacked on the butt.

Hua Yu gave her a slap; the force wasn’t great, but the sound was quite loud.

Under Wei Yin’s shocked, stunned gaze, Hua Yu spoke.

“Shut up,” Hua Yu said, her eyes like they were wrapped in ice, carrying command and warning, utterly merciless. “Sleep.”