Chapter Sixteen: Because I Care, It Means I Love

As the workday neared its end, Chen Lanxin finally returned to the doctor's office. Inside, only Jiang Shiyi, who was preparing for the night shift, was busy writing medical records.

Chen Lanxin could no longer contain the anger burning within her.

She strode quickly over to Jiang Shiyi and accused, “Jiang Shiyi, you did this on purpose today, didn’t you?”

Without even glancing up, Jiang Shiyi continued her work, saying, “I’m not as leisurely as a distinguished young lady like you.”

“Ha! How dare you say that to me?” Chen Lanxin sneered. “I don’t know who spends every day dressing up like a seductress, and after only a short time, you’re already cozying up to Dr. Lin. Shameless!”

Jiang Shiyi paused her work, stood leisurely, and brewed herself a cup of eye-nourishing, liver-protecting herbal tea.

“Being called a seductress by you is the highest compliment I could receive.”

“Besides, what’s wrong with me cozying up to Dr. Lin? Neither of us is married; it’s not illegal. Not like you—last time, due to your inexperience, you misdiagnosed a case and almost caused a fatality.”

“You—!” Chen Lanxin was left speechless.

“Jiang Shiyi, I advise you not to go too far!” she warned.

“You were the one who started being unpleasant with me. What harm is there in me firing back a few words?” Jiang Shiyi sipped her tea and snorted lightly.

Chen Lanxin stormed off, driven away by Jiang Shiyi’s sharp tongue. Facing Jiang Shiyi head-on was practically courting disaster.

Late at night, Jiang Shiyi felt utterly exhausted. She wondered why tonight felt especially hectic, even though she hadn’t eaten any mangoes. Emergency patients seemed to be arriving in clusters.

It wasn’t until eleven that night that Jiang Shiyi finished with the last patient—a young girl’s thumb reattachment surgery. The girl was young but sensible, injured while helping her mother chop vegetables. Such patients always stirred Jiang Shiyi’s compassion, and whenever there were no urgent cases following, she did her utmost to ensure the wound healed beautifully.

Back in the office, Jiang Shiyi rested her head on the desk for a moment, weary from the day. Looking out at the streetlights casting the last soft glow on the cold night, she suddenly realized she hadn’t sent a flirty message to Minister Huo yet.

Wrapping a blanket tighter around herself, her slender, fair fingers busily typed:

“The nights in Shanghai are so cold. They say a man’s body temperature is three times that of a woman’s. I wonder if the robust Minister Huo could help me verify that?”

After a while without a reply, she sent two more messages in quick succession:

“Don’t fall asleep yet. Without me, your sleep won’t be complete.”

“Actually, the first time I met you, I was captivated. The intellectuals call it love at first sight.”

Satisfied with her flirtations—after all, the cheesier the better when it came to wooing men—she put away her phone and wrapped herself tighter in the blanket, beginning to organize the night’s medical records.

Deep within a mysterious and somber valley, a sentinel stood guard outside the tent while Huo Yixun and his chief of staff discussed plans for the return journey tomorrow.

His phone vibrated suddenly. Glancing at it, he ignored the message. Soon after, it vibrated twice more in quick succession, prompting him to speed up the meeting.

Once the chief of staff left, Huo Yixun looked at the three messages, a slight smile curling his lips. He had thought this sly fox might have been heartbroken and would be downcast for days, yet here she was, already stirring up trouble in front of him again.

Glancing at the time, he guessed she was still on night duty. He typed back: “Already recovered so quickly?”

Jiang Shiyi was taken aback by the reply. When she saw her affection meter had just jumped five points, she couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.

Meanwhile, inside the camouflaged tents, Huo Shaoqin, fresh from training, quietly took out his phone, opened the photo gallery, and sighed deeply at a slightly blurry picture.

The girl in the photo was as beautiful as ice and frost—noble and untouchable. Her raised head and cold, distant gaze discouraged approach. Dressed in a white coat, she mirrored his own calm and resolute nature.

That girl was Jiang Shiyi, a photo he had secretly taken when he once accompanied an injured teammate to the hospital.

Oh, my celestial sister.

There are many heartfelt words I have yet to tell you, yet here I am, dragged into this desolate mountain wilderness for special training.

When we meet again, will you still recognize me at a glance in the crowd, just like the first time?

Yours, your sunny and handsome young man!

Back at the hospital, Jiang Shiyi pondered over Huo Yixun’s message for a moment before deciding not to reply. Flirting with men was like flying a kite.

If the string is too tight, it cuts the hand.

If too loose, the kite won’t fly.

She felt it was time to ease up.

In the early hours, Jiang Shiyi was roused from a restless nap by a nurse. A female patient with a fall injury had arrived.

By the time Jiang Shiyi emerged from the operating room, dawn was breaking. She massaged her aching neck and returned to the dormitory.

She still hadn’t messaged Huo Yixun, and he showed no intention of reaching out himself.

During the night shift, Jiang Shiyi overheard nurses saying that during the day, one of her patients had threatened to jump off a building—apparently over a romantic entanglement.

This made Jiang Shiyi furious.

She had been exhausted the night before, yet this patient apparently didn’t want to live.

Determined, Jiang Shiyi decided to have a serious talk with the patient.

When she entered the ward, the patient, Xue Feifei, leaned against the bed, staring out the window lost in thought.

“Hello, you must be Xue Feifei. I think we should talk for a bit.”

Xue Feifei turned toward her voice, her eyes tired. “There’s nothing to talk about. Maybe I shouldn’t even be here in this world.”

Jiang Shiyi frowned slightly, studying the woman before her.

A classic oval face, fair and delicate, with beautiful phoenix eyes drooping slightly, her cold features radiated a sense of deathly stillness.

Jiang Shiyi sat on the nearby attendant’s bed. “The man who brought you in last night—is he your husband? He seemed pretty worried about you.”

The woman’s previously gloomy eyes flickered with a trace of happiness before returning to their usual lifelessness.

“He wasn’t worried about me. He was worried about the cashmere coat I was wearing.”

After a brief silence, she added, “That cashmere coat belonged to his beloved.”

Jiang Shiyi nodded gently. “I understand.”

Because love makes us care.

And that’s why we compare ourselves repeatedly to the lover’s ex, trying to prove our own significance.