Shine on Me

I don't know how it happened, but suddenly I didn't dislike Lin Yusen at all.

Before I knew it, it was already the ninth day of my hospital stay.

At noon, I was called by Dr. Fang to have lunch together again. At a café near the hospital, they chatted about their topics while I ate my food.

However, they weren't discussing professional matters today. Dr. Yuan was talking about a recently released movie.

"The online ratings are quite high. I happen to have a day off the day after tomorrow and plan to go watch it."

Dr. Qin said, "Isn't that a horror movie? You're a woman going to watch a horror film alone? You should find someone to go with you, or you might end up crying and running out of the theater with no one to comfort you."

Dr. Yuan sighed helplessly, "I'd like to, but I can't find anyone. All the girls refuse to accompany me once they hear it's a horror movie."

Dr. Qin said regretfully, "Too bad I'm on duty, otherwise I could've kept you company out of friendship."

After Dr. Qin spoke, no one else said anything, and an awkward silence fell.

Dr. Fang laughed it off, "Speaking of horror movies, it reminds me of a rather embarrassing past incident."

He put on a pained expression: "Back then, I finally managed to land a date with a foreign girl, so I invited her to my apartment to watch a movie—you know what I mean. But when I played what was supposed to be an adult film, it turned out to be a horror movie. In the end, I was the one trembling and clinging to her! The foreign girl pushed me away and left..."

Dr. Qin nearly choked on his food from laughing: "There's actually such a thing? You really have the nerve to say it out loud, aren't you afraid of losing face?"

"What's there to be ashamed of!" Dr. Fang chuckled a few times. "A real man can lose his wits when tempted by lust—it's unavoidable and not shameful."

Then he seemed to ponder something. "Hmm, that sounds familiar. Did I hear someone say that before?"

Lin Yusen glanced at him. "I said it. What about it?"

Dr. Fang grinned.

The table fell silent for a while. Sensing something strange about the atmosphere, I looked up from my bowl in confusion, but everyone was just eating normally without anything unusual.

Lin Yusen turned to me. "Go back and rest early after you finish eating."

"It's fine. You guys chat. I'll go back with you later—I have something to talk to you about."

After a pause, Lin Yusen replied, "Mmm."

Dr. Fang beamed, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked Lin Yusen, "You have something to do this afternoon, right?"

"No."

"Oh." Dr. Fang sighed meaningfully. "My junior here has always been quick with his hands—especially during surgery. This senior bows in admiration..."

Lin Yusen took a sip of coffee and set it down, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "You flatter me."

We didn't linger over the meal for long because Dr. Fang soon received a call saying there had been a multi-car accident nearby and patients were being rushed in. They hurried back.

Just as we were nearing the hospital, a woman in her fifties stopped Dr. Fang.

"Dr. Fang, what a coincidence! I was just coming to find you. I'm from Director Zhang's family—we spoke before. This is my daughter Nannan. We just got her brain and lung CT scans, and I was hoping you could take a look to see if there's anything wrong..."

Dr. Fang casually handed the CT bag to Lin Yusen. "This is my junior, a neurosurgery specialist. Let him take a look—I have emergency patients to attend to."

Then he and Dr. Qin and Dr. Yuan quickly left.

The woman eyed Lin Yusen skeptically.

Lin Yusen casually pulled out the scans and held them up to the light. "Calcification in the lungs and brain. Has she ever had tuberculosis before?"The woman's expression immediately changed, nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes. Nannan had tuberculosis as a child, but we're worried about whether there are any issues with her brain, whether it might... We get it checked every year because we're so concerned."

"I don't see any problems with the brain. Tuberculosis can indeed cause such conditions, but calcification won't lead to cancer. Unless the tuberculosis recurs and calcification intensifies." Lin Yusen handed the scan back to her and said gently, "Also, CT scans have an impact on the body. You shouldn't do them every year."

The mother and daughter left, greatly relieved. Lin Yusen's gaze fell on me. "Why are you looking at me?"

"..."

Was I?

I let out an awkward laugh and averted my eyes. "I just suddenly remembered—last time, you said I needed a follow-up CT scan, but it seems like I never got one?"

"Oh, really? What happened?"

"...I'm asking you."

"But I don't think I was your attending physician?"

"..."

But wasn’t it you who said I needed it? My eyes strongly conveyed this question, but in the end, I faltered under his "not my problem" look.

He smiled. "What did you come to me for?"

"Ah, right." I almost forgot the main reason. "It's about the report you asked me to write—I finished it. I'll bring it to you later."

He paused. "...That's it?"

Of course not!

I nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Want to come with me to the ward to get it?"

I hurried back to the ward and handed him the prepared report, then immediately tried to claim credit. "Vice President, I didn’t neglect work even while hospitalized. Shouldn’t I still get paid for these days?"

Lin Yusen flipped through the report, a faint teasing tone in his voice. "Miss Nie, working for your own family’s company, and still worrying about pay?"

"...As if you don’t get a salary."

"I’m an employee, of course I get paid," he said leisurely.

I was momentarily speechless.

But remembering my main goal, I quickly changed the subject, pulling a game console from the drawer and handing it to him. "Fine, forget overtime pay. Just help me beat level five. I can’t get past it no matter what."

His hands froze mid-flip through the report.

"Alright." After a few seconds, he took the console and casually slipped it into his coat pocket.

"Aren’t you going to play now?" I stared at him eagerly.

"..."

He paused again but eventually set the report aside, pulled the console from his pocket, and played a few rounds. Then he looked up at me.

He must have realized.

Actually, many games don’t require the left hand at all—like the one I’d just given him.

I urged him, "Hurry up and play. I want to see if you can beat level five."

Lin Yusen lowered his head and started clearing the levels with focus.

Finally, I witnessed just how precise, fast, and steady a surgeon’s hands could be. Even this ridiculously difficult game was no match—he breezed through multiple levels like some kind of god.

"You’re amazing!" I gave him a thumbs-up, genuinely impressed.

"Nie Xiguang, have you noticed that you..."

"What?" I was still excited about the rapid progress.

He didn’t answer, his gaze lingering on my face, a faint smile flickering in his eyes.

"You can be discharged."

He said.

The next afternoon, I stood at the hospital entrance calling my mom."Mom, I'm coming home today. I want bone broth for dinner!"

Mom retorted impatiently, "Can you ever come home without placing an order first? Why are you back before the weekend?"

"Oh, because I got injured!"

"What?! What happened? Is it serious?" Mom's voice immediately tensed up.

I chuckled, "It's nothing, just twisted my foot going down the stairs."

Unsurprisingly, I got scolded by Mom.

After hanging up, I noticed Lin Yusen had already arrived and was standing at the door watching me.

"Once, I treated a patient who fell off a truck and landed right on a rock. He had a skull fracture, intracranial hematoma, and a ruptured spleen. He spent a month in the ICU before he was out of danger. The height he fell from was even lower than yours."

"..."

Why did he suddenly switch into terrifying doctor mode?

"If you know someone will worry, don't do things that make them worry."

I quickly raised my hand in a vow, "Got it! I promise it won't happen again."

Midway through raising my hand, I realized how silly the gesture was. But this silly action seemed to please Lin Yusen—his gaze softened considerably, as if he'd exited terrifying doctor mode.

I sheepishly lowered my hand. Maybe I was a little too excited about being discharged, acting and speaking without thinking... But when did I start feeling so relaxed and comfortable talking to him?

It seemed like just in the past day or two.

But that wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, I was a little worried—what if the hospital was a special environment, and once we left it, our relationship would become as stiff as before?

That would be... kind of a shame.

"Um, thank you for these past few days, and for Aunt Chen’s meals."

He nodded. "Aunt Chen said you gave her a gift. She liked it a lot."

"Oh, I had Yin Jie buy it for me outside. I’m glad she liked it."

"Nie Xiguang, I’ve noticed you’re not great at identifying the main issue."

"Huh? What?"

Clearly uninterested in explaining, he tossed a bag at me and started walking toward the parking lot. "Let’s go. I’ll drive you."

I opened the bag and immediately felt a headache coming on. Aside from the credit card I’d used to pay his bill, the rest was all medical records and such—definitely not something I could let Mom see. I hurried after him, "Vice President, could you help me... dispose of the evidence?"

Not long after we got in the car, it started raining.

I sighed, staring out the window. "Why does it have to rain right when I’m discharged?"

If only I’d left in the morning—the weather had been fine then. But Dr. Fang had been busy, delaying things until the afternoon. The forecast had predicted rain today, and it was right.

Wait a minute...

As we approached the toll booth, I belatedly realized the car had entered the highway.

I looked at Lin Yusen in surprise.

Calmly, he said, "It’s raining. I’ll take you straight to Wuxi."

"...Actually, I could just take the train from the station."

"Where’s your house? Set the navigation on my phone." He tossed his phone to me, completely ignoring my protest.

"..." I silently took his phone.

"It’s password-locked.""Wait a moment." Taking advantage of the stop at the toll booth to get a ticket, he leaned over and entered the password on my phone. His warm breath brushed past me briefly before retreating. I froze for a second, then lowered my head to set the destination on the navigation.

"Done." I handed the phone back to him.

He took it and glanced at the screen before retrieving a pair of glasses from the compartment above the windshield.

I found it slightly odd. "You wear glasses while driving?"

"My eyes were affected after the accident. Rain affects my vision."

Without thinking, I blurted out, "So that accident must have been quite serious."

The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted it, wishing I could take them back. What an idiot I was, poking at someone's old wounds. Fortunately, he just responded with an "Mmm," his demeanor unchanged.

I decided to make amends. "Actually, you're really impressive."

"Oh? How so?"

"Company performance has improved significantly since you arrived. You're in charge of production, after all." I emphasized, "So you're really good at everything you do."

He gazed ahead and chuckled.

"...What are you laughing at?" Did my flattery sound too clumsy?

"Getting praise from my future... boss, shouldn't I be happy?"

"...I'm not your future boss."

The drive from Suzhou to Wuxi was short. Lin Yusen dropped me off right at my apartment building. After getting out, I bent down to thank him through the car window.

As I straightened up to leave, I remembered his two accident records and couldn't help leaning back toward the window. "Drive carefully on your way back."

He gave me a surprised look. Perhaps it was the way the light refracted through his glasses, but for a fleeting moment, his gaze seemed exceptionally tender—as gentle as melting snow.