“Huh?” He Qingshi’s face showed shock; he hadn’t expected Huo Chuxue to notice.
Huo Chuxue explained, “I could tell just from listening to you talk.”
He touched his right cheek. “A few days ago, a few colleagues went out for a meal together. We all had hot pot, and it made me a bit inflamed. Doctor Huo, you don’t need to accommodate me. I don’t mind; just go with your preference.”
“Really?” Huo Chuxue gave a sly smile, like a black fox. “Then let’s go eat hot pot!”
He Qingshi: “……”
The man was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting Huo Chuxue to be so direct. He gritted his teeth. “Fine.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, and the right side of his face seemed to hurt even more.
Seeing He Qingshi agree while enduring the pain, with an air of the tragic heroism of marching to one’s doom, Huo Chuxue couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m joking. Let’s go have porridge.”
He Qingshi: “……”
Getting cheeky is fun, huh!
“Then porridge it is,” the man said after a long pause. What to eat was inconsequential to He Qingshi; in any case, he was just repaying a favor.
“I’ll lead the way. Follow me.” The two walked side by side towards the perpetually busy road outside the hospital entrance.
It was March. After a long, arduous winter, all things had long since begun to revive. The phoenix trees lining both sides of the street were also starting to turn green, sprouting tiny buds, displaying the vigorous vitality of continuing life.
Seeing these phoenix trees, she involuntarily thought of the loquat tree at He Qingshi’s house.
“Mr. He, I tried some of the loquats you gave me last time and saved half for my mom. She really liked them.” Walking unhurriedly along the wide main road, she opened the floodgates of conversation.
She felt her face was getting thicker and thicker, able to tell bald-faced lies without blushing or her heart racing. Her mindset was rock-solid! In fact, all those loquats had ended up in her own stomach; her mother hadn’t tasted a single one.
“This year’s loquats are indeed growing well, large and tasty. Gui Shu brought me a box a couple of days ago; there are still plenty at home. If your mother likes them, I can bring you some another day for you to take back to her.”
“Is that alright?” she hesitated. “Wouldn’t that be taking something you love?”
“Doctor Huo, you exaggerate. Most of the loquats every year are given to relatives and friends anyway. To be honest, I don’t particularly like eating loquats myself, so it’s hardly taking something I love.”
“Then I’ll thank you on my mother’s behalf in advance, Mr. He.”
“Speaking of thanks, I should be the one thanking you, Doctor Huo, for taking such good care of Lan Yi.”
“I said before, it’s part of my duty. I would treat any other patient the same, without discrimination.”
——
The porridge restaurant Huo Chuxue took He Qingshi to was called “One Porridge One Meal,” a century-old establishment in Qingling famous for its specialty porridges. Its branch stores were spread throughout Qingling.
As a fellow Qingling local, He Qingshi naturally knew of this restaurant.
It was peak dining hours, and the restaurant was doing brisk business, full of customers. There were no more private rooms available, only seats in the main hall.
Their luck was pretty good; a window seat had just become vacant in the main hall.
It was the third month of spring, with clear skies and crisp air. The sky was an exceptionally pure blue, without a trace of impurity. Occasionally, one or two cotton-like clouds drifted by, fleeting.
Two pots of spider plants on the windowsill stood straight, striving to absorb the sunlight, lush and green. Through a layer of transparent glass, bright sunlight poured in generously, falling entirely on the man. He was enveloped in sunlight, the navy blue of his suit taking on the warmth of the sun.
For a fleeting moment, Huo Chuxue had an illusion: this warm sunlight seemed to have washed away the cold, detached aura about him.
But she knew very well that a person’s heart couldn’t actually be warmed by light.
He Qingshi sat opposite her, his posture proper and formal, typical of meeting a superior—somewhat old-fashioned and stiff. He was nowhere near as casual as Huo Chuxue.
She remembered the posts she had seen on the University A Tieba forum, where more than one student had commented that He Qingshi was rigid and old-fashioned. Now it seemed that was indeed true. This man’s every move and gesture exuded the rigid, conservative style of a scholar from a bygone era.
He had his hands clasped together on the table. The backs of his hands were elegant and strong, his fingers fair, slender, and well-defined, with a small cuff of his white shirt showing, clean and neat.
Huo Chuxue didn’t look at the menu and directly called a server. “I’ll have a spinach and shredded chicken porridge.”
Then she said to He Qingshi, “Mr. He, your tooth hurts, so avoid spicy food. It’s better to order a lighter porridge. Purple sweet potato porridge, corn porridge, pumpkin porridge, or dried shrimp porridge are all fine.”
She was a regular at this restaurant and had basically tried every porridge on the menu, so she was very familiar with their flavors.
The man’s gaze swept lightly over the menu. After browsing, he decided, “Then I’ll have a corn, ham, and lean meat porridge.”
The server quickly noted it down. “Alright, please wait a moment.”
The main hall was full of customers, noisy and bustling, the clamorous sounds gathering around their ears. But it was, after all, an old establishment, with an elegant, refined, and antique atmosphere. The restaurant was clean and tidy, with orderly furnishings. Aside from being a bit noisy, it was otherwise fine.
Due to his nature, He Qingshi disliked noisy environments. But at this moment, he could accept it.
He Qingshi glanced around, then withdrew his gaze, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “To have Doctor Huo looking after my diet too…”
“It’s no problem!” Huo Chuxue said nonchalantly, her smile brightening, in a very good mood. “I’m a regular here. Their shredded chicken porridge is absolutely amazing, my favorite.”
Hearing Huo Chuxue say this, the burden in his heart lifted.
“The aftereffects of that hot pot meal last time were quite strong; it’s been a week and it’s still not better.” There was a note of helplessness in He Qingshi’s words. “I really don’t dare go eat hot pot with them next time. Getting old, can’t handle it anymore.”
Huo Chuxue said: “……”
Hah… This person wasn’t just old-fashioned in behavior; his mindset was old too!
“Listening to you talk makes it sound like you’re in your seventies or eighties.”
He Qingshi: “……”
Huo Chuxue had seen He Qingshi’s profile. It showed he was born in 1978, making him thirty-seven this year. But he didn’t look thirty-seven at all. Time had been kind to him; his face looked under thirty.
Huo Chuxue carefully observed He Qingshi’s right cheek and said, “Your face is swollen; it’s already quite serious. You should go to the hospital soon. Toothaches can be minor or major; you mustn’t be careless.”
He Qingshi held his right cheek, his tone helpless. “I drank some American ginseng and honeysuckle tea before, but it didn’t help.”
Huo Chuxue said, “You still need to go to the hospital. This might not be a simple toothache from inflammation; it could be an infection.”
He Qingshi nodded. “I’ll go see a dentist tomorrow.”
The porridge was rather slow to arrive, taking over half an hour to reach their table. The blame could only be placed on the restaurant’s booming business.
Her family ran a restaurant, and her father was a chef, so Huo Chuxue had been particular about food since childhood. She had basically scoured all the good food around First Hospital. If she said something was delicious, the taste naturally wouldn’t be bad.
The porridge tasted excellent. Unfortunately, He Qingshi’s tooth hurt terribly, making eating particularly difficult.
The man’s table manners were refined and pleasant, meticulous and proper, every bit the old-fashioned gentleman.
He spoke very little; it was mostly Huo Chuxue talking while he listened quietly.
Huo Chuxue went to the restroom and conveniently paid the bill on the way.
He Qingshi felt even more apologetic. “I said I was treating.”
Huo Chuxue smiled naturally. “You can treat me next time.”
He Qingshi: “……”
Treating someone to a meal, especially between a man and a woman—you treat me, I treat you—back and forth, it becomes unclear.
He Qingshi wasn’t good at dealing with people, especially women. He frowned and only answered after a long pause, “Alright.”
However, he also didn’t intend to repay Huo Chuxue’s favor with just one meal of porridge.
Huo Chuxue felt his “alright” was uttered with immense difficulty. Couldn’t he tell this was just polite talk?
This meal was simply her way of thanking him for her intrusion at Cenling last time.
The two returned to the hospital together.
When they reached the hospital entrance, He Qingshi said, “Goodbye, Doctor Huo.”
Huo Chuxue paused her steps. “Aren’t you going to see the child? They should have been brought back to the ward by now.”
Hearing “the child,” He Qingshi’s heart trembled, and he unconsciously clenched his fist.
He raised his arm, pretending to check his watch. “No, I have classes at the school this afternoon. There isn’t enough time.”
“Alright,” Huo Chuxue nodded in understanding. “Work is important. Goodbye, Mr. He.”
“Doctor Huo!” He Qingshi called out to her opportunely, taking out his phone. “Can I have your number? I’ll treat you to a meal next time.”
He was someone who disliked owing favors; they should be repaid when the chance arose. Although he was rigid and straightforward, he wasn’t completely ignorant of social niceties. Some things were better kept clear.
“Sure.” Huo Chuxue, of course, didn’t understand the calculations in He Qingshi’s mind. She was very straightforward and immediately took out her phone. “Add me on WeChat.”
He Qingshi looked at her quietly, raised his eyes slightly, and said slowly, “I don’t use WeChat.”
Huo Chuxue: “……”