ATAFBS Chapter 18

Ten seconds of staring later, Yu Juan moved his gaze away and let it rest on the wallpaper that was peeling off instead.

Zhou Huiyue looked up, carefully observing this person without any embarrassment.

From his perspective, he could see Yu Juan’s half-closed eyes and his slightly pursed lips, appearing to be a bit absentminded.

He whispered: “I will recover.”

Zhou Huiyue gave Yu Juan his promise.

Yu Juan inevitably felt his face heat up since he didn’t actually know how to deal with this kind of response where every word carried weight, like it was an incredibly serious vow.

And so, he simply nodded to express that he understood.

Zhou Huiyue stared at him, asking in a specious way: “What’s next?”

Yu Juan was stunned for a moment before raising his head: “What do you mean?”

Zhou Huiyue’s gaze was still calm, but it wasn’t the same unperturbed gloominess look he used to have in the past. His eyes were as dark as before, but it seemed like the moon now shone upon them. It was really quite fitting for his name.[mfn]hui=bright/shine, yue= moon[/mfn]

He said: “When I recover, what’s next?”

He asked in a really serious manner, as if he was truly seeking an answer—an answer that only Yu Juan could give.

Yu Juan looked evasive. Whether it was his original intention or not, he had already been honest enough today.

Whether it was to this person or himself.

So he turned his head, showing Zhou Huiyue his pale side profile: “Next, we’ll talk about the remaining ninety-nine requirements when the time comes.”

Yu Juan quickly got up, not waiting for Zhou Huiyue’s response, and mumbled: “I’ll call for the doctor to come.”

Yu Juan’s figure disappeared as he slammed the door close.

*

Yu Juan went down to call Yang Xiaoqi before going upstairs together. They walked through the corridor until they reached the room on the far left side.

For the few minutes they walked, Yang Xiaoqi kept on rambling to himself incessantly: “I heard his condition is quite serious. What if, by any chance, I make your fiancé…”

Yu Juan thought expressionlessly that Yang Xiaoqi had indeed forgotten what he had agreed to do thirty minutes ago.[mfn]ref to calling zhy a patient instead of yj’s fiancé, in case it wasn’t clear[/mfn] He interrupted: “I’ll be paying you.”

Yang Xiaoqi said incredulously: “This concerns work ethics! My work ethics!”

When Yu Juan opened the door, Zhou Huiyue was still where he was previously and watched them walk in one after the other.

More precisely, he was only looking at Yu Juan.

Yu Juan introduced: “This is Dr. Yang.”

Yang Xiaoqi greeted Zhou Huiyue awkwardly: “Hello.”

With great effort, he lifted the loosened large suitcase that he had been carrying the whole way here and placed it on the ground before opening it. There were all sorts of medical instruments fixed inside that had to be set up again in order to be used.

The other two couldn’t help, so they simply watched.

Yang Xiaoqi was busy for a good while. After setting up the instruments properly, he finally had the time to face the patient. He had a serious expression when it was time to start the consultation, and he looked quite capable despite being baby-faced. He first looked at Zhou Huiyue carefully a few times, then he applied the four methods of diagnosis[mfn]the 4 diagnosis methods of traditional Chinese medicine. to put it briefly: 1) observing  2) listening/smelling 3) inquiring about symptoms/ medical history 4) taking pulse [/mfn]to get a general idea of the other’s condition before finally asking: “Your leg braces, how long has it been since you last got them fitted?”

Zhou Huiyue didn’t reply immediately. With his eyes half-closed, he appeared to be deep in thought.

Yu Juan looked doubtful. There was no need for Zhou Huiyue to think so much to answer such a question, with how good his memory was.

As a result, when Yu Juan followed Zhou Huiyue’s line of sight, he noticed that the other was actually looking at the place where their shadows were intersecting.

What was there to look at?

Yu Juan was stunned for a moment, then had a sudden realisation. It was likely that Zhou Huiyue didn’t want him to see his vulnerable and embarrassing side.

He had always maintained a dignified image.

Now that he thought about it, Zhou Huiyue had never asked Yu Juan for help in any way. Zhou Huiyue was already very accustomed to this kind of life where he had to use a wheelchair instead of his legs, and it was as if he had always lived with a disability.

Yu Juan glanced at Zhou Huiyue’s legs. Those legs that couldn’t stand upright, that were hanging in an unnatural posture.

He didn’t know how he had thought of this, but he didn’t dwell on it for too long and made an immediate decision. In a faintly conscientious manner, he said: “It’s kind of boring, so I’ll go and wait outside.”

Yang Xiaoqi had yet to say something when he saw Yu Juan turn around and leave.

The sound of the footsteps stopped in the corridor, not too far away.

Yang Xiaoqi: “???”

What was going on? What was happening so suddenly? Why did the patient’s family run away? The patient’s family still needed to provide additional information during the consultation ah!

Zhou Huiyue glanced at Yang Xiaoqi and answered his previous question.

Yang Xiaoqi nodded repeatedly as he noted down every word, not caring about needing a family member around anymore, and kept on asking questions one by one. All the auxiliary examinations that could be done with the simple medical instruments were completed as well.

Zhou Huiyue was cooperative, no trace of resistance or aversion towards the doctor.

Only after the last step, collecting a tube of blood to bring back for testing, was done did Yang Xiaoqi breathe a sigh of relief.

While working, Yang Xiaoqi was especially focused and didn’t think about anything else. The patient’s identity, the reason for his trip to this place, or the complex relationships between the rich people, none of these were things he cared about.

However, once the consultation was over, while Yang Xiaoqi was writing down the patient’s medical record and also checking the medications the other was taking, the non-professional area of his brain was stimulated again.

Contrary to Yang Xiaoqi’s expectations, the patient was unexpectedly very cooperative. He didn’t seem like someone who was in a tough spot at all, nor did he look like he had a mental disorder from being kept captive by his family. Moreover, throughout the whole process, his answers were unbiased. There was no anxiety or panic about his body, and from beginning to end, his responses were all extremely accurate.

His memory was especially good, and he could fully recite his original medical record. It was obvious from the words used that it was written by someone who was experienced in writing up medical records in a hospital department.

Doctors normally liked this type of patient the most. However, after regaining his senses, Yang Xiaoqi thought about it again and felt that there was something amiss.

This person was much too calm.

Yang Xiaoqi stopped writing, then pretended to cough a few times: “Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet, but it looks like you only need to take your medication on time for now. I’ll try to find a way to replace them with new ones. Rest well. There shouldn’t be anything major after a period of good rest.”

Zhou Huiyue didn’t really care.

Yang Xiaoqi hesitated for a moment before going on to say: “I’m not an orthopaedic surgeon. Without a CT scan, it’s also impossible to tell the current healing process from the surface wound alone. However, based on your medical record, maybe…”

His gaze fell on Zhou Huiyue’s legs that had been bound again, and he paused for a moment before saying: “Maybe it’ll depend on how the rehabilitation goes. However, it might not necessarily leave a sequelae either.”

Zhou Huiyue nodded indifferently.

Yang Xiaoqi didn’t expect such a reaction.

During the diagnosis just now, even though his pain receptors appeared to be working fine, the patient didn’t show a single change in expression. Perhaps it was because he had a high pain tolerance, or because he was just exceptionally good at enduring it.

A permanent disability was, however, not the same. Most people, upon hearing about such news, would act as if the world had turned upside down.

In just one moment, Yang Xiaoqi had thought about a lot of things and one thought was especially terrible.

Could it be that this person thought he could never make a full recovery, so his heart no longer felt anything anymore?

How could it be okay like this?

Since it concerned his work ethics, and also because Yu Juan had paid him a large sum of money, Yang Xiaoqi felt that he had to provide some psychological counselling.

Yang Xiaoqi racked his brain to try to think of a way to encourage the patient. He then had a sudden stroke of inspiration.

He stood up from the chair before crouching down and saying in a secretive manner, as if he was scared the person outside would hear: “Mr. Zhou, you can’t give up hope! Otherwise, you’ll really be letting the boss down!”

Zhou Huiyue: “…the boss?”

Yang Xiaoqi answered immediately: “Yu Juan! He paid a large sum of money to have me come here to give you a consultation. It’s even higher than a quarter of my salary.”

Zhou Huiyue appeared to be interested, glancing at Yang Xiaoqi.

Yang Xiaoqi felt like he had really guessed correctly and was immediately encouraged.

Yang Xiaoqi said: “He checked whether I was really a doctor first, DMing the seniors I follow on the forum. It almost made them believe I had become a madman, and I had to explain for a long time…”

Zhou Huiyue raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

However, to complain about his boss in front of the said boss’ fiancé would show he had no tact, so Yang Xiaoqi pulled back before it was too late and instead recalled something Yu Juan had done previously: “That’s right, there was another transaction on the boss’ account history. It was with a doctor from the hospital I work at. I went to inquire and found that he was verifying whether there was any issue with the medications you’ve been taking.”

Zhou Huiyue asked: “Oh? He seems to care a lot?”

Yang Xiaoqi nodded with all his might: “You don’t know how much he spent!”

Sure enough, this patient was only interested in one thing in this entire world, and that was his fiancé!

Yang Xiaoqi’s imagination went wild. Things like a dog blood family dispute, cruel and heartless parents, as well as a secret love that was forbidden yet stronger than gold[mfn]stronger than gold basically just means an unwavering love[/mfn]. Even though this person lost his legs, his fiancé still stood by his side faithfully.

After taking some time to organise his thoughts, Yang Xiaoqi said: “Yu Juan treats you so well and really cares about you. Although your family situation and blood ties might not be that good, Mr. Zhou, you have such a good fiancé…”

Reaching this point, Yang Xiaoqi spoke even more earnestly: “As his fiancé, you can’t just give up treatment and let him live such a miserable life, right?”

Zhou Huiyue smiled. This was the first time Yang Xiaoqi had seen another expression on the other’s face.

He looked up. It was as if his gaze could penetrate through the thick door, as if he could see Yu Juan who was standing in the corridor without anything obstructing them.

In this entire world, Yu Juan was the only one who wanted Zhou Huiyue to truly recover.

Afterwards, he lowered his gaze and said faintly: “I know. Thank you.”