Plague (2): What a coincidence!

Wen Yi’s attitude hadn’t changed much from before; he gently and calmly replied, “Not much.”

The approachable demeanor was merely his professional ethics as a doctor. The real Dr. Wen was clearly not someone easy to approach.

And if he remembered correctly, the medical record in front of him stated the age as: 18 years old. A high school student who had just finished the college entrance examination, still a child in the ivory tower, indecisive, immature, and impulsive.

Dr. Wen adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his tone distant and cold: “If there’s nothing else, please return to your ward. I have a lot of work to do and no time to play with you.”

Tan Xiao, however, was not someone who would easily give up. He emphasized once again, “Dr. Wen, I’m serious. I’m asking to date you with the intention of marriage. I won’t give up. I hope you can give me a chance to get to know you.”

He picked up the scattered ballpoint pens from the table, tore a blank page from the medical record book, and wrote down a series of numbers in a flamboyant manner: Tan Xiao, mobile number 132XXX1273.

The boy in the patient gown lowered his head, seriously writing a few sentences of self-introduction on the back. After finishing, he pushed the paper in front of Dr. Wen, pressing it down with a business card holder: “I won’t disturb your work, this is my contact information.”

After Tan Xiao got up and left, the young doctor in the white coat took out the paper. Although it was written with a ballpoint pen, it was almost as good as writing with a fountain pen.

They say a person’s handwriting reflects their character. This rather beautiful semi-cursive script carried a hint of defiance, just like its owner—young and full of vitality. Under the dim, cold light of the office, most people’s faces appear somewhat pale. However, when he was just chatting and looking at him, that handsome face seemed to be bathed in sunlight, radiating a warm, shimmering glow.

In terms of looks, Tan Xiao was indeed very attractive to him, but he was too young; Wen Yi was already twenty-seven. Just like he said when he rejected Tan Xiao, the work at the hospital was very demanding, and he didn’t have the energy to indulge an eighteen-year-old kid in childish romantic games.

Wen Yi opened the document on his computer, the glass screen reflecting the computer’s unique blue light, faintly revealing the title: “The Infectivity and Negative Impact of SARS-X-19 on Nerve Cells…”

Not far away was a wastepaper basket for medical waste. Besides the used masks, there was also a crumpled piece of paper inside. Judging by the jagged edges, it was clearly torn from a medical record book.

After being rejected, Tan Xiao didn’t feel too sad or disappointed. Dr. Wen was so good-looking and outstanding; he must have many admirers. However, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

If Dr. Wen really had no feelings for him, he would definitely lie and brush him off when he asked if he was single. If the distance between them was a hundred steps, he would at most take the first ninety-nine steps. After all, he was young and strong, willing to take a few more steps. Life is about movement, and taking a few more steps is healthier.

Tan Xiao lay on the hospital bed, writing and drawing in the notes app on his phone, listing out a detailed plan to win over his love.

Tan Xiao felt that being young was a significant advantage for him, but for a twenty-seven-year-old man like Dr. Wen, being young was also a disadvantage.

For example, he was young and had no money. There’s a saying that love without material support is like a pile of loose sand. If he were to be with Dr. Wen, he would at least need to have his own earning ability. They would need to go on dates, watch movies; he couldn’t always rely on his older boyfriend for support.

As for not being able to win over Wen Yi, Tan Xiao didn’t even consider that possibility. The moment he saw Wen Yi, he felt the intense attraction between them. His wildly beating heart indicated that this liking was ingrained in his genes; anyway, Wen Yi was definitely the boyfriend destined for him.

Tan Xiao scrolled through the chat history, trying to piece together some fragments of his memory.

Although he didn’t have much money in his account, his family background was actually quite good. Tan Xiao took a photo of himself in the hospital and sent it to the family group chat titled “A Loving and Harmonious Family.”

Using the avatar with the idiom “The highest virtue is like water¹“, his biological mother sent a message: “Baby, what’s going on? How did you end up in the hospital?”

Tan Xiao immediately complained about that guy with terrible basketball skills, but he didn’t say anything too harsh. After all, if it weren’t for that incident, he might not have met Wen Yi so soon.

Seeing that his mother readily sent some money for his recovery, Tan Xiao took the opportunity to insist on getting the New Year’s money that had been saved by his parents over the years.

“Mom, I’m already an adult now, I can take care of myself. Just give me that money, okay? Besides, I still need to pay tuition, and I can manage my living expenses in college…”

On the other end of the line, his parents were so swayed by his emotional appeal, logical reasoning, and sweet talk that they were dizzy and transferred 100,000 yuan to Tan Xiao.

Half of this money was Tan Xiao’s new year money from the past eighteen years, and the other half was his tuition and living expenses for a year.

After confirming that he had no issues, Tan Xiao completed the discharge procedures the next day.

Of course, before leaving, he specifically went to the milk tea shop near the hospital to buy a cup of iced lemonade, and directly brought it to Wen Yi’s office to say hello: “Thank you, Dr. Wen, for your care. I’m being discharged today. The weather has been hot lately, please drink this lemonade to cool down.”

Without waiting for Wen Yi to refuse, he turned and left.

Perhaps because he had been watching the news a lot these past few days, when he passed by the large pharmacy next to the hospital, he saw the promotional advertisements on the billboard and specifically went in to buy several large packs of masks, as well as alcohol disinfectant and a family first aid kit.

Tan Xiao didn’t have a stable place to stay in this city; he was living in a hotel. After being hospitalized due to the attack, he retrieved the address of the hotel he had booked from his phone’s past records and successfully collected his luggage stored there.

Since he needed to pursue Wen Yi, he had to create opportunities to meet, so his place couldn’t be too far from the hospital.

Tan Xiao had always been very proactive. He bought a bunch of fruits from the lady at the fruit shop near the hospital and casually asked about the residential community where the hospital staff often rent.

He was very lucky; the aunt who ran the fruit store was a relative of the director of Huaxi Hospital. She really liked this handsome student who spoke politely and pleasantly, and with a smile, she said, “I happen to have an old house for rent in the family compound. If you want to rent it, I can give you a discount, but you have to rent it for at least six months.”

Actually, in two months, Tan Xiao would be going to university. It was uncertain whether he could manage to live off-campus in the first year, but after thinking it over, he realized that studying was important, but dating was also very important: “Auntie, can I go see the house? If it’s suitable, I can sign a one-year lease.”

Although the fruit shop auntie’s house was a bit old, it was very well maintained, and it was the kind of place where you could just do a little cleaning and move in with your bags.

Tan Xiao diligently cleaned for an hour, organized the items in his suitcase, and prepared to go to the nearby supermarket to buy some tools he needed daily.

After toiling back and forth for a while, he casually bought a boxed meal, intending to take it back to the living room of his rented apartment to eat. Just as he was about to enter the hallway, he saw Dr. Wen Yi, who was returning home after work.

As the chief physician at Huaxi Hospital, Wen Yi naturally had a single dormitory in the family area. Due to his demanding job, he spent a lot of time in the dormitory.

When he saw Tan Xiao, Wen Yi’s face, which had been cold and despondent after work, showed a look of astonishment. He didn’t expect this young patient to be so crazy as to follow him to his residence.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed and scolded the impolite young man, “What do you want? I told you I’m not interested in you.”

Tan Xiao looked at him blankly, “Dr. Wen, I didn’t do anything. I rented a place today and just moved in.”

He held up the lunch box in his hand and the keys hanging from his finger: “I signed the rental contract with the fruit shop lady this morning, and it just so happens that the apartment I rented is in this building too.”

Wen Yi looked at Tan Xiao’s clear and innocent eyes, and his fair face suddenly flushed red. It was obvious that he had misunderstood the other person.

The elevator opened, and Wen Yi stepped inside, followed by Tan Xiao.

Seeing Wen Yi press the button for the 8th floor, Tan Xiao exclaimed, “What a coincidence, Dr. Wen, I’m also on the 8th floor. I rented apartment 801, how about you?”

This building had two elevators and four units. Units 01 and 02 were small two-bedroom apartments, with walls touching each other, while units 03 and 04 were larger three-bedroom apartments, separated from units 01 and 02 by two elevators and a corridor. Units 03 and 04 were designed to face each other.

Wen Yi’s expression was complex: “802.”

That was right, the small two-bedroom apartment that Tan Xiao rented from the fruit shop lady was the neighbor of Wen Yi’s place, separated by just one wall!

Tan Xiao smiled brightly: “Wow, what a coincidence! It seems we are quite fated. I ran into Aunt Zhao while buying fruit today. I was originally going to rent a place, and it just so happened that her house was available for rent. I didn’t expect you to live here too. Everything I did today went exceptionally smoothly. It seems my luck is really good.”

What did this mean? It meant that fate was paving the way for his love. He just said it, they were a match made in heaven! What a rare fate!

Faced with Tan Xiao’s enthusiasm, Wen Yi remained silent. He didn’t seem cheerful, and even appeared somewhat socially anxious.

The elevator doors quickly opened, and Wen Yi stepped out first. He stood at the door, opened it but didn’t go inside, watching as Tan Xiao opened the door to the neighboring room.

Tan Xiao put his things away and leaned out from the entrance, “Doctor Wen, would you like to come in and take a look, or do you want to see my rental contract?”

Wen Yi closed the door with a stiff face: “No need.”

He must have misunderstood; maybe it really was a coincidence.

He hoped that he wouldn’t have any interactions with this overly enthusiastic new neighbor in the future. Anyway, he wouldn’t agree to any friendly chats.

However, Wen Yi never expected that he had clearly set up his flag too early. In less than a week, he was slapped in the face.

Notes

1. The highest virtue is like water, which refers to a person with perfect morals, just like the nature of water, benefiting all things without competing for fame and fortune. ↩︎