Birthday

There was nothing wrong with the film, so I just prescribed some painkillers and that was it.

But Kitano Shu is gone.

I don’t know where he went. He didn’t reply to messages or answer calls, and even the car parked in the parking lot was driven away.

Is your phone out of battery?

Letang was afraid that he wouldn't be able to find him when he came back, so he waited in the hospital until sunset.

It started raining outside, and Letang thought that Kitano Ji probably wouldn't come.

"Why haven't you left yet?"

Lin Shaoxing came over from behind. He had already changed out of his white coat and was still wearing a straight and meticulously tailored suit. "Neck, is it feeling better?"

The muscle at the back of his neck was still throbbing and swollen, but Letang nodded: "I took the medicine and it doesn't hurt anymore."

Lin Shaoxing glanced at his empty hands and said, "Let me take you back to school."

Letang hesitated in front of the car door, feeling that sitting in the back seat seemed a bit disrespectful to the other party, so he got on the passenger seat instead.

Lin Shaoxing's car is just like him, low-key, clean and spacious. It is filled with a faint smell of disinfectant, which is as unique as the smell on his body.

He could tell at a glance that Lin Shaoxing was the taciturn type who seldom spoke on weekdays, let alone chatted with others.

The two of them sat in silence. For a moment, the only sound in the car was the sound of rain. The awkward atmosphere was like a substance, and it became even more obvious when waiting at a red light.

Letang sat in his seat, his hands placed neatly on his knees, his head lowered, not knowing how to break the silence.

The person next to him suddenly leaned over, holding the seat behind him with one hand and putting the other hand around his chest, so close that their breaths intertwined, and this action almost encircled him in his arms.

Letang froze in place for a moment and subconsciously reached out to push the other person's chest.

Then, the backrest of the chair behind him slowly lowered. Letang opened his eyes in a daze and found that he was half lying down. Lin Shaoxing also sat back.

"Lying down will be better for your neck." Lin Shaoxing became more talkative when it came to work-related matters. "Don't move your neck when you get home. It should be fine tomorrow. Pay attention to your posture when reading and writing, and don't sit for long periods of time. It's better to stand up and exercise regularly."

Letang grabbed the seatbelt on his chest in a daze: "Thank you... I understand."

The car slowly moved forward. Letang couldn't stand the silence any longer and pinched his fingers. "I remember Dr. Lin also graduated from Peace College, right? He looks so young, yet he's already the deputy director. Is he good at exams too?"

"Yeah." Lin Shaoxing looked straight ahead. "Isn't the college entrance exam the day after tomorrow? Why are you still going to the amusement park?"

"Um...haha, yeah."

But such questions and answers obviously made the atmosphere more awkward.

Letang shrank his toes and was thinking of saying something to make amends when the car stopped by the side of the road.

"Wait me a moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Shaoxing opened the door and got out of the car.

Wouldn't that be embarrassing for someone to run away?

Letang felt a little regretful. Although Lin Shaoxing had humiliated him when he pinched his neck, it was a doctor's duty after all, and there was nothing wrong with it for the sake of treatment.

After all, since he became a deputy director at such a young age, he must have spent all his time on academic research, so his emotional knowledge is relatively lacking...

The double flash lights were "clicking", and Lin Shaoxing came back quickly. He put something in the trunk first, and then returned to the driver's seat.

It was raining heavily outside, and he was probably walking too fast, as half of his shoulder was wet.

All the way in silence.

Fortunately, the hospital was not far from the school, and they arrived there quickly. Lin Shaoxing's car drove into the school unimpeded and directly into the underground garage under the dormitory building.

"Thank you for taking me back today. It's so late."

Just as he was about to walk towards the elevator, Lin Shaoxing stopped him.

He took out a delicate little box from the trunk. The girl's color combination looked particularly contradictory in his hands.

"For me?"

When Letang lowered his head, he saw a small pink heart-shaped cake inside with the words "Happy Birthday" written on it.

"I didn't know what flavor you like, so I bought the most popular one in the store." Lin Shaoxing shifted his gaze half an inch to the side and coughed dryly, "If you don't like it, just throw it away."

Letang's eyes widened in surprise: "How did you know today is my birthday?"

Lin Shaoxing: "It's written in your medical record."

Because it was a temporary medical record, and Letang was feeling so uncomfortable with the pain in his neck at the time, he subconsciously wrote down his original birthday.

I didn't expect Lin Shaoxing to remember it after just one glance...

Noticing the heat in his eyes, Letang quickly lowered his head to prevent Lin Shaoxing from noticing anything.

As a result, this abrupt action was misunderstood by the man: "What's wrong? Is your neck still uncomfortable?"

"No..." Even the single word trembled a little, and he quickly closed his mouth and shook his head.

"Then I'll leave you my contact information. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, you can contact me."

Letang hurriedly added the other party as a friend, and made an excuse that he had to go back to review, and walked back almost as if he was running away.

I finally breathed a sigh of relief after entering the dormitory, and quickly grabbed a handful of tissues to blow my nose so that my face wouldn't become covered in clown tears.

After washing my face and returning to the table, I found that I had received an unread message.

Lin Shaoxing: [Good luck on the exam.]

Lin Shaoxing: [Come on, Kitten.jpg]

"puff……"

What a cute emoticon, it doesn’t fit his cold and hard image at all!

I thought he was using that yellow bean smile, that cold and deadly default expression, but I didn't expect...

My mood instantly improved a lot. I wanted to take a picture of the cake and post it on WeChat Moments to celebrate his birthday, but then I remembered that today was not "Letang's" birthday after all, so I resisted the urge to post it.

He only posted three X-rays taken at the hospital, with the caption: [Take a few revealing photos before the college entrance exam!]

Soon I received a lot of comments.

Ning Ruotong: [Baby, what's wrong with you? Is everything okay?]

Wang Bang: [Shocked.jpg]

Fu Jieyu: [How can a human jaw be so pointed...]

After a while, Lin Shaoxing gave a thumbs up.

Letang took a bite of the cake, and the pistachio mousse quickly melted in his mouth, with a rich and sweet taste.

Guessing Lin Shaoxing should have arrived home, I opened his chat and typed: [The cake is delicious, thank you]

Lin Shaoxing replied quickly: [That’s good.]

【Kitten heart.jpg】

Le Tang stared at the kitten's chubby, innocent face on the screen and couldn't help but ask, "Where do you get all these cute emojis?"

【Saved in the work group.】

I see.

When he thought of an expressionless, educated, mature man like Lin Shaoxing, and the cute emoticons in his phone, this huge contrast made him feel that Lin Shaoxing was not so unapproachable.

In the middle of the night, Kitano Ji called. Letang wanted to pretend that he was asleep and didn't answer the call, but he was afraid that he had gone back to the hospital, so he waited for a while before answering the phone.

Kitano Ji's voice was a little anxious: "Have you gone back yet?"

"Um."

"How's your neck?"

"It's healed now."

Relative silence.

Letang pinched his fingers and said, "It's late. I'm going to hang up now."

"Wait!" Kitano Ji's voice was unusually guilty, "I... I'm sorry."

"Where have you been?"

There was a long silence.

"...Lin Nuo is back and wants me to pick him up."

Letang was stunned.

Lin Nuo returned to China? How come so soon?

He remembered that in the novel, Lin Nuo would not come back until the college entrance examination was over.

It seems that because he traveled through the book, he flapped the butterfly's wings and accidentally caused a change in the plot.

But this makes sense.

After Lin Nuo returned to China, there was no place for him, a small cannon fodder. He knew that no matter what, Beiye Jihui was just like Fu Zhixu, and the wind in their hearts would always blow towards Lin Nuo.

Although I was a little angry today because Kitano Ji suddenly disappeared, now that I know it was because of Lin Nuo, I am not angry anymore.

Because it was so natural, I didn't feel anything.

Fortunately, he was smart and didn't take Kitano Shu's words seriously.

Recalling that Kitano Ji had previously questioned him about Neptune's fishing, wouldn't he be quicker than anyone else to get rid of the fish as soon as Lin Nuo came back?

Tsk, man.

But on second thought, it's a good thing that Lin Nuo is back! This way, Fu Zhixu and Bei Yeji won't have time to bother him, and he's about to graduate, so he'll have plenty of time and money to do his own thing and find a better man!

Letang said magnanimously, "Then please accompany Lin Nuo. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up first, okay?"

Kitano Ji was silent for a moment: "Are you angry?"

"No." Letang was puzzled. "Why should I be angry?"

"...Open the door."

Letang was shocked: "You are outside my door??"

"Open the door."

As soon as Letang opened the door, he was tightly embraced by a cold embrace soaked with rain.

“What are you doing!”

Letang pushed him away and patted the water droplets on his clothes: "How did you get here? Why are you all wet?"

Kitano Ji stared at him intently, a little flustered and bewildered, and stubbornly tried to hug him: "Don't be angry, okay? I was wrong this time..."

Letang looked puzzled: "Which eye of yours is angry at me?"

Kitano Ji was stunned for a moment, then he let go of his hand and stared into his eyes, as if trying to find any clue that he was lying.

But no.

He couldn't find any anger, rage, stubbornness, sadness... none of these similar emotions in Letang's eyes.

"I..." Kitano Ji was incredulous. "I left you to go find Lin Nuo. Aren't you angry?"

Letang asked back, "Isn't it normal for you to go find Lin Nuo?"

Bei Ye Ji choked for a moment: "I admit that I slandered you a few times because of Lin Nuo before, but that was also... that was also for Fu Zhixu. I didn't actually... I didn't want to go today, but I don't know why..."

"Oh," seeing him anxiously speaking incoherently, Letang patted his shoulder and comforted him, "I understand, it's okay."

"What do you understand?!"

Beiye Ji's eyes were red. Letang's reaction now was completely different from what he had imagined. He was ready to coax him for three days and three nights, but who knew that Letang was not angry at all, and even... didn't care at all?

This was even more difficult for him to accept than Letang being angry with him and ignoring him.

Of course, Letang couldn't tell him directly how important Lin Nuo was to him, so he covered up for him, thinking he was being very considerate:

"It's okay. Lin Nuo finally came back from abroad. It's normal for you to take care of him as a friend. I also have to prepare for the exam. If you have nothing else to do, let's leave it at that for today."

Kitano Ji stared into his eyes stubbornly, trying to find the slightest crack in his disguise.

But no.

Letang is really not concerned.

"Go home quickly."

"ha."

He took a few steps back and watched the door in front of him close without hesitation, blocking all sight.