Chapter 71, Day 3: "Let me touch it."
Jiang Yan couldn't help but retort, "Are you really a doctor? You seem more like a matchmaker to me."
Anna wasn't annoyed; she just smiled slightly.
"It's because I've seen how much she wants to come back these past few years."
"The patient's psychological state is also an important factor affecting the condition. IPAH is a rare disease, so we might as well let her have fewer regrets and more happiness in the limited time she has left."
Jiang Yan remained silent. The elevator arrived, and she nodded to Anna before stepping into the car: "I'm sorry, I spoke a little harshly just now, please forgive me."
Anna smiled and waved her hand: "It's alright. I've been a doctor for many years and I understand the feelings of patients' families quite well."
Jiang Yan pressed the button for the 3rd floor and waited for the elevator doors to slowly close.
She once asked Yun Chui, "If I hadn't happened to see you faint, would you have kept it from me?"
Yun Chui gave an affirmative answer.
The day she learned that Yun Chui was sick, she sat in front of the computer and searched all night.
IPAH, or idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, is a rare disease that looks very much like a congenital heart disease. Its cause is unknown, it has a high mortality rate, and there is currently no cure.
Patients typically die within three to five years. While the development and promotion of targeted therapies in recent years have led to some extended life expectancy and even some cases of patients recovering their health, it remains a challenging condition overall.
She was powerless to help her friend with her illness, and could only try her best to fulfill her love story. But now Jiang Yan was also wavering, unsure whether what she was doing was right or wrong.
She sat in the room for a while, and only after the music started did she jump up to wash up, change her clothes, and go back downstairs.
Yun Chui was already sitting in the living room.
Lin Shu stood a few steps away, keeping a close eye on her out of the corner of his eye.
Yu Jintang was the second to come down: "How are you? Are you feeling better now?"
She asked in a low voice, glancing nervously left and right.
"It's alright." Yun Chui smiled at her: "You're acting too much like a secret agent. You'll easily give yourself away in front of them later."
Yu Jintang looked at her with distrust: "Stop, your credibility with me has plummeted to negative values. Asking you is unreliable; I'll ask Dr. Anna."
Anna nodded: "Blood oxygen and heart rate have returned to normal. The targeted drug is quite effective in the early stages. Hmph, if it were late stage, the person would be bedridden, yet they could still participate in TV shows and be funny."
Yun Chui glanced at her: "It's really alright, you all don't need to crowd around."
She now only speaks one sentence at a time, and if she talks for too long, she feels short of breath and her chest tightens. She is also prone to getting excited.
The group all took a large step back.
Yun Chui: "..."
"Can you guys not overreact like that?"
A few minutes later, people came down one after another and greeted them, saying, "Hey? You guys got up so early."
Yang Xingji said, "Wow, it's like going back to the early days of Yan Yan."
Jiang Yan was unusually wearing heavy makeup. She rarely wore this kind of makeup after her career change, but today she had to use a huge amount of cosmetics to cover up the dark circles under her eyes caused by insomnia.
Feng Manhong also examined her closely: "I remember when I first met Xiao Jiang, she had this same makeup."
Qin Lan casually replied, "What a coincidence, me too."
The group gathered at the main entrance. Lin Shu quickly finished her opening remarks and urged them to head to the phone booth as if it were an emergency.
Yun Chui walked through the thick fog and entered the phone booth.
The staff closed the door from the outside and stepped aside to wait.
Yun Chui sat down in the chair and waited for the indicator light to come on.
Before leaving, Lin Shu winked at her three times.
The moment the bell rang, she pressed the number 3.
Two seconds later, the call connected.
Song Man's voice came through: "Hello, who is this?"
Yun Chui mimicked Jiang Yan's tone and said, "Your ex-wife."
"?"
Song Man muttered something, as if she was about to ask a staff member, "Can I hang it up?"
Yun Chui couldn't help but laugh: "You haven't finished yet. Besides being your ex-girlfriend, she's also your current ambiguous partner."
"???"
Song Man was furious: "Who's being ambiguous with you?!"
Yun Chui's calm voice came through: "No? I've given you love letters for two nights in a row."
Song Man remained silent for several seconds: "So? What do you mean?"
“I’m going back to China. Don’t you understand what I mean?” Yun Chui looked down at the tips of his shoes. “The fact that you’re here means you’re the same.”
There was a long silence on the other end before a cold laugh came: "Yun Chui, do you think too highly of yourself? You think two cards will make me change my mind? You're dreaming. What does your presence here mean? I just wanted to see if some people who have been wandering around for so many years have died out there."
Yun Chui said calmly, "I do have reasons for leaving, and I do think about you every single day."
This time, Song Man remained silent for an even longer time before speaking in an incomprehensible voice, "What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about me?"
"Yes. I miss you."
Song Man remained silent for a long time.
Yun Chui spoke these words so calmly, just like every word she had ever said before. But she could easily detect the emotion in Yun Chui's voice; she knew best what tone Yun Chui used when she spoke sweet nothings.
She sensed that Yun Chui's words just now came from the bottom of his heart.
"oh."
Song Man remained defiant: "Four years ago you wouldn't offer a single explanation, but now you're willing?"
"Not yet." Yun Chui teetered on the verge of infuriating Song Man: "But I miss you. I'm thinking of you right now."
They were in different phone booths, using a very old-fashioned method of communication. They couldn't see each other's faces; a thick fog separated them.
This was the initial idea for "Calling Through the Fog," a concept that came to Yu Jintang's mind at a certain moment when the thick fog descended upon him.
"There are still twenty-five minutes left," Yun Chui added. "I'd like to say a few more words to you."
Song Man's tone softened unconsciously: "What do you want to say?"
“I’ve been to many places, seen icebergs and the aurora. My life is generally fulfilling. Apart from dancing and you, I have no regrets.”
Song Man's heart suddenly softened.
After all the guests returned to the villa, Lin Shu cleared her throat.
"We breathe the same mist, but our heartbeats are different; though we are close by, we share the same voice across the world. We will now play some of yesterday's calls, so please enjoy your meal while you listen."
First came Qin Lan's voice: "It seems you want to talk to someone else. Let me guess who it is, is their name two characters... or three characters?"
Song Man said, "If it's not Jiang Yan, then it's fine, otherwise you'd be jumping up and down."
Qin Lan scoffed: "What a joke, I'm not that petty."
Yu Jintang commented online: "Teacher Qin and Teacher Jiang are really inseparable."
Qin Lan, who was at the scene, felt that Jiang Yan was looking at her.
She glared at Yu Jintang: "Xiahou, gag her."
Xiahou Cheng, with a piece of bread in his mouth, leaned over and stuffed the other end into Yu Jintang's mouth.
Lin Shuren was stunned: "What are you doing?! We prohibit physical contact—"
"Didn't encounter it."
Xiahou Cheng bit into the bread and raised his hands, mumbling, "The bread touched it."
Lin Shu nearly fainted. Turning around, she saw everyone looking at Xiahou Cheng with expressions of admiration and respect.
Lin Shu became even angrier.
Xiahou Cheng sat back down steadily.
Lin Shu took a deep breath and played the next clip.
Yu Jintang's voice came out: "Teacher Chengcheng, this violates the laws of physics."
Xiahou Cheng slammed his fist on the wall through the receiver, exuding domineering aura: "What physics? I only know that internal force is king! With a single sword strike, I cleaved the edifice of quantum mechanics; with a casual wave of my hand, I shook off the two dark clouds above the physics field; with a flick of my little finger, Schrödinger's cat was confirmed dead or alive; and by traversing time and space, I made an apple fall on Newton's head once again!"
Lin Shu said expressionlessly, "Okay, next paragraph."
＊
After breakfast, Lin Shu announced the day's random tasks.
"The ten guests will be divided into two groups, one for scriptwriting and the other for script performance. Now, let's divide into groups. Who wants to join the directing and screenwriting group? We need two people."
Everyone looked at Yu Jintang.
Lin Shu: "It seems that someone has the popular support."
Yu Jintang coughed and stood up: "Since that's the case, then I'll reluctantly agree. Anyone want to partner with me?"
Xiahou Cheng jumped up, shouting, "Me! Me! Me! Me! Look at my teacher, Teacher Yu!"
Ignoring the speechless looks from everyone, her eyes shone brightly: "I have only one reason: besides me, who else in this room can keep up with Teacher Tangtang's abstract thinking!"
The others nodded silently. "Go ahead, nobody really wanted to be a director anyway."
Xiahou Cheng grinned, revealing his white teeth, and immediately hugged Yu Jintang.
A staff member shouted, "Teacher Xiahou Cheng has committed a foul!"
Yu Jintang suppressed a laugh: "It's okay, she still has one more chance to make a mistake."
“Teacher Tangtang understands me best,” Xiahou Cheng said.
Lin Shu looked like she was about to explode, but she held back in the end: "Teachers, please come and get the initial script."
"There's an initial script?"
Yu Jintang stepped forward, took the book, and read the title: "The Great Battle of Broken Engagements? Director, you're limiting my imagination."
"This is just a basic setup. How the events unfold is entirely up to your imagination." Lin Shu shrugged. "If there are no objections, the other eight teachers will be the actors. The two directors will need to write the script this morning, and you can start acting this afternoon. Make it clear that from now on, the directing team and the acting team are not allowed to communicate with each other. The actors will need to improvise according to the director's on-the-spot instructions."
"???"
Even the most experienced actress, Feng Manhong, was getting restless: "Are we supposed to act out every line the director says? Won't that create too much of a disconnect?"
"It's okay, we'll edit a smoother version later. The important thing is to have fun, so don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Yu Jintang and Xiahou Cheng immediately started whispering to each other.
The others, having nothing to do, went upstairs to kill time.
It's called a script, but it's actually just one page with a few character descriptions and a little bit of background plot.
The two groups are about to form a marriage alliance, with the eldest daughters of Tianyu Group and Dikun Group being the two sides.
"Huh? A lesbian script." Xiahou Cheng chuckled.
On the way to the wedding, the chairman of Dikun Group and his eldest daughter repeatedly reminded each other to behave well and appropriately.
【Young Miss of Dikun Group】: Rebellious and resistant to arranged marriage.
【Heiress of Tianyu Group】: A prodigy, a dragon among men, captivating the hearts of countless young women.
[Tianyu Group]: A leading enterprise, accumulated wealth over three generations, making it extremely wealthy. However, in recent years, it has faced a crisis of upgrading and transformation. In order to inject much-needed cash flow, the chairman of Tianyu Group decided to form a partnership with the rising star Dikun Group.
【Dikun Group】: A rising star among the elite. As the saying goes, even a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Dikun Group is ambitious and hopes to elevate its status by climbing up to a well-established and prestigious group like Tianyu Group.
That's all.
Yu Jintang paced around twice, a brilliant plan forming in his mind. Unexpectedly, when he turned around, Xiahou Cheng's eyes were also shining.
The two said in unison, "I have a brilliant idea!"
"I have a really great idea!"
Yu Jintang hurriedly said, "Don't make a fuss about this, I have important things to do..."
Xiahou Cheng raised an eyebrow: "So Teacher Xu Tangtang has important business, but I'm not allowed to have important business?"
"Do you have something important to say?"
Yu Jintang was taken aback, wondering if she knew about Yun Chui's affairs, but quickly dismissed the thought. Xiahou Cheng didn't know Yun Chui at all; how could she possibly know the inside story? She had only found out recently.
“Yes.” Xiahou Cheng pointed to the name of the Dikun Group on the paper: “I need to design the plot for this storyline.”
Yu Jintang was overjoyed: "That's great! That's exactly the storyline I was thinking about for Tianyu Group. How about we run two storylines simultaneously?"
"It's perfect." Xiahou Cheng blew bubbles. "Let's start writing the manuscript, and then we can supplement each other's work when we're done."
So whenever someone passed by the first floor, they would find the two of them either writing furiously at their desks or laughing at each other, making evil "hehehe" sounds.
"Teacher Chengcheng, how can you be so good at making things up! It's exactly what I was thinking!"
"You flatter me, Teacher Tangtang is very experienced."
"Aren't we being a bit inconsiderate of the actors' lives?"
"Who cares? As long as I'm having fun making this."
"Hehehehehehe! Awesome!"
"Hahahaha! Die, all of you! I'll make you all pay with your lives!!!"
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
"We made a huge mistake by letting two lunatics decide our life or death."
At this moment, Yun Chui, Song Man, and Anna still did not understand the true meaning of those words.
It wasn't until lunchtime that Yun Chui, under Yu Jintang's intense gaze, finally spoke up: "Is there something on my face?"
Yu Jintang cackled, "Sorry, hammer!"
Yun Chui ate his meal in silence.
Qin Lan also felt a chill run down her spine from Xiahou Cheng's gaze.
While scanning everyone with the eyes of someone selecting prey, he would occasionally exchange glances with Yu Jintang and let out an evil laugh.
Qin Lan looked up: "Xiahou, if you dare to mess with me, I'll kill Yu Jintang."
Xiahou Cheng ignored her and stared at her for a long time before suddenly pulling out the tattered draft paper that the two of them had crumpled up, and began to write furiously to add settings.
Qin Lan was afraid that if she looked at it any longer, she might get some more inspiration, so she left before finishing her meal.
Of all the people present, Anna was the least aware of the situation. She asked Feng Manhong and Liu Lü, the only two normal people left at the table, with a puzzled look, "Will there be any problems with Director Yu and Director Xiahou?"
Liu Lü pursed her lips, her expression unreadable.
Feng Manhong paused for a moment, then said, "If it's just Teacher Yu, it'll be alright, but if she collaborates with Chengcheng, the effect will probably be outrageous. If you have time, you can search for 'Crazy King'."
Anna didn't have time to search before it was time to go.
Lin Shu entered the villa, full of energy: "Good afternoon, teachers!"
Everyone looked slightly worried.
Lin Shu pretended not to see: "From the start to the end of the performance, we will lift all restrictions and rules. We have prepared the costumes, makeup and props according to the director team's plan. Now, please go to the first dressing room on the right to change. We will meet back here at 1:50!"
Everyone stepped forward to receive their costumes.
All the clothes were wrapped up tightly, so you couldn't tell what was inside.
Qin Lan searched for a long time and found that one of the two largest boxes had her name on it.
She picked up the box. Jiang Yan walked over and reached out to touch the nameplate on another box.
"Everyone else has bags, but we're the only ones using boxes," Qin Lan complained.
"That means there will be more camera time, Teacher Qin, you should be secretly happy." Jiang Yan smiled and carried away her suitcase.
Qin Lan entered the dressing room and found that it had been divided into several small rooms, with curtains covering the doors.
The first few cubicles were already occupied. She stepped into the fourth cubicle, draped her coat over the doorframe, and gestured that the cubicle was already taken.
Five seconds later, the curtain was lifted.
Qin Lan, halfway off her clothes, said, "Hey, someone's here."
"Excuse me, Teacher Qin, I've gone to the wrong place."
Jiang Yan squeezed in, covered her mouth with one hand, and leaned close to her ear with a mischievous grin: "It's been so many hours since we've had any physical contact, let me touch you."
"You!" Qin Lan glared at her, her eyes wide, and glanced around in a panic: "There are other people around!"
Jiang Yan paused for a moment, then kissed him without hesitation.
Qin Lan struggled for a moment, then gave up and let her kiss him a few times.
"Alright, alright, hurry up and get out of here, we're about to go on stage."
Jiang Yan released her arm and stared at her for a few seconds.
Qin Lan also felt that he was being a bit cold, so he took the initiative to lean over and kiss her on the lips, and then took a deep breath of her neck: "I'll hug you for a while later when I have time, okay? Now we really have to go on stage, and there are still people next door."
"Okay." Jiang Yan smiled and went out, lifting the curtain.
Qin Lan breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but savor the moment.
The fragrance emanating from Jiang Yan still lingered in the air.
That enchantress is always spraying perfume, except when she's taking a bath.
She licked her lips and bent down to unpack her own box.
On top of it was a set of black and white school uniforms.
Qin Lan: "?"
Isn't this a scripted marriage between wealthy families?
Is she not an adult yet?
In the cubicle next door, Jiang Yan's expression was far more complicated than Qin Lan's.
She has a lot of clothes, but each outfit is completely different in style.
She picked up a set of drab gray clothes and fell silent.
The four large characters embroidered on his chest read: Peninsula Cleaning.
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