Chapter 3: Under Neon, Under White

The moment those words left her mouth, Xia An felt she had been a bit too mischievous, especially with that coquettish “Sister.”

Ye Jin, who usually kept her emotions hidden, frowned as she glanced at Xia An.

She felt she had almost been fooled by that pure-looking face tonight; she really was just meddling in someone else’s business.

Thinking this, Ye Jin simply left Xia An behind and turned to walk away without another word.

She’s leaving just like that?

“Hey…” Xia An looked at the proud figure walking away, caught between laughter and tears, not even having enough time to explain.

“I was joking, you misunderstood me…”

The other person ignored her and had already departed.

Xia An stood helplessly in place, recalling the night’s incidents and eventually let out a belated laugh.

Afterward, she was left alone.

Xia An gradually withdrew the smile from her face, much like removing a mask.

She let out a breath and looked up at the sky; it was pitch black, with a few flickering stars visible.

The night was deep, and the crowded, noisy streets had become desolate and lonely.

Walking through familiar roads alone, Xia An headed toward a familiar direction in her weariness.

She was not at all a stranger to the night views of Nancheng at two or three in the morning; after all, she had seen them many times.

Ten minutes later, Xia An stopped walking.

Before her stood a massive stone tablet carved with bold calligraphy: Nancheng Medical University.

Xia An approached, her long fingers gently brushing the marble surface; the stone was cool, and many thoughts crossed her mind.

She still vividly remembered her feelings when she first stepped foot here five years ago.

What a joy that was; this was where her dreams began.

Nancheng Medical University, Clinical Medicine major, first-year graduate student—this was Xia An’s true identity.

It was quite unbelievable.

Most people could hardly imagine that a girl who navigated the nightlife scenes would be a top student at a medical university.

After all, Nancheng Medical University was an institution many people strove for but could not reach.

“Since you can’t protect yourself well, stay away from places like this.”

Xia An suddenly remembered that sentence and the person who said it, a faint smile appearing on her face.

For Xia An, who had started living independently in society at sixteen, she was very skilled at protecting herself.

One could only say that Miss Xia’s face was too good at stirring others’ protective instincts; she looked innocent as if she knew nothing, but in reality, her life experience far exceeded that of her peers.

If she could, Xia An also wanted to be like how she appeared—retaining the innocence of someone who knew nothing of the world.

Putting other factors aside, if one could choose to remain innocent and romantic forever, who would choose maturity?

But many things were not simply a matter of wanting.

Despite many hardships, Xia An never wallowed in self-pity; life is full of disappointments, but one cannot deny that beauty can still be found.

For instance, what she encountered tonight.

Xia An realized—why was she thinking of that face again?

3:30 AM, at the dormitory entrance.

Xia An took the key from her bag and gently inserted it into the lock.

When she pushed the door open, the light in the room was still on.

The graduate dormitory was an apartment-style double room with excellent conditions.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Xia An closed the door softly.

Ke Rochu was still sitting at her desk, propping up her head and looking at Xia An with dark circles under her eyes, nearly looking like a national treasure panda.

“I couldn’t sleep while you weren’t back.”

“Didn’t I say I was fine? There was no need to worry.”

Ke Rochu stood up and smelled the alcohol on Xia An, her brows furrowing.

“Are you still working part-time there?”

Xia An didn’t answer the question directly. “Go to sleep, I’m going to take a shower.”

“Xia An—” Ke Rochu’s voice had always been thin and soft, but tonight she suddenly tried to be firm, only to soften immediately.

“Can you stop going there? I think it’s quite dangerous…”

Last time, Ke Rochu had summoned all her courage to find Xia An at Night Colors; the moment she entered, she was almost scared off by the “dance of the demons.”

She saw Xia An drinking with people—those men had such lecherous looks in their eyes.

She was terrified of what might happen.

Since then, whenever Xia An returned late, she couldn’t sleep.

“It’s fine, I know what I’m doing.”

Xia An repeated the same phrase.

She knew Ke Rochu was worried, and she felt quite bad for always disturbing her sleep.

“By the way, I have ten thousand yuan here. Take it to help pay for your father’s surgery.”

Xia An gripped her bag slightly, then smiled easily.

“No need. I can handle the surgery costs on my end. Truly, don’t worry.”

“But every little bit counts…” Ke Rochu trailed off.

She knew Xia An was very strong-willed; no matter what trouble she faced, she wanted to carry it alone without ever uttering a single complaint.

Xia An usually loved to smile, but the more she smiled, the more Ke Rochu felt for her.

As her roommate, she knew best how difficult Xia An’s life was.

“Rochu, you have to go to the hospital tomorrow. Sleep early, or your body won’t take it.”

“You’re lecturing me? How many days have you gone without sleep?”

“I’ll have a good rest tomorrow.”

Ke Rochu didn’t know what else to say.

Long before filling out her college applications, Ke Rochu had heard that Clinical Medicine wasn’t a major for humans, but she didn’t believe it.

Now, choosing the eight-year clinical program had become her biggest regret.

Heavy academic loads, various skill assessments, and the constant fear of not getting a license—it could be said she hadn’t had a good day since freshman year.

After suffering through five years, she was now a first-year grad student and as tired as a mule.

Besides completing graduate courses, she had to go to the hospital for residency training.

Life was a straight line between school and hospital, seven days a week; vacations could basically be ignored.

Under such circumstances, Xia An still went to work part-time.

Ke Rochu suspected she had the power of bilocation; otherwise, how could she do all this at once?

Just the clinical work and papers were enough to leave one exhausted.

Everyone else in the department envied Xia An’s top-tier grades and the favor she received from her mentor.

Only Ke Rochu felt bad for her; without bilocation, she could only sacrifice sleep.

Several times, she had seen Xia An return at 4:00 AM, sleep for two or three hours, and then go to work at the hospital.

Both Xia An and Ke Rochu were doing their residency at Changnan Hospital.

Xia An was currently rotating in Cardiology, while Ke Rochu was in the Emergency Department.

Ke Rochu was relieved Xia An wasn’t in Emergency; that place was a nightmare among nightmares.

Given Xia An’s pace of life, she would surely drop dead from overwork there.

The next day, on a rare day off, Xia An slept until evening.

She didn’t even know when Ke Rochu had left the dorm.

It wasn’t until night that Ke Rochu sent her a crying-face emoji, saying she had to work the night shift and wouldn’t be back.

****

Unlike Ke Rochu, Xia An’s goal since the start of high school was to get into medical school and become a doctor.

For all these years, she had been walking toward her goal; although the process was a bit bumpy, it had been satisfying enough.

With her hair tied up and wearing a white lab coat, Xia An gave off a completely different vibe.

Even though she still wore light makeup, she looked like a different person compared to her self at the nightclub.

During the lunch break, as Xia An passed the corridor of the Cardiology inpatient department, she saw a woman in her seventies.

The woman was sitting on a bench, enthusiastically taking selfies with her phone.

Xia An sat down beside her. “Grandmother, you look truly beautiful today.”

“Do I not look beautiful usually?” The white-haired old lady put down her phone and spoke to Xia An with feigned dissatisfaction.

“No, I mean you look especially beautiful today.”

Xia An sat down with a smile and praised her as if coaxing a child.

“The lipstick looks good; this shade really suits you.”

“Doctor Xia, play cat’s cradle with me.”

“Alright.”

In old age, one slowly starts to live more and more like a child.

Many people didn’t like the atmosphere of a hospital; it was too cruel, too depressing.

Xia An didn’t think so; instead, she felt the hospital was the place with the most hope.

Just like the interesting old lady before her, named Liang Su.

Even though she knew her life wouldn’t last much longer, she remained optimistic.

She would discuss lipstick shades with young people, feed snacks to the hospital’s stray cats, and play silly games with children, never tiring of it.

When someone has a smooth journey and they smile, it’s not called hope.

When someone experiences hardships and they smile—that is hope.

After studying clinical medicine, Xia An felt this even more strongly.

True “healing” was far too rare; in most cases, they were simply working toward hope.

The midday sun was intense, bleaching the ground white.

Xia An squinted as she looked at the large sycamore tree outside the corridor; its branches were lush and green, still feeling like summer.

Xia An happened to be born in summer, and was named “An.”

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as wished.

She watched the green leaves rustling in the wind.

Leaves… (Ye…)

Xia An dazed off for a while, wondering on a whim if she would meet her again.

Thinking of her, Xia An recalled the misunderstanding from that night.

It was a bit embarrassing; surely she didn’t really think of her as… someone in that profession?

“Doctor Xia? It’s your turn.”

“Oh…” Xia An snapped back to reality and looked down at the string in Old Lady Liang’s hands.

She laughed helplessly. “Grandmother, I don’t know how to do this one.”

“You don’t even know this? Grandma will teach you. Move your hand here, yes, hook this string…”

Old Lady Liang taught her with great interest.

An elderly person’s happiness was always simple; having someone to chat with and relieve boredom was enough to satisfy them.

Meanwhile, Ye Jin stood at the end of the corridor, silently watching that profile for a long time.

She looked like her, but how could it be?

When she saw the girl looking down and smiling gently, Ye Jin felt the resemblance grow even stronger.

She looked like the one she met at the nightclub that night…

Xia An felt a bit thirsty and went to the nearby vending machine to buy water.

She chose a bottle of soda water, but when it was time to pay, she realized her phone was out of battery.

She felt her pockets, but there wasn’t a single cent of change.

The sound of high heels echoed behind her.

Xia An looked at the shadow on the ground; she was too embarrassed to make the person wait.

She turned around and said to the person, “You go first…”

Ye Jin gazed at the person before her.

Under the white coat, her figure was thin and slender.

Because her face was small and delicate, tying her hair up actually amplified the advantages of her features.

Staring at Xia An’s face, the usually rigorous President Ye even considered the possibility of twins in her mind.

But based on the way the other was looking at her, she could analyze…

It was indeed the same person.

Xia An was a bit dazed; she had just been wondering if she would meet her again, and as it turned out, the woman was right behind her?

She was dressed as capable as usual, her shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal elegant and beautiful wrists.

Just like that night, she was elegant and full of aura.

Meeting for the second time, Xia An smiled at her, yet she still couldn’t read any emotion on that exquisite face.

Did she not recognize her?

Ye Jin took a step forward and bought something from the vending machine.

She eventually took out two bottles of soda water.

When she turned back around, she looked at Xia An in silence, then handed one of the bottles to her…

Xia An was surprised once more.

Ye Jin said, “My treat.”

The expression on this face was always bland; whether silent or speaking, even though she was right in front of her, she made one feel miles away.

The quintessential iceberg beauty.

Xia An was practically overwhelmed by the favor.

She took the water from Ye Jin’s hand. “Thank you… you still remember me?”

Naturally, she remembered.

Ye Jin recalled the events of that night…

It was hard not to be impressed.

Ye Jin measured Xia An’s attire and the work ID pinned to her chest, finding it hard to believe.

“You’re a doctor?”

Her tone was filled with doubt.

“Do I not look like one?”

Xia An immediately defended herself, though her smile held a hint of grievance and helplessness.

“President Ye, I told you that day that you misunderstood me…”