Chapter 67: He Saw Her With Lin Shumo
"Of course. I’m amazing," Su Zhaozhao said with a mischievous grin, her expression shifting back to its usual lively, adorable state.
It was as if that commanding young woman from a moment ago wasn’t her at all.
"Alright, I think we should get back to today’s treatment," Su Zhaozhao said to Lin Shumo. "Doctor Lin, have you learned anything over the past few days? Why don’t you give it a try?"
Lin Shumo hadn’t expected to be put on the spot. He hurriedly pushed up his glasses and waved his hands. "No, no, I can’t. I’m just learning. When it comes to professional expertise, you should be the one to do it."
Su Zhaozhao smiled, walked over to Lin Shumo, and took his arm.
The two of them were now standing very close.
Lin Shumo’s gaze fell on Su Zhaozhao’s hand—so fair and delicate. He also caught the scent of jasmine wafting from her.
The fragrance seemed to travel from his nose straight to his heart, making it flutter uncontrollably.
His gaze then shifted to her face. Su Zhaozhao was beautiful. Her fair cheeks had a faint pink blush, and her lips, like rose petals, were curved into a smile.
Her large, dark eyes, sparkling like stars, were fixed on him.
But he knew her feelings for him were purely professional.
So the patients wouldn’t overhear, Su Zhaozhao leaned close to Lin Shumo and whispered, "So, Doctor Lin, tell me... if you were the psychologist and the treatment started showing results after two days, what would you do next?"
Lin Shumo froze for a moment. ’So she’s testing me,’ he realized.
He’d been a graduate for several years, yet here he was, being quizzed by a young woman. The situation was so absurd he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Still, Lin Shumo answered her earnestly, "Two days have passed. According to the three-to-four-day treatment plan you outlined, we should be ready to move into the integration and reconstruction phase."
"You’re brilliant, Doctor Lin!" Su Zhaozhao’s eyes widened as she gave him a thumbs-up.
The tips of Lin Shumo’s ears turned red, and his heart couldn’t help but beat a little faster.
He’d rarely been in such close contact with a woman, aside from his childhood sweetheart.
They had grown up together, so he’d become accustomed to it as a child. Even now that they were adults, that sort of physical contact felt natural.
But Su Zhaozhao was different...
Just then, Su Zhaozhao let go of his arm and went to start the therapy session with the patients.
As Lin Shumo listened to Su Zhaozhao talk with the patients, he couldn’t stop a smile from gracing his lips.
When Su Zhaozhao finished her work and stepped out of the ward, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
’Just one more day, and my work here is done.’
Lin Shumo suddenly asked, "How about we get dinner together tonight?"
Su Zhaozhao was about to refuse when Lin Shumo quickly added, "We can go to a little restaurant in town. I borrowed a bicycle, so I can give you a ride. It’s not far. Please, consider it my way of thanking you for everything I’ve learned from you these past few days. I don’t have any other way to repay you."
Lin Shumo was a surgeon by trade, but the hospital wasn’t very large. Doctors were often responsible for several departments, filling in wherever there was a vacancy.
Such was the case with Lin Shumo.
"Alright, then," Su Zhaozhao agreed.
He had gone to the trouble of borrowing a bicycle just for her; it would be rude to refuse now.
As they were leaving, Su Zhaozhao ran into Fu Yuling.
Fu Yuling greeted Su Zhaozhao warmly, but her eyes kept darting toward Lin Shumo.
Then, she pulled Su Zhaozhao aside to whisper in her ear, "Zhaozhao, what’s the deal with you and our Doctor Lin? You two seem quite close."
"The hospital assigned me to work with Doctor Lin on providing therapy for patients with post-traumatic stress," Su Zhaozhao explained.
"And now that you’re off work, you’re going...?"
"Doctor Lin invited me to dinner," Su Zhaozhao said.
"Wow, I’m so jealous," Fu Yuling sighed. "You go on ahead. I have something to tell you when you get back."
Fu Yuling’s gaze remained fixed on Lin Shumo. She appeared calm, but Su Zhaozhao sensed a shift in her mood.
’I smell gossip.’
「At the hospital entrance.」
Lin Shumo wheeled over a Phoenix-brand bicycle.
Su Zhaozhao looked at the tall bicycle. With its sturdy steel frame, it was completely different from modern bikes.
She found it fascinating.
Lin Shumo got on the bike and had Su Zhaozhao sit on the rear rack.
Su Zhaozhao couldn’t remember the last time she’d ridden on the back of someone’s bicycle.
’In her time, there were so many other ways to get around.’
A gentle breeze blew past Su Zhaozhao. The surrounding landscape of yellow earth was a unique sight.
The sky didn’t get dark early in the Northwest.
Even at seven o’clock, the sky was still bright.
"What are we going to eat?" Su Zhaozhao asked.
"There’s a place that makes incredible crumbled flatbread in mutton stew. I’ve been a few times with my colleagues. You have to try it; I think you’ll like it," Lin Shumo said with a smile.
A few military trucks drove past. Watching them, Su Zhaozhao couldn’t help but think, ’I wonder when Xie Huaizheng will be back.’
She had no idea that at that very moment, Xie Huaizheng was sitting in one of those very trucks.
After working for a full day and night without closing his eyes, he was exhausted. Their team had moved quickly, digging out the last person half a day ago.
But that person had already died.
Humankind was helpless in the face of such natural disasters.
They had completed their mission, but failing to save everyone cast a heavy pall over the journey back.
Xie Huaizheng leaned against the window, his bloodshot eyes devoid of emotion as he gazed out at the endless loess plateau.
He seemed to be in a daze, or perhaps lost in thought.
Suddenly, Xie Huaizheng spotted a bicycle on the road up ahead. A man was pedaling, and a young woman was sitting on the back.
Xie Huaizheng’s eyesight was sharp. He recognized her in an instant: the woman on the back was Su Zhaozhao.
His eyes narrowed, becoming like sharp blades smeared with blood.
Soon, Su Zhaozhao and Lin Shumo arrived in town.
She had been to this town several times already.
The town was still quite busy. Su Zhaozhao didn’t know the way, so she let Lin Shumo lead her to a restaurant where they sat down.
"Zhaozhao, you haven’t been here long, have you?" Lin Shumo asked after placing their order.
Su Zhaozhao nodded. "I haven’t. And there are still so many places I haven’t seen."
The farthest she’d ever managed to go on her own was the market Zhou Xiaoyun had taken her to.
West State was vast and sparsely populated. They were in the suburbs, several kilometers from town, so walking on her own wasn’t really an option.
’If only I had a bicycle of my own.’
"When you have time, I can show you around. You probably haven’t had a chance to experience the local culture yet, have you? It’s completely different from a place like the Jiangnan Water Village," Lin Shumo said.
’We’ll see,’ Su Zhaozhao thought.
’My work here is almost done. The only one left is Jiang Shulan, and he’s recovering very well. I’m sure he’ll be back to normal in no time.’
’Then I’ll be able to leave, too.’
’But... what about Xie Huaizheng?’
The next second, a figure approached and sat down beside Su Zhaozhao. He tapped his fingers on the table and asked, "You don’t mind if I join you, do you?"
The man’s cold voice cut through Su Zhaozhao’s thoughts.