Chapter 129: Isolation
The one who joked that he hoped someone would come pay their bill was Du Enyun, the youngest doctor in the medical department before Nan Yu arrived. Although he was considered young, he was still thirty or forty years older than Nan Yu.
Yet surprisingly, he looked like an energetic teenager full of youthful vitality.
Nan Yu looked at him for a few moments before asking, "Has something like that actually happened before?"
Du Enyun chuckled.
"Yeah, it really did. About a year ago. The cafeteria publishes the breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu for each day in advance, so everyone can check it on their optical brains. If they saw a dish they liked, they'd do everything they could to get there as early as possible."
Nan Yu nodded and continued listening.
Grinning, Du Enyun said, "That one dish was unbelievable. The ingredients were incredibly rare. I heard they were only supplied to our legion's cafeteria—you couldn't buy them anywhere else. Even the Crown Prince came here to freeload a meal that day."
"Of course we knew that dish was going to be served too, so we rushed over at noon and even arrived half an hour early to wait for the cafeteria to open."
"When it finally opened, every one of us ordered a portion. If I could have, I would've ordered two or three myself, but the cafeteria has rules. Many dishes made from rare ingredients are limited to one serving per person. Still, there were a lot of us. More than twenty people from the medical department showed up that day."
"It really wasn't our fault. We had no idea there were so few portions. In total there were only a little over forty servings, and our department ordered half of them in one go."
"So when everyone else came to eat and discovered there were only a few left, they immediately started looking for the culprit."
"They found us pretty quickly, and that guy even barged straight into our private dining room. Honestly, the way his eyes were bloodshot scared the hell out of us."
"Fortunately, someone stopped him and dragged him away. Afterwards, he gave us a very sincere apology and even insisted on paying for our meal."
"You have to know, that dish was ridiculously expensive. More than twenty portions, plus all the other food we ordered—he paid for everything."
"The total came to over three hundred thousand credits, and that was after the cafeteria gave him a discount."
After thinking it through, Nan Yu felt that, from one perspective, the people before him were a little odd, but they really couldn't be called bad people.
They had simply wanted to eat more of something they liked.
The one who barged into the private room must have been one of the biggest troublemakers in the legion.
Moreover, the medical department hadn't pursued the matter afterward. Otherwise, an apology and paying the bill would never have been enough punishment.
On the surface, it seemed like the people from the medical department had been greedy. They knew there weren't many servings, yet they had ordered so much that everyone else was left without any.
But if one thought about it carefully, the Ability User had actually been the one in the wrong.
First, he shouldn't have forced his way into their private room and frightened everyone inside.
Second, he had failed to control his emotions, which caused the entire incident.
As they chatted, Du Enyun and the others led Nan Yu to the cafeteria.
This time, the medical department hadn't come in a group of more than twenty like Du Enyun had mentioned before, but there were still twelve of them.
The cafeteria staff merely glanced at them with expressions that clearly said, Here they are again.
They had obviously grown accustomed to this scene.
But when they noticed the unfamiliar face among them, all of their attention shifted to him.
That person was Nan Yu, who was being surrounded and "protected" by the medical department staff.
Like Du Enyun, he picked one serving of the limited-time, limited-quantity special dish before carrying his tray away.
Naturally, he had to pay for it before leaving the counter.
Nan Yu glanced at the total.
He had ordered two dishes.
One was something he already liked.
The other was the one Du Enyun had strongly recommended, claiming it was exceptionally delicious.
The meal cost him one hundred and sixty thousand credits.
Most of that money had gone toward the dish Du Enyun recommended.
Not wanting to waste food, Nan Yu took a bite.
Then he suddenly realized...
He really wasn't used to this flavor.
"Why does this dish taste like this? I had no idea. I don't think I like this flavor at all. Do all of you actually enjoy it?"
Only after asking did Nan Yu realize that, among the dozen or so people present, only he and Du Enyun had ordered the new special dish.
Du Enyun looked up.
"What? You don't like it? How is that possible? Why is everyone's sense of taste different from mine?"
He sighed dramatically.
"Something this delicious, and none of you want to eat it. What a waste. By the way, Nan Yu, are you still going to eat it? If not, let me help you."
Nan Yu found the flavor almost impossible to swallow.
He had forced himself to get that first bite down while suppressing the urge to vomit.
Even now, his stomach still felt uncomfortable.
He hadn't expected Du Enyun to genuinely enjoy it.
"If you want it, then go ahead. I really don't like the taste."
Du Enyun happily took the plate away.
Since Nan Yu had only picked off a tiny piece from the edge to taste it, the dish was practically untouched.
Watching him eat with such enthusiasm, Nan Yu couldn't help sighing inwardly.
So there really were people who liked something that tasted this strange.
Then again, everyone had different tastes.
Originally, Nan Yu had only ordered two dishes.
Now that one had been taken away, all he had left was a small bowl of soup that was meant to accompany the meal.
There was no way he could make an entire dinner out of just that bowl of soup.
Nan Yu was actually quite picky.
He simply hadn't shown it before because he didn't want to be deliberately isolated by the people here from the very beginning.
Most of the older doctors thought highly of both his talent and his diligence.
Combined with the fact that he was Yu Lanfeng's partner, even if they didn't particularly want to become close to him, they certainly wouldn't offend him without reason.
Nan Yu simply placed another order.
This time, he only bought a dish he actually liked before continuing his meal with everyone else.
About halfway through eating, everyone suddenly announced they were finished and stood up to leave.
Nan Yu watched them all get up, somewhat at a loss.
"You're leaving already? You're not going to wait for me?"
Du Enyun waved dismissively.
"Nope. Take your time. Just head back to the medical department after you're done. What, just because you eat slowly, we're supposed to sit here waiting for you?"
Nan Yu silently watched them walk away.
After withdrawing his gaze, he set down his chopsticks and looked at the messy table.
He sighed quietly.
"I can't believe I actually got tricked for once..."
That's right.
By now, Nan Yu had already figured out what had happened.
These younger doctors had simply decided to "teach" someone even younger a lesson.
They had tricked him into treating everyone to the most expensive dishes.
They had clearly known he wouldn't like that particular specialty.
So after he admitted he didn't want it anymore, Du Enyun happily accepted it.
Nan Yu stayed seated for a while.
But when he reached the cafeteria entrance, he immediately noticed something.
It was now the peak hour when the majority of soldiers flooded into the cafeteria.
The entrance was packed.
Going out through the front...
No.
That definitely wasn't an option.
After thinking for a moment, Nan Yu turned around and headed toward the back door instead.
Fortunately, it wasn't locked.
After slipping out through the rear exit, he followed a small path behind the cafeteria.
More than half an hour later, he finally returned to the medical department.
The first thing he did upon arriving was prepare to look for his first patient.
But just as Yu Lanfeng had told him before, the medical department was incredibly quiet.
Sometimes they could spend an entire day sitting around doing nothing.
When Nan Yu returned, the same people who had enthusiastically taken him to lunch earlier were now all busily immersed in their work.
At first glance, they genuinely looked busy.
But this wasn't Nan Yu's first time here.
He had visited several times before.
If one watched carefully, it became obvious that they were repeatedly staring at the exact same reports over and over again.
They were simply putting on a show.
But...
Why?
Were they pretending specifically for him?
During his previous visits, the senior staff in the medical department had left him with an excellent impression.
He had never expected the younger generation to be so hostile toward him.
And rather than confronting him openly, they preferred underhanded tricks.
Especially what had happened in the cafeteria.
If Nan Yu hadn't carefully checked himself before leaving the private room, he might really have fallen into their trap.
They could very well have tampered with his clothes.
Nan Yu took a deep breath.
Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with them.
Still, this wasn't the time to stand around spacing out.
Since they had already made it very clear—albeit in a subtle way—that they didn't want to associate with him, he certainly wasn't going to force himself on people who disliked him.
For Nan Yu, having one lover was enough.
As for friends...
Other than Yang Zhou, everyone else was optional.
Taking another deep breath, Nan Yu still couldn't understand what they were thinking.
But emotionally, he wasn't particularly bothered.
He spent the entire afternoon with the veteran technician responsible for the medical equipment, studying the various machines and learning what each one was used for.
For example...
Forget it.
Nan Yu had no intention of stirring up trouble here.
He had seen how exhausted Yu Lanfeng had been lately.
The Marshal was already carrying far too much on his shoulders.
Nan Yu didn't want to bother him with such trivial matters.
Over the following days, only the older members of the medical department spoke to him.
They praised his performance repeatedly and even said they definitely wanted to accept him as their direct disciple, asking whether he was willing.
Nan Yu gave them the same answer every single time.
Then, after returning from the medical department, he would sit on the sofa, lie down across Yu Lanfeng's lap, and begin complaining.
"They're all so stupid. I can't even tell whether they're pretending or if they're really like this."