Chapter 71: CH 63

The night was long.

Just like Shen Fangyu, Jiang Xu lost sleep this night.

The two got up in the morning, met in the bathroom, and saw the same dark circles under each other’s eyes.

“You…” Shen Fangyu was speechless. “Didn’t you sleep well last night? ”

“I slept well.” Jiang Xu glanced at the toothpaste and the cup filled with water that Shen Fangyu had squeezed for him on the sink with expressionless eyes.

“First, have breakfast. And don’t drive; I’ll take you to work.” Shen Fangyu hugged his elbows, leaned against the doorway, and watched him brush his teeth through the reflection in the mirror.

“No need.”

“We take the same route anyway, so there is no need to drive two cars, it’s wasting fuel,” Shen Fangyu said, adding with a dignified voice, “Now the state advocates energy conservation and environmental protection.”

Jiang Xu spit out the toothpaste bubble and rinsed his mouth.

Shen Fangyu glanced at Jiang Xu’s abdomen again and said, “The child is getting heavier, so you must be getting tired from driving.”

Jiang Xu raised his head when he heard this and looked at Shen Fangyu in the mirror.

Some water marks were still on his lips, and Jiang Xu noticed Shen Fangyu’s gaze brush over his lips before quickly moving away.

Jiang Xu pursed his lips, took a tissue to dry his lips, and sat down at the dining table with a fire in his heart.

“I bought the fried rice that you like.” Shen Fangyu said: “The milk is also mixed with honey, have a taste.”

Jiang Xu dipped some rice in chili sauce and ate it, but he felt as if his tongue was unconscious; he couldn’t taste the spiciness.

After a while, he said to Shen Fangyu, “Thank you.”

Shen Fangyu was stunned, and then he helped him dip another chopstick of rice, saying, “You don’t have to be so polite with me.”

Jiang Xu shook his head and put down his chopsticks.

“That’s all you’re having?” Shen Fangyu asked.

Jiang Xu glanced at the golden fried rice on the table and said, “I’m not hungry.”

“Okay…Shen Fangyu said, “I went to the supermarket yesterday to buy some biscuits and bread, I’ll take them with me to the office so you can have something to eat when you get hungry.”

He helped Jiang Xu pack up the dishes and chopsticks after eating and turned the car keys in his hand, saying, “Let’s go.”

In the end, Jiang Xu still took Shen Fangyu’s car to the hospital.

Last night’s presumptuous and abrupt kiss was like a taboo that could not be said, and although neither of them mentioned it, a subtle and indescribable atmosphere enveloped the two, and they both felt inexplicably bewildered.

Jiang Xu’s mind was a mess, and even after thinking about it all night, he still couldn’t wrap his mind around it and felt that his thoughts were even more chaotic.

He felt a vague sense of anticipation and impulse in his heart, but it was as if the emotion was locked away in the darkness of the night, surrounded by countless blocks.

He sighed and forced himself to calm down as he walked toward the operating room.

Fortunately, Shen Fangyu had to sit in the clinic today, and he was busy in the operating room until five o’clock, so he didn’t run into him.

Due to the reduced physical capacity caused by his pregnancy, he has now reduced his surgical workload. His last surgery of the day would have been finished by four o’clock, but he was just about to take a break when a patient with placental abruption appeared in the labor ward.

The placenta abruption was critical and progressing very quickly, and a single mistake could easily turn into hemorrhage and fetal distress, resulting in two deaths at once.

Jiang Xu didn’t even have time to drink water before rushing back to the operating room.

Fortunately, the situation in the delivery room was not too serious, and the fetus was delivered without any problems and the patient’s condition gradually stabilized.

Before suturing the incision, Jiang Xu explored the patient’s bilateral ovaries as usual. Although the cesarean section was an operation to remove the fetus, it was a rare opportunity to examine the patient because the operation required an open laparotomy, so the field of vision exposed to the doctor was also larger.

This is why doctors would also perform a routine examination of the condition of the patient’s uterus and adnexa after a cesarean section to enable early detection of lesions that are not easily detectable on a vitro examination.

Usually, such checks don’t result in any findings, and the majority of patients who have a cesarean section are healthy. However, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to come up, and Jiang Xu was unfortunate enough to see a cyst-like lesion in this patient’s ovary.

He had just completed a resuscitation, and his forehead was sweating so much that it even became a little cold. The intraoperative cytopathology results were soon reported back and showed a high suspicion of ovarian cancer.

He glanced at the patient and was somewhat helpless.

The odds of this situation happening were one in a few tens of thousands.

Yu Sang said on the side, “Brother Xu, I’ll go and prepare the surgery notice with the patient’s family, should we prepare for adnexal resection and debridement?”

The open laparotomy incisions were large, so they didn’t need to do another incision to work on the issue.

Jiang Xu took a slow, deep breath and asked Yu Sang, “What time is it?”

“Half past five.” Yu Sang glanced at him but noticed that Jiang Xu’s forehead was a little sweaty. “What’s wrong, Brother Xu?”

He hadn’t slept all night yesterday and felt that his physical abilities were a bit untenable. The child in his stomach, who normally doesn’t have such a strong presence, seemed extra heavy at this time. His pelvis seemed to be crashing in pain, and his legs were a bit weak.

At 5:30, Shen Fangyu should have just finished his consultations.

Jiang Xu paused briefly for a moment and said to the itinerant nurse, “Call Shen Fangyu and tell him to come over within ten minutes.”

He didn’t want to give in at such a time, much less call Shen Fangyu to help at this unbelievably delicate moment when there was an awkward situation between the two of them.

But the patient was still lying on the bed, waiting to be treated, and a radical operation for ovarian cancer was a delicate operation that had no room for error.

Ten minutes later, Shen Fangyu walked in in his scrubs, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead as he entered.

His eyes darted around the operating room as if he were looking for something, and his eyes stopped when they saw Jiang Xu.

Jiang Xu gave him a short nod and began to brief him on the intra-operative situation.

Meanwhile, Yu Sang brought the patient’s consent form for the operation, and he watched dumbfounded as Jiang Xu left the core of the operation while the nurse walked behind Shen Fangyu and began to put a surgical gown on him.

“Cooperate with Dr. Shen to continue the surgery.” Jiang Xu finished his explanation and found a chair in the operating room to sit down.

In front of a group of doctors and nurses, Shen Fangyu didn’t say anything more, but only inclined his head and gave a soft instruction to the nurse, asking her to help bring a bottle of glucose over.

The glucose solution was handed to Jiang Xu, who was sitting in a corner away from the operating area. His head was leaning against the wall, looking extraordinarily tired, even the hand holding the bottle of glucose was a little weak.

The weight gaining child was pressing on his lumbar spine and sacrococcygeal area, and the pain felt like a dull knife cutting into his flesh, not sharp but always present.

Jiang Xu took off his mask and slowly drank the entire bottle of glucose before his strength slowly recovered a little. He put the bottle on the floor and propped his head up, looking at Shen Fangyu as a way to divert his attention a little.

This wasn’t the first time Jiang Xu had watched Shen Fangyu operate. They both came from the same school and were colleagues, so even if they had been at odds with each other in the past, it wouldn’t affect their learning from each other.

Therefore, he had meticulously watched Shen Fangyu’s surgeries countless times, whether it was watching the surgical videos or observing them in person, so he was familiar with his surgical style, even down to his knot-tying techniques and surgical habits.

But this was the first time that the focus of his attention was not on the operation itself, but on Shen Fangyu, the man performing it.

Objectively speaking, it should be because he was too far away to see the exact details of the operation, while subjectively speaking, perhaps this was his original intention at this moment.

The operating room was quiet, with only the mechanical sound of the instruments.

The light blue mask blocked the lower half of Dr. Shen’s face, revealing only a pair of black-and-white eyes. Those eyes did not look at the operating table with a glow or a smile as usual, but looked at it with utmost concentration as he held the silvery-white, sharp scalpel in his hand and operated at a leisurely pace.

Suddenly, he realized that Shen Fangyu was very handsome.

His legs were long, his nose was high, his eyebrows and eyes were handsome, and even with the mask over his face, he could still see the contours of the lower half of his face, with its distinctive lines and sharp jaw.

Perhaps it was because he did not get along with Shen Fangyu, or because he was a bit face-blind, but he had never paid any serious attention to anyone’s looks before, let alone Shen Fangyu.

He couldn’t even say why this strange thought had popped up in his mind.

It was a subtle feeling, like a song that had been playing randomly for more than ten years, but you didn’t even remember its name, and suddenly, one day, when you were in the right mood, you heard it in your heart.

Then you suddenly realize that it’s unusual, and you even think it’s quite good. At the same time, some subtle emotions may even arise, such as wondering why you didn’t find it so good before.

In all the time he had known Shen Fangyu, this was the first time he had ever thought that Shen Fangyu was handsome when he performed surgery.

And it wasn’t just Shen Fangyu’s surgery that was so good, his operation was so pleasing to the eye, silently and subtly capturing his attention.

The desire to win was probably engraved in men’s DNA.

It would be difficult to get a skilled male surgeon to acknowledge that another male surgeon looks handsome when performing surgery, just like martial arts masters who have reached the peak of their cultivation and have gathered to compare swordsmanship, who would want to compliment his opponent on his swordsmanship?

Even when the onlookers influence them with boos or cheers, the only thing on their minds is that they have to overpower the other.

But at this moment, Jiang Xu was having such a thought without any pressure or influence from anyone.

Without realizing it, his heart started beating a little faster than usual.

He didn’t even realize how long he had been staring at Shen Fangyu, nor did he notice that the pain had slowly disappeared.

After the operation was over, the people in the operating room left one after the other, and Shen Fangyu finished packing up his things and walked up to him.

“It’s been a long wait.”

Jiang Xu shook his head, he hadn’t been waiting either, he was just recovering his strength.

“Let me treat you to dinner, I’ve bothered you today.” Jiang Xu said.

“It’s better if I treat you to dinner.” There was no one else at the moment, and Shen Fangyu’s eyes finally showed some distress, “You didn’t sleep well last night, right? It’s me who should make amends to you.”

He helped Jiang Xu up from his chair. Shen Fangyu’s hand was steady, yet his movements were light, not giving Jiang Xu any discomfort, but making him feel much stronger.

“I don’t want to eat at Xianju.” Jiang Xu said.

The clear soup and nourishing meal were almost tasteless to him.

“Then let’s eat something else,” Shen Fangyu spoke kindly, driving him around several small alleys and finally stopping in front of a restaurant at the end of the alley: “Do you want some hot pot? I often come here, the taste is authentic, and the owner is from B City, you should like it.”

The two walked into the hotpot restaurant, and as soon as the boss saw Shen Fangyu, he recognized him and asked, “Doctor Shen?” He said familiarly, “Same as always, or should I give you the Mandarin duck pot?”

City B had a heavy taste, and the locals always ate very spicy food and did not eat the mild soup hot pots.

“Yes.” Shen Fangyu gave Jiang Xu a look. It was not good for pregnant people to eat too much spicy food.

Jiang Xu had been in B City for eighteen years and obviously had the same taste as the regular people in B City. He glanced at Shen Fangyu and then looked at the boss and said, “No need.”

The boss, who had received different messages, scratched his head and looked back at Shen Fangyu, who lowered his head and smiled and said, “Then listen to him.”

A pot full of red, oily and spicy soup was brought up. The bright red chilies were burning hot, and the golden aromatic oil was mixed with a mellow vinegar sauce. Shen Fangyu blanched the fatty beef and tripe for Jiang Xu, ladling them into his bowl one by one.

Jiang Xu hadn’t eaten hot pot in a long time, and today’s indulgence left his lips tingling and red, and he felt satiated after a full meal.

“Want some brown sugar glutinous rice cakes?” Shen Fangyu offered him some snacks.

Jiang Xu took a bite of the soft sweetness.

“This shop is authentic, right?” Shen Fangyu said it with a little bit of smugness.

The spicy, sour, and sweet were all just right, and Jiang Xu nodded.

“Are you happy?” Shen Fangyu said, “I also ate a lot when I first found this place.”

There’s probably nothing better than having food with the authentic taste of your hometown when you’re away from home, and Jiang Xu was clearly in a good mood. “How did you find this place?” He asked.

The restaurant was quite hidden, and although it wasn’t far from Jihua, Jiang Xu had never even heard of it before.

“By my love of life,” Shen Fangyu said, and then went on to preach, “When it comes to the food around Jihua, no one knows more than me; I really can’t stand eating noodles every day and not even changing the taste as you do,” he said: “I care about the quality of life.”

Jiang Xiu, who had been connoted with a handful of words, “……”

Shen Fangyu swept him a glance as if unintentionally and said cautiously: “If you are willing to eat with me often in the future…I will tell you about all those restaurants.”

At these words, Jiang Xu slowly put down his chopsticks.

The words were ambiguous, a bit like a teenage boy coaxing a girl he likes, and Jiang Xu could sense that Shen Fangyu was trying to test his attitude.

His attitude about that kiss and about their relationship.

Jiang Xu glanced at Shen Fangyu, whose face looked calm, but when he looked a little closer, he could see that he kept picking up the same piece of potato in the pot and throwing it back.

He was a little nervous.

Jiang Xiu pursed his lips, reviewed all his considerations from last night, and tried to extract something important from them, and started with, “I’m actually quite happy to have met you.”