Incurable Pain

IP Chapter 43

Incurable Pain | Chapter 43

In the North, there’s a beauty, captivating both the country and the city.

In her first year in the north, Bai Xunyin was actually quite uncomfortable.

The north and Linlan were like two completely different worlds. It hardly ever rained here, and most of the time, it was filled with fresh cold air. 

It felt like two-thirds of the year were winter, and even in the hottest part of summer, it couldn’t compare to half of Linlan’s heat.

Only after coming to the north did Bai Xunyin realize the need for down jackets, and fur.

At first, she was very uncomfortable, still wearing her coat outside in the winter, but after being taught a lesson by the knife-like cold, she knew to wear a down jacket.

The gentle-speaking girl from Linlan initially couldn’t adapt to the harsh winters outside, but after entering the dormitory, she almost had steam rising from the warm air, the loud voices of boys and girls melting away, and overly enthusiastic interpersonal relationships…

But these things later became things that Bai Xunyin loved very much and couldn’t let go of.

“Yinyin! Fang Xu brought buns for you again!” 

Early in the morning, as Bai Xunyin was tying her hair and brushing her teeth, she heard a ‘bang’ at the door. Her roommate Zhao Na pushed the door open, laughing as she approached. 

“Two weeks in a row, his pursuit tactics are too old-fashioned!”

Zhao Na was a local girl, with a lively and straightforward personality.

“Mm.” Bai Xunyin, with water in her mouth, absentmindedly responded.

“Oh, Yinyin doesn’t like him again.” 

Yu Wei, who was putting on makeup, brightened up, her voice sweetly stating the truth, “Breakfast is in our bellies again, let’s get it.”

Since Fang Xu from the Computer Science Department started pursuing Bai Xunyin, this had become a daily routine for the residents of Room 407—Fang Xu single-handedly provided breakfast for everyone in Room 407 except Bai Xunyin.

Zhao Na happily carried the buns and porridge over and placed them on the table.

Their roommate Xin Yimu, who had been awakened by their noise, rubbed her eyes and yawned as she got up.

Room 407 had people like Zhao Na who got up early to exercise, people like Yu Wei who sat at the table meticulously doing makeup two hours early, and of course, lazy people like Xin Yimu who didn’t get up until the last moment.

After finishing her morning routine and coming out of the bathroom, Yu Wei had also finished applying her makeup.

“A beauty like you doesn’t need makeup to conceal her natural beauty.” 

Yu Wei looked at Bai Xunyin’s clear, almost translucent face with envy, her voice full of admiration and jealousy as she sighed, “What did you eat to become so beautiful, Yinyin?”

Bai Xunyin was momentarily stunned, just smiling.

—For some reason, such praise had been heard almost every day since she entered university. 

Maybe it was because of that boring campus beauty contest? 

Anyway, after more than a year of hearing it, Bai Xunyin had gotten used to it.

She put on her headphones, sat at the table, and ate the bread she bought from the supermarket yesterday. The calculus problems in her headphones were like a hypnotic tool…

Days in college were just like this, plain and ordinary, warm like the quiet flow of a river, yet passing by quickly.

In the first semester of her sophomore year, Bai Xunyin met a freshman from Linlan.

It was somewhat ridiculous to say, but that day she was attending a public calculus class, and a girl sat down next to her in a relaxed manner.

Her ‘wild’ actions caught Bai Xunyin’s attention, and when she turned slightly, she saw a girl who looked like a doll.

The girl was wearing a tight black knitted short-sleeved shirt, extremely fitted, with a hot figure and a bold denim skirt on her lower body, stepping on ten-centimeter high heels, her legs slender and long, pure white.

Bai Xunyin glanced at her and then looked away, feeling somewhat admiring—autumn in the north was colder than winter in Linlan. At least she absolutely wouldn’t dare to wear leg-baring clothes.

The moment the girl sat down next to Bai Xunyin, she attracted the attention of at least half of the class.

But the girl’s attention was all on Bai Xunyin. Seeing that she was being ignored, she raised her eyebrows and couldn’t help but seek attention. 

“Hello.”

The professor hadn’t entered yet, and Bai Xunyin turned her head to smile at the girl, returning the greeting. 

“Hello.”

“I’m a freshman, and I came specifically to find you.” The girl’s face was cute, and she hummed as she looked at Bai Xunyin. 

“Just wanted to see what the campus beauty looks like.”

Bai Xunyin: “…”

“Originally, I was very unconvinced, but…” 

The girl hesitated for a moment, reluctantly admitting, “You really are quite pure.”

Faced with this praise, which she didn’t know if it was a compliment or not, Bai Xunyin couldn’t help but chuckle, at a loss for words.

“To be honest, it’s only because of you that I’ve given up.” 

The girl wrinkled her nose and muttered, “Otherwise, I would have had the Computer Science Department organize a vote and snatch the title of campus beauty back!”

She spoke straightforwardly, but her personality was genuine.

Bai Xunyin always smiled lightly, remaining silent, but this time, her smile didn’t carry the usual faint aloofness.

She quite liked the straightforward girl in front of her, warm and bold, radiant with sunshine, clearly raised in a harmonious and happy environment.

“Huh? Why aren’t you saying anything?” The girl’s slender and fair fingers twirled around the ends of her hair. 

“I specially checked your class schedule to catch you, didn’t expect you to be so cold.”

Bai Xunyin felt a bit wronged by this.

In fact, after recovering her voice three years ago, she developed a symptom of not liking to talk, not because she was aloof or anything like that.

“I’m sorry.” Bai Xunyin whispered to the girl. 

“What did you want to say? I’ll listen.”

The girl was taken aback, her eyes with green contact lenses staring straight at her. After a while, she burst into laughter.

Bai Xunyin was stunned by her sudden laughter.

“Hahaha, sister, why are you so cute?” 

The girl’s bright eyes curved up, a smile playing on her lips, coquettishly introducing herself—

“I’m Yu Shitian, let’s hang out together in the future.”

Perhaps because they were both from Linlan, Bai Xunyin quickly became acquainted with Yu Shitian.

Although she was a freshman, and her major in Finance was quite different from Bai Xunyin’s major in Physics, they still often went out together to shop and watch movies.

Yu Shitian was a simple and enthusiastic girl, straightforward and sweet-talking. From her, Bai Xunyin often saw shadows resembling Amo.

Perhaps naturally nostalgic, she just liked being friends with people like this.

Yu Shitian never called her by her name, always calling her “sister”.

Occasionally, when Bai Xunyin heard it too much, she couldn’t help but smile, asking her jokingly, “Do you have older sisters at home? Otherwise, why are you so good at acting cute?”

“Where would I get older sisters? I have two older brothers.” 

Yu Shitian grumbled, disdainfully huffing, “They just exploit and squeeze me, not affectionate at all. I want a sister—do you mind if I call you sister?”

Bai Xunyin shook her head indifferently. 

“I don’t mind.”

Since she didn’t have a younger sister, having one more wasn’t a big deal.

The calm and uneventful days passed quickly, and before she knew it, it was the end of the year.

On the evening of December 31st, Bai Xunyin dialed Ji Huiying’s number and whispered, “Mom, happy new year.”

This was already her second year away from home, a bustling and lively night in the depths of winter. Almost everyone in the dormitory had gone home or had plans, leaving only her alone in the dormitory.

Faint sounds of firecrackers could be heard outside the window, but it only made the inside of the room feel colder.

Only during festivals like New Year’s did Bai Xunyin feel that her decision to leave home was a bit excessive.

Just like a child chasing dreams, one often overlooks the gradually aging parents behind them—if she had stayed in Linlan, at least she could spend New Year’s Eve with Ji Huiying.

Bai Xunyin usually didn’t think too much about this matter, but Ji Huiying was always something she couldn’t let go of in her heart, always something she worried about.

So when she entered her junior year, and almost all the students in the Physics Department began preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam, Bai Xunyin secretly started looking for internship opportunities online.

The nature of the Physics Department was special, different from other majors where graduates could start working right away. In this field, even graduate students were considered very basic.

A large number of PhD and master’s degree holders couldn’t find jobs, let alone fresh graduates?

Almost all the students who chose the Physics Department were prepared not to graduate in four years, not to graduate in six years, and to continue studying indefinitely.

So when Zhao Na accidentally saw Bai Xunyin looking for an internship, she was quite surprised.

“No, Yinyin…” 

Zhao Na leaned over, hesitating to ask, “Aren’t you planning to apply for graduate school?”

For students like Bai Xunyin, who excelled academically, studied diligently, and received full scholarships, they would be directly admitted to graduate school. 

Almost no one doubted that she would continue her studies, so her roommates had never asked if Bai Xunyin had such plans when they were preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam before.

Physics students, diligent students, why would they ask?

But it seemed that the more certain something was, the more likely it was to deviate.

As Bai Xunyin was writing, her fingers paused at Zhao Na’s questioning, then she casually said, “Not really, just checking it out.”

Actually, she did want to pursue a master’s degree, but she was really reluctant to study for so many more years, and then use this morally high ground reason to pile all the family burdens on Ji Huiying.

Before, it was because she couldn’t go to school, but now that she was grown up, she was unwilling to let Ji Huiying continue to bear the burden of “tightening the belt” every month to save money for the hospital.

The family expenses, the maintenance treatment for Bai Hongsheng in the hospital, were all huge expenses.

Since her freshman year, Bai Xunyin had been working part-time, receiving scholarships, and tutoring to send money home every month, trying to lighten the burden on Ji Huiying’s shoulders. She didn’t want her mother to continue working tirelessly even after retirement.

She didn’t not want to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree, but Bai Xunyin always thought that finding a job directly after graduation would be a quicker way to reduce the burden on her family… she was really torn.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have chosen to study physics in the first place.

Bai Xunyin sighed silently and ticked off the tutoring classes on her schedule.

The entire first semester of her junior year was spent in a dilemma between whether to take the postgraduate entrance exam and working part-time.

It wasn’t until she received a call from home—

“Yi, Yinyin…” Ji Huiying on the other end of the line was crying non-stop, her voice trembling. 

“Your father, he…”

Bai Xunyin’s heart thudded violently.

After nearly five years, Bai Hongsheng passed away on a Friday morning.

May 18th, it was a sunny day.