Incurable Pain

IP Chapter 55

Incurable Pain | Chapter 55

The silent gaze lasted for a while, as if time had been paused.

Seeing her innocent and puzzled eyes, Yu Luoyin chuckled lightly, breaking the silence that felt like a dreamland.

“What are you doing here?”

Bai Xunyin rubbed her eyes, lazily straightened up, and looked at him. “Waiting for you.”

Yu Luoyin was taken aback this time, a hint of amusement flashing between his eyebrows and eyes.

“Waiting for me?”

“Yeah.”

Bai Xunyin opened her small hand, inside of which lay the car key that was all too familiar to Yu Luoyin. The indentation left on her fair palm by the key made it slightly red. Her voice, just awakened, was somewhat muffled.

“To drive you home.”

…

Fool, in fact, he had just been drinking ‘fake alcohol’.

Emergency room doctors always had to be ready to answer phone calls, how could he dare to really drink?

He was just colluding with Li Yuan, trying to find an opportunity to get closer to her.

Yu Luoyin felt inexplicably sour in his heart, crying and laughing, “You could’ve just left the car key here.”

He had just finished a four-hour surgery, no wonder Bai Xunyin fell asleep waiting.

“Although you’re not drunk, you still need ten hours after drinking to drive.”

Bai Xunyin explained her reason left behind, sticking to her principles.

“So, let me drive you.”

After all, this was something she had promised.

Yu Luoyin looked at her calmly for a while, then smiled and agreed.

He didn’t mention that he could take a taxi back, nor did he reveal that this certainly wasn’t the only reason Bai Xunyin waited for four hours. Because Yu Luoyin was willing to cooperate with her.

He was willing to wait until Bai Xunyin stepped out of her current psychological comfort zone, until the feeling of unease disappeared completely.

And then slowly mend the broken mirror, urgency was something that couldn’t be rushed.

Days went by like this, neither salty nor bland. The emergency room outside the gods was busy every day, and Bai Xunyin was also immersed in her practical thesis. The communication between the two was limited to mobile phones and WeChat.

They were quite unfamiliar with each other, and they barely exchanged a few words in a week.

Both were adults accustomed to independent living, not to mention being separated for six years. They weren’t quite sure how to approach each other for a moment.

Ah Mo also asked Bai Xunyin—what is the current relationship between her and Yu Luoyin? Any progress?

Bai Xunyin remained silent for a moment, then conservatively replied, “It’s okay, let’s take it one step at a time.”

This was the most honest state of affairs between her and Yu Luoyin at the moment.

Time quickly came to the hottest June, Mangzhong Day*. A group of team members who had been tirelessly working in the laboratory for almost half a month finally completed their practical thesis. Not only did it spark discussions in the academic community after publication, but its theoretical significance even gained recognition from Li Chengfeng.

*T/N: Ninth of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendar.

The entire team not only received a few days off and a generous bonus but also had the honor of being personally visited and praised by leaders from the Academy.

As one of the leading figures in this research project, Bai Xunyin was called out of the laboratory by the director before leaving work, who earnestly advised her, “Little Bai, remember not to dress too casually when you come to work tomorrow, dress a little more formally.”

Formal?

Bai Xunyin was taken aback, looking at the director with confusion.

“Well, tomorrow, there will be leaders coming to visit in person from above.”

The director’s round face was smiling, showing his happiness.

“Your team needs to take a group photo.”

Now Bai Xunyin knew why she had to dress ‘formally.’

But it didn’t matter. Although most of her clothes were casual, Bai Xunyin had a set of professional suits and skirts in her wardrobe for various interviews.

The next day, when colleagues who were used to seeing Bai Xunyin in the lab coat and sweater saw her, they were somewhat surprised.

The slender girl was wearing a conventional short suit, the waist design making her slender waist look like it could be held with one hand. Under the pencil skirt, her two slender legs were wearing black high heels, straight and slender, as white as if soaked in milk.

Everyone in the lab knew that their ‘Little Bai’ was beautiful, but suddenly changing her style, they still couldn’t take their eyes off her beauty.

After all, most of the people in the laboratory were men, and there were few women. Men naturally couldn’t help but be attracted to beautiful women.

Bai Xunyin was used to being seen since she was a child. Although she felt a little awkward at first facing all those eyes, she quickly calmed down and went about her business as usual.

“Little Bai, you’re so young and lively.”

At noon, when the department head Sister Yan saw Bai Xunyin, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over, exclaiming, “You should dress up more often, you’re too plain on weekdays. Look at the wolves in our department, they can’t take their eyes off you.”

Bai Xunyin smiled somewhat embarrassedly, modestly shaking her head. “Sister Yan, you’re exaggerating.”

“Little Bai, do you have a boyfriend?” Sister Yan’s eyes sparkled, eager to ask.

“If not, let me introduce one to you.”

The introduction of potential partners was indeed the favorite activity of middle-aged people.

Bai Xunyin smiled wryly and shook her head.

“No need, thank you, Sister Yan.”

Sister Yan was taken aback, “Do you have a boyfriend then?”

“No, but…”

“If you don’t, then let me introduce one to you.”

Sister Yan, who was in the department’s human resources department, was most knowledgeable about interpersonal relationships in her daily life. She had countless acquaintances and her eyes curved into a smile.

“You’re twenty-five this year, right? I have many excellent candidates under my hands. The best opportunities should not be wasted.”

Bai Xunyin quickly shook her head. “Sister Yan, really…”

“Little Bai, hurry up!”

Unfortunately, before the words could be finished, a colleague in a suit ran over while tying his tie, calling out to her, “Little Bai, the director is calling for you.”

Seeing the colleague’s appearance, it seemed that the leaders from above had indeed arrived.

Bai Xunyin had no choice but to close her mouth, politely smiled at Sister Yan, and got up to leave.

As she left, she faintly heard Sister Yan saying behind her, “Little Bai is the best seedling in our department, even prettier than those female stars. I will definitely introduce her to the best young man…”

She suddenly felt a headache and decided that she must formally reject Sister Yan tomorrow.

Bai Xunyin felt that her free time was extremely limited now. There was not enough time for eating and sleeping, so where would she find time to date?

While pondering this, she walked with her colleagues to the director’s office. The place was already packed with people. There were even several news media outlets outside, holding cameras, obviously to record this ‘academic exchange’ moment.

Today’s research institute was no longer as pure as it used to be. Whenever there was a new paper, experiment, or research, these media outlets were always the first to arrive.

Bai Xunyin was pulled into the office by the director. She had just adjusted her face to a somewhat stiff smile—however, this smile turned into a stiffness when it touched upon a familiar figure in the office.

Not far away, a woman dressed in a blue suit, with her long hair meticulously tied up, and wearing matching jewelry around her neck and hands, was elegantly standing there. It was Gu Yan.

After not seeing her for several years, Gu Yan showed no signs of aging. She was still so beautiful, without a single wrinkle in the corners of her eyes. Her demeanor was even more refined as she politely stood there, smiling and shaking hands with the people coming and going.

It turned out… that the leader who came to visit was Gu Yan.

But it wasn’t surprising.

After all, Gu Yan was the professor whom Bai Xunyin had sincerely admired. Although she hadn’t deliberately followed her lectures and papers in recent years, she had heard that her status in the industry was getting higher and higher, and now she seemed to be at the level of a ‘director.’

As if sensing the gaze on her, Gu Yan turned her head slightly and saw Bai Xunyin.

The latter clearly caught a hint of understanding in the woman’s eyes and was not surprised.

Did Gu Yan know that she was at the research institute? Bai Xunyin wondered, but still nodded politely as a junior, and smiled gently.

Bai Xunyin originally thought that her relationship with Gu Yan should be just politely greeting each other and then ignoring each other.

However… Gu Yan walked towards her.

Standing in front of Bai Xunyin, Gu Yan smiled and said, “Long time no see.”

Immediately, many pairs of eyes around them looked over—after all, Gu Yan was at the level of a dean, and every move of hers was under the spotlight.

Bai Xunyin forced a smile and replied, “Director Gu.”

“When I saw your name on the paper before, I was surprised,” Gu Yan looked at her, and the admiration in her eyes and at the corners of her mouth seemed genuinely heartfelt, “I didn’t expect you to actually continue in the field of physics, and you’re doing so well.”

Bai Xunyin blushed slightly and pursed her lips with embarrassment. “Thank you for your praise, Director Gu.”

“Well, let’s have a cup of tea together after this is over,” Gu Yan said, extending her hand to hand her own business card.

Then, ignoring Bai Xunyin’s bewildered expression, the woman turned around and left gracefully, dealing with various people who came to network around her.

It wasn’t until ten minutes later that the team from the research institute gathered around Gu Yan, staring at the camera and leaving behind a group photo of everyone, each holding a doctoral degree or higher.

During the photo shoot, Bai Xunyin felt a bit awkward facing the camera. She didn’t know how she looked in the photos because her whole body felt a bit stiff—she had originally just wanted to find a corner and take a customary photo, but somehow, Gu Yan had pulled her next to her.

She forced Bai Xunyin to stand in the middle of the ‘c-position,’ holding the large certificate frame together.

Surrounded by a group of big shots, Bai Xunyin couldn’t help but feel her palms getting sweaty.

As if she had developed a fear of cameras, luckily, the photo shoot didn’t take long.

The people sent by the Academy didn’t stay long. After taking the photo and dealing with the media, they left.

Seeing them off, the director hurriedly called Bai Xunyin over, excitedly asking her in a low voice, “Little Bai, do you know Director Gu?”

Bai Xunyin shook her head, “Not well.”

The director nodded, “But you know her.”

“Director Gu… her child used to go to the same high school as me,” Bai Xunyin knew she couldn’t handle this situation too well, so she had to pick and choose her words truthfully, “She came to our school to give a lecture before, and we met once.”

The director understood, somewhat disappointed— he knew that outstanding students like Bai Xunyin might have met Gu Yan before, but their relationship probably ended there, without any deeper ‘interaction.’

He sighed somewhat disappointedly, “Let’s continue working.”

Bai Xunyin responded with an “Okay” and quietly put away the business card that Gu Yan had just given her.

Years later, she didn’t need to have tea with Yu Luoyin’s mother anymore.

What Bai Xunyin didn’t know was that the large group photo was published in the Science and Technology Daily over the weekend.

The readership of scientific newspapers was limited, usually only read by researchers, and it was generally considered not to have much of a market among the general public. However, to the surprise of the editors, as soon as this issue was published, its ‘traffic’ inexplicably skyrocketed.

It was all because the image of Bai Xunyin and Gu Yan standing together in the center was too eye-catching.

One was young and beautiful, with a fresh temperament, and the other was outstanding and elegant, standing out in the crowd. The two together, one old and one young, complemented each other perfectly like a magazine cover without any need for embellishment, making it incredibly beautiful.

In an era where appearance reigns supreme, this was undoubtedly a ‘rare find.’

Early one morning on the weekend, Gu Yan, who rarely had to work overtime, received a bunch of inexplicable phone calls while having breakfast at home.

Furrowing her brows, she listened to the ‘nonsense’ in the phone calls like ‘Director, you’re trending,’ but found herself completely clueless, so she hung up the phone very unhappily.

Gu Yan felt that even her enjoyment of morning tea was disturbed by all this mess.

On the other side, Yu Luoyin, who came home once a week, heard the commotion and put down the newspaper, looking at Gu Yan’s serious face with interest.

“Mom,” he knocked on the picture in the middle of the newspaper, which was the group photo from the research institute, teasingly, “You look quite photogenic.”

Gu Yan only now saw that the group photo had been published, and for a moment, she skipped over the various ‘unspeakable’ relationships between Yu Luoyin and Bai Xunyin, feeling a lump in her throat.

“This…”

Gu Yan assessed Yu Luoyin’s expression, seeing that there was nothing unusual on his face, and cautiously said, “The girl next to me, I met her before at your school. She seems to be your classmate.”

“Yeah,” Yu Luoyin’s expression was calm, and his words were astonishing, “I like her.”

…

Gu Yan didn’t know what expression to make in response to Yu Luoyin’s sudden ‘frankness.’

However, what was even more ‘suffocating’ came afterward.

Looking at her, Yu Luoyin seemed somewhat resentful as he said, “But she doesn’t like me, she likes you.”

…

Gu Yan felt that she needed to research the location of a mental hospital for her own son.

To actually compete with her, a half-old woman?

Had he taken the wrong medicine?