Chapter 26: A National Treasure-Level Mind
Lu Yan nodded. “Alright!”
Hearing his reply, Chen Haixia felt a tight ache in her chest and hugged her knees, sobbing quietly.
Lu Yan didn’t notice Chen Haixia’s distress but went straight out the door. He spoke to Su Yang, who was waiting in the corridor, “I’m going downstairs to find a nurse aide.”
“Alright!” Su Yang agreed and went into the ward, only to see Chen Haixia with her head buried between her knees, her body shaking with tears.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yang asked with concern.
Sniffling, Chen Haixia slowly raised her head, her lips trembling as she asked in a tone full of grievance, “Is Lu Yan really that busy?”
Hearing this, Su Yang’s heart skipped a beat. Could this girl be thinking of Lu Yan too? With a sigh, she replied, “He really is. Besides preparing materials and running experiments, he also has to do a TV interview soon.”
After a pause, she added, “Don’t overthink it. Lu Yan may look good, but he’s difficult to get close to. Countless girls at the institute have had their hearts broken by him.”
Chen Haixia quickly explained, “You misunderstood. He’s married now; I have no other thoughts. It’s just that sometimes he’s really too inconsiderate. When his mother fell ill last time, I stayed at the hospital all night.”
But in her heart, she thought, how could she be like those other women? Even compared to Shen Qingyi, she was different.
Su Yang considered it and found it reasonable. Human relationships are all about reciprocation. If Lu Yan cared about Shen Qingyi’s feelings, at the very least he would have arranged for a family member to look after her, not just hired a nurse aide.
Though she thought so, she still wanted to shield Lu Yan and smiled, “He really is busy. I’ll talk to him later, see if he can ask someone from his family to stay.”
Chen Haixia shook her head. “No need. The doctor just said it’s nothing serious. They’ll observe for a while, and if all’s well tomorrow, I can be discharged the day after.”
Su Yang was about to say something more when Lu Yan returned, leading a nurse aide. He said to Chen Haixia, “I spoke to the doctor just now. There’s no major problem. When you’re back, I’ll request leave from your supervisor for you.”
Because of this, Chen Haixia felt once again that she was special to Lu Yan. She knew him too well—he’d never go out of his way for someone he didn’t care about.
She immediately put on a smile. “Thank you for your trouble!”
Lu Yan said nothing more. Taking Su Yang with him, he left the hospital. Downstairs, he strode to the car, opened the door, and sat in the driver’s seat, waiting for Su Yang to get in.
Once Su Yang had settled in and Lu Yan had driven out of the hospital, Su Yang finally remarked, “Chen Haixia is quite considerate.”
Lu Yan said nothing.
Su Yang continued, “All these years, how many girls’ hearts have you broken? How can you be so at ease with yourself? I hope one day you experience what they felt.”
Lu Yan’s long, slender fingers gripped the steering wheel. His voice was cool and even as he asked, “Aside from Shen Qingyi, whom else have I hurt?”
Seeing his oblivious expression, Su Yang promptly reminded him, “Our institute’s cashier, Yan Mei—she was so upset by you she couldn’t eat for days.”
Lu Yan genuinely had no recollection. “What did I do?”
Su Yang was speechless. “She gave you a scarf and you immediately returned it, saying her father and brother needed scarves more than you.”
Lu Yan finally remembered and chuckled, “Isn’t she doing well now? She married a good man. If I had been gentle and comforting at the time, she might have wasted even more time and energy on me. That wouldn’t have been fair to either of us.”
In Lu Yan’s mind, apart from Shen Qingyi and Professor Shen, he owed nothing to anyone.
Su Yang laughed. “Fine! You always have your reasons…”
Lu Yan drove back to the institute and asked Su Yang to take care of Chen Haixia’s leave of absence, then headed to the infirmary.
Cheng Youqing was still on the hospital bed, receiving an IV drip. Shen Qingyi was peeling an orange beside her, and An An was quietly flipping through a picture book.
Lu Yan strode over to Shen Qingyi, glanced at his watch, and said, “It’s almost dinnertime. I’ll go to the cafeteria and bring food for you.”
Shen Qingyi, seeing him return so soon, guessed he must have noticed her displeasure. He did, after all, care about his role as her husband.
She stopped sulking and nodded, “Alright.”
Lu Yan felt a faint disappointment. She really didn’t mind at all—not even a hint of jealousy over him taking Chen Haixia to the hospital.
Cheng Youqing opened her mouth as if to say something, but held back in the end.
Lu Yan turned and crouched in front of his son, his expression gentle. “An An, what would you like to eat?”
An An glanced at Shen Qingyi. Seeing that his mother was no longer upset, his big eyes curved into a smile. “Anything is fine.”
Lu Yan stood, ruffled his son’s hair, and replied, “Alright.”
As he left, the nurse watched him go, astonished, and only after he’d left did she sigh, “Engineer Lu really has a gentle side. He’s so patient with his child.”
Shen Qingyi, puzzled by the nurse’s tone, asked, “Is he usually very stern?”
Though Cheng Youqing also worked at the institute, she was in logistics and rarely saw Lu Yan, so everything she knew was secondhand.
But the nurse was different; anyone at the institute with so much as a headache would end up there. She’d both heard stories and seen him in person twice.
The nurse shook her head. “Not stern, exactly. He just gives off this sense of being above us, as if we live in different worlds.”
Above others? This was the first time Shen Qingyi had heard anyone describe Lu Yan that way. To be honest, though she hadn’t spent much time with him, apart from being quiet, he’d always seemed quite humble.
But as this thought passed, Cheng Youqing chimed in, “He’s a national treasure, you know. Can we really say we’re in the same world as him?”
Thinking of the national treasure who was about to serve them dinner, Cheng Youqing’s mood brightened. She said to Shen Qingyi, “Thanks to An An, we don’t need to worry about my mother making it back in time to cook for us tonight.”
Shen Qingyi didn’t pick up the topic but instead asked the nurse, “When will her leg get better?”
“It’s nothing serious. Once she finishes today’s IV, she can rest at home tomorrow.”
Cheng Youqing laughed, “I told you it was nothing. My mother was just worried and insisted on dragging you here.”
Shen Qingyi replied, “Isn’t it good to have someone who cares? An An and I had nothing to do at home, and it’s a blessing to have such a good mother.”
Cheng Youqing, recalling Shen Qingyi’s own mother, scratched her head awkwardly, then said, “The cafeteria food is pretty good—better than yours.”
Shen Qingyi: !!!
At this, An An quickly spoke up, “Aunt Cheng, Mom’s cooking has really improved. Dad loves her food.”
Shen Qingyi patted her son’s head and smiled at Cheng Youqing, “Did you hear that?”
Cheng Youqing was surprised, but then gave Shen Qingyi a thumbs up. “Well done!”
The two chatted a while longer, and then saw Lu Yan return carrying a few aluminum lunchboxes—three in total, one each for Shen Qingyi, Cheng Youqing, and An An.
Looking at the ribs and stir-fried pork in her box, Cheng Youqing was skeptical. “Engineer Lu, did you really get this from the cafeteria?”