Chapter 11.1 - 酸枣仁 Sour Jujube Seed
His bed was very soft, and the quilt carried a fresh lemon scent. The steam from the ginger tea made Shen Xifan feel a bit dazed. Soon, the pores on her body seemed to open up, bringing an indescribable sense of relief, and drowsiness washed over her.
Just as she was about to hand the cup back to He Suye, she noticed him staring out the window. "What's wrong?" she asked.
He Suye turned his gaze back, his eyes shimmering, "The sun's out!"
Indeed, the rain had stopped, and the winter sunlight poured in, streaming through the glass window and playfully refracting, casting a warm halo around He Suye.
Shen Xifan was mesmerized.
He took the cup from her, only to meet her dazed gaze, innocent yet dreamy. His heart stirred, and he instinctively reached out to brush her bangs aside, his palm lightly grazing her face. He whispered, "Sleep for a while. You'll feel better when you wake up."
Only then did she snap out of it and nod. He Suye stood up and gently closed the door behind him.
The room was so quiet that she could hear her own heartbeat.
Around noon, he opened the door to call Shen Xifan for lunch, but she was still asleep, looking peaceful.
Her childlike face wore an expression of contentment and sweetness in her slumber. Her long, dark hair spilled across the pillow, and all traces of her usual sharpness and efficiency had faded. In this moment, she was at her most unguarded and genuine.
A strange emotion welled up in He Suye's heart. He suddenly recalled the acupuncture session earlier. Although he had approached it from a doctor's perspective, her fair skin and faint, natural fragrance had left him flustered. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it, but now, looking back, it was more than just flustered...
He quickly retreated, scratching his head in frustration, and turned to his study, sinking into deep thought as he stared at the doctoral application form.
Shen Xifan woke up groggily after what felt like a long time. She touched her stomach and took a deep breath, realizing the pain was gone. Her mood instantly lifted. She wanted to check the time but found her phone was dead, so she decided to head home immediately, feeling she had already overstayed her welcome at He Suye's place.
Just as she was about to get out of bed, she heard some commotion in the living room. Li Jie's voice rang out, "Senior brother, are you hiding a beauty in here? Why else would you close this door so tightly?"
Then came He Suye's urgent voice, "Hey, don't open it!"
But he was too late. The door clicked open, and Li Jie stood there, wide-eyed, before finally blurting out, "Senior brother, you really *are* hiding a beauty!"
Shen Xifan was mortified, unsure whether to stand or sit, and stammered, "Uh... what a coincidence!"
Her hair was disheveled, her cheeks flushed, and she was only wearing a thin sweater, her small feet peeking out from under the blanket, looking adorable. Li Jie glanced at her, then at He Suye, and exclaimed, "I shouldn't be seeing this!" before clutching his chest and running into the study, leaving Shen Xifan and He Suye staring at each other.
He Suye walked over and asked, "When did you wake up? Did Li Jie disturb you? Are you still in pain?"
She shook her head, hurriedly putting on her socks, and mumbled incoherently, "No, no, not at all!"
He Suye found it amusing. The little girl could be quite muddled at times, but he didn't mind. "Get dressed and come eat. It's already past three."
She opened her mouth to say, "I should go home," but Li Jie's head popped out from somewhere, "Eat, eat! I'm starving too!"
He Suye set out bowls and chopsticks for the two of them. Li Jie dug in without hesitation, while Shen Xifan initially tried to be reserved. However, after scooping a bowl of yam soup and taking a sip, the thick broth slid smoothly down her throat, leaving a lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth.
The yam was incredibly tender, with no hint of bitterness, paired with a rich bone broth simmered over low heat. It was simply exquisite. Even someone accustomed to the dishes of hotel chefs couldn't help but marvel.
She truly hadn't expected He Suye to be such a skilled cook, making her feel almost ashamed of her own abilities.
It seemed like there was nothing he couldn't do.
After the meal, she could barely stand. When He Suye brought out a bowl of longan and silver ear soup, she groaned, "He Suye, why didn't you tell me there was more? I have no room left..."
Li Jie laughed, "Hehe, it's all mine then..." He eagerly reached for the soup with his spoon, but He Suye snatched it away, glaring at him, "Eat? You're still eating? Didn't someone swear to control their appetite after the last blood sugar check? No more for you!"
Li Jie's face fell, but his hands were restless. He picked up his chopsticks to poke at the silver ear. He Suye sighed, "No spoon, so you're using chopsticks now? Didn't you just have lunch?"
He shook his head, pointing to the thick stack of papers on the table, sighing, "I brought these materials back, and the boss said to have them ready by the day after tomorrow. Good heavens! I'm going to die translating all this!"
Shen Xifan was curious, "What is it?" She leaned in to take a look and softly read out, "All in English? Acupuncture treatment?"
Before she could finish, Li Jie's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Shen Xifan, do you know these words?"
"I..." Shen Xifan hesitated for a moment, then cautiously replied, "I recognize them, but I can't spell them. Why?"
Li Jie immediately pushed the bowl of soup toward her, "It's all yours, but you have to do me a favor. Help me translate some of the Chinese versions into English!"
He Suye interrupted him, "Li Jie! You didn't even ask if she's busy, just casually—"
Shen Xifan quickly waved her hands, "It's fine, it's fine. I'll do my best to help. You've helped me a lot, after all." Especially He Suye, she added silently in her heart, not daring to say it out loud.
Once she got the materials, she carefully examined them, furrowing her brows as she said to Li Jie, "I don't know much about these professional terms, but I can handle the sentence structure. How about you give me a rough translation first, and I'll help you polish it?"
He Suye took the materials and asked her softly, "Are you sure it won't trouble you? If it's too much, just leave it to me."
"It's really fine!" Shen Xifan emphasized, "I majored in English in college, and I've done some translation work before, including medical-related materials. No problem."
He Suye smiled at her, then turned to Li Jie, "Kid, after she helps you with the translation, you owe us a meal!"
Li Jie, with his head resting on a pile of materials, muttered dreamily, "I'm so sleepy... Senior brother, what did you say? I didn't hear anything..."
Shen Xifan read out the professional terms on the acupuncture materials, "Focus on the Hand and Foot Yangming Meridians, with the Hand and Foot Shaoyang Meridians as supplements. Tianzhu, Bailao, Dazhui, Houxi... So many acupoints..."
She suddenly changed the topic, "He Suye, Li Jie, how do you remember so many acupoints?"
He Suye and Li Jie were both stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and laughed. Li Jie rushed to answer, "You don't know how our teacher taught us back then. Even if you didn't know, he made sure you learned by drawing on you. Senior brother, wasn't our acupuncture teacher during undergrad Wang Weizhong?"
He Suye nodded, turning his face away to hide a laugh, which made Shen Xifan even more curious.
Li Jie continued, "In our acupuncture class, the teacher started teaching the acupoints from the head, like Jingming and Xuanji. He would call on students by their student numbers, only calling on the guys, not the girls. He'd use a marker to draw the acupoints on your body as he explained. Later, when we got to the torso and limbs, the guys started taking turns taking off their clothes—some bared their backs, some their thighs, some their chests.
It was hilarious. He was even stricter during class checks. If you didn't know anything, you had to be prepared to strip the next day—so many guys in our class got 'blacklisted.' The girls took photos with their phones, blurred the faces, and posted them on the campus forum. It caused quite a stir back then—I got 'blacklisted' twice, once for my back and once for my thigh... So embarrassing!"
Shen Xifan burst out laughing, then turned to He Suye, "How many times did you have to strip?"
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