In the end, Bai Mu Ning still drank it, but there was one thing he needed to emphasize: it wasn’t because he listened to Wen Jing, it was purely for the sake of his health.
If he got sick, it would delay work, which just wasn’t worth it.
He downed the ginger soup in one go. The spiciness of the ginger quickly overwhelmed his taste buds, and the fiery sensation extended from his mouth all the way to his stomach. Before long, his whole body felt warm, and he didn’t feel cold at all.
“Thank you, Dr. Wen, for the ginger soup.” Bai Mu Ning had completely forgotten why he was angry earlier and began to blow rainbow farts, “Dr. Wen is truly a handsome and kind-hearted great guy. Not only did he help me clean up the flood mess, he even made ginger soup to warm me up. He’s literally the perfect man.”
Wen Jing let out a quiet “Mm,” then took the bowl and left.
“…?”
So cold and aloof. After blowing so much rainbow farts, wouldn’t it kill him to smile!
Bai Mu Ning thought after all the commotion tonight, Wen Jing definitely wouldn’t be in the mood to teach. But Wen Jing pulled up a chair and sat right next to him, saying, “Continue!”
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Tl bye fwpv srldle y tyxl sd bkp rbsdl obld Eld Kkdt pyke vs nsdvkdwl pvweukdt.
Xb xu tse yb, vbl vlyxxyvlp bl xyvnble okvb oswze byvl bkx vs elyvb.
Jyk Yw Lkdt pyv naspp-zlttle sd vbl nbyka, bkp zsdt, qyka zltp pralye swv—hlau xwnb zkjl y pvayktbv twu’p rspvwal.
Tl zssjle rkvkqwzzu yv Eld Kkdt yde pyke psqvzu, “Rq R ts GWI, R’zz tlv bwdvle esod. Uyd R qkdkpb vbkp aswde?”
“Pa. Eld, ralvvu rzlypl?”
Eld Kkdt’p tygl polrv qasx vsr vs csvvsx, vbld bl zssjle yoyu yde pyke, “Zsw tlv byzq yd bswa.”
“Mbydj usw, Pa. Eld.”
Gp pssd yp bl qkdkpble prlyjkdt, y qzypb sq obkvl qzknjlale kd bkp hkpksd. Jyk Yw Lkdt pyo Pa. Eld’p obkvl nsyv qyzz shla bkp zltp, vwadkdt kdvs y czydjlv vbyv nshlale vblx vktbvzu.
They were both men, was that really necessary?
The school bathhouse was all open stalls, everyone had seen everyone. Only the timid ones felt self-conscious or needed to cover up.
Wait, but he hadn’t even exposed anything ah!
Bai Mu Ning looked over in confusion. Wen Jing cleared his throat and said, “I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold.”
“…?”
But he really wasn’t cold ah!
Soon the game started, and Bai Mu Ning didn’t dwell on it any longer.
Not long after, Wen Jing’s phone started vibrating, a video call popped up. Bai Mu Ning glanced at it and saw the caller ID said Madam Pei.
Wen Jing stood up and walked out to answer the video call.
Before he could say anything, a questioning voice came through: “Who was that little beauty walking with you after your blind date on Friday?”
“I’m telling you now, don’t even think of denying it. I’ve got photos, someone already sent them to me.”
“Do you know your mom’s now considered a fraud? None of my colleagues want to talk to me.”
“Hurry up and explain what’s going on. I have the right to know.”
Wen Jing didn’t answer Pei Shuchen directly and deflected, “Is that all? How are things going over there with Uncle? Is the seminar going smoothly?”
Pei Shuchen got sidetracked by her son and rambled on for a while about the seminar. After she finished, she realized she had been diverted and brought the topic back.
“Don’t think you can change the subject, you little brat. Was it fake when you came out to me back then? Do you actually like girls?”
Wen Jing looked over and said, “That wasn’t a girl.”
“Oh, so it was a boy. So this is your type, I see. Do you plan on bringing him home for me to meet? He looked quite well-behaved in the photo. I like him too.”
The voice suddenly stopped. Bai Mu Ning figured Wen Jing must’ve switched to voice mode, he couldn’t hear anything after that.
Wen Jing was on the call for quite a while, about the length of one game round.
By the time he put down his phone, he had returned, and this time he wasn’t empty-handed. He brought back a shopping bag filled with men’s clothes.
Wen Jing handed the bag to him and said, “Change into these.”
“Bought them for me?”
“Otherwise?”
Bai Mu Ning couldn’t quite describe how he felt. It had been many years since anyone last bought him new clothes.
When he was younger, he used to look forward to New Year’s the most; new clothes, new socks, new shoes. It felt like everything could start fresh, everything was new.
But after his parents passed away and he became an orphan, no one ever bought him new clothes again.
The neighborhood aunties would bring him hand-me-downs—clothes and shoes other kids had outgrown. It wasn’t until college that he started buying his own clothes.
Even then, they weren’t expensive, just cheap items from that certain xixi online platform.
Like the shirt he had on earlier, it was from that certain xixi site too. Thirty yuan for two pieces, with free shipping.
They were fine for everyday wear, but once they got wet, they turned completely see-through.
Bai Mu Ning gently touched the hood of the sweatshirt. The material was soft and delicate—it looked expensive.
Wen Jing turned and walked out, and Bai Mu Ning began to change. Wen Jing had even bought him a pair of underwear, plain white boxer briefs, no cartoon prints.
After getting dressed, Bai Mu Ning glanced at the surveillance equipment and froze. Every consultation room was equipped with monitoring devices. It was a way to protect the doctors; everything was recorded, so nothing could be misinterpreted.
But what Bai Mu Ning was thinking about now wasn’t misinterpretation. He was wondering if he’d just come across as an exhibitionist.
Or what if one day someone needed to review the surveillance footage, and he got caught on camera, a total social death?
He didn’t even dare to imagine it. It was terrifying.
When Wen Jing came back in, the first thing Bai Mu Ning said was, “Dr. Wen, make sure to delete the footage from your consultation room, I got filmed.”
Wen Jing glanced at the monitor, and who knew what he was thinking. It took him a while before he finally replied yes.
Now that he had clothes on, Bai Mu Ning was ready to leave, but Wen Jing stopped him and said, “It’s still early.”
Bai Mu Ning checked the time and thought to himself: Dage, it’s almost 8 pm. How is that early?
He thought so in his heart but what he said was entirely different: “Oh, yeah, it’s still early.”
He obediently sat back down and cooperated fully with Wen Jing.
The guy even bought him clothes, what’s the big deal about listening to a little instruction?
“If you think it’s too hard to grasp the basics all at once, I can start by teaching you how to feel the pulse.”
“Yes ah, yes ah, I want to learn pulse reading.” Bai Mu Ning had always thought traditional Chinese medicine was something magical, being able to detect what’s wrong just by the touch of a fingertip.
The most amazing part was how they could even tell what you’d eaten.
How on earth did they figure that out? He was so curious.
“Give me your left hand.”
Bai Mu Ning obediently stretched it out and placed it on the table. Wen Jing took out a fine-liner pen and began writing on his wrist.
It tickled a little. Bai Mu Ning couldn’t help but try to pull his hand back, but Wen Jing pressed down on his palm, naturally interlocking their fingers, and said, “Just wait a second, it’ll be done soon.”
Bai Mu Ning leaned in to see what Wen Jing was writing, and without realizing it, they had gotten very close and his chin was practically resting on Wen Jing’s arm.
“What did you write?”
Wen Jing explained, “The left hand represents yin.1The yin in yin yang, which is the negative principle. The cun pulse2寸 (cùn) – in TCM, it refers to a specific location on the wrist where the pulse is taken. corresponds to the heart, the guan pulse3“关脉” (guān mài) – “barrier pulse” or “hinge pulse”. Located between the cun and chi positions. to the liver, and the chi pulse4尺 (chǐ) – furthest from the wrist crease. to the kidneys.”
Then Wen Jing took Bai Mu Ning’s right hand and placed it next to the left, beginning to write on that one too.
With both hands restrained, Bai Mu Ning’s body leaned even closer to Wen Jing.
Wen Jing never wore perfume; his body carried a faint herbal scent, not bitter or harsh, but with a light freshness.
He had no idea what herb it was.
Bai Mu Ning thought that once he learned traditional Chinese medicine, maybe he could create a herbal-based perfume.
“The right hand represents yang. The cun pulse corresponds to the lungs, the guan pulse to the spleen, and the chi pulse to the kidneys.”
Keeping his head craned like that was tiring, so Bai Mu Ning simply gave up and rested his chin on Wen Jing’s arm.
“Why are there two kidneys?” Bai Mu Ning asked, full of curiosity.
The muscles in Wen Jing’s arm tensed, resting a chin there wasn’t exactly comfortable. But even so, Bai Mu Ning didn’t move away.
Wen Jing turned to glance at him. He didn’t tell him to move, just continued as if he hadn’t noticed and said, “Kidney deficiency is divided into kidney yang deficiency and kidney yin deficiency. That’s why there are two.”
“These three points on the left wrist also correspond to the upper, middle, and lower jiao…”
Bai Mu Ning started dozing off again. At this point, he suspected that Wen Jing’s voice had some kind of built-in sedative effect. Why else did he always get sleepy listening to him?
Trying to snap himself out of it, he forced himself to stay awake. Wen Jing let go of his wrist and said, “Now you can follow the pulse positions I marked and try to feel the pulse yourself.”
“In traditional Chinese medicine, diagnosis is based on the pulse. The strength, speed, and rhythm of the pulse all reflect different symptoms.”
As expected, hands-on practice was the most fun. Bai Mu Ning was instantly interested and began feeling his own pulse.
Three fingers pressed against his wrist, and he concentrated hard on sensing the rhythm.
Once he finished with the left hand, he switched to the right. Soon, he began questioning Wen Jing, “Why can’t I feel the chi pulse on my left wrist?”
Both wrists had detectable pulses under his fingertips, except the left chi pulse, which felt like it had completely vanished.
Wen Jing’s lips curved into a smile. “I told you long ago that you have kidney deficiency. You didn’t believe me.”
Why bring up old stuff again? They were already this close, couldn’t he spare him some face?
“I don’t buy it. Let me feel your pulse.”
Wen Jing extended his left wrist, and Bai Mu Ning held it and pressed gently to check the pulse.
It was strong and steady; each of his fingers could clearly feel the beat, especially the chi pulse, which was even more forceful.
The chi pulse corresponds to the kidneys. In other words, Wen Jing’s kidneys were in excellent shape.
Bai Mu Ning was not convinced. By logic, Wen Jing was already in his thirties. His kidneys couldn’t possibly be better than someone younger, so why couldn’t he even feel his own?
Totally unfair.
He placed his fingers back on his own left chi pulse, still nothing.
Was he really kidney deficient?
Once again pressing against Wen Jing’s chi pulse, Bai Mu Ning had no choice but to admit—despite being twelve years older, Wen Jing’s body was much healthier than his.
When his fingers landed on the cun pulse, Bai Mu Ning noticed something different. Wen Jing’s heartbeat was stronger and more rapid, almost like he was nervous.
“Dr. Wen, your heartbeat is really fast.”
Wen Jing didn’t answer. He simply pulled his hand back and said, “Alright, it’s getting late. I’ll send you back.”
“…?”
That was it? He hadn’t even touched enough yet!
—
Back in the dorm, Bai Mu Ning washed up and lay down on his bed, the events of the day replaying in his mind.
Thinking about the broken faucet and how ridiculous he’d looked, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Li Anche had just finished washing his face. Hearing Bai Mu Ning laugh, he asked curiously, “Ning ah, what are you laughing about?”
“Nothing ah,” Bai Mu Ning yawned. “I’m just really sleepy, gonna sleep now.”
Li Anche turned off the light and said, “Go to sleep, we’ve got work again tomorrow.”
The room dimmed, but Bai Mu Ning suddenly couldn’t fall asleep.
As soon as he closed his eyes, all he could see was everything that happened today.
He lay there trying to wait for sleep to come, but it didn’t. So he thought maybe he’d ask if Li Anche was still awake and chat a bit.
But Li Anche fell asleep quickly as a thief and there was already a snoring sound.
His eyes drifted toward the window, they had forgotten to close the curtains. From where he lay, Bai Mu Ning could see heavy snow falling outside.
He got out of bed and walked over to the window, watching the snowfall. Flakes drifted down endlessly, and soon a white layer covered the streets and buildings. The entire city had turned white.
When they came back, there hadn’t been any sign of snow, and in just a short time, everything had changed.
Right then, Bai Mu Ning was struck with a strong urge to share the moment. He took out his phone and sent Wen Jing a message.
He didn’t know if Wen Jing was asleep, but after sending the message, Bai Mu Ning stayed by the window, watching the snow as he waited for a reply.
The message was sent, but even after a long while, there was no response.
Already asleep?
Bai Mu Ning suspiciously unlocked his phone. When he saw the message he’d sent, he was stunned.
[Bai Mu Ning: It’s snowing over here. Dr. Wen, is it big over there?]
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!!!
Who the hell ate the words “snowing”?!
Ahahahahaaaa big indeed guyguygjyb
Thnx ya gor the chappiieee~