Gu Ran put down "Psychiatric Commonly Used Medications," stood up to stretch his back, Chen Ke was gone, Su Qing was still reading "The Idiot."
He walked to the window and looked down at the mountain, the clear sky and vast sea caught his eye.
An airplane streaked across the azure sky, pulling behind it a straight, snow-white contrail.
The sea was half-hidden by trees on the land, obscuring the beach, and suddenly a little dot burst out from the trees, it was unclear whether it was a jet ski or a yacht.
After resting his eyes for a while, Gu Ran walked back to his desk and grabbed his teacup to go fill it with water at the water dispenser.
Though it was a summer's day at 28 degrees, Gu Ran still preferred to drink water at 55 degrees.
The water gushed, striking the disposable cup, and Gu Ran thought: I'll buy a cup after work.
Then, he remembered that he was on duty tonight, and there was a dinner party the following evening, so he would have to wait until Saturday.
Filling his cup two-thirds full, Gu Ran took a sip and asked Su Qing, "When will we have our first patient?"
"Cursing someone to get a mental illness?" Su Qing turned the page of her book.
"More than getting a mental illness, I hope the patients' families could take their conditions seriously and seek medical help early," he said.
Su Qing chuckled lightly, her beauty unmatched.
She put down her book, picked up her cup, and walked over; Gu Ran stepped aside.
Gu Ran noticed that her coffee cup wasn't the disposable one Chen Ke had given her—while he was immersed in files and "Doctor's Diary," she had already switched to her own cup.
Su Qing stood in front of him, calmly filling her cup with water.
Her white coat's collar clung to her slender and fair neck, giving her a noble and graceful air, much like a red-crowned crane.
After turning off the water dispenser, Gu Ran brought his disposable water cup to his lips for a sip.
"Want some snacks?" Su Qing asked.
She opened a drawer full of individually wrapped loose snacks.
Gu Ran didn't like snacks, but seeing Wangzai buns, he wanted to reminisce about his childhood.
"Wangzai buns," he said.
Su Qing took out a pack of Wangzai buns, tore it open, and looking up at him, said, "Hand."
"Hmm?" Gu Ran was puzzled.
Su Qing took his left hand directly, pouring Wangzai buns into it while saying, "I want some too, but eating too many snacks is bad for your health, so let's share them equally."
"A pack of Wangzai buns can't make that much of a difference," Gu Ran, as a doctor, didn't believe it.
"This entire cabinet of snacks, plus a lifetime of snacks, I want to eat them all, so wouldn't it make a difference if I eat half of them?"
"I can't help you eat half a lifetime's worth of snacks, can I?" Gu Ran said with a smile.
"Is that so? You should have confidence in your professional future, and believe that you can work for me in Jinghai for a lifetime," Su Qing said.
The opening of the package was not large, and it was hard work to get a few buns out.
"That's assuming I'm not dead in five years, and my ashes haven't been scattered at sea," Gu Ran remarked.
"Grudge!" Su Qing smiled charmingly, lifting her eyes to look at him, like a cool spring in the shade of summer trees.
Two-thirds of a small bag of Wangzai buns went into Gu Ran's hand, while Su Qing kept one-third for herself.
"When you get fat, that's when I'll know it's time to stop snacking," Su Qing was very satisfied with this arrangement.
"Evil!" Gu Ran slapped his palm to his mouth and finished off all the tiny Wangzai steamed buns in one bite.
Su Qing looked at him and suddenly said, "Big brother, don't rush when taking medicine."
"..." Gu Ran's face changed.
"Don't you dare spray!" The Su Qing in front of him changed her complexion even faster than he did.
Gu Ran didn't spray; the desire to do so was there, but it was just a fraction, bearable.
Once she confirmed that he wouldn't spray, Su Qing began to laugh gleefully and praised, "Big brother is so good~"
She picked up a tiny Wangzai steamed bun with her fingertip and offered it, "Here, a reward."
"Isn't this office bullying? Be careful, I might sue you in court," Gu Ran refused to take it.
"Tell the judge that Su Qing forced you to eat tiny Wangzai steamed buns?" Su Qing retorted.
"..." Gu Ran resolutely returned to his workstation.
"Hahaha~" Su Qing laughed and put the tiny Wangzai steamed bun into her own mouth, her smile sparkling in her eyes like sunlight shimmering lightly on a clear spring.
They both continued to review the files.
After a while, Su Qing patted Gu Ran on the shoulder as she passed by, "Time to eat."
Gu Ran looked up, and Chen Ke had returned at some point.
"Okay." He put down the book.
The three of them went to the cafeteria, where a few patients were also dining, accompanied by family members or similar personnel.
"Ake." The cancer patient with depression, Liu Xiaoting, beckoned.
Chen Ke said to the other two, "Excuse me, I'm going to eat with her."
"Together," Gu Ran suggested.
Su Qing had no choice but to follow.
The three doctors picked their meals and sat down with Liu Xiaoting at a circular dining table, not the school-kind but a proper one.
Liu Xiaoting used a spoon.
Even the Illusory Smell Author living on the third floor of the residential area wasn't allowed to use chopsticks.
Gu Ran calmly observed, Liu Xiaoting was not enthusiastic about eating. Even Su Qing, who controlled her diet, had taken three bites before Liu Xiaoting reluctantly took one.
A lack of appetite is one of the manifestations of depression.
In severe cases, it's not just psychological pain; the body too can suffer from sore throats and chest pain due to swallowing.
Real depression is far from the 'pretentiousness' that many people imagine.
"The handsome doctor's gaze is kind of scary," Liu Xiaoting, who was chatting with Chen Ke, suddenly said with a smile.
Chen Ke quickly glanced at Gu Ran, cleared his throat, and reminded with an implication, "Visiting a female patient requires a nurse's presence."
Su Qing unexpectedly didn't say anything to Gu Ran, but she told Liu Xiaoting, "It's not illegal for the mentally ill to kill."
Gu Ran: "..."
"I'm sorry." He apologized to Liu Xiaoting, full of remorse.
"If you look at me not like looking at a beautiful woman but observing a patient, I will not forgive you. I'll go back and cry under the covers for an hour," Liu Xiaoting poked at her rice with the spoon, no joke in her tone.