After her dramatic cousin stopped acting up, the aloof doctor got anxious.

The next morning, Shen Ruo was awakened by the aroma of food.

She groggily opened her eyes, sat up, rubbed her eyes, and glanced at her phone.

It was 6:40, ten minutes later than usual.

It must be Sister Chen who has arrived.

When she came downstairs after washing up, Sister Chen was busy in the kitchen. On the stove were a plate of stir-fried bok choy, a bowl of tender steamed dumplings, and a small pot of soft pumpkin and millet porridge.

There was also a plate of fruit next to it, with sliced ​​watermelon and honeydew melon, red and yellow in color, which looked very appetizing.

When Sister Chen saw Shen Ruo come down, she asked with a smile, "Miss Shen, you're awake? Did you sleep well? Mr. Qi told me that you injured your neck and couldn't eat spicy or stimulating foods, so I thought of making these. They're a bit bland, but they're nutritious enough."

"Thank you for your hard work, Sister Chen."

Shen Ruo sat down at the dining table, silently shedding a tear.

It was delicious, but Shen Ruo felt like something was missing.

In the real world, she is someone who can't live without spicy food. She always orders a spicy broth when eating hot pot, adds two spoonfuls of chili oil to her noodles, and even sprinkles a handful of small red chilies on her cucumber salad.

Her proudest declaration is, "A life without spice is incomplete."

Now, the porridge in her bowl is sweet, the dumplings are light, and even the pickles are not spicy.

She sat there, drinking millet and pumpkin porridge, feeling as if she had prematurely entered the health-preserving lifestyle of the elderly.

She even suspected that she would have to start studying the "Huangdi Neijing" in two days.

"Miss Shen, is there anything you'd like to eat tonight?"

Sister Chen smiled and looked at her, asking, "Tell me, and I'll go buy it."

Shen Ruo's eyes lit up for a moment.

A long list of delicious, spicy, and numbing dishes flashed through her mind in an instant.

Boiled fish in chili oil, spicy blood curd, spicy diced chicken, spicy crayfish, Mapo tofu, hot and sour noodles...

Every dish was vividly dancing in her mind: bright red chilies, golden chili oil, sizzling steam, and aromas that almost overflowed from her imagination.

Then a sudden itch and pain on the back of her neck reminded her that she couldn't eat it.

She sighed softly and forced a smile. "In my current condition, I can't eat spicy food anyway. Sister Chen, you can make whatever you like. I can eat bland food too."

Her voice carried a visible hint of grievance, and her watery eyes glistened with tears.

Qi Wenshen was sitting opposite him, a cup of black coffee in front of him, which he was drinking quietly.

His expression didn't change much, but the hand holding the coffee cup shifted slightly.

"Okay, then I'll make you some pork rib soup and stir-fried vegetables tonight. I guarantee it will be delicious."

Shen Ruo nodded and continued to drink her porridge.

But she drank the porridge much slower than before.

Qi Wenshen scrutinized Shen Ruo's expression.

"Want something spicy?"

"no."

"Want some hot pot?"

"no."

"crayfish?"

"..."

Shen Ruo looked up and glared at him.

Qi Wenshen remained expressionless and placed a steamed dumpling in her bowl. "Okay, let Sister Chen make you spicy food in rotation."

"You said it yourself."

"Um."

Shen Ruo instantly felt that the porridge in front of her smelled delicious and the steamed dumplings tasted very good.

After breakfast, Shen Ruo went back to her room to change her clothes before heading out to work.

Shen Ruo stood in front of the dressing mirror. The area of ​​the rove beetle wound had shrunk a little compared to yesterday, but the red spots and blisters were still very obvious.

There was ointment under the gauze, but because of my sleeping position last night, some of the ointment had rubbed off, leaving a small patch of skin exposed to the air, which looked quite frightening.

She thought for a moment, then took out a roll of loosely woven medical gauze from the drawer of her dressing table, cut off a small piece, and asked Qi Wenshen to help her apply it.

"No need to cover it up."

"It needs to be covered."

Qi Wenshen looked at her, his gaze moving from her face to the back of her neck, and then back again.

Actually, I don't mind.

Shen Ruo's heart skipped a beat.

She knew, of course, that he didn't mind, and said in a muffled voice, "...It's me who finds it disagreeable."

Qi Wenshen stood behind her, brushing her hair aside with his fingertips.

"Lower your head."

She did as instructed.

With deft fingers, she covered the wound with the gauze and secured it around the wound with medical tape.

His fingertips occasionally brushed against the skin on the side of her neck, a slight coolness in them.

After the bandage was applied, the gruesome wound was completely covered. From the outside, all that could be seen was a raised white gauze pad on the back of the neck, which was not noticeable unless you looked closely.

"Okay, you can't tell anymore."

Shen Ruo looked at herself in the mirror from left to right, making sure the gauze was applied smoothly and evenly, before nodding in satisfaction.

"Let's go then."

As she walked to the entryway to change her shoes and bent down to tie them, the edge of the gauze on the back of her neck brushed against her collar, and she instinctively shrank her neck.

Qi Wenshen stood beside her, watching her grimacing face. He bent down and gently smoothed out the creases in her collar so that they wouldn't rub against the edge of the gauze.

Halfway through tying the shoelaces, Qi Wenshen naturally took them and carefully tied them.

Shen Ruo looked at the back of his head, and felt a sudden, sharp pain in her heart.

Qi Wenshen stood up. "Alright, let's go."

Shen Ruo nodded and followed him out the door.

When Shen Ruo entered the nurses' station, Head Nurse Lin was already inside, holding a medical record and checking something with her head down. Hearing footsteps, she looked up and glanced at Shen Ruo, her gaze lingering on the gauze on the back of her neck.

"Is your neck feeling any better?"

Shen Ruo nodded, "Much better, but it's still a little itchy, so I can't scratch it."

Head Nurse Lin frowned. "Those rove beetles are really troublesome. My niece was bitten by one before, and her neck turned completely red. It looked terrifying. You're lucky you got it treated in time, otherwise it would have been even more troublesome."

"Yes, I applied the medicine that very night."

As they were talking, Zhou Lan walked quickly down the corridor. Before she could even greet her, she was already behind Shen Ruo and reached out to flip up her collar.

"Let me see, is it better? Are there any blisters? Have the blisters popped? That picture you sent me terrified me, you know?"

Shen Ruo stumbled forward as she was pulled, and quickly reached out to block her, saying, "Don't pull, it's covered up, you can't see."

"Why are you wrapping it up? It's not letting in any air, and it won't heal quickly. As a nurse, don't you even have this basic common sense? Why didn't you send me a picture?"

"I sent it."

"That was taken on the first day. I haven't posted the later ones. When I asked you, you said it was much better. What do you mean by 'much better'? Is it red anymore? Is it swollen anymore?"

Shen Ruo rolled her eyes. "The rest isn't good. I don't want to film it. I don't have money to comfort your frightened little heart."

"..."

Just then, another person came up beside them.

It's Xiao Chen.

"Shen Ruo, how's your neck?"

Shen Ruo turned around and smiled at her, "Much better, really, it's nothing serious."

"Let me take a look."

Xiao Chen also joined in.

The two men stood on either side of Shen Ruo, like two doctors making rounds around a patient, each looking at the back of Shen Ruo's neck.

Shen Ruo was sandwiched between them, and helplessly spread her hands, "It's wrapped up, you won't get a chance to see it."