It seems that the villain is targeting me.

Doctor Chen didn't notice that the head nurse was looking at him with strange eyes. Instead, he raised his head and gave him a sunny greeting...which made the head nurse even more uneasy.

She lingered in the corridor for a few minutes, and when she figured the bird had almost finished eating, she turned around and went back.

Sure enough, when he pushed open the door, the tableware was neatly placed on the bedside table. Dr. Chen pretended to be indifferent and took a look, and found that the food had been eaten up by the other party.

Xiao Niao was still awake at this moment. She was lying on a raised hospital bed. Her face was no longer as pale as it had been in the past few days. Her light brown pupils were clear and calm, and she could not tell much emotion from them.

The moment Dr. Chen pushed open the door of the ward, her eyes turned and she smiled at him.

"Doctor." Xiao Niao said to her softly.

Chen Xiaoyue's heart trembled at that moment. She tried hard not to make her voice sound strange. She walked to Xiaoniao's bed naturally and smiled.

Ask the other person how their day is going.

Since Xiao Niao woke up, Dr. Chen would take time to come and check on her almost every other day to see how her wounds were healing, and chat with her casually - actually very deliberately - for a while.

Yes, Dr. Chen knew that her behavior was very abnormal, so she carefully controlled the timing of her visits so as not to visit so frequently that it would alert the bird.

But she couldn't help but want to stay with him for a while longer.

Sometimes she would look at the bird from a simple doctor's perspective. The wound was gradually healing, the pulse became strong again, and even when it was asleep, she could feel the chest rising and falling steadily.

All of this made her feel relieved from the bottom of her heart.

Perhaps because she had seen this person lying lifeless in a pool of blood, Chen Xiaoyue was always eager to find some warmth of life from her.

If Xiao Niao didn't mind, Dr. Chen would probably enthusiastically take her pulse every day.

Today seems to be no different from the previous few days.

Perhaps because staying in the ward was too boring, Xiao Niao did not show any aversion to her approach, and even began to call herself very affectionately (this is Dr. Chen's subjective feeling).

"……doctor."

Xiao Niao suddenly looked at her at this moment, with a harmless expression on his face, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?" Chen Xiaoyue lowered her head subconsciously.

Xiao Niao looked up at her quietly, and their eyes met silently in the air. The atmosphere suddenly became a little tense, and Chen Xiaoyue swallowed.

Almost a week ago, Xiao Niao was transferred from the intensive care unit to a general ward with no visiting restrictions. Xiao Niao was the only long-term hospitalized patient in this room.

Now, she and Dr. Chen were the only ones in the room.

Xiao Niao just stared at Chen Xiaoyue without moving for a long time.

After a long while, she slowly and gently said, "Why do you bring me food every day?"

Chen Xiaoyue instinctively took a step back. A thin layer of white sweat quickly broke out on her back, but she still tried to respond as nonchalantly as possible: "Well, what did you say?"

Xiao Niao quickly glanced in her direction, then silently retracted his gaze to the back of his hand where the IV catheter was tied.

"Doctor Chen isn't from here, is he?" She leaned against the bed, clasping her hands together calmly. "People in the north don't really have the habit of drinking soup, and few would bother making something as time-consuming and laborious as lean meat soup."

Xiao Niao seemed to be savoring the taste of the soup. She licked the corner of her lips and continued, "There's apple and a little bit of ginger in the soup, but no salt... This is the first time I've had it since coming to this city."

Lean meat water is the same soup that Xiao Niao drank before. When she was sick with a fever as a child, her mother would use a small cup to steam a bowl of lean meat water for her. Apart from this, she could basically not eat anything when she was sick.

——She can only drink the kind without any salt.

The canteen has to take into account the preferences of most local people and it is impossible for it to specially prepare this kind of thing.

Chen Xiaoyue was already wanting to run away at this moment.

She tried to argue, "Actually, the nutritious meals are all ordered by the hospital from outside restaurants..."

"Actually, I really like it. Thank you for taking the trouble," Xiao Niao said calmly. "I just don't know why you did this."

She hadn't noticed the problem with the food before, because people who are seriously injured or seriously ill can hardly taste anything in their mouths when they have just recovered. It was only after Xiao Niao's sense of taste recovered a little in the past two days that she realized something was wrong.

"I..." Dr. Chen was speechless for a while, not knowing how to respond to Xiao Niao's words.

"The nurse on duty said you gave this to me." Xiao Niao didn't look at her, but just stroked the blanket covering him. "She saw this blanket in your office."

The blanket is made of wool, which is soft and very light. It won’t hurt to put it on the back of your hand during the infusion.

And the clothes on your body.

Xiao Niao's original clothes must have been damaged by blood, but the clothes he was wearing were very new, and the material was too good, and it was not the style of a hospital gown.

"Besides, when I woke up, I had already been lying in the hospital for many days, right?"

Xiao Niao's eyes grew darker, and it was impossible to tell what emotion was in them.

"…but the nails haven't grown at all."

Chen Xiaoyue didn't say anything.

"Doctor, you've been taking care of me, right?" Xiao Niao smiled gently at her. "Did you tell the nurses that you're my friend or relative?"

"Anyway, as long as we follow this line of thought, it's easy to get information out of them."

Her words were not aggressive, and could even be described as kind. Xiao Niao looked at Chen Xiaoyue with tolerance, and there was a hint of inducement in her words.

"I'm not angry, doctor," she said softly. "If you weren't here, I'd probably feel much worse when I woke up, right?"

"I just want to know why."

The eyes that had appeared in Dr. Chen's dreams countless times were now staring at her intently.

"Doctor... do you know me?"

Chapter 4: Little Bird: You’re a really nice person…

Dr. Chen is not good at lying.

she was

He is not the type who can tell lies easily - this has nothing to do with moral standards. It is not easy for anyone to make up a lie on the spur of the moment without planning in advance.

Especially when you have revealed part of your intentions and aroused suspicion from others.

Moreover, although we don’t know the deeper reasons yet, Chen Xiaoyue really doesn’t want to hurt or deceive Xiao Niao in front of her.

The only thing she didn't want to do was lie to this person.

Okay, now let's analyze this matter from a more purely technical perspective.

Lying, in a sense, is an emergency risk-avoidance behavior: when you are in a crisis of trust, or when someone points out your suspicious behavior, risk-avoidance begins.

There is a very basic principle: the more you talk, the more mistakes you make.

A more sophisticated way of lying is to mix a few key lies among a large number of truths, making it impossible to tell which one is true and which one is false.

But in front of someone with rich life experience, there is a high probability that this carefully concealed lie will be exposed.

The best way to avoid being exposed for your lies is actually: don’t lie.

Just tell the truth.

Chen Xiaoyue calmed down in a very short time.

She looked at Xiaoniao who was sitting on the hospital bed, waiting for her answer.

Chen Xiaoyue noticed that Xiao Niao's hand was very close to the call bell at the nurse station, and she could reach it with just one hand.

She believed that if she made any suspicious or dangerous move, the other party would directly press the call bell.

Doctor Chen couldn't help but swallow his saliva, "I..."

Perhaps she wanted to gain trust, or maybe it was just a habit she had developed over a long period of time, but Chen Xiaoyue did not avoid looking into Xiaoniao's eyes.

The other person looked at her with more doubt in his eyes, not much hostility - this gave her some courage.

"Actually," Doctor Chen gambled his lifelong dignity, "we do know each other..."

Xiao Niao raised his eyebrows vigorously, probably because he didn't expect the other party to give such an answer.

The other person's scrutinizing gaze inevitably made her feel lost and aggrieved, like a puppy that was kicked by its owner for no reason.

"...I've known you since we were little," Doctor Chen's voice was a little hoarse. "Don't you remember? We lived very close to each other back then, and you often took me to your house."

Xiao Niao hesitated for a long time before speaking in confusion: "You mean, we used to be... friends?"

Xiao Niao didn't guess in the direction of her classmates, because although the doctor in front of her was of the same generation as her, since he had already started working, he was obviously older than her.

Chen Xiaoyue moved her head slightly, agreeing with Xiaoniao's statement.

Xiao Niao's face was filled with disbelief, and his words became a little stammering: "Just because of this?"

Chen Xiaoyue nodded at her.

Xiao Niao didn't know what to say for a moment, and could only say dryly: "Oh, then you are a very nice person..."

Chen Xiaoyue laughed at this comment and lowered her head as if she was recalling something.

"You had your ID card with you when you were in the accident. I recognized you when I saw your name... I work in the emergency department, and I happened to be on duty the night you were brought in."

Perhaps because of the good start, Dr. Chen's speech began to become fluent.

"After the rescue, you remained unconscious. The hospital contacted the school and learned of your situation, so I thought I might be able to take care of you."

The doctor's tone was sincere, and his smile even seemed a little shy and timid. Xiao Niao didn't hear any obvious signs of lying.

As the bird listened, it couldn't help but doubt itself.

At first glance, this doesn't seem to have any logical loopholes, and most people wouldn't use this excuse to lie, so such lies can be easily exposed.

But Xiaoniao still felt almost instinctively that what the other party said was a little strange.

Yes, unfortunately, Xiao Niao could not rely on his own memory to judge the authenticity of these words.

She now has no recollection of her childhood - let alone her childhood playmates, she can't even remember the name of her college roommate.

After all, for Xiaoniao, that happened almost thirty years ago - it would be a miracle if she could still remember it!

But the doctor could not possibly know his own condition.

This is obviously just a coincidence.

The kind and benevolent doctor was his childhood friend. When he was in an accident and unconscious, she happened to appear and help him.

This is another coincidence.

Is it really possible for so many coincidences to occur at the same time?

Xiao Niao pondered for a moment and asked the doctor: "...So, since you've recognized me, why don't you just tell me clearly?"

The question was a bit aggressive, but Chen Xiaoyue didn't seem angry.

"Because you still needed to recuperate... and it must have felt a bit strange. I couldn't just suddenly run over and ask if you still remembered me."

Doctor Chen said to the bird shyly, his body movements looked very light.

loose.

"…But I did wonder if you would recognize me."

As he spoke, Dr. Chen gave the bird a friendly smile: "I haven't told you. It's been a long time."

Xiao Niao thought: If this person is lying, then she really knows how to disguise herself.

She thought carefully about the conversation just now, but really couldn't find anything strange.

Did you really think too much?

Xiao Niao narrowed his eyes and looked at the other person's face carefully, trying to use that face to evoke some impression in his memory.

Dr. Chen's skin looks very fair, her face is pretty, and her height is not much different from mine. To be honest, her temperament is actually very stable and mature, which is in line with the professional qualities that an emergency doctor should have.

I just don't know why, but when facing me, the doctor's aura becomes inexplicably much weaker.

At this moment, Dr. Chen was looking at her gently, with a hint of expectation in her eyes, as if she really hoped that Xiao Niao could recognize her - that kind of look reminded her of a wet puppy.

"…I'm sorry, doctor."

Xiao Niao became visibly hesitant - she actually still had doubts in her heart at this moment, but Xiao Niao was really not confident in her memory, and she was no longer as determined as she was at the beginning.

In any case, her attitude had softened, and her expression was a little apologetic.

Ordinary friends wouldn't be so attentive, right? Did I forget about my good friends?

The little bird thought a little confusedly.

"I'm sorry, but I really can't remember," Xiao Niao said dryly, "Well, anyway... thank you for taking care of me..."

A flash of disappointment crossed Chen Xiaoyue's face, but before she could say anything, something started to make a beeping sound in the outer pocket of her white coat.