I am going to try a new trick to prevent those theif sites from stealing my work. This is chpter 5.1 . Just click on next post for chapter 5.2. I am not going to put the link on NU.

Since I had just entered research, the a.s.sociate professor had not given me a formal topic. I was supposed to first observe some cancer cells and bacteria morphology and familiarize myself with the subject.

On the fifth floor of the laboratory, I was observing the reproduction of lung cancer cells. I did a meticulous job of recording the experimental records and was tired with a back ache. As I stood up and rubbed my waist, I walked into the corridor to take a breath of fresh air.

Inadvertently, my eyes were attracted to the other end of the corridor

There was a sterile laboratory at the other end. Through the gla.s.s window, I could see a man wearing a white coat and a mask st.i.tching the skin of a mouse with a needle.

I had never seen such a tranquil and solemn figure..

I had never seen such eyes, filled with respect for life and pity, a sincere and dedicated expression…

The little mouse twitched reflexively, and the man frowned, as if he was st.i.tching up a beloved and not just a little mouse.

Lost in a trance, I stood there for a while. Then I remember Qin Xue. Stepping back a bit, I called her , asking if she wanted to have lunch at the cafeteria.

She answered but for a long time there was no answer. " I am not well today, I didn"t come to school."

" Are you okay ? Did you catch a cold? Do you have a fever?", I asked nervously

" Its nothing. I didn"t sleep well last night. Just a bit of headache…". When she spoke, the scene last night of her scrunched brows and tearful eyes flashed in my mind. I couldn"t help feel sad for her.

Why was she so affected? " Then you eat something, take a painkiller and go back to sleep. You will get better."

"Yes, I will, thanks."

" Xiao Xue, Wait.." I knew I shouldn"t say it, but I still did," Sometimes when the pain is too much, if you just bite your lips and tolerate, you will be able to survive and get through this."

" Thank you!" She didn"t say anything else and hung up the phone immediately.

Maybe she didn"t understand what I meant, maybe she thought I was meddling in her affairs, but she was the first friend I made in this country, and I didn"t want to see her hurt.

I sighed at my own powerlessness

" You and Qin Xue, are you friends?" I was startled, not because of the question, but because it was asked in Chinese.

I looked behind me and saw the male doctor from the sterile laboratory standing behind me.

He took off the plastic gloves on his hand and then his mask

A slight glimpse of the side of his face, gentle eyebrows, then he raised his eyes to me and I was slain on the spot.

" Ye…", I was stunned, almost said his name before changing it , " brother!"

He nodded slightly, patiently waiting for an answer.

Suddenly, I realised that just by wearing a white coat, his whole persona had changed. He looked serious and professional.

" Uh.. we have a good relationship. When I first came here, she took care of me."

" Oh, In that case, may I trouble you to persuade her. Her headache is because she is stressed, pain medication can only temporarily alleviate the problem, its a short term measure at best…"

“I see,” I said.

He seemed a bit uncertain. " Did you really get it?"

" You want me to tell her, the headaches are stress related, she must stop taking painkillers and try and alleviate the stress…"

I paused. "Better not to prolong the agony?"

" Ok,one more thing," he added, " don"t tell her I told you this."

" I wont"

He could not commit to Qin Xue, there was no use giving her false hope. So he needed to be ruthless so that she gave up on him completely.

This is the second time I got to know Ye Zhengchen a bit more

I found that actually, I didn"t know him at all

Since he felt so distressed for the mouse, why would he still cruelly cut the mouse"s skin with a knife and then use a needle to st.i.tch it up?

If he felt pity for a woman, why would he go about destroying their bodies, hurting their souls, and then think of ways to alleviate the pain in their heart?

This was the cruellest form of kindness I had ever seen.

Ye Zhengchen, was he a demon cloaked in the coat of a saint, or a saint wearing the coat of the devil?

I could not tell

But one thing I was sure of, he is a very unique man, difficult to understand!

……….

In the evening, Ye Zhengchen came to my house for dinner. He bought a lot of pork, beef, vegetables, fruits and drinks. My refrigerator was stuffed. I wouldn"t need to go to the supermarket to buy food for the next two weeks.

We rushed around to prepare everthing. The hotpot was soon ready

Sweating with the exertion, we sat facing each other and he opened a bottle of Asahi beer. He asked me if I wanted one and I declined, so he poured me a gla.s.s of apple juice. As I quickly kept gulping down the gla.s.s, he kept re-filling it without fail

We talked about his research and his experiences in j.a.pan as we ate.

He was economical in his words, but he was quite funny and soon I was laughing non -stop and my feelings of loneliness in s trange country were swept away.

He called me "Xiao Bing", " Bing-er", but it sounded weird and finally simply "girl".  That sounded cute.

I asked me later if he didn"t mind me calling him "brother".

He replied, " Just don"t call me husband. Anything else is ok"

( Miumiu - haha YZC you"re sure about that? :))

By the time we finished dinner, it was quite late and I personally felt sad that like all good things, this too had to come to an end.

Before he left, he sent his phone number to me through blue tooth and told me to call him if I was ever in any kind of trouble.

I had never used this feature of the phone. Curious, I tried to send my number to his phone in the same way. When I saw my name on his cell phone, I was inexplicably joyful. Somehow, I felt the walls separating us had disappeared

Before I saw him out, I told him, " If you ever want to eat spicy hot pot, or are in a dilemma, you can call me."

" Thank you !"

…… …

From the next day, I got really busy.

The workaholic a.s.sociate professor gave me a thick stack of information in j.a.panese. As I struggled to read that information about cell culture, I almost vomited blood.

Qin Xue stayed in her apartment for a few days. Her mental state was gradually getting better. We went to the cafeteria to eat together with a group of Chinese students. As we chatted and laughed together, her face looked brighter. The lovelorn look had vanished, but she never mentioned Ye Zhngchen.

During that time, Ye Zhengchen and I did not have too many opportunities to contact each other.

But since we lived next door , we often b.u.mped into each other at the corridor or  in the lift. We would greet each other, say a few words and then part ways.