Sheng Xia

“Are you still planning to livestream tonight?” Tang Caixi, who was both a roommate and a best friend, cracked eggs with a clatter while pulling on Sheng Xia’s hand. “If you dare to add ginger, I’ll seriously reconsider our friendship.”

“I’d rather break our friendship than eat fish without ginger.” Sheng Xia replied quickly, throwing the shredded ginger into the frying pan with a heroic posture. The oil in the pan crackled and crackled in a chaotic mess.

“Uncle and Auntie haven’t had the time to go online recently, you’ve also passed the postgraduate entrance exam, and the livestream platform hasn’t signed a contract with you yet so there’s no time limit, why do you insist on livestreaming?” Tang Caixi deftly avoided the splattering oil, looking at the ginger in the pan, and added “And you’re about to have your gallbladder removed. Why are you still in the mood to livestream?”

“……” Sheng Xia, also dodging oil splatters, felt a twitch in her gallbladder when she heard this. “I don’t even know when there will be an available hospital bed.”

The inpatient department of the Medical University Affiliated Hospital was full, and when she went to go through the procedures in the afternoon, the nurse said she might have to wait until next month.

“Have you mentioned this to Uncle and Auntie?” Tang Caixi, seeing that Sheng Xia was about to start frying the fish, quickly ran out of the kitchen, and poked half of her head to continue chatting, “After all, the body is a gift from parents. You’re removing an organ from your body.”

“……They’ve known about this surgery for a long time, and it was already planned to deal with my gallstones this year.” Sheng Xia held the gutted fish, and the organ that was about to be removed twitched again. “I’ve mentioned it to them.”

It’s just that they are now on the other side of the world, and they definitely won’t be able to make it back.

After some thought, Sheng Xia turned her head, “Remember to leave your annual leave for me. The doctor said that I will need care after the surgery, so you might have to help me clean up my poop and pee.”

Tang Caixi rolled her eyes at Sheng Xia’s compulsive planning, and the fish in her eyes was put into the pan.

Both girls, very tacitly, ran out of the kitchen and closed the door, attempting to use their minds to fry the fish until it was golden and crispy.

“Is that doctor really handsome?” Tang Caixi had a new question.

“Very.” Sheng Xia’s attention was mostly focused on observing the fish through the kitchen door, and she gave the remaining bit of attention to Tang Caixi, and she described it very sincerely, “Tall, thin, with a serious look in his eyes. He has an indifferent face, a teardrop mole, thin lips, cold white skin, and a very deep voice.”

He fits very much with their aesthetic preferences.

Tang Caixi recognized the aesthetics of her best friend, but still had a question: “Why would someone so handsome want to be a doctor?”

“I don’t know.” Sheng Xia shrugged.

He’s not only a doctor but also a quite competent one.

After leaving the outpatient clinic, she checked the official website of their hospital. Cheng Liang was ranked sixth on the list of doctors in their hospital’s hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery department, and he was the first on the list of attending physicians. He was a clinical doctor, an outstanding young doctor for three consecutive years, and he had also participated in several seemingly prestigious projects.

A really good doctor’s resume that didn’t match his handsome face.

The sound of frying in the kitchen, which sounded like it was about to explode, finally quieted down, and the pan started to smoke. Sheng Xia opened the door and rushed in, using a spatula to flip the fish.

“How is it?” Tang Caixi, who was still hiding outside, asked cautiously.

Sheng Xia bent down and examined it for a long time, then raised her head and made an OK gesture: “Although it’s not golden and crispy, and the skin is gone, it should be cooked.”

Their weekly cooking task was half a success.

“Don’t try such a difficult dish next week.” At dinner, Sheng Xia swallowed a piece of fish with soy sauce, “If the kitchen really explodes, the landlord will blow us up.”

They had just moved in two months ago. The location was convenient, the house decoration was also conscientious, and they should be grateful to be able to rent such a place at a reasonable price in this area of Lucheng.

“I heard from 402 upstairs that they’ve been living here for two or three years and have never seen the landlord in person.” Tang Caixi shared the new gossip she had just heard, “I just heard that he seems to be a young man, not much older than us.”

“Didn’t you say that the landlord lives on the first floor?” The first floor was the kind of floor that was connected to the second floor, so they could still see the sunroom on the first floor from their balcony, and there were always clothes drying inside.

“But I’ve never met him, not during the day or at night.” Tang Caixi lowered her voice, and said mysteriously, “Could he be some of an invisible tycoon?”

The phrase “invisible tycoon” seemed just right to unfold a story.

So, in this dinner with not-so-great taste, the two of them, guided by the topic of the invisible tycoon downstairs, imagined the landlord, whom they had never met, as the Bluebeard from fairy tales. The narrative style shifted from romantic CEO romance to suspenseful crime and looting.

The joy of chatting lies in the lack of a specific theme, so by eight o’clock in the evening, Sheng Xia opened her livestream as usual. They didn’t discuss why Sheng Xia insisted on livestreaming anymore.

Why did Sheng Xia livestream?

Initially, it was because her parents were overseas, and the place she usually worked was chaotic. For the sake of her postgraduate entrance exam, she was busy to the point of exhaustion. It was difficult for the family to coordinate a phone call due to the time difference, so Sheng Xia decided to open a livestream on a platform. Every day, at fixed times in the morning and evening, her parents could quickly check if she was okay, saving time and effort.

This month, she passed the postgraduate entrance exam, but just like the summer she spent studying university courses after finishing the college entrance exam, passing the postgraduate entrance exam was just the end of one phase. She still needed to study, attend classes, and maintain her livestream at a fixed time unless something significant came up.

She had a compulsive planning disorder, and when Tang Caixi mentioned the livestream while cooking, it was just to mock her compulsive planning. Completing tasks according to a predetermined plan provided her with a sense of security.

So, like usual, she opened her notebook, selected her usual playlist, turned on the camera, and opened the livestream platform.

The learning section of the livestream platform usually had few people. The number of viewers in Sheng Xia’s livestream room fluctuated, reaching a peak of just over a dozen during peak hours, with only four or five regulars remaining, mainly because they liked the playlist she played during her study sessions.

At 8:05 PM, as usual, Sheng Xia glanced at the audience list in the livestream backstage. Her parents were not there; only familiar faces remained.

“Good evening,” she smiled into the camera and opened her book.

Everything proceeded as usual.

It was her most peaceful activity.

In the end, Lin, the director, took Cheng Liang to the hospital cafeteria for dinner. He received an education throughout the entire meal. After finishing dinner, he made another trip to the inpatient department. By the time he completed everything and returned home, it was already past 11 PM.

He opened the door with his eyes closed, took off his shoes with his eyes closed, and then lay down on the floor by the doorway, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes with his eyes closed.

He was contemplating whether sleeping like this would affect his back tomorrow.

The pitch-black ceiling didn’t provide him with an answer. However, he dug out a pile of pants from beneath him.

Although the cleaning aunt would come regularly, since he insisted that she shouldn’t touch his clothes, the cleaning turned into an immaculate house filled with his dirty clothes scattered everywhere.

He needed to do laundry.

Otherwise, he would have to go to work naked the day after tomorrow.

Cheng Liang accepted his fate, lying on the floor, feeling the wall with his foot, and with a snap, the large crystal chandelier in the living room instantly lit up, almost startling Cheng Liang.

The house was spacious, but the designer bought an extravagant crystal chandelier to match the five-meter-high floor. Every time he turned it on, it scared him.

Cheng Liang slowly got up, using his foot to drag all the dirty clothes to the laundry room. Facing the neatly arranged washing machines in the laundry room, he skillfully separated the clothes by color and type, added laundry beads, and then pressed the start button for each.

The thunderous sound of the rolling washing machine finally brought some vitality to the empty house. Cheng Liang, half-squinting, leaned against the door, yawned, and took out his phone to check the time.

Half-past eleven. The unread messages on WeChat, which had remained unopened throughout the journey home, had now jumped to three digits.

Cheng Liang sighed almost imperceptibly. He knew that these messages were from various hospital groups, the large department group, small project groups, and various strange interest groups. Every day, each group had various chatter, flattery, pure technical discussions, and even arguments for work.

Several groups had mentioned him, asking about his work, pulling him into discussions, and even inviting him to play basketball late at night.

Among them was a private chat from Lin, the director, which, when opened, revealed a long string of literature explanations. Lin asked him to read these documents during tomorrow’s day off; they would be needed for next month’s seminar.

Cheng Liang, leaning against the door, typed a response to Lin, assuring him that he would complete the task, and then walked to the kitchen to open the refrigerator. He poured himself a bottle of cold beer and returned to the laundry room, swaying and tapping his feet.

He should be a winner in life, with healthy parents, decent abilities, a good job that should lead to a steady promotion, a good social circle, and a reasonable amount of money.

But after a mouthful of the cold beer, all he felt was noise. The buzzing WeChat messages that rapidly reached four digits, the literature that had been circling in his mind, and the way he smiled and talked to people outside was particularly noisy.

Cheng Liang took off his shirt and took another sip of the cold beer.

He knew he was getting irritable, all because Director Lin repeatedly said to him: “I always have a feeling that I can’t get through to you.”

It’s not that he didn’t work hard.

Nor is it that he lacks talent.

It’s just that no matter what he did, regardless of whether he succeeded or not, whether it was him or Director Lin, there always seemed to be a sense of lack of interest.

It was especially unmotivating.

Just like he is now, staring at the washing machine and drinking a can of beer. He could only resign himself to turning on the computer and pulling up the literature that Director Lin had mentioned.

After reading two lines, he habitually opened the live broadcast platform and entered the love broadcast room of a certain study streamer. The livestream was still on, and the girl who had calmly talked about surgery in the hospital during the day was now reading a book with her head down.

The music in the livestream room was Anthony Lazaro’s “Gravity”.

^[1]tl: I checked it, and it was really relaxing.

Cheng Liang, who hadn’t received any positive energy all day, slightly curled up the corners of his mouth. It was a good song, and it matched his current state quite well.

It was like a breath of fresh air.

It was also especially suitable for reading literature.

It’s just a pity that it’s almost twelve o’clock. He remembered that Sheng Xia’s livestream room usually goes offline by half past twelve. After twelve twenty-five, she will see if there are any barrages that need to be chatted about, pick one or two, and then say goodnight.

Every day, without fail, not a minute or a second late.

He once suspected that this girl had set an alarm in a place where they couldn’t see it, and the kind that would explode if it wasn’t executed on time.

Sure enough, listening to the quiet and serene song while reading literature for more than half an hour, Cheng Liang heard the sound of Sheng Xia closing her book in the livestream room.

Then Sheng Xia took a sip of water.

“After getting into graduate school, do you think it will be boring?” She was reading the barrage, but it made the unrelated Cheng Liang frown.

“Why would it be boring?” Sheng Xia was puzzled. “My pursuit is not just passing the postgraduate entrance exam but to study this major well after passing it.”

Another comment floated by: My life goal is to pass the postgraduate entrance exam.

Sheng Xia laughed and teasingly said, “Aren’t your pursuits too lacking?”

……

Cheng Liang put down his pen.

This girl…

Even through the internet, she could stab him.