Female patient 1

Nian Yuyu was chatting with Jiang Jingyun, with the bar's light casting alternating shadows over her, highlighting her charming appearance. Her skin was fair and translucent, her features delicate and petite, and her jet-black hair was casually draped over her shoulders, adding a touch of languid grace.

Chu You looked over for a few seconds before averting his gaze.

"You know her?" Li Beize's eyebrows rose with interest, a curious glint flashing through his affectionate, peach blossom-like eyes.

It was rare for Chu You to look at a girl for more than three seconds.

With lips slightly pursed, Chu You's gaze remained undisturbed, still maintaining an air of cool detachment starkly different from the bar's lively atmosphere.

"Patient."

Upon hearing this, Li Beize exaggerated his expression and drawled, "Doctor Chu actually remembers a female patient!"

"Today's sun must have risen from the west!"

After speaking, he bumped Lu Binghao, who had been looking at his phone, his demeanor that of someone who enjoys watching the excitement unfold.

"Mousey, Ayou is about to shed his single status."

"Get lost, don't call me Mousey." Lu Binghao put away his phone, slightly knitting his brows, "You think Ayou is like you, Mr. Rotten Peach Blossom."

Li Beize, a chief physician in thoracic surgery at the Second Provincial Hospital, was rumored to have enough ex-girlfriends to circle the track field. Together with Chu You, they were known as the "hospital's two flowers"—unfortunately, one was a highly sought-after lofty flower, while the other was a universally shunned rotten peach blossom.

"Tch, don't air dirty laundry in public," Li Beize clicked his tongue in a careless manner.

"Ayou, seriously, is it rare for you to remember a female patient?"

Chu You didn't engage, his aloof features unchanging.

However, his mind drifted back to an incident in the clinic a week ago, on the first day of the Chinese New Year when he had voluntarily swapped shifts with an older doctor from his department.

Expecting fewer people due to the holiday, he still encountered several women pretending to be ill.

He wasn't in a particularly good mood that day.

That was until he saw Nian Yuyu, those red socks printed with the character "Xi" indeed made a deep impression on him.

Holding a cocktail, Chu You swirled the glass with his well-defined hands. His lips, usually lightly pursed, had relaxed at some point, curving into an almost imperceptible, faint smile.

Li Beize shot a look at Lu Binghao, and even the usually unconcerned Lu Binghao could tell that Chu You was in a relatively good mood.

They had proposed coming to the bar to relax, but Chu You had been reluctant at first.

They exchanged a knowing glance and smiled in mutual understanding.

As it neared midnight, the real nightlife began.

The dry ice machine sprayed wisps of fog throughout the main hall of the bar while the band took the stage, and the explosive music ignited the bustling atmosphere inside.

"Yuyu, confess and you'll be treated leniently, resist and you'll be punished harshly," Jiang Jingyun teased as she circled the table to sit beside Nian Yuyu, draping an arm over her shoulder. "Do you know that handsome guy over there?"

"I don't know him!" Nian Yuyu denied it, nudging Jiang Jingyun to look at the stage, "Your handsome lead singer is here."

As the music's intro came to an end, a deep, sexy male voice sang the rock song, and Jiang Jingyun immediately let go.

Nian Yuyu breathed a sigh of relief but inexplicably turned her head to glance at the corner booth again.

The hall was dimly lit, and through the drifting fog, Chu You also happened to look up at that moment.

Their eyes met in mid-air, holding each other's gaze.

Amidst the noise and clamor of the bar, Nian Yuyu felt as if all sounds had faded away at that moment.

In the corner booth, the man's features were cold, his stare serene.

Yet Nian Yuyu, as though with a guilty conscience, looked away first.

She then made a show of surveying the hall, pretending not to have intentionally looked his way, before eventually slumping back onto the sofa in a deflated manner.

In that instant, her heart pounded like a drum.

She subtly touched her burning earlobe and took a sip of the cocktail on the table.

The sweet lychee and rich alcohol burst forth in her mouth, eventually merging into a dizzying intoxication.

Nian Yuyu set down the glass, not daring to look back again.

In the corner booth, Chu You's gaze lingered on Nian Yuyu for two seconds; just now, her panic-stricken expression seemed to have guilt written all over her face.

"Ayou," Li Beize teased, "really taken a fancy to the young lady?"

In just a short while, Chu You's eyes had settled on someone twice.

Chu You glanced at him breezily, "You're overthinking it."

After speaking, he picked up his glass to take a light sip, still aloof as if he was untouched by worldly concerns.

"Heh," Li Beize curled his lips, just too stubborn to admit it.

As time ticked away second by second, the band's lead singer on stage was replaced by a pretty girl wearing a beret.

Nian Yuyu took out her phone to check the time; it was almost one in the morning.

"Let's go back," she suggested, glancing at Jiang Jingyun who had lost interest after the bass-voiced male lead singer left.

"Okay," Jiang Jingyun took her bag and got up, having come just for the male singer. Now that he was gone, her interest had waned.

The lights in the hall shifted, casting a haze of reds and liquor.

The two headed towards the washroom in the bar, having just drunk too much despite the low alcohol content; the quantity was substantial, and Nian Yuyu felt a bit bloated.

The bar's washroom was located near the exit, with men's and women's separated on either side and a communal washing area in the middle.

Coming out of the women's washroom, Nian Yuyu raised her head to see a familiar figure who had just emerged from the opposite side.

She froze in place, keeping her head down, not daring to make a sound.

Why was Chu You here too!

"Let's go," urged Jiang Jingyun from behind her, pushing her towards the sinks, "What are you standing there for! You're blocking the doorway."

There were three sinks in front of the washing area, with a clear glass mirror above them.

Nian Yuyu was nudged by Jiang Jingyun to the middle sink, right next to Chu You.

She wished she could shrink her face into her collar, silently praying that Chu You hadn't recognized her.

On her left, Jiang Jingyun finished washing her hands and started arranging her hair in front of the mirror. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Nian Yuyu and urged, "Hurry up."

Nian Yuyu: "..."

She placed her hands under the automatic faucet, as warm water flowed down gently.

To her right, the sound of running water stopped.

Chu You took a paper towel from the wall next to him and wiped his hands unhurriedly.

A few seconds later, he took steps to walk out.

Passing by Nian Yuyu, he paused for a moment.

His cool voice rose near Nian Yuyu's ear, "It's been a week, and your foot hasn't fully healed; you'd better drink less."

With those words, his figure disappeared at the doorway.

"That handsome guy just now, do you know him?" Jiang Jingyun clutched Nian Yuyu's arm, her eyes alight with gossip.

She suddenly remembered that she had wanted to ask Nian Yuyu back at their seating area, but got distracted by the male lead singer on stage.

"He's the orthopedic surgeon," Nian Yuyu replied, her voice as faint as a whisper.

Chu You indeed had recognized her!

The first time they met, he witnessed her celebratory red socks, and she felt utterly mortified on the spot.

The second time they met was outside the washroom in the bar.

The two of them were clearly fated to meet but not meant to be!

"It's that handsome doctor who saw your big red socks!" Jiang Jingyun was excited, "You two really have fate!"

Her gaze fell on Nian Yuyu's black trench coat, "You two are even wearing matching outfits today."

Nian Yuyu: "...Can you just shut up?"