Ordinary Day

Bai Yutang awoke with disoriented feeling. At first he thought he was dreaming. The bed and the pillow he usually awoke with is a creaking bed with a bad quality pillow. Don't even mention the humidity inside his room and the coarse bedsheet scratching his cheek, along with the damp smell inside the cramped room.

But why today he awoke with a fresh feeling? With a heavenly bed under him and a plump pillow made from memory foam material that perfectly supports his head and neck. The silk bed sheet felt so soft caressing his skin, and the air filled with lavender and lemongrass sage scent.

After blinking his eyes several times, looking at the sun rays peeking shyly from behind the light grey curtain, now he remembers. He's not staying in that shabby hostel anymore. He's staying in Jian Kang Lu's apartment.

Bai Yutang turn his head and look at the clock in the wall. He abruptly awake and can't believe his eyes. It's 9 o'clock!!! He didn't set the alarm because he always awoken before six in the morning in the hostel. Now after he tastes this divine bed and pillow, his body tentatively rests longer as if screaming in protests after months of lacking sleep.

Bai Yutang cursed himself, and hurriedly ran out from his room. He saw the empty living room, and there's food prepared on the dining table. There's a note there in Jian Kang Lu's handwriting.

[I'm going to the hospital. Eat properly, and rest some more. If you need anything, just text me. I'll call you back as soon as possible when i'm free.]

Bai Yutang really can't believe this. He's the one who should prepare and pay for breakfast. Yesterday Jian Kang Lu already gave him 2000 yuan for the food allowance until the rest of October.

But now Jian Kang Lu has already left. He was staring at his breakfast. The food ordered by Jian Kang Lu is a lot, it's enough for his lunch too.

Bai Yutang speechless. He then walked to his room again and took his mobile phone. He sent a message to Jian Kang Lu.

[I'm sorry, Jian Ge. I fell asleep. I'll cook dinner later. What time will you come home today?]

Jian Kang Lu just read that message 1 hour later. He smiled when he read those messages. If one year ago he delusionally thought that every time he goes out with his kitten is a date, now he raises his delusion into thinking that he had a little husband waiting for him at home. He replied to his little husband's message.

[I'll try to reach home before 9 pm. Have you eaten?]

Jian Kang Lu never felt at peace like this before. Happiness is simple. But sometimes that simplicity is hard to find.

Maybe lots of people won't believe if he said that it was difficult for him to find a life time partner. Or why doctors stay single and only manage to get married with their colleague or through the blind date arranged by their family or friends.

Even a senior doctor like him who already has more free time, still working from 7 am to 9 pm almost everyday. Some of his colleagues work less, especially when they already have children. But most of them will have similar lifestyles.

Jian Kang Lu will visit the ward patients from the morning until before lunch. A doctor's duty is not only to check the patients. They also need to fill the medical resume, prescription, laboratory and radiology order, and others.

Years ago, they still manually wrote in the papers. A lot of papers. From the patient's symptoms, what they complain about, the patient's vital sign, important physical examination findings, the diagnosis, the therapy and instructions, and so on.

It's actually not a mystery why a doctor's handwriting is ugly. Not because they want to write in code so the patient could not read it, nor because they originally had bad handwriting. But because they need to write a lot. When you need to fill those patient's records which pile up high like a never ending nightmare, who had time to write decently?

But then time changed, doctors and nurses' handwriting needed to be improved to prevent the misperception due to this heavenly style of handwriting. So hospitals start to computerise all the patient's records. But still, either writing or typing took quite a lot of time.

Jian Kang Lu is famous for his speed typing, so he could fill the records faster. Thus he could finish his ward visit before lunch. After lunch he spends his time doing his research, or attending resident's cases and paper presentations. Doctors also need to attend meetings.

Hospitals have a lot of meetings. Their nephrology division also has weekly meetings. Talking about the project, new regulation, some trouble occurred in the hospital, or in their own division. Sometimes he also needs to attend the meeting with the research foundation.

In the afternoon he will have his practice schedule for the out patients. He has a practice schedule four times a week. He already limits his patients, maximum 20 patients each time. If he didn't limit his patients, he would reach home at 12 o'clock. He learned from his lesson before.

His last girlfriend said she could accept a doctor's lifestyle. But then she starts to complain when she only can meet Jian Kang Lu once a week.

Complaint why Jian Kang Lu just replys her messages in short sentences, and only 2-3 times a day. Complaint Jian Kang Lu didn't pay attention to her problems. Complaint when Jian Kang Lu fell asleep when she was talking about her days. Complaint that Jian Kang Lu didn't love her enough to prioritise her like she did. Complaint that they can't arrange a holiday together. Complaint when Jian Kang Lu cancelled the date. And the list is still going on.

That's not because her girlfriend is too demanding. It's quite understandable. Jian Kang Lu takes care of sick people everyday, but he can't even accompany her when she is sick. Wu Shen also complained about the same things. At that time Jian Kang Lu was still so busy, he was still in his internship then later his residency.

Jian Kang Lu understood, it was not fair for a doctor's partner. They have to wait for the whole day long, and can't complain much if their partner is busy taking care of other people. They also need to take care of house matters because their partner is too tired when they reach home.

That's why, this little simple happiness from his kitten's messages made him smile all day long. He can't wait to go home and eat dinner with his kitten. And it was his kitten's home made food. No one ever cooked for him before.

The nurses and the resident's could feel this little change from Jian Kang Lu. Usually he smiles calmly and gently. But today, his smile is blinding. They didn't say anything. It just occurred in their mind and they don't need to ask.

Bai Yutang looking at the internet, what to cook for dinner. He can't experiment much, afraid he'll waste the ingredients. So he decided he will just cook steamed rice, simple chicken and vegetable soup, and later he'll make some omelette. He was guilt ridden, but tomorrow he'll try to make something else.

Near afternoon, Bai Yutang starts to sense something is not right. The group chat for his part time job is so silent. Just like the group chat with Yu Dong, Tang Yuxuan, and Liu Xiang. Hibernate…

This is Monday, even if the workload is reduced, three days without any sketches order is weird. Bai Yutang was afraid he made some mistakes. Furthermore, he was afraid his payment reduced later because he didn't work as much as he should.

So he bravely typed, asking whether they had anything he had to sketch, or anything else.

One of the architects from the professor's firm told him he needed help to find references on the track for landscapes and the proportion in Chinese gardens. Bai Yutang was relieved, and said he will find it and will send the material as soon as possible.

But the group from the lower and middle interior department is panicking. They actually desperately need some help. But is it wise??? The God himself even comes down this morning to their lowly nest and says thank you personally to their leader for discovering this young man's address.

Who is this student, who said that he has financial problems and working part time for them, but can make God Zhen Guo act like this? Why does he need to work part time doing minor sketches if God Zhen Guo is personally looking for his information.

The most confusing thing is, even though this young man is working diligently and his sketch is fine, the design and his foundation is just average, doesn't seem like a genius worthy of the God's attention.

After discussing between themselves, they agreed to give this young man some work to do because honestly they can not afford to finish all of these jobs by themselves if they still want to live like a human being instead of a zombie.

So at night after dinner, these groups start to come back to life. Bai Yutang is relieved, it means this month's income is still secure. He lists all the things needed to sketch and start to work. The references for the track and garden are already done and sent.

Bai Yutang is quite hungry, but Jian Kang Lu is not yet coming back home. It's still 8o'clock. He decides later on he needs to buy more fruits when they do groceries shopping. He made apple smoothies, and made two portions. The other is for Jian Kang Lu.

Jian Kang Lu reaches home at 8.45 pm. He looked at his kitten sitting in the living room, sketching something in his drawing pad. Jian Kang Lu smiled, it seems his birthday gift is really useful. Another thing he owes Zhen Guo.

Bai Yutang raised his head to hear Jian Kang Lu home. "Welcome home, Jian Ge. Do you want to have dinner first or take a bath first?"

Jian Kang Lu has another illusion. Maybe if he has a husband, this is the everyday scene he will have. Someone warms his place, his heart, eases his hard day. To make him feel like he is finally coming home.

"Do you mind if i take a bath first?"

Bai Yutang nodded, "Mmm, it's okay. We'll have dinner after you finish." Bai Yutang absorbed in his sketch again. Jian Kang Lu looked at him with a content heart. He then went inside his own room and took a bath quickly.

Bai Yutang suddenly remembered, he hadn't made the omelette yet and prepared the plates. So he paused his work, and started to prepare the food on the dining table. Then he made the omelette.

Bai Yutang whisk and pour the eggs into the frying pan, the butter and the egg smell really good. He added cheese and tomatoes too inside the omelette. Yesterday Jian Kang Lu suggested buying organic butter and red yolk egg. The smell is very enticing compared to the ordinary butter.

While he cooked, suddenly Jian Kang Lu's head pooped next to his own, and his breath tickled his ear while saying, "Mmm, you really can cook. It smelled really good."

Bai Yutang could feel the heat in his face rising, and his heart suddenly beat faster. Maybe he was just shocked because he didn't hear Jian Kang Lu coming out from his room.

"I.. I can't guarantee the taste, Jian Ge. I can only cook simple things." Bai Yutang tried to answer while calming his beating heart.

"I can tell that this omelette must taste really good. No one ever cooked for me before except my mom and my sister in law."

Bai Yutang's heart was still wildly beating, and he felt weird. Maybe he was just happy, no one praised his cook before. His taste buds are also normal, so he also knows that his cooking tastes ordinary, but it was acceptable.

So he just scoop the omelette and divide it into two plates. He brought the plate to the dining table, and filled the two bowls with rice from the cooker. He served that simple food, and Jian Kang Lu sat at the table.

Bai Yutang still takes the smoothies from the refrigerator and puts them in front of Jian Kang Lu. Jian Kang Lu is smiling all the time. Bai Yutang thinking maybe today is a good day in the hospital for Jian Kang Lu.

Jian Kang Lu praised Bai Yutang's cooking ability each time he put the food that Bai Yutang cooked inside his mouth.

"This rice is so fragrant."

"This omelette is so good, melting in my mouth. You really cook it well."

"This soup is so excellent. The taste is very clean, and the chicken is so tender. This is the most delicious chicken soup I ever taste."

Bai Yutang was so embarrassed, he felt like a 7 year old child who praised because he can cook. With a red face he can only say, "Please stop it, Jian Ge. I know my cooking ability. There's no way this tastes better compared to all the food you taste before."

"But that's true, i like it very much." Jian Kang Lu said these words with the food inside his mouth.

Honestly, this is the first time Bai Yutang saw Jian Kang Lu eat like this. Like he truly loves this food and wants to devour the whole thing into his mouth. Bai Yutang feels a bit proud. Maybe Jian Kang Lu really likes it?

Then he just involuntarily said, "If you really like it, then i can cook for breakfast too and pack the lunch for you tomorrow."

He immediately regretted what he said, why he had to say that. It sounds like… Gay? He sounds like a wife cooking for his husband. And what if Jian Ge only said he likes his food just because he doesn't want to offend him?

But Bai Yutang saw Jian Kang Lu's face brightened and said excitedly, "Really? You would? I'd love to!"

So Bai Yutang could only lower his head down, he couldn't bear to look at those happy faces. He felt.. weird. He doesn't know what this feeling he felt right now. He just said in a low voice, "I'll set the alarm tomorrow so I won't overslept. What time will you go to the hospital tomorrow, Jian Ge?"

"Mmm.. Usually before 7 I am already going to work. But if that's too early for you, it's okay."

Bai Yutang shook his head, "No, that's not too early. I will prepare breakfast before 6.30 then."

Then he raised his head, "By the way, how is your day, Jian Ge? Is there something good today? You look quite happy."

Bai Yutang saw that tender face smiling gently, "Yes. A lot of good things happened today, and that makes me so happy."