Give Me Another Smile

Tang Yu watched indifferently as Gao Rang dashed off to clock in for work.

Initially, Tang Yu was solely focused on Yin Zhao-an's survival, and she had completely zoned out everything else from her mind. After things calmed down, though, she quickly realized who "Doctor Gao" was.

However, with how much things had changed in this timeline due to the butterfly effect, Tang Yu didn't know if those two people would meet again in this life, much less get back together.

…

Yu Wanrou called her idle husband to help her with manual labor at the hospital. She also had Tang Yu visit Yin Zhao-an to inform the latter about her discharge from the hospital.

When Tang Yu arrived at Yin Zhao-an's ward, Yin Zhao-an was in the middle of rolling her eyes in circles, the sight giving Tang Yu the chills.

"Did you hurt your brain?" Tang Yu walked over to Yin Zhao-an's side and bent over slightly, behaving as if to check Yin Zhao-an's head.

Yin Zhao-an wanted to smile but dared not do so. Instead, she silently pursed her lips for a moment before saying, "I'm doing eye exercises."

"That's good." Tang Yu pulled up a chair and sat down. Noticing that the sweet congee on the bedside table was still steaming, she asked, "Have you not had breakfast yet?"

Yin Zhao-an pursed her lips again. Then, sighing helplessly, she said, "My mom accidentally warmed up the porridge a little too much. She says it's too troublesome to blow it cool for me, so she just left it there to cool."

Tang Yu: "..."

For a moment, Tang Yu couldn't help but wonder if Yin Zhao-an and Wang Zhen were related by blood.

When Tang Yu touched the thermos with her hand, she found it very well insulated. So, she picked it up and sat it on her lap. Then, after stirring the porridge with a spoon, she brought up a spoonful to her mouth, blew on it, and served it to Yin Zhao-an's mouth, saying, "Try if it's still too hot."

Yin Zhao-an was stunned by Tang Yu's gesture, her mind in a daze as she opened her mouth to welcome the spoonful of porridge. In addition to blowing on the porridge, Tang Yu was also considerate enough to scoop only a little porridge with the spoon. That way, she wouldn't have to move her mouth too much and agitate her damaged facial muscles.

"Is it hot?"

"It's okay."

Tang Yu scooped another small spoonful of porridge and fed it to Yin Zhao-an. It was only after she had repeated this cycle several times did she remember her goal of visiting Yin Zhao-an's ward. However, when Tang Yu saw the happy expression on Yin Zhao-an's face, she suddenly didn't feel like saying what she had to say.

Tang Yu would always write her troubles on her face. After noticing Tang Yu looking distracted and hesitating to speak several times, Yin Zhao-an finally decided to interrupt Tang Yu when the latter nearly fed porridge to her nose for a second time, asking, "Do you have something to say, Tang-Tang?"

Tang Yu looked down and caressed the thermos' cool exterior. Instead of answering Yin Zhao-an's question, she asked, "Are you still hungry?"

Sensing the warmth that gradually filled her stomach, Yin Zhao-an gently shook her head and said, "I'm not hungry anymore." What she didn't say, though, was that she still wasn't full.

Looking up at Yin Zhao-an, Tang Yu said, "I'm getting ready to go back to school."

Yin Zhao-an momentarily stopped breathing and subconsciously clutched the quilt with her hands. Then, while evading Tang Yu's gaze, she said, "Oh, is that so?"

The next moment, Yin Zhao-an felt a pair of warm hands wrapping around her cold fingertips. Before Yin Zhao-an knew it, Tang Yu had set the thermos aside and leaned forward slightly. Realizing this, Yin Zhao-an held her breath and stared at the enchanting person before her.

"The next time I visit…" Tang Yu let her words trail off. Then, after keeping Yin Zhao-an in suspense for a moment, she continued, "You'd better have gained some weight. Otherwise, I won't like you anymore."

Yin Zhao-an retracted the emotional tears oozing out of her eyes. She had expected to hear some touching words or perhaps even a confession, but she was left disappointed.

Tang Yu smiled, in a good mood. Then, when gently caressing Yin Zhao-an's mottled shaved head with her fingers, she said, "You don't look pretty being so thin."

Although Yin Zhao-an never focused too much on her appearance, having the person she cared about say that she was ugly still damaged her self-esteem. Putting on a sad expression, she looked at the girl who had already stood up from her seat.

"I'll visit you often, so make sure not to skip any meals," Tang Yu said.

"You as well. I'll get Wen Tao to keep an eye on you," Yin Zhao-an said in response.

Tang Yu chuckled helplessly. Then, she left the room while under Yin Zhao-an's clingy gaze.

…

As soon as Tang Yu left, Yin Zhao-an reached for her smartphone on the bedside table, dialed a number, and set the call to speaker mode.

After several beeps, the person on the other end of the call finally picked up. Then, as soon as the call connected, the other party angrily cursed, "You fucking harass me one more time, and I'm going to have people smash up your damned shop!"

Wen Tao's voice sounded hoarse as if he had just woken up. After indifferently lowering the call's volume, Yin Zhao-an coldly asked, "Are you done cursing?"

The sound of rustling sheets came through the phone. Then, all sound vanished for a moment. If not for the screen showing that the call was still connected, Yin Zhao-an would have thought that Wen Tao had hung up on her.

"Crap! Big Bro!" Wen Tao was audibly shocked. In a tone of disbelief, he asked, "You're awake, Big Bro?"

"Mhm."

"You have no idea how big of a news that incident of yours has become in Zhong High, Big Bro. I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard the news. Do you have any idea how scared I was at the time?" Wen Tao said as he recalled when he first learned about the incident involving Yin Zhao-an and Tang Yu.

"What are you scared of?" Yin Zhao-an rolled her eyes at Wen Tao's dramatic reaction.

"I… Don't bring it up…" Wen Tao's voice suddenly turned meek and aggrieved. "I got cut up by that Tony."

Cut up? Did they get into a fight?

Yin Zhao-an didn't think she would get to hear something interesting while she was in the hospital. However, before she could ask for details, Wen Tao dashed her thoughts, saying:

"Hah… Let's not talk about it. I can't explain it clearly on the phone. Anyway, I will be stuck in military training for the next few days, so I'll visit you once I'm free."

"Sure. Also, I have something to ask of you."

…

TL Notes:

Just a reminder, Tony = Li Beining. Tony (Tony the Barber) is an internet slang in China used to refer to hairdressers with "spectacular" skills.