Chapter 43: Rejection

Si Qingyu strolled back to the clinic, her mood unusually light, as if something that had been oppressing her heart had finally been released. All the way, she had a faint smile on her lips, nodding to the townspeople who greeted her.

Even while recording medicinal ingredients at the clinic, the corners of her mouth never flattened.

Zhao Sixi, who had been quietly observing Si Qingyu’s expression from the side, was very surprised. She had never seen Doctor Si in such a good mood. Could it be that she had picked up some silver taels outside?

She inched closer to Si Qingyu’s side, glanced at the medicinal ingredients she was recording, bit her lip, and her curiosity made her unable to resist asking, “Doctor Si, did you pick up some silver taels?” And a lot of them?

Si Qingyu glanced indifferently at Zhao Sixi, who was a head shorter than her and looking at her with a curious face. She shook her head, “No.”

This answer made Zhao Sixi even more curious, “But Doctor Si seems to be in a very happy mood today.”

To be this happy, aside from picking up silver taels, she couldn’t think of anything else that could make Doctor Si, who always had a calm face, so joyful.

Happy?

Was she? She just felt that her mood was relatively light. Picking up the brush, she dipped it in ink and continued writing on the white paper, “Am I very different from usual today?”

“Mm-hmm!” Zhao Sixi nodded vigorously. It was very different, even her expression was different when looking at her.

“What’s different?”

Zhao Sixi tilted her head, scratched it, and carefully looked at Si Qingyu, who was earnestly recording the medicine. She struggled to organize her words, “Today, Doctor Si’s expression is much more amiable.”

Si Qingyu glanced at her indifferently, “Oh? Are you saying that I’m usually cold to you?”

Although her tone was teasing, it made Zhao Sixi, who couldn’t tell, anxious.

“No, no, Doctor Si, I didn’t mean that!” Zhao Sixi hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands to indicate that she didn’t mean that. She anxiously scratched her head, gesticulating wildly to explain, “I meant that Doctor Si is usually very good, but today’s Doctor Si is even better!”

Seeing her so anxious that she was sweating all over her face, Si Qingyu couldn’t help but laugh, waving her hand lightly at her, “Alright, I was just joking with you. No need to be so anxious.”

At that, Zhao Sixi breathed a sigh of relief. It scared her to death. She wiped the sweat from her face. The weather was already hot, and with this anxiousness, she was sweating even more profusely.

She lay in front of Si Qingyu, quietly watching her record the medicinal ingredients.

The two were silent, not speaking. Occasionally, a cool breeze would blow in from the clinic entrance, so quiet that Zhao Sixi felt a little drowsy. She rested her chin on her arms, her eyelids fighting each other.

“Sixi.” Si Qingyu suddenly spoke softly.

“Huh?” Zhao Sixi’s fighting eyelids suddenly opened, and she looked at her in a daze, “What’s the matter, Doctor Si? Is there something you need me to help with?”

Si Qingyu gently shook her head and glanced at her, “Do you… have someone you like?”

“Huh?”

At this moment, Zhao Sixi was completely awake, looking at her in a daze. Why was Doctor Si suddenly asking her this question? Wasn’t this the kind of question she usually asked Doctor Si?

“Doctor Si, why… why are you suddenly asking me this question?”

Si Qingyu’s eyes were half-lowered, her slender hand holding the brush, silently dipping it in ink. She pursed her lips, a barely noticeable blush on her face, “Just asking. If you don’t want to say, you don’t have to.”

“Uh…” Zhao Sixi scratched her face, then lowered her head in slight embarrassment, “I-I quite like a young gentleman from my village, but unfortunately…” She laughed dryly, “Unfortunately, his family looks down on me.”

“Why?”

“Because… before I came to the clinic, my family couldn’t even afford meals. And…” Zhao Sixi lowered her head, rubbing her coarse cloth clothes with her hands, “And my mother is mute. There’s nothing of value in my family. How could they look up to me…”

Si Qingyu comfortingly patted her head, “But now you can already support your family, and you know medicine and can treat people’s illnesses. Even if I’m not around, you don’t have to worry.”

Zhao Sixi didn’t cheer up because of what she said. She shook her head dejectedly, “They married him off long ago. Even if I have the ability now, it can’t change anything.”

In this case, there was indeed no way. Si Qingyu was silent for a moment, not knowing how to comfort her.

But fortunately, Zhao Sixi was not the type to get depressed. Even when her family couldn’t afford meals, she had never been depressed. She quickly raised her head, her face pretending to be casual, “But this matter has long passed. If Doctor Si hadn’t asked, I certainly wouldn’t have thought of it.”

“But… Doctor Si, why did you suddenly become curious about this?”

Si Qingyu pursed her lips, feeling a sense of shyness for the first time, “I just wanted to ask you what kind of feeling it is.”

“Huh??” Zhao Sixi obviously didn’t understand what she meant by ‘what kind of feeling’, “Doctor Si, what feeling are you talking about?” She tilted her head towards Si Qingyu, wanting to hear more clearly.

Si Qingyu sighed, put down the brush, and rubbed her eyes, “I mean, how did you feel when you liked him?”

Feeling?

Zhao Sixi tilted her head, clasped the medicine cabinet with both hands, and thought carefully for a while, “It’s just wanting to see him. Seeing him makes me happy, and then I want him to look at me.” Suddenly, her voice became sad again, “Unfortunately, that young gentleman doesn’t look at me because he doesn’t like me.”

“……” Having brought up such an unpleasant matter for her, Si Qingyu didn’t know how to comfort her for a moment.

Zhao Sixi looked up at her listlessly, “Doctor Si, do you have someone you like?” Otherwise, why would she ask her like this? She felt as if she had been hit.

“Cough, cough…” Si Qingyu suddenly coughed violently, the blush on her face deepening.

She pretended to glare sternly at Zhao Sixi, “Nonsense.”

“But, Doctor Si, your face is so red…”

“The weather is stuffy, that’s all.”

“…Oh.” She didn’t believe it at all.

Zhao Sixi leaned against the medicine cabinet, propping her face with her hands, feeling it was amazing. She never thought that Doctor Si, who seemed to be detached from worldly affairs, would also have someone she liked.

She wondered if it was Mister Luo or Mister Li.

After thinking about this question, Zhao Sixi knew that the saying “not thinking of people during the day and not thinking of ghosts at night” was true.

She looked towards Li Tianyang at the door, then cautiously glanced at Si Qingyu, who was concentrating and hadn’t noticed. She reached out and tugged at the corner of Si Qingyu’s clothes, “Doctor Si…”

“Hm?” Si Qingyu looked up and saw Li Tianyang looking at her with a gloomy face. She frowned, “What’s the matter, Mister Li?”