In the afternoon, Silas Shaw came back from the operating room and saw there was actually a bottle of soft drink on Caleb Lockwood's desk.
He couldn't help feeling a bit surprised and curious.
The office was very quiet at the moment. Everyone was busy with their own things; Caleb was writing a progress note.
Silas sat down at his own desk, took a sip of water, then stared in Caleb's direction for a while.
In the end he still couldn't hold back and waved at Victor Rhodes, who was not far away.
Lowering his voice, he asked, "What's the deal with that drink on your Teacher Lockwood's desk?"
Victor stealthily glanced over at Caleb, raised one hand to block his face, then leaned closer to Silas. "A pretty girl brought it for him."
"Pretty girl?" Silas narrowed his eyes slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting into a mysterious smile. "What's her name? What does she look like? Do I know her?"
Victor thought about it carefully. "Seems like her name is Serena Sutton… she's really pretty."
Silas immediately understood. His brows twitched. So it really was that girl!
"Ahem, ahem…" Silas fake-coughed twice, then strolled over to Caleb's desk, bracing one hand on the edge while looking him up and down.
Caleb turned his eyes at the sound, glanced at him. "Coughing? Go see one of the doctors from Pulmonary."
The corner of Silas's mouth twitched. He casually picked up that bottle of "Xiao Ming Tong Xue" on Caleb's desk.
He read the words on the bottle aloud to himself: "Cold Brew Lemon Black Tea."
"Yo, the pattern on it is even the Greek-style Cupid's Arrow. Tsk tsk, this is really…"
"A token of deep affection!"
Silas said the last few words very loudly, enunciating clearly, the corners of his lips hooked up, looking every bit like he was smelling gossip.
Caleb slanted him a look and said nothing.
Silas continued to put on a show. "By the way, don't you not drink soft drinks? As your bro, I'm loyal and righteous—let me help you get rid of this burden."
As he spoke, The Great Dr. Shaw made a move to twist open the cap.
"Put it down." Caleb's expression was cool, his tone forceful, and there was a faint chill in those deep-set eyes.
Silas's lips curled into a light smile; he understood everything. He slowly put the drink back down and sighed. "I knew you couldn't bear to part with it~"
Caleb's fingers paused over the keyboard, his gaze lingering on that bottle of drink.
Xiao Ming Tong Xue? Cupid's Arrow?
Sure enough, she was still a kid. Even the drinks she bought were so… cute.
-
Serena Sutton went back to school. Her roommate Skye Morgan was on the phone with her new boyfriend.
Brandy Quinn was sitting on the bed gaming; basically, none of them were seriously studying.
Serena had skipped Situation and Policy twice before. The teacher had assigned a short essay during class, which would be counted in the usual grade, so she had to make it up.
The content didn't really matter; as long as it fit the core socialist values, it would do.
Serena took out a pen and some paper, put on her headphones, opened the textbook, and got ready to write.
But suddenly, as if she thought of something, she opened WeChat. She figured she should make a Moments post.
She glanced at the Xiao Ming Tong Xue on her desk, had a flash of inspiration, and snapped a picture.
In the photo were her prepared paper and pen, and that bottle of tea. She captioned it: "Another day to work hard!"
After sending the Moments post, Serena started writing her short essay.
She had only written a few characters when she received a message from Ms. Hayes.
Ms. Hayes: "This weekend I'm going back to the countryside with your grandma. Be good at home on the weekend, don't run all over the place."
"Keep an eye on your dad, don't let him smoke."
Ms. Hayes wouldn't be home this weekend? So no one would be watching her? She could have fun as she pleased? Serena couldn't help laughing.
She replied: "Mission will be accomplished."
Serena was about to put her phone down and continue writing her essay when she noticed a red number on the WeChat "Discover" tab.
Probably family or friends had liked or commented.
Her mild OCD acting up, she tapped in. Sure enough, that's what it was.
Only, when Serena saw the latest like notification, her eyes suddenly flew wide open.
L liked your post…
Caleb Lockwood had liked it? He'd actually seen the Moments she'd posted!
And his like was pretty quick, too.
Serena leaned back in her chair, tilted her head up and giggled and giggled, her brows and eyes curved in open delight.
Brandy looked at her like she was an idiot. "What are you giggling about all by yourself? You can get this happy writing some boring little essay?"
Serena turned to look at her, shook her head. "You wouldn't get it."
-
Near quitting time, Director Thorne of Neurosurgery suddenly appeared in the office.
He clasped his hands behind his back, cleared his throat. "I've gotten word—though it's not an official notice, it's definitely reliable. Tomorrow morning, someone from the hospital office may come do an internal check."
"Our doctors' office is supposed to be clean and tidy. You can't have unrelated stuff on the desk. Everything needs to be properly arranged."
Silas propped his chin on his hand, scrolling through CTs on the computer with his mouse, lazily saying, "Director, I think our office is pretty clean and tidy. You just haven't seen the other departments. Their discarded lab slips cover the whole desk, and they've got steamed buns from breakfast still sitting there…"
"Silas Shaw, quit talking to me about food!"
Director Thorne said, hating iron for not becoming steel, "You and your instant noodles and spicy hotpot in the on-call room—never clean up after you eat. Ms. Shaw who does the cleaning has complained to me several times. You're the last person with any right to speak here."
Even after being called out by name, Silas was still smiling. He took a deep breath. "All right then, brothers, time to move. Let's tidy up the desks~"
Director Thorne's gaze swept around the office. "Everyone, take Caleb Lockwood as your example. His desk is very clean and orderly."
Suddenly, he noticed the drink on Caleb's desk and fake-coughed. "Caleb, uh, you can't leave that drink there."
Caleb answered and picked the drink up from his desk.
Seeing this, Silas couldn't resist teasing, "Director, you don't know—that's not just any drink. That's Cupid's Arrow."
The director lifted his teacup and took a sip, completely lost.
He then looked at Caleb with a bit of gossip in his eyes, clearly waiting for an answer from him. Who knew, Caleb just took off his white coat, washed his hands, and left…
Director Thorne looked at Silas in puzzlement. "What's going on?"
Silas tossed a stack of scrap paper into the black trash can and winked at the director. "Just adult business, you know how it is."
Caleb walked out of the office, still holding that bottle of drink in his hand.
He took out his phone and opened WeChat Moments.
Just now he had accidentally liked her post. This was also the first time in his life he'd ever liked anything.
Caleb looked at the drink in his hand and frowned. She seemed to really like this stuff?
After all, she apparently even drank it while studying…
Was it really… that good?
Caleb twisted the cap open with some hesitation, tipped his head back, and took a small sip.
It tasted like tea, but with sweetness, and a bit of some strange flavor.
It seemed… not as bad as he'd imagined.