quiet and let her do it, only giving short answers when needed, because Yan Cijin seemed to know exactly what she was doing.

While Yan Cijin packed up the first aid kit, she asked Bai Li what medicine she had at home and told her to show it. Bai Li did not open her room door. Instead, she took a first aid kit straight out of her spatial storage, and the kit was filled with all kinds of common medicines. Yan Cijin was not shocked to see it appear out of nowhere. By now, she had already accepted that Bai Li had a lot of strange and useful things tucked away in places other people could not see. She opened the kit and found that Bai Li actually had more medicine than she herself did as a doctor. There were medicines for all kinds of common illnesses, and even injectable antibiotics. That made Yan Cijin’s brows lift a little, because it showed just how prepared Bai Li really was. She took out two kinds of anti inflammatory drugs and a bottle of fever reducer, then told Bai Li in a firm voice that she had to be very careful with her wound. She had to take the anti inflammatory drugs on time. If she got a fever, she should take the fever reducer immediately and then knock on Yan Cijin’s door. There was no room for playing around with infection now. Bai Li nodded and said, "Okay." Yan Cijin then placed the three bottles of medicine on the coffee table and finished tidying up the rest of the kit. After all of that, there was finally a little quiet in the room, and Bai Li could feel how light her body had become after the serum’s effect had settled. She felt refreshed in a way that was almost hard to believe, like she had been poured back into herself and rebuilt from the inside out. The wound would probably heal faster now, but it still needed proper treatment in case something went wrong. Bai Li knew that much, so even though she felt much stronger, she did not ignore what Yan Cijin had just told her.

Once Yan Cijin said the wound was healing well and should be fine for now, she put the kit away and looked at Bai Li with a steady expression. Bai Li immediately thanked her again, very politely, and even mentioned that she had taken up so much of Yan Cijin’s time. A professional doctor really was different. Her movements were careful, her steps were precise, and the whole process had been done in a way that made it obvious she was used to helping people without making them feel rushed or awkward. Yan Cijin, however, just shook her head a little and said not to be so polite with her. She had already told Bai Li that before. Then she sat down with her medical kit in her lap and looked at Bai Li, and Bai Li looked back. For a second the atmosphere between them became oddly awkward, the kind of awkward that does not come from anger, just from both people suddenly being aware of each other in a more personal way than before. Bai Li was the first to break it. She stood up and said that Yan Cijin should probably go back now, because she had already wasted over an hour of her time. She even moved as if she was going to see her out right away. Yan Cijin paused, then nodded and said, almost as if she was testing the mood, that if Bai Li felt unwell she should remember to come see her. It sounded like a normal enough instruction, but there was still something quiet underneath it. Bai Li did not seem to intend to do anything else with her right now, and Yan Cijin decided that was fine. Bai Li’s hand was injured after all, and it was not very convenient for her. There would be time for other things later. At least that was the thought she carried as she got up and followed Bai Li toward the door.

Bai Li nodded, got up, and saw Yan Cijin to the door. Yan Cijin raised an eyebrow slightly at her, pressed her lips together in that small way she had when she was trying not to smile too obviously, and opened the security door. Before stepping out, she reminded Bai Li one more time to rest well and be careful not to overuse her hands. Bai Li answered with another short okay, and then they said goodbye. Yan Cijin left first, and Bai Li closed the security door after her, the heavy lock clicking shut and leaving the apartment quiet again. That silence lasted only a moment, but it was enough for Bai Li to stand there and think for a second before moving away from the door. The whole exchange had been simple on the surface, but it still carried that strange, lingering feeling of closeness that had been building between them all along. Bai Li stood inside her apartment for a moment longer after Yan Cijin was gone, the medicine bottles still sitting on the coffee table, her hands wrapped neatly, her body feeling stronger than before yet her head still oddly full of that quiet, awkward, half sweet atmosphere from the bathroom and the living room. Nothing dramatic had happened. No big confession. No sudden change. Just a long, careful evening of cleaning, treating, talking, and standing a little too close while pretending it was all completely normal. Bai Li knew better than to call something like that simple. Yan Cijin had touched her hair, face, and neck with that careful kind of patience, and Bai Li had let her. That alone said enough for now. The rest could wait. She turned away from the door, moved back into the living room, and let the apartment settle around her again.

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TO BE CONTINUED.

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