Chapter 3: Hands
Being bluntly exposed, Lu Yinxi's expression remained unchanged. He quietly explained, "When I was young, I used my left hand. Many people said I was abnormal and looked at me with strange eyes. The teacher would hit my palm if they saw me using my left hand, and my classmates would gather around to watch me write and laugh at me, as if I were a monster... So, I learned to use my right hand, but in private, I still subconsciously preferred using my left hand... Using both hands over time, they both appear to be very nimble."
This statement was genuine.
Lu Yinxi was naturally left-handed, but had been forcefully corrected.
When she was young, she was entrusted to her grandmother in the countryside by her mother.
In those days, people in the countryside were quite superstitious. They believed that left-handedness was unlucky. Whenever they saw her using her left hand to write or eat, they would scold her and hit her hand, saying she lacked manners and needed to change.
Later, when she started attending the village school, whenever the teacher saw her writing with her left hand, they would use a bamboo stick to hit her palm.
The bamboo stick was thin and it hurt a lot when it hit her. Her palm became red and swollen from the strikes. However, she believed she was not at fault. She didn't cry or fuss, nor did she change. She stubbornly continued to use her left hand to write.
The teacher, disappointed that she didn't change, stopped paying attention to her. However, some classmates started to mock her, using it as an excuse to bully her and give her all sorts of hurtful nicknames.
Children in the countryside, used to being free-range, don't have parents picking them up and dropping them off for school. Instead, they form groups and walk together.
From kindergarten to elementary school, the other classmates would hold hands and happily bounce their way home, creating a lively and cheerful scene. However, she was always alone, walking back slowly and sluggishly. Sometimes, passing classmates would even laugh and make a few comments about her.
Arriving home, the neighbors would once again gossip and point fingers. Some would advise her that being left-handed was not normal and went against nature's laws, urging her to quickly change while she was still young. Others would suggest that maybe it was because she was left-handed that her father perished, and her mother didn't want her anymore, leaving her behind in the countryside without a care.
This hurtful remark, she listened to it and believed it to be true. Holding her small backpack, she stood in the yard for a long time. Finally, she took out her exercise book and sat by the stone table, holding back tears as she practiced writing with her right hand.
Without saying a word, Jianqing looked at her in silence, as if discerning the truth behind her words.
The deer no longer avoided making eye contact with the creek, and it met Jianqing's gaze, trembling slightly with its long eyelashes.
Jianqing averted her gaze and responded in a different tone, "Using the left hand as a habit is not called abnormal, it's just different."
The deer sipped from the stream, a smile gracing its lips, and said, "Sometimes, when you are different from most others, you become an outcast and they consider you as abnormal."
The smile appeared somewhat bittersweet.
Jianqing said, "I won't."
The unspoken message was to not pretend in front of her.
The deer watched Jianqing's eyes and remained silent for a moment.
Jianqing lowered her gaze and didn't speak again.
His wrist was wrapped by the icy, soft touch. His pulse throbbed rapidly, beat by beat, pounding against the person's icy palm.
The person who held her wrist could definitely feel it.
They gazed at each other in silence for a long time. Deer Drink Creek, with a delayed response, finally realized that this person seemed to be comforting her in a gentle way. So, she spoke up and said, "Thank you..."
Jianqing stared at Deer Drink Creek, her eyes still filled with a hint of redness, and then lowered her gaze to look at her feet.
Her fair and delicate feet touched the floor, bare and exposed.
The floor was very clean, but Jianqing had a slight obsession with cleanliness.
With these four words - 'Wash your feet, go to sleep,' she let go of Deer Drink Creek's wrist, without dwelling on the incidents of slapping and accidental hand cuts. Coldly and silently, she floated back to her room like a ghost.
Deer Drink Creek watched her leave, raising her left hand and looking at her wrist.
On her wrist, there remained a few faint fingerprints, which disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The icy and delicate touch on her skin left a lasting impression in her heart.
Deer Drink Creek lowered her arm, without the need for acting. The vulnerability and fragility in her eyes completely faded away, leaving only a sense of calm.
Outside the window, the moonlight was soft, and the red plum blossoms reflected against the white snow.
Deer Drink Creek still had no interest in appreciating it.
She thought about the ending of the book, where she was trapped in a villa, driven to her demise, and her body buried beneath a plum tree as fertilizer. It was something she couldn't appreciate at all.
Looking at the red plum blossom, it seemed as if a faint scent of blood could be smelled.
Deer Drink Creek rubbed her nose, and she pressed the electronic screen on the wall. The curtains closed automatically, separating the red plum blossoms and white snow from her sight.
She didn't have a cleanliness obsession, but she had a peculiar quirk - whenever she felt anxious and restless, she liked to take a warm bath.
Deer Drink Creek felt her way to the changing room and picked a white robe. She found the bathroom and took off the previous owner's seductive red robe.
Turning on the showerhead, hot water poured over her head, cascading down her entire body. Deer Drink Creek wiped her face and stood in the misty steam, lost in thought.
She truly wished that all of this was just a dream. She hoped that she would wake up and find herself still in her own bed.
But if it wasn't a dream, and she had truly arrived in another world, then complaining would be useless, and being scared wouldn't help. The only thing she could do was to calm down, stay away from dangerous people, protect her own life, and wait for the right moment to return to reality.
How to leave, when to leave, all needed careful planning step by step.
The warm water washed over her body again and again, rinsing away the strong scent of the previous owner's perfume, gradually soothing Deer Drink Creek's nervous and uneasy emotions.
After taking a bath and drying herself off, Deer Drink Creek put on her robe and walked to the mirror by the sink. She picked up a cup of water and continuously rinsed her mouth, washing away the faint smell of blood that lingered in her mouth.
In her mind, there was still the image of the ice cube lifting her chin and smearing blood on her lips, so bloody and twisted.
Deer Drink Creek felt extreme disdain, her fondness for Jian Qing that had soared to its peak on the bed now plummeted to rock bottom.
After rinsing her mouth, Deer Drink Creek wiped away the mist on the mirror and focused on her own reflection. She froze, unable to take her eyes off the face in the mirror.
This face looked exactly like her in reality, except that it appeared a few years younger.
In her early twenties, she had a beautiful, clean appearance, untouched by dust.
A face that was so pure and genuine, looking innocent and virtuous, how could it possibly be supported by someone else?
As Deer Drink Creek grumbled in her mind, she blew her hair until it was seven parts dry.
*
After finishing blow-drying her hair, she returned to the living room.
The villa was equipped with heated floors, creating a comfortable indoor temperature. She didn't want to sleep next to that icy figure again, so she decided to nestle on the sofa for the night.
As she lay down, she noticed the remaining sterile gauze and no-rinse hand sanitizer gel on the table.
She rolled over, facing away from the sofa, refusing to look.
Seeing those things reminded her of that cold, icy woman and the woman's profession.
The Deer by the Creek was no stranger to the profession of being a doctor.
Her parents were both professors at the medical college and doctors at the university-affiliated hospital.
In the current trend, there is a joking saying of "persuading someone to study medicine, lest they get struck by lightning." However, some children from doctor families, influenced by what they hear and see, still choose to study medicine.
Deer by the Creek was no exception. After the college entrance examination, she filled out her application for the clinical medical program, and in the end, she was admitted to the medical college where her parents worked.
In the eight-year clinical medical program, which includes both undergraduate and graduate studies, the first five years were dedicated to learning various subjects such as internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and more. In the sixth year, she began the process of choosing a mentor and a specific department.
In her freshman year, she already made career plans and decided that her future research direction would be in the field of oncology.
Unfortunately, plans couldn't keep up with changes. During the summer break after her sophomore year, she was doing an internship in the oncology department. Unexpected events occurred, altering the course of her life forever.
The past events were vividly remembered. Deer by the Creek had thought that for the rest of her life, besides seeing doctors and taking medicine, she would never encounter people or things related to the medical field again. However, unexpectedly, she crossed paths with Jianqing.
Although she didn't embark on the irreversible path of medicine, she always carried a peculiar sentiment towards doctors specializing in oncology.
That had been her dream, and it would become her lifelong regret.
Deer by the Creek turned around and stared at the gauze and hand sanitizer on the table for a long time. Finally, she sat up and reached for the medicine box, heading towards the master bedroom.
*
The bedroom was lit, and Jianqing lay on the bed with her eyes closed. There were no gloomy and cold glances, but rather long and thick eyelashes. Her sleeping face was serene, like a sleeping beauty stepping out of a fairy tale.
Just a moment ago, bathed in moonlight, he looked at her through a romantic lens. She seemed like an immaculate jade resting in the snow.
Now knowing how the story unfolds, as you look at her, she appears like a beautiful serpent lying in a dark forest, the kind with a venomous bite.
Deer by the Creek wished she could step forward and trample on it.
Reason persuaded her to stop.
She saw the dagger, which had been freshly polished, gleaming brightly as it lay on the bedside.
Deer by the Creek carried a medicine box and tiptoed inside.
She wanted Jane Qing to take care of the cut on her left palm again, so that the wound wouldn't get infected.
To her surprise, the ice block fell asleep again.
Are you that sleepy?
Deer by the Creek stood by the bed, gazing down at the person lying there, hesitating whether to wake her up.
In the moment of hesitation, her gaze swept across her hands that lay outside the blanket.
Her left hand was wrapped in layers and layers of bandages. The wound, which had already stopped bleeding, cracked open again due to pressure, causing blood to soak through and stain the bandages. Now, the wound and the dressing were stuck together.
Her right hand had distinct joints, with slender fingers and rounded fingertips, not a single nail in sight. The skin on the back of her hand appeared paler than elsewhere, bearing a few small frozen cracks.
Such a hand unexpectedly stirred a sense of familiarity in Deer by the Creek's heart.
She had seen many hands like this in the hospital.
Every winter, the hands of the medical staff didn't look good at all.
The hospital infection control department emphasizes hand hygiene every other day. Handwashing is required during rounds, changing dressings, and when coming into contact with patients... After a day, you have to wash your hands at least a hundred times, minimum.
The hands of healthcare workers, without a doubt, will experience peeling, chapping, and develop frostbite in the winter. Over time, they become extremely rough, with a gritty texture when touched.
Many people would apply a thick layer of hand cream before going to bed, as a form of protection.
Why doesn't this person apply some before going to bed?
She vaguely felt that this ice cube didn't cherish itself, always wearing a cold and indifferent expression that seemed to care about nothing. It endured quietly even when it was hurt, without uttering a single sound.
I wonder what experiences it had gone through before it started sleeping with a dagger by its bedside.
The deer turned its gaze to the dagger on the nightstand, trying to remember more details about Jianqing's storyline, but it couldn't recall anything.
If I had known I would be transported into the book, I shouldn't have read it with skipping last night. Even if I had watched it from beginning to end, it wouldn't be like this now, where everything looks hazy and unclear, as if looking at flowers through mist.
The deer sighed and took out a tube of bruise-healing ointment from the medicine box. After carefully reading the instructions, it unscrewed the cap and squeezed a bit of the ointment onto a cotton swab. Leaning over, it gently applied the ointment on Jianqing's face.
Leaving a palm imprint is mainly caused by the rupturing of capillaries under the skin, leading to bruises. Applying ice packs within a short period of time helps constrict the capillaries, which is usually enough and doesn't require additional medication.
But the deer, deep down, felt a flicker of softness and guilt -- it had slapped too fiercely.
Her left palm could still feel a tingling pain, not to mention the swollen right cheek of the person in front of her.
She also felt fortunate that her opponent was a woman, not an animal driven by lower instincts. The female's aggression and dominance were much lower compared to males. After receiving a harsh slap and being drenched in blood from a sharp dagger, she only stood stunned for a moment and then found a blanket to cover her. Silently, she walked out to apply a facial mask...
He didn't seem too bad.
At least for now, he wasn't considered bad.
The ointment had been evenly applied. Deer Yinxi extended her fingers and gently poked Jianqing's cheek, considering it a small revenge. Then she withdrew her hand and was about to get up when a sudden icy sensation covered her cheek.
Deer Yinxi froze, her gaze falling upon Jianqing's face.
Jianqing, lying on the bed, touched Deer Yinxi's cheek, and her lips trembled as she coldly uttered two words:
"Stay. Sleep."
