DA chapter 62

“If we wait any longer, the nurses will come back.” In the end, Yan Xu spoke first, his hands in his pockets. “Why are you still standing there?”

He urged Lin Jia.

Lin Jia: “Mm.”

Yan Xu moved closer to the door, took two steps forward, and opened it.

Lin Jia raised his eyes. In his field of vision, Yan Xu’s back quickly disappeared, without a trace of reluctance.

Lin Jia withdrew his gaze, unmoved. Since Yan Xu showed no response, there was no need for him to take it to heart. Besides, this had originally been an accident beyond Lin Jia’s control.

He had never liked accidents and could even be said to hate them.

With no one continuing the accidental interlude, it naturally faded away. Lin Jia stepped forward to follow Yan Xu. As for the Soup Base, Lin Jia could already outline a rough framework; only some details were still uncertain. As long as the Fishman question was answered today, he would basically have the answer to the Soup Base.

Inside Fish Belly, he had endless excuses to contact Yan Xu. But once they left and returned to the Underwater Wold, Yan Xu would be captain of the inspection team while he would be only a member of the Ant Empire¹“蝼蚁帝国” (lóuyǐ dìguó) literally means “Empire of Ants” or “Ant Empire.” It is metaphorical, not necessarily referring to real ants, but instead describes a system or place made up of ordinary, low-level people, or a social group seen as small, weak, or insignificant. It can also be used as a metaphor for the masses at the bottom of society. In this sentence, Lin Jia is describing his social position as someone from the lowest, most insignificant level of ordinary people.. Their identities alone created a gulf between them, making it difficult for him to find an excuse to get close to Yan Xu.

There are many ways to approach a person, and Lin Jia chose the simplest one: feelings.

It wasn’t that he deliberately wanted to play with feelings; it was simply that approaching with feelings as the basis came naturally, without Lin Jia needing to design anything extra.

If one person likes another, they hope to get close and have more intimate contact. Therefore, all of Lin Jia’s actions were reasonable. At most, Yan Xu would be confused about where this feeling came from, but he would never guess Lin Jia’s real purpose.

This was something that could not be achieved through other means of approaching.

The Underwater Wold was big enough that Yan Xu could not be kept by his side, unlike Fish Belly. In the Underwater Wold, Lin Jia could not know Yan Xu’s location, which would make his verification difficult. It was also uncertain whether he could use the same reason to make Yan Xu accompany him into Fish Belly again. Therefore, Lin Jia had to follow Yan Xu during his last moments in Fish Belly. He needed to find an opportunity that would allow him to keep hold of Yan Xu even after leaving Fish Belly.

At the very least, he couldn’t part ways with Yan Xu after leaving Fish Belly. However, such an opportunity seemed difficult to find, especially since the recent incident indirectly confirmed that Lin Jia’s attempts to get close had largely been ineffective.

Yan Xu was not interested in his charming tactic, which caused Lin Jia some trouble. He did not like making things complicated.

However, if this approach truly did not work, Lin Jia would have to change his strategy. As he considered Plan B, he reached out and pulled open the ward door.

The moment his palm touched the doorknob, he paused.

He withdrew his hand and turned it over, seeing a faint blur of water stains on it. Then, he looked up and saw the remaining water stains on the door handle.

The youngest promising entrepreneur—a capitalist whose thoughts were as hard to fathom as a needle at the bottom of the sea—had experienced many major events. Of course, he wouldn’t sweat because of an accidental kiss—besides, it wasn’t even a tongue kiss. Even if it had been, he would still have remained calm.

It was left by Yan Xu.

“Why are you so slow?”

Yan Xu, who had already gone far from the ward, turned back again. The dissatisfied look on his face disappeared when he saw Lin Jia’s thoughtful expression. He raised an eyebrow and teased, “You’re not still thinking about what happened just now, are you? It was just an accident.”

Lin Jia looked up at Yan Xu, who had his hands in his pockets, the fabric outlining the shape of his clenched fists.

Lin Jia’s assessment was that he was outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

For some reason, the capitalist, who never smiled, actually felt a trace of amusement for once. Lin Jia deliberately twisted Yan Xu’s meaning. “I understand. I’ll treat kissing Captain Yan as an accident and keep my mouth shut. I won’t let a third person know.”

Yan Xu: “…”

Lin Jia: “Let’s go. If we delay any longer, our free time will end.”

He really seemed to have taken Yan Xu’s words to heart. He lowered his eyes and glanced at the doorknob. The sweat stain that someone had carelessly left slowly merged with the silver handle. Everything seemed to return to normal, as if no one would notice his internal chaos.

He smiled slightly, not letting Yan Xu see, then brushed past him.

Yan Xu stood where he was.

‘I understand. I’ll treat kissing Captain Yan as an accident and keep my mouth shut. I won’t let a third person know.’

Yan Xu: “?”

Not hearing Yan Xu’s footsteps, Lin Jia turned around. “Captain Yan?”

Yan Xu kept both hands in his pockets and followed coldly.

The patient in Room 201 was about to give birth, so most of the nurses had gathered there. Lin Jia and Yan Xu quickly moved from the third floor, where there were no nurses patrolling, to the first floor.

There were nurses monitoring the entrance of the inpatient building, and it was not very far from the consultation desk where the Fishman was. As long as a nurse turned around, she could clearly see the consultation desk.

The reason Yan Xu was able to ask the Fishman questions last time was because he hid in a corner of the inpatient building. After the entrants’ free time ended and the nurses left the main entrance, he emerged and approached the Fishman.

It was difficult now because, once free time ended, it would soon be time for the patients to take their medicine. The nurses would go from ward to ward to make the patients at Yile Maternal and Child Health Hospital swallow the ‘seed of pregnancy.’ Yesterday, Lin Jia had been in the ward helping Yan Xu, but now Lin Jia was with him. If the nurses found the ward empty, their behavior would be considered a violation of doctor’s orders.

Yan Xu hid behind the same pillar as last time. The two hid there, using the pillar to block the nurses’ line of sight.

“Wait here for me,” Yan Xu said in a low voice.

He was going to ask the Fishman questions. He didn’t need Lin Jia to cover for him.

Yan Xu’s statement was obviously not a suggestion for a discussion. After saying it, he quickly flashed behind another pillar.

Lin Jia looked at Yan Xu. The distance from the two pillars to the Fishman was the same. Even if Yan Xu lowered his voice, the Fishman could still hear him.

However, the Fishman would not lower its voice, which would likely attract the nurses’ attention.

Since they were not in the same place, if the Fishman’s answer drew the nurses’ attention, Lin Jia was certain Yan Xu would willingly take the hit, giving him a chance to leave.

“Does every ward have a window?”

Lin Jia saw Yan Xu’s lips move as he asked the Fishman a question whose answer they had matched.

The Fishman bared its sharp, disgusting fangs and moved its eyeballs back and forth between Yan Xu and the nurse at the entrance of the inpatient building.

The Fishman quickly realized the questioner’s predicament, and its mouth opened wider and wider.

“Yes.”

A positive answer. Soon, the VIP ward, which had always been a mystery, appeared with a window. Just as Lin Jia expected, however, the Fishman deliberately raised its voice.

Immediately, the nurse monitoring the entrance looked toward the consultation desk.

Yan Xu had already expected this. He swiftly pressed himself against the pillar, hiding behind it.

Lin Jia quietly watched from the side. He saw the calmness on Yan Xu’s face. Although Yan Xu was alert and on guard against movement at the entrance, there was no trace of panic. Being discovered by the nurses and dying on the spot seemed far less nerve-racking to Yan Xu than an accidental kiss.

Very quickly, Yan Xu noticed Lin Jia’s gaze.

“Tsk.” Yan Xu waved his hand in dissatisfaction.

Can’t you hide better?

Lin Jia took a step back, but his gaze remained on Yan Xu the whole time. Thanks to Yan Xu, he was within the safe zone and could think about unrelated matters.

He had always believed that sacrificing one’s life for another was not worthy of praise. He could not agree with the admiration given to such people.

Lin Jia could not understand Yan Xu’s behavior.

Would he rather risk himself than fail to protect someone he clearly knew was approaching him with ulterior motives?

What was in that pig brain?

If it were someone else, would this pig Yan Xu also risk himself?

The answer seemed to be yes.

The pleasure Lin Jia had felt from seeing Yan Xu flustered earlier suddenly dispersed, and he returned to an expressionless face.

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  “蝼蚁帝国” (lóuyǐ dìguó) literally means “Empire of Ants” or “Ant Empire.” It is metaphorical, not necessarily referring to real ants, but instead describes a system or place made up of ordinary, low-level people, or a social group seen as small, weak, or insignificant. It can also be used as a metaphor for the masses at the bottom of society. In this sentence, Lin Jia is describing his social position as someone from the lowest, most insignificant level of ordinary people.