Chapter 10 Go Dr. Gao!

The two spent a long time wandering around the school area, with Jiang An who usually had an unhealthy diet, taking Gao Chuan to eat her favorite school gate snacks like fried rice cake, candied haw, and even introduced Dr. Gao to her favorite bubble milk tea.

Gao Chuan walked alongside Jiang An, following the girl as they strolled through the street food area outside the school, his neat suit starkly contrasting with the dense local atmosphere.

Jiang An chirped about the recent changes in the area, her eyes accidentally meeting Gao Chuan's, and she shyly smiled with ripples forming in her clear, aqua-like eyes.

Dinner finally ended late at night, and since tomorrow was the weekend, Gao Chuan drove Jiang An home. The car sped along until they hit a traffic jam on the elevated road after seeing the neon lights flickering outside the window.

From the driver's seat, Gao Chuan lightly tapped the steering wheel, turned his head to see Jiang An staring blankly out of the window, and asked, "How have you been recently, how is school?"

"Pretty good, Dr. Gao, how about you? Is work going smoothly?" Jiang An turned her gaze back and said.

Gao Chuan's expression suddenly darkened, his voice low: "Not really."

"What happened?" Jiang An perked up, asking with concern.

The long queue still lingered on the elevated bridge; Gao Chuan completely turned off the throttle, and the car quieted down, his hoarse voice the only sound: "Recently, a research group I'm working with isn't cooperating well. We've been busy for a long time and still haven't achieved any results, and an elder in the family has also fallen ill; the situation isn't very optimistic."

Darkness shrouded the inside of the car, Jiang An couldn't clearly see Gao Chuan's face but could feel the grievance in his tone, thinking to herself that even someone as strong as him could have such a downcast side.

"It's okay, Dr. Gao, keep it up, I believe you can handle all this." Jiang An, who was always not very good at comforting others, quickly sat up straight, made a cheering gesture in front of her chest, and earnestly cheered Gao Chuan on.

She remembered the night her mother died, how she lay crying on Gao Chuan's chest in an emotional breakdown, and the man who was not good at comforting only said one sentence from beginning to end.

He said, "Everything will get better."

Unexpectedly to the girl, the next second, the man's head rested on her shoulder, yet it did not feel heavy at all.

Jiang An held her breath, and in the instant the car became quiet, it seemed only the crazy, pounding heartbeat could be heard.

A breeze gently blew through the window, bringing with it a coolness, but Jiang An felt as if her face was about to ignite.

That fire was about to burn her to ashes.

"Don't move, I'll just lean here for a bit." His magnetic voice spoke again, and Jiang An's shoulders stiffened.

After a long while, the road finally cleared, and Gao Chuan silently moved away from her shoulder, and took it easy as he continued driving the car, completely oblivious to the person in the driver's seat almost exploding.

Jiang An secretly lowered the car window even more, her gaze completely shifting to the passing scenery outside the window; the breeze slapped her face but seemed to carry away no warmth at all.

The two no longer exchanged a word all the way, as if the tacit action earlier had never happened.

By the time they reached Jiang An's house, it was already nine o'clock at night. The girl, still unable to calm herself, frantically wanted to escape the awkward atmosphere and said goodbye, but was caught by the man in the driver's seat.

Jiang An hesitated, then turned around and leaned down to look at Gao Chuan in the driver's seat, when suddenly another man's voice appeared from not far away, "Anan."

"Anan."

Jiang An turned around upon hearing the voice and saw Wei Yan walking towards her. She smiled happily and exclaimed, "Brother Wei Yan, what brings you here?"

Still sitting in the car, Gao Chuan was slightly startled by the conversation outside.

Wei Yan, carrying a box, came up to the car, "I brought you mooncakes, you silly girl. Don't forget it's Mid-Autumn Festival today!"

"This is..." Wei Yan also bent down to look at Gao Chuan inside the car. Their eyes briefly met, and the girl briefly introduced Gao Chuan. Wei Yan nodded slightly.

Gao Chuan also nodded politely, then turned away upon hearing Jiang An ask if there was anything else he needed.

The words that were almost blurted out were forcefully swallowed back down. The man cleared his throat quietly, took out the milk teas they had bought earlier, and handed it to Jiang An outside the car, "Here's your milk tea."

"Oh, bye Dr. Gao, take care," Jiang An took the milk tea and then cheered Gao Chuan on with a gesture, but Gao Chuan did not smile as before, and merely said a simple "goodbye."

"Brother Wei Yan, let's go upstairs. You brought so much..."

The few street lamps at the base of the old residential building were battered and flickered like an elderly on their last legs. Gao Chuan turned the steering wheel to drive away, and after moving the car a bit, he slowly came to a stop.

In the darkness, the man quietly turned off the engine, lit a cigarette by the dim moonlight, and the breeze carried off wisps of milky white smoke, while a faint sadness surfaced on his face.

He recalled the feeling of leaning on Jiang An in the car just now, the almost frantic heartbeat, as if it were his own.

——————

The night was deep, with few stars, the first lights glimmering.

In a retro bar, revelers were wildly gyrating on the dance floor, yet Gao Chuan couldn't blend into the boisterous atmosphere at all. Dressed in a pure black shirt and still wearing gold-rimmed glasses, he emitted an air of 'keep away.'

"Hey, you are such a party pooper. You invite your buddy out for drinks and then just sit alone in the corner brooding," Song Li approached him with a bottle of vodka, hooking his arm around Gao Chuan's shoulder and speaking loudly.

"You guys have fun." Gao Chuan pulled Song Li off and picked up a small bottle of Budweiser from the bar to drink, his Rolex gleaming as he lifted his arm.

"What's wrong? Is there something troubling the great doctor enough to drink his sorrows away, perhaps a woman?" Song Li slumped into a seat next to Gao Chuan, slightly tipsy from the alcohol.

Gao Chuan wasn't in the mood to reply, continuing to sip his drink, the pale yellow liquid sliding down his throat, burning slightly.

The bar was still noisy, and as Song Li was about to probe further, suddenly the sound of a smashing bottle erupted, a violent tear through the clamor. Song Li looked over, thinking it was probably another group quarrel—a common occurrence in bars.

When he turned his head back, he suddenly realized that the person who had been sitting beside him drowning his sorrows was now nowhere to be seen.

I don't know what love is; I only know that whenever you appear in the crowd, I can no longer see anyone else.