Incurable Chapter 3 Part 1

Mu Wan got an X-ray. The results showed the glass hadn’t pierced her heart or damaged her chest wall—just a surface wound. Still, because of its location, the doctors decided to keep her in the hospital for observation.

After Liu Qianxiu finished treating her wound and explained what she needed to watch out for, he went to see other patients. A nurse took Mu Wan to the surgical ward, and Lin Wei walked with her to the room.

Just yesterday, Mu Wan had sat by the bed while Lin Wei was the one lying in it.

Now, their roles were reversed.

Lin Wei sat with her legs together and arms crossed, staring hard at Mu Wan. “Did you and Daoist Liu know each other before?”

Mu Wan leaned back. Her wound felt numb instead of painful, but it itched a little. She shifted and said, “If I knew him, wouldn’t I have told you?”

Lin Wei leaned in, her eyes full of doubt. She rubbed her chin and watched Mu Wan’s face for any sign of hesitation. “Could it be that you forgot?” she asked, sounding both skeptical and hopeful.

Mu Wan replied, “Does Daoist Liu look like someone you’d forget?”

Lin Wei scoffed, clearly not believing it. She shook her head and let out a half-laugh at the thought.

The first time Lin Wei saw him, she knew she would never forget his face.

“Then he likes you,” Lin Wei said with confidence. “If he called your birthmark gorgeous, he thinks you’re beautiful.”

Lin Wei was only guessing, but Mu Wan didn’t agree. Thinking of those dark eyes, she said, “Gods don’t fall for mortals that easily. Maybe bamboo-leaf birthmarks are rare. Or maybe they mean something to Taoists. They’re mysterious like that.”

Lin Wei considered Mu Wan’s answer. Her confidence faded, and she frowned in doubt. She pressed her lips together, then nodded reluctantly. Mu Wan’s explanation made more sense than her own.

Lin Wei looked up at her. Mu Wan’s face had regained some color—she didn’t look as pale as she had been that morning. Lin Wei felt relieved, but her hands clenched as she remembered the accident. Mu Wan lived alone. If something happened, only Lin Wei could help. This time, she was lucky the glass missed her heart. Even if the ambulance had arrived sooner, she might not have survived.

A shiver ran through Lin Wei, and she leaned back, still trying to shake it off. “When I was filling out your paperwork, the nurse said she’d never seen Dr. Liu compliment anyone before. That makes you special. You meet him one day, end up in the ER the next, and he’s the one who treats you. That’s fate, right? Honestly, you two are a perfect match. Good jobs, good looks.” She pressed her hands to her face and peeked at Mu Wan through her fingers, waiting to see how she’d react.

While Lin Wei kept talking, Mu Wan let one leg dangle off the bed. Rainy weather always made her legs ache a little.

“At this rate, you’ll be naming our kids in five minutes,” she said.

Mu Wan made a light joke, her eyes shining with dry amusement as she waited for Lin Wei’s response. Lin Wei huffed, rolled her eyes, and rubbed her temples in frustration.

“Be honest. Are you really planning to spend your whole life alone?”

Lin Wei and Mu Wan had been high school classmates. Lin Wei transferred to Xiacheng for the college entrance exam and ended up in Mu Wan’s class. Mu Wan was always beautiful, and plenty of boys liked her, but she never dated anyone before graduation.

After college started and she left the Mu family home, Mu Wan spent all her time acting and earning money for tuition and living expenses. She didn’t date then, either. She never met her father, and the Mu family always treated her like an outsider. Since her mother died, Mu Wan had really been on her own.

“We’ll see,” she said.

Living alone gave her plenty of time to think about life, and she had her own standards for it.

“If I’m happy on my own, I’ll stay that way. If someone comes along who makes life even better, then I could be with him.”

“Then Daoist Liu sounds perfect,” Lin Wei said quickly.

Mu Wan asked, “Are you worried I’ll cling to you if I get lonely?”

“Have you ever felt lonely?” Lin Wei asked.

Lin Wei scratched her head and let out a tense breath. Her shoulders slumped, and worry showed on her face.

“Try living with someone. Or get a cat. It’s not that you’re not afraid of loneliness—you’ve just gotten used to it.”

Mu Wan knew Lin Wei was just worried about her. Seeing the concern in her friend’s eyes, she felt both grateful and determined. She didn’t want her life to seem tragic. To lighten the mood, she changed the subject and spoke in a lighter tone.

“Do you have any normal clothes here?”

Lin Wei looked at Mu Wan in her hospital gown, torn between lingering worry and amusement at the sudden change of topic.

“Why?”

“I have dinner. I can’t go looking like this,” Mu Wan said.

Lin Wei’s face turned serious. “Do you have a death wish?”

“I had an X-ray. It’s just a flesh wound,” Mu Wan said. “I already missed one dinner. If I skip another, it’ll look bad.”

“Then tell your agent you ended up in the ER and almost died, so you can’t go.”

“I can’t,” Mu Wan said. “I still need to work. If I don’t film, how will I pay the mortgage?”

Lin Wei: “...”

In the end, Mu Wan didn’t borrow Lin Wei’s clothes. She wore her own home, then changed into a loose red cotton-linen dress. The relaxed fit didn’t rub against her wound.

By evening, though, the anesthetic had completely worn off.

Her left shoulder was almost useless, too weak to move.

Li Nan dropped Mi Yu off. As his most successful artist, he kept a close eye on her schedule. Mi Yu was thirty this year and took great care of herself, but years of makeup and late nights had started to show. Still, age looked different on celebrities. She looked twenty-six or twenty-seven at most, and she was still very beautiful.

When they arrived, Mu Wan greeted them.

“Boss. Sister Yu.”

Mi Yu wore sunglasses. She was well-known enough to need a bit of disguise in public. When Mu Wan greeted her, Mi Yu glanced over, but her expression was hidden behind the tinted lenses.

Li Nan noticed that something was off about Mu Wan’s left arm and asked, “What happened to your arm?”

“Got hurt a little,” Mu Wan answered.

“Mhm.” His tone stayed flat.

He glanced at Mi Yu, then said to Mu Wan, “Mi Yu still has a scene to film tonight. Director Zhang likes to drink. At dinner later, help her offer him a few more toasts.”

Mu Wan had been to enough of these dinners to know the routine. Her alcohol tolerance was decent; a few rounds of toasting wouldn’t be a problem. Some of the company’s resources had come her way because Mi Yu recommended her after auditions, so helping Mi Yu drink was only fair.

“Alright. Got it.”

As they were speaking, the elevator arrived. Mi Yu stepped in first. Mu Wan followed. Once the doors closed, the two women remained silent the entire ride.

Mi Yu was the company’s biggest star and her senior. Her temper wasn’t exactly good, and she was a little proud besides. She never interacted much with the other artists in the company.

Mu Wan still remembered the year she had first signed with Xinzhou Entertainment. Mi Yu had already been there then, still riding high in her career. And even back then, Mu Wan had sensed a trace of hostility from her.

That was the entertainment industry. Actors came in waves. If you were young and beautiful, you were already ninety percent of the way there. The only problem was that Mu Wan lacked the last ten percent: ambition. Over time, Mi Yu had figured that out, and her hostility had faded.

The moment they stepped out of the elevator, someone was waiting to receive them.

Qingsong Pavilion was large, decorated in an old-style Chinese aesthetic. Folding screens, carved wooden doors, landscape paintings, and great red lanterns hanging high. The venue was divided into east, south, west, and north wings. At the center was a pond with a pavilion built over it, and from the pavilion four narrow bridges stretched out to the four sections. The whole place was elegant to the point of refinement.

Director Zhang’s dinner was in the north wing.

Mu Wan followed behind Mi Yu and the server in hanfu. Once they passed beneath the pavilion, they entered the corridor leading into the northern section.

Just before they turned in, Mu Wan lifted her eyes—and caught sight of a tall, upright figure from the corner of her vision.

She stopped instinctively and looked more closely.

The corridor in the eastern wing lay still and empty. There was no one there.

↞ Previous│❀ Table of Contents ❀│Next ↠