After the divorce, my ex-husband and son lined up to pursue me.

Chapter 9 Want some candy?
"This one……"

The doctor was speechless for a moment.

Jiang Xia forced a smile and said, "Dr. Zhu, to tell you the truth, I'm divorced. Although I still have my parents, our relationship is just so-so. I also have a son, but he's too young. So I can accept whatever the outcome is. Just tell me the truth."

Dr. Zhu hesitated helplessly, but finally couldn't resist Jiang Xia's eager gaze and said, "Conservatively speaking, it won't take more than a year, but medicine is always developing. As long as you cooperate with the treatment, there is still hope."

hope……

Jiang Xia was stunned, and her whole heart sank into an abyss.

After a long while, she finally heard her own numb and hollow voice: "If I undergo chemotherapy and can have brain tumor removal surgery at the right time, then... how long can I live?"

"It's hard to say. It depends on the chemotherapy and the outcome of the surgery, and it also varies from person to person..."

Dr. Zhu said a lot more, but his words were only meant to comfort Jiang Xia, and he never gave an accurate approximate number.

But Jiang Xia knew her physical condition better than anyone else. She also understood medicine. Given her condition, even if she underwent chemotherapy and surgery, she was afraid that she wouldn't live for more than three to five years.

So young, and his life is already on a countdown.

Jiang Xia was so distressed that she didn't even know what she was feeling. In the end, she only said to the doctor, "Let me think about it."

After several hours, she finished receiving several bottles of medication and, during a brief, shock-like sleep, her condition improved somewhat.

As Jiang Xia left the ward, she was still looking at her phone when she called a taxi to return to the research institute, but she accidentally bumped into someone.

"You...Jiang Xia?"

Hearing the other person call out her name, Jiang Xia looked up in surprise at the man in front of her.

The other person was wearing a white coat and holding a patient's medical record, so he was obviously a doctor in this department. He was tall, slender and handsome, with exceptionally good-looking features, giving people a deep and stylish impression of a handsome man.

Moreover, with her gentle face and fair skin, her smile would surely be a sight to behold.

Jiang Xia looked at the other person with confusion: "You know me?"

"In the medical circles of Beijing, I think there's no one who doesn't know your name, right?" Song Nanqi smiled brightly, his joking words accompanied by his clear voice, his long eyelashes casting dappled shadows as he lowered his eyes.

Jiang Xia was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, I'm so sorry, I bumped into you by accident."

"It's nothing." Song Nanqi raised an eyebrow slightly and extended his hand: "My name is Song Nanqi."

Jiang Xia shook hands with him and noticed that as they walked side by side down the corridor, she saw half a fountain pen sticking out of his white coat pocket, with the tiny letters "NQS" engraved on the cap, gleaming faintly under the corridor lights.

“Your name…” she began, “Nanqi, is it taken from ‘the Big Dipper and the Southern Winnowing Basket’?”

Song Nanqi raised an eyebrow: "It seems that Miss Jiang is not only good at scientific research, but also quite accomplished in literature."

"My older sister taught me this when I was little." Jiang Xia looked down at the ground, the reflection on the tiles making her eyes sting. "She said that the Southern Dipper and the Northern Dipper, though seemingly pointing in opposite directions, actually belong to the same Milky Way."

Song Nanqi was still smiling. Seeing that she was not in good spirits, he accompanied her to the elevator.

"Excuse my intrusion, but what illness do you have?" he asked.

Jiang Xia thought for a moment, then, without telling the truth, replied casually, "It's nothing, I just felt a little unwell and came to get checked out." Song Nanqi nodded slightly, and seeing Jiang Xia about to enter the elevator, he quickly took out his phone: "Um, could we exchange contact information?"

Jiang Xia turned around hesitantly.

Song Nanqi also felt somewhat abrupt, his awkward gaze sweeping over her pale face before landing on the winding strip of light from the streetlights in the distance.

“Seven years ago,” he began slowly, “I attended the International Neuroscience Symposium in Cambridge and heard Professor Yan give a lecture. He mentioned an unfinished project and a brilliant researcher who designed a triple-targeting mechanism during the animal testing phase.”

Jiang Xia's fingers suddenly clenched the hem of his clothes.

Those long-buried memories suddenly surged up...

In the Cambridge conference hall, fluorescent curves danced on the projection screen, while applause rose and fell from the audience.

At that time, she stood behind Yan Guozhong, watching her model being discussed by scholars all over the world, and thought that her life would continue smoothly along this brilliant path.

"Later, news came that the project had stalled," Song Nanqi's voice lowered a few decibels. "People in the industry were speculating about the reasons. Some said you married into a wealthy family and became a full-time housewife, others said you went abroad to study... There were many rumors, but they all disappeared quickly. But no matter what, I never saw your name in any academic journals."

Jiang Xia's frustration deepened, and she quickly turned her face away, looking at the light from the LED strip, which was hazy, much like the seven years she had wasted and lived in a daze.

"Let's add each other on WeChat then." She snapped out of her thoughts and readily took out her phone to display the QR code.

After scanning the area, Song Nanqi also took out a fruit candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and handed it over: "Want some candy? It's lemon flavored, good for waking you up."

Jiang Xia subconsciously wanted to say no, but couldn't help but reach out her hand because of the other person's enthusiasm.

The moment their fingertips touched, she hurriedly pulled away.

Song Nanqi smiled calmly and waved his phone at her: "Keep in touch when you have time."

Jiang Xia didn't take the polite but perfunctory reply to heart and simply nodded casually, "Okay."

Watching her enter the elevator and see the doors close, Song Nanqi's smile faded, and he turned and headed straight for the nurses' station. "Could you please retrieve Jiang Xia's medical records?"

The nurse responded naturally, but after working on the computer for a while, she apologized, "Jiang Xia is Director Zhu's patient. Her medical records are confidential, so I can't access them. Deputy Director Song, why don't you ask Director Zhu?"

Song Nanqi was slightly taken aback, but then he heard another nurse say, "Jiang Xia? I have her previous medical orders here."

"Could you please take a look at this?" Song Nanqi said, extending his hand to take the prescription from the nurse, but his gaze immediately darkened.

Sorafenib, levetiracetam, mannitol...

This is a typical example of a targeted drug for treating cancer, and mannitol also relieves severe pain.

He was so shocked that he could hardly breathe, and after a long while he finally managed to say, "This was prescribed by Director Zhu for her?"

Seeing the nurse nod, Song Nanqi frowned in surprise and murmured in confusion, "She's had brain surgery? No, I'm afraid she has something in her brain."

Where is Director Zhu?

Before the nurses could say anything more, Song Nanqi's figure had already disappeared towards the office. His unusually flustered state surprised the nurses.
(End of this chapter)