Mind Reading

Chapter 7

After Shen Yi took a seat, Chen Guihui gestured to Su Tang to sit on the spot closest to the door, she was almost on the other side of the round table to Shen Yi. Shen Yi saw her sit there and frowned lightly. He seemed unhappy but he didn’t show anything. 

Su Tang thought that he was unhappy that she sat so far from him, but it was a great spot for enjoying the front view of him and Su Tang was enjoying it. 

It’d be the same table of dishes, it didn’t matter where she sat, right? 

Shen Yi didn’t bring his driver and Qin Jingyao drove for him. When the waiter poured wine for them, Chen Guihui asked the waiter to give Qin Jingyao a glass of orange juice instead. When he wanted the waiter to give Su Tang white wine, Shen Yi waved his hands as soon as he saw the waiter coming back with it in his hands. He quickly gestured something to Qin Jingyao. 

Qin Jingyao nodded lightly and smiled bitterly at Chen Guohui, “Mr. Shen thinks that it’s impolite of me to drink orange juice alone, and he feels bad. But I drove here today and I’ll have to drive Mr. Shen back to the office later. Do you mind letting Miss. Su drink orange juice with me? I wouldn’t feel polite enough to eat.” 

Chen Guohui froze for a few seconds and saw Shen Yi looking at him apologetically, he quickly smiled, “Ah, you are too polite, Mr. Shen. It’s just something small… Come, please give orange juice to these ladies.” 

Su Tang finally realized that Shen Yi was helping her to avoid drinking. She wasn’t lightweight, but it wasn’t pleasant to drink too much. Su Tang looked at him thankfully and realized that Shen Yi was looking at her with smiles in his eyes. 

Su Tang suddenly felt like although she represented Huazheng, Shen Yi was the true team mate in this room. 

Although Qin Jingyao said that she wouldn’t be able to eat comfortably if Su Tang didn’t have orange juice with her, she didn’t even have the time to pick up her chopsticks. Huazheng’s managers all had different accents from very different dialects, Shen Yi couldn’t understand what they were saying by lip reading. Qin Jingyao translated into sign language for him during the whole time, and at the same time, processing Shen Yi’s words into beautiful and polite words back to them. She was skillful and confident, it flowed so well that it seemed like Shen Yi was talking to the crowd himself and Su Tang admired her. 

Thanks to Qin Jingyao, Su Tang concluded four useful pieces of information from the continuous conversations. 

First, Shen Yi’s birthday was in July, he just turned twenty eight last month. 

Second, Shen Yi graduated from Columbia University with a double master’s degree in finance and law. 

Third, Huazheng’s managers invited him to this because they needed his help. As to what, they seemed to have talked to Shen Yi before and they didn’t talk about it in detail here. They blurred it intentionally when they mentioned it, but Su Tang figured out that it had something to do with money. 

Fourth, Chen Guohui brought her to this dinner because they knew that Shen Yi had something to do with her successful application, and they had a mutual understand of how Shen Yi helped Su Tang. 

Dinner lasted from six to eight past. Shen Yi didn’t turn down anyone and he almost lost his consciousness at the end. He could barely get up with Qin Jingyao’s help but his face looked pale, though it didn’t stop him from smiling at those drunk managers who were blabing.

Qin Jingyao was supporting him and she didn’t have time to translate those drunk blabs. For a second, Su Tang felt thankful that Shen Yi couldn’t hear things. He couldn’t hear good things, but he couldn’t hear bad words too. 

Qin Jingyao helped Shen Yi into the car and when she was about to close the door, Shen Yi stopped her and gestured to her slowly. Qin Jingyao nodded and turned around, “Miss Su, we are going in the same direction, you are welcome to come with us if you have nothing to do after this.” 

Before Su Tang could speak, a drunk Chen Guohui pushed her over and said, “Ah, right, right, go back together… Xiao Su, send Mr. Shen off, take care of him…” 

“Okay.” 

It wasn’t easy to take care of a drunk person, but it was different if it was Shen Yi. 

After Su Tang got in, Qin Jingyao opened the door cleanly and sat in. She smiled and waved at Huazheng’s managers and drove away before speaking up, “Mr. Shen said that it wasn’t safe for you to be with a bunch of drunk old men. I’ll drive Mr. Shen to the hospital first and then drive you home, it won’t be too late. He might throw up later, there are plastic bags in the storage, please take care of him.” 

Su Tang heard about the hospital and quickly turned to Shen Yi. 

Shen Yi laid back in his seat with his eyes closed. He frowned slightly and covered his stomach with his hands, as if his stomach felt uncomfortable. 

Su Tang was worried and patted him lightly on the arm, “Lay down if you don’t feel well.” 

It was too dim in the car and Shen Yi couldn’t read Su Tang’s lips clearly, he gave her a confused look. 

It was too harsh to make him read in the car, Su Tang didn’t type on his phone but pointed at Shen Yi’s head, then patted her thighs, telling him to use it as a pillow. Shen Yi understood her but shook with a smile after a moment of hesitation. 

Su Tang guessed that he thought she wasn’t strong enough for his weight, so she made a posture of bodybuilders showing off their muscles seriously and Shen Yi laughed. The frown on his face disappeared and finally nodded lightly. 

Qin Jingyao saw Shen Yi lay down through the mirror and said, “There is a blanket behind you, you can use it.” 

“Sure.” 

Su Tang reached for the blanket and put it over Shen Yi’s alcohol filled body. Shen Yi curled up a little under the blanket and snuggled closer to her without opening his eyes. Su Tang could feel that the blanket made him feel slightly more comfortable. 

Su Tang sighed in relief and looked at Qin Jingyao, feeling that her understanding of Shen Yi exceeded the human senses. 

Qin Jingyao felt a curious glance from the back and spoke up without looking back, “I’m 32 years old this year, my son is in the last year of kindergarten, his surname is Zhao.” 

Su Tang realized that she was clarifying her relationship with Shen Yi and she was amused, “I’m only his friend, he always visits my grandma…” 

Qin Jingyao didn’t say anything else and focused on driving to Boya Hospital as quickly as possible. 

Qin Jingyao was a very steady driver, stopping and starting were very gentle too. Even so, Shen Yi suddenly pulled her clothes on the way, frowning tightly. 

Su Tang leaned her face closer, “Do you need to throw up?” 

Shen Yi nodded lightly and pushed himself up, but failed to sit up. Su Tang put an arm under his arms and helped him to straighten up a little. She didn’t help him sit up, but supported him, making him turn to her. 

A small movement made Shen Yi almost throw up, Su Tang didn’t dare to move him again and patted his trembling back lightly, “Vomit if you want, I’ll clean up for you, it’s okay.” 

Shen Yi didn’t see what she said but Qin Jingyao did. She saw their sitting position and frowned, “Miss Su, it’s better to let him sit up, plastic bags are in the storage.” 

Su Tang didn’t look up, “It’s okay, it’s better for him to lay down if his stomach isn’t feeling well. I’ll keep an eye on him so he won’t choke.” 

Qin Jingyao fell silent for a moment but decided to speak up anyway, “It’s more convenient for you if he sits up.” 

Su Tang finally understood what she meant and smiled, “It’s okay, it’s not the first time he’s throwing up on me.” 

Qin Jingyao didn’t say anything. 

Shen Yi seemed to understand what Su Tang meant and forced his mouth shut as he struggled to sit up. Su Tang almost let him break from her grip and raged. She grabbed her phone and shone the torch light on her face, glaring at this man who tried to protect his pride, “Do you want your pride or your life? Move again and I’ll throw you out of the window!” 

Perhaps he was stunned by her words, or her scary looking face, Shen Yi froze in his spot and quieted down. 

Su Tang let out a sigh and Qin Jingyao asked, “How old are you this year?” 

“Twenty four.” 

“You sound like my grandma.” 

“……”

Shen Yi couldn’t push down the urge to vomit anymore. He curled up in a ball and a sour smell filled the car. Shen Yi’s body was tense, and he started throwing up. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay… Get it all out.. It’s okay..” 

Su Tang completely forgot that he couldn’t hear her as she stroked his back gently. Qin Jingyao frowned a little and rolled down the window a little. 

“Don’t!” Su Tang quickly stopped her, “I didn’t see him eating anything dark coloured, but his vomit is. He might be having an internal bleeding in his stomach, it’ll be bad if he catches a cold.” 

Qin Jingyao silently rolled her window up again and sped up. 

Boya Hospital seemed to have received a message about their arrival; doctors were waiting at the front when they arrived. Qin Jingyao didn’t even pull out the key before all the doctors rushed over and lifted Shen Yi onto a stretcher carefully. 

The air was filled with all sorts of professional terminology from the staff and Su Tang’s heart wrenched. Her mind was empty as she ran after the stretcher towards the operation room, Qin Jingyao grabbed her before the doctors had to. 

“They are the best we have in this city, just leave it to them.” 

Su Tang stared at the closed door for a few minutes before snapping back to reality. She breathed deeply and asked, “Did… Did he go through this before?” 

Qin Jingyao froze for a second, “Do you mean getting drunk?” 

There was no way that an almost thirty year old man never got drunk before, Su Tang thought about it and calmed down a little before changing her expressions, “I meant the bleeding, did it happen before?” 

Qin Jingyao frowned lightly, “I’ve seen it three times, the most recent time was two months ago.” 

This kind of sickness was second to flu amongst male student officials in university and in her memory, it wasn’t life threatening as soon as they were sent to the hospital in time. It was even more common for Shen Yi and Qin Jingyao was already used to it. 

Su Tang’s heart lightened a little and saw the obvious sign at the corner. 

She didn’t notice it before, that it wasn’t the emergency treatment room, but an operation room.

Su Tang’s heart lifted again, “I thought the bleeding could be fixed by scorching it with an electron microscope? Why did he go straight to the operation room?” 

Qin Jingyao blinked and looked at her in surprise, “Didn’t you study civil engineering?” 

“My Grandma worked in medical care.” 

Qin Jingyao replied with a faint “oh”, “He had a third of his  stomach cut off two months ago and he was discharged from the hospital last week. The doctor should be opening him up again to see if there’s a problem with the last surgery.” 

“Cut off?” Su Tang widened her eyes as she was shocked by the meaning behind this word, “He has stomach cancer?” 

“Didn’t your Grandma tell you that not all surgeries like this lead to malignancy?” Qin Jingyao quietly informed her and looked at her watch. She frowned lightly at Su Tang’s dirty clothes and said, “I should go back to work, call me if something happens.” 

Su Tang looked at the clock. It was nine at night and she had to work?

“What do you guys do?”

Qin Jingyao was surprised, “Mr. Shen didn’t tell you?” 

Su Tang shook her head, “No……” 

“Then I won’t tell you.”