Zhao Yufei looked at Li Xiyan with a raised brow. "What's wrong, Xiyan? You've been acting off for almost a week now, since we started interning here… It's not like you."
Li Xiyan stiffened for a second before shrugging, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at her lips.
"I suppose I'm feeling a bit pressured," she replied, her voice lighter than usual.
But Zhao Yufei wasn't convinced.
She crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. "I've seen you handle way worse, but since we got here, it's like you're a different person."
Li Xiyan sighed, "Well… the hospital in Zheng City isn't exactly comparable to the one in the Capital," she began, her tone losing some of its usual edge. "This place… it's bigger, more intense. I guess I'm just a little nervous."
Zhao Yufei scoffed, clearly not buying it.
"Nervous?" she repeated, her voice tinged with disbelief. "You? Come on, remember the time back in school when all your classmates were freaking out over a simple case study, and you were the one keeping it together while the rest of us were losing our minds?"
She shook her head. "You've never been nervous, not once."
Li Xiyan chuckled lightly, "I'm just afraid I'll mess up, that's it," she admitted quietly, her voice almost a whisper, "We're not just handling cases anymore… We're handling real lives. That's a lot to carry, especially when you know you don't have all the answers."
They stepped inside the elevator.
Zhao Yufei softened at the vulnerability in her voice. She met her friend's gaze with a gentle, reassuring smile.
"You won't mess up," she said firmly, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We've all trained for this. You've trained for this. You're going to be fine."
Li Xiyan exhaled slowly, offering her friend a small smile in return. "Thanks, Yufei."
As the doors of the elevator opened to the 4th floor, Zhao Yufei gestured to the hallway ahead. "I'll catch you later. I have my rotation with general surgery."
Li Xiyan nodded, watching her friend leave.
Her fingers that were a bit stiff, finally relaxed.
She hadn't expected Zhao Yufei to pick up on the change in her demeanor. But she was right—ever since arriving in the capital, she hadn't felt like herself.
It wasn't due to pressure or nerves, though.
But because she was in Zhenrui Medical Institute, a hospital under the Shen Enterprises.
She had worked so hard to bury that life—the life where she had been Yan Xiuran, heir to the Yan family. But in the depths of her mind, the fear was always there.
That someone would see through the changes, the new name, the fresh start.
It wasn't until her second day at the hospital that her fears nearly came true.
She'd been walking down the hallway, when she bumped into someone familiar.
The sight of him hit her like a wave, and her heart skipped a beat.
Xu Zhen.
The son of the Xu family. A friend of hers from her time as Yan Xiuran.
Li Xiyan stiffened, bracing herself.
She had changed so much since then—her hair was longer, her features softer, no longer shaped by the harsh contours she'd once used to mask her femininity.
Her demeanor had shifted too; she was no longer the cold, calculating figure she had once been. But still, her face—the same face that had once been Yan Xiuran's—remained.
For a moment, she thought he might recognize her.
But Xu Zhen just looked her over, his eyes lingering too long before flashing a flirty smile.
"Well, aren't you a sight?" he said, his voice full of confidence. "Didn't think I'd see someone as pretty as you here."
It took all of Li Xiyan's willpower not to kick him.
It was the first time she'd come face-to-face with someone from her old life, and it left her more shaken than she'd expected.
Li Xiyan stepped out of the elevator and immediately noticed two men standing outside the door of Suite 501.
They were wearing black suits, looking like bodyguards.
Their posture were rigid, and their eyes scanned the hallway with a sharp focus.
She pulled out a disposable mask from her pocket and secured it over her face.
At the sink, she washed her hands for the required 20 seconds, scrubbing under her nails, between her fingers, and up to her wrists, patting it dry with a towel then putting on a pair of sterile gloves from the cart beside the door.
Hygiene was crucial, especially with a vulnerable patient like Shen Rui.
Once ready, Li Xiyan walked up to the men outside Suite 501, her steps measured and calm.
She pulled out her medical student ID from her pocket and showed it to him.
"I'm a medical student intern assigned to this case," she said. "Li Xiyan. I've been assigned to Shen Rui's treatment team."
One of the men took the ID, studied it for a moment, then handed it back to her.
"Go ahead," he said, stepping aside.
Li Xiyan nodded and took a deep breath before entering the room.
Inside the room, the atmosphere was heavy with the beeping of machines monitoring the little patient.
Shen Rui, a 5-year-old girl, lay pale in bed, hooked up to several IV lines.
The air was thick with the smell of disinfectants and medical equipment.
Li Xiyan's gaze flickered briefly to the chart at the foot of the bed, confirming the name of the patient and diagnosis she had read earlier:
Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD)—a rare disorder that compromised the immune system, leaving the patient highly susceptible to infections.
The child had been battling serious complications lately, including bacterial pneumonia and sepsis. The gravity of her condition was clear.
But before approaching the patient, Li Xiyan first turned to the nurse by the bedside—a private duty nurse who had been with Shen Rui since her admission.
"Good morning," Li Xiyan greeted, her tone polite and respectful. "I'm Li Xiyan, the medical student assigned to this case. How is Shen Rui doing?"