I Am Diagnosed as a Medical Titan

Chapter 162: Chapter 130: A Ripple in the Long Dark Night

When Jiang He said this, everyone reacted differently.

Some found it funny, some found it interesting, and some were just surprised.

Only Shen Yu felt her heart ache for him.

Looking at Jiang He’s frantic eyes, she could still feel the trembling of his fingers on her cheek.

Her heart... was suddenly seized by a sharp pang of sorrow.

This heartache came without warning, yet it was overwhelming.

Shen Yu didn’t choose to pull away.

She shifted the cake she was holding to her left hand, balancing it with one hand.

After freeing her right hand, she unhesitatingly placed it over Jiang He’s.

”I’m not a hallucination.”

Shen Yu’s voice was very soft as she gently soothed him, ”How could I be a hallucination? You silly goose.”

Jiang He’s pupils contracted slightly.

In that instant, he remembered his past life.

In the ten-plus years after Shen Yu had left him, he had spent every single birthday alone.

In his empty house, he would light a single candle, all by himself, in front of her picture frame.

Since his rebirth, he had been frantically pushing forward—arranging capital, tackling research, and snatching lives back from death on the operating table.

He had also wished countless times in the dead of night how wonderful it would be to spend just one birthday with Shen Yu.

But he had never truly expected it to come true.

Because the two thousand kilometers of physical distance lay between them, and because he knew she was still just a student.

’But... I’m the one who was reborn.’

’I’m the one who crossed the river of time to come back and find you, so how is it that in the end, you’re the one who crossed half of China to give me the first surprise in this long, dark night?’

Jiang He’s breathing became ragged.

He felt his eyes begin to burn, and the lights in his vision started to blur and bleed together.

He closed his eyes, trying to control it.

But it was no use.

The sorrow and emotion welling up from the depths of his soul were simply beyond the control of reason.

A tear slid from the corner of his eye and landed on Shen Yu’s fingertips.

Inside the bistro.

His buddies were all dumbfounded.

”Holy crap...” Chen Hao’s face was full of disbelief. ”Old Jiang... Is he crying? Is he actually crying?”

Wang Bo and Li Zijian were stunned too.

After everything that had happened recently, they had long since deified Old Jiang in their minds.

Who would have thought a god could cry?

”Yeah, I know booking out a place for a surprise is touching...” Li Zijian muttered to himself. ’But it’s not something to cry over, is it? Huh?’

They couldn’t possibly understand the weight of Jiang He’s tears at that moment.

Only Shen Yu understood.

Shen Yu completely forgot about the surprise plan and quickly turned to place the cake on the nearest table.

When she turned back to look at Jiang He, her own eyes had turned red, with tears welling up.

”You... Don’t cry...” Shen Yu mumbled pitifully. ”I even put on really pretty makeup just to see you today... Damn it...”

With that, she formed her hands into little finger guns and aimed them at Jiang He. ”No more crying, Dr. Jiang! You’re making me want to cry too, and if my makeup runs, I won’t be pretty anymore.”

Jiang He looked through his blurry vision at her classic ”pew pew pew” pose and suddenly laughed through his tears.

”You’re pretty,” he said. ”Teacher Shen is always pretty.”

Seeing him finally smile, Shen Yu relaxed and quickly used a tissue to carefully dab away her tears, afraid of ruining her eye makeup.

”Okay, let’s sit down quick and blow out the candles, or they’ll burn all the way down!”

Once emotions had settled, the lights in the bistro were turned back up, and the background music switched to light and cheerful smooth jazz.

The three single roommates all perceptively took the hint and returned to their original seats.

Jiang He closed his eyes, made a wish in his heart, then opened them and blew out the candles in one breath.

”Happy Birthday!” everyone applauded in unison.

After the cake was cut, everyone got a slice.

Jiang He didn’t forget to turn his head and remind Shen Yu, ”The cake is too sweet, you should eat less of it.”

Shen Yu nodded obediently and giggled. ”I won’t eat it. I’ll be good. You eat.”

Jiang He smiled too. ”Then I’ll join you in not eating.”

The two looked at each other and smiled, the air thick with the sickeningly sweet smell of romance.

Wang Bo immediately raised his hand. ”I’ll eat it! Can’t I just eat it? Give it all to me!”

Everyone immediately burst into laughter.

Soon, it was time for presents.

Shen Yu unzipped her bag and took out a notebook. On its cover was a simple stethoscope drawn with colored pencils.

”This is the first present.”

She handed the notebook to Jiang He with both hands.

Jiang He took the notebook and slowly opened it to the first page.

The first thing he saw was a photograph.

The angle of the photo was clearly a candid shot. The quality wasn’t particularly high-definition, but you could clearly make out that it was Jiang He.

In the photo, he was resting with his eyes closed, head down on a library table, with a few thick medical books scattered beside him.

Jiang He froze for a moment, then immediately realized who was behind this.

The photo was neatly taped in place.

In the blank space below the photo, there was a drawing of a little person with their eyes closed, blowing a bubble. Beside it, Shen Yu had written a note in her neat, rounded handwriting:

[A frontline report from classmate Chen Hao. Dr. Jiang fell asleep in the library today. He looks so tired, his neck must be really sore, right? What should you do if your neck is sore?]

Jiang He turned to the second page.

The photo showed him walking out of the No. 2 Cafeteria, holding a takeout container of braised pork ribs.

Beside it was a drawing of a little drooling pig: [Dr. Jiang is eating ribs again! Are the ribs at Southern Medical University’s No. 2 Cafeteria really that good? When I get to Yangcheng, I’m definitely going to make him treat me to three big bowls!]

The third page showed the back of him in the emergency department hallway, wearing a white coat and walking briskly.