Chapter 42

But after joining David’s team, she often had to stay late for meetings or experiments. The messages kept piling up, and one time, David scolded her in front of everyone, telling her to mute her phone whenever she was in the lab.

Because her phone had been on silent, Josie missed a call from Aiden and got scolded again. In the end, she had no choice but to mute a few of her group chats.

Since then, her relationship with the girls in her dorm had gradually faded, and the group chats had fallen quiet.

Now, seeing the messages in the group again, she felt a wave of warmth, the kind of familiarity she hadn’t felt in a long time.

It was something she liked, and something her friends liked. She didn’t need to block out this chatter for anyone anymore.

Just as she unmuted the group, a message from Zoey popped up.

Zoey: [I’ll bring you some food, and I’ll grab something for Josie too. She’s probably still writing her proposal and hasn’t seen the messages, so she probably hasn’t eaten yet.]

Josie smiled and quickly typed: [Yep, I’m in the middle of writing it. Just finished and saw the message. Thanks, Zoey! I’ll be waiting for the food!]

She followed up with a “plate” emoji.

Immediately, Allison sent a message: [Oh my god, Josie’s using emojis now!]

Adeline quickly added: [Look, she’s finally being a human! That’s a good thing—time to celebrate!]

Allison: [I’m adding a meal! I’m bringing everyone some late-night snacks!] Allison sent a “celebration” emoji.

Josie couldn’t help but laugh. She had just sent an emoji, and they were acting like she had done something huge.

Soon, several photos flooded the chat, all from Zoey.

They were all pictures of food: a meal she bought from the cafeteria, several takeout boxes of barbecue, and a pile of snacks.

Josie felt her eyes well up. [Thank you, Zoey. When will you be back? I’m starving!]

The group went quiet for a while, and Josie wasn’t sure if everyone had just gotten busy or if the conversation had naturally died down.

She refreshed the chat a few times, but when no new messages came in, she decided to take a shower.

After she changed into her pajamas and stepped out of the bathroom, the dorm door opened, and Zoey walked in.

“Starving, huh? Come on, eat up. Allison and Adeline will be here soon.”

Josie went over and took the food from her. “Aren’t they busy with meetings and overtime?”

“Adeline said the professor had a change of heart and ended the meeting early. Allison swapped shifts with someone, so don’t worry about it. Just eat first.”

Josie set the table and arranged the food. “I’ll wait for them to come back and eat together.”

“Okay, I’ll go take a quick shower. I need to talk to you about something later.” Zoey grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom. As soon as she went in, Allison and Adeline pushed open the door.

Allison immediately started joking. “Lured in by Zoey’s food, and now I’ve missed overtime and spent twelve bucks on a cab!”

That was just the base fare. Normally, Allison would ride her bike to the hospital, and sometimes even walk.

No wonder she’d gotten back so quickly.

Josie chuckled. “Wash up and come eat. Zoey bought quite a lot.”

“I’m really starving,” Adeline said, washing her hands before grabbing her pasta.

Josie didn’t mind. She and Adeline hadn’t had dinner, while Allison was just here for the fun, eating the skewers on the table and chatting with them.

“Have you guys heard anything happening at school lately?”

Adeline and Josie both looked confused. “No, anything big? Is it about the competition?”

“It’s not the competition.” Allison shook her head.

“I heard it at the hospital today. Apparently, someone passed away, and a lot of doctors took leave and didn’t show up. Some of the teachers at our school are missing too.”

Josie suddenly remembered something. It was probably around this time last year that a famous traditional medicine master in the medical field passed away. She wondered if Allison was talking about that.

She recalled that David had gone to pay his respects, but at the time, she had been too focused on her own studies, not in a related field, to pay much attention.

“If something major really happened, it should be in the news. Let me check!” Adeline pulled out her phone. “Is this it?”