Night falls.

At the medical center.

In the hallway.

Several temporary hospital beds were placed together.

Christina and the others walked over one after another, plopping down onto the beds and slumping against the wall, exhaustion written all over their faces.

Having missed mealtime, they used some coins to buy coffee and snacks from a nearby vending machine, making do with whatever they could find.

"My head hurts," Alex complained, for once without his usual mysterious and ambiguous smirk.

"It's probably a tumor," Christina said sarcastically.

"You wish I had a tumor, don't you?" Alex snapped.

"That's hilarious. Do you think I'm the only one who wants that?" Christina retorted.

"…"

Alex froze for a moment.

He had a decent sense of how unpopular he was.

"If wishful thinking could make things come true, I wouldn't be the first one to get a tumor—Adam Duncan would!" Alex sneered. "Don't tell me you've never imagined that before."

Christina couldn't be bothered to respond.

If not for the fact that Alex had been assigned under Nazi as an intern and Nazi had asked her to show him the ropes, she wouldn't even be talking to him.

She was already fuming.

When it came to surgical skills, she firmly believed she was just as capable as Adam—easily one of the top interns among the twenty in their program.

Yet, this was already the end of their second rotation.

What had Adam done?

And what had she done?

Adam had not only performed an appendectomy on his very first day, but he had also solved a difficult case, assisted in a high-level neurosurgery, and today in the ER, he had excelled yet again—successfully saving a baby. The entire hospital had heard about how the room erupted in applause afterward.

Meanwhile, she—Christina Yang, with a Bachelor's degree in Literature from Smith College, a PhD from Berkeley, and an MD from Harvard Medical School—hadn't gotten a single surgery. She had spent her time handing out diagnostic pamphlets and doing menial tasks.

To make things worse, when patients learned they were fine, they would hug her in joy. As someone who disliked physical contact, it made her skin crawl.

And on top of all that, she had to babysit Alex, this useless idiot.

It was infuriating.

If she had a scalpel in her hand right now, she might actually stab Alex.

"My hands are numb from suturing all day," Liz said as she walked over, holding a cup of coffee and some snacks.

"At least you're helping patients and improving your skills," Christina grumbled, pointing at herself. "Now, take a guess—who does Nazi dislike the most?"

"American police are the most unreliable," Meredith muttered as she walked over, carrying a cooler. She reached out and grabbed some snacks from George, who had just bought them. "They said they'd come in the morning. Then they said the afternoon. And now, when we're about to get off work, they say it'll be a few more hours. Looks like I'm stuck with this all night."

"You'll be stuck with it for life~" Alex teased.

"Shut up," Meredith snapped, glaring at him with disgust. "Don't talk to me. Thanks."

"You guys think that's bad?"

George walked up, his face grim. "This afternoon, I had to handle an entire German tour group with food poisoning. Now that was miserable. Try dealing with that!"

The group fell silent.

Clearly, they all agreed—George had it the worst.

"You know what's even worse?"

George's voice was filled with grievance. "Adam was there too, so I asked a nurse to call him for help. But she just brushed me off! And then, behind my back, she said Adam was meant for 'great things' while I was only fit to do rectal exams and collect stool samples."

"Hahaha!"

The group burst into laughter.

"You're laughing?!"

George yelled.

"Alright, alright, we won't laugh," Meredith said, trying to comfort him. "Damn Adam!"

"Damn Adam!"

The moment she said it, everyone instantly agreed and started complaining in unison.

They were all interns—why was the gap between them so massive?

"What's this about?"

Adam appeared from around the corner, looking puzzled as he heard them all badmouthing him.

"You ordered takeout?"

Christina's sharp eyes immediately noticed that the food in Adam's hands was far superior to the bland snacks from the vending machine.

"Sort of."

Adam paused for a moment before smiling nonchalantly.

He had realized he would miss dinner, so he had asked his assistant to order a meal from a high-end restaurant and have it delivered.

After all, in life, one must indulge in good food.

"Can we see what billionaires eat?" Christina asked curiously.

"Of course."

Adam sighed, helplessly handing over the food.

"Le Bernardin's seafood feast," Christina gasped, then held up her tasteless vending machine sandwich in comparison. "And you wonder why we're all complaining about you?"

"Heh."

Adam chuckled but said nothing.

That's human nature—without comparison, there's no resentment. And naturally, envy and jealousy arise.

The key was keeping it within reason.

As long as it stayed at the level of envy and didn't turn into outright hatred, they could still be friends.

Christina, at least, was straightforward about it, which was perfectly normal.

Liz opened her mouth, wanting to say, "Instead of spending so much on food, why not help more people?" But then she remembered Adam's cold, sharp gaze from earlier that afternoon and quickly swallowed her words.

This was a man she couldn't afford to provoke.

"Anyone want some?"

Adam opened the container and invited them to share.

"Of course!"

Christina didn't hold back. "After such a long day, getting to enjoy a Michelin three-star meal is the perfect way to unwind. Hand me a lobster."

Adam smiled and passed one to her.

"I'll have some too," Meredith said, reaching for a bite.

"Help yourselves," Adam said.

They were all colleagues. Even though the competition was intense, he still wanted to maintain a friendly atmosphere. Christina's openly competitive yet professional attitude was something he could appreciate.

"Everyone, dig in."

"If you insist."

George pouted. "By the way, did you hear about the German tour group earlier?"

"I heard a little," Adam replied with a smile. "They meant well…"

Seeing George's face darken, Adam quickly changed his tone. "Next time, for sure."

"Wow, this is amazing!"

Christina and Meredith couldn't help but exclaim as they took their first bites. They exchanged glances before hastily eating faster.

George took a bite as well, and his expression instantly softened as he let out a satisfied sigh.

Liz hesitated, swallowing involuntarily as she watched them eat.

"I'll have some too," Alex said shamelessly, reaching out.

Smack!

Adam slapped his hand away and smiled lightly. "I didn't order enough this time, and I haven't even eaten yet. Next time, for sure."

"Whatever, it's just food," Alex muttered, his face darkening as he stormed off.

"Adam," Meredith said hesitantly. "Even if you don't like him, wasn't that a bit harsh?"

"I don't like him," Adam admitted with a smile. "With his disregard for human life and his dubious medical skills, the chances of him ever becoming my colleague are slim. Besides, I haven't eaten yet—I'm not about to go hungry for his sake."

Alex wasn't that important.

Support me by leaving a comment, voting, and visiting my Patreon at belamy20