Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 33
by Little PandaVolume 1: Rise
That Year
Qin Xuan’s past
“How are you feeling today?” Qin Xuan pushed open the door to the hospital room, finding Chen Qiao’er’s bed empty. She paused for a moment, then ran to the nurse’s station: “Where is Chen Qiao’er from bed three? Where did she go?”
The nurse glanced at the medical records: “Oh, her mother just completed the discharge procedures for her, probably hasn’t been gone long.”
Qin Xuan took off running, dashing to the elevator and frantically pressing the button, but it was stuck on the upper floors due to too many people. She glanced at the emergency stairway and, gritting her teeth, ran down. She finally stopped them just as the mother and daughter were about to step out of the hospital.
Gasping for breath, Qin Xuan spread her arms in front of them: “Don’t… don’t go…”
Qiao’er’s mother held Qiao’er tightly: “Doctor Qin… you don’t need to persuade us… I’ve already borrowed money to settle all the medical fees…”
Qin Xuan shook her head, glancing at the silent little girl in her arms, gasping for breath as she supported herself on her knees: “She… is only twelve years old… her future is still very long… to be destroyed like this by the hands of scum… Are you willing…”
She bit her teeth: “I am not willing.”
The once innocent and lively little girl gradually became silent and withdrawn during her days in the hospital, no longer wanting to go to school, afraid of being pointed at. What she experienced was so similar to what she had gone through. Every time she was startled awake by nightmares at midnight, Qin Xuan countless times gritted her teeth, wanting to personally execute that beastly thing, but she couldn’t. The beast was locked away for six years and then released to roam free again. Fortunately, heaven had eyes, finally letting him die of AIDS. It was Qin Xuan who personally closed his eyes. Her biological father probably would never know that the mistress he was so infatuated with was actually an AIDS patient she had found.
If it weren’t for Old Bao, her life, full of misfortunes, might have been similar to this little girl’s.
When Qin Xuan saw her, it was as if she saw a shadow of her past self: “I am not doing this just for her alone, but for all the little girls in the world who might be harmed. One scum roaming free means another person gets hurt. Qiao’er won’t be the first and certainly not the last. I beg you, please go with me to report to the police!”
On the bustling street filled with cars and horses, a doctor wearing a white coat, with reddened eyes, bent down deeply, choking back tears: “I really want to do something for those children who have been harmed, even though I know my strength alone is insignificant, but… if I can help one, that’s enough.”
Hao Renjie clearly remembered taking out twenty-eight pieces of gauze, but now there were only twenty-seven pieces on the sterile cloth, causing the operating room to erupt around the missing piece.
The main surgeon, while stitching halfway: “Impossible! Opening up again to re-explore the chest will cause the patient serious secondary harm!”
Yu Gui: “Then having a piece of gauze stuffed in the abdominal cavity will also cause the patient serious secondary harm!”
The instrument nurse: “Impossible, you definitely counted wrong, you just went to deliver the pathology, and I was watching all the time.”
Hao Renjie counted again: “Sister, if you don’t believe me, count yourself?”
The anesthesiologist stood up, patting the equipment: “Are you done arguing?! Are you done arguing?! There’s only thirty minutes of anesthesia time left, so decide whether to stitch or open up quickly!”
This is related to their own reputation and future. If gauze is indeed left inside the patient’s body, then it is a serious medical negligence.
If, after opening the chest for exploration, there is none, then it questions the surgical ability of the department director. Someone like Xu Qiankun values fame and fortune more than life, and once he hears of this, he absolutely won’t be able to stay at Renji Medical University.
The young surgeon’s forehead was dripping with bean-sized beads of sweat, slightly panting heavily, he swallowed and handed the surgical knife to Yu Gui.
“How about… you do it? You’re Director Lu’s disciple… I’m… not in a convenient position…”
Yu Gui felt as if she were holding a hot potato, unable to throw it away or keep it, standing there at a loss, watching the anesthesia time pass second by second, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
“Don’t open the chest; there’s not enough time. Use a laparoscope to explore,” a slightly cold voice interjected.
Yu Gui suddenly looked towards the operating room door, but there was no one.
The main surgeon raised his head, eyes filled with joy: “Director Lu!”
The other party patted the microphone in the observation room and sat down on the chair: “Still not moving? The person is going to die, you know.”
“Coming, coming,” Hao Renjie hurriedly brought the instruments over. The three holes that had just been opened were still there, and the laparoscope was smoothly inserted, with Yu Gui holding the scope.
A person who is usually cold and indifferent seems to change into someone else once they start surgery. If Lu Qingshi were here, her hand speed would definitely match her speech speed, but they are not Lu Qingshi. They can only be scolded, trembling with fear and feeling utterly humiliated.
“Where should the observation scope be placed? Move it to the left for me!”
“First assistant, don’t let your hand shake, hold the liver steady for me!”
“The main surgeon is too slow, speed up a bit, move inward, yes, bypass the large blood vessel!”
“Third assistant, don’t just stand there like a wooden stake, drain, drain.”
“Main surgeon, did you not eat? Your movements are so slow! Switch to electric coagulation to stop the bleeding, hurry up! I told you not to touch the blood vessel!”
“There are still fifteen minutes, if not resolved, this person will die on the operating table.”
Lightly uttering devil-like words, Lu Qingshi watched as the people below were flustered, the corners of her lips pulling into a trace of a disdainful smile.
“Look… I see it…” Yu Gui, holding the observation scope and panting heavily, was drenched in cold sweat under Lu Qingshi’s verbal attack, feeling as if her heart was about to leap out of her throat.
“Good, remove the gauze.”
A palm-sized piece of gauze was removed from the cut in the gallbladder, and the main surgeon placed it into the waste tray. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Instrument nurse, recount the gauze quantity and prepare to suture.”
Yu Gui raised her eyes to look, and the observation room was already empty, with no one there.
Qin Xuan accompanied the mother and daughter to the police station to report the case. After explaining their purpose, a kind-faced female police officer took over the questioning. Because it involved a minor, both Qin Xuan and Qiao’er’s mother were allowed to listen in during the recording.
With everyone’s encouragement, the silent Qiao’er finally began to speak the truth through her tears. That day, after arguing with her mother, she took the money from the cabinet, intending to find her father. Alone at the train station, she was lured by a strange man and assaulted. After the incident, she was too afraid to go home or tell anyone until her mother, who arrived later, beat her and took her home. Even after noticing changes in her body, she attempted several times to tell her mother, who was indifferent and did not take it seriously.
Qiao’er’s mother held her child, tears streaming down her face. If only she had noticed her daughter’s distress earlier, things wouldn’t have come to this.
Qin Xuan sighed emotionally, while the female police officer patted Qiao’er’s head, her eyes filled with compassion: “Don’t worry, auntie will definitely catch the bad person and punish him.”
Taking advantage of a break, Qin Xuan quietly went over to ask her: “Is there a good chance of catching him?”
“The flow of people at the train station is too large, and the child doesn’t clearly remember the basic physical characteristics, which makes it very difficult to identify a suspect. However, we will still do our best to try.”
Qin Xuan felt relieved: “That’s good, thank you.”
The other person looked at her white coat, and their eyes suddenly brightened: “You are a doctor?”
“Yes, she is my patient, admitted due to an ectopic pregnancy.”
The other person’s eyes filled with a smile: “There aren’t many doctors as enthusiastic as you these days.”
Qin Xuan sighed and sat down on a chair in the rest area: “There’s nothing we can do, the child is so young, it makes people feel compassion.”
“When you collected the embryo, did you leave any specimens or anything like that?” The policewoman asked while retrieving the surveillance footage from the incident location.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Qin Xuan seemed enlightened and moved closer to watch. After a moment, her face fell again: “But it’s been so long, I don’t know if they’ve been cleared away, and the pathology specimen room’s management is very strict. It requires the hospital leadership’s signature to take anything out.”
The policewoman looked up at her, her face very gentle, with light eyebrows, very clean, and a warm smile that made people feel reassured.
“No problem, leave this to us to discuss with your hospital.”
She looked at her name tag, which read “Qin Xuan, Attending Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital of Renji Medical University.”
She also stood up and handed over her business card: “Xiang Nanke from Linghe Branch of Jinzhou City Public Security Bureau. During the investigation of the case, there may be many times when we need Dr. Qin’s help.”
Qin Xuan received it with both hands, her smile bright and radiant: “That’s no problem, just as long as you don’t disturb me during my surgery.”
“Yu Gui, go assist Dr. Hu.”
“Ah, okay,” Yu Gui put on a mask and ran into the emergency room.
“Who has free time for bed five, go clean the wound!”
Yu Gui had just come out of the emergency room, and seeing everyone busy, she weakly raised her hand: “I… I’ll go…”
“The ambulance is coming back, prepare to receive the patient!” The head nurse hung up the phone and gave orders.
Hao Renjie responded and, together with Yu Gui, pushed the stretcher and ran out.
They were busy until late at night, and finally, just before midnight, Yu Gui called Fang Zhiyou. She curled up on the small bed in the duty room, turned on the desk lamp, and looked at the face appearing on the phone screen, smiling slightly.
“Zhiyou, happy birthday.”
The hour hand had just passed halfway on the dial, Fang Zhiyou pursed her lips to show displeasure, but there was no unhappy emotion in her eyes.
“Too late, Xiaogui~”
Yu Gui quickly put her palms together to apologize: “Sorry, a patient came in suddenly, which delayed me until now.”
Fang Zhiyou suddenly laughed: “I can see that.”
Wearing green scrubs, she still had a mask hanging around her neck, her hair neatly tied at the back of her head, with bangs slightly disheveled covering her eyes. Her small, palm-sized face had eyes that shone brightly.
She really liked it.
Fang Zhiyou extended her hand, caressing her lover through the air.
If Fang Zhiyou was the only beam of light in the dark life of the timid and cowardly Yu Gui during her teenage years, then how could Yu Gui not be the same for her?
At that time, it was the second semester of seventh grade; she still sat in the last row of the class, idle all day, while Yu Gui was still as thin and weak as a bean sprout. The difference was, after the beating incident, their relationship underwent a qualitative change. It probably started from the first time they agreed to go to the bathroom together, to the last time Yu Gui was bullied, and she couldn’t stand it and would step in to help, gradually becoming somewhat close friends.
“Teacher, I have collected the homework and placed it here for you.” One day, Yu Gui went to the office to put down the homework books and unexpectedly found a resume underneath, with her birth date written on it.
At noon, after school, Fang Zhiyou waited for her at the classroom door, but Yu Gui said she had something to do and wouldn’t go home with her.
Fang Zhiyou raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and left. When she returned home, the kitchen was still cold and unused. Her mother was probably out playing mahjong and had left her money to eat by herself. She took that money to a small shop and bought two packs of instant noodles.
It was a completely unexpected thing, even her own mother forgot her birthday, so when she received Yu Gui’s blessing, she was so surprised.
She still remembers it now; it was a sunny afternoon. After the school bell rang, the classroom gradually emptied, and she slowly packed her school bag. Yu Gui entered, holding a cake, the candlelight illuminating her face, the fine fuzz clearly visible. Her eyes looked slightly larger, her nose more pronounced. She wore a fitting school uniform with a white sweater over it, and her chest was slightly puffed up.
She walked up to her and gently said, “Zhiyou, happy birthday.”
That was the first time she realized that this bean sprout seemed to have become a little prettier.
Then the two of them devoured the delicious cake in the classroom, and finally smeared a little of the residue on each other’s faces, bodies, and clothes.
It is said that that night, Yu Gui went home and unusually received a beating; the reason was that she had secretly spent all her saved New Year’s money.
From that day on, Fang Zhiyou knew that Yu Gui was a silly girl, but for some reason, every time she heard this silly girl’s name, her heart would become very, very soft.
Just like now, even just looking at her through the screen, Fang Zhiyou felt as if all the sharp thorns growing on her had been pulled out, leaving only a soft, delicate inner shell to face her.
“Have you eaten the cake, Zhiyou?” she gently asked her lover.
Fang Zhiyou picked up the birthday hat from the table and put it on: “Look~ the cake is all eaten, only this is left.”
She quickly pressed the shutter, capturing her lover’s rare cute side, laughed, and sent it to her to see.
Fang Zhiyou, embarrassed and angry, pretended to scratch her, and then there was a knock on the door: “Yu Gui, there’s a patient in the emergency room, go take a look.”
She was troubled and covered the phone screen: “Today isn’t my shift.”
The voice outside the door was somewhat impatient: “The director told you to go, so just go; why so much nonsense?”
“It’s okay, Xiaogui, you go ahead and get busy,” Fang Zhiyou took off the birthday hat and looked at her: “I’m really happy that you could accompany me for my birthday.”
“But…” Yu Gui’s eyes reddened slightly, with tears welling up: “I’m sorry.”
“Hurry up, what are you doing, are you ready or not!” The knocking grew increasingly domineering.
Yu Gui hurriedly pressed the call button to hang up, pulled up her mask, and ran out: “Coming.”
After Yu Gui hung up the phone, Fang Zhiyou sat in the chair, dazed for a moment, then instinctively turned on the computer.
On the screen, a white-clothed swordsman appeared, handsome and dashing, stepping on a flying sword, with a giant blade slung across his back, fiery red wings spreading open behind him, starlight filling the sky.
A girl flew to her side and sent her a team invitation, which Fang Zhiyou accepted.
「Happy birthday」
Along with this line of text, fireworks bloomed across the sky.
In her earphones came the system announcement: 【Hand in hand across the world, feelings without regret move the Great Wild, District Eleven player Shang Shan Ruo Shui’s feelings for Wu Li Kan Hua touch the heavens and earth, Jiuli blooms with a rain of flowers.】
At the same time, all players’ screens flashed a line of bright yellow text, accompanied by colorful flowers.
Fang Zhiyou smiled slightly and typed: “Thank you.”
The other person sent a big laugh emoji: “You’re welcome, thank you for protecting me during JJC yesterday.”
Because there was no movement for a long time, the white-clothed swordsman sat cross-legged on the ground meditating, fireworks blooming above his head, wings quietly spread, and the game’s night was quiet and peaceful.
The red-haired girl also sat down beside him.
“How did you know my birthday?”
“It’s written on your profile card.”
0 Comments