Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 90
by Little PandaVolume 3: Transition
If
If having a girlfriend would bring this kind of warm and blessed feeling, then I wish I had one.
“Did Captain Gu really say that?” Yu Gui asked while walking with Hao Renjie to the Neurosurgery ICU to visit Lu Qing after finishing their rounds.
“Indeed he did, and the old master fainted right there on the spot.”
Yu Gui couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “I can imagine, I can imagine.”
“Captain Gu is truly awesome, kicking open Teacher Lu’s closet door in front of so many people at the hospital. Though I wonder when they started being together?”
Hao Renjie was also very curious about this question. After reporting all the necessary patient conditions, he couldn’t help but add: “Not bad, Sister Lu. This isn’t something shameful to hide, yet you kept it from us for so long – that’s really not cool of you.”
Lu Qingshi looked up from the medical records: “There was no need.”
Yu Gui sat down beside her bed: “How can you say there’s no need? This is a big life event. Though I wasn’t there that day, I heard about it – Captain Gu got into a physical fight in the hospital room…”
What was all this about?
Her hand stopped flipping through the medical records: “She hit someone?”
Hao Renjie continued to add oil and vinegar (a Chinese idiom meaning to exaggerate or embellish): “Indeed she did, she got so fierce she almost hit your grandfather too, all to prevent them from removing your tubes.”
“…” Lu Qingshi’s mouth twitched slightly.
She had a premonition that Gu Yanzhi must have done something she didn’t know about.
“Then what happened?”
“Then the old master got so angry he said Captain Gu wasn’t part of the Lu family and had no right to make decisions for you, and Captain Gu responded by saying how could she not have the right, she was your…”
Lu Qingshi had a bad feeling: “Was what?”
“Girlfriend”
“???” A vein throbbed on Lu Qingshi’s temple, and her heart rate and blood pressure suddenly shot up on the life monitor.
Yu Gui quickly tried to hold her down: “Well… um… Teacher Lu, don’t get excited, stay calm. I know you didn’t want to be exposed in front of so many people, but this really isn’t a bad thing. We should bravely face the truth of…”
“Ouch!” Before the words were finished, the thick medical record folder came flying at her face, and Yu Gui ran out crying while covering her face.
Her roar came from behind: “If you’re so free with nothing to do, copy the entire medical record five hundred times!!!”
Yu Gui cried.
“And you, running around during work hours, chewing on your leader’s tongue root (Chinese idiom for gossiping about superiors). Your performance bonus for this month is canceled.”
Hao Renjie cried too.
After chasing away these two bewildering people, Lu Qingshi lay in bed, so angry her liver hurt, her head buzzing. In her mind, she cursed Gu Yanzhi eight hundred times. She finally understood why people had been giving her strange looks lately. She felt smoke coming out of her seven openings (traditional Chinese expression meaning extremely angry – referring to ears, eyes, nostrils, and mouth), thinking her illness would never get better at this rate.
However…
Lu Qingshi buried her face into the soft pillow.
This girlfriend business…
It’s just too embarrassing.
“What would you like to eat?” In the quiet cafe, Qin Xuan and Lu Xucheng sat facing each other.
The old master shook his head: “You should know I didn’t ask you here for a meal.”
Qin Xuan closed the menu, ordered a chrysanthemum tea (traditional Chinese medicinal tea) for him and took a sip of her honey water: “Actually, I don’t quite understand why Qingshi keeps having issues with Changsheng Biology?”
Lu Xucheng fell silent for a moment, lifted his tea and took a small sip: “Fu Lei is the CEO of Changsheng Biology, and Da Vinci is their company’s newest product.”
“Is there really no other way?” Qin Xuan scratched her head, feeling deeply that this matter was extremely thorny.
“Whether it’s Peking Union in the North or Renji in the South, a case that your hospital can’t solve will be the same anywhere else.”
“What about going abroad?”
“The Anderson Cancer Center’s latest pituitary tumor case was completed using the Da Vinci surgical robot. This is currently the safest surgical method with the best prognosis. If Qingshi agrees to the surgery, it would be performed by American doctors. You know her current physical condition – she can’t handle the turbulence of a long-distance flight.”
In the hospital room, the film viewing light was turned on. Lu Qingshi had a computer beside her, and a gray-haired neurology professor who used to work with her sat in a chair – the two of them were also having a private discussion.
“The blood type is too rare. Our city has less than 1000ml of clinically available panda blood (Chinese slang for extremely rare Rh-negative blood), and we need to keep some in reserve for emergencies.”
Lu Qingshi understood this clearly. Blood products decrease with each use – if she used it, other patients wouldn’t have any, and bleeding is unavoidable in craniotomy. If the bleeding couldn’t be stopped and no blood was available, going into surgery would still mean death.
She closed her eyes briefly: “Then what if we don’t remove it?”
“It’s hard to estimate. No one knows when it might suddenly erupt. It could lie dormant for a lifetime, or it could…”
Lu Qingshi gripped her pen tightly: “For craniotomy, what’s the success rate? With your skills, the bleeding should…”
The old professor adjusted his glasses and enlarged the scan on the iPad: “Hard to say. Look, it’s too close to the functional neural areas. We could force a removal, but… it might leave permanent disability. Being unable to stand would be the least of your concerns. I know that for you, being able to hold a scalpel and return to the operating table is what matters most. We can’t ignore the patient’s quality of life.”
Lu Qingshi felt a hint of gratitude: “Thank you.”
“No need for thanks, it’s what I should do.” The elderly man paused, looking at her profile: “Your grandfather and I are half-colleagues, and you were my student at Xiehe (short for Peking Union Medical College Hospital). There are some things that, for his sake, I want to advise you about. Life is more precious than anything else. If life is gone, what’s the point of talking about ideals and ambitions? Don’t you agree?”
After leaving the cafe, Qin Xuan saw Lu Xucheng to his car: “Actually, in my opinion, rather than asking me, it would be more effective to ask her. Qingshi might actually listen to her.”
The old master settled in the car and let out a heavy snort: “Ask that ruffian scoundrel? I’d rather watch her die and be done with it. Such disgrace to our family name!”
Qin Xuan could only sigh and bid farewell: “Goodbye, Elder Lu.”
Just as he left, Gu Yanzhi pushed open the door. Lu Qingshi quickly closed her laptop and sat up straight: “Why are you here?”
“Just got off work. I made you seaweed, lotus root, and pork rib soup. Want to try?”
She could only have liquids, so Gu Yanzhi made different soups and congees for her every day. After a month, her appetite had improved.
“Okay.” When the thermal container’s lid was lifted, the fragrant aroma wafted out. The broth was clear, and the bones were cooked until tender. Even so, she didn’t dare feed her the bones, only picking out some minced meat with chopsticks to put in her bowl.
“Is it tasty?” Gu Yanzhi gently wiped the moisture from the corner of her lips with a tissue.
“Mm.” Lu Qingshi nodded slightly, appearing incredibly docile in her blue and white hospital gown, looking so thin and small that it made her heart ache with tenderness.
“Want another bowl?”
“Okay.”
After blowing on the soup spoon to cool it, she brought it to her mouth. Lu Qingshi opened her mouth to drink, their coordination perfectly in sync.
The first time she offered to feed her, she thought the other would hesitate a little, but she accepted without much thought. She was both surprised and happy.
Lu Qingshi no longer rejected her kindness – could this be counted as a big step forward?
“Ahβ” Gu Yanzhi brought the soup spoon to her lips, but the other kept staring at her face.
“Is there something on my face?” She touched her own face.
Lu Qingshi shifted her gaze away: “No…”
“Then do you have something to tell me?”
Lu Qingshi gripped the sheet beneath her: “No…”
Gu Yanzhi chuckled and put down the soup bowl to touch her forehead: “Not feeling well?”
“Noβ” Lu Qingshi dragged out the word: “I want soup.”
“Alright, alright,” Gu Yanzhi wore an expression of ‘what am I going to do with you’, and had no choice but to pick up the soup bowl again: “Ahβ open your mouth.”
She had originally wanted to tell her about that matter, but it seemed there was no need to clarify anymore.
If having a girlfriend meant feeling this warm happiness, then it was fine.
Halfway through the second bowl, Gu Yanzhi wouldn’t let her drink anymore, worried that eating too much would cause indigestion. She took the food container to wash it, then put a pillow behind her back so she could sit and digest for a while before lying down.
When she returned to the hospital room, Lu Qingshi had opened a book and was reading intently. It was her first time seeing her wearing glasses – thin black frames, with black hair falling loosely on her shoulders, making her features appear more defined and profound.
Gu Yanzhi stepped lightly, drew open the curtains, letting sunlight pour in and scatter across the snow-white sheets.
“When you get better, what do you want to do?”
“I want to complete Mario.”
Gu Yanzhi smiled, leaning on her bedside: “What else?”
“I want to go bungee jumping.”
During these days in the hospital, she would bring books from her home bookshelf every few days to help with boredom. Only upon browsing did she realize, surprisingly, that the entire wall of bookshelves contained not just medical books, but humanities, geography, history, politics, philosophy… the breadth of knowledge was jaw-dropping.
Lu Qingshi opened the book in her hands and pointed: “Also paragliding. Looking down at the Taihang Mountains (major mountain range in northern China) from 1,700 meters high must be beautiful.”
“Yes, it’s beautiful, especially when it snows. That’s exactly what γForest Sea, Snow Plainγ (reference to a famous Chinese novel) describes.”
“Have you been there?”
“I’ve skydived there.”
Gu Yanzhi gently hooked her pinky finger: “There’s also hot air balloons. Want to ride one? In Yangshuo (famous scenic town in Guilin), the mountains and waters there are beautiful too.”
For some reason, she could always become happy around her at any time – it was when she felt most relaxed. Gu Yanzhi’s indulgence was clearly written on her face, causing even a person in their thirties to unconsciously adopt a spoiled tone.
“Ah, I really want to eat hotpot, nine-grid all spicy (Sichuan-style hotpot with nine compartments), tripe, duck intestines, throat webbing, brain flower (all traditional Chinese hotpot ingredients)…”
Gu Yanzhi couldn’t help but smile, reaching out to pinch her nose: “When you get better, I’ll fulfill all your wishes.”
As Lu Qingshi was smiling, her eyes suddenly dimmed: “Will I… get better?”
Gu Yanzhi held her hand, clasping it in her palm: “Of course you will. I’m your lucky star.”
Before finishing work in the afternoon, Old Bao called to say they’d have dinner together. Qin Xuan enthusiastically changed clothes, put on makeup, and rushed to the restaurant. After waiting for more than an hour, no one showed up. Then another call came, saying something came up and couldn’t make it.
Qin Xuan cursed angrily, and after a good rant, paid the bill and left.
Just as she walked out of the restaurant, a plainclothes detective sitting in a Toyota parked by the road pressed his communicator: “Boss, the person didn’t show up.”
“Understood.” Xiang Nanke sat in the office and poured another cup of tea for Chief Li: “Continue monitoring her phone.”
Chief Li pondered: “This person has very high vigilance.”
“Heaven’s net has wide meshes but lets nothing through (ancient Chinese proverb meaning justice will prevail), I will catch him with my own hands one day.”
“However, there’s one thing I need to remind you,” Chief Li put down his teacup: “Understanding the case is one thing, but that woman’s role in this case is still unknown. She could be innocent or deserving of punishment. Don’t get too emotionally involved.”
Xiang Nanke lowered her eyes, finding the tea bitter: “Understood.”
Before getting off work, Yu Gui received several emergency patients. After finally finishing the busy work late at night, she rushed to buy some vegetables and meat from the market before it closed, to take home and cook.
“I’m home.” She pushed open the door. The room was dim with curtains drawn, the blue light of the computer flickering, and a pungent mixture of cigarette smoke and instant noodle smell filled the air.
Fang Zhiyou was curled up on the sofa playing games. She glanced at her and extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray: “I’m logging off guys, I’m done.”
Yu Gui washed and cut vegetables while she helped as an assistant.
Seeing her in a good mood, Yu Gui carefully chose her words: “Um… about the money borrowed from my colleague…”
Before she could finish, she was interrupted: “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a way to pay it back.”
“No… that’s not it, I already paid it back.”
Fang Zhiyou stopped peeling garlic: “Where did you get the money?”
“I published an article, the manuscript fee just arrived today, so I paid him back.”
For over a month, Yu Gui had barely rested. Firstly, the emergency department was understaffed, and secondly, she needed to earn more money. Night shifts came with night shift allowance. Getting home before midnight like today was already rare.
Fang Zhiyou felt somewhat uncomfortable: “Don’t work too hard. I’ll figure out something about the money.”
“What I mean is, maybe… you should find a job. I saw the restaurant downstairs is hiring servers…”
“Those jobs only pay a few thousand yuan. I can earn that much playing games. If I get good equipment drops, I could make tens of thousands.”
“But you can’t get good equipment drops every day, right? After all, the income is too unstable. In a few days, we need to pay rent…”
The enamel bowl was roughly placed on the table with a loud noise: “I know, I know! I’m trying to earn money too! Why are you in such a hurry, won’t you even give me this bit of time?!”
Yu Gui had her back turned while cutting vegetables. The knife blade accidentally cut her finger, and she lifted it to her mouth to suck: “I’m not in a hurry. I just think you should go out more. It’s not good to stay cooped up at home all the time. I’m saying this for your own good.”
“If you’re doing it for my own good, then shut up!”
With an iron taste in her mouth, Yu Gui sniffled and didn’t say anything more: “Wash your hands, let’s eat.”
After dinner, Fang Zhiyou opened her computer again. Yu Gui sat at the table reviewing for next June’s medical licensing examination (important qualification exam for Chinese doctors).
She glanced at her: “Zhiyou…”
Fang Zhiyou didn’t respond and put on her headphones.
2 AM.
Yu Gui finished washing up and got into bed: “Zhiyou, come to bed soon.”
The other didn’t raise her head: “You sleep first, good night.”
“Good night.”
Yu Gui turned off the table lamp. The room remained bright from the computer’s glow. She slightly closed her eyes and let out a long sigh in her heart.
“Hey, working so hard lately, huh? Not going to sleep? Better be careful, your wife might get angry soon.”
Fang Zhiyou typed: “She’s asleep. How’s that weapon I asked you to sell last time?”
“You priced it at ten thousand yuan, it’s not easy to sell at that price. My throat is nearly worn out from promoting it, and rival factions keep competing with our price, but you won’t budge.”
“Eight thousand, can’t go lower than that.” Fang Zhiyou gritted her teeth.
“Alright, I’ll try again for you.”
“Thanks.”
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