Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 96
by Little PandaVolume 3: Transition
Initiative
Qingshi kissed her!!!!!!!!
“The house is messy, so I won’t invite you up to sit,” Qin Xuan opened the car door and got out. She walked a few steps, then turned back to look at the doctor standing under the streetlight, and still said softly, “Thank you.”
Lu Qingshi didn’t respond, just nodded slightly and got into the car. Gu Yanzhi stood outside waving goodbye to the person, fastened her seatbelt for her, and slowly turned the steering wheel to reverse.
“What were you two talking about just now?” She was still a bit curious, as the person sitting in the passenger seat seemed to be in a bad mood.
“Nothing,” Lu Qingshi turned her head to watch the city lights flowing past her eyes: “Just thinking that in this world, there’s probably nothing that’s eternal.”
Gu Yanzhi’s heart inexplicably ached a little, and she said softly: “Saying more is not as useful as actual action. I will prove to you that eternity exists in this world.”
Actually, she had felt her inner self severely lacked a sense of security for a long time. Her gaze when looking at people was empty and cold, erecting a high wall to isolate herself from others. This was a kind of self-defense mechanism, and also her way of fighting against the world.
After her divorce, Gu Yanzhi wasn’t the first to pursue her, but she was the most persistent one.
Lu Qingshi slightly curved the corner of her lips, and didn’t speak again.
After the autumn leaves had all fallen, Jinzhou City welcomed its first frost descent (a solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar, usually around October 23rd). When opening the curtains in the early morning, everything was a vast expanse of white, as if in a fairy tale world.
Lu Qingshi was discharged from the hospital and began her long journey of rehabilitation.
After a three-month break, her coordination skills dropped a lot. She started with the basics, practicing stitching, tying surgical knots, peeling eggs with hemostats, drilling holes in quail eggs with a cranial drill… She revisited everything she had taught Yu Gui before, boring and tedious. Sometimes she’d stay in the simulated operating room from morning till night. Under this intense practice, her wrist tendonitis flared up again. Her fair skin turned red, and it hurt when pressed.
Gu Yanzhi was furious, shouting at her with red eyes: “Lu Qingshi, are you trying to kill yourself?!”
That person sat cross-legged on the sofa with messy hair, looking a bit innocent but knowing she did something wrong. She bit her lower lip slightly without speaking, just looking at her. Lu Qingshi was afraid of the cold, wearing her fluffy long-eared rabbit pajamas, with the ears drooping down, just staring at her.
Until the shy firefighter instructor’s ears turned slightly red, she turned away mumbling something quietly. Unable to do anything about her, she ran back and forth, bringing hot water, applying hot towels, and carefully rubbing on ointment.
French Fries curled up in her arms purring, like a moving hand warmer. Hamburger lay at her feet, a natural foot warmer. Somehow this cat and dog particularly liked sticking close to Lu Qingshi. Gu Yanzhi tossed aside her game console, feeling jealous looking at her quiet profile as she read, and mimicked Hamburger by resting her head near her hand.
Lu Qingshi lay on the sofa and turned a page in her book: “It’s late, you should go back.”
Hearing this, Gu Yanzhi’s whole face fell. What’s worse, that traitor Hamburger trotted to the entrance, brought back her shoes, wagging his tail furiously. His face could bloom flowers (an expression meaning extremely happy), as if saying: Praise me, master, praise me.
Gu Yanzhi’s face darkened. Lu Qingshi couldn’t help but smile, putting down her book and pushing her away: “Alright, you really should go. I need to sleep.”
Reluctantly walking to the door, Gu Yanzhi turned back to look at her: “What if you wake up thirsty in the middle of the night?”
“I’ll get it myself. It’s not like my legs are broken.”
“I’m worried your wound hurts”
“It won’t, it’s already healed. Otherwise, the doctor wouldn’t have let me leave the hospital”
Lu Qingshi said seriously, and she indeed no longer had an excuse to stay at her house. Gu Yanzhi lowered her head, feeling a bit disappointed.
“Then… should I go?”
Lu Qingshi raised an eyebrow: “Go ahead”
Gu Yanzhi thought for a moment and took out a set of keys from her pocket, which were for her house: “Then… I’ll return these to you”
Lu Qingshi watched her calmly, taking in all of her disappointment, the corner of her lips curling up slightly.
“Okay”
She took them, and French Fries meowed in her arms.
Gu Yanzhi didn’t let go.
“Is there anything else?”
“Umm… lock the doors and windows at night”
“I know”
“You’re afraid of the dark, so don’t turn off the night light”
“Okay”
“When you get up to drink water or use the bathroom, move slowly…”
Lu Qingshi held her forehead, a smile of amusement spreading across her face: “You’re so nagging, I’m not a child. Hurry and go”
As she was about to close the door, Gu Yanzhi propped it open with her hand: “Wait… wait, one last thing”
“Say it quickly”
“Can I have a goodnight kiss?” The lights in the hallway dimmed, and the fire safety instructor’s face blushed, looking at her expectantly.
Lu Qingshi didn’t move, slightly lowering her eyes, seeming to be thinking about something.
In the cold wind of the hallway, Hamburger sneezed, and French Fries jumped down from her arms.
Gu Yanzhi didn’t get the goodnight kiss she imagined, her hand slipping from the doorframe as she turned: “Then I’m leaving”
“Wait a moment” Lu Qingshi grabbed the hem of her clothes.
“Hm?”
Her pupils suddenly widened, the amber-colored irises reflecting the other’s increasingly reddening face.
Lu Qingshi lightly stood on tiptoes, pulling on her clothes, and kissed her cheek, like a dragonfly touching water, yet it felt like electricity flowing through their hearts. Half of Gu Yanzhi’s body went numb, and by the time she came to her senses, the other person had already closed the door.
“Qing—” She reached out to stop her.
“Go to sleep”
Lu Qingshi obediently locked the door.
Gu Yanzhi touched her face, grinning stupidly in the cold wind for a long time, before opening her own door and throwing herself on the couch, hugging a pillow and screaming.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
Qingshi kissed her!!!!!!!!!
The look in Hamburger’s eyes: Help, what to do if the owner has gone crazy, urgent, waiting online for answers.
In the quiet of the night, Qin Xuan quietly put on her clothes and went downstairs, wearing a mask, scarf, and hat, fully armed, looking like she was going to rob a bank as she came to a public phone booth.
“Target has appeared,” the plainclothes detective hiding in the car picked up the communicator.
“Continue tailing, Old Liu, can you tap into her conversation?” Xiang Nanke, dressed all in black, sat in the driver’s seat. Not far away, in a brightly lit McDonald’s, an inconspicuous young person opened a computer.
“The distance is a bit far, I’ll try,”
An intermittent waveband was transmitted into the computer, and the technician quickly made copies.
Irritated key pressing sounds mixed with her somewhat anxious voice: “Tell Old Bao to answer the phone!”
“No, sister-in-law, the company’s having some issues now. Brother Bao said to wait patiently for him, for now…”
“Bullsh*t!” Qin Xuan covered the receiver tightly and lowered her voice: “Either you tell me where Bao Fengnian is, or let him answer the phone himself. Does he know I got beaten up by his wife?!”
“Beep beep…” The call was hung up.
Xiang Nanke thought for a moment: “Can we locate where they are?”
The technician tried: “They’re using internet calling, can’t locate for now.”
A subordinate looked at the woman in the phone booth hesitantly: “Captain Xiang, why don’t we just arrest her? Isn’t she basically tipping off those guys?”
Xiang Nanke’s lips curled into a mysterious smile: “Just wait and see, this is exactly the effect we want.”
“Qingshi, wake up for work!” Gu Yanzhi knocked on her door right on time. After just one knock, the door was swiftly pulled open from inside.
Gu Yanzhi was stunned for a moment. The person before her had rarely dressed up so carefully today. Her hair was tied back neatly, a ponytail hanging straight behind her head. She wore a long fog-blue windbreaker, with a white turtleneck sweater underneath, wide-leg pants, and wedge shoes – simple yet fashionable.
Amazement flashed across her eyes. Lu Qingshi slightly curled her lips: “Let’s go, drive.”
Gu Yanzhi took the keys from her hand and pulled out hot milk and sandwiches from her backpack, stuffing them into her hands.
“Eat while it’s hot.”
In the car, she obviously felt this person was a bit distracted. She only took two bites of the sandwich before putting it down.
She looked at the rearview mirror and at her: “What’s wrong, not to your taste?”
“No,” Lu Qingshi shook her head slightly: “Just thinking that returning to work might not be so easy.”
As a rigorous tertiary hospital, whether in selecting talent or treating patients, there is a set of strict rules and regulations.
Lu Qingshi had just recovered from a serious illness, with a tumor still in her brain. Even though she proved herself with a difficult laparoscopic surgery as soon as she arrived at the hospital, she was still called to the office for a meeting in the afternoon.
“In conclusion, we unanimously believe that Director Lu is no longer suitable for high-intensity on-site emergency rescue work. Of course, this is also for the sake of your health. Director Lu will no longer serve as the head of Ward One and the leader of the emergency team starting today. Dr. Zhang will take over these responsibilities. We hope you can understand the leaders’ good intentions and complete the handover work as soon as possible.”
Unexpectedly, Lu Qingshi didn’t argue at all. She just calmly wrote in the medical records in front of her, as if talking about something unrelated to herself.
The ward director is responsible for all matters in the ward, including surgeries, daily diagnoses, and the teaching and research of the surgical team below. The emergency team leader corresponds to the command authority for each emergency rescue scene. Of course, she would no longer go out in ambulances either. This way, except for still having the title of Associate Chief Physician, Lu Qingshi was essentially stripped of her authority.
Yu Gui sat in the corner by the wall, looking at her profile, clenching the pen in her hand, feeling indignant on her behalf.
After the meeting dispersed, Lu Qingshi privately found Dean Meng.
“It doesn’t matter at all which position I’m in. A doctor has only one purpose: to treat illnesses and save people. Isn’t saving lives and helping the injured also your original intention in founding the hospital? Only after being a patient once do you know that, compared to those doctors who talk big, I’d rather have doctors who treat my illness with real skills even if they’re not perfect people. So, please let Dr. Qin come back.”
In the twilight, Lu Qingshi bowed deeply.
Meng Jihua took off his glasses and let out a long sigh: “You don’t know yet, do you? This was her own voluntary resignation.”
“The big boss isn’t managing the ward anymore, and Dr. Qin has also left. My heart feels empty,” Hao Renjie lay on the couch, sighing deeply.
Yu Gui was eating instant noodles, finding them less and less appetizing as she ate.
She remembered that last week’s big medical record hadn’t been submitted yet, so she picked it up and ran to the director’s office. She rushed into Lu Qingshi’s office before realizing that these things were no longer her responsibility. The young person’s face couldn’t help but show some disappointment as she gently closed that door.
That evening, Lu Qingshi sat alone in the changing room for a long time. The twilight gradually disappeared, and people kept coming in to change clothes, passing by her. She just sat there, feeling time ticking by minute by minute, until the phone in her pocket started vibrating.
She rarely came to places like this. The lights in the clean bar weren’t too dazzling, and the singer on stage had a slightly raspy voice, singing an unknown English song.
She raised her glass to clink with Qin Xuan’s, of course, the other person was drinking alcohol, while she was drinking lemon water.
“After working for so long, and just about to be promoted to director, you’re leaving like this. Don’t you feel it’s a pity?” Lu Qingshi swirled the liquid in her glass.
“What’s there to regret?” She seemed quite nonchalant, sprawling herself on the bar counter and ordering another Long Island Iced Tea.
“It’s Renji that doesn’t want me, not me abandoning it first. You probably don’t know yet, the Perinatal Medical Center has invited me to be the head of obstetrics, with an annual salary of this much,” she waved five fingers.
Lu Qingshi smiled slightly: “You really are…”
“What?”
“Eyes open at the sight of money” (A Chinese idiom meaning someone becomes greedy when they see money)
“Get lost,” Qin Xuan jokingly scolded, then lightly clinked glasses with her again, saying softly: “Actually, it’s the same wherever you work. My original intention has never changed – to treat illnesses and save people, that’s all.”
This thought coincided with hers. No wonder the two could become friends. Lu Qingshi smiled and drank all the water in her glass in one go.
“So what about that thing of yours, how do you plan to solve it?”
“Old Bao can’t find anyone now. Actually, I’ve thought about it. That woman is quite pitiful too, with no money and no love, much worse off than me. As for me, I’m young and pretty, with good medical skills. Money can be earned again, right? I found a lawyer to notarize that the money Old Bao gave me after marriage is considered joint property. I’ll slowly pay it back to her. As for the money I earned working at the KTV, that’s mine to keep. I won’t give her a single cent.”
Qin Xuan is a person who dares to love and hate, calculates every penny, and never lets herself be taken advantage of. It’s quite admirable. If she had half of her courage back then, she wouldn’t have been forced to leave with nothing and go overseas.
“There’s one more thing. I think Officer Xiang was quite right. You really should stay away from Bao Fengnian…”
Qin Xuan quickly cut her off: “Stop, don’t mention her. If you mention her again, I won’t be able to eat my meal.”
“It’s not that bad. It’s all for work. Everyone has their own purposes. We can’t really say it’s good or bad,” Lu Qingshi ordered another glass of lemon water and said calmly.
Qin Xuan became alert: “She’s contacted you?”
Lu Qingshi lowered his eyes: “No… she just asked me to try to persuade you.”
She’s quite good at finding a spokesperson, Qin Xuan gritted her teeth: “If she contacts you again, tell her that investigating cases is one thing, but I really look down on her abuse of power for personal gain. Our relationship is over, from now on we’ll go our separate ways, ‘bridge returns to bridge, road returns to road’ (idiom meaning to part ways), ‘the big road stretches to the sky, each goes their own way’ (idiom meaning everyone is free to choose their own path).”
“Hmm…” Lu Qingshi didn’t speak, her eyes darted around, spotting a young woman in a leather jacket and casual pants walking in. She quickly put down the glass in her hand to prove her innocence.
Gu Yanzhi came over and knocked on their table: “Nice, her wound has just healed, and you’re already taking her out drinking.”
Qin Xuan was a bit tipsy, slurring her words: “Who… who brought her… clearly… it was… she… who came on her own…”
Lu Qingshi stood up: “I really didn’t drink, it’s just lemon water.”
Gu Yanzhi glanced at her, pulling her towards the exit: “I know, let’s go home.”
She looked back at Qin Xuan sprawled on the bar: “What about her?”
“Someone will come to ‘collect the corpse’ (meaning: take care of her).”
“Why haven’t you been online these past few days?” Fang Zhiyou’s message was sent, and the other person replied after a long time.
“I was sick.”
“Are you okay?”
The other person typed intermittently, the screen constantly showing “typing…”: “It’s fine, just an old problem.”
Just then, the door at home opened, and Fang Zhiyou quickly got up to greet her: “You’re back.”
Yu Gui put down the vegetables in her hand, looking like she was in a good mood: “Hmm, I got paid today, so I bought some fish. Let’s have braised carp for dinner tonight.”
“Okay,” Fang Zhiyou rolled up her sleeves to wash her hands: “I’ll help.”
Halfway through cooking, Yu Gui’s phone started vibrating in her pocket. She saw it was her mom, took off her gloves, and ran to the side to answer.
“You keep cooking, I’ll take this call.”
“Okay,” Fang Zhiyou looked back and saw her sink into the sofa as she poured oil into the wok.
“Huh? Didn’t you say you didn’t want any more? We haven’t even finished the cured meat and sausages you sent last time.”
“This time it’s homegrown free-range chicken, it makes such fragrant soup. You work so hard, you should nourish yourself properly.”
“Thanks mom, you’re so good to me~” No matter how busy she was, Yu Gui always made time to call home every day. Mother Yu would also send local specialties every now and then. As they chatted, Father Yu would chime in too, the whole family enjoying each other’s company.
“Dinner’s ready, Xiaogui.”
“Okay,” Yu Gui hung up the phone and came over to serve rice, excitedly saying: “My mom sent me two more cured hens and a box of free-range eggs. She said the fruit trees on the mountain had a good harvest this year, so she’ll send some apples in a couple of days. Don’t you think she has nothing better to do all day, always worrying about what I eat and drink?”
Fang Zhiyou’s face was expressionless, somewhat cold: “Hurry up and eat.”
At that time, she didn’t understand that it was like talking about your hair loss problems in front of a balding person, saying you want to lose weight in front of an obese person, or saying you don’t want to live anymore in front of a sick person. It was a form of unintentional bragging. By the time she realized this problem, she and Fang Zhiyou had already grown apart.
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