Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 94

Volume 3: Transition

Beating

As long as you lay hands on minors, it’s a crime

“Come come come, everyone look here! This is that doctor who’s been fooling around with my husband since she was just a teenager! My husband spent money to feed her, clothe her, and even paid for her education! Everything she wears from head to toe is designer brands – this watch, this necklace, this ring, which one of these wasn’t bought by my husband for you?! And me? What do I wear? All street market goods! He hasn’t spent a penny on me all year, but he buys you houses and cars. You’re completely heartless, you have no shame!!!” The middle-aged woman grabbed her clothes while cursing and hitting her. When it came to fighting, Qin Xuan was no match for this shrew. Rotten eggs and vegetable leaves came flying at her face, mixed with loud slaps across her cheeks.

The nurses at the triage counter stood up, and the patients’ families waiting at the ward entrance gathered around. Many doctors opened their office doors to watch the commotion.

A young nurse wanted to step forward to help her, but was gently pulled back: “Don’t go, look at how she usually struts around proudly, turns out she’s a xiao san (a derogatory term for a mistress or home-wrecker).

The people who were just respectfully addressing her now had voices filled with contempt.

“No wonder she’s so rich, getting picked up in luxury cars, wearing gold and silver, turns out it was all earned from sleeping around!”

Whispers arose from the crowd.

“Ha! You want to be a xiao san but you don’t even have what it takes, go take a piss and look at yourself in the reflection!”

In the scuffle, her ID badge strap broke, and Qin Xuan fell to the ground, her ankle in severe pain. Her eyes slightly reddened: “You’re talking nonsense! Stop causing trouble here! The house is my own, and as for the car, he wanted to buy it for me but this lady doesn’t even want it!!! And look at yourself, what kind of person are you, ptui! No wonder Old Bao doesn’t like you at all!!!”

The woman was completely enraged, pouncing on her like a madwoman to pull her hair, her sharp nails leaving a bloody scratch across her cheek.

“Fox spirit! Fox spirit! I’ll destroy that face of yours today! Let’s see what you’ll use to seduce people then!!!”

Qin Xuan winced in pain and naturally refused to back down. The two women wrestled with each other – her delicate hairpin fell from her hair, her white coat was torn open, and the woman straddled her while hitting and cursing.

“Today I’ll make you, you fox spirit, show your true form. Come come come, everyone come look! See how an attending physician from the obstetrics department of a Grade-A tertiary hospital seduces other people’s husbands and ruins families!”

“My husband took pity on you, funded your education, helped you find a job, and you had no way to repay him, right?! So you could only get on your knees and lick his…” A string of vulgar words shot out of the woman’s mouth like a machine gun, exposing all of Qin Xuan’s past.

“I’ve endured this for so many years! I swallowed my pride but he still wants to divorce me for you!!!” As she spoke, the woman started crying: “I’ve lost everything! Youth, children, house, car, property… everything’s gone!”

The watching crowd was stirred up with emotion.

“This person is absolutely worthless!”

“That’s right, they helped pay for her education, but she destroys their family. What kind of doctor is this – who would dare see her for treatment!”

“Let’s go, let’s go, we’re not getting treatment here today, let’s change hospitals”

“What kind of doctor are you! You don’t deserve to be one!” The woman spat a thick glob of phlegm on her face, and seeing her tear-stained face, imagining how she must have seduced Old Bao this way, she hated her even more. She grabbed the fruit basket beside her and smashed it down hard on her head.

“Go die!!!”

“Stop!” At the weight of a thousand jun hanging by a thread (an idiom meaning a critical, life-or-death moment), an agile figure rushed into the crowd, protecting Qin Xuan. The solid fruit basket struck her temple hard, making Xiang Nanke’s head buzz.

Qin Xuan kept her eyes closed, but the expected pain never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw her somewhat dazed expression as Xiang Nanke’s head tilted down.

She didn’t know why tears started flowing, but she held her face: “Xiang Nanke, Xiang Nanke!”

After a spell of dizziness, Xiang Nanke shook her head: “I’m fine.”

After giving her a reassuring look, she gritted her teeth and stood up, taking out her police badge to show the hysterical middle-aged woman.

“I’m a police officer, and I’m asking you to come to the police station with me for investigation on charges of causing trouble and disturbing public order!”

“Is there any justice left in this world?! You don’t arrest the xiao san who sells herself and destroys families! But you arrest us suffering victims! Ptui! You must be on her side!” The woman lunged forward again, grabbing her police uniform and shoving her backward.

Xiang Nanke’s eyes sharpened as she gripped the woman’s arm, one hand reaching for the handcuffs at her waist. Before she could take them out, the woman headbutted her: “I don’t want to live anyway, just beat me to death! Beat me to death! Come come come, everyone look! The police and the xiao san are ganging up to bully people!”

The watching crowd’s eyes clearly turned hostile. No matter how much she wanted to protect Qin Xuan, she couldn’t possibly use force against an unarmed elderly woman in public – the uniform she wore wouldn’t allow it.

“Beat her! Beat the xiao san! Beat her to death!” Someone shouted – possibly a hired troublemaker taking advantage of the chaos. Someone swung their fists and lunged at Qin Xuan first.

Her body moved faster than her thoughts – Xiang Nanke turned around, instinctively threw herself over her, protecting her head and holding her in her arms. She didn’t know how many hits she took, her cap was torn off to who knows where, chunks of hair were pulled from her scalp causing heart-piercing pain. When the security guards finally arrived and pulled them apart, both of them were covered in dust. Xiang Nanke wiped the blood from the corner of her lips as she stood up, then helped her up from the ground.

The crowd was still discussing:

“What kind of doctor is this shameless thing! Just fire her!”

“Damn, this is infuriating! My husband also stays out all day and never comes home – women like this should just die!”

“Destroying other people’s families, ptui!”

“Who would have thought Dr. Qin was this kind of person”

“How else do you think she got into First Affiliated Hospital? She probably slept with someone…”

Qin Xuan shook off her hand and, limping with her broken high heel, supported herself against the wall as she gradually walked away.

That once-straight spine, once bent, could never stand straight again.

Xiang Nanke came out of the pharmacy with iodine and cotton swabs, wandered the streets back and forth, and finally found her in a small flower bed behind the hospital.

Qin Xuan sat on the steps, with scattered cigarette butts by her feet, her hair disheveled, and her white coat filthy – looking no different from a down-and-out homeless person.

She walked over quietly, lit her lighter to light the cigarette in her mouth. The sudden movement made her flinch, but seeing it was her, she relaxed her tense nerves, though her mouth remained sharp.

“Don’t think this means I’ll forgive you”

Xiang Nanke crouched down, took off her ill-fitting high heels, and knelt to clean her scraped ankle with iodine-soaked cotton swabs.

“Hey, you…” Qin Xuan was irritated and almost kicked her, but when she looked down and saw the blood mark left by the fruit basket’s wooden stick hidden in her hairline near her temple, which looked much worse than her own injuries, her movements unconsciously froze. She took a hard drag of her Marlboro.

Through the swirling smoke, Xiang Nanke slowed her movements and without asking anything, just said: “Your ankle is quite swollen, you need to see a doctor”

Qin Xuan flicked off her cigarette ash and sneered: “I am a doctor, why are you playing dumb? Who asked you to save me, are you happy seeing me like this…”

As she spoke, her eyes reddened slightly, she tilted her head back blinking, her voice becoming hoarse.

Xiang Nanke didn’t look up as she put on the bandage: “Stop pretending, if you want to cry then cry. Trying not to cry while smiling looks awful”

“Go to hell!” Qin Xuan directly kicked at her. Xiang Nanke didn’t dodge – she actually kicked with restraint, hitting her knee didn’t hurt at all, at least not as hard as that woman who truly wanted Qin Xuan dead.

“If this makes you feel better, you can kick a few more times, it’s fine”

Qin Xuan shook her head and smiled, taking a deep drag of her Marlboro. That look in her eyes – she would never forget it for her entire life, a desolation that penetrated to the bone, with quietly flowing sorrow.

When the cigarette was almost burned out, she spoke: “Would you believe me that I haven’t taken a single penny from Old Bao since I became an adult? The house – I bought it with a loan, twenty thousand yuan down payment, over eight thousand monthly payments. He wanted to buy me a car, I refused…”

“I work hard every day, I earn money to support myself, I volunteer for surgeries, I buy clothes, bags, and jewelry that I like… I really haven’t spent any of his money… And I’ve never forced him to get divorced…”

Plip, plop—

Tiny tears fell to the ground in strings. Qin Xuan bit her teeth, refusing to cry out loud, just kept whimpering, and not wanting her to see herself in such a mess, simply turned away.

Xiang Nanke hugged her from behind, not letting go no matter how much she struggled: “I believe you”

Believe in your kindness, in the softness and innocence hidden beneath your seemingly heartless exterior.

She had known for a long time that Qin Xuan was a flower that bloomed from the mud.

She pitied her, felt pain for her, and more than that… loved her.

“Cry, everything will be fine after you cry it out,” Xiang Nanke patted her back as the person in her arms gradually lost strength, gripping her sleeve while softly sobbing.

“I know I did something wrong… I shouldn’t have destroyed someone else’s family… but is it wrong to love someone… is it wrong?!”

Xiang Nanke held her face, her rough index finger wiping away her tears: “How old were you when you met him?”

She didn’t understand why she asked this, but still answered in a daze: “Sixteen…”

She saw in the police officer’s eyes, deep as the ocean, both pity and heartache, and also a trace of barely noticeable coldness.

“That’s enough then. From a psychological perspective, it’s normal for minors to develop vague feelings for adults. The wrong wasn’t yours, it was his – he completely ruined these innocent feelings”

When the whole world was cursing at her, only she stood up to speak for her.

When the whole world was beating her, only she rushed out to protect her.

Even though her fondness for Xiang Nanke hadn’t risen to the level of romantic love, Qin Xuan still cried at this sincerity.

“Do you remember that little girl’s case you asked me to handle before?”

Qin Xuan nodded, looking at her through tear-filled eyes.

Xiang Nanke helped her up and handed her tissues: “No adult with a conscience would take advantage of a minor. Even if there are all kinds of unbreakable relationships between you – be it parents, relatives, teachers, or friends – anyone who takes advantage of a minor is committing a crime. Qin Xuan, think about it carefully. Bao Fengnian isn’t a good person, your eyes have been blinded for too long…”

Seeing her expression softening, Xiang Nanke wanted to strike while the iron was hot. Though she couldn’t say much about case details, she still wanted to give her a wake-up call. Just then, her phone started violently vibrating in her pocket.

Chief Li’s name appeared on the screen. She had to answer, and he immediately started cursing: “Xiang Nanke, where the f*ck are you messing around?!!! Get your ass back here right now!!!”

Chief Li slammed his desk with a folder, making a thunderous noise: “Well done, Xiang Nanke! I really misjudged you! You’re not that great at solving cases, but you should work in the publicity department! In just this short time, you’ve taken over all the headlines in Jinzhou City! Our police station is really making headlines now, so f*cking glorious!”

She quickly stood up: “No, Chief Li, let me explain…”

“Explain my ass, I’m going to kill you myself this time!”

Then came sounds of drawers being pulled and chairs moving, mixed with colleagues trying to mediate, before the phone was abruptly hung up.

Xiang Nanke’s face turned grim. Qin Xuan, having composed herself, also stood up and smiled pretending not to care.

“Alright, I’m fine now, going back to work. Even if the sky falls, we still need to eat, you should go do what you need to do too”

“Alright, call me if anything happens, I’ll come pick you up after work”

Qin Xuan watched her flag down a taxi and say goodbye through the lowered window, then turned around herself, took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards the hospital.

“Where’s the patient from bed 15 for surgery? Why hasn’t anesthesia brought them yet? What time is it now? I still have two C-sections urgently waiting after this.” Qin Xuan had changed into her clothes, tied up her hair, and scrubbed her hands, but after waiting outside the operating room for ages, not a single person showed up. She angrily ran to the triage station to ask.

The head nurse, seeing her approach, gave a meaningful look, and the people who had been gossiping scattered. They also showed some obvious displeasure towards her.

“Emergency notice – all of Dr. Qin’s surgeries for today are cancelled”

“What’s the meaning of this?!” Qin Xuan slammed the medical record folder onto the triage counter: “Who gave this order? Cancelling my surgeries just like that – what about the patients, what about the ones scheduled later?!”

The head nurse, who was nearly menopausal, spoke with a sarcastic tone: “Don’t take your anger out on us, go find whoever beat you. You’re a xiao san and can’t take criticism? All the patients actively requested to cancel their surgeries – we can’t force them onto the operating table, can we?”

A young nurse chimed in with a suggestive laugh: “Dr. Qin, have you gone crazy for money?”

Qin Xuan trembled with anger and slapped her across the face. The young nurse started crying with whimpers, and others stood up to criticize her.

“How dare you hit someone!”

“Being a xiao san and still thinking you’re right, huh!”

Those who always disliked her took the chance to step on her harder.

“I was wondering how you got such an important position as Ward One supervisor, so that’s how you got it”

“Still treating patients when you’re not even clean yourself”

Qin Xuan, with reddened eyes, lunged forward but was pulled back by security, then was escorted to the Medical Affairs Office where the head of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Liu Changsheng were present.

“Have a seat, Dr. Qin”

Liu Changsheng’s attitude was still fairly kind, but the department head’s face wasn’t looking good. The people who brought her in whispered a few words, and he immediately exploded in front of Liu Changsheng.

“Qin Xuan, you’ve really grown bold! The department has painstakingly cultivated you for so many years, spent money and effort supporting your research projects, sent you abroad for further studies – is this how you repay us?! You’re completely lawless! The morning scandal was bad enough – do you know what the news is saying about our hospital?! Will anyone dare to come to our department for treatment anymore?! And then you publicly beat a colleague in the afternoon – you really think we won’t dare to fire you?!”

Liu Changsheng took a sip of tea, the old fox remaining unmoved, thinking: That wasn’t your money, it was clearly the hospital’s money.

However, Qin Xuan was capable, hardworking, and her surgical skills were impeccable. He had been thinking that when the Associate Chief Physician position came down from above, it would be hers. This child, what a shame.

After the department head finished venting all his anger and said everything he wanted to say, the old fox finally put down his teacup and slowly spoke: “You know the hospital must give the public an explanation for this matter. From now on, you’re suspended from all duties pending investigation. As for when you can return to work, go home and wait for notice”

Qin Xuan suddenly raised her head, her face turning pale: “On what grounds?! You’re suspending me just because of what that crazy woman said? Director Liu, you know how hard I work every day, and Director Fang, you know too, don’t you?!”

Director Fang slammed the table: “We’re not questioning your medical skills now, we’re questioning your character, your academic integrity, understand?!”

Liu Changsheng sat up in his leather chair: “Director Fang has a point. We now suspect you obtained benefits through improper competitive means, so all your papers, medical license, including your admission defense papers and applications will be temporarily held at our hospital pending investigation. If there are no problems, we’ll immediately reinstate you. But if there’s any suspicion of academic fraud, we won’t show favoritism – the case will be transferred to the police for further investigation. Be mentally prepared”

“Bang—Slam” The door closed in front of her. When she went in, she was wearing her white coat; when she came out, she had nothing. Her work ID was confiscated, and her hospital communication device was returned to the General Affairs Office.

Qin Xuan pulled off the mask from her neck, crumpled it violently into a ball and threw it into the trash can, then slid down against the wall, burying her head in her knees like a wounded ostrich.

The sunlight withdrew its gaze from the floor-to-ceiling window, the circle of light gradually shrinking, as darkness descended upon her.

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