Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The sunlight in the morning was a little warm and a little gentle on the skin, just like a moderately spicy hot pot. While you may not find it spicy when you first started eating it, you would suddenly feel a sting on your tongue after a while.
Zuo Cidian’s legs trembled. He sat quietly in a spot with the most sunlight and leaned against the backrest like an old tortoise that was replenishing its energy.
“How was it? Isn’t it interesting carrying out surgeries with Ling Ran?” Doctor Zhou sauntered inside. He brought along a pork trotter and took a glass of milk, which was free of charge. He then sat opposite Zuo Cidian before he began to savor his food.
“It was pretty interesting,” Zuo Cidian answered softly. He refused to show any signs of weakness. “Are you waiting to carry out a surgery?” he asked.
“Me? I don’t need to carry out any surgeries today. I’m just here to rest for a moment.” Doctor Zhou smiled.
Zuo Cidian’s expression froze. ‘Why is this doctor resting in the Operating Area? Is he a surgery maniac too?’
“Where’s Ling Ran?” Doctor Zhou asked out of curiosity.
“He’s still in the operating theater.” For some reason, Zuo Cidian felt embarrassed and guilty.
He should have been working alongside his superior. However, he was resting outside right then even though his superior was still working.
Doctor Zhou found it natural that other doctors were unable to keep up with Ling Ran’s pace. He asked in amusement, “You didn’t manage to participate in all of the surgeries? How many surgeries did you do?”
In a soft voice, Zuo Cidian said, “Three. There was a total of four this morning, I think.”
“What happened after that?”
“Doctor Ling felt that I no longer had enough strength and asked me to go out first.” Zuo Cidian sighed. It was true that he no longer had enough strength. However, he really felt bad for leaving the operating theater like that.
Doctor Zhou chuckled a few times. “Ling Ran’s very energetic. And sometimes, he operates continuously for thirty or forty hours. You don’t have to compare yourself to him. In my opinion, it’s just because he’s young, or else…”
Even though Zuo Cidian agreed with that, he did not dare to look like he did.
He was not even successful in currying up to Ling Ran’s favor that day. He did not want to offend him as well.
“About that… Doctor Zhou, what do you guys usually have for lunch?” When Zuo Cidian noticed that Doctor Zhou was quite easy to get along with, he took the opportunity to ask.
“We order takeout, eat in the Operating Area’s canteen while we grab some pork trotters in the Operating Area, or eat in the main canteen. Why? Do you want to treat Ling Ran to a meal?” Doctor Zhou was a lazy person, but he was very observant. He glanced at Zuo Cidian and said, “I’d suggest that you don’t go through the trouble. Of course, if you want to give it a try, I wouldn’t object to it.”
“Um… is treating someone to a meal a taboo here?” Zuo Cidian asked, finding Doctor Zhou’s answer strange.
Doctor Zhou shook his head. “No, it’s not a taboo. But Ling Ran always orders takeout when he feels like eating. People send meals over to him all the time too. He doesn’t have time to leave the Operating Area to eat.”
“He just eats in the hospital… Then… he doesn’t drink alcohol either?”
“He doesn’t.”
Zuo Cidian hummed dejectedly in acknowledgment. He felt as if most of his abilities had been rendered useless.
When he worked in the town hospital, Zuo Cidian’s record was 2.6 pints of beer. Even though that 2.6 pints of beer only stayed in his stomach for ten minutes, it was still 2.6 pints of beer. And on normal days, if he was allowed to sit down and eat some food, Zuo Cidian could drink 2 pints of beer in front of his guests without collapsing.
Zuo Cidian managed to become one of the top cadres of the hospital thanks to his ability to drink and drink on behalf of other people.
Doctor Zhou continued to eat his pork trotter with a grin on his face.
Lu Wenbin’s skills in cooking pork trotters had elevated after he returned from Shanghai. The texture of a pork trotter had to obviously be chewy and soft at the same time. There was a high demand for balance between its ability to melt in one’s mouth and its toughness. When it came to the marinade and taste, Lu Wenbin incorporated some southern elements, and he was able to utilize sugar in the last two steps of making pork trotters. Not only did the slight amount of sugar sweeten the pork trotter, it also made it taste more luscious. It was an incredibly rare taste.
Zuo Cidian watched as Doctor Zhou happily savored the pork trotter. All kinds of thoughts raced through Zuo Cidian’s mind.
“Takeout food and food from the hospital cafeteria won’t be as good as outside food no matter what, right?” Zuo Cidian asked with a grin on his face.
Doctor Zhou smiled without saying anything. He did not even bother to explain.
Zuo Cidian furrowed his eyebrows. He decided to do things according to his usual style.
He exited the hospital and found a hotel. He then entered the hotel, talked to the restaurant manager and swiped his credit card.
To be able to leave the town hospital without a hitch, he chose to leave without asking for any compensation from his divorce. As a middle-aged man, he was realistic and did not care whether things were fair for him. His credit limit was what little money he had left to spend.
Zuo Cidian was extremely good in this as he tended to leaders all the time. He ordered a few dishes that looked and tasted good even though they were not expensive before placing them in beautiful lunch boxes. He then called a cab and rushed back to the hospital.
When he arrived at the operating area’s waiting room, he only needed to wait for a while before Ling Ran exited the operating theater.
Zuo Cidian immediately rose and went over. He said with a smile, “Doctor Ling, you’ve worked hard.”
“Hm, I finished a little later than usual today.” Ling Ran rubbed his stomach as he spoke.
Zuo Cidian cheered internally and quickly said, “Doctor Ling, if you are done with all the surgeries, why don’t we go outside and eat?”
As the saying went, ‘one can never be too courteous.’ If Ling Ran agreed to eat outside, Zuo Cidian would able to utilize his talent better.
Even though Ling Ran was dressed in scrubs, which could be said to be an extremely simplified and ugly version of a T-shirt, he still looked so handsome that it felt as if even his ankles were sparkling.
Ling Ran flashed a smile at a few young nurses, who took the opportunity to take selfies when they walked past him. He then turned and said decisively to Zuo Cidian, “I’m not going out.”
Zuo Cidian reacted pretty quickly. Without missing a beat, he bent his back a little and said, “Then should I order some takeout so that we can eat together?”
“I’ll order some myself.” Ling Ran did not give Zuo Cidian the opportunity to explain himself. He went and sat down on a chair in the corner before whipping out his cell phone and opening a food delivery application.
Zuo Cidian did not know what was going on in Ling Ran’s mind, so he decided to wait for a while. The dishes he bought just now were not the sort that needed to be consumed immediately, anyway. He could just take them out after the food Ling Ran ordered arrived.
Twenty minutes later, a Mercedes-Benz Metris, which was spray-painted in yellow and had the image of an ugly kangaroo on both its sides, entered the hospital.
Ling Ran picked up a call and made a few grunts as his answer before he said, “I got a Second-Class Koi Set Meal. Let’s eat together in the waiting room outside.”
Doctor Zhou, Lu Wenbin, and Yu Yuan followed him without hesitation.
Zuo Cidian hesitated for a moment before he obediently followed the crowd. He asked Doctor Zhou in a hushed tone, “What is this Second-Class Koi Set Meal thing?”
Doctor Zhou thought of a story someone else told him and pretended to be deep in thought as he said, “Doctor Zuo, have you thought of such a question… Let’s say that there’s a farmer who sees a dead rabbit who hit its head on the tree trunk in front of his house every single day. Do you think there would be any changes to his views in life, views towards the world, and his values?”
“About this… I have heard about how a fish would appear every now and then in a well in someone’s yard.” As a middle-aged man, Zuo Cidian no longer had much imagination, but he tried his best to keep up with the conversation with Doctor Zhou.
Doctor Zhou chuckled and flashed a smile at Zuo Cidian that said, “You only find it strange because you have not seen it before.” He then sped up and followed closely behind Ling Ran as Ling Ran entered the waiting room.
“Doctor Ling!” Tian Qi cut an impressive figure as she stood between two other riders. All three of them were decked in yellow shirts.
She wore an extremely close-fitting yellow shirt with a large kangaroo on her chest. The pair of black fingerless gloves on her hands gave her a playful vibe.
“Hello.” Ling Ran flashed a slight smile.
“I’m working in Meituan. It’s for my internship!” Tian Qi’s eyes turned into little crescent moons as she smiled. She only slapped her head and spoke when the rider behind her reminded her of something. “Please wait for a while. Today’s Second-Class Koi Set includes rice in abalone sauce and stir-fried beef with green pepper.”
After she finished speaking, the other two riders skillfully took off their yellow caps and put on white toques. One of them took out a gas stove and a brown chopping board. He then put an earthenware pot on the gas stove and put a couple of abalones, which were as big as one’s palm, on the chopping board. He pried the abalones from their shells on the spot and sliced the tops off in a flourish before he tossed them into the pot. He then poured some broth into the pot.
On the other side, the other rider placed a tenderloin that looked to be about five to six pounds on a chopping board. He selected the best parts and cut them into slices. He then heated up a large iron pan, which could fit four rabbits inside, before he poured some oil into it and fried the slices of beef.
As Zuo Cidian watched everything, he suddenly felt as if his views of life, his views of the world and his values were being torn apart. His forty-two years of life could be summarized into one sentence, which Zuo Cidian could not help but utter, “Wait a minute…”
