Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There was a cigarette between Xiang Xueming’s lips, and he looked like an ordinary town cadre from Bazhaixiang. His legs were spread wide apart, and he was resting half of his back against the wall. His body was limp as if he had no bones. His eyes were glazed as he stared at the mountains before him while smoking. He seemed like he was admiring the beautiful scenery, which was something that could not be seen in the city, but he was actually hiding how lost he was feeling.
Li Kangxue, a contract doctor that Cangping District Hospital had just sent over, was standing opposite him. He was only in his twenties and had just graduated from university not long ago. He was not very skillful as he smoked, and this mirrored his performance in the hospital.
District hospitals were a good place for doctors to spend their elderly years in. But if a doctor was unable to get authorized, it would be hard for them to live comfortably when they get old.
Li Kangxue felt even more downcast after he was sent to the Bazhaixiang hospital branch. After he was done with his first cigarette, he lit a second cigarette. He sounded like an elderly man as he exhaled a cloud of smoke and said, “Old Xiang, aren’t the people from Yun Hua Hospital coming? If this continues, I’m really going to leave my post.”
“Only authorized doctors have a position that they can leave. Are you authorized?” When Xiang Xueming heard Li Kangxue grumbling for the first time, he got a little anxious. He was already used to it now, and he had come to realize that Li Kangxue was a person who liked to grumble. Hence, he did not bother playing along with Li Kangxue.
Li Kangxue did not expect Xiang Xueming to offer him any advice either. He merely said out of habit, “Say, not even a single doctor from Yun Hua Hospital is coming over to help even though such a major incident happened. They’re too lazy to even move their a**.”
“The bridge was broken in the flood, and cars are unable to enter Bazhaixiang.” Xiang Xueming was feeling very agitated too. The water level became higher and higher yesterday, and it finally cut off the traffic between the outside world and Bazhaixiang.
“So, Yun Hua Hospital would not be able to send help to us?”
“How would I know?” Xiang Xueming said, but there was still hope in his heart.
Even though Ling Ran was his classmate, deep down inside, Xiang Xueming admired Ling Ran as a classmate. Not only was Ling Ran good at studying, but he was also handsome and humble. Moreover, he was also focused on his job as a doctor.
This was especially true in the recent two years, ever since Xiang Xueming started working in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch. The freelance surgeon, Zhang Anmin had extremely high praises for Ling Ran.
A mudslide happened in Bazhaixiang, and to Bazhaixiang Hospital Branch, this was an unprecedented challenge. Even though Xiang Xueming did not believe in anyone, he believed in Ling Ran.
He had neither a large hospital backing him up nor excellent seniors who could help him out. Hence, Ling Ran was the greatest person whom he could rely on.
When Xiang Xueming thought about this, he could not help but smile as he gazed at the agitated Li Kangxue. “Don’t worry. When a major disaster happens, there would naturally be great people coming to our rescue. The patients who are here with us right now aren’t that seriously wounded, to begin with. We just need to keep them in a stable condition.”
“Keep them in a stable condition? If we’re capable of doing this, the elderly man who had a heart attack yesterday wouldn’t have died.” Not many patients died under Li Kangxue’s watch. That was why he was so uneasy. “Please think this through and try to make us sound as pitiful as possible when you ask for help.”
“Can you do the same?” Xiang Xueming asked calmly.
Li Kangxue immediately became tongue-tied. His qualifications were lower compared to that of Xiang Xueming, and he knew way fewer people. Xiang Xueming could at least ask for help from his classmates and seniors from Yun Hua University, but Li Kangxue merely graduated from a mediocre university. He had even less powerful social connections, and he did not enjoy a close relationship with people back in university either.
“Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! It’s not like either of us is able to get anyone to help out,” Li Kangxue refuted, but his case seemed rather weak.
Xiang Xueming pursed his lips. He was about to say something, but he suddenly looked ahead in a focused manner.
Li Kangxue followed his gaze and looked ahead too. This was when he saw that a tiny black dot was approaching them with its back facing the sunlight.
“Is that a helicopter?” Li Kangxue widened his eyes when he saw the thing.
Even though he often saw helicopters depicted in movies, this was his first time seeing a helicopter with his own eyes.
Xiang Xueming had done his internship in Yun Hua Hospital, and he had at least seen the helicopter parked on the roof of Yun Hua Hospital before. Li Kangxie did his internship in a run down tertiary Grade A hospital, and he had seen way less of the world compared to Xiang Xueming.
As they spoke, the helicopter approached them. Xiang Xueming could see that the helicopter was golden, and he became excited. “The helicopter belongs to Yunli Medical Company. It should be Doctor Ling.”
“Are you serious?” Li Kangxue could not really believe it.
To him, it did not seem realistic that a doctor would personally ride a helicopter over.
The weeds growing in the clearing in front of the Bazhaixiang hospital branch started swaying vigorously courtesy of the wind brought about by the momentum of the helicopter.
Xiang Xueming no longer hesitated. He quickly ran downstairs to maintain order and asked the people who had gathered there to see what was going on to step aside.
“Stop taking photos. Hurry up and step aside together with your kids. Drag your farm animals away too. What if the horses get scared and run into the helicopter? Will you be compensating them for the damage, or will they be compensating you for your dead horse?” Xiang Xueming simply winged it. He did not know how to welcome a helicopter either.
Li Kangxue had just responded to Xiang Xueming before he immediately pointed ahead and whispered, “Someone’s getting out.”
“What?” The place was extremely noisy, and Xiang Xueming could not hear him clearly.
“Someone’s getting out!” Li Kangxue raised his voice a little.
“What?”
Li Kangxue shouted loudly, “So f*cking handsome!”
Xiang Xueming heard this clearly. He immediately turned and saw that the helicopter door had slid open. Even though Ling Ran was only clad in an ordinary large white coat, his presence was extremely strong as he stepped onto the clearing.
The blue sky, the white rolling clouds, and the golden helicopter served as Ling Ran’s background, and it only took him a moment to attract everyone’s gaze. After that, everyone could hardly take their eyes off him.
Xiang Xueming could not help but recall the first time he saw Ling Ran in university. He almost wanted to describe Ling Ran’s presence as overwhelmingly powerful.
“Let’s go and welcome him.” Xiang Xueming immediately smoothed his shirt and hurried forward. Even though he was still a distance away, he called out respectfully, “Doctor Ling!”
Ling Ran wore a natural expression as he nodded at Xiang Xueming. He said as he walked, “The bridge is broken. Are there anymore seriously wounded patients? If there’s any, they can be sent to Yun Hua Hospital together with the helicopter.”
The Bazhaixiang hospital branch was a lot inferior compared with Yun Hua Hospital. Even though patients with minor injuries could be treated in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch without much difference, the same could not be said about seriously wounded patients.
Even if a person were to disregard other factors, the fact that there was no ICU in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch alone was a matter of life and death for half of those seriously wounded patients.
Xiang Xueming hummed in acknowledgment, but he was a little hesitant as he looked at the helicopter. “The people in Bazhaixiang don’t earn much. If they have to pay for the ride, they probably won’t be able to afford it.”
“It’s free of charge. My department has paid for the helicopter,” Ling Ran answered right away.
Even though the helicopter belonged to a medical company, the cost of operation to fly the helicopter back and forth from Yun Hua City to Bazhaixiang was pretty high. Even if Yunli Medical Company was willing to do it for free, Zuo Cidian would not have wanted to be indebted to them.
Xiang Xueming immediately agreed and said, “Doctor Ling, I would like to thank you on behalf of everyone in Bazhaixiang.”
Zuo Cidian was standing behind Ling Ran and holding a medicine chest. He pouted. “How about us?”
“Thank you, all of you.” Xiang Xueming immediately wrapped his fist in his palm and saluted everyone in the area in gratitude.
He had been working in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch for around two years, and out of all the skills, his interpersonal skills had obviously improved the most.
The moment they entered the hospital branch, everyone could smell the strong stench of blood, and a cacophony of noises rang out.
The small reception hall which usually housed patients who were waiting for their turn was full of hospital beds right now. The patients’ family members who were here to take care of the patients were walking around the space, and it was so noisy that it could make anyone who stepped into the reception hall agitated.
Just by this scene alone, everyone could figure out what was going on in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch.
Ling Ran furrowed his eyebrows a little. “There are three things that need to be done now. First of all, Yu Yuan will be doing planning for infection control. Two, Lu Wenbin will be dividing the patients according to the severity of their injuries. Three, clean up the operating theaters and the wards.”
A group of doctors who were clad in large white coats immediately voiced out their agreement in unison. Due to how synchronized they were, the patients and their family members stopped talking and looked at them.
