There was a knock on the door as Zheng Ren scanned through the messages in his WeChat.
The door of the on-call room then opened, and a man said, “Doctor Zheng is receiving an infusion at the moment.”
A cabinet blocked Su Yun’s view of the entrance and he could not see who said it. He stole a peek at Zheng Ren, who was still reading his messages intently, unperturbed by the knocking.
A thin figure appeared, followed by two police officers.
Su Yun was bewildered for a second, then realized that they were most likely here to interview and record the statements of everyone involved in the incident earlier.
He gently kicked Zheng Ren, who was deeply immersed in his phone.
“Hello, Doctor Zheng,” a man in a casual outfit said grimly as he stood ramrod-straight three steps behind Zheng Ren.
“Huh?” The sudden voice pulled Zheng Ren back to reality and made him turn around.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Bao Yunming, chief consultant of the thoracic surgery department.” He bowed deeply to Zheng Ren. “On behalf of all my colleagues in my department, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your assistance.”
Zheng Ren quickly stood, trying but failing to come up with an appropriate response.
“Please, sit down. I brought police officers to record your statement here in order to prevent any delay in your treatment,” said Chief Bao politely to Zheng Ren.
The police officers were also courteous enough to shake hands with Zheng Ren first before asking both Zheng Ren and Su Yun about their recollections of the event.
The entire process—including taking their statement and fingerprints—was plain and simple. After everything was complete, the officers bowed solemnly to Zheng Ren before leaving in silence.
Zheng Ren refused Chief Bao’s kind offer to arrange a deluxe single room for him.
Was it really necessary for his minor injury? What a joke. Besides, Chief Bao was just being polite; he could not possibly take the man seriously.
“Doctor Zheng, rest well and let me know if you need anything,” said Chief Bao before leaving the room.
Zheng Ren felt lucky to have Chief Bao alongside him for the police interview session, just as Old Chief Physician Pan had been there with him in Sea City last time.
This manner of interpersonal communication was not his strong suit. After courteously bidding goodbye to Chief Bao, he continued to receive his drug infusion.
After a long while, Su Yun said slowly, “Any emotionally intelligent person would have gone on to establish a friendship with him. You…”
Zheng Ren mentally filled in the blanks with sarcasm and mockery.
However, what else could he have done when he had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation?
Zheng Ren smiled. Upon seeing that the infusion was about to finish, he instructed Su Yun to call the nurse so that she could remove the equipment.
“Twice per day. Don’t forget to come at night too,” said the nurse.
“Uh…” Zheng Ren hesitated.
“You’re so close to death, I can’t catch up with you anymore,” Su Yun said leisurely, “Pyrexia from wound infection and microorganisms will spread from the infected tissue to the apex of the lung, causing pneumonia, lung abscesses and empyema. The pericardium—”
“Stop!” Zheng Ren quickly interrupted him and smiled bitterly. “I’ll come for the infusion at night, alright?”
“No one will stop you if death is what you wish for.”
“…” Zheng Ren grumbled. ‘It’s just a minor injury, but he described it as if I will die without the drug infusion.’
Since his coat had been damaged, he put on a white coat that Su Yun had borrowed and would change to a sweater or something else when he returned home later. It was enough to keep him warm right now.
Upon leaving the thoracic surgery department, Zheng Ren saw Feng Xuhui running toward them, looking panicked.
“Manager Feng, what are you doing here?” asked Zheng Ren, puzzled.
“…” Feng Xuhui stood for a few moments, catching his breath. Then, he said guiltily, “I’m so sorry, Chief Zheng. I should have come with you to the clinic this morning. Who would have foreseen such an accident happening here?”
“Oh.” Zheng Ren was not expecting the man’s answer. He smiled and said, “It’s not your problem either.”
“Your problems are my problems.” Feng Xuhui was upset.
After settling Zheng Ren and Su Yun’s breakfast early in the morning, he had sent them to the clinic and left afterward.
Two hours later, breaking news overwhelmed his feeds.
The major incident had spread like wildfire across social media and Weibo like a deadly, contagious virus.
Feng Xuhui had begun to ask about the situation only after reading the news, and little did he know that it had something to do with Zheng Ren!
He had tried to text Zheng Ren on WeChat, not knowing how badly injured he was, but there had been no reply since then.
Feng Xuhui had been petrified.
How could he have known that Zheng Ren was simply too exhausted to check his phone? Even when the nurse had unlocked his phone that one time, the man had paid no attention to it and merely browsed the messages in the group chat without checking what Feng Xuhui had sent.
What if Chief Zheng had had a major accident and the scientific research came to an end…
What if Chief Zheng decided to direct his anger toward Feng Xuhui…
Feng Xuhui quickly used his social connections, no matter their strength, to search for Zheng Ren’s whereabouts. After a few setbacks, he had finally found out that Zheng Ren was receiving an infusion in the thoracic surgery department.
He had run all the way to the department and, fortunately, met Zheng Ren at the entrance.
The fact that Zheng Ren did not mind at all slightly soothed his nerves.
‘I mustn’t make any more mistakes,’ Feng Xuhui repeatedly reminded himself.
“Chief Zheng, where are you going?” he asked.
“Home, to rest,” answered Su Yun.
“To the conference,” replied Zheng Ren.
Their words had come out in unison, and they looked at each other.
“Still courting death?” said Su Yun coldly.
“We should attend the conference while we’re here,” replied Zheng Ren.
“Cheh.”
Feng Xuhui was frozen to the spot. What should he do? As a newbie in the business field, resolving the dispute between Zheng Ren and Su Yun would be like nailing jelly to a wall.
“I’m fine. It’s just a minor injury, anyway, I can’t possibly laze around, right?” Zheng Ren tapped Su Yun’s shoulder to indicate that he was fine.
Su Yun merely lowered his head and ignored him.
Zheng Ren did not pay him much heed, either, as it was best when Su Yun shut up. Otherwise, the sharp-tongued nancy boy would always come up with various ways to verbally assault him.
Su Yun wore a dark expression along the way. When his patience finally reached its limit, he said, “Boss Zheng, don’t you want to call home and report your wellbeing?”
“Huh?” Zheng Ren was stunned.
Reporting one’s safety to one’s family… was an unfamiliar experience to an orphan.
However, on second thought, Zheng Ren realized his mistake.
He took out his phone and wrote, “I’m fine, don’t worry” in the group chat. He then noticed Old Chief Physician Pan’s text on WeChat and quickly called the old man.
He informed Old Chief Physician Pan that everything was alright and that his minor external trauma had been dealt with. The old man repeatedly advised him to return in case of any discomfort, as there was no place like home.
A warmth arose in Zheng Ren’s heart.
After hanging up, Zheng Ren hesitated for a few seconds. His mind started to wander elsewhere.
“You have to make that call sooner or later, so why are you even hesitating?” Su Yun, like a parasite in Zheng Ren’s stomach, keenly knew the reason behind his indecision.
‘That’s true.’ Zheng Ren was instantly relieved.
He dialed a number, and listened for the ringtone.
