Chapter 19: CH 19

Inside the Director’s office.

The gentle-faced Director Cui made a cup of this year’s new tea and looked over at the two long, young doctors standing before her.

“Jiang Xu,” she took the lead, naming the one on her left, “I read the medical records you submitted, and although the resuscitation was successful, there is no absolute evidence of organophosphorus pesticide poisoning until the blood test results come back, you shouldn’t have rushed to give antidotes.”

Jiang Xu was silent for a moment and said bluntly, “I trust my judgment.”

Director Cui disapproved, “The results of the expedited blood tests are very quick, and you wouldn’t have waited long for them to come out. Why were you in a hurry, in case the mother was not rescued, even if your diagnosis is correct, the patient’s family members could have used this to target you.”

The one on the right said leisurely, “The patient’s family was taken into custody ……”

Director Cui glared at him and said to Jiang Xu again, “The doctor-patient relationship is already tense now, don’t get yourself into too much trouble.”

What she said was true, nowadays, the emphasis was on evidence-based medicine, and any diagnosis made had to be backed up by sufficient laboratory and imaging data, which was why most doctors would first prescribe a whole bunch of tests when a patient came to see them; although seeing an experience could save some of the financial drain, it often became a trigger for the doctor to be held accountable.

Jiang Xu knew that Director Cui was saying all this for his own good, so he stopped arguing and just calmly said, “Thank you, teacher, for reminding me.”

She frowned, “Shen Fangyu, button up properly.”

Shen Fangyu let out an “Oh” and lowered his head to button up the top two buttons of his white coat, smiling brightly, “I’m done, teacher.”

Director Cui, who had long been immune to this, was unmoved and said, “Why didn’t you stop Jiang Xu that day?”

“I trusted Jiang Xu’s judgment,” Shen Fangyu parroted Jiang Xu’s words, “as well as my judgment.”

He realized the possible organophosphorus pesticide poisoning at almost the same time as Jiang Xu, so he did not refute any of the judgments or instructions Jiang Xu made, and even took the initiative to ask whether to push atropine earlier.

“The two of you ……” said Director Cui bitterly: “You don’t like each other normally, but you’re surprisingly consistent at times like this, do you want to be involved in a lawsuit someday before you can grow a memory? “

“Teacher Cui, please calm down,” Shen Fangyu coaxed with a smile, “I won’t dare to do it next time, and neither will Jiang Xu, I promise.”

“Who are you to promise for me?” Jiang Xu gave him a sidelong glance.

“Then you mean you’ll do it again next time?” Director Cui asked Jiang Xu coolly.

Thirty-six strategies, walking is the best strategy.

*Idiom to mean retreating is the best plan when all else fails.

“……” Jiang Xu said straightforwardly and sharply, “I’ve taken notes, teacher, I’m going to do ward rounds now.”

When he saw Shen Fangyu following him out, Jiang Xu gave him a blank look and headed straight for the ward. Zhang Yun’s daughter had been transferred from the pediatric intensive care ward back to the general ward, he just had to check on Zhang Yun’s recovery and also see the state of the little one.

“You owe me several favors,” Shen Fangyu said, “One has to be tactful sometimes.”

“I didn’t see any tact, but I did see a smooth tongue.” Jiang Xu commented expressionlessly, and when he saw that Shen Fangyu wanted to retort, he lifted his index finger and shushed him before opening the door to the ward.

When Jiang Xu entered, Zhang Yun had already woken up, having been released from the ICU for a few days. Seeing the child who returned to her side, she seemed to be in a particularly good state of mind.

Jiang Xu asked some basic questions and was about to leave when Zhang Yun called out to him, “Doctor Jiang, you saved this child’s life, please give her a hug.”

“I’m not the only one to take credit for this.” Everyone involved in the rescue had put in their efforts, and the neonatology department had also exhausted its efforts to treat this child.

Zhang Yun smiled, “You should give her a hug, it might add to the child’s fortune.”

At these words, Jiang Xu moved his gaze toward the baby in the swaddling clothes.

The baby looked smaller than normal because she was not full term, her skin was red and wrinkled, and her eyes were rounded. After looking at Jiang Xu for a while, she suddenly smiled.

He knew that children around ten days smile unconsciously, but Jiang Xu couldn’t help but smile along with her. A child’s eyes are always so simple and clean that one can’t help but get soft-hearted.

Because of his profession, he was very skilled in holding the child, the newborn child was still too small and her cervical vertebrae were not fully developed, so his left arm bent to support the child’s head, neck, and back, while his right hand protected her waist and hips, circling her in his arms to create a space of peace.

“Jiang Xu.” Shen Fangyu suddenly called out to him.

Jiang Xui inclined his head to look over, “What’s wrong?” A faint smile was still on his face.

“Nothing,” Shen Fangyu lowered his eyes. He felt guilty for some reason and could only rely on gags to cover up this subtle emotion, “So you can smile, I thought you had expression muscle paralysis.”

Jiang Xu gently put the child down and gave Shen Fangyu a sidelong glance, “Babies are very sensitive to adults’ emotional perceptions.”

Although they might not understand what laughing and crying were, they could instinctively feel reassured by the pleasant emotions of adults.

“I’m sensitive too,” Shen Fangyu said, “Why don’t you care about the mental health of your colleagues?”

“How old are you?” Jiang Xu casually dissed him, “You’re old enough to be a father, aren’t you embarrassed?” As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized something and subconsciously went mute.

“Ahem.” Shen Fangyu, the child’s father, obviously also reacted and coughed twice in a desperate attempt to cover up the situation.

The atmosphere became a little awkward for a while, but Zhang Yun spoke up to break the delicate atmosphere between them, “Dr Jiang, Dr Shen, you guys should give the baby a name.”

Jiang Xu had never given anyone a name before, so he was a little stunned. Zhang Yun laughed at this and said, “It’s fine, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t even know if the baby would have survived. You can give her a name.”

Shen Fangyu also encouraged, “You can pick it.”

Jiang Xu looked at Zhang Yun again and saw the eagerness in her kind eyes, so he didn’t push back. It was the first time that Jiang Xu was afraid that he would not do well, so he racked his brains and frowned slightly, his expression more serious than he looked during the exam.

After thinking for a while, he said, “Chenxi.”

Jiang Xu was a little embarrassed, “Zhang Chenxi, is it okay?” He subconsciously glanced at Shen Fangyu, as if he wanted some kind of affirmation, “I’m not very good at naming …… I just want the intention to mean a new start.”

Zhang Yu didn’t know if it was the words “new start” that touched her, or the “Zhang” that Jiang Xu naturally put in front of the word Chenxi, but Zhang Yun’s eyes suddenly turned a little red, “Zhang Chenxi…” She stretched out her hands to shake Jiang Xu’s, “Thank you, Dr. Jiang.”

“It’s good if you like it.” Jiang Xu breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly heard the person next to him give a soft laugh. He looked over and Shen Fangyu put his hand on his lips to block the laugh, “You didn’t even panic like this when you were holding the scalpel, you make picking a name look so difficult.”

As they left the ward, Shen Fangyu was still joking, “If our baby is born, what name will you give it?”

Jiang Xu’s eyes flashed and he took out his phone to look at the screen. Dr. Kenn still hadn’t replied. He took a deep breath, and for some reason, he felt a little irritated and panicked.

He didn’t answer Shen Fangyu, and the latter had the good sense not to ask any more questions. The child connecting them was like a bond and a landmine, making its parents feel like they were walking on a tightrope, precariously maintaining a balance that could collapse at any moment.

“Jiang Xu!” A woman with long chestnut hair suddenly called Jiang Xu’s name from where she was. Jiang Xu’s eyes lit up and he walked straight over, “Yan Hua?”

The woman in a small white checkered suit was wearing delicate makeup, carrying a light curry leather bag and a cup of coffee in her hand, “I just called out to you when I saw you,” Yan Hua said, “It’s been a while since I last saw you.”

“Huh, Fangyu?” Yan Hua saw Shen Fangyu following behind Jiang Xu: “When did you two become so close?”

At her question, the two men instantly and automatically pulled away from each other by a distance of two meters, afraid that no one would be able to see that they were not close.

Yan Hua was amused, “You’re deputy chief physicians now, could you be more mature?”

Shen Fangyu greeted her with a smile and shrugged it off without any mental baggage, “It’s not like Jiang Xu has been hating me for only a day or two.”

“And have you been pleasant to him?” Yan Hua poked him without mercy and turned to Jiang Xu, “I’m not going to chat with you guys, I’m busy here, where’s the lady you mentioned, Zhang Yun?”

Yan Hua was a lawyer whom he and Shen Fangyu had met when they were volunteering with the Women’s Rights Association at the university, an association that was also initially founded by a group of university students. When the volunteer activities ended, Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu joined the association and are still members today.

After the Public Security Bureau explained her husband’s situation to Zhang Yun, Jiang Xu offered to help her find a volunteer lawyer to handle the divorce case and the division of property.

Zhang Yun was a bit hesitant, but Jiang Xu said, “I have a general understanding of your situation from the police, the association will help you to recover the money, I will also apply for the association to reimburse your medical expenses using the association fund. Legal aid is pro bono, and if you need it after you are discharged from the hospital, the association can also help solve your short-term employment problem, don’t worry.”

Every member of their association makes a spontaneous donation year after year to help women in need.

The association has members from all walks of life and when a member comes across a woman they think needs help, they can submit her information to the association for review and when the situation is verified, the relevant responsible member of the association will lend a helping hand by offering a donation or other assistance.

[If you are willing to get out of the mud, we will do our best to give you a hand.]

This was the belief of the association when it was first set up.

So Zhang Yun nodded with determination, holding Jiang Xu’s hand and choked up a little, “I’ve had the best of luck since meeting you.”

Yan Hua looked at the bruised woman on the hospital bed and handed over a business card. However, the position on it wasn’t for a gold medal lawyer from a well-known law firm, but that of a member of the Women’s Rights Protection Group.

“Trust my professional ability,” Yan Hua said, “and you’ll never have to see him again in your life.”

Faced with Yan Hua, who is also a woman, Zhang Yun finally burst into tears, pouring out all her past pain. She had put up with her tyrannical husband for so long, mediated countless times at the police station, but to no avail, and every time she proposed divorce, she only received more unmerciful beatings.

She thought she and her baby would have to endure more dark times, but Jiang Xu showed her that she could have a new life.

Before leaving Jihua Hospital, Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu walked Yan Hua to the door together.

“It’s been hard work.”

“It’s my duty.” Yan Hua smiled and glanced at the towering inpatient department, then she suddenly extended her hand and placed it between the three of them, “Come on!”

Shen Fangyu immediately put his hand on her outstretched one. Jiang Xu had always resisted this childish way of cheering, and he curled his fingers first, surveyed the surging tide of people around him and tried resisting, “There are so many people ……”

Before he could finish, Shen Fangyu directly held his hand and put it on Yan Hua’s hand together with his. Three hands went down at the same time, just like when they were all students, and said aloud, “Fight for women!”

This was the slogan of the Association for the Protection of Women’s Rights.

As expected, curious gazes fell from all around as soon as the words left his mouth, and Jiang Xu awkwardly withdrew his hand and glared at Shen Fangyu.

“Don’t be frivolous. Let Yan Hua see our great revolutionary friendship so she doesn’t have to worry about the two of us fighting and wasting our already strained medical resources.” Shen Fangyu said with carelessness.

Jiang Xu poked him coldly, “How long have you been an adult?”

“Haha,” Yan Hua laughed at the two of them, “Okay, I’m relieved,” she said to Shen Fangyu, “I’m going to leave now, you two might really get into a fight if you continue provoking Jiang Xu.”

It was only after seeing Yan Hua leave in a taxi that Shen Fangyu replied to Jiang Xu with a smile, “I’m half a year younger than you anyway.”

“How dare you count a few months.”

Jiang Xu didn’t bother to pay any attention to him and put his hands into the pockets of his white coat, turning around to leave. A second into stepping through the entrance of the inpatient department, his phone suddenly rang.

Jiang Xu glanced at the screen of his phone and suddenly froze.

“Dr. Kenn replied.”

“What did he say?” Shen Fangyu became serious.

Jiang Xu read on with a single glance, his expression gradually getting worse. He handed his phone to Shen Fangyu in silence, letting him read the few short lines of concise and indelicate English.

“Dear Mr. Jiang, I am Dr. Kenn’s assistant. Since our article has not yet appeared in print, I regret that I cannot provide you with any information at this time, but if you have a medical need, you can contact the hospital secretary to make an appointment. Because Dr. Kenn is very busy with work, please be sure to make an appointment in advance, and bring 200,000 US dollars as a deposit for the operation when you come to country M.”

“Do you dare to say anything now?” Shen Fangyu raised his eyebrows, “is this what you call science without borders? Doctors believe in healing and saving people?”

“Two hundred thousand dollars,” he said in an exaggerated tone, “and that’s just the deposit,” Shen Fangyu’s voice took on a bit of ridicule, “are you sure his faith isn’t in bank notes and dollars?”

Jiang Xu: “……”

Go away.