Chapter 92 - 0090: Encounters

In these few days of rest, Yang Ping dedicated all his time to studying arthroscopy and sports medicine.

Just as he was about to go to bed and put his cellphone on the pillow, a message popped up in a WeChat group, the one for Nanqiao’s village medical team.

A group was set up a few days ago for this village medical team, and Yang Ping was added to it.

“Friendly reminder again: gather at the number one square of the hospital tomorrow at 8 o’clock in the morning, we will not wait for latecomers!”

The announcement was made by Zhang Lin, this medical team was led by Director Tian, who entrusted him and Little Five to be in charge of organization and communication.

The number one square was the small plaza between the emergency building and the outpatient building.

The hospital’s village medical team operated in batches as a charity event, providing free medical treatments and surgeries for disadvantaged patients in mountainous areas and helping grassroots hospitals improve their medical skills.

This time, staff from the orthopedics department, obstetrics and gynecology department, urological surgery department, along with Song Zimo, Tang Fei, Yang Ping, Su Yixuan, Little Five, Zhang Lin, the anesthesiologist Liang Fatty, and another nurse from the operating room were involved. Including the standardized training students and interns from the Obstetrics and Gynecology and Urology departments, there were dozens of people in total.

The next day, at 7:45 a.m., a coach with fifty-five seats was waiting in the number one square. Now, it was past 8 o’clock, and some people still hadn’t arrived.

Su Yixuan arrived early to wait. Seeing Yang Ping, she waved and greeted him. She was carrying a sports bag, dressed in white and light purple sportswear, and her hair was tied into a ponytail. Yang Ping was reminded of the first time he saw her—it was the same look.

Zhang Lin was standing at the bus door, counting the straggling people one by one. Little Five was holding a notebook in his hand, using it to call and urge each person one by one.

Some people were carrying bags, some had steamed buns in their mouth, and others were running while fixing their hair.

“Take roll call!” Director Tian told Zhang Lin.

“Roll call now, those who are called, raise your hand and respond! Liang Jing, Ma Xiaohua, Su Yixuan – Orthopedic, Operating Room, Urological Surgery are all here. Why are there so many missing from the obstetrics and gynecology department? Little Five, hurry them up.” Zhang Lin looked and saw that all those who were missing were from obstetrics and gynecology.

“A group of women getting ready to go out, there’s no way they can be efficient.” Liang Fatty took out a cigarette, about to light it.

“Fatty, give me some face, don’t smoke here. If you want to smoke, go over there.” Zhang Lin hastily stopped him.

With no choice, Fatty had to walk a little further, to the downwind area, squat down, light up his cigarette, and begin smoking. Once he gets on the bus, smoking was not allowed, so he had to get in a few puffs to ease his craving for nicotine.

One after another, a few more people from the obstetrics and gynecology department arrived. One of them was rummaging through her bag, claiming she had forgotten her lipstick and needed to go back and get it.

Zhang Lin was so angry that smoke was practically coming out of his ears: “Sister! Hurry up, we agreed that we’d leave at eight o’clock, now it’s already half past eight, we need to get there in time for lunch.”

Another late arrival, in high heels, hopped over with a large suitcase.

“It’s mountainous terrain, Sister, we are going to the countryside, not shopping, didn’t it say to wear sneakers, not high heels?” Zhang Lin was at a loss.

“There are sneakers in the suitcase!” This beauty dismissed the issue, took out her mirror, touched up her make-up, and began heading to the bus.

“Luggage here, with such a large suitcase, where will we find space to fit it on the bus later?” Liang Fatty had finished his cigarette and was standing by the luggage compartment of the bus, helping to arrange the luggage.

The beauty handed her suitcase to Liang Fatty, and started heading toward the bus again.

“Don’t get on yet, line up for roll call, get on when your name is called. There is a seating arrangement, it’s not a free-for-all.” Zhang Lin stopped her.

“Isn’t this first-come, first-served seating? There’s an arrangement? It’s not like we’re on a plane. I get carsick, I need to be by the window.” The beauty refused to comply.

“You can switch with your acquaintances later, but for now, listen to the arrangement. We need to keep the center of gravity of the bus steady on the highway, for people with body types like Fatty, how could they all sit on one side? Don’t you understand science! Everyone, remember, listen for your name, who gets which seat number, sit in that seat, don’t sit randomly, everyone needs to show their quality.” Zhang Lin shouted with his hoarse voice.

The last person finally showed up, holding a cup of soy milk, drinking while rushing over. Those watching were on edge, afraid she would choke.

“Everyone’s here, everyone’s here, listen for roll call. Chen Xiaoqiao, Zhou Can–3, 4, get on the bus!–Song Zimo, Tang Fei, 13, 14, get on the bus, –Yang Ping, Su Yixuan, 17, 18, get on the bus. Once again, I would like to emphasize discipline, do not sit randomly, safety comes first. If you sit in the wrong spot, I will find out, and I will make sure you get back to your original seat.” Zhang Lin began calling out names, arranging for everyone to board the bus.

Finding it quite difficult to gather everyone, Little Five and Zhang Lin each counted the number of people on the bus one more time to make sure no one was missing before the bus could finally depart.

Su Yixuan packed a lot of snacks in her bag. She took some out, put them in a small bag, and asked Yang Ping to put the bag on the luggage rack. He guessed that half of what was in her bag was snacks.

After putting away the bag, Yang Ping sat down. It was his first time sitting so close to her, which made him a little excited.

Xiao Su had a faint but heart-warming fragrance around her. From close up, he saw that her skin was fragile and beautiful, with a rosiness beneath the paleness.

“Help me hold these, I’m going to rest a bit.” Xiao Su leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes.

“No cheating and eating, wait until I wake up to open them. I stayed up all night preparing lessons for the interns.” Xiao Su said with her eyes closed.

Yang Ping felt sorry for her: “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have helped you with the PowerPoint.”

“You’ve been busy lately, Zhang Lin said you’re studying for your doctoral examination.” Xiao Su said.

“You rest, I’ll call you when we get to the service area.” Yang Ping saw that she was indeed a bit weary.

Zhang Lin, this big blabbermouth, anything that comes to his mouth was known to the entire country.

Yang Ping neatly stacked the snacks pack by pack, holding them in his hands. There were milk candies, ginger candies, chocolates and so on. Do all girls like snacks?

He was also tired and wanted to rest, but he was afraid the snacks would fall, so he was half-asleep.

Usually, in the hospital, where the lifestyle is routine, many people in the bus were chit-chatting due to the novelty of heading to the countryside.

The journey, which was over four hours, required a halfway break to freshen up and use the restroom.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The bus had covered about half the distance when it stopped at a service area. Yang Ping nudged Xiao Su: “We’re off. We’re at the rest area.”

Xiao Su rubbed her eyes: “Let’s go down. You carry the snacks and follow me, I won’t let you down, I’ll share half with you later.”

Everyone alighted in order, with the colleagues from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology exhibiting a lively spirit, some touching up their makeup by the bus, others sharing laughs and chats.

“Director Zhu!” Tian Yuan spotted a familiar face as soon as she alighted, from the adjacent bus.

Director Zhu, upon hearing his name, turned around and immediately shook hands with the caller, exchanging pleasantries.

“Are you on a tour?” Tian Yuan looked at his bus, which was surrounded by a group of people waving a flag that read ‘life insurance’.

“Director Zhu, what’s this about?” Tian Yuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Director Zhu replied with a smile, “I no longer work at the provincial hospital. I’m working in an insurance company now, just got my actuarial certificate.”

“Impressive, Director Zhu. We’re heading down to the countryside for medical assistance,” Tian Yuan explained.

Someone was calling for Director Zhu to board his bus as it was about to leave. Director Tian said, “Never mind. Carry on with your duties!”

After Director Zhu’s bus left, Director Tian said to Zhang Lin, who was next to her: “That’s Director Zhu from the provincial hospital, he’s the one involved in the colon incident two years ago. Such a good person.”

“Is he the one that was slandered by the fake news?” Zhang Lin asked.

“Yes, he’s not even forty, in the prime of his career, it’s such a pity. He’s deeply passionate about medical advances. He just said that he’s left the provincial hospital and is now working at an insurance company, where he got his actuarial certificate,” Tian Yuan said as she looked in the direction where director Zhu’s bus had gone.

“Being an actuary is impressive. It’s said that they earn a million a year and it’s hard to qualify. They’re at the top of the pyramid in insurance companies,” Little Five said.

“Really? A talent like Director Zhu will always find a way to shine. As long as one does not give up on himself, he can still excel irrespective of the path chosen,” Tian Yuan opined.

Some took turns to rest at the tables, with a few going to the restroom, a few getting a drink, some stretching their legs; others visiting the special product shops, while Liang Fatty pulled Zhang Lin aside for a smoke.

Xiao Su had gone to the restroom. Yang Ping, holding the snacks, sat next to the leisure table and waited; it took several minutes before Xiao Su came out. After sitting down, she said, “Help me unwrap the chocolate, we’ll split it.”

Yang Ping opened the chocolate wrapper to find individually wrapped small pieces of chocolate. Xiao Su started eating them with great relish, apparently unfazed by the prospect of gaining weight.

Yang Ping was much more relaxed this time. She had a good chat with Xiao Su, who had diverse interests. Xiao Su had participated in the nationwide college sports meet and had won a silver medal in swimming.

“What sport do you like?” Xiao Su asked.

“Running!”

This was a flawless answer; long-distance running, although he didn’t participate in any college sports meet, he was deemed an unrivaled match at the campus sports meet.

“If there’s a medical community sports meet in the city, you take the running events, I’ll take the swimming ones, and together we can monopolize both the land and water events.”

The two of them shared laughs and jokes, enjoyed a short break, and then continued on their journey.

Perhaps due to fatigue, the chatting become sparse, and most people, in a drowsy state, nodded off in their chairs.

Xiao Su was indeed very tired and dozed off again in her seat, with Yang Ping holding her snacks.

After an unknown period of time, the bus gradually came to a halt with a long traffic jam up ahead.

“What happened!” Tian Yuan, who was sitting behind the driver, woke up as the bus stopped.

“There’s a traffic jam. This road usually has no congestion, it’s usually only during Spring Festival and National Day,” the driver answered.

Her phone vibrated. Tian Yuan took it out. It was a call from Director Miao.

This trip was to Nanqiao County, which was adjacent to Shipo. Director Han had mentioned to Director Miao about their trip, who was quite enthusiastic and insisted on making time to come to Nanqiao. He reasoned that their unfamiliarity with the place would necessitate his help to get settled.

“Professor Tian! Are you stuck in a traffic jam?” Director Miao’s voice sounded anxious.

“How did you know? Our bus stopped just now.” Director Tian said.

“What a mess!”

“What’s going on?”

Director Miao said: “There has been an accident up ahead of you. A large truck loaded with wood rear-ended the car in front of it. One of the victims has been impaled by tree branches. He needs to be brought to our hospital. The ambulance is on its way, but it’s too late to transfer him anywhere else. We lack experience in this and we need your assistance!”

“A chest and abdomen impalement injury? We can help, but we are stuck in traffic and can’t get past,” Director Tian said, looking ahead. Clearing the traffic could take quite some time.

An injury involving chest and abdomen impalement, especially by a tree branch, triggers a major rescue operation. Not only is the surgery complicated, but on-site rescue also requires very professional guidance. Otherwise, the patient will not even have a chance to make it to the hospital.

We can manage supporting them, but how do we get there while stuck in traffic?