Chapter 3 : Day One (2)

Leaving the patient’s room, she ran into Director Wang.

Compared to the ‘Roman’ Chi Yuqin, Director Wang was almost unbelievably down-to-earth.
Her graying hair was combed immaculately, a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose.
Before she even spoke, a kind smile had already formed on her lips as she looked at Tang Zhen with benevolent eyes—

“You look very sharp, little lady.”

Her voice was even gentler than her smile.

Under Director Wang’s concerned gaze, Tang Zhen’s nervousness finally subsided a little.
With the humble and cautious tone of a newcomer, she spoke her first words since starting her first day of work—

“Hello, Director Wang.”

“Hello, hello.”

After greeting her, Wang Qiugin turned her gaze to Chi Yuqin: “You haven’t gone back yet?”

“I’ve slept enough. I’ll go after rounds.”

“Alright then, you manage your own time.”
Wang Qiugin turned back to Tang Zhen.
“Have you all been introduced? Time is tight today, so let’s do a simple introduction. This is the Deputy Director of Cardiac Surgery, Chi Yuqin. This is Tang Zhen. From now on, if you have any questions you don’t understand, feel free to ask her. Don’t be shy. Director Chi is still very patient. Young people should take their time.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Zhen subconsciously glanced at Chi Yuqin.

Chi Yuqin was clearly uninterested in such empty pleasantries.
She didn’t even lift her eyelids.
Just then, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
She slipped her hand in, took out her phone, and looked down to check the message.

It was a message from an unknown number—

[My flight is in the early morning. I won’t be coming back again.]

Chi Yuqin didn’t even bother to reply.
The motion of deleting and blocking the number was even swifter than taking the phone out of her pocket.

By the time she looked up again, Tang Zhen’s furtive gaze met hers.

One was mature and cool; the other, young and green.

The latter was clearly no match for the former.
Tang Zhen quickly lowered her head, her heart pounding in her chest.
Her already faintly pink cheeks instantly turned bright red.

Tang Zhen didn’t know what she was feeling guilty about.
She was like a newborn lamb, just emerged from its mother’s womb.
Everything around her was unfamiliar.
Her soft bones and thin fleece couldn’t protect her in the slightest.
Chi Yuqin’s brief, sharp, and fleeting gaze seemed to have seen right through her, from the outside in, in an instant.

Fortunately, Director Wang was still there, which quickly broke the unprompted staring contest.
Wang Qiugin waved her hand, signaling for the rounds to continue.

Having learned from the awkward experience just now, Tang Zhen was smarter this time.
She no longer followed right behind Chi Yuqin, but waited until everyone else had entered the patient’s room before she moved.

Tang Zhen had a bad habit.
She didn’t like to squeeze to the front, and the more serious the situation, the more her expression looked like she was spacing out.
Her eyes, unblinking… stared at the foot of the bed, making it hard for people not to suspect her mind had wandered.
But in reality, she was listening carefully to every word, thinking as she listened.

Chi Yuqin fiddled with the stethoscope in her hand.
From the beginning until now, her peripheral vision had not left Tang Zhen’s dazed face.
‘What’s the use of being pretty? What’s the use of youthful invincibility? This is a hospital. If you don’t have real skills, it’s better to change careers early.’

“Tang Zhen—”
Chi Yuqin turned her head, her gaze sharp.
“How do you differentiate between chest pain from anxiety disorder and angina?”

Everyone had been gathered around the hospital bed.
The sudden call-out made them all turn to look at Tang Zhen in unison.

Tang Zhen had been called on suddenly, completely unprepared.
First, she was a bit stunned.
Second, she had a shy personality.
The sudden feeling of being stared at by everyone left her at a loss, and she paused for about two seconds before realizing she was supposed to be speaking—

“They can be distinguished by their etiology, location of pain, nature of pain, and duration. Chest pain from anxiety is usually caused by excessive emotional anxiety and is a psychological stress response. The location of the pain can be widespread, with oppressive and stuffy symptoms possibly appearing in the precordial and back regions. The duration is relatively short, and the degree of pain is related to emotional changes. Angina is usually caused by insufficient coronary artery blood supply, myocardial ischemia, and hypoxia. It mainly occurs in the middle and lower sternum and may radiate to the precordial area. It is a squeezing and suffocating pain, and the duration is related to the severity of the illness.”

The answer was good, and her voice was coherent, without any stuttering.

If it were anyone else, they might have been impressed.
But for Chi Yuqin… it was lacking by more than just a little.

By now, she had already turned her head away, too lazy to even offer a comment.

She knew her own students.
Seeing her reaction, Wang Qiugin didn’t expect anything from her and just hoped she wouldn’t say anything at this moment.

Wang Qiugin looked at Tang Zhen and patted the young girl’s shoulder— “Your fundamentals are very solid.”

With Director Wang’s kind and amiable attitude, the tense atmosphere from the sudden question immediately eased.
Tang Zhen let out a shallow sigh of relief, relaxing a little.
She answered honestly, “In school, our teachers always said that a medical student’s fundamentals must be solid.”

Wang Qiugin laughed out loud, growing even fonder of Tang Zhen’s somewhat honest and straightforward personality.

At this point, Chi Yuqin had already moved on from the questioning.
She turned to the old man on the hospital bed and said, half-jokingly, half-seriously, “If you sneak another cigarette next time, I’ll have to put another stent in you.”

The old man immediately shrank back. “No more smoking, no more. I’ve already quit.”

After the rounds were over.

Wang Qiugin called Chi Yuqin over—

“I think this girl, Tang Zhen, is quite good. She speaks earnestly and isn’t flighty.”

“So you mean being able to recite from a book is being earnest and not flighty?”
Chi Yuqin’s hands hung at her sides, her attitude dismissive.

“Look at you. What did I just say before? With that sour face of yours, if it were anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have been able to speak at all. Little Tang did great, answering everything correctly. And what’s wrong with reciting from a book? Who doesn’t start by memorizing from books? If she can’t even remember what’s already there, can you expect her to be in the operating room in the future? I think… this little girl is quite good.”

“What I think of her doesn’t count. It depends on her. Renhua is not a place to support loafers. If she really can’t make it, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Then let her try first.”

Chi Yuqin stopped in her tracks, lifted her eyes, and wore a suspicious expression.

Wang Qiugin: “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Chi Yuqin: “I remember you only have one child, Xiaosu, right?”

Wang Qiugin was taken aback.
She had married late and had a child even later, giving birth to a daughter when she was almost forty.
Her daughter hadn’t even graduated from college yet.

“What do you mean?”

“Just asking, to see if Xiaosu has an older sister.”

Wang Qiugin understood now and immediately raised her hand to hit her.
Chi Yuqin took the light blow on her arm with a smile, then quickly put her arm around Wang Qiugin’s shoulders and patted her back soothingly—

“I was just joking with you, and you took it seriously. Everyone in Renhua’s Cardiac Surgery Department knows that you, Director Wang, are impartial and selfless.”

“You’re a good kid in every way, except for that mouth of yours. You didn’t inherit any of your mother’s good temper at all.”

Wang Qiugin and Chi Yuqin’s mother, Liu Yi, were classmates.
In a sense, Chi Yuqin was not only Wang Qiugin’s student but also a child she had watched grow up.

“My mom mentioned you on the phone last time. She asked when you’d have time to visit. The peach tree in our country yard has borne fruit. Guaranteed to be sweet.”

“Have your mom mail them to me. I don’t have time to go.”

“Alright, I’ll tell her then.”

Chi Yuqin was about to leave after speaking but was stopped again by Wang Qiugin—

“I’m not finished talking. Why are you running off?”

“You’re not finished? I thought you were.”

“Stop playing dumb with me. That little girl just reported today. If you scare her away, I won’t be done with you. Did you hear me?”

Chi Yuqin nodded helplessly. “I heard you.”

“That’s more like it.”

On the display board on the corridor wall were the photos and introductions of each doctor.

Chi Yuqin’s was in the middle of the top row.
For her age and seniority, this position was as far forward as it could possibly be.

Tang Zhen stared at it thoughtfully for a long while, her expression gradually turning forlorn—

‘She doesn’t remember me.’