With so many phone calls, her phone battery was draining quickly, so Liu Zhi impulsively ordered a power bank on her way to the ward.
By then, Dr. Wang had already finished treating Dr. Jiang and left. Dr. Jiang was preparing to change the patient's dressing when several onlookers, seeing Liu Zhilai, automatically made way for her.
Liu Zhi, observing her movements, spoke up to remind her, "Gloves."
Having a teacher watching can easily make someone nervous. Liu Zhi understood this feeling, so she stepped back a little, trying to minimize her presence so that Dr. Jiang could perform steadily.
The patient, however, was cheerful and said kindly, "It's alright, take your time."
Dr. Jiang was very careful. She first cleaned the wound and then applied topical medication to the wound.
Once you're focused, everything goes much more smoothly.
Dr. Jiang's dressing-changing technique was quite good; Liu Zhi praised him when he deserved it and pointed out any mistakes that needed to be made.
When Liu Zhi was an intern, she made quite a few mistakes because she was unfamiliar with the procedures. At that time, Liu Zhi's mentor was Director Shen.
Generally speaking, doctors who have achieved Dr. Shen's level of expertise are not keen on supervising interns. The Capital Medical University Affiliated Hospital has three neurology specialists, Dr. Shen being one of them. The other two, unless arranged by the hospital, are unlikely to supervise interns.
Liu Zhi mentored a total of six interns, and her attitude towards them largely stemmed from Director Shen. Director Shen didn't assign the interns too many miscellaneous tasks and frequently gave them opportunities to develop their skills.
Perhaps because Director Shen was kind and approachable, the students who interned with Liu Zhi at the time all had a good relationship with her. Liu Zhi also tried to become kind and approachable, but her demeanor was inherently aloof, and none of the interns she supervised dared to get close to her.
As she was leaving, Liu Zhi called out to Dr. Jiang.
"You've worked hard writing these case reports these past two days. I'll treat you to milk tea at noon." Liu Zhi sent a red envelope to Dr. Jiang, "Thank you for running errands."
Dr. Jiang held her phone, watching Liu Zhiyuan's departing figure, unsure of what to say.
It was almost lunchtime when Liu Zhi remembered her chance encounter with He Guangyi that morning. She looked around the infusion area but couldn't find the person she was looking for.
Back in the office, there was a cup of coffee on the desk, and a message from Dr. Jiang popped up on my phone.
"I took the liberty of bringing you a cup of coffee. I'll refund you the extra money. Thank you for the milk tea, teacher."
Liu Zhi did not reply.
Dr. Jiang bought a latte, which had a very strong milky flavor. Liu Zhi took a sip and poured a packet of instant coffee into the paper cup.
Liu Zhi felt sleepy as soon as she drank milk, and for her, the effect of a latte was far more about satisfying her cravings than about waking her up.
When Meng Yang got his meal, he also brought a portion for Liu Zhi. This mutual meal-bringing became an unspoken agreement between them.
There were also two loquat hard candies on the lunchbox, with a milder flavor than throat lozenges. Liu Zhi opened two of them and lost all desire to eat.
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Author's Note:
The author is not a medical professional, and the descriptions of the system and treatment methods are based on online materials and oral accounts from relevant practitioners. If there are any problems, please point them out, and I will definitely revise them! Thank you very much!
Chapter 12 The Landlord
As the year draws to a close, the atmosphere of the Spring Festival is growing stronger.
Walking down the street, you see red ribbons hanging in the display cases of shops of all sizes.
After a busy year, people can finally relax and rest, and most of them have warm and happy smiles on their faces.
Liu Zhi was standing at the intersection waiting for the traffic light to change, with his phone tucked to his ear.
"Sister, are you coming back for Chinese New Year this year?" Liu Yi's voice, mixed with background noise, reached Liu Zhi's ears.
"I'm too busy to go back." Liu Zhi gazed at the traffic lights.
"Grandma wants you to come back too. You haven't been home for two years." Liu Yi's voice grew softer and softer.
"How has Grandma been feeling lately?" Liu Zhi crossed the intersection and disappeared into the crowd. "Has she been taking her medicine on time?"
“My mother got her a disability certificate, and she receives a subsidy of 700 yuan every month,” Liu Yi said. “Grandma walks much more steadily now, but she still needs a wheelchair when she goes out.”
"That's good." Liu Zhi lowered her eyes. "Grandma misses me. You should lend her your phone so we can video chat."
"She's afraid of disturbing your work."
"Then I'll call her."
"Are you on vacation?" Liu Zhi asked. "For how long?"
"The winter break just started, it's only seven days long." Liu Yi's voice was filled with sorrow.
"There are still six months left," Liu Zhi comforted him. "How did you do on your final exams?"
"I've made it into the top 100 in my grade!"
Liu Zhi rarely smiled. "That's good. Which school are you aiming for?"
"Linyi University's Finance program!" Liu Yi's voice was firm and resolute. "I must get into Linyi University's Finance program!"
"Do your best on the exam, I believe in you." Liu Zhi's emotions seemed to be influenced by Liu Yi's, and she became much more determined.
"I'll go back next year after I get my attending physician title."
"Let's work together."
Liu Yi reluctantly chatted with Liu Zhi about many things at home before finally hanging up the phone.
During this time, Liu Zhi tilted her head, held her phone to her shoulder, and searched for the keys in her backpack.
The key has disappeared.
Liu Zhi stuffed her phone into her pocket and searched again, but still couldn't find it.
She began to recall where she last saw the key.
Liu Zhi remembered that when she went out last night, the key was casually put into her bag. The glass and the key made a sound as she walked, and she even stopped to adjust their position.
Unable to find a solution through deep thought, Liu Zhi called Meng Yang for help.
Meng Yang remained quite calm. She gave instructions remotely, telling Liu Zhi to find the key from the rug by the door.
Liu Zhi lifted the foot mat but found nothing.
Meng Yangrang squeezed the cushion with both hands and shook it from head to toe.
Liu Zhi did as instructed, dust billowed up in the stairwell, and the key fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
“See? I found it!” Meng Yang said. “I hid it well, didn’t I?”
"Found it, thank you." Liu Zhi could imagine Meng Yang's smug expression at that moment.
"I think I've lost a key, is that okay?" Liu Zhi asked.
"It's alright, we can just change the lock," Meng Yang said readily. "This time, let's just get a combination lock."
Liu Zhi paused in her action of opening the door.
An eerie silence fell over both ends of the phone call.
"Shouldn't we notify the landlord?" Liu Zhi said softly.
“We definitely need to notify the landlord,” Meng Yang’s voice trailed off. “I’ll call her tonight and tell her…”
"Let me look for it first," Liu Zhi said thoughtfully. "I'll call again if I can't find it."
“Okay,” Meng Yang said. “I’ll go check over at your desk after get off work.”
After hanging up the phone, Liu Zhi carefully searched along her route to work.
Bedroom, living room, dining table, elevator lobby, stairwell, community roads...
Nothing was gained.
Calming down, Liu Zhi recalled Meng Yang's reaction and had a vague guess in his mind.
To verify her guess, she dialed the landlord's number.
When the phone rang, Meng Yang was flipping through medical records.
Her supplementary card was issued solely for Liu Zhi, and to prevent the "rental scam" from being exposed, Meng Yang set a rather unique ringtone.
Meng Yang is a quiet and gentle girl in the eyes of her colleagues. When the bell rang, even the doctor who came to Meng Yang's clinic to get some water was stunned.
"I really want to live another five hundred years!"
Meng Yang was already annoyed enough by Liu Zhi's name on the screen, but her colleague who was pouring water was looking at her with a surprised expression. This scene was enough for Meng Yang to want to crawl into a hole five hundred times.
"Dr. Meng...your phone seems to be ringing..." a colleague pointed to Meng Yang's desktop.
"I won't answer those harassing calls." Meng Yang silenced his phone.
"Oh, oh..." My colleague nodded, picked up his teacup, and left.
Meng Yang rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply.
On the other end of the phone, Liu Zhi sat upright on the sofa, holding her phone. In her mind, the probability of this guess being true had risen to fifty percent.
Liu Zhi didn't have the habit of making repeated calls, so since the "landlord" wasn't answering, she just let it go.
She sent a politely worded WeChat message to the "landlord".
"Hello landlord, I have lost a key and need to change the locks. I would like to ask for your permission."
This time, the "landlord" didn't act foolishly and pretended to be dead online.
Meng Yang didn't reply to Liu Zhi's message and waited until he got off work before taking a taxi home.
Meng's father was grinding Panax notoginseng powder in the living room. When he saw her return, he put down the pestle and exclaimed, "Oh, what a rare guest!"
"Where's Mom? Where's Mom?" Meng Yang slipped from the living room to the bedroom, then from the bedroom to the bathroom, searching everywhere but finding no one.
"Your mother went out shopping for clothes with her friends. What's wrong? Is there something you can't tell your father?" Mr. Meng pulled down his glasses and looked up at her.
"Dad, could you help me make a phone call back?" Meng Yang walked over to his father.
"What's wrong?"
"I..." Meng Yang hesitated for a long time, unable to give a reason.
Should we really tell her dad that she tricked her crush into moving in with him at his house?
Meng Yang hesitated and could not make a decision.
“I have a very good friend who lives with me now, but she always thought she was just a roommate…” Meng Yang hesitated, “She doesn’t know I’m the landlord.”