“Here, here,” Meng Yang said cheerfully, “my table is here.”
"Time was too tight, I didn't have time to prepare anything, let's just make do with this meal." Liu Zhi spread the plastic bag on the table and took out several lunch boxes one after another.
"Have you eaten?" Meng Yang paused, his hand holding the cutlery still.
"I ate it." Liu Zhi said without changing his expression.
"You're just kidding me." Meng Yang handed the spoon from the cutlery box to Liu Zhi. "The portion you sent is too big. Can you help me finish some?"
"I really ate it," Liu Zhi continued to lie.
Meng Yang didn't say much. She placed the spoon in front of Liu Zhi, separated the lid and shell of the lunchbox, and scooped out half of the rice from each.
"Come on, have something to eat with me," Meng Yangqiang said firmly. "It's kind of awkward to be stared at while you eat."
Liu Zhi was speechless for a moment, and a phrase suddenly popped into her mind—"spoiled princess temper."
That was the tone of her voice when she was joking.
I remember many times when Meng Yang threw a tantrum and begged Liu Zhi to eat this or drink that, to try this or taste that.
This memory is so distant, so distant that the images in my mind have turned gray and white.
Liu Zhi scooped up a spoonful of rice and put it in her mouth, feeling sullen.
Meng Yang was finally satisfied. She picked up a piece of shredded potato and placed it on top of Liu Zhi's rice, then picked up a few slices of meat and placed them on top of the shredded potato.
"Don't you dare drool." Meng Yang raised his chin slightly. "Hurry up and eat."
This sentence is incredibly childish, yet Meng Yang stares at Liu Zhi with an upright expression and a calm tone, making it impossible to detect any arrogance.
Liu Zhi took a bite of rice, and Meng Yang continued to feed him.
She picked up a potato with her chopsticks and examined it closely.
The room was well-lit, and Liu Zhi's potato shreds were thin and fine, maintaining their color very well.
"This knife skill is truly worthy of Dr. Liu."
Another dish Liu Zhi made was steamed pomfret.
Since pomfret has few bones, Liu Zhi simply removed the head and tail, peeled the fish meat, dipped it in sauce, and served it to them.
Once the fish is properly coated with the sauce, Meng Yang mixes it with rice for a refreshing and satisfying meal.
"The fish is perfect." Meng Yang smiled, his eyes shining with a gentle light.
"Stop joking around." Liu Zhi pushed the plate of fish towards her. "Eat your food properly."
The food was eventually finished, and the soup was also completely devoured.
"Don't go through all that trouble tonight, I'll just make noodles when I get home," Meng Yang asked. "Do you want some zha jiang mian (noodles with soybean paste)?"
"Not having porridge today?" Liu Zhi asked as she packed her things.
“It’s nice to change things up sometimes.” Meng Yang carefully observed Liu Zhi’s fingers.
Liu Zhi has been undergoing frequent surgeries recently, and the damage to both of her hands has become more severe. Seeing this, Meng Yang wanted to apply hand cream to her hands again.
"I'm leaving." Liu Zhi stood up straight.
...
It's difficult to adjust the work schedule for those who work all night.
Liu Zhi wanted to sleep until she naturally woke up, but that would definitely mean insomnia that night. Liu Zhi rested until three in the afternoon, and after waking up, she started cleaning the house.
As Len Wright once said, "A good surgeon must have the eyes of an eagle, the heart of a lion, and the hands of a woman."
Neurosurgeons with these qualities also have very distinctive cleaning techniques.
Liu Zhi stared intently at the window sill. When the rag couldn't wipe it clean, she used a hairdryer. When there were stains on the glass, she stood on a high stool to wipe them.
After all that work, the house was spotless, not even a single hair was left.
Meng Yang arrived home before he had finished cleaning.
Meng Yang also cleans regularly, but he's not as meticulous as Liu Zhi, who can't tolerate even a speck of dust under his nose.
Upon entering the house, Meng Yang hadn't noticed any changes. It wasn't until she started cooking that she clearly sensed something was amiss.
Yesterday, the small grease stain that she couldn't get rid of no matter how hard she tried was gone, and the dishes that had been lying unused in the cupboard looked brand new. Looking up at the window, the glass was almost transparent.
Meng Yang poked his head out from the kitchen. "Did you clean today?"
"Hmm." Liu Zhi took a sip of warm water.
"Goodness, this is cleaner than my New Year's cleaning!" Meng Yang said. "Didn't you take a break this afternoon?"
"I'm resting." Liu Zhi glanced at the living room. "I haven't had time to clean up over there yet."
Meng Yang himself and his medical classmates were all somewhat obsessive about cleanliness, but he had never seen anyone like Liu Zhi before.
"Dr. Liu, thank you for your hard work," Meng Yang said. "I will definitely cherish this brand-new kitchen."
--------------------
Author's Note:
This is a short transitional chapter; there will be another update at 6 PM tonight!
Chapter 11 The Boss
There's a saying among healthcare workers: "Working a CEO to death makes a general practitioner happy."
"Chief Resident" refers to the chief resident physician.
Liu Zhi is clearly the "boss" of this kind of happy all-rounder. She stays on the front line even with minor injuries, arranges all the work perfectly, and can extend her working hours from 24 hours to 36 hours when necessary.
The other neurosurgeons saw this and praised it from the bottom of their hearts.
After a night of rest, Liu Zhi's sore throat improved, but her voice became hoarse.
In the morning, the resident trainee came to her to report the situation. Liu Zhigang could only say a few words before her voice died. She had no choice but to write down her answer on a piece of paper and hand it to the resident trainee.
Doctors cannot heal themselves, so Meng Yang took the initiative to provide free medical assistance.
Dr. Meng diagnosed Liu Zhi with an acute upper respiratory tract infection and prescribed a remedy to clear her throat and relieve her pain. He also got honeysuckle and platycodon from the medicine cabinet and made her steep them in water to drink.
The morning passed, and Liu Zhi ate two whole boxes of throat lozenges and drank countless cups of honeysuckle and platycodon tea.
She always wears a mask, and she doesn't take it off even when she's alone in the office.
Meng Yang advised her to take a leave of absence to adjust, but Liu Zhi refused outright.
The hospital can still function without her, but other doctors might be overworked. Especially the "boss" who takes over her shift, who might have to work 48-hour shifts.
Liu Zhi only hoped that she would recover soon. She hadn't been feeling well these past few days and had missed several opportunities to assist Director Shen. Normally, Liu Zhi would have taken those opportunities without taking a break.
Winter is the peak season for influenza, and many family members accompanying patients have contracted the disease, with coughing echoing throughout the wards.
Liu Zhi was stopped by someone as she passed the infusion area.
"Liu Zhi!"
Liu Zhi turned around and saw a very tall man.
"Do you know me?" Liu Zhi pulled her mask down a little, revealing her nose.
"I'm He Guangyi." The man smiled. "I'd only heard you worked at the Capital Medical University Affiliated Hospital, I never expected to actually run into you. I thought I'd mistaken you for someone else..."
"Long time no see, how is Teacher Wang?" Liu Zhi put her mask on.
He Guangyi is the son of Liu Zhi's junior high school homeroom teacher and was in the same class as Liu Zhi back then.
Teacher Wang was one of the teachers who had a significant impact on Liu Zhi's student days, and Liu Zhi was very grateful to her.
"She's on an IV drip." He Guangyi sighed. "She insisted on coming to see me, and now she's caught a cold."
"influenza?"
"I have a viral cold. I don't cough during the day, but I cough so much at night that I can't sleep."
"Have you been on IV drips for several days?" Liu Zhi took a few steps forward.
"This is the second day, and the doctor said we have to come back tomorrow." He Guangyi said with a worried expression.
The phone rang, and Liu Zhi showed the screen to He Guangyi. "I'm so sorry, I have something to do. I'll go see the teacher later."
"I understand, you're busy." He Guangyi smiled again.
...
The call was from the operating room; they needed to coordinate two surgeries. Liu Zhi had originally gone to check on the interns' situation, but now she had no choice but to go back and reschedule the surgeries.
Before the surgery was even fully coordinated, the phone rang again. This time it was the intern surnamed Jiang, whom Liu Zhi was working with, who called and whose first words left Liu Zhi completely exhausted.
"Teacher Liu, I'm sorry, I made a mistake!"
Liu Zhi steadied herself against the table for a few seconds, then asked in a hoarse voice, "What's wrong..."
This morning, Liu Zhi checked the medical orders Dr. Jiang gave yesterday and found that one was missing. She just made up for it, but now she has made another mistake.
Dr. Jiang explained the situation in general terms. Fortunately, it wasn't a serious mistake, and Liu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, calming herself down.
"Wait a moment, I can't leave here."
"Teacher, I'm so sorry, I'll definitely be more careful in the future!" Dr. Jiang's voice was filled with panic.
She didn't know what was wrong with her; the more she tried to do something well, the more likely she was to mess it up. Liu Zhi didn't keep them in the office writing medical records; she took them on ward rounds and supervised surgeries. Liu Zhi never scolded them, and she never gave them a hard time when they made mistakes.
The interns from other groups were incredibly envious.
The more she felt this way, the more guilty Dr. Jiang felt. At that moment, she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
“It’s okay, everyone has a first time. But you must be more careful next time.” Liu Zhi’s voice was calm. “We are doctors, and sometimes even a small mistake can cause irreversible harm to the patient. Do you understand?”
"I understand. Thank you, teacher." Dr. Jiang almost burst into tears upon hearing Liu Zhi's voice.
"Okay, I'll call Dr. Wang first and ask him to take a look." Liu Zhi noticed the soreness in her voice. "Don't worry, it's not as serious as you think."
"Hmm..." Dr. Jiang took a deep breath.
On her first day as "boss," Liu Zhi received over sixty phone calls. On her second day, she received nearly twenty calls in the morning alone, and at this rate, she's likely to exceed eighty calls today.