CH 12

On Monday, Song Yan didn’t come to school.

Didn’t come on Tuesday, didn’t come on Wednesday, didn’t come on Thursday.

On Thursday night, Xu Qin finished cleaning up in her dormitory and was about to sleep when she heard the sound of someone climbing over the wall outside the window, followed by the sound of scaling up a tree.

She walked onto the balcony, opened the curtains, and saw Song Yan sitting on a branch with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking at her with raised eyebrows.

Xu Qin closed the curtains behind her and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Song Yan didn’t answer, but instead asked, “Little kid, did you miss me?”

Xu Qin shook her head truthfully: “No.”

Song Yan’s face stiffened: “Think about it again.” When he said this, his expression was a little dangerous, like it was a threat.

Xu Qin was silent, the two looked at each other, and after standing for a few seconds, Xu Qin intended to conclude the boring stalemate: “I’m leaving.”

Song Yan: “Stop right there.”

Xu Qin stopped and looked at him expressionlessly.

Song Yan pointed under the tree with his chin: “Go downstairs.”

Xu Qin wasn’t planning to.

Song Yan: “You have five minutes, if you don’t come down then I’ll go up. ––Even if you’re asleep, I’ll yank you out of bed.”

Xu Qin went downstairs.

Song Yan was standing beside the steps leading to the sports field, under a big banyan tree.

She walked over, stood two or three meters away from him, didn’t get close, and looked at him with a flat expression.

Song Yan stared at her and didn’t speak. After watching her for a while, he took out a cigarette and lit it. He glanced at her from time to time while smoking. Xu Qin didn’t have any additional reactions, only a pair of eyes stared at him and never looked away.

The two stared at each other in silence until Song Yan finished smoking his cigarette, then fumbled around to pull out a bag from his pocket and tossed it at her.

Xu Qin caught it, at first glance, it was a bag of plum candy that looked very ordinary, however Xu Qin felt a thump in her heart. It was plum candy from her hometown of Liang City, which was not sold in the north.

She didn’t know where he got it from, let alone where he learned that her hometown was Liang City. She raised her head to look at him in amazement, he saw surprise and wonder in her expression, which was enough for him.

His expression was cold and cool, the pleasure that hinted from the corner of his mouth was gone in a flash, and he quickly regained his arrogant appearance.

Just because of the rippling expression on her face, the young man was already satisfied.

Song Yan raised his chin: “Go back.”

Xu Qin looked down at the bag of candy, then looked up at him. She obviously had questions, but she didn’t ask anything, turning around to leave.

Song Yan looked at the back of her departing figure, his complexion suddenly became extremely ugly. He strode forward, grabbed her thin shoulders to twist her body around, and said coldly: “Take off your clothes.”

Xu Qin was stunned.

Song Yan threw away the cigarette butt in his hand and without explanation tugged off her school uniform jacket –– a turtle had been drawn with ink on the back of her school uniform.

She was a transfer student, didn’t like to talk, had no friends, and would inevitably become the object of everyone’s exclusion. The class president didn’t ask to collect her homework, when giving out workbooks threw hers in the trash, when it was her turn to be on duty the other students also on duty would leave early……

How could Song Yan not be able to think of these tricks.

He clenched his fists: “Who bullied you?”

Xu Qin was silent.

“I’m asking you a question, are you mute? Huh?”

“I don’t know.” She lowered her head and whispered.

The next day at school, Xu Qin wore an extremely wide school uniform jacket with two words written on the back:

“Song Yan”

As for Song Yan he sat squarely in the classroom for one day, staring at Xu Qin all day, occasionally glancing coldly at the “offenders” who approached her.

No one dared to bully her again.

Xu Qin thought about whether Song Yan would know that she deliberately put on her school uniform when she went downstairs. In order to wait for him to see it, she did not wash off the ink on purpose.

Whether he knew or not, it didn’t matter, he would still like her anyways.

And at that moment when she went downstairs, did she like Song Yan?

No.

……

National Day was second only to the Spring Festival for the holiday with the highest volume of incidents at the emergency department. As usual, drunk and food poisoning patients were continuously being sent to the hospital. There were also a lot of patients who got into collisions and disputes on the road. Xu Qin, as always, had no excess emotions, just like a regulated robot.

Xiao Nan envied the nurses and doctors from the outpatient clinic that had gone on vacation, while complaining about 110 and the traffic police that sent patients to the hospital after any kind of small disagreements regardless of their situation. Not only did some of these patients not have any injuries, they sat around the emergency room making trouble and refused to pay the diagnosis and treatment fees. What’s more, they argued in the hospital over who was responsible for the traffic accident, making lots of noise and fighting, acting like they were in a food market.

They had finally made it to the last day of the long break, everyone was unexpectedly nervous and on edge. This was because the beginning and ending of a long holiday was the high-incidence period of highway traffic accidents. No matter how many times the broadcast or street sign reminded you not to speed, drink and drive, or drive fatigued, there would always be people who were lucky with no consequences or had blind and arrogant confidence in their own abilities, rushing towards the gates of hell one by one.

On the last day, the emergency department of the Third Military Hospital received three victims of major car accidents. Several teams of doctors and nurses took turns to go into battle, Xu Qin and her group did not get off the operating table until four in the morning.

When Xu Qin came out of the operating room, she was bumped by an emotional family member, her back aching.

When the family members learned that the operation was successful, they grabbed the medical staff crying with gratitude, Xu Qin stepped aside and left.

Xu Qin returned to her office to update her notes, the new nurse, Xiao Dong walked in with an emotional expression: “I’m so moved.”

“What happened?”

Xiao Nan explained: “Just now that family member knelt down and kowtowed to Dr. Li, thanking him profusely.”

Xu Qin lowered her head and continued writing: “With this effort, it would be better to let Dr. Li go back and rest for a while longer.”

Xiao Nan and Xiao Bei were already used to it and didn’t think it was unusual.

Xiao Dong couldn’t help it: “Dr. Xu, the family is grateful and thankful to the doctor, don’t you feel moved?”

Xu Qin didn’t even lift her head: “They will soon forget about it.”

Xiao Dong couldn’t believe it: “How is that possible? If the police rescued you, would you quickly forget about it?”

“Yes.” Xu Qin said: “Humans are forgetful animals by nature.”

Like that rainy night, a firefighter named Song Yan saved her, and she was grateful and regarded him as a hero the moment she was pulled out of the car. But she forgot after that, life was so busy that she could not recall his merits daily.

Just like their past, so many good memories were easily forgotten by her.

Xu Qin’s hand that held the pen stopped for a short second, and then continued to write quickly.

“Have you seen any patient coming back to thank the doctor after being discharged from the hospital?” Xu Qin asked lightly.

Xiao Dong was speechless and turned to look at Xiao Nan; Xiao Nan shrugged and shook his head to indicate no.

Xiao Dong refused to accept it: “But it was enough to thank you at that time. Besides, wouldn’t you be proud to accept the gratitude of patients and their families?”

Xu Qin raised her head: “To me, saving people is a job requirement and responsibility, that’s all. I’m not a god, and I’m not a savior.”

After she finished speaking, she lowered her head calmly and continued to write.

“You believe this is fulfilling your work requirements, so you don’t need others to be grateful?” Xiao Dong pondered, although it was contrary to her past experience, but it also made sense, “Dr. Xu, I admire your attitude––”

“There’s still the second half of that sentence.” Xu Qin tapped the pen on the paper and raised her eyes again.

“If he wasn’t successfully rescued, and he died. This is also not my responsibility, not my wrongdoing.”

Xiao Dong was startled, this doctor was really coldblooded.

“Dr. Xu, if someone dies, you really won’t blame yourself?”

“As a healthcare worker, one needs to clearly accept the reality that medicine, as a scientific discipline, has its limits. If a patient’s condition exceeds the limits of medicine, then his time is up. And I’m not God, just an ordinary person. I’m not responsible for anyone’s death.”

……

Xu Qin was passing through the hallway when she got off work, and accidentally ran into someone from the fire brigade doing a fire inspection.

She then remembered that the hospital issued a fire protection knowledge manual a few days ago, saying that there was a fire protection knowledge lecture today, but Xu Qin was on duty and couldn’t go.

Until a disaster occurs, no one will pay any mind to any kind of cautionary measures.

Sure enough, when Xu Qin went to the conference room, there were very few people listening, and the lecture was soon adjourned.

The lecturer was Li Meng, an instructor from the Shi Li Tai Fire Brigade. Several of her colleagues came to join her after completing the inspection. They finished packing up and prepared to leave.

Xu Qin stood at the door and looked around.

Li Meng asked with a smile, “Is something wrong?”

Xu Qin: “Are you from Shi Li Tai?”

“That’s right.”

“Why didn’t Song Yan come?” Xu Qin asked.

Li Meng was stunned for a while, then smiled: “We are from the fire brigade, he is in the fire squadron.”

Only then did Xu Qin understand why she didn’t see Song Yan in Xiao Yixiao’s bar last time: “The division of labor is different.”

Li Meng said: “Squadrons are in charge of actual combat, like firefighting and rescue; but aspects like popular science, publicity, inspections and the like, they are the responsibility of the brigade.”

Xu Qin pensively and briefly summarized: “They do the dangerous stuff, and you do the easy stuff.”

Li Meng: “…..” She can’t help but sigh that this girl’s words were so direct.

“Thank you.” Xu Qin turned and left.

……

Are people forgetful animals?

Yes they are, Xu Qin thought.

She never again thought about the scenario where Song Yan rescued her, perhaps she subconsciously thought it was an unanswered difficulty.

She also rarely thought of Song Yan, because she deliberately avoided the hallway with the fire hydrant.

Feelings have never been important, and she was good at repression, it was not difficult to forget and seal it away.

A flower that can’t bear fruit, no matter how beautiful it blooms, will be blown away by wind and rain. What’s the point of keeping it?

For the next week or two, things were calm.

As soon as the cold air from Siberia blows, autumn has just arrived, and yet it suddenly came to an end.

In late October, ginkgo leaves on the northern streets turned yellow in large patches. Walking on the street, there would be desolate coldness.

It was at this moment that Xu Qin thought of Song Yan.

At that time, she was holding a cup of coffee, standing on the bustling but cold crosswalk waiting for the red light. Under the blue sky, the red light flashed, reminding her of the police lights on a fire truck.

It’s only because of loneliness, Xu Qin thought.

Following the rushing crowds across the street, the thought of losing one’s way was also left behind in the back of her mind.

Xu Qin walked into the hospital’s front door quickly, and the busy day began again.

After the national holiday, they went to work normally for two weeks. It wasn’t their turn to take time off yet, Xiao Nan complained that they might as well die from exhaustion. It just so happened that in the emergency room, she fell on the ground and was rescued.

Xu Qin glanced at her: “Don’t create trouble for me, I’m waiting to get off work.”

Xiao Nan wailed: “Dr. Xu, you are so ruthless.”

It was the last shift before their break, ten minutes away from getting off work, and they finally had a moment to rest.

Xu Qin washed her hands as soon as she got a chance, and Xiao Nan sighed, “Dr. Xu, I’ve seen so many surgeons who are obsessed with cleanliness, but none of them are like you.”

Xu Qin: “How many minutes until we get off work?”

Xiaobei: “Eight minutes.”

Xu Qin: “I hope there isn’t……”

Xiao Nan and Xiao Bei’s expressions changed at the same time, and cried out to stop: “Don’t say stuff like that!”

Xu Qin closed her mouth and looked at them.

Xiao Bei cried and said: “The more you say something like this, the more evil you are.”

Xiao Nan folded her hands together: “Bah, bah, it didn’t count just now.”

Just as she was talking, Dr. Li rushed to the door: “Dr. Xu, there is a major traffic accident on Third Ring Road, you go with the ambulance.” He glanced at the nurses present.

Xiao Nan: “I’ll go.”

Xiao Bei: “I’ll go.”

They rushed to the scene of the accident with the ambulance, the journey was relatively smooth. Although the emergency passage was blocked, the vehicles quickly gave way when they heard the emergency siren.

The incident happened near the moat. A Ferrari speeding through a red light ran into a car and a motorcycle, and broke through the guardrail, falling into the river.

The ambulance rushed to the scene and made a quick stop, the fire and rescue vehicles that had rushed to the scene stopped at almost the same time.

Xu Qin put one hand in the pocket of her white coat, opened the car door with the other and jumped out of the car; Song Yan, dressed in orange, leaped out of the tall rescue car.

The two met face-to-face, and looked at each other briefly, as quick as a flash of lightning. Their gazes broke, and each quickly turned towards their target.

One headed west, the injured had been thrown out and fell to the side of the road.

One headed east, the injured people were stuck in wrecked cars.

White ambulance, red rescue vehicle, lights flashing. The two individuals, one white and one orange, walked away from each other, drawing a straight and steady track in the autumn wind.