“Ha! How you report this to the commune is none of my business. I’m telling you, I retire at the end of this year. Do whatever you want.”
Dean Cao had no choice but to quickly calm Director Qi down: “Don’t worry, I’ll call the commune leaders right away and let them know the actual situation at our hospital. I’ll do my best to fight for you and keep this promising young talent.”
“You mean fight for yourself. If there’s no one to take over after I retire, just shut down the internal medicine department.”
Dean Cao cursed Zhang Chenghui under his breath. What a meddlesome fool, reporting a young woman out of thin air like that.
Xiao Mandong took a deep breath, raised her hand, and knocked on the door. The argument inside abruptly stopped.
“Come in.”
Xiao Mandong pushed open the office door. Director Qi stood by the desk, face ashen, chest heaving slightly. A battered enamel mug lay on the floor, tea leaves splattered everywhere.
Dean Cao gave an awkward smile: “Comrade Xiao, you’ve only known this master of yours for one morning, and she’s already shielding you. I have no choice. Someone reported your family background, so I had to report it truthfully to the commune. The commune has ordered the hospital to suspend your internship until the investigation is complete. I hope you can understand.”
“Thank you, Master. Thank you, Dean Cao.”
Xiao Mandong bowed deeply to Director Qi. They had only met that morning, and yet this woman was already defending her like this. She was genuinely grateful.
Dean Cao pulled out a form from his drawer—a Certificate of Pending Review for Barefoot Doctor Internship. He filled it out with a fountain pen, picked up the red official seal from the corner of his desk, stamped it on the signature line, blew on the ink to dry it, and handed the certificate to Xiao Mandong: “Take this back to the brigade and make it clear to the party secretary that the hospital asked you to wait—this isn’t a dismissal.”
Xiao Mandong clutched the thin piece of paper, a whirlwind of emotions churning in her chest. She hadn’t expected to be so unlucky with this hospital. That morning, she’d been thinking of working hard; by the afternoon, she was being shown the door. In truth, she didn’t care much about the job itself—it was just galling. The Lu family really was cursed for her. Every time she got close to anything connected to them, nothing good ever came of it.
She pushed the door open and stepped out of the dean’s office, mulling over how to get even, when a figure blocked her path.
It was Zhou Qiaolian. She leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a smug grin plastered on her face: “Xiao Mandong, got fired, huh? You really have no self-awareness. I thought you were just a worn shoe, but turns out you’re a capitalist too.”
She’d been eavesdropping outside the door—so this Xiao Mandong wasn’t just divorced, she had a bad family background too. What right did someone like her have to fight for the same permanent position?
Xiao Mandong’s eyes darkened. She grabbed Zhou Qiaolian by the hair and dragged her to the public restroom next door. Flipping on the faucet, she shoved Zhou Qiaolian’s head under the running water. Ice-cold water shot out of the tap, drenching Zhou Qiaolian’s face without mercy. Caught off guard, she choked and coughed. Xiao Mandong’s grip was iron-strong; Zhou Qiaolian couldn’t break free no matter how hard she struggled, clawing desperately at Xiao Mandong’s wrist. With her other hand, Xiao Mandong twisted Zhou Qiaolian’s arm behind her back and pinned her: “I’m washing out that filthy mouth of yours, so you learn to speak like a human being.”
“Help... help! The capitalist is killing me! cough cough”
She hadn’t acted earlier because she still had to work at the hospital and needed to protect her reputation. But now that she’d been thrown out, what did reputation matter? Better to get a punch in first and feel satisfied—otherwise, she’d end up with clogged meridians.
Zhou Qiaolian screamed for help. Xiao Mandong kicked her, sending her tumbling into a row of trash cans by the wall. The bins toppled over, and Zhou Qiaolian landed in a heap of garbage. Used toilet paper landed on her head, filth smeared across her face. She was nearly hysterical and instinctively tried to wipe it off, only to feel something sticky. She gagged, dry-heaving. Ignoring the gawking onlookers pointing at her, she braced herself on the ground and tried to stand, rushing toward the faucet again—when suddenly—
“BOOM!”
A deafening explosion shook the ground beneath them. Zhou Qiaolian nearly jumped out of her skin. Her legs gave way, she slipped, and plop—she fell right back onto the floor.
The people around her panicked, thinking it was an earthquake. They turned and sprinted for the exits.
Dean Cao and Director Qi had heard the screaming and were running over to check, when the blast rang out.
Zhou Qiaolian spotted Dean Cao and Director Qi like they were her lifeline, and burst into sobs as she filed her complaint: “Dean, you have to do something! Xiao Mandong hit me... wah wah...”
Just as she finished, a nurse on duty came running up, gasping for breath, and shouted from a distance: “Dean Cao! Bad news! Emergency call—there’s been an explosion at the military grain depot. Six people are injured. The troops are already transporting the wounded here and told us to prepare treatment on the double.”
Dean Cao’s face turned grim: “Quick! Clear out the emergency room immediately. Stock up on tourniquets, oxygen machines, and debridement supplies.”
Director Qi yelled at Xiao Mandong: “Get ready, then! We’re short-staffed. You’ll have to lend a hand.”
A warmth surged through Xiao Mandong’s chest. The frustration of being suspended moments ago was replaced by a sense of duty: “Yes.”
Zhou Qiaolian scrambled to her feet, still sniffling: “She’s been fired! What right does she have to join the rescue effort? Someone with bad family background like her, how can she...”
Dean Cao shot her a fierce glare: “People are dying right now. If you don’t want to cause trouble, shut your mouth.” And with that, he ignored her and ran toward the outpatient building.
Director Qi directed the setup of emergency beds and prepared the instruments. No sooner had everything been arranged than the sound of military trucks rumbled outside. Soldiers burst through the doors carrying stretchers. The wounds were severe—shrapnel embedded deep in flesh. Xiao Mandong spotted Zhou Qichuan. He was clutching the hand of one of the wounded, a man lying face-down on a stretcher, covered in dust, with a ghastly gash torn open across his back, his face white as paper.
Zhou Qichuan was speaking with Dean Cao. Dean Cao called Director Qi over for a look. Director Qi pried open the man’s eyelid, felt his pulse, sighed, then shook his head. Zhou Qichuan let out a sob.
Xiao Mandong quickly stepped forward and placed her fingers on the man’s wrist. The pulse was faint—barely traceable. She checked his pupils; they were already dilating. With the current level of medical care, this man was beyond saving.
Just then, Zhou Qichuan noticed Xiao Mandong. He grabbed her hand: “You can save him, can’t you?”
Dean Cao’s eyes reddened: “Comrade, you’d better start making preparations.”
Xiao Mandong took a deep breath: “I can try. But...”
Zhou Qichuan wiped away his tears before she could finish: “Whatever the outcome, thank you.”
“Give me an emergency room. I don’t need any help. Just don’t let anyone disturb me.”
Within moments, the wounded man was brought into a private emergency room. Because there were so many other casualties, nobody paid attention to that room—only Zhou Qichuan paced anxiously outside the door.
Xiao Mandong ground some snow lotus from her spatial storage into powder, filled a syringe with spiritual spring water and the snow lotus, and administered it to the wounded man. Then she sliced a piece of century-old ginseng and placed it between his teeth, keeping him alive by a thread.
She used the spiritual spring water to cleanse the wound, stitched it closed, then ground sanqi into a fine powder and mixed it into a paste to apply over the injury. The entire process took nearly two hours, and Xiao Mandong was nearly exhausted to the point of collapse. When she finally took his pulse again, it was slightly stronger than before. She lifted his eyelid, and the once-dilated pupils slowly contracted a little. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she gave him a small amount of the spiritual spring water to drink—she couldn't give him too much at once; she had to keep him alive first, or else someone might grow suspicious.
Suddenly, a clamor of shouting and arguing erupted from outside, followed by someone kicking at the door!
