Chapter 20: Praise
Wherever Zhong Yan was, there would always be pre-shift meetings.
Others could attend, but Shi An really didn’t understand the necessity of his presence as a childcare worker. Was he supposed to summarize how many glove balloons he blew up yesterday and how many times the kids went to the bathroom?
To avoid being called out, Shi An stood at the very back. With five or six minutes left before the meeting ended, he had already slipped out and headed towards the cafeteria.
He’d have to buy a couple more buns later, he always got hungry mid-morning. Those little brats were stingy, he played with them all day, and they wouldn’t even give him a single candy.
“Shi An.” The devil’s call came from behind, “Did I say you could leave?”
Shi An froze: “…”
He had left at this time the past two days.
And he wasn’t caught.
He trudged back, hearing Zhong Yan say, “Hand over your work to Dr. Sun after the meeting. You’ll be in charge of Ward 1 while he’s away.”
Shi An stood rooted to the spot, wondering if he was still dreaming.
Zhong Yan: “Unwilling?”
“Willing.” Shi An straightened his back, his heart inexplicably racing, “I’ll make sure to complete the task.”
Being in charge of a ward was completely different from looking after children. The entire morning, Shi An didn’t have a moment’s rest, even his lunch was brought to him by a colleague.
Shi An finally had some free time in the afternoon. He stretched and went outside for some fresh air. As he passed by the storage room, he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled inside.
He focused his eyes and saw Zhong Yan.
Shi An stopped his instinctive resistance, “You scared me, I thought I was being kidnapped in broad daylight.”
“Why would I kidnap you?” Zhong Yan asked casually, “To trick you into being my wife and having my children?”
“I can’t even give birth.” Shi An rubbed his neck.
Zhong Yan tilted his head, “Then what can you do?”
“Babysit,” Shi An blurted out.
Zhong Yan chuckled, “Seems like you haven’t had enough.”
Shi An realized he had just dug himself a hole, “No, no, I’ve had enough, more than enough.”
Zhong Yan stopped teasing him, “Were you tired this morning?”
“Not at all, I felt fulfilled, happy, and satisfied.” Shi An was afraid that if he said anything wrong, he would be sent back to babysit, “I want to do it again tomorrow.”
Zhong Yan: “How are you getting along with your colleagues?”
“Everyone is very nice, and we get along well.”
Shi An had been a bit apprehensive at first. He was taking over the work of an associate attending physician. Although there was an attending physician above him, they were mostly in the resuscitation area.
To avoid causing trouble, Shi An tried his best to share the workload. He was touched by everyone’s cooperation.
Zhong Yan cleared his throat and said out of the blue, “Good job, keep it up.”
Shi An replayed his words three times in his head, making sure he hadn’t misheard. His chest swelled with pride, and he slowly replied, “Oh.”
“How did you feel just now?” Zhong Yan asked.
Half an hour ago, a patient with severe trauma had soaked half his pants with blood. After being stabilized, he was sent to Ward 1, and Shi An took over the follow-up treatment.
“A bit uncomfortable at first, but I was fine soon.” Shi An was excited, “Everything went smoothly after that.”
After this experience, Shi An couldn’t wait to get into the operating room.
Zhong Yan nodded, “We can skip the third stage of desensitization therapy and move directly to the fourth.”
The sudden change caught Shi An off guard, “Are you really comfortable assigning such important work to me?”
Ward 1 was busy, mainly dealing with trauma emergencies.
“You’ve been peeking at the door for a week, and you’ve participated in one intubation, two cricothyrotomies, two CPRs, and three closed thoracic drainage procedures. What’s there to worry about?”
“Damn, you were watching me?!”
He had been secretly doing those procedures, afraid of being scolded by Zhong Yan. But in the past two days, they were severely understaffed, saving lives was paramount, so he didn’t have time to think too much.
“Are you writing a diary too? How do you remember so clearly?”
“…”
Zhong Yan was exasperated, “What do you use your brain for?”
Shi An’s achievements were mainly reported by Dr. Sun during the pre-shift meetings, which was why everyone admired him. But the pre-shift meetings were Shi An’s prime napping time, he hadn’t heard a word.
Shi An twitched his lips, “You finally praised me.”
“One thing at a time, they don’t conflict.”
Shi An: “…”
Devils really couldn’t become human.
“But your performance today completely exceeded my expectations.” Zhong Yan opened his palm, “Here, a reward.”
The storage room was dimly lit. Shi An leaned closer, “Milk candy?”
“Yeah,” Zhong Yan said, “Try it.”
Shi An took one and unwrapped it, “You didn’t get this from Tashi Zhuangzhuang, did you?”
Zhong Yan admitted, “That kid is hard to bribe.”
Shi An put the candy in his mouth, “That little miser, he wouldn’t trade anything with me.”
“Can’t even get a candy, and you still say you can look after children?” Zhong Yan unwrapped one as well, “It seems you’ll have to find a way to have your own.”
Shi An: “…….”
Zhong Yan: “Why aren’t you talking back?”
The melting milk candy stuck to his teeth. Shi An opened his mouth, saying through the gap, “Consider it a trade-off for your praise.”
“I practiced all night, how was it?”
“Practiced what all night?”
Zhong Yan: “How to praise people.”
Shi An: “So… exaggerated.”
“I think so too, I’ll stick to criticizing more and praising less in the future.”
Shi An: “I meant, your practicing all night is exaggerated.”
“Same difference, too much praise will make you arrogant.”
Shi An: “…”
Right.
“Shi An,” Zhong Yan suddenly called him.
Shi An looked up, meeting his gaze, “Yes?”
Zhong Yan’s gaze swept over his hair, “Are you open for business today?”
Shi An licked the candy on his teeth and nodded. He felt inexplicably nervous, but he was indeed anticipating something.
Shi An stood in front of Zhong Yan, slightly swaying under the caress of his hand. His ears were red, his lips pursed, his whole body smelling of sweet milk candy.
As if waiting to be bitten.
Shi An lowered his head, glancing at Zhong Yan’s chest, and whispered, “Grand opening special, free today.”
Zhong Yan’s other hand reached out as well, his movements somewhere between deliberate and casual. From Shi An’s jawline, he slid his hand to his earlobe and temple, finally running his fingers through his hair.
The friction between his fingertips and scalp felt like an electric shock, numbing Shi An to the point that he couldn’t open his eyes. When his heartbeat slowed down, he remembered he still had work to do.
Shi An pulled his hand away and turned to leave.
“Wait,” Zhong Yan called him back.
Within half a minute, Shi An’s pockets were filled with milk candy. Zhong Yan put another bag in his hand, “Eat these when you’re hungry.”
Steamed buns, still warm.
Shi An left the storage room humming, returning to Ward 1, only to find everyone rushing out.
“Where are you all going?”
“Mr. Yu is leaving, everyone’s taking pictures with him.”
These past few days, besides babysitting, Shi An had been focused on the ward, completely forgetting about getting an autograph and a picture for his grandma.
The hall was bustling, doctors, nurses, volunteers, and even patients who could walk were all rushing to take pictures.
Shi An clutched his full pockets and looked at the door. He had eaten the candy and taken the buns, he had to set a good example.
Sorry, Grandma, you’ll have to watch the news, he looks the same in person as on TV.
The originally busy ward was now only left with Shi An and a few bedridden patients.
Shi An bent down, changing the dressing on a young girl’s injured forearm.
A reporter came over and took a picture.
This kind of thing happened every day, Shi An was used to it. Reporters from all over the country took turns taking pictures and interviewing people. The childcare room alone had been visited no less than ten times.
The reporter looked at the photo in the viewfinder and asked Shi An, “Doctor, why aren’t you taking pictures?”
Shi An didn’t mind being interviewed when he was babysitting, but he didn’t like being disturbed during work.
The little girl was afraid of the pain, her eyes red, and she started to tremble.
Shi An told her a joke first, making her laugh, then started changing her dressing slowly and gently, comforting her throughout the process. When he was almost done, he finally spared the reporter two words.
“Very busy.”
A week later, the rescue mission was successfully completed, and the medical team returned to Yang City safely. The bus stopped in front of the Provincial Hospital, where everyone welcomed them back with flowers and applause.
It was the first time Shi An had seen such a scene, more festive than a wedding.
He held a bouquet of flowers as Chen Xiaoman and Zhao Kang surrounded him.
“Shi-ge, you’re awesome, a rescue hero.”
“Shi An, you’re so amazing, I’ll learn from you.”
“The school also published news about you, the director and the dean shared it everywhere, the forum went crazy, your fans are asking for your phone number and WeChat.”
Shi An was a little confused and asked for details. He learned that the reporter had written a full-page report about him, titled “The Youngest ‘Very Busy’ Doctor.”
It detailed Shi An’s experiences over the past half-month, including taking care of the children of seriously injured patients, actively participating in the dangerous rescue, his responsible attitude towards his medical work, and so on.
This kind of news alone wouldn’t be a focal point, there were countless responsible doctors, but the news included Shi An’s picture.
His messy blond hair ruffled by Zhong Yan, the single black earring, and his aloof, handsome face. There were many handsome young men, but a young doctor with this appearance, who was also responsible and dedicated, was rare.
The news immediately attracted attention, various media outlets sought verification, and both the hospital and the school spoke highly of Shi An. Major media outlets reprinted the story, and Shi An became a minor celebrity without even knowing it, as he had no signal and couldn’t receive any news.
Shi An finally understood why so many people had added him as a friend on the way back. He thought his phone had a virus and blocked them all.
“Sigh, overnight, all the girls fell in love with you.” Zhao Kang’s envious eyes sparkled, “If I had known that going there could solve my singlehood problem, I would have gone too.”
“Is this a blessing from praying to Buddha?”
“So many girls added you, does it feel good?”
“I want to experience that too, sigh.”
Zhao Kang chattered non-stop, Shi An was busy replying to messages and didn’t hear a word.
“How many girls have added you now? How many are you chatting with?” Zhao Kang leaned closer, “Damn, you’ve already got a date?”
“No.” Shi An put away his phone and walked towards the office. He had to finish his handover work before leaving.
After finishing everything, Shi An found Zhong Yan and asked if there were any further instructions.
“Go home early today,” Zhong Yan said, “Let’s go, take my…”
Shi An only heard the first half of the sentence and ran off, “Dr. Zhong, see you tomorrow!”
Following Shi An’s direction, Zhao Kang’s loud voice echoed through the hallway, “Shi-ge, when you go on your date, ask her if she has any single friends!”
“Shi-ge, don’t forget about your brothers when you get rich!”
“You have a girlfriend now, how can you leave me alone?”
“My youth, my love, depends on you!”
“I’m not bad either, a proper graduate student from the Medical University.”
Zhong Yan stood at the office door, hands in his pockets.
Girls, girlfriend.
