Chapter 17: Rescue p1
Shi An followed Zhong Yan, plotting how to wake up in the middle of the night without an alarm and belt out “The Most Dazzling National Style.” Ideally, he’d drive Zhong Yan crazy and make him regret this foolish decision.
Zhong Yan pushed the door open but didn’t enter, his gaze shifting to Shi An.
“What?” Shi An, like a simmering pot, said, “It’s not too late to change rooms.”
Zhong Yan’s reaction was like watching a street performance, “Let me tell you some good news, tonight you’ll have a particularly large space to stretch out.”
Shi An took two steps forward and saw the room’s layout.
A double bed.
“…” Damn.
Three minutes later, Shi An locked himself in the bathroom with his change of clothes.
With a ticking time bomb beside him, who could sleep?
But before he could sulk for five minutes, he started yawning, comforting himself, it’s all the same wherever he sleeps.
Stripped naked, Shi An was about to turn on the water when a knocking sound came from outside, bang, bang, bang, like a debt collector.
“Shi An, stop showering, come out quickly.”
“What is it?” Shi An hurriedly covered himself, “I… I can’t come out right now.”
“We just got news, we have to leave immediately,” Zhong Yan said, “You have two minutes, hurry up.”
His shower was interrupted, his sleep was ruined. Shi An changed his clothes and walked out dejectedly.
“What’s wrong?” Zhong Yan handed him his coat, “That disappointed you can’t sleep with me?”
Shi An forced a smile, “Yeah, devastated.”
“Don’t worry, there will be other opportunities.”
Shi An: “…”
It was over ten kilometers from the guesthouse to the medical station. The altitude was high, and even though it was early autumn, the ground was covered in snow.
The makeshift hospital on the plateau was cold, the environment was poor, and the equipment was outdated.
The number of beds was limited, patients with minor injuries were crammed onto chairs, and the wails of the seriously injured were sharp and piercing.
Zhong Yan, as the leader of the support team, immediately started making arrangements, methodical and efficient.
Shi An had guessed that the desensitization plan had only reached the second stage, and Zhong Yan would have reservations because of his hemophobia.
But assigning him here, wasn’t that going too far?
“Gege, piggyback ride!”
“Gege, I want a balloon animal too.”
“Gege, can you oink like a pig?”
“Kamehameha! Shoop, shoop, shoop!”
Shi An was blowing up his eighth rubber glove into a balloon. Within his sight were eight children, all of whose parents were seriously injured and currently unattended.
The children were arranged in a separate room, spacious, bright, and warm, but… incredibly boring.
He had traveled all this way just to babysit?
An argument broke out in the hall, and Shi An went to the door. It was Zhong Yan clashing with the rescue team.
A volunteer rushed over, “We received a call, a disaster area was discovered at an altitude of 5,000 meters.”
There were twelve injured in the disaster area, including two elderly people and three children. The rescue team had arrived, but there were no professional doctors, they couldn’t handle it, and they urgently needed two to three medical personnel to go and support them.
“Can’t you see we’re swamped here?” Zhong Yan snapped, “Where are the doctors from other places? Get them to go.”
The volunteer panted, “Teacher, they’re in urgent need.”
“We agreed to only stay at the hospital, and now they’re changing their minds after less than a day?” Zhong Yan said, “Have they considered the consequences? Are the lives of doctors and nurses not lives?”
The volunteer only had the authority to relay instructions, “Teacher, the rescue team’s car is here, waiting outside.”
Zhong Yan waved his hand dismissively, “Let them wait, we’re not going.”
“Twelve lives, three children, one of them is critically ill.” The volunteer’s eyes were red, “Director Zhong, if you hesitate any longer, we won’t make it in time.”
“Damn it! I can’t believe this.” Zhong Yan threw down his rubber gloves, took out two GPS watches, and scanned the doctors present.
He cursed and put a watch on his left wrist.
Liang Songcheng snatched the watch, “What are you doing?”
“What else can I do? Following orders, obeying the leadership’s arrangements.” Zhong Yan tried to grab it back, “Hurry up, those rescue team members are annoying as hell.”
Liang Songcheng: “They asked for two to three people.”
Zhong Yan pointed at the interns, “Look at their state, they whine and cry even when inserting a lung tube in an air-conditioned room. Do you expect them to go to the front lines?”
“I’m going to save lives, not babysit.”
Shi An was the first to rush forward, “Dr. Zhong, I can go, I’ll go with you.”
Others echoed, “Director Zhong, I’ll go too.”
“Me too, I don’t need you to watch over me.”
“Dr. Zhong, I can insert lung tubes.”
“Shut up.” Zhong Yan’s face was cold, “It’s not your place to speak, go do your jobs!”
Liang Songcheng knew Zhong Yan too well. When it came to being tough on the outside, soft on the inside, he was second to none.
“You’re right, the interns lack experience.” Liang Songcheng put the GPS watch on his own wrist, “I’ll go.”
Xu Baizhang took the other watch, “Songcheng and I will go.”
“Go my ass, you two just…” Zhong Yan stopped, remembering their stubborn personalities, “Fine, fine, the three of us will go.”
But after searching for a while, they only found two GPS watches in the storage cabinet.
The situation on the plateau was urgent, getting lost was extremely dangerous.
Zhong Yan pointed to a student, “Go to the warehouse and get another GPS watch.”
The student scratched his head, “Where’s the warehouse?”
Zhong Yan asked around, no one knew.
“I can’t believe this, what use are you guys!” Zhong Yan ran a few steps, then turned back, staring at Liang Songcheng and Xu Baizhang, “Wait here, don’t move.”
Liang Songcheng: “Okay, go ahead.”
Xu Baizhang: “Hurry back.”
Zhong Yan pulled Shi An over, “Keep an eye on them, don’t even blink.”
Shi An readily agreed, but as soon as Zhong Yan disappeared, the two “giants” acted as if they didn’t see him and walked straight towards the door with their watches.
“Director Liang, Director Xu, you can’t leave, Dr. Zhong told me to watch you.” Shi An hurriedly stopped them, “If you leave, he’ll kill me.”
Xu Baizhang: “It’s okay, he won’t.”
Shi An didn’t understand at all, “He absolutely will.”
Liang Songcheng: “Learn to be smarter, don’t be foolish.”
“Follow your teacher closely.” Xu Baizhang patted his shoulder, “See you.”
Shi An couldn’t stop them, almost getting altitude sickness from anxiety.
When Zhong Yan rushed back, the only thing left in the hall besides the freezing temperature was a bewildered Shi An.
The little idiot was so anxious his hair was a mess, “Dr. Zhong, I really tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen to me, I… I really…”
“No need to explain, it’s not your fault.”
Let alone a resident, even if God himself came, it wouldn’t be of any use if they were determined to do something.
Zhong Yan asked, “Did they leave any message before they left?”
Shi An said, “Director Liang told me to be smarter.”
“Director Xu patted my shoulder, and told me…” Shi An sniffled, “To follow you closely.”
Zhong Yan clenched his fists, “Those two bastards!”
For an age-old favor,
Would they ever stop?
Fate always loved to play tricks on people. The more you feared something, the more likely it was to happen.
The day after Liang Songcheng and Xu Baizhang left, another avalanche occurred in their area, and they lost contact. The heavy snow continued, limiting rescue opportunities.
Shi An’s daily task was still babysitting. As for Zhong Yan, he continued working as usual, seemingly unaffected, as steady as an iceberg.
During lunchtime, the entrance of the medical center was bustling with people.
Zhong Yan asked a volunteer, “What’s going on over there, so many people?”
“A group of reporters from the provincial TV station arrived, more than ten of them, they also brought a lot of supplies.”
All Zhong Yan felt was annoyance, “Can’t they just stop? They still haven’t found the four who went off for an interview without permission last time, and now they’re adding to the chaos.”
“This time is different, Yu Qingtang is here.”
“I can’t believe he came, the TV station is really going all out.”
Shi An interrupted, “Is that the host?”
“Yes, the evening news host. I can’t believe he came, he’s even more handsome in person than on TV.” The volunteer was excited, “He’s very gentle, not arrogant at all, he even agreed to take pictures with people.”
“Really?” Shi An took off, “I’ll go take a look.”
Zhong Yan stopped him, “Why are you joining the crowd, chasing celebrities?”
“I’m not, I’m doing it for my grandma.” Shi An said, “My grandma is a fan of Yu Qingtang, I’ll go get a picture and an autograph for her.”
“Did I give you permission?” Zhong Yan didn’t let him go, “Are you done looking after the children?”
At that moment, another volunteer ran over, “Dr. Zhong, we received a call, someone claiming to be Dr. Liang’s family member is looking for him, what should we do?”
Previously, Zhong Yan had given instructions not to disclose any information about Liang Songcheng and Xu Baizhang to anyone.
Zhong Yan called Shi An, “Come with me to answer the phone.”
Shi An: “…”
Why wasn’t he babysitting anymore?
