Chapter 05: Devil
Should… he look familiar?
Shi An secretly glanced back at Zhong Yan. To become a chief physician at such a young age, he was definitely not an ordinary person.
To say such a thing to a stranger right off the bat, he was clearly very confident that I had met him before. Ruling out the possibility that he was a former patient, the only remaining assumption was the university.
The Medical University and the Provincial Hospital were directly affiliated, and experts and directors often came to the school to give lectures or speeches. Since he was so accomplished, he must have been invited.
Shi An wouldn’t fail to recognize a teacher, so he must have only given a lecture. It just so happened that Shi An never attended lectures. Even if he went, it was just to find another place to sleep, so it was normal that he didn’t have any impression.
Whatever, making something up was better than saying he didn’t look familiar.
Shi An smiled brightly, “Of course, you look familiar. You’ve always lived deep in my heart.”
Zhong Yan’s expression as he looked at him was a bit intriguing.
Shi An remembered Director Zhang’s instructions. Was he dissatisfied with his flattery, or did he think he was being too perfunctory?
Shi An continued to butter him up, “It’s my honor to follow you. I will study hard and hope that one day I can become an excellent doctor like you.”
Zhong Yan: “…………”
Devoid of emotion, pure bullshit.
Shi An thought he was doing well, but the other person didn’t seem to buy it. His face was as sour as if he had stepped in dog shit.
Adhering to the principle of “less talk, more action,” Shi An shut up.
Zhong Yan’s sour face continued to ferment as he looked through documents on the computer, “Did you get the schedule?”
Recalling the unreasonable schedule, Shi An’s vision darkened, and he reluctantly nodded.
“Your schedule is synchronized with mine. Arrive twenty minutes early for work to prepare. After work, spend twenty minutes summarizing the day,” Zhong Yan’s speech was precisely timed, “No arriving late, leaving early, or slacking off. No leave except for weddings, funerals, marriages, and births. Understand?”
Shi An couldn’t help but ask, “What if I’m sick? Can’t I take leave then?”
Zhong Yan was like an emotionless machine, “Arrive on time, and I’ll treat you.”
Shi An: “…”
Thank you very much.
Zhong Yan: “Any other questions?”
Shi An shook his head, cursing “devil” in his heart.
Zhong Yan continued, “Meals are not at fixed times, you’ll take turns with other residents. Breakfast should not exceed ten minutes, lunch and dinner should ideally be within fifteen minutes, with a maximum of twenty minutes, including travel time.”
“Got it.”
Shi An outwardly agreed, but inwardly he was already counting down the days until he could rotate to other departments. He didn’t want to stay in this hellhole for a minute longer.
Zhong Yan handed him a test paper, “You have twenty minutes.”
“An exam?” Shi An asked.
Zhong Yan: “Any objections?”
Shi An didn’t dare have any. He found a corner out of the way, glanced at the test paper, and looked up, “Dr. Zhong, was the paper printed incorrectly?”
Zhong Yan ignored his question, “You have eighteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds left.”
“…”
Shi An looked back at the test paper, his eyebrows almost touching. What the hell were these questions?
Shi An forced himself to start writing, suspecting he hadn’t even studied medicine. The questions became more and more bizarre.
The exam ended, and Shi An didn’t answer the last two questions. Time was a secondary reason; the main reason was that he didn’t understand them.
A red pen twirled in Zhong Yan’s hand. He didn’t grade it, he simply wrote “9” at the top of the paper.
Shi An breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the last two questions were bonus questions, no wonder they were so twisted.
But the second digit remained unwritten, and Shi An’s heart rate could have reached 230.
The test was typically filled with obscure and strange questions, and the answers were basically nowhere to be found in the textbooks. But Shi An hadn’t wasted these seven years, he was sure about the first few questions, there was no way he only got 9 points.
Then, Zhong Yan held his pen, Shi An held his breath, and watched as he added a “5” in front of the 9.
59.
His suspended heart finally died.
Zhong Yan’s expressionless face looked really stupid to Shi An.
The devil handed him another blank test paper, “Go back and redo it. Bring back a perfect score tomorrow.”
Shi An: “???”
He just gave a score, didn’t even say where I went wrong, how am I supposed to correct it?
Zhong Yan: “Any objections?”
“No.”
There was no room for negotiation with the devil.
Shi An took the test paper and proactively asked, “Dr. Zhong, is there anything I can do for you?”
He just wanted to leave this gloomy office, he couldn’t wait another second.
Zhong Yan: “Ward One, ECGs, they’re yours.”
Ward One had forty-six beds, all full.
So ruthless.
Shi An put away the test paper and strode out.
Zhong Yan called him back and recited a string of numbers.
Shi An turned around, confused.
Zhong Yan: “My phone number.”
Shi An quickly entered the number into his phone.
Zhong Yan: “Call me.”
Shi An: “Oh.”
Only when the screen on the desk lit up did Shi An hang up.
Zhong Yan unlocked his phone, “Changed your number?”
Shi An: “No, I’ve been using this number since middle school.”
This string of numbers was completely different from the one years ago, which meant that the previous number was fake from the start.
Seeing that the other person had no reaction, Shi An didn’t dare to move. He timidly asked, “Dr. Zhong, can I go now? The ECGs are waiting for me.”
Zhong Yan’s face looked like a thunderstorm was brewing, “You like doing ECGs that much?”
Shi An was a little embarrassed, “It’s alright.”
“Good, all three wards, including the beds in the hallway, are yours,” Zhong Yan’s eyes could kill, “If you don’t finish, don’t go home.”
Shi An: “…”
Did I offend him?
Does he have to be so harsh?
Chen Man brushed past a dejected Shi An on her way back to the office and saw his 59-point test paper, “Not bad, Student Shi.”
Zhong Yan’s gaze returned from the ward, still carrying some lingering anger, “Do you have some misunderstanding about failing grades?”
“With the questions you set, it’s good enough that he didn’t hand in a blank paper.” Chen Man gave him a sidelong glance, “The textbook doesn’t cover these, they’re all obscure and unconventional, you’re making things difficult for him.”
“What do you mean obscure and unconventional? Which one of these isn’t a real case?” Zhong Yan was relentless, “Do you expect patients to get sick according to the textbook? Or should I take the blame when he makes a mistake?”
Zhong Yan taking a student was a rare occurrence, Chen Man thought he would be particularly caring. Now it seemed, it was less like caring and more like holding a grudge.
“You’re right, they’re all profound truths, okay?” Chen Man folded the test paper and returned it to him, “But you didn’t take Director Zhang’s words to heart at all. This is just the first day, do you really want to scare him away?”
“If you don’t want to take him anymore, give him to me,” Chen Man looked through the glass window and found the busy figure, “I think he’s a good seedling, and, quite cute.”
Zhong Yan ignored her and turned to the ward.
Compared to seven years ago, he had grown taller, his blond hair still made him look fair, and he had a black stud in his right ear. He wasn’t clingy anymore.
He had changed, but he also hadn’t changed.
He was cuter when he was younger.
If the outpatient department was compared to a battle, the emergency department was the front line.
Apart from the triage desk, the most chaotic place was the ward area. The originally spacious space was packed, the hallway was filled with extra beds, and monitors, defibrillators, and dialysis machines could only be placed on stools.
Shi An carried the ECG machine through the chaotic hallway.
A caregiver sat by a bed, yawning. From the next bed came the wails of a patient and the cries of family members.
The doctors and nurses here were all workaholics, with basically no time to relax, and most of them moved at a running pace.
Occasionally, family members would come to inquire about the situation. They would be writing with their hands, busy in their minds, and still have to answer questions quickly.
Performing an ECG was not a complicated operation, it took about three to five minutes for each one. The entire ward had over a hundred patients, plus some chatty family members, so it inevitably took longer.
Fortunately, Shi An enjoyed the process. Except for a few difficult cases, most patients and their families were very kind. After seven years of medical school, it was the first time Shi An heard people call him “doctor” so much that he felt satisfied.
Shi An sacrificed his lunch break and finally completed the task before the end of his shift.
He sorted the reports and excitedly returned to the office, “Dr. Zhong, I’m done.”
Zhong Yan had spent the whole day accepting the fact that Shi An didn’t remember him and had given him a fake number. But seeing him still made him extremely annoyed.
Zhong Yan flipped through two pages, “How am I supposed to know who’s who when they’re all piled together?”
Shi An pointed to the bottom right corner, “I wrote the bed numbers.”
“Didn’t anyone teach you that bed numbers can change?”
Shi An took the ECG reports and rewrote the patient’s name, gender, age, and condition next to the bed number, like dictation, quickly and proficiently.
After finishing writing, Shi An capped his pen and handed it to Zhong Yan again, “Done.”
“When did you memorize all this?”
“It’s written at the foot of the beds. I glanced at it while doing the ECGs and chatted with them a bit, so I remembered,” Shi An was a little proud, “My memory is pretty good, I basically don’t forget what I’ve memorized.”
“Don’t… for… get?” Zhong Yan crumpled the report, his anger rising, “Who told you to only do a 12-lead ECG?”
Shi An was stunned, what else was there?
This was the standard procedure.
Zhong Yan: “Patients with heart disease, especially myocardial infarction, require an 18-lead ECG.”
Shi An’s brain worked at high speed, retrieving the term from his distant memory. The school had only briefly mentioned it, without going into detail. In clinical practice, except for cardiothoracic surgery, other departments rarely used it.
And now, Shi An was required to redo some of them. But the problem wasn’t doing it, it was that he didn’t know how to do it.
Shi An didn’t dare to ask Zhong Yan, he could only ask other doctors for help. Fortunately, apart from Zhong Yan, most people were kind and helpful.
The 18-lead ECG wasn’t complicated either. It just required the patient to turn to their side, and in addition to the 12 leads, the electrical potential of the back of the heart was also measured.
During the shift change, Chen Man encountered a stern-faced Zhong Yan at the triage desk.
She stuffed a piece of candy into her mouth, her tone casual, “Since Director Zhong took on a student, our students have collectively had their workload reduced.”
The ECG was the first lesson for emergency residents. In theory, it should be completed by all residents together.
“Director Zhong is so scheming, teaching his student so well, waiting for him to bring you glory?”
“I heard that Xiao Shi memorized the basic information of all the patients in the ward? He really has your style.” Knowing he wouldn’t respond, Chen Man continued, “He almost asked the security guard to figure out the 18-lead ECG, why didn’t he ask you?”
Zhong Yan knew she was doing it on purpose, he said coldly, “Are you that idle?”
“Waiting to start my night shift.” Chen Man crumpled the candy wrapper, “But why aren’t you leaving? Are you that idle or are you playing the model worker?”
It had been an hour since Zhong Yan’s shift ended.
Zhong Yan looked at his watch, roughly calculating the number of people, “Tell him to go home first and do it tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you go yourself?” Chen Man answered her own question, “Right, who doesn’t like doing good deeds except Director Zhong.”
Before leaving, Chen Man said, “You should go home too. Don’t worry, he’ll definitely complete the task.”
Chen Man found Shi An in the ward, “How many are left?”
Shi An nodded, calling her “Dr. Chen,” “Seven.”
“Are you hungry?” Chen Man asked gently.
Shi An sucked in his stomach, “I’m alright.”
“Go home first, do it tomorrow.”
Shi An shook his head, saying he couldn’t. How could he dare?
Chen Man took the list of remaining patients, “These ones are stable, they can be done every other day. They’ll get annoyed if you do it every day.”
Shi An glanced at the empty office, not moving.
“Don’t worry, he left a long time ago.” Chen Man helped him unplug the machine, “Work a little harder tomorrow, come half an hour early, you’ll finish it quickly.”
“Okay, thank you, Dr. Chen.”
Chen Man stuffed the bread from her pocket into his hand, “Take this and eat it on the way.”
Shi An’s heart was warmed. No wonder everyone called her Angel Man, she was a stark contrast to the devil.
After changing out of his white coat, Shi An nibbled on the bread and jogged to make a phone call, “Mom, I just got off work, don’t wait for me, you and Grandma eat first.”
“The director kept me to study, so I’m a bit late.”
“I know, you guys eat first.”
“No need, it’s rush hour, taking a taxi is no better than the bus.”
“I ate a piece of bread, I’m not hungry.”
“Yeah, a teacher in the department gave it to me.”
Shi An stood at the bus stop across from the Provincial Hospital, fanning himself with an advertising flyer, “Don’t worry, Mom, I’m on the bus. It has air conditioning and seats, it’s not hot. I’ll tell you more when I get home.”
A few meters away, at the edge of the bus stop, a blue sports car was parked.
A phone on the passenger seat lit up, the caller ID showing “Mom.”
The bus pulled away, the bus stop was empty, and Zhong Yan answered the call.
“It’s a rare family gathering, you’re the only one missing.”
Zhong Yan switched hands and started the car, “I’ll be there soon.”
On his first day of work, he was given a hard time everywhere, but being able to eat his mother’s cooking when he got home made all the previous grievances disappear.
Shi An bowed his head and shoveled rice into his mouth, his mother fanned him, and his grandmother kept adding food to his bowl.
Grandma’s eyes were full of concern, “Look how tired our An An is, he’s lost weight.”
“Grandma, you’re exaggerating, I haven’t lost weight.”
“But it’s still hard on the child.”
Mother Shi served another bowl of rice, “It’s definitely hard when you first start working. It’s good to get some exercise.”
Shi An nodded and continued to eat.
Mother Shi: “How was it today? Did you adapt?”
“It was alright, busier than I expected.”
“How’s your mentor?”
Shi An said outwardly, “Pretty good, he’s the youngest chief physician in our department. Top-notch skills, very capable, and he’s good to me, hands-on, very responsible.”
Shi An thought inwardly: Pretty harsh, he’s the most ruthless chief physician in our department. I don’t know if his skills are top-notch or not, or if he’s capable or not, but he treats me like an enemy, like he wants to kill me.
Mother Shi was relieved, “That’s good, learn well from your teacher, and ask if you don’t understand.”
Shi An smiled, “Yes, I know.”
He didn’t dare to ask. He would be content if he could just survive tomorrow.
But those who act like devils during the day will definitely face retribution at night.
Zhong Yan sneezed.
Mother Zhong handed him a tissue, “Caught a cold?”
“No,” Zhong Yan rubbed his nose.
“Is your department very busy lately?”
“When is the emergency department not busy?”
Mother Zhong: “If you had studied dentistry with me, you wouldn’t be like this.”
“Forget it,” Zhong Yan shuddered at the thought, “I’d rather do CPR every day than look at mouths all day.”
Mother Zhong laughed along with him, putting food in his bowl, “Eat up, and get some rest early tonight.”
After eating the food his mother gave him, Zhong Yan put down his bowl and chopsticks, “I’m going back.”
“Can’t you stay at the old house?”
“It’s too far from the hospital, traffic jams.”
Mother Zhong tried to persuade him, “You have the afternoon shift tomorrow, what’s the rush?”
Zhong Yan waved his hand, “I’m leaving.”
Sitting in the car, Zhong Yan didn’t start it immediately. He took out Shi An’s application form and lingered on his date of birth. He really was born in the year of the rabbit.
His heart tightened as he recalled the date seven years ago.
They met on the night of July 9th, and Shi An’s birthday was July 4th.
Zhong Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
He was an adult.
Zhong Yan opened his laptop, logged into the medical literature database, and searched for [Shi An, Provincial Medical University].
To date, Shi An had participated in the publication of eighteen papers, including three SCI papers and five core Chinese journal papers as the first author.
It seemed like an impressive record, but in reality, it was mostly fluff, mainly consisting of reviews, meta-analyses, and database analyses, of average quality and no real significance.
To put it bluntly, they were just to get bonuses or honors, playing tricks to pad his resume, not a single one had any practical value.
Closing the page, Zhong Yan opened the Medical University forum.
Even though he had graduated many years ago, the traditions of the Medical University still continued. This was the most comprehensive place to get information.
Zhong Yan entered the keyword [Shi An] in the search bar.
