Chapter 06: Doctor’s Orders
There were dozens of entries related to Shi An, and Zhong Yan skimmed through them.
“There’s a freshman with dyed blond hair, super eye-catching, so flashy.”
“Freshmen are still too naive.”
“Just wait for him to be called out every day.”
“Within a week, he’ll definitely dye it back.”
“Shi An was caught sleeping again, again, again.”
“I hereby crown Shi An the God of Sleep.”
“Hahaha, he was still sleeping when Academician Qin criticized him, Old Qin’s face turned green with anger.”
“The God of Sleep, my bro Shi, a man of few words but great deeds.”
One post caught Zhong Yan’s attention: [How to chase Shi An?]
Sorry, clickbait title, just kidding.
Please rationally discuss Shi An’s composition. I just want to know how he manages to be so dazed and yet have such good grades? As a medical student, his relaxed attitude is truly admirable.
I swear I’m not being sarcastic or jealous, I sincerely want to learn. Does he have some scientific learning method? Of course, I’m also a bit curious about what kind of person he would like.
“Isn’t it inappropriate to discuss someone by name?”
“You’re overthinking it, he doesn’t care at all.”
“Sleeping is the only thing in Shi-ge’s world.”
“And the meat buns he can never get in the cafeteria.”
“Hahahaha, if someone gives him meat buns for a month straight, could that win him over?”
“Maybe add a carton of chocolate milk too.”
“He’s probably just smart.”
“I can’t catch up to him even if I stay up all night in the library.”
“Don’t be fooled by appearances. He seems to be sleeping in class, but his ears are always listening. He knows everything the teacher says, he doesn’t miss a thing.”
“Last time, for Professor Sun’s project, he spent three all-nighters in the study room. It was December, the heating was off at night, several degrees below zero, he’s actually quite hardworking.”
“And he always goes home, carrying a lot of books every time. What do you think he does with them? Use them as pillows?”
“Why does he go home? Secretly studying hard to outcompete everyone?”
“I don’t think so, he probably just wants to go home. He’s quite filial, he calls his mom and grandma every day.”
“It must be tough to date him.”
“Why would anyone date him? Sleeping while shopping, sleeping at the movies, sleeping at the amusement park. Even if you get a room, he’ll only want to sleep with you, literally!”
If an adult sleeps six to eight hours, then Shi An sleeps sixteen to eighteen.
But today, he couldn’t sleep.
A blank test paper lay on the desk, and Shi An, sitting in front of it, was utterly despondent. Even if he did it again, he only had one thought: what a load of crap!
Shi An flipped through books, searched the internet, tried every method he could think of, but he still couldn’t figure out the last two questions. He had never even heard of those symptoms, he didn’t even know how to start making something up.
Shi An yawned, what else could he do? Should he sleep first today and wait to die tomorrow?
Just as he was about to draw lots, his phone rang.
Chen Xiaoman’s message: “Are you asleep?”
Shi An took a picture of the test paper and sent it to her: “A lowly peasant like me doesn’t deserve to sleep.”
Chen Xiaoman sent him a digital business card: “Dr. Chen’s WeChat, add her.”
Shi An still remembered the bread from last night and had a very favorable impression of Chen Man.
The other side quickly accepted his friend request and sent a document.
Dr. Chen: “You should also read the explanations, it’s best to have some reflection and further research. Your mentor is very smart, you can’t easily fool him.”
Shi An opened the document, it was the answer key to the test.
Shi An’s eyes welled up, “Thank you, Dr. Chen.”
Dr. Chen: “You’re welcome, good luck.”
Dr. Chen: “About tonight, only heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know, understand?”
“Understood! /salute”
He now had the answers, and they were very detailed. Although the rare diseases were strange, they sparked Shi An’s fighting spirit. He looked up the literature while reading the answers, the more he researched, the more new discoveries he made.
At 6:30 AM, the alarm clock rang three times. Shi An got up from the desk, beside him were piles of notes. He was so damn sleepy.
He had the afternoon shift today, and there were still a few ECGs left from yesterday. He wanted to finish them early, so as to avoid any further trouble.
Shi An finished washing up, grabbed a bun, and headed out.
Yesterday, he had done ECGs until he wanted to vomit. Today, he was familiar with the process, and before 8 AM, he had finished them all.
Shi An stretched and turned around, only to see the devil’s face.
Damn, wasn’t he supposed to have the afternoon shift?
Zhong Yan was making rounds, briefly communicating with the families.
Shi An acted like a thief, wishing he could become invisible.
As he passed by Zhong Yan, he held his breath and quickened his pace.
Zhong Yan took a step to the side, blocking his path, “Didn’t you see me?”
Shi An looked down, “I saw you.”
“And you didn’t greet me?”
“Dr. Zhong.”
Zhong Yan: “Finished with the ECGs?”
Shi An handed him the reports, thinking to himself, you sure came at the right time.
Zhong Yan glanced at them, closed the reports, and asked, “Where’s the test paper?”
Shi An took out a crumpled piece of paper.
Zhong Yan scanned the answers very quickly, making Shi An wonder if he was speed reading or not even looking at all.
“Got some outside help?” Zhong Yan’s face was stiff, like it had been frozen in a freezer.
Shi An broke out in a cold sweat, shaking his head quickly, “No, no.”
He didn’t mind being scolded, but he couldn’t betray Dr. Chen.
Zhong Yan glanced at his ears, the guilt was all over them. Seven years ago, when Shi An was panting on top of him, his ears were just as red.
Zhong Yan softened his tone a bit, pointing to the cases on the test paper and asking a few follow-up questions.
Unexpectedly, the kid answered them quite well.
Zhong Yan took the test paper, “Come with me to the outpatient clinic.”
Shi An: “…?”
Seeing him not moving, Zhong Yan turned around, “What are you standing there for?”
Shi An followed, but this wasn’t right.
He had the afternoon shift today. He had planned to finish his work early and find a place to catch up on sleep.
On the way, under the pretense of going to the bathroom, Shi An asked around and found out that Dr. Feng’s wife had given birth last night, and Zhong Yan was covering his shift. But no one had told Shi An that he had to suffer along with his mentor’s overtime. Was this reasonable?
As a comprehensive department, the emergency department never lacked complicated cases, even bizarre ones.
There were children who drank detergent and children who stuffed sunflower seeds into their belly buttons. Of course, swallowing plastic bags and nails were also common occurrences. There were even cases where a head got stuck in a fence gate and the patient came in with the gate still attached. Shi An had to call 119 first to separate the head and the gate before considering further treatment.
Shi An had barely slept last night because of the test, and now his vision was blurry.
He could still keep his eyes open and sit here, relying on his willpower. Yet, that damned Zhong Yan still asked him questions from time to time.
For example, right now, Zhong Yan handed him a blood test report, “What’s the treatment plan?”
Shi An looked at the report, but his mind was blank. He widened his eyes, straightened his back, stared at the indicators, and said, “Steamed potatoes, one at a time, twice a day, take with meals.”
After about ten seconds, Shi An realized something was wrong. He looked at the report again, desperately trying to salvage the situation.
“Walk after meals, once a day, twenty minutes each time. Avoid staying up late, get enough sleep, and come back for a checkup if you feel unwell.”
Shi An didn’t know what happened after that. When he woke up again, there were three books piled up in his arms.
“Clinical Order Quick Reference Manual,” “How to Understand Lab Reports,” and “Fundamentals of Laboratory Medicine,” with a note sandwiched between them.
It was Zhong Yan’s handwriting: Read through and copy everything.
Shi An: “…”
Zhong Yan finished his outpatient clinic shift and his face was so dark on the way back to the office that no one dared to approach him, afraid of incurring his wrath.
“Who made Director Zhong angry?” Chen Man was one of the few people who dared to tease him, “Let me guess, it couldn’t be our Dr. Shi, could it?”
Zhong Yan turned the stethoscope in his hand, as if admitting it.
Chen Man: “Didn’t he submit the ECG reports? He’s quite diligent, how did he provoke you again?”
Zhong Yan recounted the treatment plan Shi An had prescribed.
Chen Man laughed so hard her stomach hurt, “If you have to put it that way, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
The report showed that the patient was middle-aged, had low potassium levels, and a history of blood clots.
Potatoes are potassium-rich foods, and walking is to promote blood circulation and prevent blood clots. Using diet and exercise instead of medicine, what’s not to like?
Chen Man was puzzled, “Why didn’t he prescribe bananas?”
Theoretically, bananas were the first choice for potassium supplementation.
“The patient’s blood sugar was slightly high.”
“So he did think it through, why are you so angry?” Chen Man said, “You didn’t criticize him again, did you?”
The treatment plan was the trigger, what really angered Zhong Yan was, “The whole morning, his eyes were wide open, his back was straight, I thought he was so focused. Turns out, after all I said, he didn’t listen to a single word!”
Chen Man crossed her arms, “It’s clearly you who went too far. You gave him such difficult questions yesterday, he definitely couldn’t go to bed early, and today you took up his rest time with outpatient duty. Do you think everyone is like you, tireless?”
This kid was too honest. Why did he come so early for his afternoon shift? He ran right into Zhong Yan.
Zhong Yan’s face darkened, “Did you give him the answers to yesterday’s test?”
Chen Man knew she couldn’t hide it, so she didn’t bother, “You’re really no fun.”
With those kinds of questions, it would be good enough for a resident to get a score of thirty or forty. From the very beginning, it was an impossible task.
After several incidents, Chen Man became even more curious, “You’re paying so much attention to him, don’t tell me there’s some history between you two?”
The spring of the pen clicked back into place. Zhong Yan looked at his watch, “Where is he? Where did he run off to again?”
“Let me tell you first, he’s not slacking off. He was in the hallway just now, called away by Xiaoman and Zhao Kang.”
“Where did they go?”
Chen Man smiled meaningfully, “To the necessary path of growth for every young doctor.”
After angering Zhong Yan, Shi An thought he could get some rest, but he was stopped by Chen Xiaoman and Zhao Kang on the way.
Zhao Kang’s face was pale, “Shi-ge, where are you going?”
Shi An was about to pass out, “To sleep, I’m so sleepy.”
“Don’t sleep,” Zhao Kang grabbed him, “Come on, come with us to bolster our courage.”
“Where to?”
Chen Xiaoman bit her lip until it turned purple, pointing to a gurney covered with a white sheet, “Where… do… you… think?”
Shi An: “…”
