DSMIS CH15

Chapter 15: Heading Together to Pick Up yeye

Once they arrived at the county police bureau, Shen Xing acted like he was on “auto-follow,” trailing behind Jiang Lin the entire way.

Jiang Lin led him to the food service window, greeted the auntie behind it, and pulled Shen Xing forward slightly:

“This is Sister Yu. Sister Yu, this is Dr. Shen, a visiting doctor from the hospital across the street. He’ll be eating in our cafeteria from now on, so please look out for him.”

The auntie serving the food looked to be in her early fifties. Plump and friendly-looking, she leaned out a bit to look at Shen Xing:

“I know, I know! Chief mentioned it yesterday. I didn’t expect Dr. Shen to be so young! Are you married?”

Shen Xing gave a shy smile:

“Hello, Sister Yu. Not yet.”

The county bureau’s cafeteria was semi-buffet style. Hot dishes were served at the window, while local snacks, cold dishes, and fruit were self-service. Sister Yu’s hand didn’t shake in the slightest; she scooped a brimming plate of food for Shen Xing.

Just as they sat down, Shen Xing’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and answered immediately. It was Zhang Bin, the internal medicine physician who had accompanied Zhang Chumei on the ambulance:

“Dr. Zhang, how are things?”

“That was a close call! As soon as the ambulance arrived at the First Hospital, Zhang Chumei developed chest pain that triggered difficulty breathing.”

“How is she now?”

“We just finished an emergency pulmonary angiography. It really was a pulmonary embolism. Fortunately, the affected area isn’t very large, so she’s already been sent to the interventional department. They’re preparing to use a catheter to clear the arterial blood clot. Luckily, she was brought in just in time.”

Only after hearing this did Shen Xing breathe a full sigh of relief. Interventional procedures generally yielded great results for small-area embolisms.

Seeing him put down his phone, Jiang Lin finally spoke up:

“Was there an update on the patient from noon?”

Shen Xing nodded:

“The condition flared up right when she reached the hospital. She was brought in just in time. Hopefully, her family learns their lesson from this scare and follows medical advice in the future.”

Hearing the words “medical advice,” Jiang Lin buried his head and stuffed another mouthful of food into his mouth, staying silent.

Neither of them had driven to work. Outside, the wind was still howling. After finishing their meal, they kept their heads down and braced themselves against the wind all the way home. By the time they reached the entrance of their building, Shen Xing’s hair was blown wildly in all directions like Zhang Fei’s. He ducked into the stairwell and quickly pressed his hair down with his hand:

“This wind is way too strong! Just now it blew me so hard my legs were literally floating in mid-air.”

Jiang Lin was wearing a windbreaker jacket. The stinging pain in his leg brought a light sweat to his forehead:

“It’s going to rain tonight. Make sure to close your doors and windows tight when you get back.”

Heading upstairs, the two finally parted ways and entered their respective apartments. Shen Xing had eaten way too many pan-fried dumplings earlier and broke into a sweat from walking back with his head down. The moment he walked in, he wanted to collapse onto the sofa, only to find it already “covered” in a mountain of clothes—there was no room left.

Ah, it’s that time of the week for laundry again. Shen Xing scooped up a few pieces of clothing, threw them into the washing machine, and sank into the sofa. He then initiated a video call with Xu Chun. Thinking about how he could pick up Qianjin tomorrow, his mood perked up considerably.

A massive face instantly filled the screen. Xu Chun held it back from licking the screen while speaking:

“Don’t worry! I’ll bring him to the airport early tomorrow morning. Just hang in there for one more day, and you’ll be reunited with your ‘son’ soon.”

Sure enough, as Jiang Lin had predicted, it began to rain that night. The howling wind mixed with raindrops slammed against the windows, creating a particularly bleak sound. Shen Xing had to pull the quilt over his head to finally fall asleep.

The next morning, he got up bright and early, changed his clothes, and went downstairs, intending to drive toward Baoshan. However, just as he was about to get into the car, he caught the smell of gasoline. An ill omen surged in his heart—No way? Dropping the ball right at a time like this?

Just as he bent down to check the gas tank, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Jiang Lin?

“Hero?”

The voice over the phone sounded like it belonged to someone who had just woken up, carrying a trace of a smile:

“Dr. Shen, what are you doing sticking your rear up in the air so early in the morning?”

Whenever it rained, Jiang Lin’s left leg ached intensely. Last night, he had applied two pain-relieving plasters and taken pain medication before going to bed early. He had just woken up now. Since he didn’t have the habit of lounging in bed, he got up, poured a glass of water, and walked to the window to see if the rain had stopped—only to spot the person downstairs with his rear in the air, peering under a car.

Shen Xing instinctively looked up and met the gaze of the person standing at the second-floor window. Jiang Lin had likely just gotten up as well, still wearing his pajamas. Beside him, a black German Shepherd rested its two front paws on the windowsill, sticking up its ears and tilting its head as it stared down at him. Facing this pair of man and dog, Shen Xing felt like crying without tears:

“Misfortune has struck again. My gas tank is leaking again.”

Jiang Lin recalled Shen Xing’s battle-scarred gas tank. There was no Audi 4S dealership in this county, so he assumed Shen Xing hadn’t had the chance to replace it yet:

“Are you heading out?”

“Yeah, I asked a friend to ship my dog over today. I need to go to Baoshan Airport to pick him up.”

Shen Xing genuinely felt that his unlucky jinx persona was unbeatable.

“What time does the plane arrive?”

“It arrives at two in the afternoon.”

Jiang Lin checked his watch:

“The earliest bus from here to Baoshan leaves at eleven in the morning. You won’t make it in time. Let me get ready, and I’ll drive you.”

“Ah, no need! That’s way too much trouble for you. I… I’ll just hail a taxi.”

Having Jiang Lin drive him specifically felt like too big a favor.

“It’s no trouble. Come on up first. Isn’t it cold outside?”

As soon as Shen Xing reached the second floor, Jiang Lin opened the door for him. He saw the person in front of him wearing an outdoor jacket in a bright orange color—similar to the orange Audi. It looked very vibrant, making him look less like a doctor from a top-tier hospital and more like a graduate student who had just stepped out of the campus gates:

“That jacket looks really sharp on you.”

Shen Xing looked down at himself, looking like a bright orange, and laughed:

“My mom picked it out. She said outdoor clothes should be bright in color so it’s easy to find you if you get lost.”

Jiang Lin nodded in strong agreement:

“Makes sense.”

Although the two lived as neighbors, this was Shen Xing’s first time visiting Jiang Lin’s home. It was a similar floor plan, but a completely different experience. Compared to Jiang Lin’s place, Shen Xing suddenly felt like he lived in a dog house every day!

“I don’t have spare slippers at home, so just come right in. I can leave after taking a quick shower.”

Shen Xing looked at the gleaming floor and then at his shoes covered in mud and rainwater:

“I’ll just stand right here, it’s fine.”

Jiang Lin chuckled:

“We don’t do ‘standing penalties’ in a police officer’s house.”

He turned around, rummaged through a drawer to find a pair of disposable slippers, and handed them to him. Only then did Shen Xing step inside:

“Have a seat, I’ll be quick.”

“Oh.”

Shen Xing obediently sat on the sofa. Heibao seemed familiar with his scent, wagging its big tail and pacing around his legs. Shen Xing couldn’t resist reaching out to stealthily pet Heibao’s head, before quickly pulling his hand back. This was a retired police dog, after all—you don’t get to pet one just anywhere.

Heibao didn’t seem to mind being petted by the person in front of him. Before long, it trotted over carrying a small ball, pricking up its ears as it looked at Shen Xing, and then shoved the ball into his hand. Shen Xing was a little dazed. He took the ball and tossed it out; Heibao instantly bounded forward, catching the ball mid-air, and then trotted right back to push the ball into Shen Xing’s hand again. Shen Xing threw it out, and it fetched it back, endlessly enjoying the game. Shen Xing was so busy throwing the ball that he didn’t even notice when the sound of running water in the bathroom stopped.

When Jiang Lin came out, his hair was half-dried. He had changed into a black T-shirt and matching cargo pants, looking lean-waisted and long-legged. Upon seeing him, Heibao pounced forward. He held Heibao’s front paws, rubbed its head, and Shen Xing also looked over at him with bright, curious eyes:

“So police dogs like to play fetch, too?”

He had assumed only his own silly dog liked it.

“It’s object-retrieval training. He rarely plays with others, so it seems he really likes you.”

Jiang Lin refilled Heibao’s dog food and water, picked up his car keys, put on a black windbreaker, and said:

“Let’s go, Dr. Shen.”

The two grabbed a quick bite at the breakfast shop downstairs and set off directly.

They set the navigation for Baoshan Airport, with an estimated travel time of four hours.

As the car drove out of the county town, the road felt somewhat familiar to Shen Xing—it was the very road he had taken when entering the county that day. However, his mood now was entirely different from that day, to the point where sitting in the passenger seat, he actually had the peace of mind to enjoy the scenery along the way. Fulan County was located in the border area between Yunnan and Tibet, with a base altitude of 2,000 meters. The road was built winding through the mountains. Because it had rained last night, clouds and mist shrouded the mountainsides, giving it a somewhat ethereal, fairytale-like quality.

Setting aside the less-than-ideal reason for coming here, the scenery here truly lived up to his journey across mountains and rivers. Suddenly, he noticed what looked like snow on the distant mountain peaks and exclaimed in surprise:

“Is that snow on the mountaintop?”

Jiang Lin glanced in the direction he was pointing:

“Yes. That mountain has snow all year round except for a few months in the summer.”

“It’s pretty. Looks just like a snow-cap coffee.”

Jiang Lin smiled:

“Are you craving a snow-cap coffee?”

“A little bit, actually. I grew up at my grandfather’s place in the Northeast when I was a kid. Whenever winter came, I loved sitting on the kang eating popsicles. Back then, snow-cap coffee popsicles were a high-end product—three yuan apiece!”

“That really was a bit pricey back then. Once we get to Baoshan, we’ll see if there are any and get you one.”

“My treat. We’ll get two.”

“How generous of you.”

As the two bantered back and forth, they suddenly noticed something wrong up ahead. Shen Xing leaned his head forward slightly:

“Huh? Is the road blocked ahead?”

A caution tape was strung across the road ahead, with fallen rocks scattered behind it:

“Looks like a landslide blocked the road.”

“Another landslide?”

Shen Xing began to wonder if he was a jinx—why was there a landslide wherever he went? On the other hand, Jiang Lin calmly prepared to make a U-turn:

“Landslides blocking the road are a regular occurrence here. With the rain and heavy wind last night, a landslide today is nothing unusual. It’s fine; we can just detour through the village on the side.”

After saying that, he added another line:

“The mountain path is rough and a bit bumpy.”

“It’s fine. I’m a grown man, I’m not afraid of a few bumps.”

Ten minutes later, Shen Xing felt he had spoken way too soon. Holding onto the handle above his head with one hand and clutching his seatbelt with the other, he felt as if everything he had eaten for breakfast was churning wildly in his stomach. This was practically like riding a coin-operated rocking car—shaking until his brain felt blended smooth.

Jiang Lin turned to look at him:

“You doing okay? Want me to pull over for a bit?”

Suppressing his nausea, Shen Xing waved his hand:

“I’m fine. I’m very tough.”

Jiang Lin was amused by him. After driving on the off-road stretch for nearly 20 minutes, they finally detoured back onto the main road. Shen Xing’s internal organs instantly settled back into place, and he let out a long breath:

“Good thing your car is a modified Land Cruiser. If this were my little Audi, it’d probably be lying broken on the mountain waiting for rescue right now.”

“Yeah. If you ever get stranded, just give me a call—free towing fee.”

“As expected of a hero, truly righteous!”