DSMIS CH19

Chapter 19: Are You Curious Why Her Son Hasn’t Shown Up?

After Jiang Lin left, Shen Xing got up to do his rounds. The orthopedics department at the county hospital was nowhere near as large as the one at his home hospital; most inpatients were there for fractures or spinal and cervical issues, with very few critical cases. After finishing rounds in the regular wards, he finally went to Cao Shulan’s intensive care unit. He checked her vitals and data before coming back out.

Just as he stepped out, his phone beeped in his pocket. Opening it, he saw a picture of his own silly dog. Was he resting his head on Jiang Lin’s lap? His sharp eyes caught an empty can of dog food in the corner of the picture. Little opportunist, he thought, whoever feeds him is his master.

“Don’t give him too much to eat. He’s overweight and needs to diet. I just checked on Auntie Cao; her condition is very stable, so don’t worry.”

“I just gave him one small can. He still looked a bit scared of Heibao just now, so I was comforting him.”

Right after this message was sent, Shen Xing’s reply followed:

“Did you take your medicine? How are you feeling?”

Jiang Lin toyed with the Samoyed’s ears. The big white puffball, having eaten his fill, lay lazily with his head on his lap. His ears twitched, wrapping around Jiang Lin’s fingers like bouncy cotton candy.

Jiang Lin looked at the words on the screen and deleted the “I’m fine” he had typed out.

“I have a bit of a headache.”

“It’s from the fever. Do you have a thermometer at home? Check your temperature after taking the fever reducer. If it hits 39 and won’t go down, call me.”

“Does Dr. Shen have any special tips for reducing a fever?”

“No special tips, but Dr. Shen can prescribe a compound aminopyrine injection. Just one shot is all it takes.”

After saying this, Shen Xing sent a sticker—who knows where he found it—of a little bear lying on its stomach getting a shot in the butt. It was a GIF; after getting the shot, the little bear started crying.

Jiang Lin…

“I’ll stop messing around. Take your meds and go to bed early. You don’t need to worry about Auntie Cao.”

As soon as Jiang Lin put his phone down, he noticed the big puffball beside him had his “airplane ears” on again, his plump body practically glued to his leg. He looked up—sure enough, Heibao had come in from the balcony.

Heibao’s pace wasn’t fast, and he didn’t pounce directly like he usually did with Jiang Lin. Instead, he took it step by slow step, very much looking like he was patrolling his own territory.

As the intruder in this territory, Qianjin wished he could crawl between Jiang Lin’s legs and hide. The closer Heibao got, the more the Samoyed trembled.

Jiang Lin was also a bit puzzled now. Usually, when he took Heibao out, other dogs would run away in fear if Heibao barked—but the prerequisite was that Heibao barked.

Now, Heibao was perfectly quiet. Why was the white puffball so terrified? It made him wonder if all Samoyeds were generally this timid, or if it was only Dr. Shen’s Qianjin who was this delicate and cowardly.

He put his arm around the white puffball. Just as his arm encircled the Samoyed’s neck, Heibao snorted heavily through his nose. Immediately after, the Samoyed in his arms let out another distorted yelp.

“Awooo~”

The howl was so wobbly and off-key that even though Jiang Lin wasn’t a dog, he could tell something was wrong. He was just about to send Heibao back to the balcony when he saw Heibao let out a low grunt and lie down right where he was.

The Samoyed in his arms stopped trembling, and only then did Jiang Lin get up to take a shower. Afraid that something might happen between these two while he was showering, he looked at the crate nearby. Locking Qianjin inside would probably scare the useless little thing half to death, so he had no choice but to have Heibao go into the crate. As compensation, he opened Heibao’s favorite small can of food and rubbed his head.

“The little brother Qianjin over there is timid. Enjoy your food and don’t scare him, be good.”

Heibao lowered his head, resting it on his two front paws. He glanced at the small can of food in front of him, then nuzzled Jiang Lin’s palm, as if saying, “Deal.”

Still a bit worried, Jiang Lin left the bathroom door open while showering, just in case Qianjin started barking and he needed to hear him.

The white furball huddled by the sofa kept sniffing the air. The aroma of the canned food gradually drew his eyes toward the crate. His ears perked up and drooped down repeatedly, looking as if he wanted to go over but didn’t dare.

Heibao unhurriedly licked the canned food. The white puffball glanced over more and more frequently. One furry paw crept out; he took two steps forward, then shrank back. He continued to sniff the air, took a few more sniffs, crawled forward another two steps, and finally lay down about a meter away from the crate.

Heibao stopped eating and suddenly stood up, his bright black eyes locking onto the Samoyed outside. Even though he was enclosed by the crate, this sudden movement still scared the living daylights out of the Samoyed. He jumped up on the spot. Ten minutes later, when Jiang Lin came out of the bathroom, he witnessed a rather surprising scene.

In the living room, the white Samoyed was lying on his back on the floor, all four paws in the air, exposing his tender belly. His pink ears twitched as he whined at Heibao in the crate. This time, the whines weren’t like the terrified yelps from before; the soft awoo awoos sounded like he was acting cute.

Meanwhile, Heibao in the crate had stopped eating his canned food. He just lay lazily on his front legs, occasionally giving a bark or two in what seemed like a response. Qianjin whined even more happily, even boldly inching toward the edge of the crate. He tentatively nudged the bars near the canned food with his nose, then went back to showing his belly and whining.

Heibao perked up his ears and cast a glance at him. Standing on the sidelines, Jiang Lin watched as Qianjin quickly darted his tongue out and took a lick of the canned food. He was already prepared to swiftly scoop up the greedy little dog before Heibao got angry, but to his surprise, Heibao didn’t issue any warning against the white Samoyed approaching his food. He actually tolerated him stealing bites of the canned food right in front of him.

At the hospital, Shen Xing had just lain down in the on-call room when he heard a nurse come in and call him:

“Dr. Shen, Cao Shulan in the ICU woke up and is throwing a fuss about wanting to leave.”

Shen Xing flipped off the bed in a flash and hurried to the ICU. After someone translated for him, Shen Xing roughly understood that Cao Shulan was probably afraid the ICU was too expensive and didn’t dare stay. It was already past 2 AM, and he couldn’t very well call Jiang Lin over again for something like this. He had no choice but to tell her that leaving now would cost the same, so she might as well stay until dawn. Coaxing and deceiving, he managed to placate the old lady for the time being. Fortunately, having just undergone surgery, she soon fell asleep again.

However, when Shen Xing returned to the break room, he found himself unable to sleep. Cao Shulan’s son, who still hadn’t shown up with any news, and Jiang Lin’s attentive and nervous demeanor towards her, both forced him to overthink.

Many details began to replay in his mind. Jiang Lin had said he wasn’t a police officer who tested into this area; his work unit was in Jin City. The last time Shen Xing was at the county station, he had seen Jiang Lin’s epaulets—two bars and two stars. He simply sat up, pulled out his phone, and did a quick search.

Two bars, two stars… Second-Class Police Supervisor? He had seen Jiang Lin’s ID card; the man was only two years older than him, making him 30 this year. Based on normal promotion timelines, he shouldn’t have reached this rank yet—unless he had made major meritorious contributions allowing for an early promotion. But if that were truly the case, he must have been a highly sought-after asset in his original unit. Why would he come here to support a border region? Jiang Lin didn’t seem like the type to slum it in a grassroots position just to pad his resume, either. He thought of Cao Shulan in the ICU again. So, why exactly did he come to Fulan County?

His mind was a jumbled mess. He forgot when he finally fell asleep, until a nurse from the ER woke him up at 5 AM for a patient with a car crash fracture, and he dragged himself out of bed.

It was past 8 AM when Shen Xing finally emerged from the ER, his stomach rumbling with hunger. As soon as he looked up, he saw Jiang Lin sitting in the hallway. Seeing him come out, Jiang Lin took a cup of soy milk out of a bag, stuck a straw in it, and handed it to him. Shen Xing didn’t stand on ceremony. He took it and took two massive gulps, draining half the cup before speaking up:

“I say, Hero, are you Doraemon? How did you know my stomach was sending out an SOS?”

Jiang Lin lifted another bag. “I also have two steamed buns. I didn’t know when your surgery would end, and rice noodles are hard to pack, so you’ll have to make do with this.”

Shen Xing didn’t feel like he was “making do” at all. Washing them down with the soy milk, he demolished the two buns in a few bites. He sat down next to Jiang Lin and used the back of his hand to check his forehead.

“Hmm, seems like the fever broke. Hey, today is Monday. Aren’t you going to work?”

It was almost nine o’clock.

“I took the day off.”

“Oh, right. Auntie Cao woke up last night. She seemed afraid that staying in the ICU would cost too much money, so she made a fuss about leaving. I managed to fool her for now, but she’ll probably try to leave again during the day. When do you think her family will get here?”

Jiang Lin was, after all, an outsider; his signature held no legal weight. It wouldn’t do for none of her family members to show up.

“Auntie Shulan’s younger brother and nephew should be arriving shortly. There’s no need to scrimp on her treatment.”

Shen Xing finished the last sip of soy milk. He wanted to ask about his colleague but didn’t know how to broach the subject, so he just nodded in acknowledgment.

Jiang Lin seemed to guess what he was thinking. “Are you curious why her son hasn’t shown up?”

Shen Xing sucked on the empty soy milk cup. He subconsciously had a bad premonition and inexplicably felt a bit guilty, only lowering his head and giving a vague murmur of agreement. Looking at him, Jiang Lin was suddenly reminded of the Samoyed last night, shrinking his head guiltily after licking Heibao’s canned food clean. Shen Xing’s current expression was remarkably similar to Qianjin’s from last night.

“Actually, there’s nothing that can’t be said. You’d probably find out later anyway. Her son used to be in the same detachment as me. He was Heibao’s original handler, and he had an accident during a mission.”

Shen Xing’s heart skipped a beat. “He… he sacrificed his life?”

Jiang Lin tilted his head back, then shook it. Before Shen Xing could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard him say:

“He’s in a vegetative state. The doctor said if he doesn’t wake up within a year, the chances of him waking up later are very slim. He’s staying right here in your hospital.”

Shen Xing’s eyes widened. “What?”

Jiang Lin led Shen Xing to the Medical Care and Nursing Department in the hospital’s rear building. Shen Xing had never been here before, as many of the patients here had little hope for a cure. Most were incapacitated elderly individuals or terminally ill patients receiving symptomatic treatment here to alleviate their pain.

At the end of one of the corridors was a private room, fully equipped with all necessary machines. A young-looking man lay there silently.

“Inside is Auntie Shulan’s son, Liu Xiaohu.”

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Author’s note:

Officer Jiang’s story is about to begin.