DSMIS CH22

Chapter 22: Captain Jiang

Seeing Shen Xing, Yu Guiping actively introduced him to the person beside him:

“Director Yang, this is Director Shen Xing, who has come from Yuetan Hospital to support our hospital. He is also Cao Shulan’s attending physician.”

He then turned to Shen Xing and introduced the others:

“This is Director Yang of the county bureau, and this is Captain Jiang.”

Director Yang looked to be nearly 50 and stepped forward to shake hands. Shen Xing tucked his pen into his breast pocket and met him halfway. After shaking hands with Director Yang, a pair of distinct, well-defined hands extended from the side, accompanied by an extremely familiar voice:

“Director Shen.”

Shen Xing raised his eyes and met Jiang Lin’s gaze. Shaking hands in this formal setting gave him an odd sensation. This guy was just eating my canned peaches yesterday, he thought, raising an eyebrow slightly:

“Captain Jiang.”

Knowing Liu Xiaohu’s identity, Shen Xing didn’t need to ask to understand what this delegation was for. They were definitely here to visit Cao Shulan.

Shen Xing wasn’t particularly good at these bureaucratic, formal occasions, but as the attending physician, he couldn’t escape explaining the patient’s condition. He had no choice but to follow them inside. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his familiarity with Jiang Lin, but he felt that among all the police officers in the room, including the county bureau director, no one possessed the same aura as Jiang Lin when wearing the police uniform. It was hard to describe exactly what kind of aura it was—just an inexplicable sense of subtle intimidation. Furthermore, he vaguely sensed that despite being very young among the group, Jiang Lin was highly respected.

When leaders came to visit, they couldn’t just offer empty words; they had to solve problems. Shen Xing intentionally wanted them to understand Cao Shulan’s difficult situation post-discharge, so he detailed the critical importance of her post-hospital care. Sure enough, just as Jiang Lin had predicted that day, the arrangements for Cao Shulan to go to the neighboring nursing home after discharge were finalized on the spot. Shen Xing could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After seeing the delegation off, Shen Xing returned to his office. Even after sitting down, he felt like the image of Jiang Lin in his police uniform was still flashing before his eyes. He took a sip of water and closed his eyes, only to hear a message notification on his phone. He opened it to find a message from Jiang Lin:

“Come over for lunch? I’ll wait for you at the canteen entrance.”

“OK.”

Little bear holding up three fingers (OK sign) jpg.

When Shen Xing arrived at the county bureau at noon, he indeed saw Jiang Lin standing on the steps waiting for him, twirling a meal card in his hand. He wasn’t wearing his police jacket, just a blue police uniform shirt neatly tucked into his trousers. His waist was lean, his shoulders broad, and his legs long. He had to admit, Jiang Lin really looked good in a uniform. His gaze lingered on him for an extra two seconds, feeling a twinge of envy. They were both wearing uniforms, but look at them, and look at doctors—they only had a white coat.

Though admiring him internally, Shen Xing said aloud:

“It’s so cold outside, and you’re not even wearing a jacket?”

“I only came out when I saw you enter the courtyard.”

Come to think of it, this was Shen Xing’s first time coming over for lunch. The canteen was much more crowded at noon than in the evening, and there was a wider variety of food. As soon as Shen Xing walked in, he smelled grilled squid. Sure enough, turning his head, he saw a small blackboard listing today’s special snacks: sizzling squid and hot and sour rice noodles. His eyes lit up. Seeing his expression, Jiang Lin chuckled:

“Want squid?”

Shen Xing nodded and leaned close to his ear:

“No wonder Director Yu strongly recommended I come mooch meals off you guys, saying the food here is great. Is the squid limited?”

Jiang Lin also leaned close and replied softly:

“Not limited in total quantity, but limited per turn. Two skewers per person per turn. You have to line up. How many skewers do you need?”

Shen Xing was a veteran night market enthusiast; his favorite foods were all things his mother categorized as junk food. He glanced at the tiny squid skewers in the hands of a passing police officer. For skewers this small, he’d need at least ten as a baseline. He rubbed his nose.

“I’m too embarrassed to say, Hero.”

Jiang Lin understood; it must be a significant number.

“I’ll go line up. You get a portion of rice for me.”

Just as Jiang Lin turned around, Shen Xing grabbed him:

“Grab a bowl of hot and sour rice noodles for me too, please! Two spoons of vinegar, one spoon of chili oil.”

Shen Xing got the rice first, carrying two trays. He grabbed chopsticks and spoons and found an empty seat. Unused to eating first while waiting for someone, he stared at the trays waiting for Jiang Lin. Suddenly, his phone buzzed. He looked down to see a message from Jiang Lin:

“You eat first.”

Shen Xing looked up and saw Jiang Lin, who had just put his phone away, turning to speak to a young police officer next to him.

Two minutes later, Jiang Lin arrived bearing his hope: a bowl of hot and sour rice noodles and six squid skewers.

“How did you get so many skewers?”

Jiang Lin sat down and picked up his chopsticks:

“I asked two kids who had just finished eating to help line up.”

Shen Xing observed Jiang Lin’s complexion while eating:

“Hmm, you look much better today. Are you still feeling unwell?”

“I’m fine. Cured by your canned yellow peaches last night.”

“Oh, right. Before I came over, I saw a caregiver in Auntie Cao’s room. Did you hire them?”

“No, the nursing home arranged it. Uncle Shulan’s younger brother isn’t a professional, after all. Since she just got out of the ICU, it’s best to avoid any mistakes.”

After finishing his meal and seeing Shen Xing devour all the grilled squid, Jiang Lin went back to line up for two more skewers for him. Shen Xing hurriedly took them:

“Enough, enough.”

“I’m going to the hospital to see Auntie Shulan tonight. Should I just pack dinner for you and bring it over?”

“That works too.”

Shen Xing had a minor surgery in the afternoon. When he returned to his office, he saw the food packed in a thermos lunchbox. He was starving and polished it off in ten minutes before heading upstairs. The door to Cao Shulan’s room was half-open. He poked his head in, but the room was empty. He asked a nurse:

“The family of bed 13 just pushed her out. They went to the rear building.”

Understanding, Shen Xing went out the back door of the inpatient department to the rear building.

The Medical and Nursing Care Department was essentially similar to a hospice. The patients here had almost no hope of recovery. They were placed here simply to make the final stages of their lives a bit more comfortable. Even as a doctor, Shen Xing didn’t particularly like coming here. He walked alone to the end of the corridor, stopping outside Liu Xiaohu’s room.

Inside the room, Cao Shulan sat in her wheelchair. Just like every time she visited her son, she brought warm water to wipe his face and hands, chatting with him constantly:

“Xiaohu, don’t worry about Mom. I heard the doctor treating me is from a big city. He’s very skilled. He said I can be discharged in another week. The leaders from the Public Security Bureau came to see me today too. They said after I leave the hospital, I’ll go to some nursing home. It seems to be right next to the hospital. That’s great, it’s close to you, so Mom can come see you often.

Xiaohu, wake up when you’ve slept enough, okay?”

As she spoke, Cao Shulan’s voice grew slightly choked with tears. Shen Xing leaned against the corridor wall, quietly listening for a long time. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to walk in.

He returned to his office and checked the chat window where he had sent the medical records to Xu Huai. There were no new messages. He turned off his phone screen. About half an hour later, Jiang Lin arrived, finding Shen Xing sitting there in a daze.

“Dr. Shen.”

Shen Xing turned around:

“Hero.”

“Finished eating? Was the food to your liking?”

“Ah, it was delicious. I ate it all. Is Auntie Cao doing okay?”

“Yeah, I just went to see Xiaohu. Just took her back to her room, and the caregiver is helping her wash up.”

Shen Xing changed his clothes, ready to head home with Jiang Lin. Neither of them drove; they walked slowly along the road. Shen Xing couldn’t help asking:

“Does Auntie Cao visit Xiaohu often? It must not be very convenient coming from the village, right?”

“She comes three or four times a week, I’d say. I go pick her up on weekends. Normally, she rides her family’s electric tricycle here. It takes an hour.”

Shen Xing opened his mouth but swallowed his words, ultimately failing to mention that he had sought out someone from the neurosurgery department at the Capital Hospital to look at Liu Xiaohu’s medical records. He didn’t know what the result would be yet; there was no need to rush and give Jiang Lin false hope.

Xu Huai’s reply came on Wednesday afternoon. That morning, a major car accident involving two vehicles full of families had occurred, and the injured were rushed in. Shen Xing performed debridement surgeries in the ER—four consecutive surgeries, standing for over nine hours. By the time he left the ER operating room, it was past 7 PM. He had missed both lunch and dinner, surviving only on the glucose he drank inside. His last meal had been rice noodles in the morning. He hadn’t felt it while completely focused, but once he stepped out, he realized his legs were shaking.

Just as he was about to float back to his office to find something to fill his stomach, he caught the scent of meat buns. Following the aroma, he saw Jiang Lin standing around the corner, waving a paper bag at him. Shen Xing’s eyes lit up:

“Hero, save me.”

Jiang Lin smiled and shoved the paper bag into his hands. It was still piping hot.

“Wow, it’s still this hot?”

“Yeah, the food I brought for you got a bit cold. I just bought these at the gate. They’re fresh out of the steamer. I was just about to go back and put them in a thermos when you came out. Perfect timing.”

Shen Xing took a bite. The rich aroma of meat and the piping hot juices flooded his mouth, instantly curing him. He polished off a bun in three bites. Jiang Lin pulled out a bottle of water from nowhere and handed it to him:

“Eat slowly, it’s all yours.”

After finishing one bun, the lightheaded feeling finally began to recede.

“The canteen had soy-braised duck for lunch today. It’s such a pity I missed it.”

The public security canteen released its weekly menu every Monday. Shen Xing studied it carefully. What he had been looking forward to the most today was the soy-braised duck, purportedly made by the head chef himself. Jiang Lin found it a bit amusing:

“There was soy-braised duck for dinner too. I packed some for you, but it might not taste as good as the lunch batch. You’ll just have to make do.”

“Where is it?”

“I left it in your office.”

“Let’s go.”

Upon returning to his office, Shen Xing collapsed into his chair and reached out to open the lunchbox. While doing so, he glanced at his phone and noticed a little red dot on Xu Huai’s avatar from Capital Neurosurgery. Remembering today was the third day, he immediately dropped the lunchbox and opened the chat window.