DSMIS CH29

Chapter 29: Hero, you’re not a cop, you’re a clairvoyant, right?

Sitting on the edge of the physiotherapy bed, Shen Xing felt the muscles beneath his hands tense up tightly. Recalling Jiang Lin’s previous reluctance, he guessed the man was feeling uncomfortable. He gently scratched his calf:

“What was the last type of patient I said I didn’t like just now?”

That light scratch felt like a claw grabbing at Jiang Lin’s heart. It was extremely gentle, yet the tingling sensation completely overpowered the pain, momentarily fogging his mind. He quickly gathered himself and replied:

“You don’t like coy patients.”

Then, he felt the exact spot getting scratched by the “cat paw” again:

“Then what are you doing? Your muscles are so tense. Relax.”

Jiang Lin took a deep breath and finally managed to force himself to relax. Shen Xing’s technique was genuinely excellent. The aching, swollen sensation slowly eased beneath his hands, feeling even more comfortable than the physiotherapy session itself.

“You haven’t had any physiotherapy or massages since you arrived in Fulan County, have you?”

Normally, even a simple fracture is accompanied by muscle atrophy, let alone Jiang Lin’s leg, which had undergone three surgeries to remove over thirty pieces of shrapnel. The fact that he could walk without a limp now was partly due to Xu Cheng’s highly successful surgery, and partly because the rehabilitation center under the Armed Police General Hospital was extremely professional.

He had thoroughly reviewed Jiang Lin’s medical records. The Armed Police General Hospital had virtually poured all their resources into his treatment, sparing no expense, and utilizing top-tier rehabilitation methods. However, he hadn’t stuck with it long enough. With injuries of this severity, continuous supportive therapy was required for sustained improvement.

While Jiang Lin’s current nerve pain was a relatively common post-operative complication, it was noticeably more severe than an average person’s. The primary reason was the lack of follow-up treatment. No wonder Old Man Xu had frantically sought him out; if this dragged on, the nerve pain would only worsen, and a limp would be inevitable sooner or later.

Over the course of ten-odd minutes, the muscles in Jiang Lin’s leg slowly lost their previous rigidity, and the swelling in his calf subsided significantly, now radiating the warmth of improved blood flow. Shen Xing finally withdrew his hands, pulled Jiang Lin’s pant leg back down, and patted him:

“Alright, you can get up now.”

For the first time, Jiang Lin felt like the massage hadn’t lasted long enough.

It was cold outside today, so when they left the hospital, Jiang Lin and Shen Xing opted for a local sour soup hot pot restaurant. During lunch, Shen Xing had asked a hospital colleague to inquire about the cost of inter-provincial transport for a vegetative patient requiring ventilator support, only to be quoted an astronomical figure. He held up his phone, showing Jiang Lin the fee schedule on WeChat:

“It’s three thousand kilometers from here to Beijing. This price is no joke. Can Liu Xiaohu get this transport fee reimbursed?”

“Let me ask.”

Cao Shulan was scheduled for discharge on Monday. Her younger brother and nephew were both in the ward today. Even though he knew she was only moving to the nearby rehabilitation center, Shen Xing still gave them numerous instructions during his rounds. Knowing he was the one who had helped contact the Beijing hospital, Cao Shulan was incredibly grateful, and her brother brought him a lot of local specialties from home:

“No, no need. We really can’t accept gifts.”

Cao Shulan’s Mandarin wasn’t very good, and in her anxious haste, Shen Xing couldn’t quite catch what she was saying. Her nephew stepped in to explain:

“Doctor Shen, please just take it. It’s nothing expensive. My aunt made it all herself—sun-dried beef jerky, dried fish, and milk skin. It’s all homemade, we didn’t spend money buying it. Take it back and eat it.”

Caught helplessly between the two of them, who seemed determined not to let him leave the ward unless he accepted the gifts, Shen Xing ultimately had no choice but to take them.

While chatting, he learned from Cao Shulan’s nephew that Jiang Lin had just called to say the transport issue was resolved and they wouldn’t have to bear the cost personally. Cao Shulan’s nephew would be accompanying Liu Xiaohu on the trip to Beijing, as no one else in the family had ever left Yunnan, and they worried about navigating a completely unfamiliar place.

Shen Xing finally breathed a sigh of relief. Assuming their reimbursement benefits were just that good, he didn’t press further; he knew he could trust Jiang Lin to handle things reliably.

However, the very next day, he received a call from Xu Huai. Before Shen Xing could even say hello, Xu Huai chuckled and scolded him:

“You brat, you introduce a patient with such massive backing to me, and you don’t even give me a heads-up beforehand?”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’? Our director and the hospital president just called me into their office. That friend of yours must be someone important. The president of the Armed Police General Hospital personally put in a word for him. We just discussed the treatment plan, and our hospital has no issues with it. When he arrives in Beijing, he can just transfer directly from the Armed Police General Hospital.”

Shen Xing guessed that Jiang Lin must have utilized his connections at the Armed Police General Hospital. This wasn’t surprising; after all, Liu Xiaohu was only receiving supportive care at the county hospital, while his previous attending physician and treating hospital had been the Armed Police General Hospital. Hanging up the phone, he messaged Jiang Lin:

“Hero, how did you sort out the transport issue? My senior just called and said he’ll be transferring to the Armed Police General Hospital first?”

When he didn’t receive a reply after a while, he turned back to reading medical records. Nearly forty minutes later, Jiang Lin called:

“Sorry, I was in a meeting.”

That single sentence pulled Shen Xing right out of the medical records, and an incredibly curious question suddenly popped into his head: What does Jiang Lin look like in a police uniform during a meeting? He saw Captain Jiang in uniform every day at lunch, and he had to admit, it was very pleasing to the eye. The crisp uniform combined with his tall, straight figure made him look like he’d walked straight out of a comic book. But that was in the canteen; surely the canteen and a meeting room were different?

“Doctor Shen?”

“Ah, go ahead.”

“Oh, I called Old Man Xu yesterday. The Armed Police Hospital can arrange a medical flight directly from Baoshan to Beijing, but Xiaohu needs to be transferred to the Armed Police Hospital first. That way, the expenses can be covered by a special fund, and once he’s in Beijing, he can transfer to the treating hospital. He said he would coordinate with the doctors there. Did your senior say something?”

Shen Xing laughed:

“Last time I showed him the medical records, I only said he was a friend of mine. This time, the president of the Armed Police Hospital personally reached out, and he complained that I didn’t tell him upfront about a patient with such a formidable background. It’s nothing, he was just making a passing comment. Is the transfer time set?”

“We’ll take him to the Baoshan airport via ambulance the day after tomorrow. He should arrive in Beijing the same day.”

The outpatient volume at the county hospital couldn’t compare to Yuetan Hospital’s. It was common to only see five or six patients, especially in the afternoons. On Tuesday afternoon, after prescribing plaster for his last patient, Shen Xing stood up, stretched his neck, and picked up his enamel mug to take a sip of the Da Hong Pao tea he had brewed at noon. He couldn’t even dream of days like this back home—being able to drink tea and go to the bathroom during outpatient clinic duty.

While sipping his tea, he casually glanced out the window and spotted a familiar figure. He took two quick strides to the window and saw Jiang Lin downstairs, leading Black Panther toward the rear building.

Driven by some inexplicable impulse, Shen Xing followed him. It wasn’t until he reached the door of the ward that he snapped out of it. He didn’t go in, merely peering through the small window on the door. Inside, Jiang Lin sat in a chair by the bed. Black Panther was wagging his tail with extraordinary excitement, circling the bed several times before resting his front paws on the edge. He rubbed his face against the arm of the person on the bed, whining softly. He kept looking up at the person, rubbing more frantically and barking louder, seemingly anxious as to why the hand wasn’t reaching out to pet him.

The usually majestic German Shepherd was now acting like an unweaned puppy, constantly wagging his tail, rubbing against, and licking the fingers of the person in the bed. Yet the person remained completely unresponsive. The dog began barking anxiously. Shen Xing suddenly felt a sting in his eyes, unable to watch the scene any longer. He turned away, leaned against the wall outside the ward, and took a deep breath, but the sour ache in his chest refused to subside.

From inside the ward came a familiar voice, its tone as calm and steady as if chatting with an old friend:

“You can go to Beijing with peace of mind. I will take good care of Auntie Shulan, and Black Panther too. I took him to the pet hospital in Baoshan for a checkup recently. He’s recovering much better than you are; his internal organs and the hairline fractures in his legs are healing nicely. Oh, right, you don’t need to worry about him being lonely either; he has a playmate now.

It’s a white Samoyed. Very timid, delicate like a spoiled young lady. At first, she was terrified of Black Panther—after all, your Black Panther looks quite intimidating, or rather, dog-intimidating. But Black Panther is actually quite friendly to her. He lets her eat his canned food, and when they run into stray dogs outside, he protects the young lady. When you get better, I’ll bring her for you to see. Even though she’s timid, she’s very endearing.”

“You’ve slept long enough. It’s time to wake up when you get to Beijing.”

Shen Xing couldn’t even remember how he left the ward entrance. No one could say for sure what the outcome of Liu Xiaohu’s trip to Beijing would be. The best result, naturally, was that he would wake up. But what if… what if the worst happened? If Liu Xiaohu left and never came back, perhaps Cao Shulan and Jiang Lin wouldn’t even get to see him one last time.

An unprecedented sense of fear and anxiety suddenly bloomed in Shen Xing’s heart. He was the one who contacted the hospital, the one who found this treatment plan. What if it harmed him instead? What immense regret would Cao Shulan and Jiang Lin carry for the rest of their lives?

Back in his office, Shen Xing rubbed his face vigorously and buried his face in his hands, completely missing the familiar figure that walked past his clinic door.

That evening, Shen Xing went to the county bureau canteen as usual. He had assumed Jiang Lin took the afternoon off, but as soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw the man lift the windbreaker curtain at the main entrance, step out, and wave at him with a smile. Suddenly, his heart felt significantly steadier.

He didn’t mention seeing Jiang Lin go to the hospital that afternoon, acting as if nothing had happened. Instead, it was Jiang Lin who suddenly spoke up after sitting down with his tray:

“Doctor Shen, are you busy later? Can you treat me to a milk tea?”

Shen Xing agreed immediately, his mouth moving faster than his brain.

They went back to the same milk tea shop as last time. Being a weeknight, it was less crowded than their Saturday visit. Shen Xing sat in the same spot, but he lacked the vibrant enthusiasm he had before. He didn’t even notice when his milk tea arrived. Jiang Lin smiled helplessly, waving a hand in front of his eyes:

“Doctor Shen, did you get caught in a frost?”

Shen Xing looked up, a barely perceptible trace of grievance in his gaze. He wanted to say he’d been hit by Black Panther instead.

“Hero.”

“Mm.”

Doctor Shen stirred the spoon around in his milk tea bowl. Jiang Lin handed him a piece of local specialty dried meat and asked:

“Why didn’t you come in this afternoon?”

Shen Xing’s eyes widened slightly:

“You… you saw me?”

Jiang Lin leaned back in his chair, looking somewhat amused:

“Doctor Shen, you really aren’t suited to be an undercover informant. If I couldn’t even sense someone standing at the door, you probably wouldn’t be seeing me right now.”

“Hey, I just saw you taking Black Panther over from upstairs and dropped by to take a look. Why would I intrude on you catching up?”

“Of course, it was to show him who his mother’s attending physician is, and who went through so much effort to find him a sliver of hope.”

Hearing this only increased the pressure on Shen Xing:

“Don’t say that, Hero. No one can guarantee this method will work, and there are even risks involved. What if…”

He didn’t voice his underlying fears, but Jiang Lin understood completely:

“Doctor Shen, you’re a doctor, not an immortal. Where is there a completely foolproof treatment? The medication he was taking before also carried risks. Sending him to Beijing is something his entire family unanimously agreed upon. Even if Xiaohu were conscious, he definitely wouldn’t choose to just keep lying in bed like this. As long as there’s a sliver of hope, he would fight for it. His entire family is grateful that you gave him this chance to fight.”

As Jiang Lin finished speaking, he raised his wooden bowl full of milk tea, looking directly into the eyes of the person sitting across from him:

“So, Doctor Shen, drink this bowl of milk tea and stop dwelling on it.”

Feeling completely seen through, Shen Xing was a little embarrassed. He picked up his bowl, clinked it firmly against Jiang Lin’s, took a hearty swig, and then immediately burned his tongue.

Jiang Lin, having forgotten the milk tea was piping hot, hurriedly poured him a cup of water and handed it to him, repeatedly apologizing:

“I’m sorry, I forgot the milk tea was just boiled.”

With this interruption, the anxiety that had plagued Shen Xing all afternoon largely dissipated. With a numb, burned tongue, he deadpanned:

“I say, Hero, are you really a cop? Are you a clairvoyant or something?”

This wasn’t the first time Jiang Lin had guessed exactly what he was thinking. He was starting to suspect that he wore all his thoughts on his face.

Jiang Lin actually nodded with feigned seriousness:

“You found out. I’ll get a sign made tomorrow—fortune-telling and character reading. I’ll set up on an overpass after work; it’ll be a good way to earn some extra cash.”

Shen Xing blinked:

“Then is today’s reading free?”

“Not free. Didn’t you treat me to milk tea?”

After they finished their drinks, Shen Xing paid the bill. Jiang Lin asked the owner where he could buy the wooden bowls used for the milk tea.

“Just down this street, there’s a woodcraft shop up ahead that sells them.”

Shen Xing instinctively looked in the direction the owner pointed. He had taken a liking to these bowls during his last visit and regretted not asking where to buy them while eating his instant noodles at home. Just as he thought Jiang Lin also liked them, he heard the man say:

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to buy a bowl.”

Shen Xing was shocked once more, his eyes widening slightly. Jiang Lin found his expression amusing:

“As a clairvoyant, a quick calculation on my fingers told me Doctor Shen fancied their bowls.”

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Author’s Note:

Doctor Shen: The observational skills of these anti-narcotics cops are terrifying!