DSMIS CH20

Chapter 20: Jiang Lin’s Past

The days of continuous rain had finally cleared up. Sunlight filtered through the somewhat aged window lattices into the hospital room. It was clearly a warm and sunny morning, yet Shen Xing couldn’t feel the slightest warmth from the sunlight shining on him.

The only sounds in the room were the hum of various life-support machines. The person on the hospital bed was very thin and looked to be about the same age as Jiang Lin, with sharp, three-dimensional facial features that carried a hint of ethnic minority characteristics. Jiang Lin sat in the chair by the bed, his voice flat and calm as he plainly laid out the story:

“He and I aren’t just colleagues; we were classmates at the Public Security University and roommates for four years. We weren’t actually in the same major. He majored in police dog technology and ended up in our dorm room because he was the odd one out. You should know just how outstanding someone has to be to make it out of these deep mountains and get accepted into a university in Beijing. But he wasn’t the type of genius most people imagine—the kind of top student who gets high scores effortlessly without much work. He actually wasn’t that smart. He was just incredibly grounded and hardworking, hardworking to the point of being a bit stubborn.

Even so, his grades weren’t particularly stellar during college because, aside from his studies, he had to go out and work part-time jobs to make money. His home is that place you visited—completely cut off from traffic. His father died of a sudden illness when he was very young, leaving Auntie Shulan to raise him all by herself. Relying on their two acres of farmland and a dozen or so sheep, he was the most hardworking, grounded person I have ever met.

When we graduated, he always wanted to come back to Yundian to be an anti-narcotics police officer. However, the Yundian police dog base had expanded the year prior and recruited a lot of people. By the time we graduated, they were hiring very few from his major, and his grades weren’t good enough to make the cut. At that time, there happened to be positions open in Jin City, so I suggested he come there. Just like that, he went to Jin City with me. I joined the anti-narcotics detachment, and he joined the police dog brigade.”

Shen Xing stood quietly beside him, listening. He had always assumed Jiang Lin was perhaps in criminal investigation; he never expected him to be a narcotics cop. He could feel the emotional turbulence hidden beneath Jiang Lin’s calm words and, sensitively picking up on his poor mood, took the initiative to speak:

“Did you two work together after that?”

Jiang Lin shook his head slightly.

“Not at first. The police dog brigade only coordinated with us when we needed them. Four years after graduation, the detachments were restructured, and that was when he finally transferred to the anti-narcotics detachment. I even told him back then that he had finally realized his dream, even if the path was a bit winding.”

Perhaps Shen Xing was truly a qualified listener, or perhaps Jiang Lin had just suppressed everything for too long; his words began to jump around a bit disjointedly:

“I remember the first police dog he trained was Heibao’s mother, named Benben, so Heibao was born right there at the anti-narcotics detachment. Benben had a litter of four pups. Heibao was the smallest of the bunch and the last to open his eyes. The other pups could all nurse, but he couldn’t get any milk. His four legs were so soft and weak that he couldn’t stand up. Benben probably thought he wouldn’t survive, so she stopped letting him nurse. Liu Xiaohu had to feed him formula with a baby bottle.

I still remember how, during lunch breaks when we had nothing to do, the guys in our team would go to the training base in the backyard to look at the pups. We wanted to hold little Heibao, but Liu Xiaohu guarded him like his own child and wouldn’t let us touch him. We all laughed at him, saying it was as if he had given birth to Heibao himself. Later, Heibao’s mother retired and was adopted by a very well-off family in Beijing. The pups began their training, and surprisingly, Heibao, the pitiful little runt of the litter, ended up with the best performance scores.

That little thing learned commands incredibly fast, almost as if he were human.”

Jiang Lin sat by the bed, rambling on, but Shen Xing listened very earnestly, letting out a small smile at this point.

“When I first saw Heibao at the rest area, I actually thought to myself that I couldn’t believe a dog could look so majestic, flawless from every 360-degree angle. I never imagined Heibao was such a pitiful little thing when he was young.”

He paused for a moment before speaking again.

“So, was Heibao retired because Liu Xiaohu got injured?”

Jiang Lin’s head throbbed and his ears rang. He felt as though he had been transported back to the day of the explosion, the shockwave of the blast and the wailing of police sirens crisscrossing in his ears.

“During that mission, Heibao took a bullet to save Liu Xiaohu. His spleen had to be removed, and his physical condition no longer met the standards for a police dog, so his retirement was arranged. If he hadn’t lunged in front of Liu Xiaohu, Xiaohu probably wouldn’t have even had a chance to be resuscitated.”

Shen Xing was stunned, completely unprepared for this truth. As someone born under the red flag, raised in the spring breeze, and having lived in a peaceful world his entire life, the things revealed in Jiang Lin’s words practically didn’t exist in his understanding of life. But that didn’t mean the darkness hidden behind those soul-stirring events didn’t exist; it simply meant someone was standing between the light and the darkness, blocking it all for them.

Their conversation only stopped when Jiang Lin’s phone rang.

“It’s Auntie Shulan’s younger brother. He’s arrived.”

Jiang Lin stood up in a daze. A sharp, shooting pain in his left leg caused him to stumble. His hand instinctively reached for the bed rail, but Shen Xing was quick and caught his arm to steady him.

“What’s wrong?”

Shen Xing turned his head and saw that Jiang Lin looked terrible, his lips pale. He reached out to feel Jiang Lin’s forehead again. Sure enough, his temperature had crept back up under Shen Xing’s palm. Jiang Lin collected himself and stood up straight.

“I’m fine. It’s just that my cold hasn’t cleared up, I feel a little dizzy.”

Shen Xing saw he was in a very poor state, unsure if it was truly from the cold or if recalling the past had brought on the discomfort.

“Didn’t you take the day off today? Go home and rest this afternoon. You don’t need to worry about things at the hospital. Auntie Cao won’t be leaving the ICU until tomorrow morning at the earliest anyway.”

Jiang Lin remained silent. Shen Xing went with him to the front building and met Cao Shulan’s brother and nephew in his office, detailing Cao Shulan’s condition to them.

“If her condition remains stable today, she can be transferred to a regular ward first thing tomorrow morning. She’ll likely need family members to take care of her.”

This was the most realistic issue. At Yuetan Hospital where he used to work, they implemented non-accompanied wards, where nurses and caregivers managed the beds in the inpatient area, allowing patients to stay without family accompaniment. This was designed to adapt to the current social reality of an aging population. However, this was a county hospital, far from having the conditions for non-accompanied wards. Various post-operative care tasks for patients still relied primarily on family members or hiring private nursing aides.

Cao Shulan’s brother nodded repeatedly.

“Okay, Doctor. I’ll stay at the hospital to take care of her these next few days. Um, with my sister’s condition, when will she be able to be discharged?”

“If there are no major complications, she’ll need to stay for observation for a week to ten days. For a femur fracture, even after returning home, she’ll need to be cared for according to the doctor’s orders.”

Cao Shulin looked troubled. Shen Xing actually understood; the man surely had his own family and job out of town. Staying temporarily to look after his sister was doable, but long-term care would likely be difficult. At the end of the day, they were all ordinary people, and just maintaining a normal life was already hard enough.

Jiang Lin spoke up at this moment:

“I’ll figure something out after she’s discharged. Just take good care of Auntie Shulan for these next few days.”

Cao Shulin took his son upstairs to see Cao Shulan, and only then did Shen Xing look up.

“Hero, what are you planning to do? Hire a nursing aide for Auntie?”

He knew Jiang Lin and Liu Xiaohu definitely shared a life-and-death bond, and moreover, since the man drove a modified Land Cruiser, he probably wasn’t short on money. Most likely, he was planning to pay out of his own pocket.

Jiang Lin sat down on the small stool by his desk. Perhaps because his fever was flaring up again, his previously pale cheeks were now flushed.

“Liu Xiaohu was awarded a First-Class Merit. Although he didn’t sacrifice his life, he has lost the ability to live independently. According to current policies, his parents are entitled to the same treatment as the families of martyrs. In this situation, both the county police bureau and the county government have a responsibility to care for her. There’s a rehabilitation and nursing center next to the county hospital, which was expanded and renovated from the old Veteran Cadres Bureau. I’ll go back and submit an application to see if Auntie Shulan can be discharged and moved there.”

Shen Xing nodded.

“Right, right. Liu Xiaohu was injured in the line of duty, so this would be the best arrangement.”

A nursing home expanded from the Veteran Cadres Bureau was absolutely more reliable than hiring a potentially unprofessional aide at home. More importantly, it was close to the county hospital. In case of any sudden emergencies, it would be far more convenient than her staying at home, which would also give Jiang Lin a lot more peace of mind.

Shen Xing had worked the night shift yesterday and was scheduled for an emergency surgery in the morning, so his outpatient clinic was arranged for the afternoon. After having a meal with Jiang Lin, he shooed the man home:

“Hero, hurry up and go back. With your complexion, I’m afraid you’ll collapse in my office and try to extort me.”

Only then did Jiang Lin exit the hospital gates, though instead of going home, he went to his workplace.

Shen Xing actually hadn’t even slept two hours the previous night, but his ability to pull all-nighters had reached its peak. Coupled with everything Jiang Lin had told him today, a pile of matters weighed heavily on his mind, leaving him completely devoid of sleepiness. After seeing all his patients in the afternoon, he rushed over to the neurosurgery department right before getting off work. He knocked on the door. The doctor inside looked to be nearing fifty, and upon looking up and seeing him, gave a smile:

“Dr. Shen, please come in.”

Shen Xing had only just met the county hospital’s Director of Neurosurgery, Qu Zhuo, during an emergency shift two days ago. Qu Zhuo enthusiastically went to pour Shen Xing some tea, but Shen Xing hurriedly waved his hands.

“No need to trouble yourself, Director Qu. I came because I wanted to ask if the medical records for Liu Xiaohu—who is staying in the Medical Care and Nursing Department out back—are with our department?”

Qu Zhuo paused for a moment, as if not expecting this to be the reason for his visit.

“Yes, he was transferred directly from the Armed Police General Hospital.”

He was, naturally, aware of Liu Xiaohu’s identity.

“Could you give me a copy of his medical records?”

Qu Zhuo handed him the tea.

“Dr. Shen, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but you should know his identity. His medical records are classified; I can only let you see them with the hospital director’s approval.”

Shen Xing expressed his understanding, glanced at his watch, and spoke up:

“Alright, then I’ll go find Director Yu right now. Please wait for me a moment.”

Before Qu Zhuo could even utter a word, Shen Xing swept out of the office like a gust of wind. Being a man of swift action, he charged straight to the director’s office. Upon hearing his request, Yu Guiping didn’t deflect:

“That works too. You come from a large hospital; see if there are any connections or alternative methods we can still try.”

With that, he directly called Director Qu, and Shen Xing finally got his hands on Liu Xiaohu’s medical records right before the end of the workday.

__

Author’s note:

Officer Jiang doesn’t treat our Dr. Shen like an outsider [starry eyes]