The following few days were the New Year holiday, and Xu Qinghe did not run into Shi Wenli again.
She only had half a day off during the three-day holiday, and she spent even that half-day writing her self-criticism. She wrote it with complete sincerity and handed it to the hospital director’s office as soon as she returned to work on the fourth.
Even Director Jiang probably hadn’t expected her self-criticism to fill three full pages.
It wasn’t just a reflection. She had also included some constructive suggestions.
The constructive suggestions alone took up more than two pages.
Director Jiang was well aware of many of the problems within the hospital. It wasn’t that he didn’t know about them; it was simply very difficult to change the existing situation.
After all, reform had never been easy.
When Director Jiang accepted her self-criticism, he told her, “I have a meeting shortly. I’ll take a good look at it when I get home tonight and seriously consider your suggestions.”
As for whether the director would actually study them, if she really wanted to know, all she had to do was ask Jiang Yang.
Jiang Yang’s greatest virtue was that he never lied.
No matter what you asked him, he would either remain silent or speak his mind freely.
And when he chose to remain silent, his meaning was obvious enough that everyone understood.
Of course, Xu Qinghe wasn’t bored enough to ask about it.
She knew very well that even if Director Jiang did study her suggestions, there was no guarantee that any of them would actually be implemented.
She knew there probably wouldn’t be any result, yet when she wrote her self-criticism that day, she still poured out page after page of suggestions.
On January 5, Xu Qinghe’s first anesthesia case was a cardiac surgery—aortic valve replacement.
The attending surgeon was Gu Changshen, director of the cardiac surgery department, with Shi Miao as the first assistant.
Xu Qinghe often worked with Shi Miao, so she had long since developed excellent coordination with the cardiac surgery team.
The operation went smoothly and took roughly the amount of time they had expected before surgery.
After the heart valve had been sutured and the air had been evacuated, Director Gu spoke.
“Release the cross-clamp. Anesthesiologist, keep a close eye on the circulatory changes.”
“Okay,” Xu Qinghe replied.
Zhang Xun stood nearby, carefully observing his senior’s work while recording the details on the anesthesia chart.
After three days of New Year holiday duty, he had barely managed to recover.
By comparison, his senior had worked two and a half of those three days, yet somehow looked even more energetic and alert than he did.
He was incredibly envious of people like her who seemed to be born with endless energy.
Before long, the patient’s heart successfully resumed beating.
The next step was the most critical one: confirming whether the newly replaced valve was functioning properly.
In other words, determining whether the surgery had been successful.
Xu Qinghe rotated the ultrasound probe, staring at the monitor as she repeatedly checked whether the valve was closing properly and whether there was any regurgitation.
This was only the second time Zhang Xun had participated in a cardiac surgery since beginning his internship.
The first time, he had watched Xu Qinghe perform transesophageal echocardiography in the cardiac operating room. He had assumed that she intended to specialize in cardiac anesthesia, since transesophageal echocardiography was a core skill in cardiac anesthesia.
Who would have thought that after spending so much time learning and mastering advanced cardiac ultrasound techniques, her first choice would ultimately be neurosurgery?
Of course, Xu Qinghe was also exceptionally skilled in cerebral protection, intracranial pressure management, and neurophysiological monitoring.
Xu Qinghe made another slight adjustment to the ultrasound probe.
“Director Gu, the valve is functioning well. There’s no obvious paravalvular leak, only a trace amount of central regurgitation.”
The patient’s heart rate and blood pressure remained relatively stable all the way through hemostasis and chest closure.
Director Gu stepped aside and gestured to his first assistant, Shi Miao.
“You close the chest.”
The siblings Shi Miao and Shi Wenli were both exceptionally talented surgeons.
Perhaps it was hereditary. Their father and grandfather were surgical experts, while their grandmother had been an anesthesia expert.
Shi Miao finished suturing the skin. Director Gu stepped down from the operating table.
“Good work, everyone.”
He said this at the end of every operation.
“Qinghe, which subspecialty did you choose as your first choice for the fixed team?” Director Gu asked.
“Neurosurgery.”
Director Gu teased her. “You didn’t choose cardiac surgery. Don’t tell me Shi Wenli stopped you and insisted on keeping you in neurosurgery?”
Shi Miao chimed in, “My brother is exactly the kind of person who’d steal someone from us.”
Director Gu said, “I’ll ask your brother to give her back later.”
Shi Miao replied, “He might not give her back. I’ll just steal his lunchbox after surgery.”
Xu Qinghe laughed.
The operation was over, but the anesthesiologist’s work was far from finished.
They were short-staffed today, so Xu Qinghe still had to take the patient from the recovery room to the ICU and hand the patient over to the ICU doctors.
When she arrived at the ICU, Shi Miao happened to be there as well. She had come over after her surgery to check on several cardiac surgery patients who were recovering.
Once they were finished, the two women left together.
Because of Shi Wenli, they were much closer than ordinary colleagues.
They chatted as they walked toward the elevators.
Xu Qinghe asked, “Have you had lunch yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you eating in the cafeteria or ordering takeout?”
“I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had much of an appetite. My husband is bringing me lunch.”
“Oh, come on. I don’t even need to go to the cafeteria today. I’m already full from all that sweetness.”
Shi Miao smiled shyly.
“Bye.”
The two women waved at each other with smiles before entering different elevators.
At lunchtime, Xu Qinghe didn’t see Shi Wenli in the cafeteria. She was almost finished eating when she suddenly remembered that it was Wednesday.
Shi Wenli had outpatient clinic all day today, so there was no reason for him to come all the way to the operating room cafeteria for lunch.
She was still lost in thought when the department director sat down across from her.
Seeing how distracted she had been, Zhao Mingde remarked, “No wonder you can’t drive. You can even get distracted while eating because you’re thinking about a case.”
Xu Qinghe: “…”
She hadn’t been thinking about a case at all.
But in a teacher’s eyes, a good student was always studying seriously, no matter what she was doing.
Director Zhao was usually very serious, and no one dared joke around with him, including her.
She asked, “Director, what is it?”
Zhao Mingde said, “You didn’t get much rest during the New Year holiday either. Take tomorrow off.”
Even an iron man couldn’t withstand working nonstop for too long.
If he didn’t give her a proper break, her father would probably call him again and complain.
Xu Qinghe shook her head. “I won’t take tomorrow off. I’ll take the ninth off.”
“What special occasion is there on the ninth?”
“Shi Miao is getting married.”
“Oh, right.”
Zhao Mingde remembered that he had received an invitation as well.
He had actually come over to remind her again that she needed to make up the number of cases she had performed in the other departments as soon as possible.
Although she was one of the department’s key talents and had expertise across multiple specialties, the hospital had strict requirements for promotion. Within the previous three years, she had to accumulate a certain number of basic specialty anesthesia cases.
Over the past few years, she had focused almost entirely on neurosurgery and cardiac anesthesia, leaving her with relatively few cases in the basic specialties.
This was a good opportunity to make up for that weakness.
“I just looked at your surgical log. You’re quite short on orthopedic cases.”
“Mm. I’ll make up for them this year.”
Whenever orthopedics came up, Zhao Mingde couldn’t help feeling a headache coming on.
“You’re only trying to make up the required number of cases, so you only go to the orthopedic operating room once every few days. And even with that, you’ve managed to offend practically every attending physician in orthopedics. You’re really something!”
Xu Qinghe remained silent.
Zhao Mingde brought up Director Liao of orthopedics.
“Director Liao has come to me several times. He made it very clear that from now on, whenever he has surgery, don’t assign you as the anesthesiologist. To be blacklisted directly by a surgical department—Xu Qinghe, you’re truly one of a kind in our anesthesia department.”
Xu Qinghe had nothing to say, so she lowered her head and continued eating.
Zhao Mingde had no way of dealing with her temperament.
People with great ability tended to have strong personalities too. He comforted himself with that thought every time.
After a moment, he continued, “Didn’t you say you wanted to become the youngest associate chief physician in our department? Then before applications open next year, hurry up and fulfill all the mandatory requirements for promotion.”
“And another thing.” He emphasized it repeatedly. “Whenever a situation comes up where surgery needs to be postponed or stopped, communicate properly with the surgical team, especially orthopedics. If you keep being this stubborn, are you going to have any friends left?”
Xu Qinghe looked up, about to ask, How could I have no friends?
How many people in the anesthesia department didn’t like her?
But she swallowed the words before they came out, deciding to spare her director some embarrassment.
How could Zhao Mingde not know what that expression meant?
Xu Qinghe didn’t have the best reputation among the surgeons, but everyone in her own department liked her.
That was because she dared to stand up to the surgeons, and especially because she dared to argue with him. Everyone said that in the entire department, she was the only person who could “keep the surgeons—and him—in line.”
He continued earnestly, “Right now, Wu Xiaofeng is the only one in orthopedics who has a decent impression of you. Don’t offend him too. Otherwise, when are you ever going to make up all those missing cases?”
Xu Qinghe wasn’t familiar with Wu Xiaofeng. She had never been assigned to one of his surgeries and rarely ran into him.
The last time she’d heard his voice was the day she learned that Shi Wenli had returned.
“Damn! I thought I was seeing things. When did you get back?”
The remark had left a deep impression on her.
Zhao Mingde said, “I’ve already talked to them. Over the next few months, they’ll schedule several additional orthopedic cases for you every week.”
They talked about orthopedics, with Zhao Mingde repeatedly advising her to soften her words and stop being so blunt.
By the time the meal was over, both Xu Qinghe and Zhao Mingde felt slightly indigestible.
Back in the operating room, Xu Qinghe rubbed her stomach.
In the future, she decided, it would be better to avoid eating with the director.
She had two general surgery anesthesia cases that afternoon, both of which ended before six.
For Xu Qinghe, getting off work at a normal hour was practically a luxury.
As she walked out of the main building, she opened her bag and pulled out a packet of nuts.
It was still the same packet Shi Wenli had given her. She had been so busy these past few days that she hadn’t gotten around to eating it.
Recently, Shi Wenli had also been leaving work on time every day, rushing home to help with his sister’s wedding preparations.
As his car drove past the front of the main building, a familiar figure emerged from the entrance, eating snacks as she walked.
Shi Wenli stopped the car and rolled down the window.
“Dr. Xu.”
Xu Qinghe immediately turned her head.
Shi Wenli spoke to her through the car window.
“You’re getting off work early today.”
Xu Qinghe chewed her nuts and walked over with a smile.
“So are you.”
“I had outpatient clinic today. It ended right on time.”
Shi Wenli moved the coat from the passenger seat to the back and leaned over to open the door for her.
Xu Qinghe didn’t bother being overly polite and climbed into the passenger seat.
The last time she had gotten a ride from him had been a year ago.
The window rolled up, and Shi Wenli gently pressed the accelerator.
The car was quiet, with only the soft rustling of the nut packet in her hands.
Shi Wenli glanced at what she was holding.
“Are those still the two bags I gave you before the holiday?”
“Mm.”
Xu Qinghe popped a dried cranberry into her mouth and chewed slowly.
“I was so busy during the New Year holiday that I forgot I still had snacks in my bag.”
Then she added, “You’ve been running yourself ragged with the wedding preparations lately too, haven’t you?”
Shi Wenli said, “I didn’t realize there were so many things to take care of for a wedding.”
Then he remembered something.
While sorting through the old house his grandparents had left behind, he had discovered several handwritten anesthesia case records in his grandmother’s bookcase.
“They’re my grandmother’s clinical notes from more than thirty years of practice.”
He looked at her.
“Do you want them?”
Did he even need to ask?
Of course she wanted them.
But how could she simply accept something so precious?
His grandmother had been an expert in anesthesia, and her handwritten classic clinical cases, spanning her entire career, were incredibly valuable.
Xu Qinghe said, “They’re too precious. Let me borrow them. I’ll return them after I’ve finished reading them.”
Shi Wenli replied, “No matter how precious they are, if they stay with Shi Miao and me, they’ll just gather dust. They’ll be much more meaningful in the hands of a specialist like you.”
She loved studying medical cases so much that she would even ponder them while walking. Those few books of his grandmother’s case notes would keep her occupied for quite some time.
He had brought the books back to his rented apartment the day before.
When the car turned into the residential complex, he stopped at his usual parking spot.
“Wait downstairs. I’ll go up and get them.”
As he unfastened his seat belt, Xu Qinghe got out of the car.
“I’ll come up with you. That way you won’t have to make another trip.”
Shi Wenli took his coat from the back seat, and the two of them walked into the building one after another.
Walking behind him, Xu Qinghe watched as he put on his brown coat while walking. The black shirt underneath made him look tall, handsome, and composed.
He rarely had time to go shopping for clothes, so most of his outerwear was bought by Shi Miao.
Whether it was the style or the quality, everything was top-notch.
Shi Wenli rented an apartment directly across from his sister’s.
Shi Miao’s lease had expired long ago, and she had already moved into her new home with her fiancé.
When the two of them stepped out of the elevator, the motion-sensor lights in the hallway came on.
Xu Qinghe was familiar with the layout of this building. When she had first started working, she had rented an apartment with the same layout.
Back then, her parents had rented her a place in this complex so that she could sleep an extra half hour every morning. They were worried that she wouldn’t take good care of herself living alone, so they eventually bought a larger apartment and moved in with her.
Coincidentally, Shi Wenli also rented a place in the same complex.
She knew that Shi Miao had previously lived across from him, so she casually asked, “Shi Miao isn’t living here anymore. What about you? When your lease expires, are you going to renew it or move to a neighborhood closer to Shi Miao?”
“I’m not renewing it. I’m planning to buy a place in the same complex where Shi Miao’s new home is.”
Xu Qinghe nodded.
“Buying in the same complex sounds good. It’ll be convenient for you two to look after each other.”
That also meant the day he moved away wasn’t far off.
She had been mentally prepared for it and knew he really should move. With Shi Miao no longer living here, he’d be alone whenever he came home. The apartment would be too quiet.
Still, she couldn’t help feeling a little reluctant.
“Before you move, I’ll treat you to a meal to thank you for giving me rides all these years.”
Shi Wenli opened the door without giving it much thought.
“No need to be so polite. You haven’t even ridden with me that many times over the years.”
Their working hours were different, and they only happened to run into each other occasionally.
“Still, I should treat you.”
Xu Qinghe joked, “It doesn’t matter that I haven’t ridden with you much before. After I treat you to this meal, I’ll try to get a few more rides from you before you move.”
Shi Wenli smiled.
“That’s not necessary. Even after I move, if I happen to see you getting off work, it’s only a few extra minutes out of my way to drive you home. It’s no trouble.”