Shi Wenli had already been mentally prepared for Director Jiang wanting to introduce him to someone for a blind date.
Before this, Jiang Yang had hinted at it to him more than once, both openly and indirectly.
But he had never expected Director Jiang to bring it up so directly in front of someone else.
Zhao Mingde, sitting beside him, was even more surprised. Director Jiang hadn’t avoided him at all—he clearly didn’t regard him as an outsider.
For a moment, the three men each had their own thoughts.
Director Jiang was secretly wondering how he could persuade Shi Wenli to agree to meet the woman.
Shi Wenli was considering how to decline tactfully without offending Director Jiang.
As for Zhao Mingde, his heart sank.
He had been about to bring up the blind-date matter with Shi Wenli, but Director Jiang had happened to arrive at exactly the wrong moment.
He had been just one step too slow.
If Shi Wenli agreed to Director Jiang’s arrangement and actually liked the woman, what would he do?
He ate absentmindedly, stealing a glance at Shi Wenli across the table.
He sincerely hoped Shi Wenli would find a good match.
But at the same time, he secretly hoped Shi Wenli would reject Director Jiang.
Director Jiang continued, giving Shi Wenli a detailed introduction to his friend’s family. His friend was surnamed Qi.
“Old Qi gets along very well with your brother-in-law’s family. At Shimao’s wedding, when he heard that you’d raised your younger sister yourself since childhood, he couldn’t stop praising you.”
At his sister’s wedding, Shi Wenli had lost count of how many elders had asked whether he was married.
The moment they heard he was single, they became especially enthusiastic about introducing him to someone.
Director Jiang added, “Old Qi’s family isn’t like some other wealthy families. There aren’t any complicated family dramas. They’re very close-knit. Otherwise, I wouldn’t stick my nose into your personal affairs and try to set you two up.”
His friend’s family background was excellent, and his children were outstanding in both character and ability.
After finishing the introduction, Director Jiang didn’t immediately ask Shi Wenli what he thought. Instead, he turned to the man beside him for support.
“Director Zhao, you’ve been married for years and have seen all kinds of people. Don’t you think this young woman is a good match for Wenli, both in terms of family background and personal ability?”
What else could Zhao Mingde say?
He nodded against his conscience. “She’s quite good.”
Only then did Director Jiang look at Shi Wenli.
“Director Zhao has pretty good judgment. Even he thinks the two of you are a good match.”
Zhao Mingde: “…”
Shi Wenli thanked Director Jiang first, then tactfully said, “Director Jiang, you know how busy our neurosurgery department is.”
Of course, Director Jiang knew. But he had no intention of letting him off that easily.
“No matter how busy you are, you can’t let it interfere with getting married and starting a family.”
His tone became earnest.
“Your sister is married now, so you don’t need to worry about her anymore. You should start paying more attention to your own marriage. Once you have a family of your own, won’t your sister feel more at ease too?”
Over the years, Shi Wenli had shown little interest in relationships. Partly because of his demanding work, and partly because he had needed to take care of his younger sister, Shimao.
Shi Wenli thanked him again.
“Thank you for going to all this trouble.”
He tried to phrase his refusal as gently as possible, hoping to turn down the offer without making his superior uncomfortable.
“Director Jiang, you know my family situation better than anyone. What I have now is actually quite precious to me. Shimao has her own family now, and someone to take care of her. I don’t have to worry anymore that she’ll have nowhere to turn if she’s ever wronged.”
“If everything goes as planned, the research project I applied for should be approved sometime after the New Year.”
He enjoyed his current life, so he had no plans to get married over the next couple of years.
Director Jiang fell silent for a moment. He understood, but he still wanted to bring the two of them together.
“Wenli, don’t reject it so quickly. You haven’t even met her yet. How do you know whether you’ll be compatible? What if the two of you actually hit it off?”
Shi Wenli’s tone remained calm, but this time he left no room for argument.
“Even if we got along, we might simply not have the fate for it. A few days ago, my brother-in-law’s family also wanted to introduce someone to me, and I turned them down as well. I’m not considering marriage for now. I just want to help our department director develop neurosurgery properly and uphold the hospital’s reputation.”
That compliment was so generous that Director Jiang could only laugh helplessly.
With Shi Wenli putting it that way, he couldn’t keep pressing him. After all, you couldn’t force a relationship and expect it to flourish.
The weight on Zhao Mingde’s heart finally lifted.
He still had an afternoon anesthesia case, so he used the excuse that he was short on time and needed to return to the operating room. He immediately started eating heartily.
Director Jiang, however, had lost his appetite.
After lunch, Director Jiang called his friend and told him that the two young people simply weren’t meant for each other.
His friend was devastated.
“It’s not that the two of them aren’t meant for each other. It’s that you don’t know how to play matchmaker!”
Director Jiang: “…”
This was the first time he’d heard someone blame the matchmaker for a failed blind date.
His friend sighed. “Forget it. I’ll think of something myself.”
Director Jiang assumed, “Qi Ruo has taken a liking to Shi Wenli?”
“Xiaoruo doesn’t even know that I’m trying to set her up with someone.”
Director Jiang: “…”
No wonder. With Qi Ruo’s personality, she didn’t seem like the type to be eager to get married.
So his friend had been the only one running around trying to arrange everything.
Still, he couldn’t blame his friend for being so persistent.
If Director Jiang had a daughter of the right age, he’d want Shi Wenli as his son-in-law too. He was handsome, responsible, dependable, and had already become the youngest deputy chief physician in neurosurgery in the country in his early thirties. His future was practically limitless.
Shi Wenli had no surgery scheduled that afternoon. After lunch, he returned to his department to lead the teaching rounds.
Zhao Mingde was heading back to Operating Room 25. They were going in different directions after leaving the cafeteria.
He was worried that if he didn’t make a move now, someone else might beat him to it.
Even though he knew the timing wasn’t ideal, Zhao Mingde steeled himself and turned to Shi Wenli.
“Director Shi, do you have two or three minutes? I want to talk to you about something.”
Shi Wenli smiled. “I can spare that much time.”
To save Zhao Mingde the trouble of making a detour, he pointed toward Operating Room 25.
“Director Zhao, let’s talk while we walk. I’ll take the elevator on the west side.”
The cafeteria was on the east side, and taking the other elevator meant crossing the entire floor.
Zhao Mingde felt a little embarrassed.
“I was already taking up your time, and now I’m making you walk even farther.”
“It’s fine. It’s only a few extra steps.”
Shi Wenli took the initiative.
“Are you going to talk to me about Doctor Xu?”
He guessed that Director Zhao probably wanted to ask him to help mediate if Xu Qinghe ever had disagreements with one of the neurosurgeons. Since she had already been assigned permanently to the neurosurgery anesthesia team and would be working with them for a long time, it was natural for the department director to hope she could maintain good relationships with her colleagues.
Zhao Mingde nodded.
“It really is about Qinghe.”
Time was short, and he didn’t have time to carefully build up to the subject. He simply steered the conversation straight toward the blind date.
“That stubborn temper of Qinghe’s gives Director Jiang a headache, and even her own father can’t do anything about it. All these years, she’s only focused on work, so her personal life has been neglected. Her father is getting anxious.”
As for Xu Qinghe’s personal life, Shi Wenli hadn’t thought much about it and casually responded, “I heard Professor Xu is even planning to go to Yonghe Temple to pray for her marriage.”
“Exactly. Old Xu is a semiconductor expert who works in microelectronics research, yet he’s even turned to superstition for his daughter.”
Zhao Mingde hadn’t expected Shi Wenli to already know that Xu Qinghe’s father planned to pray for her marriage. That saved him a great deal of explanation.
He changed the subject.
“So Old Xu came straight to me and asked me to introduce someone to Qinghe.”
He paused, then asked with a teasing smile, “Guess who Old Xu has chosen as his future son-in-law?”
Shi Wenli: “…”
There was really no need to guess.
Director Zhao’s expression said everything.
He couldn’t help laughing helplessly.
Had today become National Blind-Date Day?
“Director Zhao, Doctor Xu and I are friends.”
“Being friends doesn’t stop Old Xu from deciding you’re the son-in-law he wants.”
“……”
“Qinghe doesn’t know about this yet.” Zhao Mingde laid everything out in the open. “I know the two of you are close. You’re also one of the few friends Qinghe has at the hospital. That’s why I thought long and hard before coming to you. If you were someone like Jiang Yang, I wouldn’t even consider playing matchmaker.”
Poor Jiang Yang was dragged into the conversation for no reason.
Zhao Mingde dared to bring it up directly because Shi Wenli was steady and reliable.
Even if he turned down the blind date, he would definitely keep it to himself and wouldn’t put Qinghe in an awkward position.
Shi Wenli couldn’t imagine himself going on a blind date with Xu Qinghe.
The idea of going from friends to blind-date partners was simply too difficult for him to process.
Just then, the automatic door of Operating Room 12, which they were passing, suddenly opened.
Xu Qinghe walked out.
Today, she was wearing a surgical cap with little bears on it.
She was in charge of anesthesia in Operating Rooms 11 and 12 and was on her way to the neighboring operating room to brief the backup anesthesiologist.
She never expected such a coincidence.
The moment she opened the door, she came face-to-face with Shi Wenli and Director Zhao.
Shi Wenli could only pretend nothing unusual was happening and greet her as he normally would.
“Cardiac surgery today?”
Xu Qinghe smiled and nodded.
“Yes.”
She assumed he and Director Zhao were discussing an anesthesia plan and didn’t think much of it. She hurried into the neighboring operating room.
Only after the door to Operating Room 11 closed did Zhao Mingde speak again.
“I know this isn’t the ideal time to introduce you to someone. But if I don’t at least try, I’m afraid I’ll regret it later.”
“Just now, you told Director Jiang that you don’t want to start a family for the time being and want to focus your energy on developing neurosurgery. I’ve been your age before, so I completely understand your decision. After all, starting a family means taking on responsibilities. If, for whatever reason, you can’t shoulder those responsibilities, then choosing not to marry for the time being is the right decision.”
Shi Wenli didn’t interrupt him. He patiently waited for him to finish.
Zhao Mingde seized every opportunity to persuade him.
“You also know that what Qinghe is most interested in is neurosurgical anesthesia. Whatever new techniques your department develops in the future, whatever advanced surgical procedures you come up with, you can’t do them without the anesthesia team working alongside you.”
“She could even work alongside you and devote herself to developing those new techniques.”
“If both of you want to focus your energy on your careers, then marriage would actually benefit both of you. There wouldn’t be a single disadvantage.”
“You already work well together, and you understand each other outside of work. Speaking purely from my personal perspective, I don’t think either of you could find a more suitable partner.”
As they talked, they were almost at the entrance to Operating Room 25.
The two stopped at almost the same time.
Zhao Mingde spoke earnestly.
“Let me tell you something from the heart, as someone who’s been through it. For surgeons, it’s difficult for a marriage to last if your partner doesn’t understand the profession. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions. I’m not saying marrying another doctor guarantees a lifelong marriage. But people in the same profession can at least understand each other’s lives.”
He gave a fitting example.
“Suppose you’re halfway through a date and an emergency call comes in. If your partner isn’t in the same profession, they may understand it once or twice. Maybe even for a year or two. But what about after many more years?”
“If you were with Qinghe, you wouldn’t have that problem. She might even get called in for emergencies more often than you.”
Shi Wenli couldn’t help laughing.
Until today, he had never realized how persuasive Director Zhao could be.
Zhao Mingde put himself in Shi Wenli’s shoes.
“Of course, suddenly going on a blind date with someone you’ve worked with for years is difficult to accept. You don’t need to give me an answer right away. Take a few days and think about it carefully. After all, marriage is a major life decision.”
“I’m not trying to set the two of you up simply because Qinghe’s father is my old classmate. The main reason is that both you and Qinghe are exceptional. If you two really ended up together, it would make a wonderful story.”
Director Zhao knew exactly how to advance and retreat without crossing any boundaries, so Shi Wenli didn’t reject him on the spot.
He hadn’t refused because Xu Qinghe was different from the other women he’d been introduced to. This deserved serious consideration.
It was the longest conversation Shi Wenli had ever had at the entrance to an operating room.
And somehow, the entire afternoon seemed much longer than usual.
That afternoon, Xu Qinghe suddenly took on an emergency surgery for a Type A aortic dissection. The patient had been transferred from a nearby hospital that morning.
The patient was unconscious upon admission. After emergency resuscitation, his vital signs had temporarily stabilized.
Director Gu had just come out of his previous surgery. He hurried into the operating room, reviewed the patient’s medical records and scans, and confirmed the surgical plan.
At the medication preparation station, Xu Qinghe prepared and drew up the drugs as quickly as possible.
One syringe after another.
That calm, precise efficiency was exactly what Zhang Xun had always wanted to achieve.
The perfusionist urgently established cardiopulmonary bypass. The operation was performed under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest with bilateral selective cerebral perfusion.
More than halfway through the operation, the patient’s cerebral oxygen saturation suddenly dropped sharply.
Xu Qinghe’s voice tightened.
“Director Gu, the oxygen level on the right side of the brain is dropping rapidly!”
Gu Changshen immediately stopped the anastomosis.
Xu Qinghe quickly checked for possible causes. The airway was fine, and the endotracheal tube was in the correct position.
The perfusionist immediately checked the tubing as well. There was no blockage.
They adjusted the flow and pressure of unilateral perfusion, but the cerebral oxygen saturation did not rise.
They adjusted it again.
Still no response.
They had ruled out every possible cause they could think of, but the problem remained.
Xu Qinghe turned to Gu Changshen.
“Director Gu, it might be compression around the head and neck.”
After confirming that it wouldn’t interfere with the surgical field, Xu Qinghe carefully made a slight adjustment to the patient’s neck.
“The cerebral oxygen is coming back!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
At seven that evening, the surgery was completed successfully.
Jiang Yang had been the second assistant. Once he stepped away from the operating table, he was so exhausted that he simply sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes for a few minutes.
They had been working nonstop for days. Standing for more than ten hours a day hadn’t felt so exhausting while he was in surgery, but once he stepped away from the table, he felt as if he couldn’t take another step.
Xu Qinghe returned after handing the patient over in the post-anesthesia care unit. Jiang Yang was still leaning against the wall, apparently already asleep.
She gently tapped him.
“Sleeping like that can’t be comfortable. Go home.”
Jiang Yang opened his eyes.
“How’s the patient?”
“Stable for now. There shouldn’t be any major problems.”
Jiang Yang nodded and braced himself against the floor to stand.
Seeing how difficult it was for him, Xu Qinghe pulled him up.
“Thanks, Sis.”
The two left the operating room together.
Jiang Yang suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right, Sis. I remember you live in the same neighborhood as my brother Shi, don’t you?”
Xu Qinghe nodded.
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Ride with me later. I already arranged with Brother Shi to go to his place tonight for tomato-and-pork wontons.”
Then Jiang Yang suggested enthusiastically, “Why don’t you come with me and have wontons at Brother Shi’s place too? It’ll be more lively with more people. I’ll tell him right now.”
Xu Qinghe had wanted to try Shi Wenli’s cooking for a long time, so she didn’t refuse.
Jiang Yang was extremely enthusiastic and immediately called Shi Wenli.
Shi Wenli had already arrived home and was preparing the ingredients.
“Brother Shi, you’re home already, right? Qinghe and I just finished surgery. We’re coming over to your place together.”
Shi Wenli was caught completely off guard.
Jiang Yang continued, “You don’t need to make too many wontons. I’ll pick up some grilled skewers and bring them over. We’ll be at your place in about half an hour.”
Shi Wenli hadn’t expected to see Xu Qinghe again so soon.