Then he saw it.
The insulated lunch box that carried so much of Fu Shennian’s painstaking care.
It had been carried in by the young nurse—and now it was being carried back out.
The young nurse opened it happily, and the aroma of food filled the air.
Another nurse came over.
“Wow, what a feast! Who sent it?”
“I don’t know. Sister Xi looked like she really disliked that person. Anyway, since Sister Xi isn’t going to eat it, I’ll treat it as an extra meal. Hehe.”
The young nurse’s voice drifted over from the other end of the corridor, light and cheerful, as though she were talking about something utterly insignificant.
All of his heartfelt efforts meant nothing to her.
Those words struck him in the face like a heavy punch.
A searing pain spread from his cheek to his temple, then burned down his neck and into his chest, churning his organs until his insides seemed to twist.
Fu Shennian leaned against the wall and slowly slid down, crouching in the corner.
The motion-activated light went out.
He buried himself in an even deeper darkness.
Suddenly, he heard someone discussing something.
“Have you heard? That Sheng Nianxi is in real trouble this time.”
Fu Shennian abruptly raised his head.
“She was supposed to get one of the backbone positions. It was practically a done deal, but right before the announcement, someone replaced her.”
“That bad? You mean that desperate workaholic from the emergency room? Sheng Nianxi?”
“Yeah, her. She’s been too high-profile and offended people on Director Zhang’s side. Looks like she’s in for a lot of trouble.”
“Can she even stay on?”
“Who knows? That depends on her attitude. If she’s willing to lower herself, grovel, and rein in her sharpness, maybe. But if she keeps acting like she did before, then in this system, even if she doesn’t die, she’ll still lose a layer of skin.”
At four in the afternoon, people streamed in and out of the emergency department lobby.
Sheng Nianxi was taking the blood pressure of an elderly patient.
Director Zhao of the emergency department walked over from the end of the corridor. Beside him was a middle-aged man in a white coat, his hair combed perfectly, looking like a leader there to conduct an inspection.
“Doctor Sheng, come here for a moment.”
She handed the task in her hands to the nurse beside her and walked over.
“This is the new deputy director of the Medical Affairs Office, Director Zhang.”
Director Zhao introduced him in a tone carrying a subtle politeness.
Director Zhang looked her up and down. His gaze slid from her face to the name badge on her chest, then back to her face.
“Doctor Sheng, I hear you’re a general practitioner recruited from overseas?”
“Yes.”
“Here’s the situation.” Director Zhang pushed up his glasses, his tone neither harsh nor gentle. “The number of patients you saw last month was abnormal. It needs to be verified again.”
Sheng Nianxi frowned.
“Because I saw a large number of patients, it’s abnormal?”
“It doesn’t conform to the normal patient volume. There may have been duplicate entries.” Director Zhang smiled. The smile looked as though it had been carved from a mold. “Comrade, you need to correct your attitude. Don’t get emotional.”
Duplicate entries.
Those two words were like a basin of ice water poured over her head.
He was implying that she had falsified the records.
Sheng Nianxi’s fingers tightened around the cuff of her white coat.
She raised her head and looked directly into Director Zhang’s eyes. Her voice was not loud, but every word landed like a nail driven into the ground.
“Director Zhang, all my patient records are entered in real time, and every entry in the system can be traced. You said there ‘may have been duplicate entries.’ Please produce the evidence.”
Director Zhang’s smile froze for an instant.
“We’re verifying it.”
“Before the verification is complete, you shouldn’t be drawing conclusions.” Sheng Nianxi gave him no chance to catch his breath. “In front of Director Zhao, you said my data was ‘abnormal’ and that there ‘may have been duplicate entries.’ If those words get out, who will be responsible for my reputation?”
Director Zhang’s expression darkened.
He had not expected a young doctor to speak to him like that.
“Sheng Nianxi, is it?” He bit her name out heavily, one syllable at a time. “Are you teaching me how to do my job?”
“I’m protecting my own reputation.” Sheng Nianxi refused to yield an inch. “You’re a leader in the Medical Affairs Office. What you say should be backed by evidence. If you have evidence, I’ll accept the investigation. If you don’t…”
She paused, her gaze sharp as a blade.
“Then please be careful with your wording.”
The air in the corridor seemed to have been sucked dry.
Director Zhao stood beside them, his expression as though he had just eaten a fly.
The nurses and patients nearby all turned to look, whispering among themselves.
Director Zhang’s face had turned livid.
He stared at Sheng Nianxi, the corner of his mouth twitching once before he smiled.
That smile was more frightening than no smile at all.
“Good.” He nodded, his tone suddenly becoming very light—so light that it sent chills down people’s backs. “Doctor Sheng, very good indeed. Since that’s what you say, then we’ll handle this according to procedure.”
He turned and said to Director Zhao:
“Director Zhao, pull out all of Doctor Sheng’s patient records from the past year. I want to examine them one by one.”
Director Zhao opened his mouth.
“Director Zhang, this…”
“Investigate them.” Director Zhang interrupted him. His voice was not loud, but it allowed no objection. “Since Doctor Sheng wants evidence, I’ll give her evidence.”
He turned his head and gave Sheng Nianxi one last look.
“I hope your data can withstand the investigation.”
With that, he turned and left.
His leather shoes struck the floor with a tapping sound, one step after another, like a countdown.
Sheng Nianxi stood where she was, her back ramrod straight.
Her face still wore its stubborn expression.
But beneath the cuff of her white coat, her fingers were trembling faintly.
At six in the afternoon, Zhang Xiaoyin slipped into the on-duty room again.
This time, her expression was much more nervous than it had been that morning.
“Doctor Sheng, I heard.” She closed the door tightly, lowering her voice as much as possible. “The Medical Affairs Office is investigating your patient records. They’ve pulled out all your records from the past year.”
Sheng Nianxi was writing up a medical record. The pen in her hand paused for an instant.
“I know. Let them investigate.”
“No, you don’t know. There’s something even worse!”
Sheng Nianxi did not even lift her eyelids.
“What else could there be?”
Zhang Xiaoyin bit her lip and glanced at her cautiously.
“They’re saying you despise the poor and curry favor with the rich, that you dumped Doctor Zhou, and that you’re even trying to become a rich heir’s mistress…”
That last sentence was like a knife, stabbing viciously into Sheng Nianxi’s chest.
The fingers gripping the pen turned pale, and her heart pounded violently.
She set the pen down, raised her head, and looked at Zhang Xiaoyin.
Her gaze was very calm—so calm that it made Zhang Xiaoyin’s heart prickle with fear.
“I understand.”
The next day, the Medical Affairs Office’s verification was still ongoing, but the rumors had already spread throughout the entire hospital.
As Sheng Nianxi walked down the corridor, she could feel the eyes of those watching the spectacle.
She continued seeing patients as usual and remained responsible for every single one of them as usual.
As long as no one crossed her bottom line, she could ignore it all.
At ten in the morning, a patient suffering from a myocardial infarction was wheeled into the emergency room.
He was in his sixties, his face gray and pale, drenched in sweat. The waves on his electrocardiogram looked like a sea caught in a raging storm.
His condition was critical. He needed surgery immediately.
Sheng Nianxi hurried toward the operating room, but the head nurse stopped her at the entrance.
“Doctor Sheng, the director gave advance notice. You’re not allowed into the operating room.”
Sheng Nianxi stopped, thinking she had misheard.
“What?”
“That’s the director’s order.” The head nurse did not dare look her in the eye. “Doctor Li will do it.”
Sheng Nianxi glanced at the patient inside the operating room.
A myocardial infarction. The golden window for emergency treatment was only a few hours.
Doctor Li was in the outpatient department. It would take him at least twenty minutes to get here.
In twenty minutes, a large portion of the heart muscle would already be dead.
“The patient can’t wait.” Her voice was flat, but every word trembled. “I have experience. I can do it!”
As she spoke, she rushed toward the operating room.
Several security guards stopped her.
The head nurse looked at her helplessly.
“Doctor Sheng, I’m sorry. This is the leadership’s order. Please don’t make things difficult for me.”
Sheng Nianxi stared at each of them in disbelief, her voice trembling.
“What are you doing? This is a matter of life and death! Can’t you see that?”
But no one moved.
They were all so cold.
No one cared about the patient’s life.
What was she supposed to do?
She suddenly turned around and took off running…