Given Lu Junran's personality, he would never rush over at a time like this, facing an emotionally unstable family member with his bare hands—he'd only end up getting hurt himself.
But his junior apprentice sister charged forward, and his mind didn't have time to think. Like a bodily instinct, he followed.
This couldn't be blamed on Ye Wushu's impulsiveness.
Ye Wushu saw the family member raise his arm high, his hand about to land on the teacher's face.
Ye Wushu shoved the family member aside and pulled the teacher to one side: "Are you alright?"
Lu Junran stood in front of them, his peripheral vision searching for anything that could be used as a weapon. Fortunately, the man saw that Lu Junran was tall and burly, and didn't dare act rashly.
The old woman saw her beloved son being shoved and grew frantic: "How can you doctors be like this? This is a den of thieves! You've harmed my daughter-in-law and my grandchild's lives!"
She plopped herself down on the ground.
Lu Junran took a step back to avoid the old woman sitting on his feet.
Lu Junran couldn't be bothered to argue with these two. He signaled with his eyes for his junior apprentice sister and the teacher to slip through the side door into the ICU first, then said: "You're obstructing medical order and trying to harm people. I'll have the police invite you for tea."
The old woman immediately became afraid and grabbed at her son's clothes.
The man hadn't wanted to let it go, but after mentally weighing his options, he figured he probably couldn't beat Lu Junran—the difference in build was obvious, and Lu Junran was in the prime of his life. He only spat out a threat before slinking away in defeat.
After entering, Lu Junran closed the door to the consultation room properly, to prevent any family members from entering the ICU through that door at night.
He found his junior apprentice sister and the teacher in the office. His gaze went to Ye Wushu first, then he asked: "Teacher Wu, are you alright?"
Wu Yue keenly sensed something in this. She looked at Lu Junran, then at Ye Wushu.
Ah, youth is wonderful. She loved seeing handsome men and beautiful women—they were simply a perfect match.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Wu Yue waved her hand, recalling what had just happened, and said indignantly: "Which idiot admitted her? The obstetrics department may be short on patients, but they can't take patients like this! Isn't that just setting us up? No matter how much the country encourages childbirth, it's not encouraging people like that to have children!"
Wu Yue held back her curses because the two young ones were present. She felt deeply wistful—back in the day, she too had been a refined and reserved young woman. It was this clinical life that had forced her to change!
There was no helping it. The emergency department always had to squeeze patients in. Critical patients were one thing, but those who had absolutely no need to be in the ICU were also squeezed in, and when asked why, it was because no other department would take them… Wu Yue could only roll up her sleeves and go to the emergency department to "argue her case."
Ye Wushu was such a lovely young woman. Seeing how angry Wu Yue was, she poured her a cup of drinking water: "Teacher Wu, don't be angry. Getting a nodule from anger over people like that isn't worth it."
So Wu Yue silently recited three times in her heart, "Anger causes nodules," and smiled at her two students: "It's fine. You two can clock out and head home. These are all small matters."
She warned them gravely: "Don't go into critical care in the future. It's exhausting and you get no respect."
Wu Yue looked at Ye Wushu. She felt especially fond of this young woman and couldn't bear to see her get worn down into a "bitter complainer" by clinical life in the future.
Before leaving the ICU, Ye Wushu went to take another look at the pregnant woman named Ge Yun.
In the noisy, machine-filled ICU, Ge Yun couldn't sleep at all, let alone when her body had already weakened to the extreme. She wore a high-flow nasal cannula to assist her breathing, but she still gasped for air heavily, her lips turning purple and black.
Ge Yun saw Ye Wushu, a young female doctor.
By now, Ge Yun's mind held no envy or regret—only the instinct to survive, barely keeping her going.
When Ye Wushu stepped out of the ICU, she was surprised to find Lu Junran waiting at the door. "Senior?"
Lu Junran said, "I grabbed a number for a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant. If we head over now, it'll be just in time."
Ye Wushu had been feeling a bit down, but her senior's interruption instantly shifted her focus. "Great, great! Where is it?"
"Not far."
So the two each scanned a shared bike and rode three kilometers. When they arrived at the tea restaurant, there was exactly one number left before theirs.
Ye Wushu glanced at the time—8 PM—and her mouth formed an "O" in surprise. "Business is this booming?"
Lu Junran curved his lips slightly.
Of course—he had carefully chosen this place. Good location, reasonable prices, pleasant atmosphere, and since it stayed open until dawn, it was perfect for medical students after long shifts.
"A96—"
"Here!" Ye Wushu raised her hand excitedly, then turned to Lu Junran. "Senior, perfect timing! Awesome! You're amazing!"
Without even realizing it, Ye Wushu had praised her senior into a pleased grin.
The server led them to their seats. "Two? Please follow me."
The server brought out their tableware along with a large basin, scalding the utensils with hot water in front of them. "You can scan the QR code to order. Feel free to call us if you need anything."
"Okay, thank you." Ye Wushu nodded at her, then turned and happened to meet Lu Junran's gaze.
Lu Junran looked away nonchalantly. He didn't know how to describe it—his junior was adorable, polite, thanking everyone, even patients' families. She seemed to have endless love for life.
"Senior, what are you having?"
Lu Junran was lost in thought for a few seconds before snapping back. "Anything works. You order."
Seeing that he truly had no preference, Ye Wushu picked a few popular recommended dishes and submitted the order.
Lu Junran had no idea about this. It wasn't until they finished eating and he went to the counter to pay that the server smiled and told him, "Hello, the bill has already been settled."
Lu Junran sat back down, and his junior smiled at him. "I already paid, Senior. Consider it my treat—thanks for your help."
Lu Junran felt a strange pang in his chest.
Seeing him suddenly go quiet, Ye Wushu couldn't help but overthink—her senior came from a poor family. Would this hurt his pride?
She looked into his eyes and said sincerely, "Senior, I genuinely want to thank you for covering my shift that day. Consider this meal my way of showing gratitude. Next time we eat, you can split it with me, okay?"
Lu Junran only caught the phrase "next time we eat" and quickly replied, "Mm."
When they finished and went downstairs, there were no shared bikes left on the street. Ye Wushu and Lu Junran could only walk along the road back toward the hospital.
Autumn had already set in, and the nights were beginning to carry a chill. The wind blew overhead, occasionally sending leaves drifting down, while the streetlights stretched and pulled the two figures' shadows long and far apart.
Lu Junran deliberately slowed his pace. What should have been a five-minute walk felt unusually prolonged—the wind moved slowly, but his heart raced. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his junior sister's profile, a few strands of hair slipping loose, as if they had fallen into his heart, leaving him restless from that moment on.
"Senior Brother! There's a little blue one over there!" Ye Wushu spotted a shared bike across the street with precision and excitedly tugged at Lu Junran's sleeve.
Lu Junran abruptly tightened his fingers. "Oh, alright."
Ye Wushu lived in the hospital's student dormitory. Lu Junran walked her all the way to the base of the dormitory building, where they were spotted by her roommate, who had just gotten off work.
The roommate gave Ye Wushu a knowing once-over and didn't interrogate her until they were back inside the dorm. "What's going on?"
Ye Wushu was utterly confused. "Huh?"
Ma Tianya said, "Isn't he the one you said you had a crush on last time?"
Ye Wushu was taken aback. "No, he's my ICU shift partner this month."
Ma Tianya was even more shocked than she was. "What? You call a handsome guy like that a shift partner? That's such a waste!"
Ye Wushu declared seriously, "Even though Senior Brother Lu is indeed very handsome, he's my best shift partner, and I absolutely have no improper thoughts about him."
"Fine." Ma Tianya could understand. She was an anesthesiology student currently rotating through departments, dealing with all kinds of surgeons daily—many of whom looked decent on the surface but were actually lunatics! Today, she had been forced to work overtime until this hour because the general surgery department had "coerced" her into covering for them.
"Oh, by the way, which department is that handsome guy from?" Ma Tianya's interest was piqued.
"A direct-track PhD student in neurosurgery."
"That won't do." Ma Tianya deflated upon hearing this. "Neurosurgery—whether students or doctors—they're not people we can mess with. Most of them are looking for local only-daughters from Haidu City, preferably ones with connections. They're all trying to 'marry up.'"
Ye Wushu quietly defended Lu Junran. "I think Senior Brother isn't that kind of person."
Everyone wanted to be a phoenix man, to skip twenty years of struggle, but Ye Wushu felt her senior brother had basic moral integrity.
"Besides, anyone who becomes a neurosurgeon eventually turns into a psychopath! Except for a rare few!" Ma Tianya described the scenes she had witnessed in the operating room: "Neurosurgery has a strict hierarchy. Many lead surgeons have terrible tempers, constantly cursing people out, and some even kick them!"
Ye Wushu gasped. "How can there be people like that? Isn't that personal humiliation?"
Ma Tianya sighed. "That's why I'm saying—this world is one giant obedience test. Neurosurgery is like that, or rather, all aggressive surgical departments are. Young doctors who grow up in that environment—how could they not end up twisted?"
High pressure demands greater indulgence.
Those who climb to the top are driven by intense desire, and only a rare few are motivated by pure conviction.
So once they achieve success, they indulge themselves, revel in power, especially when it comes to relationships between men and women.
Ye Wushu thought about what it would be like if her senior brother also became "twisted" and couldn't help but shiver.
Late at night, Lu Junran received a message from his junior fellow apprentice: [Senior brother, you must pay more attention to your mental health, and never let anyone manipulate you!]
Lu Junran was baffled: Who would manipulate him? His junior fellow apprentice?
And such a good thing?