Duan Yan said coolly, “He just wasn’t capable of keeping his wife. She found a better option, and he’s still desperately refusing to let go.”
After thinking about it, Rong Jiqiao felt that Duan Yan’s perspective made sense.
She nodded thoughtfully, only relating it to the short video they had just watched.
“That’s true. I never thought of it that way until you mentioned it.”
Duan Yan fell silent again.
But since he had never been much of a conversationalist, Rong Jiqiao didn’t think much of it.
…
The next morning, when Rong Jiqiao woke up, Duan Yan had already left.
The subway was packed on her way to work.
Standing in the crowded train car, she was jostled from all sides, and her ankle still ached faintly.
By the time she arrived at the clinic, Zhu Xiaoyue was already sitting at the reception desk, trimming her nails with her head lowered.
When she saw Rong Jiqiao come in, she lazily lifted her eyes.
“Sister Jiqiao, you’re here.”
Rong Jiqiao changed into her work uniform.
“Mm.”
Zhu Xiaoyue blew on her nails.
“How’s your ankle?”
“Much better.”
“That’s good.” Zhu Xiaoyue smiled. “There’s a patient coming in for an examination later. Can you take her to the third floor? My nails aren’t clinic-compliant right now. The director told me to trim them first.”
Rong Jiqiao paused.
“Isn’t registration and patient guidance your responsibility?”
Zhu Xiaoyue spread her hands. Her pink nail polish glimmered under the lights.
“I’m not finished trimming them yet. Help me out, okay?”
Rong Jiqiao looked at her but said nothing.
She turned and walked toward the waiting area.
The patient was a woman in her forties carrying a large bag. When she saw Rong Jiqiao approach, she stood up.
“I’m here for an examination. Which way do I go?”
“Follow me.”
Rong Jiqiao led the way.
Each step made her ankle throb with pain, but she endured it without a word.
After escorting the woman to the examination room on the third floor, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When she returned to the reception desk, Zhu Xiaoyue was chatting with another nurse.
Seeing her come back, Zhu Xiaoyue smiled.
“Sister Jiqiao, thanks.”
Rong Jiqiao ignored her and sat down to organize medical records.
Not long afterward, a patient stormed up to the reception desk and slammed a hand on the counter.
“I’ve been waiting—”
“I’ve been waiting for almost an hour! Why haven’t I been called yet?”
Zhu Xiaoyue jumped in surprise and took a step back.
“Please don’t get upset, ma’am. Let me check.”
She flipped through the registration slips, then looked up at Rong Jiqiao.
“Sister Jiqiao, you entered this registration, right? Why wasn’t it entered into the system?”
Rong Jiqiao looked up.
“I never entered that one.”
Zhu Xiaoyue frowned and handed over the registration form.
“Take a look. Isn’t this your handwriting?”
Rong Jiqiao glanced at it.
It definitely wasn’t her handwriting.
“This isn’t mine.”
Hearing that, the patient became even angrier.
“What kind of hospital is this? You keep passing the blame around! I’m filing a complaint!”
Zhu Xiaoyue quickly put on an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. We’ll take care of it immediately.”
Then she turned to Rong Jiqiao and lowered her voice.
“Just admit fault first. Don’t let the patient make a bigger scene.”
Rong Jiqiao took a deep breath.
Not wanting to delay the patient’s treatment, she stood up and said,
“I’m sorry. I’ll handle it for you right away.”
Only then did the patient calm down a little.
Rong Jiqiao re-entered the information into the system and escorted the patient to the consultation room.
When she returned, Zhu Xiaoyue was already chatting with several coworkers.
Seeing her come back, Zhu Xiaoyue smiled.
“Got it sorted out?”
Rong Jiqiao took a deep breath and replied with a hint of sarcasm,
“How is it that someone so young has a worse memory than my grandmother?”
The smile on Zhu Xiaoyue’s face froze.
The surrounding coworkers immediately turned to look.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Zhu Xiaoyue’s voice rose an octave.
Rong Jiqiao didn’t answer.
She walked straight to the reception computer and clicked open the surveillance system.
“What are you doing?” Zhu Xiaoyue stood up.
“Checking the cameras.”
Rong Jiqiao moved efficiently, quickly locating the footage from that morning.
On the screen, Zhu Xiaoyue was sitting at the front desk. She accepted the registration slip from the patient, wrote a few words on it, then casually stuffed it into a drawer without ever opening the registration system.
Rong Jiqiao then pulled up the operation log for the registration software and pointed at the screen.
“From eight to ten this morning, this employee account was only being used by you.”
The color drained from Zhu Xiaoyue’s face.
Several nurses gathered around to look. One of them said quietly,
“That’s not right. Zhu Xiaoyue, you clearly said Sister Jiqiao entered it.”
Biting her lip, Zhu Xiaoyue’s voice trembled.
“I… I just remembered it wrong, okay? Did you really have to make such a big deal out of it?”
“Remembered it wrong?”
Rong Jiqiao pulled up the footage showing the patient slamming the desk.
“When I was taking the blame for you, why didn’t you say you remembered it wrong then?”
The head nurse emerged from the office carrying a medical chart.
“What’s all this noise about?”
Zhu Xiaoyue quickly wiped at the corners of her eyes, her voice taking on a tearful tone.
“Head Nurse, I was just careless for a moment. Sister Jiqiao refuses to let it go.”
The head nurse walked over to the computer and stared at the screen for several seconds.
Her expression darkened.
“Is Director Lin here?”
“Yes,” someone answered.
“Call her over.”
Director Lin arrived shortly afterward.
After reviewing the surveillance footage and the system logs, she spoke coldly.
“Zhu Xiaoyue, your bonus for this month is canceled. Half of your performance pay will also be deducted.”
Tears immediately welled up in Zhu Xiaoyue’s eyes.
“Director, I—”
“Enough.”
Director Lin cut her off.
“Do you understand how much negative impact it could have on the clinic when you shift responsibility in front of a patient?”
Zhu Xiaoyue bit her lip as tears streamed down her face.
Director Lin looked at her.
“Apologize to Rong Jiqiao.”
Zhu Xiaoyue stood frozen.
Her fingers twisted the hem of her clothes so tightly that her nails nearly dug into the fabric.
“Sorry.”
The words were barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz.
Rong Jiqiao said nothing and turned away to help carry supplies.
Director Lin gave a few more instructions before leaving the reception area.
Zhu Xiaoyue sat back down in her chair with her head lowered, her shoulders trembling from suppressed sobs.
…
By the time Rong Jiqiao got off work and returned home, it was completely dark.
The motion-sensor light in the hallway had been broken for half a month, and property management still hadn’t fixed it.
The stairwell was pitch black.
Feeling her way along the wall, she climbed the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the building.
Just as she reached the third-floor landing, the smell of cigarette smoke drifted toward her.
Someone was leaning against the wall, smoking.
Rong Jiqiao slowed her steps.
A man’s voice suddenly sounded from the darkness.
“Well, look who’s back, little miss?”