After they entered the city, the Jeep stopped at the official guesthouse.
Chen Qingsong helped Xu You check in.
“This place is quieter than the hospital guesthouse. You’re a young woman staying here by yourself, so I’ll feel more at ease.”
Fang Zhiyang nudged Shen Xu with his elbow.
“Look at how sweet those two are together.”
Shen Xu said lightly, “Chen Qingsong told me that he plans to submit a marriage application in a while.”
Fang Zhiyang looked at Shen Xu with pity.
Poor guy. His first taste of love had been doomed before it even began.
Shen Xu suppressed the urge to kick the idiot.
After Xu You finished checking in, she went back to her room to rest.
She hated trouble and was afraid of running into Chen Qingsong and the others, so she simply stayed in her room and munched on the leftover egg cakes.
After reading for a while, Xu You fell asleep.
She had no dreams all night.
Xu You was actually a little unaccustomed to it. She had no idea why, but these past two times she hadn’t taken her medicine, she hadn’t dreamed about that wild man either.
After washing up, Xu You went to a state-run restaurant for breakfast. She ordered half a serving of dumplings, ate until she was full, and then went to the post office.
She took out fifty yuan and handed it to the clerk.
“I’d like to send fifty yuan to this address.”
The clerk repeated the address.
“Is this address correct?”
“Yes. It’s for Liang Jin.”
Xu You’s voice was low and carried a trace of sadness, as if even saying this name was something she couldn’t bear to touch.
After leaving the post office, Xu You stood outside for quite a while before finally walking away.
As she stepped out of the entrance, she instinctively glanced back.
Unexpectedly, she saw Chu Ying walking out of the post office too.
What a coincidence.
Chu Ying was carrying a parcel, presumably there to pick it up.
Parcels for people at the military base were delivered directly to their homes by postal workers. Since Chu Ying had specifically come all the way into the city to collect hers, there was no need to think twice about why.
She was probably trying to keep it hidden from her mother-in-law, Chen.
When Chu Ying noticed Xu You looking at her, she instinctively tightened her grip on the parcel.
Xu You withdrew her gaze and headed back toward the guesthouse, planning to pack her bag and return to the military base.
As soon as Xu You entered the lobby, she saw seven or eight people running outside.
“Someone’s having an epileptic seizure! Run! Be careful you don’t catch it!”
Seeing Xu You still walking inside, one of the fleeing people grabbed her.
“What’s wrong with you, young lady? Why aren’t you listening? You’re still going inside! Be careful, you might catch epilepsy!”
Xu You said firmly, “I’m a doctor. I know epilepsy isn’t contagious. But if we don’t do anything, the person could die.”
When the guesthouse attendant heard that someone might die, she no longer dared to run.
“What should we do? If someone dies here, I’ll get fired!”
“I’ll go in and take a look.”
The attendant gritted her teeth and followed her inside.
Xu You hurried into the lobby and saw a man in his twenties lying on the floor with his body arched, convulsing violently and foaming at the mouth.
Xu You quickly turned him onto his side to prevent saliva from entering his airway.
“How long has the seizure been going on?”
The attendant answered, “It just started. He came here to check in. I was about to take his identification documents when he suddenly started shaking and collapsed.”
Xu You glanced at her watch and started timing.
“If the convulsions continue for more than five minutes, I’ll need you to find someone to take him to the hospital.”
The attendant nodded firmly.
“Okay.”
After four minutes, the patient’s convulsions gradually stopped.
When the man regained consciousness and realized he was still lying on the floor, he knew he had suffered another seizure.
He covered his face with his sleeve, unwilling to let anyone see him.
Xu You said gently, “Comrade, I just checked your pockets and didn’t find any medication. If this illness keeps recurring, the risk will become increasingly serious. It could eventually cost you your life.”
Every time Wu Qingsheng had a seizure outside, people would point at him and gossip. Some had even thrown rotten vegetables at him.
This was the first time he had ever heard such a gentle voice.
Wu Qingsheng slowly lowered his arm and finally saw Xu You’s face clearly.
It was a very clean, gentle face. There was no contempt in her eyes, nor was she deliberately trying to flatter him.
Xu You helped him up, suppressing the discomfort in her waist. In a gentle voice, she asked, “Have you ever gone to the hospital for an examination? The doctor should have prescribed phenytoin or phenobarbital for you.”
Wu Qingsheng gently shook his head.
“The side effects are too severe. I don’t want to become an idiot. With this broken body of mine, I’ll live as long as I’m meant to.”
Xu You helped Wu Qingsheng sit down on a chair, then picked up the books scattered across the floor.
They were all books about physics.
The contents were obscure and difficult to understand, yet they were filled with annotations.
She picked up his letter of introduction and casually glanced at it. She immediately noticed the words “research institute.”
Feeling a pang of sympathy, she asked, “Have you ever looked into surgery? There’s an old doctor in Shanghai who began researching intracranial electrode cauterization two years ago. It can be used to treat epilepsy. However, the risks are very high, and it can easily result in paralysis or death.”
“Really? Please, tell me which doctor.”
Xu You gave him the address of the hospital in Shanghai, along with the doctor’s name.
“You and your family need to think it through carefully. This surgery is still in its early stages, and the risks are extremely high.”
Wu Qingsheng nodded gratefully.
“If the surgery succeeds, I’ll definitely come back to find you and let you see the new me after I’ve been given a second chance at life.”
Xu You smiled and nodded.
“Okay. It’s a promise.”
Wu Qingsheng sat there for a while. When his epilepsy didn’t recur, he left first.
He also knew that there was no way this guesthouse would allow someone like him to stay there again.
Xu You was preparing to return to her room to pack her luggage. Just as she turned around, she saw Shen Xu standing in the corridor.
Xu You gently nodded at Shen Xu.
Then the two passed each other.
Shen Xu keenly heard Xu You let out a long sigh of relief after walking past him.
Was she really that unwilling to see him?
After Xu You packed her bag, she went to take the bus back.
Coincidentally, she ended up on the same bus as Chu Ying.
Neither of them spoke to the other.
However, Chu Ying’s gaze occasionally fell on Xu You.
Xu You didn’t care. As soon as she got on the bus, she leaned back and fell asleep, sleeping all the way to the entrance of the military base.
The moment she reached the entrance of the family housing compound, she was stopped by Regiment Commander Peng’s family.
“Xu You, you owe my son an explanation! If you hadn’t cursed my daughter-in-law into having a miscarriage, my grandson wouldn’t have died! And my daughter-in-law wouldn’t have almost lost her life!”
“You’re a widow whose husband is already dead, yet your heart is so filthy! How could you be so vicious as to curse someone else into having a miscarriage?”
“I curse a vicious woman like you too! May you never get married your entire life and remain an unwanted old widow forever!”
Chen Qingsong got out of the Jeep and hurried over. He stepped in front of Xu You protectively.
“Regiment Commander Peng, control your family. How can you speak to a young woman like that?”
Xu You stared at Chen Qingsong’s back, somewhat stunned.
Chen Qingsong looked around at everyone.
“And another thing—I’m going to marry Dr. Xu!”
The onlookers nodded one after another.
“Battalion Commander Chen has real integrity! There aren’t many men with that kind of sense of responsibility. Dr. Xu is truly lucky.”
“I heard that the night before last, it was all thanks to Dr. Xu recognizing that it was an incomplete miscarriage and keeping a close eye on the patient. Otherwise, Regiment Commander Peng’s wife might have died from massive bleeding.”
The night before last, the loudspeakers throughout the family housing compound had broadcast an emergency call at 999, and nearly every department director had rushed to the hospital. Most of the families in the compound knew what had happened.
Regiment Commander Peng’s family immediately argued back.
“Of course she kept an eye on her! She was the one who cursed my daughter-in-law into having a miscarriage in the first place! Who knows whether she deliberately gave my wife an abortion injection just to prove that her diagnosis was correct!”
“Exactly! I also heard that Xu You wants to become the director of the emergency department. Who knows whether she deliberately used this incident to prove how brilliant her medical skills are!”
“The more I think about it, the more frightened I become. How could the military hospital have a doctor like this? Who would dare go to the military hospital for treatment in the future?”
“From now on, we’ll go to the Second or Third Division hospitals whenever we need medical treatment!”