After Song Jiang had cried herself out, Xu You took her back to the dormitory.
“The director contacted Uncle Liang. He won’t be able to come pick you up until the day after tomorrow. You’ll stay here for the next two days.”
Song Jiang looked around Xu You’s dormitory. She could see the entire room at a glance. There was barely anything inside, and Xu You lived almost like an ascetic.
Song Jiang was exhausted. After everything that had happened, she had reached her limit. The moment her head touched the bed, she closed her eyes.
Xu You closed the door behind her and walked out, only to see two young soldiers from the security department standing nearby.
“Dr. Xu, the military district isn’t an ordinary place. Director Yang is worried that she might hurt someone, so he told us to stay here and keep watch over her these two days.”
“Okay. Thank you for your hard work.”
The young soldiers hurriedly shook their heads.
“It’s no trouble. It’s what we’re supposed to do.”
Xu You took her lunchbox and went to the cafeteria to get some food.
On the way, she even had the thought that luckily she wasn’t the department director. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to leave so many people and matters in the emergency department unattended.
Xu You got one meat dish and one vegetable dish and headed back.
On the way, she ran into Chen Qingsong’s mother.
Mother Chen glanced at the boxed meal in Xu You’s hand and raised an eyebrow.
“I heard your former mother-in-law came?”
Xu You guessed why Mother Chen had come. She was exhausted and had no energy to deal with her, so she simply spoke bluntly.
“Auntie, I’m widowed, not divorced. Whether I get married again or not, she’s still my mother-in-law.”
Mother Chen immediately raised her voice.
“I’ve treated you with all my heart, and you won’t even call me Mom! Your former mother-in-law caused such a scene at the hospital, and you’re still rushing to get food for her and wait on her. Are you stupid? Where does that leave my Chen family’s dignity?”
Xu You said, “Chen Qingsong and I aren’t married. If I call you Mom now, would you dare answer?”
“I… I…”
In the past, Mother Chen would have happily answered.
But now she didn’t dare.
Chen Qingsong was her only remaining son. She was afraid that Xu You might quarrel with him and somehow make her son disappear without anyone knowing.
“Since you don’t dare answer, then don’t block my way. When Chen Qingsong returns from his mission, I’ll hear from him personally whether he wants to marry me or not.”
“My Qingsong is away on a mission. Who knows when he’ll return? If you still want to marry into our Chen family, you should make your former mother-in-law publicly clear your name. Otherwise, everyone will think you’re a lunatic who opened up your own husband’s skull for the sake of improving your medical skills.”
Xu You had been having her wounds ripped open again and again by other people until she could no longer feel the pain.
She looked at Mother Chen expressionlessly.
“But I did recklessly perform a craniotomy and failed to save him. Auntie, why don’t you tell me how I’m supposed to clear my name?”
Mother Chen had still been holding onto a sliver of hope that the crazy woman’s accusations were false, that the rumors were false.
She never expected Xu You to actually admit it.
“How could a young girl like you dare perform brain surgery on someone? Are you crazy too? Our Chen family will never accept a lunatic as a daughter-in-law. I won’t let Qingsong marry you.”
Xu You said, “Auntie, our leaders all advocate freedom of marriage. I’ll listen to Comrade Chen Qingsong. If he dares to marry me, I dare to marry him. You can’t stop us.”
Mother Chen had failed to gain the upper hand, so she threw down a few harsh words before storming away.
When Xu You returned to the family compound, Song Jiang still hadn’t woken up.
She kept the boxed meal warm in hot water and left.
She knew Song Jiang didn’t want to see her, so she didn’t stay.
Xu You returned to the emergency department, where Dr. Pan and the others all asked her concernedly,
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Xu You gently shook her head.
“But I don’t have anywhere to sleep these next two days. Can I switch night shifts with you?”
Dr. Pan said, “Switching shifts isn’t a problem, but if you work during the day and then work nights too, can your body handle it?”
Xu You pointed around her.
“After my reputation as a surgical maniac spread, hardly anyone will come to see me even during the night shift.”
Zhu Lin frowned.
“Who talks about themselves like that? And, young lady, stop frowning all the time.”
She raised her hand and manually smoothed out Xu You’s tightly furrowed brows.
The young nurses also laughed.
“Dr. Xu, you look best when you’re arguing with people. You look the most confident then.”
Xu You smiled lightly.
“That’s what you said. Be careful, or I’ll argue with you every day from now on.”
“We’d love that. You’ve argued with us plenty in the past. Somehow, our professional skills have improved from getting lectured by you. Even the head nurse praised us and said we no longer look like trainee nurses. We’ll definitely become full-time nurses.”
The atmosphere in the emergency department was harmonious.
The others knew Xu You would be staying at the hospital these two days, so they would deliberately arrive a little earlier to let her rest a bit longer.
Whenever Xu You had a break, she had the young soldiers deliver three meals a day to Song Jiang.
Until the day Song Jiang was leaving.
“I want to see Xiao You.”
Xu You refused.
When Song Jiang heard the answer, she covered her eyes and cried.
“Does she really have nothing to say to me? Not even a word? Even if it’s resentment, even if it’s hatred, nothing?”
The young soldier who delivered the message shook his head.
“Dr. Xu said she has nothing to say.”
Song Jiang cried bitterly, as if she wanted to cry out all the confusion and grief she had lived through during the past two years.
“Please help me tell Director Yang something. I’m willing to publicly clear Xiao You’s name. Also, have Xiao You’s husband take me to the train station.”
“Hello.”
The military hospital’s broadcast system suddenly came on, right during the busiest part of the morning.
Patients, family members, and medical staff all instinctively looked toward the loudspeaker.
“I’m sorry for taking up a little of everyone’s time. I’m Xu You’s former mother-in-law. I… I previously had an episode and caused a scene at the hospital. Many of you probably saw it, or at least heard about it.”
“I wasn’t in my right mind and said many things that weren’t true. My son’s death had nothing to do with Dr. Xu. I simply couldn’t accept what happened and took my anger out on her.”
Song Jiang clenched her fists and took a deep breath, speaking extremely slowly.
“My son was also an excellent surgeon. That day, he was driving an ambulance to pick up an unconscious patient. On the way, while trying to avoid four children who were running after one another, he crashed into a stone wall outside someone’s home. By the time he was found, he had only a breath left.”
Song Jiang’s choked voice came through the loudspeaker, and everyone involuntarily stopped what they were doing.
“That day, almost every surgical director in Shanghai came. Every single one of them shook their heads. They all said that their medical skills weren’t enough and that there was nothing they could do to snatch him back from the King of Hell.”
“Only Xu You, the wife my son cherished above all else, put on her surgical gown and said she wanted to try.”
“If… if my son had known that Xu You would be gambling away the rest of her career as a surgeon for that tiny, almost impossible hope, he probably would have rather taken his last breath right there.”
Song Jiang’s voice trembled.
Reliving the pain of losing her son was no different from tearing open an old wound and stabbing it repeatedly.
“Xu You, my good child.”
“Forgive me for only coming to my senses now. And forgive me for only now passing on my son’s final words.”
“Liang Jin said he was in so much pain, but he held on and insisted on getting onto that operating table because he wanted to give you a chance. He wanted to help you become the finest surgeon.”
“He always believed that you would become one of the greatest surgeons in the future. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to see it himself. So he asked me to watch you grow in his place.”
“He told me to treat you twice as well, to make up for his share. When the day comes that you become a truly outstanding surgeon, you must go to his grave and tell him yourself.”
“Xu You, my child, I broke my promise to Liang Jin. You won’t break yours, will you?”
Song Jiang hurriedly switched off the loudspeaker, but her anguished sobs still leaked through for another second or two.
Everyone was affected by it. Some had already begun wiping away tears.
Even the grown men couldn’t help reddening their eyes.
“Damn it. Do you know how hard it is for our country to train a doctor? How could someone like that just be gone? Did those children receive any punishment?”
No one answered him.
Regardless of whether those children had been punished, the person was already gone.