The train clattered and rumbled, rocking along for three days and two nights.
Leaning against the window of her hard-seat carriage, Lin Wanshu watched the scenery outside recede rapidly—shifting from flat plains to rolling hills, and finally to endless, cascading mountain ranges.
The Southwest Military District. She had arrived!
……
The General Hospital of the Southwest Military District.
Two sentries holding rifles stood guard at the entrance. Painted on the white walls was a slogan in bold red characters: “Heal the Wounded and Rescue the Dying, Practice Revolutionary Humanitarianism.”
Lin Wanshu clutched the letter of introduction in her hand, took a deep breath, and walked over. Right after she finished registering at the gate, a middle-aged man wearing glasses and a white lab coat quickly marched out from inside.
“You must be Comrade Lin Wanshu, right?”
“Yes, I am. And you are?”
“I’m Director Wang from the Medical Affairs Office,” the man said, his face brimming with a warm smile as he stepped forward to shake her hand. “I’ve been looking forward to your arrival like one longs for the stars and the moon. You’re finally here!”
Lin Wanshu was caught a bit off guard by this sudden wave of enthusiasm. “Director Wang, you are far too polite.”
“Not at all, not at all! We are sorely lacking top-tier students like you!” Director Wang said as he led her inside. “How was it? Was your journey smooth? The climate here in the Southwest is quite damp; you’ll have to take your time to adjust.”
“It was very good, thank you for your concern, Director.”
“I’ve reviewed your file. It’s rare for us to get a top graduate from the Provincial Medical School.” Director Wang’s eyes practically shone as he spoke. “Everyone else shuns the harsh conditions of the Southwest Military District, choosing big hospitals in the cities or provincial capitals instead. I never expected that your internship preference would actually be our Southwest Military District Hospital!”
Lin Wanshu merely offered a demure, shy smile.
In her heart, however, she was thinking: The military district! The shy, big boys here, with their narrow waists, broad shoulders, and long legs…
Of course she was going to come here!
“Your dormitory has already been arranged. It’s two to a room, right in the building out back. Come with me to the office to finish the paperwork first, and then I’ll have a nurse take you over to drop off your luggage.”
“By the way, regarding the department for your internship…” Director Wang paused, looking at her.
“I will comply with whatever assignment the organization deems fit,” Lin Wanshu immediately stated her stance.
“Excellent! What a great attitude!” Director Wang slapped his thigh. “Your specialty is surgery. After some deliberation, the hospital administration feels that a fine young sprout like you needs to be placed where the training is most rigorous. So, you’ll be going to the Emergency Department.”
The Emergency Department?
Lin Wanshu’s heart skipped a beat. She knew very well that the ER was the most grueling, exhausting place in a hospital, and the ultimate test of a doctor’s comprehensive skills. With all kinds of sudden emergencies and every type of patient imaginable, it was practically a battlefield.
“What’s wrong? Scared?” Director Wang asked with a smile, noticing her silence.
“Not at all.” Lin Wanshu straightened her posture. “I’m just… a little excited.”
“Haha, great! Young people ought to have this kind of drive!” Director Wang was highly satisfied with her response. “Let’s go take care of the paperwork first.”
……
The paperwork was processed very quickly.
Director Wang brought her over to the nurse’s station and called out to a nurse who was buried in writing nursing logs. “Xiao Chen, come over here for a moment.”
The nurse looked up. She appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a neat, short haircut and a pair of large, bright eyes. “Director Wang.”
“This is our new intern doctor, Comrade Lin Wanshu. Take her to the dorm to get her luggage settled, and then bring her to the Emergency Department to report for duty.”
“You got it,” the nurse, addressed as Sister Chen, agreed readily. She smiled and extended her hand to Lin Wanshu. “Hello, my name is Chen Yi. You can just call me Sister Chen from now on.”
“Hello, Sister Chen,” Lin Wanshu quickly extended her hand as well. Chen Yi’s grip was warm and firm—clearly the hands of a brisk, efficient worker.
“Let’s go, I’ll show you to the dorm.”
On the way to the dormitory, Chen Yi opened up the floodgates of conversation. “Which school did you graduate from? You look so young.”
“The Provincial Medical School.”
“Oh my, that’s an excellent university! No wonder Director Wang was muttering about it all morning, saying the hospital had acquired a real treasure.” Chen Yi giggled, covering her mouth.
Lin Wanshu felt a bit self-conscious.
“Being assigned to the ER, you’d better prepare yourself mentally,” Chen Yi warned. “Our head nurse’s nickname is the ‘Black Widow.’ She wears a stony expression with everyone and has incredibly strict standards. Not a single new doctor or nurse has escaped being brought to tears by her lectures.”
The Black Widow? An image of a woman in a black robe holding a whip popped into Lin Wanshu’s mind.
“But our head nurse is all bark and no bite,” Chen Yi added. “Her professional skills are number one in the entire hospital. You can learn real capability by following her.”
The dormitory was on the third floor, facing south, and was very bright and airy. The room wasn’t large but was kept spotlessly clean. It had two single beds, two desks, and a shared wardrobe.
The other bed was already made up with bedding, and various daily necessities were neatly arranged on the desk.
“Your roommate is named Li Hong. She’s an intern who arrived in the same batch as you, but she’s from the nursing school and was assigned to Internal Medicine. She’s a good person, just a bit introverted and doesn’t talk much,” Chen Yi explained as she helped carry the luggage inside.
“Thank you, Sister Chen.”
“Don’t mention it.” Chen Yi waved her hand. “Unpack your things first; I’ll wait for you here. Once you’re done, I’ll take you to report to the ER.”
Lin Wanshu organized her belongings in no time, changed into her white lab coat, and followed Chen Yi toward the Emergency Department.
Before they even stepped through the door, the pungent scent of disinfectant rushed over her. Inside, people were hustling and bustling past in a hurry. Nurses threaded through the crowd pushing treatment carts, while the groans of patients and the anxious inquiries of family members echoed occasionally. A nurse was changing the dressing for a soldier with a gashed forehead, her movements practiced yet gentle.
This was the place where she would be fighting in the days to come. Far from feeling afraid, Lin Wanshu felt her blood begin to boil with excitement.
“Head Nurse!” Chen Yi pulled Lin Wanshu along and called out to a nurse who was currently facing away from them, measuring a patient’s blood pressure.
The figure turned around.
She looked to be around forty years old and had maintained an excellent figure; the white lab coat she wore didn’t have a single crease. Her hair was pulled back into a meticulously neat bun behind her head. Her face was completely expressionless, and when her gaze swept over, it felt as sharp as a knife.
Lin Wanshu’s heart shivered slightly. This must be the legendary ‘Black Widow.’
“What is it?” The head nurse’s voice, much like the woman herself, was crisp and direct, entirely devoid of any extra warmth.
“Head Nurse, this is the newly assigned intern doctor, Lin Wanshu,” Chen Yi said, giving Lin Wanshu a gentle nudge forward.
The head nurse’s gaze lingered on Lin Wanshu’s face for two seconds before sizing her up from head to toe.
“The new arrival?” Her brow furrowed slightly. “Wash your hands and follow me.” With that, she turned and walked away.
Stunned for a fraction of a second, Lin Wanshu quickly kept pace.
The head nurse led her through the noisy corridor and into a treatment room. Inside, a young soldier was lying on a bed. There was a deep gash on his lower leg that exposed the bone, leaving the flesh raw and bloody.
“Perform the debridement for that casualty,” the head nurse instructed, pointing at the soldier on the bed. Her tone was flat, as if she were speaking of the most ordinary matter imaginable.
This was… an exam on her very first day?
Lin Wanshu’s heart instantly leaped into her throat.