Su Jingshen pressed his thin lips together, his gaze slightly darkening—clearly displeased with her behavior.
But he didn’t argue and went out to eat first.
Shen Qingli realized a little late that her behavior had indeed been improper.
Still, she didn’t want to make amends. She had already decided to leave; there was no point worrying about it.
The next morning, Shen Qingli arrived at Ning’an Hospital early. Yesterday had only been an introduction; today marked her official first day.
She didn’t go straight to the office but headed to the logistics department to collect her white coat, stethoscope, and other supplies.
Just as she reached the door, she overheard two people talking inside:
“Did you hear? The surgery department got someone who came in through connections.”
“I heard she’s from a small county. She didn’t even finish supervised training and already started independent consultations.”
“If anything goes wrong, she’ll be crying over it for sure.”
Shen Qingli pursed her lips. At Xia’an Hospital, she could understand being targeted without connections.
But now, coming here with Zhou Taimin’s recommendation, she still had to endure gossip.
She lowered her long lashes slightly, determined not to start trouble on her first day. Most people who got easy tasks in the hospital had backing.
As she was trying to keep calm, Sun Yan’s voice suddenly cut through, scolding on her behalf:
“Jiang Youhong, Su Yuqing, are you two just sitting around with nothing to do?”
Shen Qingli looked back at her, feeling a flicker of gratitude.
Even knowing that favors never came without reason, and that her attitude yesterday hadn’t been perfect, Sun Yan’s support mattered regardless of motive.
Su Yuqing, with a delicate face, muttered indifferently:
“It was just a couple of words, it’s not a big deal.”
Jiang Youhong, with long wavy hair and bright red nails, snorted:
“You’re upset over that? You need some mental toughness in a hospital. Otherwise, you’ll be crying at difficult patients.”
Sun Yan’s expression remained cold:
“When you relied on your fathers and husbands to get easy jobs here, did you ever think about whether you could have gotten in without connections?”
The two went silent. They weren’t angry—luxury makes it hard to care about small annoyances.
After a short while, she brought out everything Shen Qingli needed and set it on the table.
Shen Qingli signed, took her items, and walked out with Sun Yan. She smiled:
“Thanks.”
Sun Yan grinned:
“No need to thank me. Don’t get upset. That’s just how the hospital is—busy people use power, idle ones gossip.”
“Got it.” Shen Qingli had experienced far worse workplace bullying. This was trivial.
She carried her supplies to the office, put on her white coat and mask, organized her things, and sat down.
At that moment, a tall, lean patient walked in, handing her the registration slip:
“Dr. Shen, look at this lump on my back. It hurts when touched, even the clothes rubbing against it are painful. I also have a fever.”
He lifted his shirt. Shen Qingli saw a pus-filled abscess about the size of a quail egg, round and gray-purple.
She said calmly:
“This needs to be opened to drain the pus, followed by two days of IV antibiotics. I’ll write you a prescription now. Go pay for the supplies and then come back; I’ll treat it.”
“Okay,” the man responded.
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Shen Qingli wrote the prescription. Soon, he returned with the supplies.
It was a minor case—not requiring the operating room or anesthesia. She sterilized the scalpel, made the incision, drained the pus, applied medication, and bandaged it.
She was careful and meticulous. The tall, lean man initially worried she might be rough, but he felt no pain.
He glanced at her. Though masked, her eyes and brows were gentle and beautiful. Judging by that, her face below must be equally delicate and perfect. His cheeks warmed, and he smiled faintly:
“Dr. Shen, how come I’ve never seen you before?”
“Do you come here often?” she asked.
“Not really,” he admitted honestly.
Shen Qingli smiled:
“Then there’s no way you would know me.”
Zhao Wenbo was speechless. He wanted to get to know her but felt embarrassed to say so.
Shen Qingli didn’t mind. After finishing, she carried his supplies:
“I’ll take these to the nurse station for IV. Any movement might hurt your wound.”
Zhao Wenbo’s gaze lingered on her masked face. He hadn’t expected her to be so approachable.
He lightly nodded, following her.
Shen Qingli led him to the IV area at the end of the corridor. There, she happened to see Instructor Zhou Jiarun and Su Jingshen coming up the stairs.
She lowered her eyes slightly and continued walking, trying not to be noticed.
Zhou Jiarun suddenly froze. His eyes were fixed on her back.
Could he be mistaken?
Her features looked exactly like Shen Qingli’s—and the back, too.
Su Jingshen, behind him, frowned:
“What’s wrong?”
Zhou Jiarun pointed at her:
“The doctor up ahead wearing a mask—it looks like Shen Qingli.”
Su Jingshen looked over but only saw a flash of white coat before she entered the IV room.
He frowned:
“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
Zhou Jiarun paused, then said:
“Right, this is a municipal hospital. She wasn’t even prominent at the county hospital. She could master skills with a year of supervision, maybe two. There’s no way she could get into a municipal hospital.”
Su Jingshen didn’t think much of it either. As Zhou Jiarun said, Shen Qingli didn’t have the credentials to enter Ning’an Hospital.
He never expected her to get in. As long as she stayed out of trouble at home, he was thankful.
He accompanied Zhou Jiarun to the respiratory infection department, watched them finish, collected the medicine, and left.
Shen Qingli returned to her clinic. Even without looking out the window, she could spot his tall, upright figure in the crowd, like a young poplar tree.
He had never accompanied her to see patients.
Even when she had high fevers and looked pale and exhausted, he never cared.
His gaze had never lingered on her face—how could she expect concern from him?
Before, any minor discomfort would swell in her mind until she cried. Now, though a pang of sadness lingered, she felt calm.
She took a deep breath and began seeing patients again. By noon, she grabbed her lunchbox and headed to the cafeteria.