No Big Problem!
Dr. Liang’s professionalism was still excellent. She said nothing, only explained patiently, “Just hold him a little. He might move in a moment.”
“Oh.” Situ Yuwan: “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. H-how do I hold him?”
Liang Zishu: “Any way is fine, as long as you’re comfortable.”
She took the vaccine and iodine syringe out of the small metal tray.
Situ Yuwan supported 315’s chin with one palm, the other hand rubbing his butt, leaning her body in while also watching Dr. Liang’s movements.
Liang Zishu tore open the packaging and began drawing the needle. Her movements slowed, her gaze focused. Then she flicked the barrel and expelled the air with a few tap-tap-tap sounds.
Situ Yuwan stared fixedly. She watched the needle tip push out a clear drop of liquid, and she smelled the sharp scent of alcohol.
She had always thought that what was more terrifying than getting a shot was the minute before the shot, when the doctor stood there in front of her, waving all those instruments around. When she was little, she had been most afraid of finger pricks during checkups!
She held 315 a little tighter.
Liang Zishu reached over, lifted a patch of fur near 315’s nape, and swabbed iodine with an alcohol pad.
315 twitched slightly.
Liang Zishu stroked his fur, soothed him with a soft hum, and said in a low voice, “It’s okay, 315.”
The alcohol pad was placed on the metal tray. Her right hand held the needle, while her left came over first to gently pat near the nape.
Situ Yuwan’s hand was under 315’s chin, their hands very close together, and she could feel the warmth of both cat and person at the same time.
Liang Zishu’s movements were professional and crisp, her expression calm, her voice always gentle as she said, “It’ll be over very soon. It won’t hurt. Don’t be nervous…… It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
Situ Yuwan looked over again. This person had suddenly become awfully chatty.
She smiled and asked Liang Zishu, “Can he understand?”
Liang Zishu lowered her head to give the shot, her movements brisk as she pushed the syringe. “He can’t understand.”
Situ Yuwan: “Then what are you comforting?”
Three seconds later, the syringe reached the end. Liang Zishu withdrew the needle, lifted her eyes, met her gaze, and said without a ripple, “The family.”
Situ Yuwan was a little dumbfounded.
Huh?
Why are you even more Dr. Liang than I imagined Dr. Liang would be?
Liang Zishu didn’t linger. She let go with both hands, leaned back, sat down again, tidied up the things, spun her chair around, stepped on the yellow trash bin, took off her gloves, and in one smooth, flowing motion finished everything.
After waiting a long time, maybe not that long, though Situ Yuwan couldn’t quite tell, Liang Zishu finally sat back down. She leaned close to 315, stroked the back of his head, and said, “Very well-behaved, 315.” Praise.
“After the shot, he needs to be observed in the hospital for thirty minutes. You can go to the front desk to pay first.” Her tone turned a little more formal, then she held 315 with both hands and put him back into the cat bag, patting his head to soothe him before zipping it closed.
“Oh.” Situ Yuwan understood. Situ Yuwan stood up. Situ Yuwan pointed at the cat bag.
“It’s fine. You can stay here too.” Liang Zishu also stood, hands in the pockets of her white coat as she walked over. She stood tall and straight. Passing Situ Yuwan, she opened the door, letting her go first and then walking out with her.
Doctor’s orders: “Don’t deworm or bathe him for the next few days. Cats may get sleepy or develop a fever after vaccination. That’s normal. If you feel like it’s serious, or if you really can’t feel at ease, you can always bring him back to the hospital.”
They walked shoulder to shoulder down the corridor and happened to run into Dr. Lei, who, before entering the exam room, scanned the two of them once, then greeted Dr. Liang and finally landed on Situ Yuwan.
“The shot’s done?” Dr. Lei asked.
Situ Yuwan: “Mm-hm, mm-hm. Dr. Liang’s technique is really good.”
Dr. Lei glanced back at Liang Zishu, smiled, said nothing, and returned to her own consultation room.
A little farther on, Liang Zishu continued, “The second shot is three to four weeks from now. 315’s vaccination timing is much later than the average cat’s. My suggestion is to do it as soon as possible. Of course, what you did wasn’t wrong. For a kitten like this that has trauma and is prone to stress, the first thing is to adapt to the environment. For him, feeling safe is the most important thing.”
A very long stretch of talk, professional insight, a whole pile of suggestions and analysis.
Situ Yuwan’s takeaway was, “What if I can’t get your appointment three weeks from now?”
Liang Zishu paused, not expecting her to answer like that.
Situ Yuwan lowered her voice, “Mainly, you know, my cat’s situation……” selling misery.
Liang Zishu lowered her head a little and replied offhandedly, “Is it really that hard to book?”
The phrase “really” usually meant that the person had some initial awareness of how hard it was to book her, the question simply confirming it.
Situ Yuwan: “Mm.” Yes.
Only a few steps remained. Liang Zishu gave no reply, and the two of them stopped together at the front desk.
Neither of them spoke. Situ Yuwan tactfully treated the topic as finished, then said to Lin Qiang, who was seated there, “Hello, I’m here to pay.”
Lin Qiang stood up. Just then Liang Zishu spoke, “Our system opens appointments one week in advance.”
With that lead-in, the two people beside her both turned to look at her.
Liang Zishu spoke at last, “Xiao Lin, help her with it. Reserve a second feline triple vaccine for next month in advance and get it done early.”
At this sentence, Lin Qiang suddenly turned back and locked eyes with Li Qing behind her, their silent conversation running eight thousand words.
Situ Yuwan was blown about in the wind.
Liang Zishu ignored it, looked at Li Qing, and in work mode said, “Any forms to sign?”
Lin Qiang came back to herself and said to Situ Yuwan, “You’re paying, right, Miss Situ? Do you need any pet supplies? Snacks, cans, that sort of thing.”
Situ Yuwan, as the saying went, you can suffer yourself but not the child, poor yourself and rich-raise the baby, very generous indeed: “Sure, pick out a few things.”
“Okay.” Lin Qiang went to the shelves in back, grabbed a small basket, and started choosing things.
Situ Yuwan waited for her. Seeing that there was still time, she rather naturally and matter-of-factly struck up conversation with Liang Zishu, “Um…… Dr. Liang……”
Liang Zishu didn’t look at her. She reached out to take the clipboard Li Qing handed over, and with the other hand pulled a pen from her pocket, answering casually with a hum that meant, Go on.
“How about we leave a contact method?” Situ Yuwan’s expression was fairly relaxed, unhurried, with a proper reason: “Because my home isn’t very close to the hospital. If anything comes up, it’d be best to handle it online.”
Lin Qiang and Li Qing once again exchanged looks.
Meanwhile Liang Zishu remained calm and composed. She knew the person beside her was looking at her, but she didn’t look back, still busy with what she was doing, flipping through the documents on the clipboard page by page.
The response came through action. Her right hand moved forward, and without even looking she accurately found the acrylic card holder on the desk, pulled out one card, turned her wrist and handed it over to Situ Yuwan. The whole motion was crisp and decisive, with no speech and no hesitation.
“On it are the hospital customer service and the front desk. If anything happens, call the front desk number. I’ll know.” Liang Zishu.
No private chat. Please go through the proper process.
Lin Qiang and Li Qing quietly added another eight thousand words to their conversation.
Situ Yuwan pinched the card between her index and middle finger, her fingers slender, the joints faintly pink.
She stared at that scene, then after two seconds took it with a stiff upper lip.
She put the card away, shoved it into her pocket, and looked up at Liang Zishu’s side profile, the corners of her mouth lifting as she hid a trace of grievance, meaning, okay, you’re cold, you’re heartless.
Situ Yuwan turned back and said to Lin Qiang, “Ring me up.”
Lin Qiang tapped on the keyboard: “315, first dose of the feline triple vaccine…… and canned food, cat treats……”
Li Qing had nothing to do beside her and asked, “How did you think of that name? It’s very distinctive.”
Situ Yuwan looked over, drew in a breath, gathering herself, and explained in a low voice, “Because I’m a designer.”
Suddenly no one spoke. The space here seemed to open up. Passersby beyond three meters came and went with occasional sounds, and a few cat meows.
Someone laughed, a very soft sound. The masked person’s eyes curved slightly, their shoulders lifting a little, the pen pausing for an instant before continuing.
Situ Yuwan turned her head and shot a glance. What are you laughing at?
It wasn’t as if she was saying it for them, but Li Qing and Lin Qiang didn’t understand, so she explained to Li Qing, “315. Anti counterfeit…… anti fake…… side.”
The two people in front of her fell silent. If she remembered correctly, it was June now, and winter had come.
A long while.
“Maybe let’s pay first.” Liang Zishu reminded her suddenly, her voice still carrying a smile, but it was indeed a kind reminder.
Lin Qiang hurriedly picked up the thread, “The first shot is one hundred eighty, then the canned food, cat treats, and cat teaser wand are one hundred twenty, total three hundred. WeChat or Alipay?”
“Alipay.” Situ Yuwan opened the QR code and handed it over.
Lin Qiang scanned it. After a beep, Situ Yuwan drew her hand back.
Then the deduction failed.
Lin Qiang looked up strangely at Situ Yuwan, her eyes saying something and then stopping. Situ Yuwan quickly reacted, lowered her head, and saw that her Alipay balance only had one hundred sixty-two yuan and three jiao.
No one spoke for the moment, and very quickly Situ Yuwan said, “Wait a moment.” She lowered her head and tapped on her phone, her hands moving. She switched to paying with a bank card and handed it over again.
After a beep, the deduction failed.
Still no one spoke for the moment. The air instantly turned into reinforced concrete. She knew Liang Zishu had turned to look over at this point.
Lin Qiang’s voice was even a little weak. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Miss Situ, maybe it’s, um……” She leaned in and lowered her voice, “There’s no money in this card anymore.”
Impossible!
Situ Yuwan could feel herself heating up. This was a level of social death she had never imagined, and what was more, the person standing beside her made her social death one notch higher.
Situ Yuwan was a little flustered and opened her bank card balance to see what was going on.
That didn’t make sense. She’d been a bit strapped lately, yes, but not to the point of not being able to pay three hundred yuan, right? She remembered that when she checked the balance after buying the big item last week, there had still been over eight thousand in this card. She hadn’t had any major expenses this week, and had been using her change. She hadn’t touched this card at all, so why had the payment suddenly failed?
Who had taken her money!
Oh, the car loan.
Then it was fine.
……No, that still didn’t make sense, right? The car loan had auto-deducted six thousand, so there should still be two thousand left!
Who had taken her money!
Oh, social security.
Then this time it really was fine.
Situ Yuwan pulled her phone back and started rummaging through her bag, fishing a long wallet out of her luxury leather tote bag: “Three hundred exactly, right? I’ll pay cash.”
It really wasn’t to the point of not having three hundred yuan. She had been out of work these past few months. The apartment was rented, paid half a year at a time, and she had just handed over several tens of thousands last month. The car was under financing, with six thousand auto-deducted every month. Now that she had no job, she had to pay her own social security, and she still hadn’t told her family she was unemployed. She was still sending them living expenses every month too. Situ Yuwan was indeed in the awkward state of preparing to live off her savings, but after all, she had been a white-collar worker for so long. Her previous job was glamorous and fairly high-paying, so she did have savings, only they were in a fixed-term deposit and couldn’t be touched for the time being.
As for what Dr. Liang thought, maybe she didn’t even care to think about it. Situ Yuwan wasn’t good at explaining. Though she did care a little about Liang Zishu’s impression of her, there was no need to drag the other person into saying a whole lot of irrelevant things like I’m really not as poor as you think.
She paid in a way that pretended she wasn’t embarrassed or nervous, ignored Liang Zishu’s gaze, treated her like air, and buried her head in the sand.
And Liang Zishu really was looking at her, watching her open her wallet, reach in for money, and take out three red bills. Her gaze did not follow Situ Yuwan’s hand, but remained on the wallet.
Because she saw the hospital business card, the one she had just given Situ Yuwan, the one already tucked into her pocket. An identical one, inside the transparent pocket of her card holder, in the place where most people usually kept important or meaningful photos.