Free Web NovelChapter 398: Chapter 377: Strike First for the Upper Hand_1
He Shancun’s eyes blazed with fire, and his voice rose a degree as he continued:
"Have you all come to the wrong place? This is the emergency room of Central Hospital, not a court. I am just a doctor, only skilled in treating illnesses and saving lives. I’m really puzzled. Looking at you all, aren’t you a bit old? The four of you together must be over two hundred years, right?
Why are you all acting so irresponsibly? Oh, when she was raising the four of you alone, she managed just fine, didn’t she? Feeding, bathing, toilet, not a thing missed, never delayed a medical treatment, and let you all grow up this big. And now, you four can’t take care of her in her old age?
If you don’t want to treat her, you shouldn’t have come to the hospital at all. You want others to see you as filial, to earn yourselves a good reputation, but once you’re here, you complain about the doctors not saving lives. I want to ask you, how can treatment proceed without payment?
You’re making a scene in the hospital, talking about waiting for the house to be demolished or selling it right now, and the money for the urgent medical treatment has to be deducted from that, according to the proportion each of you should get so no one takes advantage of the other. Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?
I don’t care what you do or how you split the house, but granny isn’t at the point of receiving a critical illness notice yet. Hurry up and pay, so we can begin treatment. Otherwise, I will call the police. Luckily, we have an officer right here, so they can witness your behavior."
After such a tirade, Mr. Zhao hadn’t expected to be included as well.
He quickly put on a stern face and walked up to He Shancun, brandishing his work ID with a flick.
"I didn’t catch it all. Which one of you tell me, what exactly is going on here?"
Mr. Zhao’s stature, along with his anxious look, made him really seem like a leader when he stood there.
His gaze moved deliberately across the faces of the four, all of them becoming deflated, losing the energy they had just moments before, and hastily taking the bill from each other.
The oldest among them slightly bowed to Mr. Zhao.
"Officer, we just don’t understand, just consulting with the doctor a bit. The old lady is sick, and we’re all anxious, we got into a spat without meaning to. We’re all trying to get the old lady treatment, rest assured we’re going to pay right now."
As he spoke, he turned and ran towards the payment counter, the remaining three seeing this, didn’t dare to stand around any longer. After all, everyone was pointing fingers at them, and they all felt incredibly embarrassed at that moment.
Once the four had left, the area outside the resuscitation room finally quietened down. He Shancun motioned to the head nurse not far away.
"Did you get that recorded?"
The head nurse nodded, showing He Shancun the video.
"Don’t worry, it’s all recorded. I’ll report to the medical affairs office in a bit, I have experience with this kind of situation."
He Shancun let out a sigh of relief.
"I’m going to be a father soon. I don’t want to lose money over this, end up exhausted and still not appreciated. That would make me dirty. Thanks for your hard work, Mrs. Liu."
Mr. Zhao pressed his forehead, but seeing He Shancun still able to laugh, that meant the inside was going well.
"How’s it going inside? Can the child be saved?"
He Shancun nodded.
"Fortunately, when he drank the paraquat, it was mixed with milk, and the child seems to have been vomiting continuously, not causing any choking. The amount remaining in his body is very little. Now we’re doing gastric lavage, inducing vomiting, carrying out defecation, dialysis, and at the same time hydrating intensely to correct the water and electrolyte balance. We’re using medication to prevent pulmonary fibrosis, and, of course, the most fortunate thing is that he was brought to the hospital in time."
Relieved by this, Mr. Zhao took a deep breath.
"That’s good, that’s good. In your doctors’ office, Liu Yufei beat up her cousin. If something happened to the child, Mrs. Fei wouldn’t be able to live with herself, and the whole family would fall apart. By the way, where’s Zhou Xiaozhou? Is he still inside?"
He Shancun shook his head, looking around but not seeing Zhou Ning.
"He stayed for a while, then just went out to answer a call."
"Has the child regained consciousness? Why not let Liu Yufei and his father see him, so they can worry a little less?"
He Shancun glanced inside and shook his head slightly.
"Let’s wait a bit, I need to check the lab report in a while. Dialysis isn’t finished yet, though the child is conscious and his mood is fairly stable. I’ll come to call you when the dialysis is over. Also, don’t let Zhou Ning in, his police uniform makes the patients nervous."
"Alright, I’ll let him know in a bit," Mr. Zhao replied with a nod, smiling as He Shancun quickly put on a mask and headed inside.
A moment later, Zhou Ning entered from outside. Mr. Zhao stopped him, summarizing everything the doctors in the office had said and what Mr. He had mentioned. Zhou Ning sighed and nodded.
"We’re still fortunate. If we had found them even two hours later, the child might not be in the state he is now. Let’s go see Liu Yufei and the rest, I’m worried about her being alone."
Mr. Zhao hurriedly followed Zhou Ning toward the doctors’ office. As they entered, they saw a doctor sitting in the corner at a computer, typing away furiously and occasionally looking towards Liu Yufei.
The doctor really was quite handsome, and the way he looked at Liu Yufei, there was something different in his gaze.
Seeing Zhou Ning come in, Liu Yufei hurried over.
"Director Zhou, how is the situation inside?"
"Don’t worry, the rescue was timely. Mr. He is busy right now. Fortunately, the child has been vomiting, so there’s not much left in his system. Plus, we got him to the hospital in time, so all the measures are effective. But he is currently undergoing dialysis and it’s not convenient for him to move. He also shouldn’t get too excited. You going in might upset him, so it’s better to wait until the dialysis is done. Seeing him for yourself will put your mind at ease, won’t it?"
Liu Yufei nodded forcefully, her eyes reddening. Her previous strength and the tension she had been holding onto suddenly snapped, and she sat down on the chair, taking deep breaths.
Chen Xiaodong immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times to Zhou Ning. He was at some distance from Zhou Ning, and with such a sudden action, Zhou Ning didn’t even have time to react.
Zhou Ning and Mr. Zhao quickly helped him up, comforting him:
"Don’t be so anxious, no one wishes for such things to happen. If it could have been foreseen, you would have avoided it for sure. So, don’t feel guilty or blame yourself. The recovery is going to take a while.
"I think, before you go see the child, you should make arrangements. Ask the village committee members to help with picking the fruits in the orchard. The people from the village committee, as well as the neighbors, will also be eager to help."
Chen Xiaodong hesitated, holding an old-fashioned cellphone, unsure of what to do. Liu Yufei turned around and gave him a glance.
"When I tell you to go, you should hurry. Call the village head. Whether it’s crying or begging, just explain the situation thoroughly. Everyone can understand. The community will give you a hand, and later, you can go thank each one in person—that’s better than wasting a whole year’s effort, isn’t it?"
Upon hearing Liu Yufei’s words, Chen Xiaodong finally stood up and went out to make the call. A fruit farmer’s entire year’s effort really rested on this moment; otherwise, it would all be for nothing.
Liu Yufei looked at Zhou Ning and after a long pause, she finally spoke:
"Thank you, Director Zhou!"
Mr. Zhao came over from the side, joining in with a grin:
"Why call him Director Zhou? Just call him Zhou Xiaozhou. After all, we’ve been partners for more than a day or two. You coming to us with a problem makes us happy. It’d be like treating us as strangers if you didn’t. Later, why don’t you give a call to your aunt to let her know everything is safe?"
Liu Yufei shook her head. freewёbnoνel.com
"There’s no rush. Once we see the child and he’s able to speak, having him say a word will be more reassuring than us explaining a hundred times. That’s the best medicine for lowering blood pressure."
"Alright, alright, you’re Mrs. Fei, and whatever you say is right. Don’t be downcast now. We found the child and got him medical attention in time. Mr. He was even able to organize such rescue resources. We should be grateful. It’s good that the child has an aunt like you. Otherwise, who knows how others might handle it, and they wouldn’t have your alertness," Mr. Zhao said.
Liu Yufei shook her head, clearly exhausted by now. Zhou Ning got to his feet.
"You rest here for a bit. We’re not leaving; we’ll just wait outside the emergency room. When the child is done with dialysis, we’ll come get you. It’ll ease our minds to be here with you."
Without adding more, Liu Yufei acknowledged, and Zhou Ning, pulling Mr. Zhao with him, went out. Mr. Zhao looked confused.
"Hey, what’s the rush?"
"There’s no use in urging too much. The more you do, the more Liu Yufei will want to hit Chen Xiaodong. Frankly, I feel like hitting him myself. Sun Gaotie just called, said Mr. Zeng found out some things. That Zhu Weihua’s ex-husband has been confirmed, and the diagnosis was seen.
"Zhu Weihua has a temper disorder; it’s a sort of intermittent mental illness. I’m afraid the Zhu Family might use that as an excuse. But luckily, the surveillance footage is very clear, showing her driving the child to Han Jia Zhuang with a stable mental state, looking both ways and avoiding pedestrians.
"If she were in the throes of the disorder, she wouldn’t have any discernment whatsoever. Wait here for a bit. I need to go back to the tech department. This issue is not something you can dismiss as trivial. I need to deal with it, get a professional to perform a psychological evaluation on them, and we should take the initiative."
Mr. Zhao’s eyes widened, not expecting Zhou Ning’s phone call to be about such an issue, but after thinking about it, he nodded in agreement.
"You go ahead. I’ve got things under control here. By the way, the doctor back in the office seems to have a thing for Liu Yufei. Although he was typing, what he produced made no sense, probably because he was listening to us and not focusing on his work. I’ll have a word with Mr. He and maybe we can help them get together?"
Zhou Ning paused, recalling the doctor and realizing he looked familiar. Then, it hit him:
"I remember now, that’s Doctor Chen. He was the one who treated Fang Hua before and also helped us with Wang Wenjing’s case—the Jingkou District 7.4 vehicular homicide."
Mr. Zhao had an epiphany.
"Now I remember. I knew he looked familiar. Well, this Doctor Chen seems decent. You go ahead; I know what to do."
Zhou Ning raised his finger in a warning gesture, giving it a slight shake.
"I don’t mind you playing matchmaker, but not at this time. Liu Yufei is on edge and looks like she might hit anyone who comes close. Don’t blame me if you don’t heed this warning."
"When it comes to emotional intelligence, you don’t need to worry about me; I can see things clearly. You should worry more about yourself. Now, go on, stop dawdling."
Zhou Ning wasted no more words and left the hospital immediately, not bothering to say goodbye to He Shancun. After all, he was his brother-in-law, and things were smoother than before.
