Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Xing Cheng eventually left.
Lu Dangui recalled that when he was taken to the hospital after the car accident, he had fractures in both legs and his left arm, severe soft tissue contusion in his neck, and other parts of his body had also suffered varying degrees of impact injuries.
The hospital registration system showed that after more than a month of hospitalization, the patient’s injuries had mostly healed, but long-term rehabilitation was still needed for full recovery of bodily functions.
After checking the inpatient department’s database, Lu Dangui realized that even the name registered in the system wasn’t the person’s real name.
Even though his physical condition did not meet the discharge criteria, he left in a carefree and unrestrained manner, without leaving a trace or taking away a single cloud.
He even left the black card he had placed on the bedside table behind. It was as if he had already sent it and didn’t care to take it back.
Not every butterfly flapping its wings created a series of residual heat effects. With one less hospitalized patient, the medical staff had one less workload, and the rehabilitation department continued to operate smoothly, just as before.
Except for Lu Dangui.
Because the amount was too large, he ultimately did not accept all the compensation Xing Cheng paid to the hospital. He only took the portion that met the compensation criteria, leaving the rest to the hospital as funds for the future development of the psychiatric department.
The department suddenly received a huge sum of money, and it took Director Wang a long time to process it.
Lu Dangui had only been back at work for a few days when he was taken to a private consultation room with a balcony in the psychiatry department.
“Xiao Lu.”
Director Wang’s tone was slightly embarrassed: “Our department received such a large sum of money this time, and a large part of that is actually thanks to you.”
At this point, he felt that saying it just didn’t feel right.
This compensation was earned after Lu Dangui nearly lost his life in an accident while out caring for patients. Was he, as the department head, expected to specifically praise a doctor who was injured?
Thinking of this, Director Wang coughed twice more: “In short, our department doesn’t have anything to reward or compensate you with. So after discussion, the department has decided to give you a new workstation, which may make it more convenient for you to receive patients in the future.”
This room with a balcony was similar in layout to the top-floor specialist consultation room, with several beautiful green plants in the corner and a full set of tables, chairs, and sofas.
Lu Dangui noticed a brand new nameplate on the desk:
[Dangui Lu, a licensed psychiatrist at the Affiliated Hospital of S University]
Picking up the standee on the table, Lu Dangui wiped the transparent plastic cover with his finger, making the photo on the standee clearer.
In his memory, this was the professional photo taken at the copy shop near the entrance on the day he was officially hired. His eyes in the photo were bright and sparkling, almost as if they were glowing. His white lab coat was clean and neat because Wenfei had gotten up the night before to iron it.
Director Wang stood behind Lu Dangui, smiling kindly at him:
“Xiao Lu, this will be your clinic from now on.”
….
For the next two weeks, Lu Dangui was busier than before, but the feeling of being busy wasn’t bad.
His information was officially entered into the hospital’s online outpatient appointment system, and some patients who were unable to book appointments with specialists or department heads began to book his outpatient appointments online.
Although the personal information in the profile section was very short and it was located relatively late in the system, patients still arrived for their appointments early every morning.
Over two weeks, after seeing more than a dozen patients, Lu Dangui gradually noticed something was amiss.
Eighty percent of all the patients who booked appointments with him were women. Among these women, university students made up the majority, mostly students from the neighboring S University.
“Excuse me, could you please describe your symptoms in detail?”
“I… I haven’t been sleeping well lately…”
The girl clenched her hands together, her voice so weak it was almost inaudible: “Dr. Lu, can you do hypnosis here?”
“…”
Lu Dangui explained gently and patiently: “I’m sorry, hypnosis is not within the scope of our clinic, nor is it very suitable for patients with common sleep disorders. I suggest you try medication first. If it does not achieve the desired effect, then we can consider clinical intervention later.”
“Oh, I see…”
The girl glanced at Lu Dangui out of the corner of her eye, then lowered her head and remained silent.
The next day.
“The insomnia you mentioned may just be caused by irregular sleep patterns. You don’t need any medication for now. Just adjust your daily routine.”
Lu Dangui smiled at the girl in front of him and began to bury himself in writing the medical records.
“Doctor, if you don’t prescribe any medication, could you give me a hypnosis session?”
The girl today was more outgoing than the one yesterday, with striking punk-style pink hair. She pulled up a chair and sat closer to Lu Dangui’s desk: “My roommate is so noisy, I haven’t been sleeping well lately, please, please.”
Lu Dangui paused, his smile unchanged: “Hypnosis?”
Seeing the confusion in the doctor’s eyes, the punk girl laughed, shaking her shoulders: “Forget it, I can’t keep making this up.”
“Doctor, to be honest with you, Wenfei and I are in the same department. She said her brother is opening his clinic these days and invited us all to come and support him.” The girl didn’t hold back in promoting her teammate. “She said you’re handsome, have a nice voice, and your sleep stories are like a human ASMR, with an amazing hypnotic effect. She also said that anyone who has trouble sleeping, loves staying up late, or wants to forget their ex-boyfriend can come and see you.”
Lu Dangui: “…”
“Then I won’t beat around the bush,” the punk girl said, pulling out her phone and waving it at Lu Dangui. “Can I get your contact information, handsome? Should I scan your QR code or will you scan mine?”
After seeing the pink-haired girl off, Lu Dangui immediately dialled his sister’s number. Lu Wenfei cruelly hung up on him.
He then received an apology text message from his sister.
Fei Fei: Brother, I really know I was wrong!!
Lu Dangui: Waiting for you to come home, I’ll grant you a truly hypnotic experience.
Fei Fei: QAQ
….
Two weeks later, on a weekday afternoon, Lu Dangui received a fourteen-year-old girl.
The girl came to the clinic accompanied by her mother. It was said that she had been to other hospitals before, but after hearing that the Affiliated Hospital of S University had a good reputation, she was transferred here.
The girl had two dimples on her cheeks, was a little shy, but had a sweet smile. She followed closely behind her mother, clutching a purple lavender bear plush toy in her arms.
As Lu Dangui opened the medical record book handed to him by the girl’s mother, a look of seriousness appeared in his eyes.
This seemingly cute and well-behaved girl was a patient with moderate to severe depression.
The girl’s mother closed the door behind her, giving her daughter and the doctor some private space to talk.
She had taken her daughter to several hospitals, but the treatments weren’t very effective. The doctors all recommended hospitalization, but the daughter strongly resisted the idea.
When she was making an appointment on the official website of the affiliated hospital of S University, her daughter saw the doctor’s photo, suddenly pointed at the computer screen, and said she wanted to make an appointment with him.
This Dr. Lu was the youngest licensed psychiatrist in the hospital’s psychiatry department. Although he was relatively inexperienced, he seemed very approachable, which may make it easier for him to communicate with his daughter.
So after a slight hesitation, she still booked an appointment with this doctor for her daughter.
“Jing Jing, is that your name?”
Looking up from in front of the medical record, Lu Dangui pointed to the doll in the girl’s arms and smiled at her: “Can you introduce your partner to me?”
Upon hearing the doctor’s question, Jian Jingjing was taken aback for a moment, then pursed her lips slightly.
She raised the little purple bear’s hand and gently waved it at Lu Dangui:
“Its name is Qiaoqiao. Qiaoqiao, say hello to the doctor.”
After greeting him, Jian Jingjing sat down on the sofa in the consultation room and began to carefully straighten the hem of her dress.
After tidying up her skirt, she settled Qiaoqiao on the other side of the sofa, adjusted the doll’s position, then clasped her hands together and lowered her head.
Footsteps approached from afar, and the corner of a white coat came into view. Jian Jingjing slowly raised her eyes and saw Dr. Lu half-squatting in front of her, extending his hand to her.
He had two White Rabbit milk candies in his palm.
“It’s sweet.” Lu Dangui said to Jian Jingjing, “You and Qiaoqiao each have one, but you’re not allowed to keep them all for yourselves.”
Taking the milk candy from Lu Dangui, Jian Jingjing put one of them into the pocket on the bear’s clothes.
“Doctor, Qiaoqiao is a dead thing.”
After a while, Jian Jingjing suddenly spoke up: “Even if you give it milk candy, it won’t eat it. It’ll just rot if you put it in your pocket.”
Every doctor who treated her tried to build a bridge of communication with her. But few understood what she was really thinking.
She felt that she wasn’t sick, but that the world was full of sickness.
Everyone who lives is an anomaly. Only she and Qiaoqiao were not.
So during her doctor’s visit, she kept repeating the same few phrases to the doctor:
Everything will rot and break down, and no one will escape punishment.
She stared at the young doctor in front of her, quietly waiting for his answer.
Lu Dangui didn’t dodge or flinch. He looked directly into Jian Jingjing’s eyes and gave her a slightly apologetic smile: “It’s been with you for so long, I should give Qiaoqiao a reward. Sorry, I only have milk candy.”
Upon hearing Lu Dangui’s words, Jian Jingjing blinked but remained silent.
After a while, she stopped swinging her legs in front of the sofa, then reached out to Lu Dangui, revealing two sweet dimples to him: “Dr. Lu, please take good care of me.”
This person passed; it was the little test she had set.
An hour later, Jian Jingjing pushed open the door to the consultation room.
Jing Jing’s mother, deeply in love with her daughter, was so excited when she heard that her daughter had finally agreed to be hospitalized that she almost cried.
She took her daughter to so many hospitals, but each time it was to no avail. Her daughter was very resistant to systematic treatment in the hospital, but unexpectedly, she changed her mind this time.
As they stepped into the elevator, Jian Jingjing took the hand of the purple teddy bear and whispered to it:
“Qiaoqiao, did you hear what he said?”
Through the reflection in the elevator wall, she seemed to see Qiaoqiao nestled in her arms, blinking gently.
….
After Jian Jingjing left, Lu Dangui sat in front of the computer and meticulously organized all the information about her.
With the patient agreeing to treatment, the rest was much easier. However, Jian Jingjing’s situation was somewhat complicated, and things couldn’t be rushed.
He decided to work overtime today to review the cases he had handled during his internship and see if any of them were useful.
Looking at the girl smiling sweetly on the computer screen, he thought of that person again.
Both were his patients, one young and naive yet filled with disappointment in the world, the other mature and experienced yet increasingly disgusted with himself.
If it weren’t for that person, he wouldn’t be sitting in a private consultation room today, receiving his own patients.
But he had given up treatment, and he didn’t know where he was now, or if he was still suffering from both physical and mental torment.
That man who had said to him with great certainty: Doctor, I’m beyond saving.
….
The setting sun outside the window dyed half the sky red; it was time to leave work again.
Having decided to work overtime voluntarily, Lu Dangui opened his phone’s contact list, preparing to order takeout from a nearby restaurant.
Just as he dialled the restaurant’s number, a nurse suddenly knocked on the clinic door: “Dr. Lu, there’s a Mr. Xing at the front desk who says he’s looking for you.”
Before the nurse could react, Lu Dangui had already hung up the phone, stood up from his desk, and strode towards the door.
Lu Dangui took a deep breath, feeling his heart pounding, completely unaware that his steps were getting faster and faster.
He ran away faster than anyone else back then, but now he’s come back?
Patients who don’t cooperate with doctors should be taught a lesson so they will truly understand the importance of treatment.
Seeing that tall, somewhat familiar figure leaning against the railing, Lu Dangui strode forward angrily: “Xing—”
Wrong.
Lu Dangui suddenly stopped in his tracks.
That person was half-crippled when he left two weeks ago, how come he could now stand up and come to the hospital?
Hearing hurried footsteps behind him, the man standing in front of the railing put down his phone and turned around.
Looking at the young doctor so close at hand, the man’s handsome face broke into a smile:
“Dangui, it’s been a long time.”
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