Father and daughter had a long talk
It was almost time to get off work when Chen Nian returned from rounds. The two girls discussed it and decided to go out for a big meal before watching a movie.
After packing up, it was time to leave work. Shen Bining and Chen Nian said goodbye to their colleagues and left hand in hand.
"How come you're so free today, inviting me to dinner and a movie? Where's your boss Qi? Don't you need to go with him?" Shen Bining teased.
Almost everyone in the hospital knew that Chen Nian had a rich and handsome fiancé named Qi Wang. The two had been high school classmates for a short period of time, and their relationship had progressed from school uniforms to wedding dresses.
Chen Nian smiled shyly and said somewhat embarrassedly, "He went to another city to discuss business."
Shen Bining snorted twice, gently patted Chen Nian's hand, and teased, "So, how come you, a woman who values romance over friendship, have time to keep me company? Turns out you've been spending your days alone at home lately."
"Nonsense, didn't I take you out to eat, shop, and watch movies when he was around?" Chen Nian said with a smile, and then began her usual marriage-advising routine. "You should find a partner soon, and then invite Ruoruo and her husband, and the six of us can go out together, wouldn't that be great?"
Shen Bining was immediately exasperated and quickly begged for mercy, "Grandma, you're in the prime of your youth, why are you acting like my mother, worrying about my love life every day? Boyfriends need to be carefully selected. I can't just kidnap a man off the street like a caveman."
Chen Nian laughed out loud and admitted defeat, "Alright, alright, I won't nag anymore. Miss Shen, take your time choosing. With your excellent qualities, you're sure to find someone you like."
The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at the parking lot. Since Chen Nian's car was subject to license plate restrictions today, Shen Bining drove them towards the city's most bustling commercial street.
On the way, Chen Nian casually asked, "What did you do all day? I asked you to have lunch with me but you weren't there, and you didn't reply to my WeChat messages. Did you have a new patient?"
Chen Nian's question reminded Shen Bining of the worries that had been bothering her all day, and she decided to ask her friend for advice.
So, while driving carefully, Shen Bining told Chen Nian everything that had happened that day.
This includes how he was tricked into taking the case, how he visited Zhou Nianhua in prison and what demands the other party made, how he argued with Xu Jie in the bathroom, and how he was provoked by Xu Jie into making harsh remarks...
Chen Nian listened intently to Shen Bining's rant with her mouth agape the entire time. Finally, she let out a long sigh, tilted her head slightly, looked at Shen Bining with admiration, and said sincerely, "You're really something, daring to go to prison."
Shen Bining hadn't expected Chen Nian to focus on this, and said with a wry smile, "I'm going to visit someone in prison, not to arrest a criminal. What's there to be afraid of? There are so many prison guards inside, are you worried that a prisoner will hurt me?"
"What was that murderer like?" Chen Nian paused for a moment, then asked cautiously.
"Well, if it weren't for the fact that he was wearing prison clothes and had a buzz cut, no one would believe he was a murderer. He looked kind and amiable. Indeed, you can't judge a book by its cover," Shen Bining sighed.
Chen Nian hesitated for a moment, then finally couldn't help but ask that crucial question, "Have you ever considered that maybe the prison guard was right? There really was a reason why Zhou Nianhua killed his seriously ill wife. Don't you want to investigate that reason?"
Just then, they came to a red light. Shen Bining stopped the car, turned to look at Chen Nian, and couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Do I look like such a gossipy person?"
“No, not at all.” Chen Nian shook her head with a smile. “But those of you who provide end-of-life care come into contact with all sorts of patients’ secrets and privacy, right? I thought you would have a curiosity. Besides, didn’t you make a bet with Nurse Xu? With your personality, you wouldn’t give up halfway or admit defeat outright.”
"Oh." Shen Bining wailed, starting the car as the green light came on. "Please don't bring this up again. I regret it so much. How could I have acted so impulsively and made this bet with someone I don't even know? Just ignore her."
Chen Nian chuckled a few times and teased, "So what are you planning to do? Go find that person? You're lucky, the person has already returned to China. If they were still in the United States, wouldn't you have to fly there to find them?"
"Dream on. I'm not even willing to look for him in this city, and you expect me to fly to America to find him?" Shen Bining muttered, finally sighing resignedly, "I'll ask Officer Xie for more information when I get back. Dr. Chen, please don't bring this up again tonight. Don't ruin my dinner and movie mood, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am." Chen Nian playfully stuck out her tongue, then decisively changed the subject.
Just as they were joking around, a thought flashed through Chen Nian's mind, only to be quickly interrupted by Shen Bining's words.
She vaguely remembered that Qi Wang had mentioned to her a few days ago that a Chinese senior he knew from his university days in the United States had recently returned to the city to develop his career.
That person seemed to be a lawyer.
*
After a day of eating, drinking, and having fun with Chen Nian, Shen Bining got home after 10 p.m. Her mother was away on a business trip, and only her father, who was a hospital director, was at home.
Shen Changqing was working in his study when he heard the noise coming from the living room. He knew his daughter had returned, so he put down his work and came out.
"You're back?" Shen Changqing came into the living room, intending to chat with his daughter for a few minutes.
All three members of the family are busy with work, and they only have time to talk and strengthen their bond during breakfast and evening.
Exhausted, Shen Bining collapsed onto the comfortable, soft sofa in the living room and casually said, "Yeah, I just went out to eat and watch a movie with Chen Nian. What about you? What did you eat? Did the housekeeper make it for you?"
The Shen family of three are all career-oriented, and none of them have time to cook or do housework. They are also not short of money, so they have always hired a housekeeper to come and cook and clean for them every day.
Shen Changqing also sat down on the sofa, while tidying up his daughter's bag and coat that she had carelessly tossed aside. "I ate by myself today, without bothering the housekeeper to make a trip. I just ate something at the hospital cafeteria. Where did you go all day? I went to your office twice but couldn't find you."
"You need something? Why didn't you call me?" Shen Bining said lazily, half-lying on the sofa.
She was puzzled. On weekdays, when she was free in the office, everyone was busy and no one would look for her. But when she went out to run some errands, her father and friends would come knocking on her door.
Shen Changqing patted his daughter's arm to signal her not to sit so rudely, and casually said, "It's nothing. Your mother went on a business trip unexpectedly. She sent you a WeChat message but you didn't reply, so she asked me to come and check on you. I was afraid you were busy, so I didn't call you."
After speaking, Shen Changqing paused for a moment and asked, "Did you go out to see patients? What kind of patients have you seen recently? Tell your father."
Since the topic had come up, Shen Bining thought it might be a good idea to ask her father for his opinion. So she got up from the sofa, sat up straight, and told her father about today's "case" in detail.
"Dad, I'm really torn. I don't know if I should take this job. Personally, I despise people like Zhou Nianhua, and I don't think I can successfully persuade his son; but from a professional standpoint, I shouldn't refuse my patients. So, could you give me some advice?"
Shen Bining concealed her argument with Xu Jie and did not mention that she had made a bet with someone else.
Shen Changqing understood his daughter's confusion and asked her with some curiosity, "Let me ask you, if you didn't work in hospice care after graduating from medical school, but instead became a surgeon, and Zhou Nianhua was brought to the hospital due to a medical emergency, would you save her or not?"
Shen Bining remained silent. She didn't need to answer, because she and her father both knew the answer.
Doctors have no right to convict anyone; their job is to save lives. Even prisoners have the right to receive medical treatment, so she had to save them.
Seeing his daughter remain silent, Shen Changqing knew she understood. He leaned over and patted Shen Bining's hand, saying affectionately, "Ningning, we are doctors, and it is our responsibility to treat and save lives. As for whether the person you save is guilty of heinous crimes or should atone for their sins with their death, that is the job of the judge. We cannot arbitrarily decide a patient's life or death based on our own good or evil preferences; that would violate medical ethics and the mission of a doctor. Although your hospice care does not involve treating and saving lives, you are healing the heart, so theoretically it is the same."
"You may think that helping Zhou Nianhua find his son is a difficult task, and the mission may even fail, just like a doctor treating patients. No doctor dares to say that they can save everyone. But you can't not do this because you dislike Zhou Nianhua's character. We doctors should remain neutral. No matter how bad Zhou Nianhua is, the law has punished him. He has spent half his life in prison and will die in prison in the future. He has already paid the price for his actions. We doctors cannot judge him again, let alone deprive him of his right to medical treatment."
*
After talking with her father, Shen Bining felt much more relaxed. After returning to her room, she sent a WeChat message to Xie Feng, solemnly agreeing to take on Zhou Nianhua as a patient, and asking Xie Feng to come to the hospital the next day to complete some formalities.
This time, she genuinely wanted to complete the job, not to gossip about the truth behind Zhou Nianhua's murder of his wife, nor out of spite or to make a bet with Xu Jie.
Xie Feng was very happy. He first expressed his gratitude and then sent some information about Tang Hui.
Tang Hui was not a criminal, and the police had no right to investigate him, so the information Xie Feng sent was pitifully little, only Tang Hui's age, occupation, and the law firm he worked for.
There isn't even a single recent photo.
According to the basic information, Tang returned to China to develop his career in less than a year. He then co-founded a law firm with a Chinese senior he met while studying in the United States. The firm is named "Tang Song Law Firm".
Generally, firms established by partners are named after the surnames of the partners, so if I'm not mistaken, the other partner in this firm should be surnamed "Song".
"The surnames of these two people really match quite well. The name of the firm sounds very grand. I wonder if Tang Hui deliberately found someone with the surname 'Song' to partner with him just so that the name would sound good?"
Shen Bining muttered to herself as she opened her laptop and prepared to search for information about the firm online, following the website address Xie Feng had given her.
After successfully finding the firm's official website, Shen Bining began studying it while sipping her yogurt.
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