25. Light kisses
◎A love affair, dare to take the gamble?◎
When Xue Lu woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. His mouth was dry, and he tried to sit up by propping himself up on his arms, but his head and body felt like they were filled with lead, and he couldn't get out of bed no matter what.
Just then, the door to the room was pushed open with a "click," and Song Qinggui, dressed in a black silk nightgown, walked in.
Xue Lu stared at her, somewhat dazed.
Seeing that he was awake, Song Qinggui said casually, "I've asked for leave for you. You have tonsillitis and a fever last night. Rest well at home. I'll go to the hospital to take care of some work later and come back to keep you company this afternoon."
I'll be with you...
Xue Lu accurately captured this very intimate word, and a mixed sweetness welled up in his chest. The guilt, resentment, lust, and sadness he had felt towards her yesterday had not yet subsided, but they were all enveloped by this sweetness.
"You..." Xue Lu tried to speak, but found his throat was so hoarse that he couldn't speak, and it hurt as if he were being cut by a razor blade.
Helpless, Song Qinggui turned and left the room, pouring him a glass of warm water. Xue Lu kept watching her, his eyes following her every move.
Song Qinggui handed her the water and sat down on the edge of the bed.
She looked intently at Xue Lu. She hadn't slept all night and had accomplished several things—successfully brought down the fever of a patient with purulent tonsillitis; reviewed intravenous puncture techniques she hadn't performed in years; and... discovered and admitted her feelings for Xue Lu.
Xue Lu sipped his water politely, and Song Qinggui spoke up: "Last night I asked Luo Deng if something happened to you at the banquet."
Xue Lu stopped drinking water abruptly and looked at Song Qinggui.
Song Qinggui did not evade the question. She looked back into Xue Lu's eyes and said, "When I was little, Luo Deng helped me a lot. My high school tuition was paid by Luo Deng's mother. You could say that Luo Deng is a benefactor and a savior in my life."
Xue Lu's eyes gradually dimmed. Even though he knew that what Song Qinggui said was true, he felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. He was not a magnanimous man. He envied Luo Deng for being able to appear by her side so early and so coincidentally, becoming the person who reached out a hand to her on the edge of the cliff.
Song Qinggui noticed Xue Lu's melancholy and mistakenly thought he was angry. She explained helplessly, "But Luo and I are just ordinary friends. I have no romantic feelings for him."
Xue Lu had been waiting for these words for far too long, and now that they had finally arrived, it felt as if a gentle breeze had swept over his chest, instantly clearing away all the pent-up emotions that had been building up inside him.
But his expression remained unchanged. He simply resumed his drinking motion, finishing half a glass, and murmured in a hoarse voice, "You didn't have anything for him, but he did for you..."
“That’s his business,” Song Qinggui said frankly. “I can only take responsibility for myself.”
Before hanging up the phone yesterday, Luo and others hesitated for a long time and had a conversation with Song Qinggui.
“Lawyer Xue… probably loves you.” Luo said, “I’m actually reluctant to tell you this. But not telling you would really go against my morals. Because of my profession, I never believe that a marriage between wealthy families who are not of equal social standing can end well. But whether or not you want to fall in love with him depends on whether you dare to take the gamble.”
Song Qinggui pondered Luo's last words for a long time.
She thought she had the answer.
If in this life she needs to learn love, dedication, the fear of loss, and the pain of unrequited love or inevitable loss from a man, then that man is Xue Lu, and can only be Xue Lu.
Having made up her mind, she said to Xue Lu, "Drink the remaining half glass of water too."
Despite the pain in his throat, Xue Lu drank the water in the cup in one gulp.
Song Qinggui watched as his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, creating a beautiful and even sexy curve along with his entire jawline and neck, and couldn't help but laugh.
Is being sickly and weak not a form of cosmetic surgery for men?
"You're laughing..."
Xue Lu was suspicious, but before he could utter the word "what," Song Qinggui leaned in and, as Xue Lu's pupils constricted, placed a gentle kiss on the corner of his lips.
"Good boy." After kissing him, Song Qinggui ruffled his fluffy and messy hair.
Xue Lu's heart skipped a beat for a moment, and by the time he came to his senses, Song Qinggui had already stood up.
He quickly grabbed her arm, his thin lips trembling slightly as he spoke: "Song Qinggui, what do you mean?"
Song Qinggui smiled gently: "Humanitarian concern."
"What kind of humanity do you have, a heartless woman like you?!" Xue Lu blurted out, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that he had gone too far.
But Song Qinggui didn't mind. Her smile faded slightly: "If it's not concern, you can also interpret it as... an obligation."
Xue Lu frowned.
As if he had made up his mind, Song Qinggui explained in a deep voice, "A wife's duty."
After he finished speaking, the entire room fell into complete silence.
Xue Lu stared intently at her, as if trying to see right through her. Song Qinggui was finally taken aback by his gaze, and for once, she felt a desire to back down in a confrontation with a man: "I'm going to the hospital."
As Song Qinggui walked to the door, Xue Lu suddenly called her name.
His voice was cold and sharp, like a long knife that could cut a hair in two: "Song Qinggui, you should be glad that I am sick and that I still have a conscience and do not want to infect you. Otherwise, I would never have let you leave this room so easily."
Song Qinggui had had several boyfriends and wasn't exactly naive in matters of the heart; she naturally understood the lust behind Xue Lu's words. Since she had made her decision early this morning, she was prepared to bear the consequences of that lust.
"There's plenty of time until you get better." Song Qinggui said these eight words and went to the hospital.
Xue Lu, whose heart was in turmoil, was still lost in the fleeting, light kiss on her lips.
...
When Song Qinggui arrived at the hospital, Zhou Huaizhong, the director of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, was already waiting for her in his office.
"Teacher Zhou," Song Qinggui said, "I'm sorry, Lawyer Xue is sick. I'm giving him an IV drip at home, which caused a delay. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
Zhou Huaizhong didn't mind Song Qinggui's lateness; on the contrary, he was quite embarrassed: "Director Song, I'm sorry for causing you trouble this time. I can accept whatever decision the hospital makes."
Song Qinggui's work these past two days has been dealing with the public opinion that Zhou Huaizhong's irregularities might cause.
But in truth, Director Zhou meant well in this matter.
There is a prefecture-level city under Lancheng called Haichuan.
Six months ago, Haichuan Central Hospital admitted a six-year-old patient who had been coughing and coughing up blood. After a chest CT scan and echocardiogram, it was discovered that the child had a cardiac teratoma. Moreover, because the parents delayed treatment after the child caught a cold, the condition worsened and developed into lobar pneumonia.
The teratoma was quite large and located in a difficult position, so the hospital initially recommended that the family go to Shanghai or West China Hospital for surgery. However, the parents felt that the child was too young and would suffer too much during surgery, so they opted for conservative treatment.
Conservative treatment was an option, but the whole family didn't treat the pneumonia properly. They discharged the child after only three days of injections, only to bring him back to the hospital less than a week later. By then, the child had developed severe pneumonia complicated by heart failure.
After repeated persuasion from the doctors, the family finally agreed to transfer to another hospital.
However, cross-provincial transfers are very expensive if an ambulance from a higher-level hospital comes to pick them up, starting at least in the six figures. So the family asked the attending physician if he could help contact an ambulance in Haichuan.
The child's transport required ECMO to ensure safety, but Haichuan Central Hospital only had one ECMO machine, and public hospitals are generally not allowed to lend out their ECMO machines. In the entire Lancheng area, only Jingtian Hospital had an ECMO machine.
At this point, the child's attending physician, Dr. Wang, contacted his graduate advisor, Zhou Huaizhong, hoping that he could contact the hospital leaders of Jingtian Hospital to borrow an ECMO machine.
The person asking for help was his own student, and it was to save the child's life. After thinking it over, Zhou Huaizhong agreed.
After much pleading with the hospital leadership, Director Zhou finally agreed to lend the ECMO machine.
The final result was that the child was delivered. The transfer cost about 30,000 yuan. The treatment went smoothly. After the pneumonia and heart failure were cured, the child underwent surgery soon after and has now been discharged from the hospital.
However, the family filed a complaint against Haichuan Central Hospital to the Lancheng Health Commission, alleging that the hospital illegally transferred patients and charged exorbitant transfer fees. They demanded a detailed breakdown of expenses and a refund for any costs that were unclear.
The complaint had only been filed a few days prior, and Song Qinggui had just heard a bit of news yesterday: Dr. Wang from Haichuan Central Hospital had been temporarily suspended from his duties, and the ambulance service had been suspended as well.
The handling of Jingtian Hospital remains unresolved.
Jingtian is a private hospital, unlike public hospitals which have a legitimate background and support system. If things go wrong, the entire hospital could be shut down.
Most importantly, the hospital's leadership team hasn't even had a chance to report this matter to Attorney Xue yet.
Although Xue Lu is the president of Jingtian Group, his business philosophy has always been to leave professional matters to professionals. The leadership team of Jingtian Hospital is composed of top management talents that he recruited from major hospitals across the country. Therefore, he usually only needs to provide funding and lets go of other professional matters.
This time, these older brothers were really kind-hearted and went ahead with it.
Now the matter has escalated beyond control, and fearing for his job, he dares not consult with Attorney Xue. So he goes to her to plead his case and ask for a solution.
Song Qinggui was extremely annoyed. What was she anyway? A lousy head of the medical affairs department. What use was she? But a group of industry veterans were humbly begging her, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go along with it.
Song Qinggui hadn't intended to hide it from Xue Lu. She went home last night to discuss this matter with him, but he hadn't expected to be upset by his tonsils. She really didn't want him to get so stressed and make his condition worse.
Song Qinggui began tapping the table with his index finger again.
After a long pause, she spoke: "Teacher Zhou, in the near future, you may be facing a major media storm with that Dr. Wang. You should be mentally prepared."
“I was prepared for this. Actually, I came here today to resign from my position with you and Mr. Xue.”
Song Qinggui: "You're overthinking it. You didn't do anything wrong. No matter the time or the circumstances, it's never wrong for a doctor to save lives. The hospital will handle this matter. If you feel too much psychological pressure, you can take a few days off, but I will not sign your resignation, and neither will President Xue."
After seeing Zhou Huaizhong off, Xiaoqian came up to her and asked, "Sister, what are you planning to do about this?"
"Strike first, strike hard," Song Qinggui replied.
"What's the meaning."
Song Qinggui raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Call over the media outlets that usually have a good relationship with our hospital."
Xiaoqian swallowed hard: "Okay... but sis, you better take it easy. The livelihoods of the entire hospital, numbering in the hundreds, are in your hands..."
Song Qinggui neither agreed nor disagreed.
If there's anything in this world that can override the rules, it's probably the human heart.
[Author's Note]
The dispute is adapted from the recent Jiangxi incident involving an exorbitantly priced ambulance.
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