Chapter 4
The two first met at the university hospital.
That year, Zhou Wangchuan was a senior in college and worked as a physician assistant in the school hospital. He was on duty two days a week, treating the illnesses and injuries of the students coming and going.
In the early summer evening, the setting sun fell on the red roses in the celadon vase. Zhou Wangchuan looked out the window. A large number of students were pouring out of the teaching building amid the crisp ringing of the get out of class bell.
He took off his white coat and was about to leave work when there were two knocks on the door and a boy walked in.
Zhou Wangchuan had no choice but to put on his white coat again: "Classmate, where do you feel uncomfortable?"
The boy sat down across from him. Zhou Wangchuan took in his face and was slightly surprised. He was incredibly handsome, with fair skin and delicate features, like a figure in a painting. But his observation quickly shifted from an aesthetic perspective to a medical one—his complexion wasn't a normal pale color, but rather a paleness that resembled weakness.
"I guess it's probably a mild damage to the gastric mucosa." The boy spoke, his voice low and light, clear and cool, like the setting sun falling on rose petals.
Zhou Wangchuan laughed when he heard this: "Speculation, possibility, probably, mild. Are you a freshman in medical school this year? Have you chosen Professor Li Yanzhong's class?" The first sentence this old professor said in class is always "Follow the principles of prudence and skepticism, and never make a positive diagnosis before scientific testing."
The boy pursed his lips: "No."
Zhou Wangchuan took out a stethoscope, sat next to him, placed the stethoscope head over his abdomen through his shirt, listened attentively for more than ten seconds, then changed to several other places and listened for a minute or two. He had a rough idea in his mind.
He took off his stethoscope and said, "Smoking, drinking, and excessive coffee or strong tea intake can damage the gastric mucosa. Irritating medications, spicy food, and overeating can also cause the same symptoms. Is this caused by an irregular lifestyle?"
The boy seemed reluctant to talk about this topic and just said lightly: "It was just an accidental bump."
Zhou Wangchuan didn't expose him, but only asked: "How long has the pain been going on?"
"Well, maybe two or three days."
Zhou Wangchuan sighed deeply: "Classmate, this is a bit serious."
The boy's expression really froze, and he even sat up straighter. "Is it serious?"
Seeing him frightened, Zhou Wangchuan let out a faint smile, then quickly retracted it. These newly arrived college students, freshly liberated from the confines of their senior year, loved to party every night, indulge in excess, and neglected their bodies. Only after hearing the doctor's stern words did they relent.
"Yes." Zhou Wangchuan said seriously, "Let's have the IV first. I'll prescribe three days of IV drips for you. After that, you must develop a healthy lifestyle. Exercise more, drink less, smoke less, and stay up late playing games less. Only then will your body be healthy."
The boy listened carefully and nodded.
"Give me your student ID card." Zhou Wangchuan took the medical record beside him and began to write a prescription.
With a click, the student card was placed on the wooden table. Zhou Wangchuan took a look at it and copied the patient information into the medical record.
Shang Mu is a freshman in college, majoring in art design.
As expected, he was a freshman. Zhou Wangchuan handed the student card back and thought to himself, few people have such good-looking ID photos.
The senior nurses were eating and chatting together, so Zhou Wangchuan put on cotton disposable gloves and prepared the infusion medicine himself.
Shang Mu sat on the hospital bed, watching quietly, and suddenly asked, "Senior, the news said that a medical student stabbed his enemy dozens of times, but the person survived because he avoided all the vital parts. Is that true?"
"For example," he paused before saying, "Can you cut open my stomach with a knife without damaging my internal organs?"
Zhou Wangchuan prepared the medicine, came to the bedside, took off his cotton gloves, touched Shang Mu's forehead with the back of his hand, and asked in confusion: "You don't have a fever, why are you talking nonsense?"
Shang Mu leaned back slightly to avoid his hand.
"Classmate, your idea is very dangerous." Zhou Wangchuan gave him an injection and an IV drip with skillful movements. "Putting aside other things, won't there be scars after the dissection? And they're ugly scars." The junior student was wearing a simple shirt, jeans and sneakers, but the combination was exquisite and eye-catching. He studied design and was obviously a person who loved beauty, so he said this deliberately.
Sure enough, Shang Mu was frightened. He frowned and stopped talking quietly.
"Okay, it will take about four hours to finish the three bottles of medicine. You can get some sleep. If you need anything, call the nurse."
Zhou Wangchuan helped him adjust the drip speed, took off his white coat and put it on the back of the chair, and prepared to go to the cafeteria to eat.
After walking a few steps, he seemed to remember something and turned around and said, "By the way, if you're hungry later, you can order takeout. Takeout isn't allowed into the school, so ask the nurse to run errands for you. It's five yuan to the east gate, and ten yuan to the west gate, which is farther away."
As he spoke, he casually rummaged through his coat and pulled out a five-yuan note and a ten-yuan note. He let out a delighted chuckle and walked over to place the two notes under the bedside vase. "Here's the money, so you don't have to scan the code. It's inconvenient to do it with a needle."
Shang Mu leaned against the headboard, one leg straight and the other bent, tapping his knee lightly with his uninjected hand. "How can I return it to you?"
“No need to return it.”
Zhou Wangchuan walked to the door, turned around, and pointed to the QR code printed on the bedside table. "If you're bored, you can scan that code to download the school hospital app. It contains patient reviews of doctors over the years. Of course, if you're satisfied with today's consultation, you can give me a five-star rating. My last name is Zhou, and I'm a part-time physician assistant."
Shang Mu raised his eyes and looked over, asking, "Didn't the senior just say that it's inconvenient to scan the code while having a needle inserted?"
Zhou Wangchuan: “…”
Okay.
The cafeteria was at its peak hour, and Zhou Wangchuan ordered a potato and beef rice bowl and sat in a corner to eat it slowly. He ate his meal slowly for half an hour before leisurely leaving the school as the sun set.
Turn right out of the west gate and you'll find a secluded alley. There are no security cameras in this alley, and the security is poor, so robberies and assaults occasionally happen. And now, he ran into one—
Zhou Wangchuan looked at the six big men lined up in front of him, and quickly recalled what had happened in the past few days, wondering if he had offended anyone.
Before he could figure it out, three burly men rushed over, and Zhou Wangchuan had no choice but to fight them. As they were fighting, a figure rushed up from behind and tangled with the rest of the group. A quick glance revealed that the figure looked familiar from behind.
By the time Zhou Wangchuan finished off the three burly men in front of him, the fight on the other side had also ended. Judging from the situation, it was a one-sided beating—several burly men were writhing on the ground and screaming in pain. The skinny boy dusted off his hands, stepped on the head of the leading man, and said expressionlessly, "Go back and tell that damned gambler, don't even think about getting a penny from me."
The voice was familiar. Back in the school hospital, it had been like the setting sun falling on rose petals. But now, it was like a knife piercing through ice, sharp and cold.
Zhou Wangchuan looked at his junior fellow who was killing everyone in front of him, and a feeling of something was wrong flashed through his mind - something was wrong.
At this time, Shang Mu looked at him with a somewhat awkward look in his eyes. He nodded slightly and left.
After he took a few steps, Zhou Wangchuan finally understood what was wrong.
"stop!"
"You escaped from the hospital?!"
"The drip needs to last four hours, and less than an hour has passed." Zhou Wangchuan strode after him, "Come, explain."
Shang Mu: “…”
He paused. A few days ago, he'd arranged a practice session with someone, and the other person had been too rough with him. He'd had stomach aches for days, and fearing any sequelae, he'd gone to the school hospital for a checkup. After the IV drip had barely been halfway through, he felt much better, his previous worries gone, and he simply removed the needle and left.
But he didn't expect to meet the doctor who was giving him an IV drip in the alley.
Shang Mu gave a polite smile: "Senior, thank you for what you did just now. If it weren't for your help, I might not be able to handle it alone."
Bullshit, judging by your appearance, you could easily beat up ten of them, Zhou Wangchuan thought to himself, but he subconsciously replied, "No thanks, I thought you were coming for me."
"Why?"
"Maybe this is what it means to be so handsome that you get chopped off."
Zhou Wangchuan finished his speech calmly, then realized he had been diverted. He immediately frowned and said, "Classmate, how could you pull out the needle and leave before the IV was finished? Your body is the capital of revolution. You're not doing this right."
"I have an urgent matter."
"What's more important than your health?" Zhou Wangchuan remained serious. "Come on, I'll take you back to the school hospital and finish the IV drip."
Shang Mu was about to say something when his face suddenly changed. He squatted down, leaning against the wall, his hands clenched into fists and pressed tightly against his stomach. He clenched his teeth in pain, and his already pale face turned even paler.
"Hey you..." Zhou Wangchuan squatted beside him hurriedly, "Did you hit your stomach just now? Don't press so hard, let me see."
Shang Mu gritted his teeth, raised his sweat-soaked eyes and looked at him hazily, then obediently loosened his trembling hand, but when the other's hand came up, he used all his strength to push it hard into his stomach.
Zhou Wangchuan only felt that his palm was completely sunk into the other person's soft abdomen, and that fragile organ was twitching and pressing against his palm.
A madness mixed with pain and pleasure appeared on Shang Mu's face.
Zhou Wangchuan used his other hand to hold Shang Mu's wrist, releasing his strength, and said seriously, "Let go. You can't press like that. Go back to the school hospital and I'll give you an antispasmodic injection."
So, the patient who escaped from the hospital was taken back to the school hospital. He had been gone for less than half an hour. The nurse thought he had gone to the bathroom and even thoughtfully brought him a small blanket, fearing that he would be cold during the infusion at night.
Every patient would scream and beg the senior to change the injection site when they heard they were going to get a butt injection. Every time, Zhou Wangchuan would helplessly but patiently explain: "The butt injection is not given on the buttocks, but on the gluteus maximus. You just need to loosen your pants waistband a little bit."
Shang Mu didn't scream, perhaps he was just too uncomfortable to have the strength, so he obediently lay down on the bed and prepared to receive the injection.
but……
Zhou Wangchuan used a disposable cotton pad to wipe medical alcohol on the injection site and immediately felt the other person's muscles tense up.
"Relax." Zhou Wangchuan held the needle in one hand, curled his knuckles and pressed gently, "It doesn't hurt, don't be nervous."
The muscles in the lower back are still tense.
Zhou Wangchuan had no choice but to pat him gently: "Relax."
After more than ten seconds, Shang Mu finally relaxed slowly. Zhou Wangchuan said in a casual tone, "Hey, have you heard of Yide Building in the west? It is said that someone died there..." He pushed the needle in quickly but steadily. "Alright."
"Tsk, I told you, it doesn't hurt."
Shang Mu, who was still waiting to hear what happened next to "died": "..."
Even when the patient pulled out the needle and escaped from the hospital, Zhou Wangchuan did not leave his get off work and made a special trip to supervise the patient's infusion.
After dark, a few more students came, all with minor illnesses and pains.
Shang Mu leaned against the head of the bed receiving an IV drip, listening to the conversation between the doctor and the patient bored, his expression gradually becoming surprised.
"Hey, classmate, this is a bit serious..."
"Ah?" The boy who sprained his ankle was about to cry, "Senior, do I need to have my leg amputated?"
Zhou Wangchuan said seriously, "Not this time, but if you keep chasing and playing with your classmates in the dormitory in flip-flops, I'm not sure what will happen next time. Young man, safety comes first, understand?"
The man with the sprained ankle and his roommate who was supporting him nodded repeatedly and left with the prescribed medicine.
…
"Hey, classmate, this is a bit serious..."
"What's going on? Does she need to be hospitalized?" The female classmate who was supporting her roommate who was suffering from dysmenorrhea asked nervously.
"That's not necessary." Zhou Wangchuan wrote a prescription, tore it off and handed it to the nurse. "Just one injection today will be enough. But if you continue to eat like this for the next month, I'm afraid the pain will get worse. Ice jelly, ice cream, hot pot and barbecue, you can eat them anytime, not just these few days, right? Okay, follow the nurse to get the injection."
…
"Hey, classmate, this is a bit serious..."
After playing games all night, the haggard boy found that he couldn't fall asleep no matter how sleepy he was. He widened his eyes and asked nervously: "Senior, I won't die suddenly, right?"
"Not now," Zhou Wangchuan sighed. "If you continue to mess up your sleep and sleep schedule like this, you'll suffer from neurasthenia, dizziness, headaches, insomnia, decreased concentration, irritability, and a significant decline in academic performance. My dear classmates, while you're still young, take good care of your health, get enough rest every day, and you'll naturally stop suffering from insomnia."
The haggard man nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "I understand, I understand, thank you, senior!"
…
In just one hour, Shang Mu heard Zhou Wangchuan say "Ah..." in several different tones, and then heard the same sad and helpless "Classmate, this is a bit serious..."
He finally remembered why these words sounded familiar. Two hours ago, Zhou Wangchuan had said the same thing to him, which made him immediately nervous and he unconsciously concentrated on listening to the doctor's advice.
He found that he seemed to have been cheated.
The scammer continues to deceive the next patient.
Perhaps because his gaze was too tangible, Zhou Wangchuan, who was writing a prescription, suddenly looked up. Shang Mu looked away.
Zhou Wangchuan wrote the prescription and handed it to the nurse. He came to the bedside, slowed down the drip, and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling better now?"
Shang Mu said, "Much better."
Zhou Wangchuan stared at him, then suddenly frowned and left the ward. A few minutes later, he returned with a hot water bottle in his hand: "Hold it, it will make you more comfortable."
Shang Mu's eyes swept across the □□ Bear hot water bottle, and he was about to refuse when Zhou Wangchuan spoke again.
"I just bought it at the store. It's new."
Shang Mu blinked and took the hot water bottle: "Thank you."
Zhou Wangchuan thought to himself, it turns out that people who study design tend to have obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Shang Mu asked: "How much is it? I'll transfer it to you."
"No, it's not expensive." Zhou Wangchuan said, "You can give me a five-star review."
Shang Mu: “…”
As they were talking, Zhou Wangchuan's phone rang. He went outside to answer the call, then returned to the ward with a nurse. He gestured to Shang Mu on the bed and said, "I have to go back home for something. Please help me keep an eye on him. This kid has escaped from prison. I'll treat you to chicken leg rice from the restaurant in Dongmen some other time, with two chicken legs. Takeout, anytime."
The nurse glanced at Shang Mu and immediately became more motivated: "Don't worry, Doctor Zhou, I guarantee that the task will be completed!"
Shang Mu: “…”
Zhou Wangchuan took off his white coat and left. Walking to the entrance of the school hospital, his eyes casually glanced at the white jade vase on the front desk, which contained two bright red roses.
I don’t know which patient gave it to me, but it was placed at the front desk early this morning with a note saying “For Senior Zhou”.
Zhou Wangchuan thought for a moment, then picked up the two flowers, removed all the thorns, and returned to the bedside. He placed the flowers next to Shang Mu's pillow and said earnestly, "I know you young people like to move around, but there's only one bottle of medicine left. Just smell the flowers, think about what's going on, and it'll be over soon. Okay?"
The phone rang again and Zhou Wangchuan left in a hurry.
It was already early morning when the drip was finished. Shang Mu went to the front desk to pay the bill, but was told that it had already been paid.
Zhou Wangchuan always considered himself the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the one who helps the needy and saves all living beings. He believed that university should be a place to enjoy learning and living. If one's living expenses were spent on illness, university life would be too hard. So, whenever he encountered financially struggling junior students, he would quietly cover their medical expenses. Some patients would repay him when they could afford it, but others didn't, and he didn't care.
Shang Mu stood there for a few seconds, then returned to the ward and scanned the QR code. His phone beeped.
He picked up the two roses beside his pillow and left the school hospital.
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