Li Chu didn't go back to his dormitory. He planned to go to the office to draw a diagram of the distribution of acupoints on the human body for Ding Qiunan. He had to see patients during the day and also had to find time to write what the director needed, so he could only draw it at night.
Ding Qiunan originally wanted to come along, but then she thought better of it. The two of them were in the same office during the day because of work, but if they stayed in the office together late at night, there would be gossip.
As night deepened, the two girls who shared a dorm room with Ding Qiunan were also getting ready to sleep. One of the girls saw that Ding Qiunan was still reading and said to her, "Qiunan, it's already past 11 o'clock. Go to bed early, or you won't be able to get up tomorrow."
The girl's voice pulled Ding Qiunan out of the book.
Ding Qiunan paused for a moment, then turned around and said, "Oh, okay, you two go to sleep first, I'll go to the bathroom and then go to sleep."
After saying that, he placed the bookmark where he could see it, closed the book, picked up a flashlight from the bed, and went outside.
There were several other dormitories outside with their lights on, where the girls who came together for further studies lived. The opportunity to study was hard-won, and none of them wanted to waste any time.
She turned on the flashlight, it lit up briefly and then went out. Ding Qiunan patted it a couple of times in her hand, and it lit up again.
She took two steps toward the restroom, then stopped, thought for a moment, and walked in another direction, toward Li Chu's dormitory.
I looked from a distance, and the lights were off. I didn't know if they were already asleep.
Ding Qiunan thought for a moment, then turned and walked towards the front office.
The outpatient area was completely dark, except for one office whose light was still on, visible from a distance. Ding Qiunan stopped in her tracks. She knew Li Chu was still in his office, but she hesitated, unsure whether she should go over. She bit her lip, lifted her foot to tell Li Chu to get some rest, but after taking only two steps, she heard a voice from afar.
Who is it? Who's there?
Upon hearing that these must be security personnel on night patrol, Ding Qiunan didn't dare linger any longer. She turned off her flashlight, turned around, and quickly walked back to the dormitory.
A young woman went to see a single man in the middle of the night, afraid that people would say she had questionable morals. If such a label were attached to her, her life would be ruined.
She didn't dare go straight back to her dorm. Instead, she went into the bathroom, her heart pounding. After a while, when she didn't hear any other noise, she finally relaxed and realized that she was covered in a cold sweat.
Not daring to delay any longer, I went to the toilet and returned to the dormitory. Lying on the bed, I thought about what had just happened and about Li Chu, who was still up so late. He was staying up so late to prepare study materials for me.
Then I thought of Li Chu's bright eyes, his gentle smile, and his steady voice, all of which made his ordinary face extraordinary.
When Ding Qiunan first met Li Chu, she was very unsure of herself. She had come here to learn properly, but this doctor was too young. Traditional Chinese medicine is a discipline that requires experience. Most of the TCM doctors that Ding Qiunan had seen or heard of were over 40 or 50 years old, and they had all been apprentices under their masters in their 20s.
He was only in his early twenties and was already a chief physician practicing independently. He also heard from the director that Li Chu's master was very famous in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, so he assumed that Li Chu got his position because of his master's influence and lost hope in his own further studies.
Reality gave Ding Qiunan a big surprise. Although she had only been studying with Li Chu for two days, she was deeply impressed by Li Chu's profound knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine.
Li Chu could hear the noise outside from inside his office.
He got up, walked over, and opened the door, where he saw several security officers running towards him with flashlights.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Li Chu asked.
"Dr. Li, you're still here? A few of us saw someone over here, but we couldn't find them. Did you hear anything?"
The security personnel saw Li Chugang when he arrived at the office, so they knew he was working overtime there.
"I didn't hear anything. I've been in my office the whole time."
"It's alright, Dr. Li. Let's go take a look over there. It's past 11 o'clock, so please don't stay out too late."
"I'm heading back now, you guys keep going!"
He turned around and went back to his office, tidied up the things on his desk, then turned off the lights, locked the door, and went back to his dormitory.
The dormitory was also pitch black. Li Chu returned to the dormitory and groped his way to the sink to fill a basin with cold water. He had forgotten to turn on the water in the afternoon, and there was no hot water in the dormitory. There was hot water in the office, but he was too lazy to go there again.
After quickly washing up, he lay down on the bed. This was his first night in the hospital dormitory.
Time marches on slowly but steadily.
The next afternoon after get off work, Li Chu rushed home. He couldn't just leave everyone else at home doing chores without even checking on them.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw piles of dirt and sand in front of my house, and several children in the yard were playing in the sand pile.
When I got to the front door and looked inside, the house was completely demolished, and the floor of the inner room had been dug up.
Several people were working there when Boss Fu saw Li Chu coming over and came out.
Li Chu took out a cigarette and handed one to Boss Fu, then lit one for himself, saying, "Comrade Fu, don't work too late tonight, it'll disturb other people's rest."
"No, we'll be leaving in another hour at most, it won't be too late."
"By the way, the cement was delivered at noon today," said Boss Fu, pointing to the other side of the main room.
Li Chu peeked inside and asked, "Do you think this is enough?"
"It's enough, and there should be some left over."
"Okay, I won't come every day. Just get your work done and come to the hospital if anything happens."
"Don't worry, the work we brothers do will be so good that you won't be able to find fault with it."
Li Chu looked at it again, then stuffed the remaining half pack of cigarettes in his hand into Boss Fu's hand, "Give these to the comrades inside, get on with your work, I'm leaving."
He came and went in a hurry, without even saying goodbye to anyone in the courtyard. He was of no use here and couldn't be of any help. With his older sister around, he figured these people wouldn't try to fool him.
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