Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly, yet her fingertips were remarkably steady. Chen Yanzhi suddenly remembered how, last month, when she was helping him organize evidence, she had spent three sleepless nights sorting through twenty boxes of bank statements to extract the key transfer records, finally falling asleep on her desk, her eyelashes casting weary shadows beneath her eyes. Now, the bloodshot veins in her eyes were even more pronounced than then, yet she still moved like a precisely functioning machine, meticulously controlling every step of the medical process.
Chapter Three: Glimmer
As the morning sun finally climbed onto the windowsill, Chen Yanzhi saw Su Wanyu dozing off on the sofa. Her phone screen was still lit, displaying a chat window for "pharmaceutical cold chain logistics." Her right fist was pressed against her lips, as if she were about to wake up at any moment to answer the phone. The watch on her left wrist was stopped at 2:17—it must have run out of battery, but she hadn't had time to change it.
When the nurse came in to change the dressing, Su Wanyu immediately woke up and checked the IV bag: "Is this esmolol? Is the concentration correct? What is Mr. Chen's heart rate?" After confirming that everything was correct, she took out her notebook to record: Blood pressure 110/70 at 8:00 AM, heart rate 72, urine output 300ml, first dose of the new drug administered, no adverse reactions. Chen Yanzhi looked at her neat handwriting and suddenly remembered that three years ago when she first joined the law firm, she always used different colored pens to mark important points in meeting minutes, and she even remembered the "Cornell note-taking method" that he had casually mentioned.
"Why...work so hard?" He finally asked the question he'd held back all night. Su Wanyu paused, the apple peel drooping down like a golden thread in the morning light. "Have you forgotten? Three years ago, my dad had a sudden heart attack back home. You helped contact a specialist at the Provincial People's Hospital and even paid for the surgery." She lowered her head and continued peeling, her voice as soft as a sigh. "Back then, you said, 'Don't worry, it'll be alright.' Now it's my turn to say that to you."
Chen Yanzhi was stunned. He had long forgotten that incident, only remembering that Su Wanyu had suddenly taken leave that year, and when she returned, she had dark circles under her eyes, yet she handled all her work perfectly. It turned out that, unseen by him, she had quietly forged this kindness into armor, using all her professionalism and resilience to build a barrier for him in today's medical storm.
At 10 a.m., the remote consultation at Beijing Fuwai Hospital began. Su Wanyu sat on the edge of the bed with her notebook, recording the expert's opinions one by one. Suddenly, she interjected, "The patient has a history of anxiety disorder. Should we consider the influence of psychological factors on vasospasm? Last year, when he stayed up all night preparing for a merger and acquisition deal, he experienced palpitations. At that time, the Holter monitor showed..." As she spoke, sunlight fell on the medical records she was flipping through, and the details of the medical history that she had marked with a highlighter shimmered like stars on the pages.
After the consultation, she leaned over the bed writing a treatment plan, her hair slipping down to cover half her face. Chen Yanzhi reached out to tuck it behind her ear, but just as his fingertips touched her hair, she suddenly looked up, so close they could see their reflections in each other's pupils. Su Wanyu's ears turned red, and she quickly sat up straight, leaving an ink smudge on her notebook with her pen cap: "I... I'll go check if the medicine has arrived." As she turned, she knocked over a water glass on the bedside table, spilling water on her shoes, but she simply wiped it off quickly with a tissue and hurried out of the ward.
Chapter Four: Undercurrents
The afternoon sunlight grew thick and sticky. Chen Yanzhi stared at the shadows cast on the ceiling and heard arguing coming from the corridor. It was Su Wanyu negotiating with a pharmaceutical representative: "The refrigerated truck is out of order? That batch of medicine must be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius, and now you're saying it's delayed?" Her voice was two octaves higher than usual, but she remained calm: "I don't care how you coordinate, it must be delivered within half an hour, otherwise I'll complain to the drug administration about your transportation violations right now."
When the door was pushed open, her chest was still heaving, but she smiled and held up the medicine box: "Got it, the latest German sustained-release formulation, fewer side effects." Chen Yanzhi noticed a red mark on the back of her left hand, which must have been cut during the shoving earlier, but she hastily covered it with a band-aid and continued to check the expiration date on the medicine box.
In the evening, Su Wanyu's phone suddenly rang; it was a number from her hometown. She walked to the window to answer, her voice very soft: "Mom, I'm working overtime. Did Dad take his medicine on time? Yes, that blood pressure medication should be taken after meals, remember to remind him..." As she turned around, Chen Yanzhi saw her quickly wipe her eyes, but when she returned, she acted as if nothing had happened: "Professor Zhou said that radiofrequency ablation can be scheduled next week. It's the latest technique for microvascular spasm. I checked the literature, and the success rate is over 92%."
In the dead of night, Su Wanyu fell asleep on the small table at the foot of the bed, her notebook still open on the page of "Postoperative Care Instructions". Chen Yanzhi saw by the bedside lamp that she had highlighted the "Emotional Management" section and written next to it: "To avoid patient anxiety, white noise can be played, and his favorite mystery novel can be prepared (the third shelf of the study, the Agatha Christie series)."
He suddenly remembered that whenever he worked overtime in the office, Su Wanyu would always quietly put a cup of warm honey water in his cup, knowing that he had a sensitive stomach, and never let it get cold. Once, he casually mentioned that he liked Agatha Christie's narrative tricks, and afterwards, every time he went on a business trip, there would always be a latest translation in his briefcase, but he never heard her mention it.
In the early hours of the morning, Chen Yanzhi was awakened by the sound of someone turning over in bed. He saw Su Wanyu kneeling on the floor looking for something; it turned out she had knocked off her hair tie while turning over. As she picked up the hair tie, Chen Yanzhi noticed a light brown mole on the back of her neck, like a plum blossom fallen in the snow. This was a detail he had never noticed before, just as he had never imagined that this administrative assistant, who always stood quietly behind him, would unleash such astonishing energy in a moment of crisis.
Chapter Five: Dawn
The day before the surgery, Su Wanyu finally went home to change her clothes. She wore a light gray knitted sweater, and her hair was neatly combed back. However, when she bent down to adjust the monitor, Chen Yanzhi noticed a bruise below her collarbone—it must have been from when she bumped into an oxygen cylinder the day before.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
