Thinking that Xu Qinghe was about to face a complaint and she could still see sugar in it—she was hopeless.
Xu Qinghe said, "You guys chat. I need to reply to a message."
Shi Wenli hadn't been able to ask in person, so he messaged: [You went straight to the hospital after leaving my place last night?]
Xu Qinghe typed quickly: [Yeah. I got home and hadn't even been twenty minutes when I got the call from the department.]
He knew her parents were away on business, so she had to handle the urgent hospital trip on her own.
Shi Wenli: [It was so cold last night. How long did it take you to get a cab?]
Xu Qinghe: [I didn't take a cab. The patient's condition was urgent, so I grabbed a shared bike. It was faster than waiting for a cab.]
It had gotten cold at night, with strong winds, yet she rode a bike there.
Shi Wenli: [You knew I wasn't busy last night. It would only take a few minutes to drive you there.]
Xu Qinghe: [No need for that. Over the years, when I've had to go in for emergency surgeries, I wouldn't even ask my parents to drive me.]
Shi Wenli: [Parents are parents. I'm different. What's the point of having a partner if not to be together when things come up?]
Shi Wenli: [From now on, don't be afraid to trouble me.]
Xu Qinghe didn't distance herself from him: [Next time I have to go to the hospital unexpectedly, I'll call you.]
Shi Wenli said: [Not just taking you to the hospital. If you want any breakfast, need me to translate any references, just tell me directly. Before, we were colleagues, so you might have felt awkward troubling me. But now I'm your boyfriend—what's there to be embarrassed about?]
Xu Qinghe was so focused on replying that she only managed a bite of breakfast after a long while.
She said: [Maybe I'm not used to it yet. I'll get used to it soon.]
Shi Wenli replied: [The only downside now is that I'll be moving soon. If Director Zhao had played matchmaker two weeks earlier, I wouldn't have moved so quickly.]
He would have rented for another year and moved only after getting their marriage certificate.
That way, she could move in with him.
However, before their blind date, he had already notified his landlord that he wouldn't renew the lease.
The apartment already had a new tenant, who would move in after the Spring Festival.
Xu Qinghe: [It's fine. The two communities aren't far apart anyway. And since you've already bought a house, there's no need to spend another year's rent.]
Bringing up the house, she asked: [Is the new place a horizontal layout?]
Shi Wenli: [Yes, horizontal layout.]
Xu Qinghe: [Then I remembered correctly. You once said you liked houses with a horizontal layout, preferably on the third or fourth floor.]
Shi Wenli had no memory of this at all: [I don't even remember telling you that.]
Xu Qinghe: [That's normal. People often remember things about others, but don't pay much attention to what they themselves have said.]
She could always remember the casual things he said.
She added: [You have photos of the house on your phone, right? I'll take a look when I have time tonight.]
Shi Wenli: [Photos don't really show the effect. I'll take you to see it after work.]
Xu Qinghe accepted generously: [OK. I should be able to get off work on time today.]
Shi Wenli: [You might have to wait for me. I have three surgeries today, estimated to finish no earlier than seven.]
Xu Qinghe: [OK]
Xu Qinghe: [Go ahead. I have to go to morning handover soon.]
--
The matter between her and Wu Xiaofeng spread quickly.
As her colleagues had predicted, she was reported.
Just after finishing surgery at noon, Xu Qinghe received a call from the Medical Affairs Office, asking her to come by when she had a moment.
This time, she was reported not only by the patient's family but also by the Orthopedics Department.
The patient's family had gone to the Medical Affairs Office to complain that the hospital had arbitrarily canceled the surgery with a perfunctory attitude.
Orthopedics complained that she had disobeyed the operating room schedule, disrupted normal diagnosis and treatment, and damaged the reputation of the Orthopedics Department.
Xu Qinghe didn't have time to eat; she simply changed into her white coat.
Zhang Xun was anxious on the side: "Senior Sister, please eat first. By the time you come back, the cafeteria will be out of food."
Xu Qinghe told him not to worry: "I ate a lot of scallion pancakes this morning. I'm not hungry."
If she ate lunch before going to the Medical Affairs Office, she might miss the next anesthesia session.
Better to resolve the complaint issue during her break.
The route to the Medical Affairs Office was more familiar to her than to most people.
A colleague once joked that she was practically using the Medical Affairs Office as her second office; if she didn't go for a while, she might even miss it.
From the outpatient building to the administrative building, including waiting for the elevator, it took five to six minutes.
Xu Qinghe arrived at the Section Chief's office door just as the person inside hung up a phone call.