She knocked. "Section Chief Wu."
Section Chief Wu locked his phone and gestured for her to come in.
She was a regular in his office, getting complaints every couple of days.
But being reported jointly by a patient's family and the surgeons was a first.
"The patient's family was so angry they filed a complaint with me. I barely managed to persuade them to back off. Go apologize and try to earn the patient and their family's forgiveness."
"I didn't do anything wrong."
Section Chief Wu countered: "So I'm the one in the wrong? I got yelled at too."
"..."
Xu Qinghe hesitated for a moment, then couldn't hold back: "You're not wrong. I just thought about it, and I was indeed wrong. Wrong for refusing to condone this kind of non-emergency line-cutting and slot-stealing. Wrong for not just letting things slide to keep the peace."
"You...!"
Section Chief Wu's blood pressure shot up from her sarcasm.
The Medical Affairs Office door was half-open. Several people from the neighboring office passing by in the hallway heard Xu Qinghe's words, exchanged glances, and mouthed the words "Badass."
Xu Qinghe continued, ignoring Section Chief Wu's reaction: "If it's a true emergency, I'm happy to work around the clock without sleep for twenty-four hours. But for a non-emergency trying to cut the line, I should have convinced myself to be happy about it."
"I should have also convinced myself that anesthesia is anesthesia—what does it matter who I'm anesthetizing?"
"Even more, I should have convinced myself: why insist on anesthetizing the critical hepatobiliary patient first? What do I care if her surgery gets delayed a few hours? It's not my fault she's elderly and has been NPO for so long without getting the first slot. Why should I worry?"
"Most of all, I should have convinced myself that prioritizing the orthopedics surgery was the OR scheduler's arrangement. I'm just an anesthesiologist; I should follow orders and not cause trouble for the hospital."
She paused for a few seconds.
"But Section Chief Wu, in the end, I couldn't convince myself."
Section Chief Wu fell completely silent, taking several deep gulps of his nearly cold tea.
It had been a very long time since someone had openly called him out like that.
Xu Qinghe softened her tone: "If this patient had come at four or five in the morning, I would have taken the case, as long as it didn't delay the hepatobiliary department's first surgery. But he came at seven o'clock, just before the hepatobiliary department's first surgery. I couldn't take it. I also told the ER that I would accept the anesthesia sheet, but only if it was scheduled for the last slot, not cutting the line. But they weren't happy with that either."
"Section Chief Wu, to be honest, I don't think I did anything wrong. If upholding principles is wrong, if holding on to a doctor's little bit of morality and conscience is wrong, then yes, I was wrong."
Section Chief Wu was speechless.
Xu Qinghe paused for a moment, then stood up. She could bend when necessary. "I'll apologize and write the explanatory statement. Section Chief Wu, I won't disturb you further."
She had to apologize—she didn't want to cause trouble for her superiors or put them in a difficult position.
Nor could she let her stubbornness affect the bonuses of the entire anesthesia team.
When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.
Using an apology and a written self-criticism to hold on to some of her principles was already worth it.
As she left Section Chief Wu's office, she let out a light breath.
Today's luck was really bad. At the bottom of the administrative building, she ran straight into Dean Jiang, with nowhere to hide.
Dean Jiang didn't need to guess; he knew she had been reported again.
"Dean Jiang." Xu Qinghe stopped to greet him.
Dean Jiang nodded, looking resigned. "Weren't you promising just last week that you'd be more careful with your attitude? It's only been a few days, and you're being reported again?"
Xu Qinghe just smiled and didn't respond.
Dean Jiang asked tactfully: "Qinghe, did something happen to you at the hospital that made your temper like this?"
"...No. I'm just inherently cynical."
"..."
Dean Jiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He wanted to say something but swallowed it back, only able to sigh helplessly.
He knew well that further talk would be pointless.
The first surgery Xu Qinghe had ever stopped was his. Back then, he thought this young woman was admirably brave.
Later, she became like a runaway horse, no longer caring about anyone's face.
"Which department's surgery did you stop this time?"
Xu Qinghe said: "I didn't stop the surgery this time, but the consequences are even more serious than stopping one."
Stopping a surgery was just a disagreement between her and the surgeons. This time, even Section Chief Wu got yelled at—that was definitely more serious.
Seeing she didn't want to elaborate, Dean Jiang didn't press further. He would go upstairs and ask Section Chief Wu later.
He had thought that with Shi Wenli back, she might calm down.
But it seemed no one's return made a difference.
Xu Qinghe's nature was truly troublesome.
If you said she was wrong, she really wasn't—that's what made it so difficult.
"What am I going to do with you?" Dean Jiang was at a loss.
"Dean Jiang, don't worry. I won't keep being so cluelessly stubborn forever. One day, reality will grind down my edges, just like you and Section Chief Wu. But for now, I'm still young."
Dean Jiang was disarmed by these words.
When he first graduated, he was the same—dissatisfied with everything.
Section Chief Wu, in his younger days, had even dared to directly challenge unreasonable practices in the hospital.
Before they knew it, that was thirty years ago.
He and Section Chief Wu, at their current age and position, rarely looked back at the path they had walked.
They had long forgotten the vows they once made about how they would do things when they became leaders...
Xu Qinghe pointed toward the inpatient building ahead. "Dean Jiang, you must be busy. I'll go find the patient's family to apologize."
She didn't know how Section Chief Wu had appeased the patient, but since they were already admitted to Orthopedics, they had probably agreed to schedule the surgery as soon as possible.
When she reached the Orthopedics ward, the patient's family immediately turned hostile when they heard she was there to apologize. "What's the use of an apology? Where were you earlier? You have no human feelings! Don't you have parents?"
Xu Qinghe explained: "It wasn't that we wouldn't perform the surgery; it was that we wanted you to wait until the afternoon. Your case wasn't urgent, but you were taking the operating slot of a critical patient. If you were my first anesthesia patient today, and a non-emergency patient tried to cut in line, even if it meant offending someone, I wouldn't let anyone take your slot."
The patient's family fell silent.
Xu Qinghe said nothing more, made her apology, and left.
On her way back to the OR, she received a call from Section Chief Wu, saying the patient's family had withdrawn the complaint.
But the Orthopedics Department's complaint was still in place, insisting that she had damaged the department's reputation.
At that moment, Shi Wenli sent her a message: [Call me when you're done.]
Then he added: [If I don't answer, I'm in surgery.]
He must have heard about her conflict with Wu Xiaofeng and was worried she'd be affected.
She replied: [I'm fine. Just resolved it. The patient's family withdrew the complaint.]
Shi Wenli: [Are you in the OR now or somewhere else? Can you take a call?]
Xu Qinghe really wanted to take the call, but she was about to run into colleagues in the elevator, so she said: [I'll skip the call. I'll be at the outpatient building soon. If I start talking, I'll never stop. I'll tell you everything when we meet tonight.]
Just as she sent the message, his call came through.