Early the next morning, as soon as Xu Qinghe stepped into the office, she overheard several colleagues scrolling through the gossip in the group chat, chatting with great enthusiasm. The topic was none other than Shi Wenli, and she couldn't help but listen intently.
"I'm so envious of the neurosurgery department."
"Isn't Dr. Shi on leave? Did he really make scallion pancakes and bring them over?"
"People from their department are all waiting there. He'll definitely deliver."
Xu Qinghe was completely confused and asked what had happened. It turned out that last night, Shi Wenli had thanked his neurosurgery colleagues for their help recently in the group chat and offered to treat them to a meal. One colleague had taken the opportunity to suggest: "Skip the meal. We want to eat the scallion pancakes you make. If we don't eat them now, we might never get the chance again. Once you start dating someone, when will you have time to make them for us?" The others chimed in: "Yeah, yeah, scallion pancakes it is. The moment you find a partner, it'll be like we've all lost our love."
It was well known throughout the hospital that Shi Wenli was a great cook. His crispy scallion pancakes were especially legendary. Normally, people were too shy to ask him to bring them, but since he happened to be on leave and not busy, the entire department used "losing love" as an excuse to unabashedly demand he treat them to crispy scallion pancakes.
"Dr. Xu, have you ever tried Dr. Shi's scallion pancakes? Are they really that good?" colleague Fang Yu casually asked.
Xu Qinghe said, "No, I haven't. I'm just as curious as you about how good they are."
"If you ever get the chance to try them, remember to save me a piece," Fang Yu said while biting into an egg pancake, then clicked on a selfie from the gossip group chat showing the neurosurgery office. "Wow! So many people! How many scallion pancakes does Dr. Shi have to make to feed all of them?"
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly widened. "How did Jiang Yang sneak into the neurosurgery department!"
Xu Qinghe: "..."
The cardiac surgery ward was several floors away from the neurosurgery ward. Jiang Yang had gone to great lengths just to eat those hot-water dough scallion pancakes. How good could they be?
Fang Yu turned and nudged a nearby colleague with her elbow. "Hey, I heard that Dr. Shi's shrimp wontons are also amazing. Want to try them? How about I send him a message saying I've 'lost my love' because of him too and want to eat wontons?"
The colleague replied, "Be careful your husband doesn't kill you."
Fang Yu laughed heartily. "Those with kids can 'lose love,' so why can't I?"
While they were laughing and chatting, Xu Qinghe took out her pure, natural breakfast—two boiled eggs her father had cooked for her and a carton of milk. Her breakfast brought to the office was almost always this simple.
Whether gossiping or eating, everyone was so absorbed that no one noticed Director Zhao Mingde walk in.
Fang Yu was still scheming to get wontons: "If nothing else works, I'll tell Dr. Shi that our director wants to eat them?"
One second she was still laughing, but the next, her peripheral vision caught Director Zhao's square face, and her smile froze instantly.
The playful office fell silent.
Fang Yu began tidying up her desk, pretending to be busy.
Zhao Mingde was long accustomed to their occasional loose tongues. As long as they didn't curse him to his face, he could tolerate it. The anesthesiology department had people badmouthing him behind his back every day, and he was well aware. They accused him of being a traitor, siding with the surgeons.
Ignoring Fang Yu's casual remark, she turned to the person peeling an egg. "Qinghe, is Shi Wenli on leave? Do you know how many days he's off?"
Xu Qinghe looked up. "He'll be back on the 14th."
Today was the 10th, so four more days.
Zhao Mingde nodded, having his answer. He had inquired about when Shi Wenli would return to work because of an urgent matter.
It was a long story.
Last night around nine, he had received a call from Xu Bingduo. They were high school classmates but hadn't seen each other since graduation. It wasn't until Xu Qinghe joined the anesthesiology department and Xu Bingduo came to pick her up that they recognized each other after all those years—over thirty years since graduation.
On the phone, Xu Bingduo had immediately launched into a complaint, saying Qinghe was too busy, barely having time to eat. He asked his old classmate what the real intention was behind the complaint. Xu Bingduo didn't mince words: "Find a boyfriend for Qinghe. That Shi Wenli from your neurosurgery department seems like a good match to me."
He really knew how to pick. It wasn't that he was unwilling to help, but he warned Xu Bingduo to manage his expectations: "I heard our Dean Jiang also tried to set Shi Wenli up, but there's been no progress in half a month. It looks like Shi Wenli turned him down. If the dean couldn't handle him, what makes you think I can persuade him to go on a blind date?"
Xu Bingduo replied: "Don't sell yourself short. Who says you're not as good as the dean?" That sounded disingenuous, but he liked hearing it anyway.
He decided to give it a try. Even if Shi Wenli rejected him, it wouldn't be shameful—Shi Wenli had already turned down Dean Jiang.
Zhao Mingde glanced at the eggshells in Xu Qinghe's hand. If she refused to go on a blind date, he would use breakfast to persuade her: if the match worked, thanks to Shi Wenli's cooking, she wouldn't have to eat boiled eggs every day.
Having made his mental plan, she looked around the office. "Those who haven't finished breakfast, hurry up. The morning shift handover today will be a few minutes early. A patient wrote a thank-you letter to one of our doctors and wants me to read it aloud."
In addition to the handwritten letter, there were also a bouquet of flowers, a digital pennant, and two boxes of blue-black gel pens. The patient had gone to great lengths to express gratitude—not only sending letters, flowers, and a pennant but also calling the 12345 hotline and the mayor's hotline. Now, not just the dean's office and the medical affairs department but even the Health Commission knew that their anesthesiology department had been praised by a patient.
In surgery, being thanked by patients was common, but for anesthesiology, such a grand gesture was rare. Patients often only remembered their surgeon; some didn't even recall what their anesthesiologist looked like or their name after surgery.
The morning shift handover in the anesthesiology department was rarely this lively. Before the announcement, everyone whispered, wondering if someone had saved a critically ill patient in the emergency room, prompting such a heartfelt expression of gratitude.
Fang Yu quietly asked, "Who is it from our department? Why is the director being so mysterious?"
Xu Qinghe shook her head. With two to three hundred people in the anesthesiology team, it was hard to guess. In any case, it couldn't be her.
The spacious office was packed.
The thank-you letter was quite long. Due to time constraints, Zhao Mingde only read two paragraphs. When the director read, "Even my eldest son, who is a doctor, argued with me, saying my condition couldn't be managed with spinal anesthesia…" Xu Qinghe was taken aback. Wasn't this the 82-year-old man from general surgery?
He had severe spinal pathology but absolutely refused general anesthesia. That night, Shi Wenli had even come for a consultation.
After reading only two paragraphs, Zhao Mingde looked up from the letter. He didn't see Xu Qinghe in the front rows. "Xu Qinghe? Come to the front. Don't be modest now."
Xu Qinghe: "..."
It was then that everyone realized she was the one being praised. She had always been popular in the anesthesiology department—whenever a colleague's child or elderly family member was sick, she would take over their night shift. Over the years, no matter whose shift she took over, she would arrive half an hour early so that the colleague could leave the surgery earlier. When the night shift colleague came for her day shift, she would finish her tasks and even help the night shift colleague for a while before leaving.
Today, for once, she was being praised, and everyone applauded and cheered: "Go, Dr. Xu!"
Under everyone's gaze, Xu Qinghe covered her forehead with her hand and smiled as she walked forward. She was the person who had been criticized the most by leaders in the department and even the hospital, and this was the first time she had been publicly praised.
Zhao Mingde said, "Good job, you've brought honor to our department. The old man said that after surgery, you went to his ward twice, asked how he was recovering, and cared whether the numbness in his leg had worsened. He was full of praise for you on the hotline, saying you not only have excellent medical skills but also great patience with elderly people."
As department director, he knew Xu Qinghe was always diligent with post-operative follow-ups, but he hadn't expected her to visit a patient from a minor general surgery twice. It wasn't a dramatic rescue but simply an extra measure of patience and responsibility that left a lasting impression on the patient.
Zhao Mingde folded the letter, placed it back into the envelope, and handed it over. "The patient's family sent the flowers and thank-you letter to the dean's office. Dean Jiang had a meeting today and couldn't make it, so he asked me to convey his recognition of your work."