Chapter Sixty-Three: The Midnight Bell

Inside the operating room, Zhang Fan and Wang Zipeng, two buddies, leaned against the wall and sat directly on the floor. Having performed three consecutive surgeries, they were quite tired.

Zhang Fan squinted his eyes and asked Wang Zipeng, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes."

Zhang Fan opened his eyes, looked at Wang Zipeng, and asked, "How long have you been together?"

"Almost ten years!"

Zhang Fan took a deep breath and said in astonishment, "My brother, how old are you?"

"Heh, we started back in junior high. She was my deskmate."

"Whoa! How did you pursue her?" The saying that among any three people there must be one who can teach you holds true. Wang Zipeng was a master-level dating expert, starting from junior high and keeping the relationship all the way into their working years.

"I didn't really pursue her intentionally. We just sat next to each other and naturally things clicked. My family was strictly opposed to it at the time, so we dated in secret, haha!" Wang Zipeng wore a look of utter happiness.

Zhang Fan said through gritted teeth, "You're not even that handsome, how could this happen? That's way too shameless. Did you make your move when she was still just a kid?"

"Brother Zhang, it's all about destiny. I wasn't very old back then either."

There was simply no way to continue this conversation; they were on completely different wavelengths. Zhang Fan had no dating experience. During his college years, his wallet was empty, and after suffering the sting of rejection, the flames of his youth were completely extinguished.

"Who can I ask for advice? Li Hui? No way, that guy is completely unreliable. Wang Yanan? Also no, she doesn't even have a partner. Senior Sister? I can't bring myself to say it."

Zhang Fan leaned against the wall, deep in thought.

"Brother Zhang, you've already passed your exams, which department are you planning to enter?" Wang Zipeng asked, seeing that Zhang Fan had gone quiet.

Zhang Fan was in no mood to chat and replied perfunctorily, "Whatever. Anywhere is fine, I'm not picky."

Alright, the conversation was truly dead, killed right then and there.

After getting off work, Zhang Fan thought about seeking out his Senior Sister to talk about matters of the heart, but she had already left early to pick up her kid and was busy.

With no other choice, Zhang Fan ate at the cafeteria and returned to the operating room. Xiao Yin was on duty today, and since there weren't many surgeries, she ran over to chat with Zhang Fan.

"You don't go out even on the weekends. You really work so hard. I just love hardworking guys."

Xiao Yin wasn't bad-looking, but people are far too complicated to easily define. At first glance, however, Zhang Fan had felt that Shaohua was truly special—a feeling he had never experienced before.

"Oh! I just haven't gone out lately," Zhang Fan said listlessly.

"If you're tired, go rest. Don't push yourself so hard. How about tomorrow, after my night shift ends, we go to the Chasu River to watch the sunrise?"

"I still have to work tomorrow. Oh! I still have a medical record to write, and I don't know where that guy Wang Zipeng went, I need to go find him." Zhang Fan was overwhelmed and needed an escape.

Xiao Yin bit her lip as she watched Zhang Fan flee in a panic, feeling a bit lonely. It was genuinely difficult for hospital nurses to find a partner. Not to mention the exhausting work, they also had to work rotating shifts until they became head nurses.

With daily overtime and studying, there truly weren't many opportunities to meet young men.

The operating room was out of the question; Zhang Fan didn't want to bring unprovoked confusion to others or himself. He wasn't Li Hui, who was just like a bee buzzing around.

There was no way to linger in the operating room that evening, so Zhang Fan returned to the dormitory he hadn't stayed in for a long time. Dong Hua had lent it to him for free, though Wang Qian had furnished it with appliances—aside from the washing machine, which had been used, the television had never even been turned on since it was bought.

After washing up, Zhang Fan went to sleep feeling utterly uninspired. With things on his mind, he had no heart to read.

At three in the morning, the stars shone brightly, signaling that something was bound to happen. Zhang Fan's phone rang. Ever since mobile phones began to gain popularity, the hospital reimbursed doctors two hundred yuan a month for phone bills.

The condition was that the phone had to remain powered on twenty-four hours a day so they could be reached at any moment.

Seeing that it was Old Chen calling, Zhang Fan answered, "Master, a patient with a femoral fracture has just arrived. The bone is shattered pretty badly, and I'm not confident handling it alone. Can you come over right now?"

Zhang Fan checked the time and said, "Alright, I'll be there in an hour. Handle the trauma first and prepare the instruments."

"Understood."

He rolled out of bed, put on his clothes, wiped his face casually, and went downstairs to drive. Having a car was truly convenient; in the dead of night like this, trying to hail a taxi would be impossible. It was over a hundred kilometers away, and the cab driver would probably suspect you were a highway robber.

There was no traffic on the road in the middle of the night, and with the good headlights on his Jeep Cherokee, Zhang Fan drove at a fast pace. He arrived at the county hospital in an hour. Old Chen had already instructed the gatekeeper, who had the main gate open early, waiting for Zhang Fan.

Once inside the operating room, Zhang Fan exchanged greetings with Ma Lihua and the surgical nurses, then began reviewing the scans. No wonder Old Chen wasn't confident; the bone fragments were indeed quite severe.

The patient was a male in his thirties. While transporting wood with a tractor, a log had slipped and crushed his thigh.

"We'll use an intramedullary nail; there are no plates long enough for this," Zhang Fan said after reviewing the scans.

"That's what I thought too, but I've never done an intramedullary nail procedure," Old Chen said from the side.

"I'll guide you through it a few times. The main thing is to align the internal and external holes; the difficulty isn't too high."

Shi Lei, the vice president in charge of surgery, also arrived for the emergency operation. His role was to coordinate the hospital's auxiliary departments.

Because the bone was shattered so severely, the surgery didn't proceed very quickly, and by the time it finished, it was past five, approaching six in the morning.

After giving Old Chen a few instructions, Zhang Fan prepared to head back. He still had to do morning rounds. Even though it was the weekend, patients didn't care whether it was a weekend or not; going a single day without seeing their attending physician simply wouldn't do.

Shi Lei pulled Zhang Fan aside to a secluded spot, handed him an envelope, and said, "It's the middle of the night, and I've put you through the trouble of making this trip. This is a hardship fee for your travel and exhaustion. I've given it to you according to the rate for a municipal-level department director—as your older brother, this is the extent of my authority, so please don't mind the amount."

"President Shi, then I'll accept it. Thank you for taking care of me." Zhang Fan didn't put on false modesty; it was well-deserved.

"Why are you being so polite with me? There's nowhere to eat right now, so I can only send you off on an empty stomach. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Whenever you're free, come down to the county. Spring is here, and the fish in the river are prime for eating soon. Haha!"

After exchanging a few more words with Shi Lei, Old Chen walked Zhang Fan out to his car. Just as he was about to leave, Zhang Fan called out to Old Chen and said, "Wait a moment."

He then pulled out the envelope, opened it to find a thousand yuan in cash, counted out five hundred yuan to stuff into his own pocket, and handed the rest to Old Chen. "I'll take half, and you and Li Liang can split this other half. You decide how to divide it; I won't interfere."

He was already very familiar with Old Chen, so he spoke quite bluntly.

"No way, Master! This is your hardship allowance, what does giving it to me mean? I can't take this."

"Alright, I'm in a rush to leave. Just take it. Standing for half the night is no easy feat for anyone." Without waiting for a second word, he pulled out the five hundred yuan, shoved the remaining cash along with the envelope into Old Chen's hands, and drove off.

Old Chen watched until Zhang Fan's car completely disappeared from view before heading back into the hospital.

"I really didn't choose the wrong master. He still keeps old Chen in his heart," he thought with deep emotion. In his twenty years of practicing medicine, he had seen doctors from higher-level hospitals come down to perform surgeries, take their money, and leave immediately afterward. Giving a cut to the assistant? He had never even heard of such a thing.

As the sky began to break into dawn, Zhang Fan arrived back in the city. Feeling a bit hungry, he found a small restaurant, had a quick bite, drank some hot tea, and headed straight to the department. After dozing for a little while, it would be time for morning rounds.