Chapter 5: “Panda”
When going to the HR Department to handle procedures, the department head chatted with Xie Zijing for a while, then got up and pulled Qin Ge aside, looking very troubled.
“Xie Zijing’s paperwork has a problem,” he said. “He doesn’t have any transfer orders; how can this be in compliance with the rules? Yesterday, I was just making an excuse to delay the process, hoping to wait until Gao Tianyue returns and let him handle it directly.”
Qin Ge was also puzzled. “But Director Gao said Xie Zijing was transferred from the Western Office to headquarters, specifically to help the Psychological Adjustment Department.”
“You’ve been deceived,” the department head said, taking out a medical examination report and pointing to the empty column. “It’s not that the 267th Hospital refused to perform his medical examination; it’s that Gao Tianyue advised him not to undergo any psychological testing at the hospital.”
Qin Ge’s eyelid started twitching again. “Why?”
The department head looked at him with special sympathy.
“Don’t you know? Xie Zijing’s ‘sea area’ is not normal. After causing trouble in the Western Office, he was suspended from duty, and it was Gao Tianyue who personally went there and persuaded him to work here. Gao Tianyue values his talent, wanting both to help him recover and to find an excuse to keep him at headquarters. It just so happened that the Psychological Adjustment Department was in preparation, making it the most suitable place to put him. It not only allows him to help with crisis management but also allows him to be with you so that you can adjust Xie Zijing’s ‘sea area,’ which is very convenient.”
Qin Ge: “…”
Department Head: “I can’t process his paperwork now. Qin Ge, I advise you to be careful too. Xie Zijing’s previous performance was indeed outstanding, but his ‘sea area’ problem could lead him to be suspended, which is very unusual. Be cautious.”
Qin Ge: “…So, do I have to take him with me now?”
Department Head: “It’s Gao Tianyue’s arrangement, and I have no way to change it.”
Qin Ge took the medical examination report and rubbed his temples. The department head informed Xie Zijing that he had to wait for Gao Tianyue to return. Xie Zijing nodded and walked back to Qin Ge.
Xie Zijing: “What’s wrong with your eyes? Why are they twitching?”
Qin Ge: “…I’m feeling anxious, so my eyelids are twitching.”
On the way back, seeing that Qin Ge was not in a good mood, Xie Zijing tactfully didn’t initiate any conversation.
“Let’s wait until Director Gao returns,” Qin Ge told him. “Director Gao will be away for a week, so you can stay in our department for now.”
Xie Zijing touched the stubble on his chin and nodded with a smile. “I misunderstood you yesterday, thinking you didn’t like me and wanted to send me elsewhere.”
Qin Ge thought to himself, ‘No, Mr. Xie, you didn’t misunderstand.’
When they got out of the elevator, they saw Tang Cuo and Bai Xiaoyuan waiting outside the side door.
Bai Xiaoyuan: “We’ve got the car approved. Are we ready to go now?”
As they approached the car, Qin Ge found out that Tang Cuo didn’t have a driver’s license, and Xie Zijing didn’t have one either.
“But I can drive,” Xie Zijing explained. “I used to drive frequently when I worked at the Western Office, and I’m very skilled.”
He looked at Tang Cuo, then turned to Qin Ge and said, “And I have a reliable appearance; I look like an experienced driver with a license.”
He intended to sit in the driver’s seat, but Qin Ge quickly pushed him out.
In the end, Bai Xiaoyuan took hold of the steering wheel.
Qin Ge sat in the back seat and called Yan Hong. Xie Zijing was right beside him, and the reduced distance between them made Qin Ge instinctively move away slightly.
He couldn’t let his mind wander into any thoughts about Xie Zijing’s “sea area” now. Every imagination could potentially add a “creepy” or “inappropriate” label to Xie Zijing’s already disheveled image.
The atmosphere in the back seat was tense, but the two in the front were chatting animatedly. Tang Cuo confirmed that his online romance had come to an end, and Bai Xiaoyuan asked him if he wanted to go to a bar to meet some hot and trendy guys.
Tang Cuo wasn’t interested in either hot and trendy guys or introverted homebodies. He listened to Bai Xiaoyuan for a while and sighed, “He said I’m too skinny, not his type.”
Bai Xiaoyuan replied, “Although I don’t think you’re skinny, it wouldn’t hurt to work out and get in shape. Don’t be fooled by my appearance; I hit the gym and do weightlifting every day.”
Xie Zijing became interested, “What’s your body fat percentage?”
Bai Xiaoyuan looked at the rearview mirror, “What’s your body fat percentage?”
Xie Zijing replied, “I don’t know; I’ve never measured it properly, but I’m in good physical shape.”
Bai Xiaoyuan remarked, “I can tell.”
Xie Zijing then asked, “What about our department head’s body fat percentage?” and he even glanced at Qin Ge.
Bai Xiaoyuan replied, “How would I know?”
She also glanced at Qin Ge, fearing that he might get angry because of this topic.
Qin Ge had had enough, “Bai Xiaoyuan, watch the road! Xie Zijing, shut up!”
On the other end of the phone, Yan Hong’s ears were nearly deafened, and he felt dizzy holding the phone.
He had known Qin Ge for several years, and this was the first time he heard him yell with such a loud voice.
There was no official letter from the Psychological Adjustment Department, so they were received by Yan Hong upon arrival.
“Who are Bai Xiaoyuan and Xie Zijing?” he asked quietly while handing the key to Operating Room 6 to Qin Ge.
“The one who talks the most and the one who looks the least normal,” Qin Ge took the key and said, “Is my taking the key like this, okay?”
“It doesn’t matter, I’ll come find you after sending out a letter,” Yan Hong said. “Doctor Peng Hu’s waters still can’t be restored, but there’s a patient who can’t wait any longer.”
He looked around and lowered his voice, “Our former vice dean is preparing for heart bypass surgery. We’ve been waiting for Peng Hu for a month, and now all the indications are normal, so we can proceed with the surgery. The patient’s family can’t wait any longer, and the hospital doesn’t want to wait either, so we’re contacting professors from other hospitals.”
Qin Ge sensed something unusual: “Will Peng Hu be affected by this in the future?”
“Definitely, it will have a significant impact.” Yan Hong shrugged. “If we can’t resolve this issue, he won’t even be able to practice medicine anymore. Even if we do resolve it, he would still be…”
Bai Xiaoyuan and the other two exchanged glances, all recalling Peng Hu’s words. “Save me.”
Qin Ge entered Operating Room 6 once again.
The room was filled with thick dust, and Tang Cuo, covering his nose, sneezed repeatedly.
But no matter how many times he looked, it was just an ordinary and messy storage room with no useful clues.
“…What kind of surgeries were performed in this operating room before?” Xie Zijing suddenly asked.
At this moment, Tang Cuo, still holding his nose, raised his hand, “I think this operating room used to be for obstetrics and gynecology.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was surprised, “You even know that?”
“When I was going up the stairs just now, I saw a picture on the second floor corridor that mentioned the delivery of babies in Operating Room 6,” Tang Cuo said, somewhat nervously, glancing at Xie Zijing and then at Qin Ge. “But I-I can’t be sure…”
The first floor of the Hospital History Museum displayed various honors and awards received by the hospital, while the second floor showcased items and photos related to the hospital’s historical development.
On the corridor walls of the second floor, there were indeed many introductions to renowned doctors, interspersed with some obviously yellowed old photographs.
The one Tang Cuo mentioned was located next to the stairs leading from the second floor to the third floor, but none of them had noticed it.
“Quadruplets…” Qin Ge suddenly recalled Peng Hu’s words: What emerged from the wall in the operating room were not adults, but babies.
The picture showed a group photo of four wrinkled infants. The babies were all swaddled in small blankets with the hospital’s name on them, placed on a large aluminum tray.
There was a line of small red text at the edge of the aluminum tray, which read “Exclusive to Operating Room 6.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was impressed: “Tang Cuo, your observational skills are amazing.”
Tang Cuo blushed with happiness, “No, not at all; I just glanced at it casually. Also, the urban legends in the Hospital History Museum are mostly related to babies and women, which is quite strange. Based on the time analysis of when these rumors circulated, most of them appeared in the past three or four decades, very concentrated.”
He finished speaking and nervously looked at Qin Ge. His voice suddenly became very soft, and he awkwardly chuckled, “But it’s all just boring stuff, haha.”
“Very useful,” Qin Ge responded unusually seriously. “Tang Cuo, well done.”
Tang Cuo suddenly became excited and stuttered, “Th-thank you, Qin Ge. C-come over here and take a look at this, the description of this photo.”
The photo’s description was quite detailed. It mentioned a specific day in the 1980s when the 267th Hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynecology department successfully delivered quadruplets for an elderly mother. Both the babies and the mother survived, and it was a major news event at the time.
“…Today, when listening to Peng Hu’s description, there was something I found strange,” Tang Cuo bravely pointed out. “He described the equipment in the operating room, the doctor’s attire, and even the appearance of the babies in great detail. But he didn’t describe the patient.”
Qin Ge remembered, “He only said the patient was… screaming.”
The four of them exchanged glances.
Now it seemed that the person on the operating table was a pregnant woman.
Bai Xiaoyuan wondered, “Peng Hu could clearly tell that it was a pregnant woman going through childbirth. Why did he hide it from us instead of telling us directly?”
Xie Zijing stroked his chin, “He’s been hiding things all along. If the ‘hallucinations’ weren’t his own, he was obviously concealing them for the person who actually saw the ‘hallucinations’.”
The four of them dispersed to various parts of the second floor, continuing to search for photos related to Operating Room 6. However, after a thorough search, they found nothing.
When they returned to the photo they had initially looked at, Yan Hong had just walked up the stairs.
Qin Ge asked him if he knew anything about the photo, and Yan Hong, after studying it for a while, suddenly slapped his forehead.
“Oh, I almost forgot! Yes, Operating Room 6 used to be exclusively for obstetrics and gynecology,” he said, getting closer to the photo and examining it carefully. “When people hear ‘Operating Room 6,’ many can’t recall it, like me; I wasn’t even born at that time. But these quadruplets are quite famous in our hospital.”
The four children were now in their thirties and still visited the hospital every year to express their gratitude to the doctor who had delivered them.
“The doctor they’re grateful to is the head of obstetrics and gynecology at our hospital at the time,” Yan Hong explained with a smile. “In our hospital, it’s said that if a doctor can be remembered this way, their entire career is worthwhile.”
Qin Ge’s eyelid twitched again.
“Is that doctor still at the hospital?” he asked.
“Yes, she is, but she’s currently living in the ward and not receiving visitors,” Yan Hong replied. “Just as I mentioned earlier, the retired vice dean, Cai Mingyue, is waiting for Peng Hu to perform surgery on her.”
Qin Ge frowned, “She’s Peng Hu’s patient?”
“Not just that. She’s also Peng Hu’s benefactor,” Yan Hong added.
Before coming to the 267th Hospital, Peng Hu had worked at another ordinary general hospital. Due to his exceptional skills, Peng Hu had gained fame among both the hospital staff and patients, which gradually led to jealousy from some senior colleagues. His special human status was exposed.
Initially, both sentinels and guides could pursue any profession that regular people did. However, with the efforts of some malicious individuals, Peng Hu faced severe exclusion. Both hospital staff and patients wrote joint letters requesting Pengh H’s dismissal, and rumors ran rampant. Peng Hu found himself inexplicably entangled in numerous troubles.
Upon learning of this situation, Cai Mingyue, the Vice Dean of the 267th Hospital at the time, visited Penghu and offered him a high-paying position at the hospital.
Thanks to Cai Mingyue’s recommendation and protection, the rumors surrounding Peng Hu gradually subsided, and his work at the 267th Hospital began to normalize.
“If it weren’t for Cai Mingyue, Peng Hu’s career would have been interrupted long ago,” Yan Hong said. “So, during the six months of Cai Mingyue’s hospitalization, Peng Hu took exceptionally good care of her. Dean Cai has a son, but we all feel that Peng Hu is more like her son.”
Qin Ge felt that the part he hadn’t understood before was now clear.
Penghu had learned about some dreadful incidents that went against his professional ethics, urging him to reveal the truth. But these incidents were related to his benefactor.
So, he had been speaking in half-truths, concealing and struggling with his inner conflict all along. He had both anticipated Qin Ge’s team touching the truth as soon as possible and feared that they would progress too quickly, exposing the truth prematurely.
“Can we meet Cai Mingyue?” he asked Yan Hong.
“Now?” Yan Hong hesitated.
Qin Ge nodded, “Yes, now.”
Yan Hong hesitated again, “It’s difficult… Besides her heart issues, Cai Mingyue’s mind is also confused. She talks nonsense all day long. Apart from Peng Hu, her son, and medical staff with her son’s permission, no one else can enter Cai Mingyue’s ward.”
Tang Cuo asked involuntarily, “Nonsense?”
“Her son says it’s all nonsense, but Peng Hu takes it seriously. He often stays in her room for an hour, just listening to Cai Mingyue ramble,” Yan Hong thought for a moment and suddenly said, “Could it be that Cai Mingyue’s nonsense is affecting Peng Hu’s mental state?”
Qin Ge didn’t answer and went straight to the point, “What if we need Cai Mingyue’s assistance in the investigation?”
Yan Hong paused for a moment, and then his expression turned serious.
“No,” he said firmly, “Qin Ge, your department hasn’t been formally established yet. Unless Crisis Management issues a request, we can’t handle investigative requests. Even if we accept it, we will definitely refuse without evidence.”
After treating them to a famous meal in the hospital cafeteria, Yan Hong left. Seeing that the sky was gradually darkening, Qin Ge decided to head back and think of another way to contact Cai Mingyue.
While Bai Xiaoyuan went to retrieve the car, Xie Zijing, who had a sudden craving for cigarettes, bought a pack of spicy snacks and opened them, chewing slowly.
“Qin Ge, what is your spirit animal?” he asked.
Qin Ge was inquiring about urban legends related to the hospital and its history. He frowned upon hearing the question but decided not to respond.
However, after making the decision not to respond, a strange question suddenly popped into his mind: You’ve been in a relationship with me, but you don’t know what my spirit animal is?
…Love fantasies are truly pitiful.
Xie Zijing continued to inquire tirelessly, “I like animals with a lot of fur, ones that are fun to touch. Do you?”
Qin Ge’s refusal to respond even made Tang Cuo feel awkward.
He cautiously raised his hand, attempting to engage in a conversation with Xie Zijing to relieve the awkwardness, “Xie Zijing, my spirit animal… has a lot of fur too.”
Xie Zijing, disinterested in the other party’s spirit animal, finished all the spicy snacks in one go and then asked, “What is it?”
Tang Cuo answered, “A panda.”
Xie Zijing: “…”
In an instant, Qin Ge watched as Xie Zijing’s eyes lit up, and even his tone changed. He displayed a politeness that Qin Ge hadn’t seen in the two days since they had met: “May I take a look, please?”
