AFMWDX Chapter 12

TL: Hua

Chapter 12: Online Chat

Zhong Yan, having drunk alcohol, sat in the passenger seat with his arms propped up.

The light outside the car was poor, and the distance was far, so he couldn’t clearly see the face of the person Xu Baizhang met, but the sight of them embracing tightly was crystal clear.

Judging by the silhouette, the person was tall and slender, with a temperament superior to ordinary people. Well, of course, anyone who could make an ascetic break his vows wouldn’t be bad. On another note, Zhong Yan was also curious about how excellent someone had to be for Xu Baizhang to be so reluctant to part with them. The old monk had bloomed, and the air was filled with the sour smell of love.

Zhong Yan looked through the rearview mirror at the man in the back seat. It was unbearable to be in the same space as these old fossils, so sour and stinky.

With the thought that he wouldn’t be happy unless he teased them, Zhong Yan calculated the remaining time. “You two are really something, each delaying by ten minutes. If I hadn’t called out, you might have embraced until the end of time.”

Xu Baizhang sped up, letting him chatter without saying a word.

“Having finished with him, Zhong Yan then turned to the person in the back row. “Old Liang, you were even slower than he was. Don’t tell me you two were having a hard time saying goodbye, too?”

“Liang Songsheng: ‘Yes.'”

Zhong Yan: “…”

He’s not even going to lie?

“You two are so mushy; have you considered my feelings?'”

Xu Baizhang: “Since your partner is coming with us, of course I won’t mind.”

Liang Songsheng: “If you catch up early, you can hug him openly.”

Zhong Yan: “…”

Sigh. I shouldn’t have talked to them.

This is what I get for running my mouth.

Not long after the car started, Yu Qingtang sent a WeChat message. While they were stopped at a red light, Xu Baizhang and Liang Songsheng switched seats, and Xu Baizhang moved to the back.

Qingtang: [I forgot to give you back your jacket, are you cold?]

When they parted ways, Yu Qingtang was still wearing Xu Baizhang’s suit jacket.

[No, I brought a lot of clothes with me.]

Qingtang: [You still need to stay warm. Safety comes first.]

[You too.]

Xu Baizhang sent the detailed address of his house, along with specific instructions on how to care for his plants and fish, itemized clearly and in detail.

He also told Yu Qingtang to remember to eat, take care of himself, and if he got tired, to just sleep at his place.

After saying goodnight, Yu Qingtang habitually checked Xu Baizhang’s social media and, as expected, saw a picture of the sky from his rooftop, with a simple caption.

[Wait for me.]

Xu Baizhang had left in a hurry, so Yu Qingtang wasn’t sure when he had taken the picture.

Yu Qingtang liked the post and replied.

[Waiting for you.]

*

For this mission, the provincial hospital’s rescue team consisted of 28 people, all selected from a volunteer pool.

Those over 50, married for less than a year, with a child younger than three, or those who had been seriously ill within the past year were automatically disqualified. However, the hospital had a system that made experienced and unmarried medical staff more likely to be chosen.

They first had to take a three-hour flight to Lhasa, then transfer to a train to Shigatse. After getting off the train, they had to take a two-hour bus ride to reach the designated hospital.

Their plans to get married were put on hold, and they were unexpectedly separated for a short time. Yet, that final hug seemed to tie them even closer together.

Yu Qingtang felt what it was like to be in a long-distance relationship. Besides working and sleeping, he was on his phone all day, constantly in contact with Xu Baizhang.

The next morning, he went to Xu Baizhang’s house.

It was a spacious and bright three-bedroom apartment, decorated in a minimalist gray style. The rooms were spotless, and even the slippers were neatly arranged.

The air smelled faintly of herbs, a scent that drifted in from the sun-drenched terrace, very similar to the way Xu Baizhang smelled.

It was rare for modern high-rise buildings to have an open-air balcony, but Xu Baizhang’s was “rich and colorful,” filled with all kinds of flowers and plants. The seasonal ones were all in full bloom.

After tending to the flowers, Yu Qingtang went to the study to feed the fish.

Xu Baizhang’s study was a “room for books” in the truest sense, with shelves that made it feel like a library. A large portion was dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine, but there were also many Western medicine books, especially on cardiovascular surgery.

Yu Qingtang had never kept fish and didn’t know their names.

He took a picture and sent it.

[This fish seems to have no eyes?]

It had a very light, milky white, translucent color with a pearly sheen, and it swam very fast.

Xu Baizhang: [That’s a blind cave fish. About tens of thousands of years ago, its ancestors were carried by currents into a dark underground cave. Since their eyes were useless, they gradually degenerated through evolution.]

[But its movement seems completely unaffected?]

Xu Baizhang: [They rely on their sensitive sense of smell and touch to perceive their surroundings.]

Yu Qingtang saw this for himself. When he put food in, the seven blind fish were always the fastest.

Yu Qingtang took another picture and sent it.

[And this one? What kind of fish is it?]

It was a pale, fleshy red with thick lips, and its mouth and eyes were the darkest. It had black vertical stripes on its head and was kept alone in a glass tank.

Xu Baizhang: [A kissing gourami, also known as a kissing fish.]

[Do they really kiss?]

Xu Baizhang: [On the surface, yes.]

[Why don’t you get it a companion?]

Being alone in the tank, it seemed to have lost its right to kiss.

Xu Baizhang: [I didn’t originally plan on getting this breed, but I saw it being bullied by its peers. It was covered in bites, so I brought it home to keep it separate.]

[Is its tail from a bite?]

The fish’s tail was torn and tattered, like a wind-dried leaf that had been crushed.

Xu Baizhang: [Yes, but it’s still beautiful.]

[It’s a special kind of beautiful. /love]

Yu Qingtang sent another message.

[No wonder when I drop in the fish food, it ignores me and hides in the water plants like it can’t see me. As soon as I walk away, it comes out to eat like crazy. It’s so full of itself.]

Xu Baizhang: [It’s a little shy and very slow to warm up. It was the same with me when it first came home, but it got a little better as it got used to me.]

[Don’t fish have a seven-second memory?]

Xu Baizhang: [This one is special. It remembers things.]

[That’s so cool. I’ll try my best to get it to accept me soon. When we move into our new house, I’ll be feeding it too.]

On the other side, Xu Baizhang’s fingers paused on the screen.

[It’s moving in too?]

Fearing Yu Qingtang wouldn’t like it, Xu Baizhang had originally planned to keep the fish in his old house.

Qingtang: [Not just the fish. The plants and you are all coming home with me.]

Their “online chat” felt like it lasted forever, but it had only been a dozen hours. Shortly after Xu Baizhang arrived at the guesthouse, he received a notice and immediately went to the rescue center.

The area was a no-man’s-land with no signal, so their chat was forced to stop. The temporary hospital built in the highlands was freezing cold, and the environment was poor with outdated equipment.

With a limited number of beds, the lightly injured patients squeezed onto chairs, and the painful wails of the seriously injured were sharp and piercing. The situation was tricky.

No one had time to complain. They obeyed orders and quickly got to work.

Xu Baizhang was inserting an oxygen tube for a patient when a staff member rushed over in a panic. “Doctors, we got a call from above. A disaster area has been found at an altitude of 5,000 meters.”

“Twelve victims, all with varying degrees of external injuries. This includes two elderly people and three children. One child is in critical condition. The rescue team is already there, but there are no doctors. They can’t handle it. We urgently need to send two or three medical staff to help.”

“Can’t you see we’re swamped here? We don’t have time to go help,” Zhong Yan said impatiently. “What about the doctors from other places? Go find them!”

The staff member was out of breath. “Sir, it’s an emergency; they need a reply.”

Zhong Yan, the leader of the provincial team, was furious. “Didn’t we agree to only be stationed at the hospital? They’re changing plans in less than a day? Did they even think about the consequences? Are doctors’ and nurses’ lives not worth anything?”

The staff member was speechless and could only relay the instructions from higher up. “Sir, the rescue team’s car is here, waiting outside.”

Zhong Yan waved his hand. “Let them wait if they want. We’re not going.”

“Twelve lives, three children, and one is in critical condition.” The staff member’s eyes were red with anxiety. “Director Zhong, if we hesitate any longer, it’ll be too late.”

“Damn it! I can’t believe this.” Zhong Yan threw down his rubber gloves, pulled out two GPS trackers, and scanned the other doctors.

Muttering to himself, he put a watch on his left wrist.

Liang Songsheng snatched the watch from him. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing? Following orders, doing what my superiors tell me,” Zhong Yan said, trying to grab it back. “Hurry up; that rescue team is so annoying.”

Liang Songsheng said, “They need two or three people.”

Zhong Yan pointed at the interns. “Look at them. They whine about putting in a lung tube in an air-conditioned room. You expect them to go to the front lines?”

“I’m here to save people, not babysit.”

Shi An was the first to rush forward. “Director Zhong, don’t underestimate me. I can do it. I’ll go with you!”

Other residents followed suit. “Director Zhong, I’ll go too!”

“Me too! You don’t have to babysit me.”

“Teacher Zhong, I know how to insert a lung tube.”

“All of you, shut up,” Zhong Yan said with a cold face. “Who said you could talk? Get back to work!”

When it came to having a sharp tongue but a kind heart, he was number one.

“You’re right, the interns are inexperienced.” Liang Songsheng put the tracker on his own wrist. “I’ll go.”

Xu Baizhang took the other watch. “Songsheng and I will go.”

“The hell you will! Both of you just…” Zhong Yan stopped himself, then remembered their stubbornness. “Fine, fine, the three of us will go together.”

After searching for a long time, there were only two tracking watches in the locker.

The situation in the high-altitude region was urgent and dangerous, and getting lost would be extremely hazardous.

Zhong Yan pointed at a resident trainee. “Go to the warehouse and bring another tracking watch.”

The resident trainee scratched his head. “Director Zhong, where is the warehouse?”

Zhong Yan asked around, and no one knew.

“I’m really exasperated; what good are you all!” Zhong Yan ran a few steps but came back, staring at Xu Baizhang and Liang Songsheng. “You two wait here; don’t move.”

Liang Songsheng: “Mhm, go ahead.”

Xu Baizhang: “Hurry back.”

Zhong Yan was uneasy, so he pulled Shi An over. “Keep a close eye on them for me; don’t even blink.”

When Zhong Yan rushed back, the hall was filled with nothing but the chilling temperature and the bewildered Shi An.

The little confused guy was so anxious that he was practically tearing out his dyed blond hair. “Director Zhong, I really tried to stop them for you, but Director Liang and Director Xu wouldn’t listen to me at all. I—I really was, I…”

“No need to explain; it’s not your fault.”

Forget about a resident trainee; if they wanted to do something, even the King of Heaven himself couldn’t stop them.

Zhong Yan asked, “Did they leave a message before they left?”

Shi An said, “Director Liang told me to be smarter.”

“Director Xu patted my shoulder and told me to…” Shi An rubbed his nose. “Follow you well.”

Zhong Yan gritted his teeth. “Those two scoundrels!”

All for an obligation that dates back eight hundred years—will it ever end?

TL note: Not sure what the last sentence means. It’s probably a reference from Dr. Liang’s or Dr. Zhong’s story. Yes, they have their own stand alone novel : )