DA chapter 48

Since doctor’s orders are issued by doctors, the first place to look for them is naturally the doctor’s office when the orders materialize.

The doctor’s office was on the second floor of the inpatient building. Unlike the outpatient area, there was only one doctor’s office. Every floor had a nurse station, including the second floor. The nurse on the third floor had been lured away by the cat, but the nurses on the second floor were busy at the station.

Fortunately, the doctor’s office was behind the nurse station. Lin Jia swiftly slipped inside, and Yan Xu followed him in just right after.

Lin Jia asked, “Captain Yan, same old rule?”

The doctor’s office was right behind the station. To be safe, it was best for one person to keep watch at the door. In the previous Fish Belly case, Lin Jia and Yan Xu had gone together to the rooftop of the Yile Welfare Institute to look for clues, and Lin Jia had taken the role of lookout.

Yan Xu recalled that previous collaboration: He had entered the room to search for clues while Lin Jia waited outside. When there was movement, did Lin Jia call out? He did—but where was he? He had already withdrawn.

Yan Xu asked, “Planning to abandon me again this time?”

Lin Jia’s expression did not change, nor did his heartbeat quicken. He was neither a saint nor someone who would sacrifice his life for a great cause. On the scales in his heart, his own life and interests would always tilt toward himself.

In that previous cooperation, Lin Jia had fulfilled his responsibility of keeping watch. If Yan Xu delayed, that was his own responsibility. Lin Jia was under no obligation to endanger himself just to urge Yan Xu to leave quickly.

But this time was different. If danger arose and Yan Xu still refused to leave, Lin Jia would consider persuading him, depending on the level of danger.

He lifted his eyes. “I said I would be responsible for Captain Yan’s safety.”

Yan Xu didn’t really believe him. Lin Jia didn’t care either and walked to the doorway to take his position as lookout.

Since the nurse station was nearby, Yan Xu made very little noise while searching for the doctor’s orders. Perhaps because of the psychological shadow left by Lin Jia abandoning him before, Yan Xu kept glancing at Lin Jia to see whether he would really be responsible for his safety.

The first glance—Lin Jia was still there. Yan Xu saw him standing by the wall near the doctor’s office door, looking straight at a sign on the wall.

During the previous search, there had also been a sign in the doctor’s office, but it had been blank with nothing written on it.

But now, there was content on the sign: a formula written with a marker—1g=10.

It was likely written by a nurse.

The second glance—Lin Jia was still there. When Yan Xu looked up, he saw Lin Jia slipping something into his pocket. It looked like a sheet of paper.

After that, Lin Jia returned to his lookout position and continued waiting.

Clearly, Lin Jia had no intention of revealing what he had found and hidden away. However, Yan Xu did not think it was the doctor’s orders. It must be something else because hiding the doctor’s orders would be meaningless.

What exactly had Lin Jia hidden? Yan Xu did not intend to ask directly. Lin Jia was too scheming, too deep—he would never say it plainly.

The third glance—Lin Jia was still at the lookout position.

The fourth glance—Lin Jia was still there. This time, Lin Jia noticed Yan Xu’s gaze. He tilted his head and, with his eyes, asked Yan Xu if he had found the doctor’s orders.

Yan Xu shook the orders in his hand.

Since they had found them, there was no reason to stay in the doctor’s office any longer. Considering Yan Xu was still upset about being abandoned, Lin Jia waited for Yan Xu to leave first. Only after Yan Xu stepped out did Lin Jia follow.

The two kept their footsteps light. As they left the doctor’s office, Lin Jia glanced toward the second-floor nurse station.

Four or five nurses gathered at the station, talking.

“Ah, it’s time for the medicine.”

“Hurry and prepare.”

Seeing the nurses stand up, Lin Jia and Yan Xu quickened their pace and rushed from the second floor back to Room 302 on the third floor.

Bang.

Lin Jia shut the door to Room 302. This adventure had been successfully concluded.

After closing the door, Lin Jia turned around and found Yan Xu leaning against the wall with his arms folded. The doctor’s orders were held between his fingers.

It seemed as if he was waiting for Lin Jia to take them himself. But when Lin Jia reached out, Yan Xu suddenly raised his hand higher.

Lin Jia looked at Yan Xu and slowly withdrew his hand. “Captain Yan wouldn’t tease me for no reason, would he? Where have I offend Captain Yan?”

Yan Xu lifted his chin. “Trade it for what’s in your pocket.”

Lin Jia didn’t mind Yan Xu’s teasing attitude. He nodded and took out a blank sheet of paper and a pen that he had found in the doctor’s office.

Yan Xu checked them but didn’t find anything special about the paper or pen that would make them worth hiding.

“What does this mean?” Yan Xu asked.

Lin Jia took back the paper and pen, uncapped the pen, and, with the momentum of signing a check, quickly wrote a string of words across the paper.

Afterwards, he capped the pen and habitually slipped it into his chest pocket.

Only then did he hand the paper to Yan Xu as if passing over a check.

Yan Xu took it and looked: “…”

Several vigorous characters were written in bold, forceful handwriting across the paper: I guarantee I will be responsible for Captain Yan’s safety.

?

What was this? What was Lin Jia doing?

Lin Jia explained, “No choice. Captain Yan doesn’t believe me, so I had to make a written statement.”

Yan Xu was taken aback. The person in front of him was clearly acting, yet Yan Xu still could not see through Lin Jia’s behavior.

What was this supposed to mean?

“What exactly do you want to do?” Yan Xu gritted his teeth.

Lin Jia remained calm. “Any answer I give will be met with doubt by Captain Yan. Captain Yan’s questions and my answers are meaningless. Can you give me the doctor’s orders now?”

Yan Xu: “…”

Lin Jia took this as silent consent and raised his hand to receive the doctor’s orders from Yan Xu.

He turned to hand Yan Xu some compressed biscuits, but Yan Xu did not take them.

Lin Jia looked at him. Yan Xu said stiffly, “Next time.”

This time and next time. Lin Jia did not care much. Entering the Fish Belly had always been about obtaining the fish spirit; he could not spend too much time on Yan Xu.

Without saying anything more or urging Yan Xu to accept it, Lin Jia lowered his gaze to the doctor’s orders.

The content of the doctor’s orders was not much. Lin Jia scanned it all in one glance:

1. Do not leave the ward without permission. Do not leave the hospital.

2. Take medicine on time.

3. Follow the instructions of the medical staff.

There were only a few points like that, with minimal information. Lin Jia was not disappointed. The nurses kept mentioning the doctor’s orders in almost every sentence. If the orders contained important information about the Soup Base, the nurses would not have revealed it to the people involved.

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the ward door.

Lin Jia quickly put away the doctor’s orders. At the same time, the door was pushed open and four nurses walked in. This time, there were still four nurses.

Two of them pushed a small iron cart with a few medicine bottles on it.

“Time to take medicine.”

They spoke this sentence in unison after entering.

Lin Jia’s gaze fell on the medicine bottles on the cart. There were no labels on the bottles, so it was impossible to tell what was inside just by looking at them.

The nurses stopped the cart at the foot of the two hospital beds. Seeing Lin Jia and Yan Xu standing beside the beds, the nurses said disapprovingly, “Why are you standing? Lying down more is good for production.”

This was not the same as normal production. Usually, during pregnancy, moving around more helps with future delivery.

However, there was a clause in the doctor’s orders that said, “Follow the instructions of the medical staff.” Lin Jia said nothing and sat back down on the bed. He glanced at Yan Xu, who also lazily lay down on the bed.

Seeing the two of them obey, the four nurses smiled. “That’s better.”

Then, they opened the medicine bottles on the cart. They picked up two bottles one after another and poured out one pill from each.

The other nurses went to the water dispenser and filled two cups: one for Lin Jia and one for Yan Xu.

They brought the cups and pills before them. Lin Jia took the cup first, then took the pill. The pill was capsule-shaped. He smelled it—there was no scent.

“Hurry and eat it,” the nurses urged.

The second rule in the doctor’s orders was to “take medicine on time.” Lin Jia did not back down; he was just about to swallow the pill.

“Wait.” Yan Xu called out from beside him.

Lin Jia and the nurses all looked at Yan Xu. Yan Xu threw the pill into his mouth first. Without drinking water, he swallowed it directly.

The nurse said, “Open your mouth.”

Yan Xu opened his mouth. The nurse leaned close to his mouth to check if he had swallowed the pill. After confirming that he had, she said happily, “Very good.”

Lin Jia, however, pressed his lips together. He knew Yan Xu was testing the pill’s toxicity.

He unconsciously frowned.

Just then, a nurse was about to urge Lin Jia to swallow his pill when Yan Xu knocked over the cup in his hand. “Could you please get me another cup of water?”

One nurse went to get water for Yan Xu.

Then, Yan Xu stopped another nurse who was about to urge Lin Jia again. “What medicine was that just now?”

The nurse replied, “It helps with production.”

After answering Yan Xu, the nurse tried to get Lin Jia to take the pill again.

Yan Xu stopped her again. “Is this the same as mine? Since it helps with production, can I have another one too?”

The nurse smiled. “How can you take too much medicine? One pill a day is enough. Don’t worry about someone else’s medicine—he needs to produce, too.”

Yan Xu kept talking to the nurse until he confirmed that there was no immediate problem after swallowing the pill. Only then did he allow the nurse to supervise Lin Jia as he swallowed his pill.

Lin Jia said nothing and swallowed the pill.

He didn’t hide the pill under his tongue either. After all, Yan Xu had already shown that the nurses would check. If they found that the pill had not been swallowed, it would mean violating the doctor’s orders.

The pill was definitely not good, but violating the doctor’s orders meant immediate death. Even though taking the pill was like committing slow suicide, at least there was some buffer.

After confirming that both male patients in Room 302 had swallowed their pills, the four nurses pushed the cart away again.

The ward door closed once more. Now, only Lin Jia and Yan Xu remained in the room; even the cat was absent.

Yan Xu, however, did not intend to keep lying down. He retrieved the doctor’s orders, walked to the door, cracked it open, and watched the situation outside.

Lin Jia saw that Yan Xu intended to leave the ward. He also knew the reason: Yan Xu wanted to give the doctor’s orders to the others so that they would not die from violating them.

This made Lin Jia frown repeatedly. He could not understand Yan Xu’s way of doing things anyway. In the past, he would have cared little about what Yan Xu wanted to do, but now he needed Yan Xu to stay alive; otherwise, all his planning would be for naught.

Before leaving the ward, Yan Xu turned back, catching an opportunity. “You stay in the ward.”

Lin Jia didn’t respond with a yes or no, but instead called out, “Captain Yan.”

Yan Xu turned his head again.

Lin Jia said sincerely, “Wait for you to come back.”

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