Chapter 119: The Indifferent Doctor

The doctors’ first assumption was that it was a drunk driving case. However, a burly man in black jumped out from the backseat. He had a scar on his forehead and was carrying a woman in his arms, shouting, "Save her! Hurry, save her! The patient is in critical condition!"

"Ah!" The doctors were momentarily stunned and scattered. It was past working hours, and nobody wanted to take on a new patient. In this day and age, doctors worked for fixed salaries and kept strict hours; no one wanted to work late. One doctor sneered, "We're off the clock. Come back tomorrow!"

"Damn it, if I come back tomorrow, she'll be dead!" Captain Cao shouted in fury.

"Then go wait in line. All the on-duty doctors are busy right now," the doctor replied with indifference. Since he was off duty anyway, he took off his lab coat, hung it on the wall, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and glanced at Captain Cao dismissively.

Lin Ziwen had already called over two familiar nurses from inside the hospital to bring out a gurney. Captain Cao didn't hesitate; he immediately placed Li Ruo onto the stretcher. One of the doctors recognized her and exclaimed, "Wait, isn't this... isn't this President Li of the Tianya Group?"

*Hiss...*

Upon hearing that, the doctors who had been indifferent immediately swarmed over.

"My god, it really is President Li. How did this happen?"

"Hurry, hurry, get her inside! The patient is likely suffering from alcohol poisoning!"

"Damn, no need to tell me that, I know better than you! Let me handle this surgery; she needs her stomach pumped!"

"Get out of the way, let me do it!"

The doctors were on the verge of fighting over the right to treat Li Ruo. The doctor with the gold-rimmed glasses, who had been making sarcastic remarks just moments before, stepped forward and said, "Stop arguing! I'm a specialist in gastroenterology; let me handle this!"

"Damn, you were just making snide comments a second ago, and now you're stepping up?" another doctor retorted immediately.

Li Ruo was a famous beauty known to everyone in Jianghuai City, admired by people of all ages and backgrounds. It wasn't just the male doctors in this hospital; even some government officials drooled over her. Thus, it was no surprise that her appearance caused such a dispute among the male doctors. From a professional standpoint, examining a patient’s body was standard, but most of them were driven by a desire to feast their eyes. Furthermore, they all wanted to curry favor with her.

"Enough! Director Zhang will handle this personally!" Lin Ziwen said with a cold huff. She despised these doctors for their lack of medical ethics; if they kept arguing, the patient would be dead before anything was done.

Director Zhang had a good relationship with Li Ruo; their families were old acquaintances, and he and Li Tianya had been classmates. Upon hearing about Li Ruo’s situation, he didn't hesitate to take charge. After a quick examination, he immediately issued orders for resuscitation.

"This is madness! Pure madness!" Director Zhang roared in anger as he looked at Li Ruo on the bed. "She's so young, why drink so much? Does she not value her own life? Hurry, prepare for a gastric lavage!"

The nurses dared not make a sound. They prepared the equipment, while the head nurse directed the process in an orderly fashion: "Prepare the potassium permanganate solution, two percent sodium bicarbonate solution, and saline..."

The emergency room was a scene of frantic activity. The nurses busied themselves preparing the necessary fluids. Director Zhang performed the gastric lavage himself. Large amounts of solution were pumped into Li Ruo’s stomach, inducing vomiting. The fluid forced the alcohol out of her system. The pungent smell of vomit and alcohol filled the room.

After thirty minutes of resuscitation, Li Ruo’s condition finally stabilized. Her complexion returned to normal, though a light sheen of sweat had formed on her forehead. The unconscious Li Ruo was moved to a hospital bed, fitted with an oxygen mask, and connected to various monitors, which now displayed stable vitals.

*Creak...*

The operating room door opened, and Director Zhang walked out. As he removed his mask, Lin Ziwen hurried over, asking nervously, "Director, how is President Li?"

"It’s madness, absolute madness! Business is important, but there's no need to gamble with your life like this. How old is this girl? How could she drink so much?" Director Zhang began his reprimand with such fury that Lin Ziwen could barely lift her head. Only then did he soften his tone: "Don't worry, she was brought in on time and the lavage was successful. She will wake up tomorrow morning. Let her rest, and she'll be able to walk by tomorrow."

"Really?" Lin Ziwen said, overjoyed. "That’s great, that’s just wonderful!"

Li Ruo was wheeled out and taken to a VIP ward. Lin Ziwen followed closely. Li Ruo’s face looked much better now; the ghastly pale-blue tint had faded, though her cheeks remained pale. Lin Ziwen stood by her side with tears in her eyes, holding Li Ruo’s hand, her heart heavy with concern. Captain Cao and another bodyguard stood guard at the door.

...

Ye Chen’s arrest seemed to have triggered a butterfly effect. Some forces behind the scenes were pushing to ensure he was sent to prison, while others were trying to clear his name. Although Zhang Yantong was the officer who arrested Ye Chen, she was doing her best to mitigate his sentence and give him a chance to turn over a new leaf. She had tried to frame the situation as a voluntary surrender, but she was constantly blocked by her superiors, and even her request for help from her father had been rejected.

"Damn it, what am I supposed to do?" Zhang Yantong sat in her office, feeling defeated. Fang Qin walked in, looking equally discouraged. She glanced at Zhang Yantong and said, "Captain Zhang, the Municipal Committee won't step in either. Jiang Zhonggen refuses to get involved because he is about to be promoted to the provincial capital. If he intervenes now and gets caught in the crossfire, it could have negative repercussions."

"Sigh..." Zhang Yantong sighed.

"Captain, I still don't understand why we can't give Ye Chen a chance to start over?" Fang Qin stood by the door. It was already dark outside. She had traveled everywhere trying to help Ye Chen, only to be met with constant rejection, leaving her heartbroken. It wasn't that she had fallen in love with him, but rather that she was disillusioned with the internal politics of the police department. Leaning against the office door, letting the wind through the window catch her hair, the kind-hearted girl looked at Zhang Yantong and said, "Back then, Ye Chen helped us crack the case at the South Gate, yet he was the one who ended up taking the blame. He took the fall without saying a word. Later, he played a crucial role in taking down the cancer that was Zhang Dadan, but what did we give him? The police force took all the credit. Yes, Chief Zeng became the guardian of Jianghuai City, and you were named one of the top ten outstanding police officers in Z Province. But what about Ye Chen..."

At this point, Fang Qin burst into tears. She had once been full of hope, believing she could make a difference within the police force, but reality was far from her expectations. Zhang Yantong recalled her encounters with Ye Chen. He was indeed an exceptional man—mature, humorous, and possessing a world-weary heart. He didn't care for honor or money; he cared only for the safety of those around him.

For Li Ruo, he had exposed himself to enemy fire time and again. For his brothers, he had single-handedly stormed Zhang Dadan’s territory and taken down the man who bullied Feng Zhixiao. He had even risked a fallout with Liu Junyuan and clashed with city enforcement officers for Wang Momo...

Such a man was truly remarkable. Zhang Yantong’s thoughts swirled, her vision blurred, and she found herself moved by everything Ye Chen had done. This was not just the behavior of a man; it was the behavior of a hero.

"I want to save him too..." Zhang Yantong looked up, her eyes misty.

"Captain Zhang, you..." Fang Qin was stunned.

"It's nothing," Zhang Yantong smiled faintly. "Perhaps we were too naive. Some things aren't as easy to change as we'd like to think."

"Then, then what do we do?" Fang Qin looked at her anxiously.

"Even if we can't change the long-term outcome, we can change the current situation!" A cold smile suddenly appeared on Zhang Yantong's face. In that moment, she knew exactly what she had to do.

"Captain, are you thinking of..." Fang Qin stared at her, sensing something strange in that cold, sharp smile. Zhang Yantong glanced at her and said, "Fang Qin, go home. Some things are not meant for you to be involved in."