Chapter 1: The Office's Unspoken Rules...

  Yang Zongbao hoped to get off work at 8 o'clock sharp, but after he finished washing up and it was almost 9 o'clock, there was still no one to take over. He took a look at the shift schedule.

  According to reason, Su Xiaomei should be on duty at 2 o'clock in the morning, but now it's already 9:30 and there is still no sign of that woman.

  The operating room cannot be left unattended, Yang Zongbao has no choice but to wait.

  "Haven't you arrived yet?" Kang Le gathered his things and prepared to eat something, seeing Yang Zongbao still there, so he asked.

  "Uh-huh."

  "Suxiao Mei, that's too much." Kang Le directly picked up the phone and dialed a number: "Dr. Su, you're on duty today, you can't not know about it."

  “……”

  "On the second day of the new year, everyone has something to do. If you're not here within half an hour, I'll tell the director." Kang Le didn't waste any more words on the other person and hung up the phone without waiting for a response. He turned around and said to Yang Zongbao: "You're too easy to bully, letting a newcomer bully you like this?"

  "This... " Yang Zongbao thought to himself, what business is it of yours anyway? How did things end up with Kang Le being even angrier than me.

  "What's this? I'll wait with you, if Su Xiaomei doesn't arrive in half an hour, I'll take you to report it. Anyway, the director lives in the hospital's backyard." Kang Le panted and sat down beside Yang Zongbao.

  "Hmm..." Are girls these days so enthusiastic? Yang Zongbao was somewhat surprised. The two of them chatted on and off, and the time wasn't so hard to get through.

  Half an hour passed and Su Xiaomei still hadn't appeared. Kang Le didn't hesitate to dial Director Mao's phone number and lodged a complaint against her.

  "You don't have to be like this. Colleagues will not get along." Yang Zongbao said hesitantly. In fact, for him, it didn't matter at all, because in the end he would still leave this hospital. As for interpersonal relationships, Yang Zongbao was truly and sincerely indifferent.

  "It's not for you, I just never liked her from the start. Let me whisper a secret to you, it was on purpose."

  Yang Zongbao did not expose Kang Le's lie. Her kindness, Yang Zongbao accepted in his heart.

  "Sorry, sorry, I'm late."

  Su Xiaomei finally arrived late. She didn't even change her clothes, and came in wearing her own clothes. Her hair was slightly disheveled, looking like she had rushed over.

  "How come you're so late? Didn't we arrange the shift a long time ago?" Kang Le finally found an outlet for his pent-up anger that evening.

  "Sorry, sorry." Su Xiaomei apologized repeatedly, her exposed skin completely flushed red.

  "Hmph, even if you're late, you should at least notify me. How would I know what you're up to if you don't? Anyway, I've already reported it to the director."

  Kang Le's portrayal of a shrewish woman is vivid and lifelike, making one wonder if this isn't her true nature rather than just an act.

  "It's all my fault."

  A sudden figure emerged from behind Su Xiaomei's back.

  "Who are you? Unauthorized personnel, please do not enter the operating room." Kang Le said with a bad tone, without paying attention to the stranger's handsome face.

  Yang Zongbao's good impression of Kang Le has risen another level. This woman is really something, her resistance to men's appearances is three plus signs.

  "I'm Su Xiaomei's friend, she came late today because my car broke down, so..."

  "What's wrong with it?"

  Yang Shuo was interrupted by Kang Le before he could finish, and for a moment there was no topic, and after being stunned for a while, he reacted and explained: "On top of the Guangpu Bridge."

  "Why didn't she take the bus? It's only a 20-minute ride. Taking a taxi is even faster."

  Yang Zongbao heard this and his stomach almost cramped up. This Kang Le is really not someone to be trifled with! Otherwise, this kind of thing could drive a person to death, without leaving any face for the other party.

  "But she's a girl, it wouldn't be good for her to get off halfway." Yang Shuo made his final struggle.

  "What woman? You don't know that in the hospital, men are treated like dogs and women are treated as men. And you, hurry up and get out, you shouldn't have come in." Kang Le pushed Yang Shuo out.

  Yang Zongbao thought the farce had gone on long enough, stood up and said to Su Xiaomei who was blushing: "One cataract surgery, one pancreatitis, eight appendicitis. Nothing serious."

  After clearly explaining what happened yesterday, Yang Zongbao didn't want to have too much contact with Su Xiaomei because there were suspicious deep red marks on the back of her neck.

  "Sorry." Su Xiaomei said softly.

  "What's he apologizing for?" Yang Shuo had seen it all along, that Yang Zongbao was just pretending not to recognize him. Now seeing his attitude towards Su Xiaomei, he felt annoyed.

  "But... " Su Xiaomei was more humane than Yang Shuo.

  "There's nothing much, but Young Master Yang doesn't care about your little apology." Yang said with a sour tone.

  "Do you know him?" Kang Le asked, nudging Yang Zongbao.

  "Acquaintances, same father different mother."

  "Uh..."

  Yang Shuo didn't expect Yang Zongbao to casually reveal the embarrassing truth about their relationship. For a moment, his face was filled with various expressions, looking quite ugly: "What siblings, it's just that you know..."

  Yang Shuo didn't say anything after that, but everyone knew it wasn't good.

  "Could it be..."

  Su Xiaomei that brainless one, exaggeratedly covering her own mouth. That look is as shocking as discovering humans evolved from monkeys.

  Soon, Yang Shuo found that he had not hit Yang Zongbao at all. Yang Zongbao was still packing his things and preparing to get off work, with movements neither slow nor fast, neither urgent nor sluggish.

  Isn't it normal for people to care about their social status? But Yang Zongbao seems to have some backing, and he doesn't seem to care about being ridiculed. Or maybe his spirit is strong enough that he just doesn't care. Yang Shuo has always thought that those so-called calm people are losers, who compromise with society or others. They can't compete with others, they can only comfort themselves with an Ah Q mentality. However, through a few encounters with Yang Zongbao, Yang Shuo realized that this man really didn't care how others looked at him. He also learned about himself through some channels, and found out that he was just smart but had no other strengths. So is he the kind of person who accepts reality and can't fight back?

  Yang Shuo comforted himself like this, but in his heart he was still very uneasy.

  "Zongbao, save me!"

  Yang Zongbao suddenly heard this voice, his heart skipped a beat, and his body began to react with anxiety.

  As expected, Hu Dong turned around with a thousand postures and hugged Yang Zongbao's shoulder, saying: "A case of intestinal obstruction emergency, help me do it."

  "She is on duty today, I'm off." Yang Zongbao said, pointing at Su Xiaomei.

  “She…”

  I don't know what Hu Dong is thinking, after looking at Su Xiaomei for a while, he said: "I don't want it, I just want you."

  This remark made others suspect an illicit affair. As expected, Kang Le was stunned, Su Xiaomei's face turned even redder, and Yang Shuo gloated over their misfortune.

  "My head is not clear now, something will go wrong." Yang Zongbao was about to reason.

  "Regarding the intestinal obstruction." Hu Dong pulled Yang Zongbao aside and said: "My friend's daughter, you know that woman is just a vase, she can't do anything, help me out."

  Since Director Hu has already humbled himself so much, Yang Zongbao felt that he couldn't not help him, or else it would be a loss of face for himself. Moreover, if he didn't help him, he estimated that he could trouble himself for a whole day.

  "Get the patient."

  "That's enough, alright." Hu Dong happily went to change his clothes.

  "Are you sick?" Kang Le said unhappily.

  "Why don't you just go home early if there's nothing else?"

  "Today I swapped shifts with Zhou Xing, so everything has to be done." Kang Le unhappily took a few towels and walked into the operating room.

  "If nothing's wrong, you can leave now, outsiders really can't enter the operating room." Yang Zongbao said to Yang Shuo.

  "I'm not here, it's none of your business, just take care of yourself. What should I call you? Don't even think about saying 'little brother', that disgusting title, bastard." Yang Shuo didn't know why, but whenever he saw Yang Zongbao, he couldn't control his temper.

  "Your mother was just one of your father's many mistresses." Yang Zongbao felt unsatisfied and added, "I wonder what I should call you? Illegitimate child or bastard?"

  Yang Zongbao did not miss Su Xiaomei's complex gaze. Without realizing that his words had caused a rift between the two young people, he considerately gave them space.

  In the operating room, a young girl lay pale on the operating table, her lips pursed tightly, suffering immense pain.

  "Hurry up, it hurts." Hu Dong urged.

  Yang Zongbao didn't waste words and quickly anesthetized him.

  The operation is underway, and Hu Dong considers the patient's age and opens a small mouth, about one finger wide.

  "That's strange." Hu Dong furrowed his brow on stage.

  "What's wrong?" It was rare for Hu Dong to feel strange, so Yang Zongbao was also concerned and stood at the head of the patient, looking into the surgical field.

  "Haven't seen any blockage. Show me the CT scan," said Hu Dong.

  Yang Zongbao inserted the CT film into the viewing lamp on the wall and turned it on. The blockage location was clearly displayed on it.

  "How strange! The blockage is gone." Hu Dong stared blankly at the opened delicate intestinal tube.

  "Huh, how did it suddenly disappear?" Kang Le also curiously poked his head out.

  "How is it?" Hu Dong asked Yang Zongbao.

  "The moving blockage is the living thing." Yang Zongbao expressed his own view: "In a state of hypoxia in the human body, I can imagine that there are ascaris. Adding that the patient is young and unlikely to have other diseases. There are also examples abroad."

  "I've been thinking about that too. But even if it's a tapeworm, where is the tapeworm now?" Hu Dong searched in the patient's abdominal cavity.

  Yang Zongbao and Hu Dong's eyes all fell on the patient's gallbladder.

  "Is this gallbladder full or not?" Hu Dong stared at the patient's gallbladder and said somewhat complicatedly.

  "Uh, some are big. But if it's really opened up to be tapeworms, I think that scene is terrifying." Yang Zongbao found it hard to imagine the appearance of those thousands and millions of soft-bodied animals.

  "If I open it, I'm afraid the worms will drill into other places, such as the liver. It's not easy to deal with at that time." Director Hu Dong also hesitated: "But we can't leave it alone."

  "Why don't we take it out first and then flush it out? After the operation, give anti-parasitic treatment?" Yang Zongbao proposed a suggestion.

  "It's like this now." Hu Dong carefully made his move.

  "Ah......" The miserable cries of Kang Le continued to echo in his ears.

  Yang Zongbao's vision was also shocked, and for a moment he had no reaction, losing his speech.

  "My god, it's disgusting." Hu Dong said, suppressing his nausea.

  Innumerable tapeworms were tangled together inside the gallbladder. Pinkish-white, thick and thin tapeworms wriggled like snakes, filling up the entire gallbladder.