Xu Qin’s car speeds quickly from the Xi San to the southward area. There’s no traffic jam, no red light so very quickly she could arrive there at the outside of Shi Li Dai firefighter station center camp.
It’s a late night.
The lights are yellow, the street is soundless.
Xu Qin looks inside the fence. The time she wants to climb it, on the drill ground, there’s a noise of police dog.
“Gong!”
A big black dog runs over from the drill ground: “Ao! Ao!”
Xu Qin is startled and turns he rhead to run away. Yet that dog seems to ‘unwilling to forgive her’. His attention is occupied on Xu Qin. What divides them is the fence. “Ao! Ao!”
The barking voice is so fierce and malicious, it resounds to the whole street.
Xu Qin runs toward the entrance, the guard looks at her.
A man comes forward and scolds the dog: “Xiao Meng!”
The dog stops barking abruptly.
Xu Qin tidies up her hair and clothes and looks over. The dog is looking at Xu Qin with bright eyes then the dog just returns back to that man.
Xu Qin asks the guard: “Hi, I’m looking at Song Yan.”
The guard glances at the warning sign in front of the entrance. Xu Qin also looks at it too. It is written “No visitation.”
The man, who scolds the dog, comes over. That person is tall but Xu Qin couldn’t see him very clearly.
Xu Qin fixes her gaze on him. Very quick, she turns relieved. She could that man clealry now, it’s the Political commissar, Suo Jin.
Suo Jin comes over to look at the situation, he recognizes Xu Qin. “You were….”
Xu Qin: “Hi, I’m looking for Song Yan.”
Suo JIn: “He is going away for government-sponsored training.”
Xu Qin: “….. Oh.”
Suo Jin: “What’s the matter?”
Xu Qin: “Nothing, I just passed by. Thank you, bye.”
“Ay….” Suo Jin still wants to do something, Xu Qin already turns her body and goes to her car. She leaves.
She looks at the window, the city looks gloomy. It looks listless. If it’s a rainstorm, she feels it’s a bit better. Xu Qin lights on her cigarette.
She is so bored and feels so suffocating.
………..
The next day, the sun rides high in the sky, the temperature is raising.
Several firefighters are accessed physically under the scorching sun.
The firefighters are lining up well. Song Yan blows the whistle and the firefighters, who are lining up, start to run forward passing the starting line. They run, hurdle, crawl, pass the obstacles, push up, sit-up.
Song Yan stays there and records the time.n
It all takes about an hour.
Song Yan looks at the table: “Attention!”
The firefighters start to stand up straight.
“Stand at ease.”
They follow his order.
“The achievement report.
Jiang Yi: short-distance run 11 seconds 3; hurdle: 17 seconds……” Song Yan looks at his own group members and notices Suo Jun comes over: “……. all the total is 2 minutes 24 seconds. You are 15 second faster than last week. — Clap your hands.”
Everyone claps their hands.
Suo Jun is standing up beside under the tree. The police dog is beside him. A man and a dog are waiting for Song Yan.
Song Yan tells each of their reports then says: “Everyone’s achievements have raised. Continue to maintain it. You guys could have a ten minute rest.” Then he looks at his watch: “10:30 a.m., gather again and exercise again. Attention!”
“Yes.”
“Dismiss.”
Song Yan turns his body and leaves, he goes to Suo Jun and says to Xiao Meng: “Dismiss!”
In a next second, the serious looking dog immediately opens up its mouth and extends its tongue. It goes and throws itself to him, his front paws are on his chest, its tail keeps on moving.
Song Yan strokes its head and smiles: “Wow, just few days of not meeting each other, and you could act this way.”
Suo Jun: “You raise a spoiled dog. When you are gone, it didn’t want to eat anything, his temper turned worst. Looking at someone, it would just bark. It seems to have deep feeling toward you.”
Song Yan: “Rubbish, I would raise it till it is big and great.”
Suo Jin says: “Yes, this dog’s feeling is complying to its owner.”
Song Yan is scratching the dog’s neck and raise his eyebrow: “Why do I think that your words have a different meaning?”
Suo Jun makes fun: “I’m saying that you attach importance on feeling. Oh right. Two nights ago a woman came to find you, she seems to be a doctor.
Song Yan bends his body and strokes the dog’s head, he seems to be uninterested.
“At first I want to find her to leave me her contact’s information but she just ran away.”
Song Yan raises his head: “She is not something important.”
……..
It’s raining today, it has been raining for three days. It’s getting better.
Xu Qin prefers extremely odious weathers, she likes to see everything rips and destroys. Yet her colleagues don’t feel that way.
The time the weather is bad, the patients of the emergency room would increase sharply. The hall, the consultation, observation, and injection rooms are filled.
Xu Qin and her group has received seven major and minor patients of car accident for three days. Among of them there’s a twenty years old man, he stops breathing on the way to the hospital, it’s hard to reverse that desperate situation.
The patient’s parents keep on crying and howling, they utter cries of anguish, they beg the doctors to save the son.
The doctors and nurses use to see life and death, yet that time they feel not used to it.
Xiao Nan is washing her hands inside the bathroom, she couldn’t help but to wipe her tears.
Xu Qin asks: “What happened?”
Xiao Nan: “Before the death man is so young, his parents are too miserable.”
“Em.” Xu Qin is done with washing her hands, she wipes her hands and says: “I’ll get of work first, see you.”
Xiao Nan is startled, she just watches Xu Qin leaves. Just in time, Xiao Bei comes inside the restroom. “What are you looking at?”
Xiao Nan: “I just notice that Doctor Xu seems to never have any fluctuate emotion.”
Xiao Bei takes the liquid soap: “You just notice about it today. Everyone in this hospital has known about it. We never see she smiles or cries. When she meets a miserable patient, she still could act calm; The time she has a tragic case,she also never has any compassion; She never gets angry so I think a person like her is most suitable to be a doctor.”
Xiao Nan is so confused: “Why are you thinking that way?”
Xiao Bei shrugs her shoulder: “Distancing yourself with a patient means that you do your medical skill without any feeling. It means you are professional.”
Xiao Nan: “But I heard from Doctor Zhu Xian of burn department. Professor Xu seems to have objection toward Doctor Xu. He doesn’t agree for Doctor Xu to be resident physician.”
“Ay, why? Though she is not very friendly, yet she is reliable, working with her is very relaxing. Other doctors should handle the personal relations. It’s too troublesome.”
“It seems he feels that Doctor Xu has no kind-heartedness. I heard from Doctor Yang Si Jia said that at first she and Doctor Xu were interviewed together. Several heads of surgical department were there. Professor Xu Gen asked, if a critically ill patient applies for transfer to your hospital to do surgery. You judge based on his case the success rate is not high. Would you accept him to be transferred and help him to treat the illness? Yang Si Jia sad that she would, she said that our medial skill is very exquisite. We could help patients that other hospital couldn’t help. She hopes that one day she could be a doctor that could cure miraculous and bring the dying back to life.”
Xiao Bei: “Then what about Doctor Xu, what is her answer?”
Xiao Nan: “Doctor Xu said that she would not.”
Xiao Bei: “She didn’t say the reason?”
Xiao Nan: “She said it, she doesn’t want to ruin her career.”
Xiao Bei: “Wow, why is she so direct?”
Xiao Nan: “Exactly, Professor Xu that time crossed her form, no one expected that she could get in. Moreover she is placed under Professor Xu.”
Xiao Bei is worried: “Then this time would Doctor Xu be promoted?”
…………
In the mid-afternoon, Xu Qin returns back to her apartment. She notices that the window is open. The raindrops are coming inside and makes the wooden flooring be so dirty.
She looks over and notices she has no mop, she even doesn’t have any dust cloth. Now she has no way to call casual worker paid by the hour.
But she really couldn’t endure the messiness, she looks over and just takes a new sweater and wipes the water on the floor.
Because of the rain, the temperature falls rapidly. Xu Qin is busy doing the chores, she has a stuffy nose so she looks for a knit overcoat.
She sits on the sofa and lights on her cigarette. She looks at the window and just day dreaming. When she is almost done to smoke it, she even doesn’t notice it. She recalls that night she returned back from Shi Li Tai fire station. Everything is normal, she is calm.”
After a while, her stomach grumble. She remembers that she just ate Xiao Nan’s cake this morning. She hasn’t eaten anything. She just takes out her phone to call takeaway. Meng Yan Chen just calls her.
“Qin Qin?”
“Yes.”
“Are you home?” Xu Qin’s work schedule is too complicated. Meng Yan Chen knows about it clearly so he never disturbs her during the working hour, he only cares for her when it’s resting time.
“I am.”
“It’s okay, I just want to remind you for a while. Tonight there is an early warning of a rainstorm. Don’t run outside.” Meng Yan Chen is calm.
“I know.” Xu Qin says.
“Have you eaten?”
“No, I would call takeaway.”
Meng Yan Chen stops for a second and says: “I haven’t eaten anything too, let’s eat together.”
Xu Qin: “Where?”
Meng Yan Chen: “Where do you want to eat?”
Xu Qin: “Jiang Zhi Chu.”
Meng Yan Chen smiles: “You never get tired of it.”
Xu Qin “I’ll get ready.”
Meng Yan Chen: “No need, the rain is too heavy. the road is too unsafe. I’ll bring it over for you.”
Xu Qin: “They provide takeaway?”
“No.” Meng Yan Chen: “Wait for me.”
When it’s waiting time, Xu Qin cleans up the cigarette ash and the ashtray. She goes to take shower and cleans herself up from head to toe. She changes clothes and covers herself in blanket to rest.
After a while, Meng Yan Chen comes over. He holds a fine woven bamboo meal box. There are stir-fry lotus root, garlic sagebrush, saute lotus seed, steam perch, louts root spareribs soup.
It’s quite similar with Xu Qin’s taste. They eat the meal together.
When they are done, Meng Yan Cheng takes the bowls and plates to the kitchen to wash it, Meng Yan Chen asks: “You have been living here for so long, you never use your kitchen?”
“No.” Xu Qin looks at him. Meng Yan Chen starts to wash the dishes. Today he is wearing a dark shirt.
Meng Yan Chen says: “Do you want to me to help to find A Yi to come over and help?”
“No need, we have dining hall at the hospital. It’s also easy to call takeaway.
Meng Yan Chen says nothing else. He notices a kettle near the table. The plug is in English style; He looks around and notices there’s also no other kettle.
He suddenly says: “Qin Qin, you couldn’t take care of yourself, then what should you do in the future?”
The room is silent, there’s only the sound of the rain outside.
Xu Qin sits and curls up her legs on the sofa, she looks at the window glass: “The words that you said, have you forgotten about it?”
………
Meng Yan Chen goes to work, Xu Qin sleeps at home till 03:30 p.m. Then she is waken up by Doctor Dong Yuan Yi’s call. He said that the department receives a third degree case, 90% of his body is burnt. Wang Guo Dong, Xu Ken, Gao Liang and several doctors are operating personally. It’s a rare chance, so she is called to observe.
Xu Qin immediately goes to the hospital. The time her car comes out of the apartment complex, the rain is pouring.
The time she arrives at the hospital, she enters the view and emulate room beside the surgery room. The doctors, who are not working that day, also come over to take a look at the surgery. Xu Qin looks for a corner seat to seat. This time, Doctor Wang starts to do tracheotomy.
Xu Qin sits down there for almost six hours, she even doesn’t aware of the passing time. At last the surgery is successful and everyone starts to leave.
Her next shift is tomorrow 08:00 a.m. At first she wanted to discuss the detail of the surgery with the professors like the order of infusion, the choice of the medicine, the estimation and time. Yet the time she considers about how long have they operated, they should be tired. She decides to wait till tomorrow so she just gets on her car and goes back home.
The whole parking are of the hospital has a layer of water. She doesn’t know where is it coming from. Xu Qin is still busy thinking about the surgery so she doesn’t mind much about anything else.
The car gets into the driveway and she still be absent-minded. She doesn’t notice that the rainstorm is too terrifying.
When she was in the hospital for six hours, outside world is shaking, the whole city is full of ponds of water.
The pedestrians are running on the platform bridge. The cars move a bit slower, there’re also cars that stop moving in the middle of the muddy water.
Xu Qin notices that the puddle level is not right, the car has gotten inside the middle of the puddle, she immediately lowers the speed and gets ready to retreat, she needs to change into another lane, yet her car suddenly goes dead. She couldn’t start the engine of the car. Behind her, another car speeds up and couldn’t help to brake. It bumps her car’s back. It sends her car two to three meters a head.
The rain is heavy. Through the wiper, Xu Qin barely see the familiar signs on the road ahead, and suddenly realizes that this was a sinking underpass!
She immediately pulls up the handbrake, but the rain continues to wash towards the bottom of the bridge, pushing the car down the slope.
Xu Qin undoes the seatbelt and presses the car window, she presses the button to open the window, yet it’s not working. The door couldn’t be opened too.
She takes out her phone and calls 110.
“Hi, 110 ——“
“Hi, I am locked inside the car that would go into the water, I couldn’t open the door. I’m at Song Men bridge, a white BMW.”
“You shouldn’t be panic, for rescue please call 119.”
The time Xu Qin hears 119, she couldn’t respond and the call just ends.
88tangeatdrinkread 
I always think the more express less person, the more unbearable feelings behind it…..
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