Chapter 247 - 165: A Just Cause Attracts Much Support

Chapter 247: Chapter 165: A Just Cause Attracts Much Support

At the nurses’ station.

Meng Shiyu, ever the social butterfly, asked politely, "Keeping busy, Sister Jing?"

Chen Jing glanced at him. "I just finished verifying tomorrow morning’s surgical procedures. Why haven’t you clocked out yet?"

"Well... Sister Jing, I just came from the Medical Affairs Department’s on-call office. I managed to dig up some information."

"Tomorrow at three in the afternoon, the hospital is holding a hospital-wide quality control meeting. Director Ma specifically singled out Teacher Jiang, planning to make an example of him for refusing to correct those medical records this afternoon."

"Fifteen critical care beds! Teacher Jiang pulled an all-nighter to get all those patients stabilized. Today, even Attending Physician Lin Haibo couldn’t find a single fault during the shift handover. How can Ma Huaide make such a big deal out of a few typos?"

Meng Shiyu was a sharp one.

He had his reasons for coming to Chen Jing with this information.

During registration the other day, he had noticed that Chen Jing and Jiang He seemed to have a close relationship.

That’s why he’d come to her—he wanted to get her on his side.

He’d expected Chen Jing to be shocked, or at least join him in a few rounds of indignant cursing.

But Chen Jing simply countered, "This is a big deal. You don’t actually think you’re the only one who’s heard about it, do you?"

Meng Shiyu blinked.

Then, he watched as Chen Jing pulled open a nearby drawer, took out a hardcover notebook, and pushed it toward him.

"Open it."

Confused, Meng Shiyu opened the notebook.

Inside were dated entries about the duty roster.

[February 14, General Surgery: Wu Qi, a doctor on advanced training, was suddenly forced to take on eight critical care beds during his night shift. The hospital’s own attending physician in the same group was assigned only three. It was later discovered that this attending is on very close personal terms with Director Ma.]

[March 2, Orthopedics: The number of extra beds in the ward hallway far exceeded the limit. The Medical Affairs Department issued a mandatory admission order, which led to an error by the nurse on duty that night, Jiang Guanzheng, after he worked for 16 consecutive hours. Director Ma’s official comment was ’poor stress tolerance,’ and he deducted Jiang Guanzheng’s performance bonus for the month.]

[April...]

Meng Shiyu’s heart pounded as he read.

’This thing... Is this some kind of Death Note?’

’He had just binged that anime a couple of nights ago. Looking at Sister Jing now, he suddenly felt like he was looking at Yagami Light...’

"Sister Jing, did you put this all together?"

Chen Jing shook her head and took the notebook back. "Not just me. A little after ten tonight, the head nurse from the Emergency Department called my extension. She mentioned tomorrow’s meeting, and while she was at it, she chewed me out, asking how we could just stand by and let the Medical Affairs Department bully Dr. Jiang like this."

"So then I called the ICU’s head nurse, intending to get my hands on the records of Ma Huaide’s previous reckless patient assignments."

"What did the ICU head nurse say?"

"The ICU head nurse said, ’What a coincidence, I was just about to call you.’ This stuff here... it was all compiled tonight over the internal lines by the head nurses from Emergency, the ICU, Anesthesiology, and a few of us from the surgical departments."

’Holy shit,’ Meng Shiyu thought.

The nursing staff held a unique position in the hospital; more often than not, they were the best-informed group.

Piss off this group and you were finished. They could dig up dirt on you from decades ago...

Chen Jing said, "I’m only telling you this because I can see you’re on Dr. Jiang’s side. Ma Huaide wants to talk about rules and quality control tomorrow, doesn’t he? Well, all the head nurses in the hospital will be at that meeting. I’m dying to see which is really non-compliant: Dr. Jiang’s records with a few typos, or the Medical Affairs Department’s duty roster!"

Meng Shiyu was a little in awe of Chen Jing’s swagger.

’A head nurse, going head-to-head with a director... What’s a guy to do? I think I’m a little smitten.’

"You should go get some rest."

Chen Jing continued, "Dr. Jiang was on the front lines saving all those people. He’s just a student; it’s normal for him not to understand these political games. But us? We can’t just pretend we’re blind."

Meng Shiyu gave her a thumbs-up. "You’re awesome, Sister Jing."

...

「1:00 AM」

In the smoking area outside the Emergency Department of Affiliated Hospital No. 1.

"Old Zhao, got a spare?"

Zhao Yumin turned, recognizing the man’s face in the flare of his lighter.

It was Liu Jianbang, the director of the Department of Critical Care Medicine.

Zhao Yumin passed a cigarette over and lit it for him.

Liu Jianbang spoke. "You heard about the meeting tomorrow afternoon, right?"

Zhao Yumin scoffed. "How could I not? I went to see a patient in Hepatobiliary Surgery this morning and happened to run into Jiang He on his rounds. The kid was managing fifteen critical cases all by himself. The second he finished, Quality Control shows up with a magnifying glass to nitpick. You tell me, could you stand that?"

"Who the hell does that Ma Huaide think he is? He’s never set foot in an OR, never seen real blood in the ER. He just sits in his office all day filling out his damn spreadsheets. The night of the car crash, Jiang He was dragging his injured leg through the red-tag zone, shouldering all that pressure alone. Where was Ma Huaide then? Now he struts out, acting all high and mighty!"

Liu Jianbang said nothing, just took one long drag after another.

When the cigarette was down to the filter, he threw the butt to the ground and crushed it out with his shoe.

"Old Zhao, I’m not worried about Jiang He being disciplined. Dean Chen isn’t stupid, and Director Yang is no pushover. This whole thing will get smoothed over in the end."

"Then why the long face?"

"What worries me is that Jiang He is only twenty-one. Twenty-one, Old Zhao! What were you doing at that age? This kid... he published an LNR paper in a top-tier journal... has a perfect record in ER triage, and even dared to propose a bottom-up blind suturing technique in my ICU... The kid is a goddamn genius, the kind you see once in a century!"

"But what if this makes him lose heart?"

"What if he decides our system here isn’t worth killing himself for, and he just ups and leaves to do research abroad?"

Liu Jianbang’s words silenced Zhao Yumin.

The Emergency Department had seen its share of life and death, as well as its share of patient disputes and unfair grievances.

Zhao Yumin had mentored many young doctors. They all started out full of passion, but after two or three years of being worn down by the system, they all gradually settled into just going through the motions.

Jiang He couldn’t be allowed to become like that.

"Director Liu, I have to be at that meeting tomorrow afternoon."

Liu Jianbang nodded. "Same here. I’m skipping my rounds tomorrow, too. If Ma Huaide dares to so much as fart in that meeting, I’ll get right in his face and curse him out."

The two veteran clinicians were in perfect agreement.

...

「The next morning.」

At a breakfast stall near the Affiliated Hospital No. 1’s staff family housing.

Lin Peidong took a sip of soy milk and watched his nephew, Xu Chen, who was sitting across from him and wolfing down a meat bun.

Xu Chen had changed since that massive car crash.

He now proactively helped his supervising physician with medical records and volunteered for the dirtiest, most grueling tasks.

Lin Peidong was pleased to see this transformation.

He smiled. "Slow down, no one’s racing you. Head to the department as soon as you’re done. There’s a big hospital-wide meeting at three this afternoon, and all the key staff from every department have to attend. Some of the routine afternoon surgeries might be canceled, so you interns and residents will have to keep a close watch on the wards."

Xu Chen looked up. "Uncle, what’s the meeting about? Sounds like a big deal."

"A hospital-wide quality control meeting. They’re saying it’s about enforcing documentation standards, but really, it’s just Ma Huaide from the Medical Affairs Department looking to make trouble for someone."

"Who’s he targeting?"

"Jiang He."

Xu Chen: "?"

After a moment’s stunned silence, he asked, "But why?"

"Ma Huaide set Jiang He up yesterday, making him manage fifteen critical care beds by himself. He pulled an all-nighter, and then a quality control officer came by, picked out over thirty typos and formatting errors in his records, and told him to scrap everything and start over. Jiang He has a stubborn streak, so he just flat-out refused. That’s exactly what Ma Huaide wanted. Now he’s planning to make an example of him this afternoon for defying quality control."

Xu Chen was furious when he heard this.

"Brother Jiang pulled an all-nighter to stabilize those patients! They should be rewarding him, but instead they’re attacking him over some typos? What kind of bullshit rule is that?!"

"Jiang He has been in the spotlight too much, so it’s inevitable that some people are jealous. This isn’t something for you students to get involved in. During the meeting this afternoon, I and a few other senior attendings will see if we can help mediate."

Xu Chen had lost his appetite. He wrapped up the remaining half of his bun and threw it in the trash can.

"I’m full, Uncle. I’m heading to the department."

...

「10:00 AM, in the Surgical Oncology ward of Affiliated Hospital No. 1.」

Xu Chen sat in the doctors’ office, a lab report in his hand, but his gaze was fixed blankly on the world outside the window.

"What are you spacing out about, Dr. Bao Bing?"

A cheerful voice piped up beside him.

It was the young nurse, Han Yuan, who loved to banter with Xu Chen and always called him "Dr. Bao Bing." She leaned in closer.

Previously, whenever she called him by that nickname, Xu Chen would have put on a stern face and tried to act serious.

But not today.

He turned to look at Han Yuan, his expression dead serious.

"Han Yuan, if I get a formal demerit today, or even get kicked out of the program and sent back to my university, would you think I was stupid?"

Han Yuan froze.

The smile on her face slowly faded.

"What happened?"

"At three this afternoon, during the hospital-wide quality control meeting, someone’s going to go after Brother Jiang. I don’t know anything about administrative rules. I just know that on the night of the crash, a lot more people would have died if Brother Jiang hadn’t been in charge of the red-tag zone. He’s a true doctor."

Xu Chen stood up.

"I’m planning to go to the administration building at three o’clock and stand outside the main conference room."

"If Ma Huaide tries to discipline Brother Jiang, I’ll ask Director Ma right in front of everyone: Does he know how to perform an abdominal paracentesis? Does he know how to perform a blind suture to stop bleeding? Does he even know how to save a life?"

There was a stubborn, unyielding quality to his words.

Han Yuan stared at him, dumbfounded.

She usually liked teasing Xu Chen because she found it cute how the top student was always putting on airs, acting all prim and proper, which sometimes made him look a little silly.

But in that moment, Han Yuan’s heart skipped a beat.

’He’s so cool,’ she thought.

It wasn’t the pretentious coolness he exuded when he slicked back his hair and rattled off medical facts.

It was the fiery, youthful spirit of someone who charges forward, knowing full well the odds are against him.

"You’re not stupid."

Han Yuan’s face suddenly broke into a brilliant smile.

"Dr. Bao Bing, I’m going with you at three. I’ll get someone to cover my shift at the nurses’ station. If an intern like you dares to go protest, what’s a full-time staff nurse like me got to be afraid of?"

They looked at each other and smiled.

And they weren’t the only ones.

In every corner of Affiliated Hospital No. 1, sparks of defiance were starting to converge.

There is a saying:

A just cause will always find supporters.

Jiang He’s character had won him the respect of leaders and staff at every level of the hospital.

Even if Jiang He did nothing himself, people would rally together to protect him of their own accord.

...

「2:40 PM」

Twenty minutes remained before the hospital-wide quality control meeting.

Inside the spacious and brightly lit main conference room of the Affiliated Hospital No. 1 administration building.

Ma Huaide felt a strange tension in the air, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

All he could do was smile and greet the department directors and head nurses as they filed in.

"Ah, Director Wang, you’ve arrived! Please, have a seat."

"Nurse Li, thank you for making the trip today."

Ma Huaide watched the conference room gradually fill up, mentally rehearsing his speech. He needed to find a way to sound respectful of the rules and regulations while simultaneously tearing Jiang He’s act of defiance to shreds.

He had no idea that the head nurses walking in, nodding and smiling at him, had damning records tucked away in their pockets.

He had no idea that in a corner at the back of the room, Zhao Yumin of the Emergency Department and Liu Jianbang of the ICU were already sitting shoulder to shoulder, their eyes fixed on him with cold disdain.

And he certainly had no idea that just outside the administration building, Xu Chen, Han Yuan, and several other young doctors on rotation were standing silently in a row.

And even farther away...

Director-General Lin Zhenhua had already settled into an official car with Yang Xu. He spoke to the driver in a low, serious voice. "To Affiliated Hospital No. 1."