Jiang Yigu was the head of the neurology department of a private hospital in River Town.
Tian Miaomiao had never seen him after Ji Weixi and Li Shaoling’s wedding until one day, when the police called her about her gambler father had been beaten until he was mentally disabled because of his debts.
The chief neurologist at the hospital she went to told her that a former authority on the practice had resigned.
Tian Miaomiao knew that the person was Jiang Yigu.
Even if there was some space between them, Tian Miaomiao felt that she didn’t have to save face when it came to her father’s condition.
Hence, she had her father transfer hospitals.
That night, Jiang Yigu entered with her father’s medical history and looked up coolly around him. “Are there any family members of Tian Qishan present?”
“Here!”
Tian Miaomiao shouted, raising her hand.
Their eyes met. Jiang Yigu frowned but soon was calm again, walking with one hand in his pocket to Tian Qishan to check his vitals and flashing a torchlight into his eyes.
He was just inches away, and though she had smelled the scent of antiseptic before, that was the first time she found it nice.
Jiang Yigu then lowered his torchlight, turning to leave as he said, “Please come with me.”
Tian Miaomiao followed after putting a blanket over Tian Qishan.
She then found Jiang Yigu leaning on the wall with his gaze lowered at her. “Do you think your father deserves pity?”
Tian Miaomiao was taken aback since she did not expect such a private question.
“No. But I have a responsibility to care for him even if I hate him.”
There was no choice—she was his only daughter after all.
On the other hand, Jiang Yigu had an inscrutable look on his face as if he was hesitating to say something.
“I’ll perform a checkup tomorrow.” He eventually muttered.
Tian Miaomioa was a little sad as she watched him strode off.
Was a patient’s family member all he considered of her?
Really.
Man, your name might well be Cold.
***
Midnight.
Tian Miaomiao only fell asleep after much difficulty on the narrow sickbed when she was jolted awake by waves of wailing.
She sat up, rubbed her eyes and opened the door.
There was a group of people crowding just outside the next room, each of them trying to look at the action inside.
Tian Miaomiao squeezed her way into the crowd to find a middle-aged man with a gruesome gap on his jugular, and blood shooting out of it.
Several nurses were flustered but helping, while Jiang Yigu kept both his hands on the man’s jugular, blood flowing freely between his fingers.
“Gauze.”
“Suture.”
Jiang Yigu’s face was somber as he rapidly sutured the gap, but the cut was too deep for him to work with.
Splat—
That was when the blood shot all over Jiang Yigu’s body.
His stark white coat, her face and glasses were all promptly dyed in blood.
Beep-beep-beep—
The monitors gradually flatlined.
“Darling!” A woman was wailing nearby with both her knees on the floor.
At the same time, Jiang Yigu remained unaffected as he issued another order. “Transfusion.”
Then, he put one palm over another upon the men’s chest, pumping it rhythmically and repetitively.
Jiang Yigu did that for some time but there was no reaction on the monitors, and so he took a defibrillator and adjusted it to high voltage and pumped the man’s chest again—the man’s body lifted with the burst of electric current, before slamming heavily back into bed.
In the end, the man couldn’t be saved.
Jiang Yigu bowed once and stepped out, and the onlookers cleared a path for him.
However, he was a few steps away when he turned around to Tian Miaomiao. He was about to pull her hand when he saw that his own hands were full of blood, and could only put his hand over her shoulder.
Tian Miaomiao had simply blanked out from what she saw.
“Girls shouldn’t be seeing something so bloody.”
Her face was pale white. That was the first time she had ever seen a sight so gory.
Jiang Yigu himself was pungent with the scent of blood, and she heaved a few times.
He smiled as he led her to his office.
He washed his hands with cold water, and then soaked his lab coat in the water.
Looking at him, Tian Miaomiao asked. “Are you sad watching a patient die?”
“I am.” Jian Yigu replied calmly as he leaned over the basin. “Just as I am aware that the chance of rescuing a patient whose jugular ruptures is almost zero, but I would still try it… It is my hope to save every life.”
Tian Miaomiao was curious. “How did that happen?”
“Suicide.”
“Suicide?” Tian Miaomiao was shocked. “Even that’s too brutal…”
Jiang Yigu’s lips curled but did not really smile. “This is the neurology wing. There are many people here who aren’t in their right minds, so I’m a little used to it.”
Tian Miaomiao’s face went pale. “Then, my father…”
Jiang Yigu’s face changed but he said nothing.
***
In the following month, Tian Miaomiao had stayed in the hospital to care for Tian Qishan as best as she could but his condition was not improving.
Still, there was a change between her and Jiang Yigu.
His attitude to her now was neither cold nor warm. Either way, it was a little better than ‘patient’s family’ but not really ‘friends’.
Tian Miaomiao would talk to Ji Weixi afterwards, who would advise her as if she had experienced it all herself. “All men are jerks. The more proactive you are, the less he cares for you.”
Li Shaoling who was helping her daughter with some scribbling looked up. “I’m a jerk?”
“…Not you, darling.”
“So, I’m not a man?” Li Shaoling narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Very well. I’ll have you learn what being a man is all about tonight.”
“…”
Couldn’t he just say that he wanted to get some action, and not nitpick or beat around the bush?
***
Tian Qishan’s condition never improved even on the day he was discharged.
Tian Miaomiao thought then that he would be like that for the rest of his life—perhaps it was punishment from the heavens.
After they reached home, Tian Qishan started to throw a fit about wanting to go outside to play like a child, and let him run about the district while she tidied her house.
That was when her door was kicked down with a bang, startling Tian Miaomiao.
Five huge pudgy men entered. Their leader had a scar from a blade on his face, and he asked when he saw Tian Miaomiao. “Are you Tian Qishan’s daughter?”
She was stepping back in fear. “Who… are you?”
The men looked at each other and laughed. “Tian Qishan owed us money, and he sold you off to us.”
“Sold?” Tian Miaomiao was left in disbelief. “My father’s out of his mind, how could he…”
No way…
Even before Tian Miaomiao could react, the scarred man had promptly pulled her hair and pressed her face down on the sofa, and impatiently tore her pants off.
Tian Miaomiao was struggling as hard as she could when she saw Tian Qishan staring from outside the door.
“Father! Father, help me!” She yelled as if finding a savior.
But Tian Qishan’s eyes had changed from its mindlessness before to one devoid of emotion.
He turned and left.
Tian Miaomiao’s whole body stiffened as her tears rained. She finally realized that Tian Qishan was faking his mental disability, and even sold her off to those men as collateral.
She gritted her teeth, and could not stop her bursting hate to kill him.
How could he be so heartless? She was his daughter!
Jiang Yigu was the head of the neurology department of a private hospital in River Town.
Tian Miaomiao had never seen him after Ji Weixi and Li Shaoling’s wedding until one day, when the police called her about her gambler father had been beaten until he was mentally disabled because of his debts.
The chief neurologist at the hospital she went to told her that a former authority on the practice had resigned.
Tian Miaomiao knew that the person was Jiang Yigu.
Even if there was some space between them, Tian Miaomiao felt that she didn’t have to save face when it came to her father’s condition.
Hence, she had her father transfer hospitals.
That night, Jiang Yigu entered with her father’s medical history and looked up coolly around him. “Are there any family members of Tian Qishan present?”
“Here!”
Tian Miaomiao shouted, raising her hand.
Their eyes met. Jiang Yigu frowned but soon was calm again, walking with one hand in his pocket to Tian Qishan to check his vitals and flashing a torchlight into his eyes.
He was just inches away, and though she had smelled the scent of antiseptic before, that was the first time she found it nice.
Jiang Yigu then lowered his torchlight, turning to leave as he said, “Please come with me.”
Tian Miaomiao followed after putting a blanket over Tian Qishan.
She then found Jiang Yigu leaning on the wall with his gaze lowered at her. “Do you think your father deserves pity?”
Tian Miaomiao was taken aback since she did not expect such a private question.
“No. But I have a responsibility to care for him even if I hate him.”
There was no choice—she was his only daughter after all.
On the other hand, Jiang Yigu had an inscrutable look on his face as if he was hesitating to say something.
“I’ll perform a checkup tomorrow.” He eventually muttered.
Tian Miaomioa was a little sad as she watched him strode off.
Was a patient’s family member all he considered of her?
Really.
Man, your name might well be Cold.
***
Midnight.
Tian Miaomiao only fell asleep after much difficulty on the narrow sickbed when she was jolted awake by waves of wailing.
She sat up, rubbed her eyes and opened the door.
There was a group of people crowding just outside the next room, each of them trying to look at the action inside.
Tian Miaomiao squeezed her way into the crowd to find a middle-aged man with a gruesome gap on his jugular, and blood shooting out of it.
Several nurses were flustered but helping, while Jiang Yigu kept both his hands on the man’s jugular, blood flowing freely between his fingers.
“Gauze.”
“Suture.”
Jiang Yigu’s face was somber as he rapidly sutured the gap, but the cut was too deep for him to work with.
Splat—
That was when the blood shot all over Jiang Yigu’s body.
His stark white coat, her face and glasses were all promptly dyed in blood.
Beep-beep-beep—
The monitors gradually flatlined.
“Darling!” A woman was wailing nearby with both her knees on the floor.
At the same time, Jiang Yigu remained unaffected as he issued another order. “Transfusion.”
Then, he put one palm over another upon the men’s chest, pumping it rhythmically and repetitively.
Jiang Yigu did that for some time but there was no reaction on the monitors, and so he took a defibrillator and adjusted it to high voltage and pumped the man’s chest again—the man’s body lifted with the burst of electric current, before slamming heavily back into bed.
In the end, the man couldn’t be saved.
Jiang Yigu bowed once and stepped out, and the onlookers cleared a path for him.
However, he was a few steps away when he turned around to Tian Miaomiao. He was about to pull her hand when he saw that his own hands were full of blood, and could only put his hand over her shoulder.
Tian Miaomiao had simply blanked out from what she saw.
“Girls shouldn’t be seeing something so bloody.”
Her face was pale white. That was the first time she had ever seen a sight so gory.
Jiang Yigu himself was pungent with the scent of blood, and she heaved a few times.
He smiled as he led her to his office.
He washed his hands with cold water, and then soaked his lab coat in the water.
Looking at him, Tian Miaomiao asked. “Are you sad watching a patient die?”
“I am.” Jian Yigu replied calmly as he leaned over the basin. “Just as I am aware that the chance of rescuing a patient whose jugular ruptures is almost zero, but I would still try it… It is my hope to save every life.”
Tian Miaomiao was curious. “How did that happen?”
“Suicide.”
“Suicide?” Tian Miaomiao was shocked. “Even that’s too brutal…”
Jiang Yigu’s lips curled but did not really smile. “This is the neurology wing. There are many people here who aren’t in their right minds, so I’m a little used to it.”
Tian Miaomiao’s face went pale. “Then, my father…”
Jiang Yigu’s face changed but he said nothing.
***
In the following month, Tian Miaomiao had stayed in the hospital to care for Tian Qishan as best as she could but his condition was not improving.
Still, there was a change between her and Jiang Yigu.
His attitude to her now was neither cold nor warm. Either way, it was a little better than ‘patient’s family’ but not really ‘friends’.
Tian Miaomiao would talk to Ji Weixi afterwards, who would advise her as if she had experienced it all herself. “All men are jerks. The more proactive you are, the less he cares for you.”
Li Shaoling who was helping her daughter with some scribbling looked up. “I’m a jerk?”
“…Not you, darling.”
“So, I’m not a man?” Li Shaoling narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Very well. I’ll have you learn what being a man is all about tonight.”
“…”
Couldn’t he just say that he wanted to get some action, and not nitpick or beat around the bush?
***
Tian Qishan’s condition never improved even on the day he was discharged.
Tian Miaomiao thought then that he would be like that for the rest of his life—perhaps it was punishment from the heavens.
After they reached home, Tian Qishan started to throw a fit about wanting to go outside to play like a child, and let him run about the district while she tidied her house.
That was when her door was kicked down with a bang, startling Tian Miaomiao.
Five huge pudgy men entered. Their leader had a scar from a blade on his face, and he asked when he saw Tian Miaomiao. “Are you Tian Qishan’s daughter?”
She was stepping back in fear. “Who… are you?”
The men looked at each other and laughed. “Tian Qishan owed us money, and he sold you off to us.”
“Sold?” Tian Miaomiao was left in disbelief. “My father’s out of his mind, how could he…”
No way…
Even before Tian Miaomiao could react, the scarred man had promptly pulled her hair and pressed her face down on the sofa, and impatiently tore her pants off.
Tian Miaomiao was struggling as hard as she could when she saw Tian Qishan staring from outside the door.
“Father! Father, help me!” She yelled as if finding a savior.
But Tian Qishan’s eyes had changed from its mindlessness before to one devoid of emotion.
He turned and left.
Tian Miaomiao’s whole body stiffened as her tears rained. She finally realized that Tian Qishan was faking his mental disability, and even sold her off to those men as collateral.
She gritted her teeth, and could not stop her bursting hate to kill him.
How could he be so heartless? She was his daughter!
