Chapter 38

Su Xi was very close to the gate. Hearing the commotion, he looked over and saw a few men and women not far away, looking disheveled and panicked, rushing into the hospital.

Driven by her Doctor’s instincts, Su Xi subconsciously ran toward the small group of people.

Xie Zhen, carrying a small bag belonging to his partner, followed closely behind.

When Su Xi reached the center of the crowd, she saw the soldier holding the child tightly and appeared completely lost in panic. She asked loudly, “What’s wrong with the child?”

The child’s face was buried deep in the soldier’s embrace, making it impossible for Su Xi to assess the situation.

At this moment, Xie Zhen also approached and immediately recognized the soldier as Company Commander Ge Erjun from their regiment.

Xie Zhen’s expression turned stern as he scolded the panicked man, “Ge Erjun!”

Having served in the military for over a decade, Ge Erjun instinctively stood upright and shouted, “Here!”

Xie Zhen asked, his frown deepening, “What’s wrong with the child? ”

It was only then that Ge Erjun snapped back to reality, his lips trembling as he anxiously blurted out in his hometown dialect, “The child… my child choked. When I got home, I found the child had already… had already stopped breathing. Right, the doctor, where’s the doctor?”

Su Xi observed the child still clutching tightly and Ge Erjun’s confusion. She knew that his concern for the child had led to his panic. However, being choked by a foreign object could be serious, and after suffocation, there was no time to lose. The child had already stopped breathing, and holding him like this would only make it harder for him to breathe.

Su Xi didn’t dare delay. She quickly used her strength to swiftly pry open Ge Erjun’s wrist, quickly snatching the child from his arms.

At this moment, Ge Erjun’s family also rushed over. Seeing Su Xi’s actions, an elderly woman ignored everything and lunged at Su Xi, shrieking angrily, “Who are you? Where did this shameless woman come from, stealing my child? Help! Someone is stealing the child!”

Xie Zhen’s expression hardened. He raised his hand to block the old woman’s attempt to scratch Su Xi and pushed her back, firmly protecting Su Xi.

His eyes were filled with impatience as he glared at Ge Erjun, scolding, “Ge Erjun, control your family, and don’t obstruct the doctor from saving the child.”

Ge Erjun held a deep respect for Xie Zhen, similar to his reverence for his own captain, Yan. Despite his own panic, he obediently restrained his noisy mother.

This was the first time he felt resentment toward his mother for being unreasonable in such a situation.

Su Xi had no time to worry about anything else. Holding the child, she realized it was a boy about four or five years old, and his face had already turned blue and purple.

The family members were still pushing and shoving, trying to squeeze closer. Su Xi, enraged by their stupidity, shouted sternly, “I am a doctor! Everyone, back off!”

At that moment, the head nurse and several nurses who were nearby also rushed over.

The head nurse asked the nurses to form a circle to make space for Su Xi and the patient.

Then the head nurse approached Su Xi. After taking a look at the child, her heart sank. She reached out to feel for a pulse and said, “Doctor Su, the child has no heartbeat anymore. It’s too late even for surgery.”

Su Xi certainly knew that there was no heartbeat anymore. When a foreign object obstructed the throat, it caused suffocation, which could indeed lead to cardiac arrest due to lack of oxygen, but there were still a few minutes of optimal time for emergency rescue.

She quickly scanned the scene and noticed that, besides the hysterical grandma, the only somewhat composed family member was Ge Erjun.

Another woman in her thirties, likely the child’s mother, had collapsed to the ground, crying uncontrollably, with three young girls huddling beside her.
too frightened to be of any help.

With no other options, Su Xi turned to Ge Erjun, who was struggling with his mother, and urgently asked, “How long has the child been suffocating?”

Hearing this, Ge Erjun’s grip loosened slightly, and in a moment of carelessness, his face was scratched by his own mother. He hissed in pain, but he didn’t have time to cover his face. He tried to calculate the time and said, “I… I realized the child was suffocating when I ran here from home. It took about six or seven minutes. D-Doctor, can my child still be saved?”

By the time he finished speaking, Ge Erjun’s face had turned ashen, clearly aware that the situation was dire.

Hearing this, Su Xi’s heart sank further. Although the golden time for rescue after suffocation was about 10 minutes, it was still a matter of probability.

Time waits for no one; she doesn’t care to explain and only replied, “I’ll try my best!”

Immediately, she took a big step forward, bent her left leg, and braced her right leg against the ground to steady herself, then sat the child on her left leg.

She extended both arms, passing them under the little boy’s armpits, and wrapped him tightly in her embrace.

Everyone watched Su Xi’s movements in confusion, wanting to ask what she was doing but afraid that their voices would interfere with her efforts to save the child.

At this moment, the director, having been notified, rushed over.

Seeing the white coats, the crying family members immediately ran over, urgently shouting that Su Xi was trying to harm their grandson.

The director ignored them and quickly walked over to Su Xi’s side. When he saw the child’s blue and purple face, his heart skipped a beat.

He did not interrupt Su Xi’s operation. Although he did not understand it, it did not prevent him from believing in Su Xi’s basic qualities as a doctor.

He assumed she was using some emergency technique she had learned elsewhere.

However, he still had to make arrangements. Even if he thought that the child was already hopeless, he had to give it a try.

So, he waved his hand and instructed the doctors and nurses who had followed him, “Quickly prepare the operating room on the first floor. If Doctor Su’s emergency measures don’t work, we’ll have to try cutting the child’s throat open.”

As soon as the director said this, the already panicked family members were almost scared to the point of fainting. To them, cutting the throat meant certain death.

Ge Erjun’s mother even started cursing and wailing.

Su Xi had already entered the most critical moment. She clenched her left hand into a fist and pressed the area of the fist near her thumb against the upper abdomen of the little boy.
She quickly tightened her arms and applied pressure to the boy’s upper abdomen. After her first attempt failed, she did not give up. She relaxed her grip and repeated the pressure.

She wasn’t sure how many times she repeated the process, but just as the director was about to ask Su Xi to place the child on the already prepared operating bed, there was a sudden ‘pop’ sound, and the object stuck in the boy’s throat flew out.

Before anyone could even react with joy, Su Xi knelt on the ground, placing the child’s head on her leg.

Soon, the blue and purple hue on the child’s face began to fade rapidly, and he let out a small cough.

Su Xi felt a wave of relief and said to Ge Erjun, who was already crying, “The child has been suffocating for too long. It’s best to keep him in the hospital for observation for the next two days.”

Ge Erjun’s eyes were filled with tears as he rubbed his hands excitedly, mumbling, “Thank you. thank you, doctor. thank you. You are a benefactor to my family.”

“She’s a doctor; saving my grandchild is her duty. What’s all this talk about being a benefactor?”

Ge Erjun’s mother said sourly and then glanced at Su Xi with suspicion. She was worried that Su Xi might exploit the situation.

“Mom, what are you talking about? ”Ge Erjun scolded, feeling increasingly frustrated with his mother’s unreasonable behavior.

Su Xi ignored the bickering between the mother and son, not even glancing their way, as she remained focused on monitoring the child’s condition.

However, Xie Zhen was quite dissatisfied with the grandma’s attitude towards his lover. This old woman had been causing trouble non-stop since the beginning.

He shot a cold look at the now-ecstatic Ge Erjun and decided that he would find an opportunity to have a word with him later.

After a while, Su Xi confirmed that the child could breathe on his own before placing him on the bed that had been prepared in advance.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn’t clear who started it, but soon everyone was applauding Su Xi. Some patients who had been drawn by the commotion even started praising her directly:

“Isn’t that Doctor Su Xi? She’s amazing! Just now, that child’s face was completely purple.”

“Exactly. I didn’t think the child could be saved.”

“Isn’t Doctor Su Xi still an intern? This is incredible.”

“…”

The crowd buzzed with praise for Su Xi.

Xie Zhen looked at his lover with pride but noticed that she only nodded slightly at the crowd.

Then, she calmly followed everyone as they moved the child to the ward. After giving instructions on what needed to be done, her tense expression finally relaxed.

When they walked out of the hospital, it was already dusk. The streets were nearly empty.

Xie Zhen asked, “What did your director say to you? I saw that he was very excited.”

Su Xi’s delicate face, rarely showing fatigue, revealed a trace of weariness as she replied, “He asked if the rescue technique I used could be taught to others. I promised to explain it to them when I go to work tomorrow.”

In fact, this resuscitation method will be quite common in the future. It was the Heimlich maneuver, invented by an American doctor named Heimlich in 1974.

But now it was only 1965, and this excellent emergency technique was still unknown to people.

Su Xi rubbed her temples. After the intense rescue, she felt somewhat drained.

It wasn’t physical exhaustion but rather mental fatigue. The urgency of snatching someone from the jaws of death was truly nerve-wracking. Now that the tension had eased, she felt entirely lethargic.

Xie Zhen noticed this and, feeling a bit distressed, asked, “Are you very tired? How about I carry you?”

Su Xi tilted her head back, squinting her eyes slightly, and lazily curved her red lips into a smile. “No need. It wouldn’t look good if someone saw us. Besides, I’m not that tired, just a little tense earlier. I’ll be fine after a short rest.”

As she finished speaking, she noticed her boyfriend still looking at her with concern. Su Xi laughed and playfully waved her right hand in front of him like a spoiled child.

Xie Zhen’s furrowed brow relaxed, and he let out a light laugh. He deftly extended his long, slender hand, securely wrapping it around her small, fair hand.

Then, holding Su Xi’s hand, they strolled leisurely toward the Su family’s small courtyard.

When they were about a few dozen meters from the residential compound, Su Xi was the first to stop and hesitate, asking, “Are you sure you want to go to my house?”

Xie Zhen raised an eyebrow. “Is it inconvenient?”

Su Xi wiped her nose awkwardly and rubbed her feet on the ground. “It’s not inconvenient, but… I’m just worried my brother might not be very polite to you.”

Xie Zhen chuckled. “Then you overestimate your brother’s patience when it comes to you.”

Su Xi was confused and didn’t quite understand what he meant.

The young girl tilted her head slightly, her wide, watery eyes blinking in confusion. Her rosy lips—perhaps due to surprise, parted slightly, revealing a small glimpse of pink.

Xie Zhen’s eyes darkened, and it seemed that something in the depths of his pupils was about to burst out.

After a while, the man took a deep breath, his Adam’s apple bobbing rapidly a few times. Then he reached out and gently ruffled the young girl’s hair, his voice hoarse yet full of affection. “This afternoon, your brother already sparred with me.”

Su Xi was shocked when she heard this and hurriedly looked up and down at the man. Not seeing any scars, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Thinking of Xie Zhen’s fighting ability, she hesitated and asked, “Was my brother the one who got hurt?”

That couldn’t be, right? Xi Yannan’s strength wasn’t low at all. Could her boyfriend be even stronger than her brother?

Is he really that formidable? Su Xi suspiciously stared at her boyfriend, as if trying to see through him.

Xie Zhen raised his eyebrows, raised his hand, and pinched the little girl’s cheek, pretending to be dissatisfied: “You are so heartless; you only care about your brother; why don’t you ask me?”

Su Xi mumbled, “You’re not hurt, are you?”

Xie Zhen released her hand, worried that he might have hurt her tender face, and gently stroked her cheek. “Your brother is the one who’s fine. Do you think I dared to fight back?”

Su Xi thought about it and realized the truth in his words. She took the man’s large hand and smiled tenderly. “Oh, I didn’t see any injuries on you, so I asked. Did Brother really hurt you? Where are you injured? Why are you trying to hide it?”

As she spoke, Su Xi grew worried again and reached out to lift the man’s shirt.

Xie Zhen, quick-eyed and swift-handed, intercepted her, firmly grasping her misbehaving hand. He hadn’t expected the young girl to be so bold, and it made him blush to his neck. “I’m fine; I managed to dodge it.”

In truth, he had taken quite a few punches. After all, he was the one who wanted to take someone else’s sister home; he felt he deserved it.

After both of her hands were controlled by her boyfriend, Su Xi realized that her behavior just now was not far from that of a rogue, given the times.

Feeling both ashamed and frustrated, she was about to pull her hands back when Xi Yannan’s angry roar pierced through her thoughts: “What are you doing, you silly girl!?”