Chapter 1

On the last day of July, at dawn, the sky was tinged with a faint orange, and the gentle light poured into the clouds like a tide, awakening everything.

In the Nanping International Community of Shatan District, Shuchuan City, on the eighth floor of an ordinary residential building, the third room from the left, as usual, was the first to light up. Tang Anhua, who had finished his busy work, pushed open the kitchen door, wiped his hands on his apron, and walked towards the bedroom. He met Jiang Junli, who was already dressed and ready, and his eyes glanced towards the room inside, asking, “Still not up?”

“Just woke up.”

Tang Anhua frowned slightly, “Do you want to be late on your first day of work?”

Jiang Junli smiled and said, “When has she ever let us worry about her studies and work?”

“You don’t worry, but I do,” Tang Anhua’s tall figure shifted, adding, “No, I have to go and urge her.” He walked to the door, raised his hand to knock, but the door opened from inside.

“Dad?” Tang Feiwang, who was already dressed in white cigarette pants and a light blue short-sleeved shirt, spoke. She was 169cm tall, with shoulder-length hair tied up, high cheekbones, deep eye sockets, and a pair of half-rimmed glasses on her straight nose. When she was silent, she often gave off a feeling of being aloof.

Tang Anhua paused for two seconds, then came to his senses and said, “Come eat.”

“Oh, okay.” Tang Feiwang, with a hint of sleepiness, moved to the dining room, greeted Jiang Junli, and sat down in the chair opposite her, starting to eat slowly and steadily.

“I’ll drop your mom off first, then I’ll drop you off.” Tang Anhua was a junior geography teacher at Shatan No. 1 Middle School. Compared to Jiang Junli, who worked in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Shuchuan University Medical College, he naturally had much more free time. Therefore, during his vacation, he had developed the habit of driving his family to work every day, without fail.

“Dad, no need.” Tang Feiwang swallowed a small flower roll and then said, “I’ll ride my motorcycle to the hospital.”

“The motorcycle you bought last week?”

Tang Feiwang nodded.

Tang Anhua knew her character, she wouldn’t easily change her mind once she decided, but he couldn’t help but persuade her, “Riding a motorcycle is dangerous, flesh and blood wrapped in iron, you’re a doctor, how can you not understand?”

“Whether it’s dangerous or not depends on the person, Mr. Tang, I will drive safely.”

Jiang Junli put down her chopsticks and agreed, “Old Zhao from the Respiratory Department, he’s been riding a motorcycle for 23 years, zero accidents; Little Li from the Radiology Department, he’s been riding a motorcycle for 11 years, zero accidents, and there are…”

“Okay, you’re playing the good cop again, spoiling her.” Tang Anhua bit into his bun and stopped arguing.

“Thank you, Mom.” Tang Feiwang’s eyebrows relaxed, and she put the peeled egg into her mother’s bowl.

Tang Anhua pretended to be jealous, “You can’t be partial.”

“There is, there is.” As soon as Tang Feiwang finished speaking, she heard him continue to nag, “Lily, you said our daughter majored in cardiology abroad, why did she come back and do the dirtiest and most tiring work in the emergency department?”

“Both emergency and cardiac surgeons need courage and meticulousness, she’s going to emergency first to gain experience, Director Fang from the Cardiac and Vascular Surgery Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital is also paying attention.” The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shuchuan University Medical College and the First Affiliated Hospital where Jiang Junli worked were both affiliated hospitals of Shuchuan University Medical College. The Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital were both the top departments of the affiliated hospitals, so Tang Feiwang was able to go to the Second Affiliated Hospital, and Tang Anhua not only had no objections, but also fully supported her.

“Oh, so you two have already discussed it, I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to handle the emergency department.”

Tang Feiwang handed over the peeled egg, responding, “I’ve been in the emergency center for half a year, I’m already used to the emergency rhythm.”

“How can it be the same? How many emergency cases do hospitals abroad have in a day? How many emergency cases do our domestic hospitals have in a day?” He finished speaking and realized that he was being too verbose, so he quickly found a way down, “But it’s good for young people to eat some hardship, it’s like tempering one’s will.”

Jiang Junli looked at the interaction between father and daughter, the smile lines at the corners of her eyes were more obvious, and she joked, “You’ve said everything.”

Across from the two, Tang Feiwang, whose ears had been filled with a basket of words early in the morning, stood up and prepared to escape the scene, “Dad, remember to take Tomato out for a walk, I’m leaving.” Last March, Tang Feiwang adopted a Shiba Inu in Germany, named Tomato, and it had followed her back to Shuchuan half a month ago.

Tang Anhua said “Ai” and was about to say more, but the person who had slipped to the entrance had already disappeared with her helmet, and he could only hear the sound of the elevator opening.

The second day of the dog days of summer, even in the morning, there was no feeling of coolness. Tang Feiwang rode her motorcycle out of the outdoor parking lot, driving on the asphalt road, she was gradually enveloped by the heat while wearing her helmet, but she liked this feeling of being unhindered, not confined to a certain area, where every pore of her body could breathe freely. Because as a doctor, especially a surgeon, she often had to stay in a relatively small, enclosed space, a laboratory or an operating room, and only in the few minutes between work and home could she choose to embrace the wind from all directions.

The 28-minute drive was almost over. It was 7:35 AM, and they were just 50 meters away from the parking lot behind the Second Affiliated Hospital’s emergency building. The number of pedestrians passing by was increasing, so Tang Feiwang slowed down. Suddenly, five meters away, a middle-aged man carrying a plastic bag stumbled and fell straight to the ground.

People around immediately started shouting. Tang Feiwang pulled the handbrake, applied the foot brake, took off her helmet, and got off the motorcycle swiftly. She ran over, bent down, and squatted beside the man, patting his shoulder: “Hey, wake up, wake up, can you hear me?” There was no response. Tang Feiwang realized the situation was critical and time was of the essence. She pressed her left index and middle fingers together to touch the man’s carotid artery, her peripheral vision observing the rise and fall of his chest, judging that there was no heartbeat and no breathing. She immediately switched positions, kneeling beside him, and started chest compressions, while turning her head to instruct the long-haired girl on her right who wanted to help: “Cardiac arrest, get a stretcher over here.”

“Ah?”

“Aren’t you an intern?” Tang Feiwang was good at catching details and saw the girl holding medical review materials in her hand.

“Residency training,” the girl didn’t dare to delay, and turned to run towards the emergency building.

A few minutes later, the emergency personnel carried the patient, who had regained spontaneous breathing, onto the stretcher. Tang Feiwang didn’t bother to wipe the sweat on her forehead, but followed the stretcher, saying, “Suspected myocardial infarction, ventricular fibrillation could occur at any time, get an EKG first.”

“Oh, okay.” The male doctor casually asked, “Which department are you from?”

Tang Feiwang didn’t answer. The male doctor was busy checking the patient’s condition and didn’t pay attention. When he realized he should thank her, where was she?

The nurse suddenly reminded, “Dr. Liu, the patient’s breathing and heartbeat are gone again.”

“Quick, quick, push him to the resuscitation room, bed number three.” After saying that, he jumped onto the stretcher, knelt in front of the patient, and performed emergency rescue.

At 7:53 AM, Tang Feiwang knocked on the director’s office door.

“Come in.”

“Director Gao.” Tang Feiwang had met Gao Zongxiang for the first time ten days ago. After signing the contract, she was taken to this office. Director Gao knew her abilities well and let her choose any group. He recommended the first group in the emergency surgery department, where she could learn from the old director of general surgery and could also assist in surgery and perform some simple emergency minor surgeries. But she ultimately chose Lin Ye’s second group, specializing in critical care and severe trauma, a newly formed team that had been established for less than three months, and the members still needed to work together.

Director Gao praised her good eyesight, she actually chose the rising star of their emergency department: “Our Director Lin went to the University of California, Los Angeles, for a visit to the Department of Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Department at the age of 30, went to Xinjiang for aid at the age of 32, passed the associate professor exam last year, and was officially appointed as deputy director in May this year. She has a bright future.”

“I’ve also heard of Director Lin’s reputation.” Tang Feiwang’s expression remained calm on the surface, but her heart was already churning. She and Lin Ye had broken up five years ago, been apart for three years, and hadn’t seen each other for eight years.

Her thoughts returned to the present, Director Gao’s gaze lightly fell on her: “Oh! It’s Xiao Tang, let’s keep it short. I’ll have someone take you to change clothes, then call Director Lin over, and you can get to know each other.”

“Thank you, Director Gao.” Tang Feiwang followed the resident doctor to the changing room. At the end of the corridor, there were two changing rooms, theirs was on the right.

The resident doctor entered the changing room, swiped her card, and handed Tang Feiwang a scrub suit: “Dr. Tang, this is an intelligent clothes locker. We swipe our cards to get scrub suits. Medium size, you should be able to wear it.”

“Thank you.” Tang Feiwang took the scrub suit, the same color as her shirt.

“My name is Wang Can, a resident doctor in the second group specializing in critical care and severe trauma. Our group’s lockers are all in the second row, you’re number 204, your white coat is also in the locker.” Wang Can wasn’t very outgoing, and she managed to squeeze out a complete sentence.

Tang Feiwang nodded, her smile warm: “Tang Feiwang.”

Wang Can looked at her slightly curved lips, her expression relaxed a lot: “Dr. Tang, we originally had four men and three women in our group, with you joining, it’s balanced.”

“I’ve also learned a little, two attending physicians, four resident doctors.”

Wang Can interjected: “Right, and our Director Lin.” She realized that during work hours, she couldn’t delay others, pursed her lips, and immediately apologized, “I just finished handover, and I felt a connection with you, so I talked a bit too much.”

Tang Feiwang’s smile deepened: “It’s okay.”

“Dr. Tang, go change first, I’ll be outside, call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Three minutes later, Tang Feiwang changed her clothes and put on her name tag.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Attending Physician, Tang Feiwang.

She followed Wang Can back to the director’s office. Director Gao had just hung up the phone, and they chatted for a few words.

“Director Lin is treating an acute myocardial infarction patient who had repeated ventricular fibrillation, he just stabilized five minutes ago, and now they’re calling cardiology to prepare for emergency PCI.” As soon as Director Gao finished speaking, the door was knocked again.

“Is that Xiao Lin? Come in, come in.” Director Gao smiled and stood up.

Lin Ye greeted Director Gao, as if she didn’t see Tang Feiwang, turned her back to close the door. However, when Tang Feiwang saw her back, her heart skipped a beat. Although her expression was still calm, her eyes were fixed on that person.

She said to herself: Long time no see