It was after 8 o'clock in the morning when Fu Mingshi's car stopped near Animal Hospital A.
"See you this weekend?" As Zhen Bao undid her seatbelt and pushed open the door to say goodbye to Fu Mingshi.
Fu Mingshi looked at her and nodded. Zhen Bao didn't have many classes left in her senior year, but there were still a lot of trivial matters, and in addition to her part-time job, she still had to prepare for exams and papers. Fu Mingshi couldn't take up too much of her free time.
However, as he watched Zhen Bao walk towards the hospital, Fu Mingshi couldn't help but observe the other people going in and out of the hospital, until Zhen Bao looked back at him before entering the door, so that Zhen Bao wouldn't "misunderstand", Fu Mingshi started the car and left.
With her fiancé gone, Zhen Bao entered the hospital briskly.
"Zhen Bao!" Nurse Chen Jia waved at her excitedly, ran over and hugged Zhen Bao's arm to share the morning gossip: "We have a new doctor here, very handsome, very handsome. Come on, I'll take you to see him, he's also from University A."
Zhen Bao smiled slyly, pretending not to recognize the new doctor, and followed Chen Jia over.
Cheng Yi was a returned overseas PhD, valued by the hospital, and was given a spacious and bright office. Several early arriving young nurses crowded outside his door. Zhen Bao took a quick look, but her mind was full of Fu Mingshi's jealous behavior last night. Zhen Bao had thought that after expressing her feelings, Fu Mingshi would let go of her sooner, but instead Fu Mingshi became more excited and relentless, making it hard for her to get up this morning.
Now that she knew Fu Mingshi liked to be jealous, Zhen Bao just took a look and went about her business, checking the status of the hospitalized pets, and if any had made a mess, she would help clean it up neatly. As an intern, Zhen Bao's responsibilities were varied. It was only during this summer internship that she was assigned some technical tasks. Sometimes she would help give pets IV fluids, and sometimes when the operating room was too busy, she would go to help out.
"Zhen Bao, Dr. Li needs an assistant, go over there for a bit."
Upon receiving the task, Zhen Bao immediately went to Dr. Li's side. As soon as she entered the door, she saw a woman with curly hair and high heels talking to Dr. Li with her back to her. Lying listlessly on the examination table was an adult Samoyed, lying on its side with purulent eye discharge in the corner of its eyes. Seeing her, the Samoyed wagged its tail, and its half-closed eyes also opened, its mouth slightly open, seemingly smiling.
Zhen Bao immediately looked at the Samoyed's tail, and as expected, there was a patch of missing fur.
"Da Bai (Big White)." Recognizing the familiar hospital regular, Zhen Bao strode to the front of the examination table, stroked Da Bai's back lovingly, and smelled an unpleasant odor up close. Zhen Bao lifted Da Bai's tail and found that Da Bai had diarrhea, with an abnormal color and smell.
Zhen Bao had seen so many cases during her internship at the hospital for so long. With initial observation, her heart suddenly sank. Glancing at the unfamiliar woman, Zhen Bao asked Dr. Li nervously, "Dr. Li, what disease does Da Bai have?"
Dr. Li spoke casually: "Late-stage canine distemper, the disease is too severe, even if treated successfully, the chances are small."
Zhen Bao looked to the high-heeled woman instinctively. The year when the college entrance examination results came out, she had brought Hei Dan to see the doctor before registering her university preferences. While waiting in line, she met a couple who raised a Samoyed. Da Bai was that Samoyed. Later, when Zhen Bao was interning at the hospital, sometimes the couple would bring Da Bai for medical treatment. Because Da Bai liked Zhen Bao very much, Zhen Bao became familiar with the couple and they would chat whenever they met accidentally.
It had been half a year since she last saw them. Looking at this unfamiliar woman in high heels, Zhen Bao was a little suspicious inside. Da Bai would come here for treatment for even a little discomfort before, and for a disease like canine distemper, the symptoms in the early stages were very obvious. With the couple's love and care for Da Bai, it was impossible that they would let it progress to late-stage before bringing him in.
"Are you Da Bai's owner?" Zhen Bao asked as calmly as possible.
The woman in high heels looked Zhen Bao up and down, then looked at Da Bai again, frowning, "Do you know Da Bai?"
Zhen Bao nodded, "I've met Zhang Ke and Hua Fang when they brought Da Bai for treatment before."
Upon hearing this, the woman in high heels curled her lips, "They broke up. I'm Zhang Ke's girlfriend." Having said that, she ignored Zhen Bao and spoke directly to Dr. Li, "I've been to three hospitals. They all said he couldn't be cured. Since it's hopeless here too, please just give it the euthanasia injection to spare it from suffering alive."
Many pets with incurable diseases would only suffer in vain if treatment was delayed, and would die after a period of time anyway, so the owner would choose to euthanize the pet. Zhen Bao had seen such cases a few times before, but looking at Da Bai, whose eyes were still expressing affection for her, Zhen Bao couldn't help asking again, "Did you discuss it with Zhang Ke?"
"What's it to you?" The woman in high heels suddenly raised her voice, glaring at Zhen Bao.
Seeing that the other party was not to be provoked, Zhen Bao could only seek help from Dr. Li, "Dr. Li, since Zhang Ke is Da Bai's owner, shouldn't we ask his opinion first?"
Dr. Li pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and confirmed with the woman in high heels, "Some owners know the pet is beyond cure but will still persist in caring for it for a period of time. You should ask your boyfriend first."
"He's on a business trip and won't be back for another month." The woman in high heels was very impatient. "Are you going to give the injection or not? If not, I'll go elsewhere." If she wasn't afraid Zhang Ke would blame her later for not finding a good hospital for Da Bai, she wouldn't have bothered coming here specially and would have just gotten the injection done at another small clinic.
It was the other party's freedom to take Da Bai away, and Dr. Li didn't want trouble, so he made a please go ahead gesture.
Zhen Bao didn't want to cause trouble either, but there were cases of late-stage canine distemper being cured. Because of the low success rate, some owners worried about spending money on unsuccessful treatment would choose euthanasia, but Zhang Ke was definitely not someone who would easily give up on Da Bai. Worried that this woman in high heels would take advantage of Zhang Ke's absence to take Da Bai elsewhere for the injection, Zhen Bao pressed her lips and said to the woman in high heels, "Zhang Ke cares a lot about Da Bai. You should still call to ask, just in case..."
"It's none of your business. If you annoy me again I'll file a complaint against you." The woman in high heels said coldly. Then with an expression of disgust, she picked up Da Bai to put him in the dog crate.
Da Bai stretched his neck looking at Zhen Bao, making painful whimpering sounds in his throat.
Zhen Bao could almost foresee Da Bai's fate after leaving here. She took out her phone and threatened the woman in high heels, "I'm friends with Zhang Ke. If you don't call, I will." In fact, she didn't have Zhang Ke's number, but for Da Bai's sake, Zhen Bao went all out and walked aside pretending to make a call.
"What's with you? I can take him wherever I want for treatment. Do I have to listen to you?" The woman in high heels lost her temper. In two or three steps she rushed to Zhen Bao's side, snatched Zhen Bao's phone and smashed it hard on the ground, then glared at Zhen Bao arrogantly, "Go on, call him, I'd like to see you try!"
Zhen Bao looked at the smashed screen on the ground, her face flushed red, and her whole body trembling.
"Let's talk nicely. Why did you smash her phone?" Dr. Li hurriedly acted as mediator.
"You should ask her first, I can't get treatment here anymore?" The woman in high heels picked up the dog crate, about to leave immediately.
Suddenly there was an extra figure at the door. Holding a cell phone, Cheng Yi looked at the woman in high heels expressionlessly, "Intentional destruction of private property is against the law. If you don't immediately compensate and apologize, I will call the police."
In his white coat, he was tall with long legs. The woman in high heels deflated at first, then after reacting for a bit, suddenly pointed at Zhen Bao, "She obstructed my personal freedom first. Go ahead, call the police. Let's see who's afraid of whom!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yi smiled and asked Zhen Bao, "Did I make the call?"
Zhen Bao's complexion recovered a little. She glanced at Da Bai and nodded. She had added Zhang Ke's ex-girlfriend Hua Fang on WeChat before, at least while waiting for people, she could contact Zhang Ke through Hua Fang.
Seeing that they really wanted to call the police, the woman in high heels finally changed her attitude. She made a "tch" sound, staring at Zhen Bao and said, "Forget it, I was too impulsive just now. Tell me, how much was your phone? I'll pay you the original price." She wasn't short on money, she just didn't want Zhang Ke to keep raising this broken dog anymore. Every time Zhang Ke looked at the dog, it seemed like he was looking through Da Bai at his ex-girlfriend.
Zhen Bao picked up her phone while trying to turn it on, and calmly said, "Call Zhang Ke first. If he agrees to euthanasia, I don't need you to compensate for my phone." If it really turned out that way, it was her meddling, and she would admit defeat herself.
The woman in high heels was so angry her mouth was about to twist. "So you mean if I don't make the call, you'll call the police?"
The phone was completely unusable. Zhen Bao looked up and stared at the other party, "Yes."
Watching the seemingly docile nurse being so stubborn, not crying or making a fuss yet also unafraid, the high-heeled woman chickened out. She endured it and turned to call her boyfriend. Only on the second try did he pick up: "Zhang Ke, Da Bai is very ill, has late-stage canine distemper. The doctor says it's hopeless and he should be euthanized. Do you agree?"
After saying it all in one breath, she heard Zhang Ke asking in disbelief how Da Bai could have gotten so sick. Just as Gao Xiao was about to hang up the phone and pretend her boyfriend had agreed, the phone was suddenly snatched away. The woman looked back to see Cheng Yi staring at her warily, though he spoke into the phone: "Your dog has around a 20 percent chance of being saved. Our hospital respects the pet owner's wishes. Your girlfriend refuses to listen to the nurse's advice and insists on euthanasia..."
Before he could finish, an angry suppressed reply came through the speakerphone, echoing through the entire examination room: "Treat him, no matter how much it costs I'll pay for the treatment. I'm flying back tomorrow, please help take care of Da Bai for me until then. Don't let Gao Xiao see him alone."
"Alright, see you tomorrow." With the main issue settled, Cheng Yi returned the phone to the woman called Gao Xiao.
Gao Xiao's face was even paler than snow. She snatched back her phone and turned to leave.
Cheng Yi stopped her and asked Zhen Bao, "How much did your phone cost?"
The several thousand yuan phone was badly damaged, and Zhen Bao felt extremely distressed. She bluntly reported the number, then asked Gao Xiao, "You can accompany me to get it fixed and cover the repair fees."
"I don't have time for that." Gao Xiao had already decided to break up with Zhang Ke. She got Zhen Bao's account number, transferred the money, and left without ever seeing her again.
Zhen Bao respected her decision. She watched Gao Xiao finish the transfer, then let her go. She turned back to Dr. Li to apologize, "Sorry for the trouble."
"No worries, no worries. Go ahead and do some basic cleanup for Da Bai first." Dr. Li smiled kindly.
Zhen Bao thanked Cheng Yi again.
Cheng Yi smiled and gestured outside, "I was just passing by and have to go now."
Zhen Bao nodded and turned to bring out Da Bai. Seeing pitiful Da Bai up close, touching his gaunt bony body, Zhen Bao felt very conflicted - heartache mixed with lingering fear. It was her first time encountering a pet owner as fierce as Gao Xiao. Zhen Bao had not been as fearless as she appeared.
Fortunately Zhang Ke had not given up on Da Bai.
After that, Zhen Bao busied herself assisting Dr. Li and completely forgot about her phone. Around 10am, a medical staff member suddenly called for her, "Zhen Bao, someone is here for you!"
Puzzled, Zhen Bao went to the lobby and saw a tall figure in a black suit, handsome and upright, standing out from the crowd. It was her fiancé, Fu Ming Shi.
Zhen Bao was very confused. Why did Fu Ming Shi come at this time?
