Discharge

When Hua Yu returned to her office, she found herself surrounded by a group of people.

Of course, they didn’t dare block her path outright. They only drifted in front of her in a loose cluster, pinning her down with their eyes.

Hua Yu took off her glasses and slowly wiped them with a tissue. “Go on then. What do you want to ask?”

Liu Cong rushed to the front. She was one of Hua Yu’s doctors, and also the first person to find out about Hua Yu and Wei Yin’s “relationship.” If Hua Yu had only poached a patient and brought her under her care, they wouldn’t have been this curious. But Hua Yu had been delivering three meals a day by hand; for someone who rarely showed emotion in everyday life, even her voice went several degrees softer when she spoke to Wei Yin... How could they not be curious?

“Chief, take a look at the treatment plan I made for Zhao Qi. Is there anything wrong with it?” Liu Cong didn’t follow the usual script.

When it came to work, Hua Yu’s expression turned serious. She studied every line carefully.

“Zhao Qi has a history of heart disease, so that needs close attention. Her glands are already aging, and there’s no guarantee they won’t go completely inactive one day. If that happens, it’ll affect her entire system.”

Liu Cong nodded. “What about Wei Yin?”

Hua Yu answered smoothly, without thinking, “Wei Yin’s glands atrophied after forced maturation; they never went through a complete growth cycle. It can be treated step by step through seven different protocols...”

She stopped mid-sentence and clicked her tongue. “You’re trying to trap me, aren’t you?”

Then her tone cooled. “Are all the patients discharged already? You have that much free time?”

Yang Cha was the next to step forward. She wasn’t very afraid of Hua Yu and said with a grin, “Chief, you’re such an outstanding alpha. You can’t blame us for being nosy. Even the head nurse from the next department has been asking me about your love life.”

Single alphas were rare to begin with; a high-quality alpha like Hua Yu was even rarer, practically nonexistent on the market. In their hospital, she was one of a kind. Every year when a new batch of staff came in, they would inevitably launch either passionate or subtle pursuits at Hua Yu, and all of them ended in failure.

If the hospital hadn’t organized annual physicals and they hadn’t seen Hua Yu’s healthy reports with their own eyes, they might have thought she was naturally incapable in that area.

Hua Yu raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She held the expression for a few seconds before finally letting it go with a sigh. “An old acquaintance.”

Getting even those four words out of Hua Yu hadn’t been easy. The group, satisfied with that much, wasn’t disappointed; instead, they quietly launched into a heated discussion.

In a group chat where Hua Yu wasn’t present:

[Foreign tea]: Blind guess: ex-girlfriend

[Liu Cong]: Impossible. Wei Yin’s doing so badly; Chief Hua probably doesn’t even know what’s happened to her.

[Foreign tea]: That’s exactly what an ex-girlfriend is!! The two of you decide to forget each other and never ask about one another again, and then one day you suddenly see her standing there in such a miserable state; your heart feels struck, and all those buried memories come rushing back. The love you thought you’d hidden away roars back out of control.

[Gugugu Gagaga]: Cha Cha, I don’t think Chief Hua is that kind of person. If she still liked her, she wouldn’t be ignoring her like this.

[Foreign tea]: You just don’t understand how heartless women can be. Last time, when the high-flow humidified oxygen therapy was switched to low-flow oxygen and you forgot to add the supplemental orders, didn’t Chief Hua call you out four times already?

[Gugugu Gagaga]: ...I’m done.

In the other ward, Zhao Qi stared at Wei Yin’s lavish lunchbox, the little decorative flowerpot, and the tiny turtle, and cried.

She was really crying—because she couldn’t eat any of it, couldn’t even touch anything she was allergic to.

Mrs. Zhao could only coax her over and over, piling on kind words before finally calming her down. More accurately, Zhao Qi cried herself tired, tipped her head back, and fell asleep.

Mrs. Zhao said apologetically to Wei Yin, “This child can be a little troublesome. Did she bother you?”

Wei Yin said it was nothing. “She’s very nice.”

Perhaps because their gentle demeanors were somewhat similar, Wei Yin always thought of her own mother whenever she saw Mrs. Zhao.

She dreamed of her more often at night, too.

She really missed her mother. Maybe she should go clean the grave, Wei Yin thought.

After telling Hua Yu about it, Hua Yu said she could accompany her, but only after discharge.

“How much longer do I have to stay?”

Counting it up, she had already been hospitalized for ten days, and Hua Yu had been in charge of her treatment for a week. The nutritional therapy was working well; Wei Yin’s indicators were steadily improving, and the cold, hard glands would occasionally grow faintly warm. Hua Yu said that was a sign the glands were healing themselves.

Everything pointed to Wei Yin probably, maybe, being able to leave the hospital?

Hua Yu stayed silent for a little longer this time. “Let’s talk next week.”

Wei Yin counted the days silently. “So at least three more days.”

“Are you in a hurry?” Hua Yu’s tone was unreadable. “With your current numbers, you barely meet the discharge standards.”

Wei Yin trusted Hua Yu’s judgment. She just wanted to visit her mother; next week would be next week. Besides, she wasn’t working right now, so there was no need to rush.

Wait. Not working.

Her years of struggling through society made Wei Yin instantly alert: no job meant no source of income.

Wei Yin pulled out her phone and, right in front of Hua Yu, opened a job-search app and started submitting her résumé with practiced ease.

“Your condition isn’t suitable for work,” Hua Yu said, extending a hand toward her. “Do you mind if I take a look?”

Wei Yin froze, then placed the phone in Hua Yu’s hand.

The screen showed her basic personal information, including her self-introduction, work experience, qualifications, and work photo.

The photo had been taken quite some time ago; in it, Wei Yin still had long hair.

Hua Yu looked up at her. Her shoulder-length soft chestnut hair was tucked behind her ears, revealing a well-behaved oval face. In truth, she was better suited to long hair. It softened the childishness and immaturity in her features, making her seem less... timid and withdrawn.

Yes, timid. Withdrawn.

Hua Yu updated Wei Yin’s profile, changing her health status from “good” to “light physical labor.” She refreshed the page again, and only two jobs remained that fit the criteria.

One was a work-from-home position at some office building; the other was an obviously dubious door-to-door cleaning service.

Hua Yu tapped both of them as “not interested” and returned the phone to Wei Yin. “These jobs aren’t suitable.”

Wei Yin, who had watched the whole process: ...angry, but unable to say anything.

Having her right to work taken away made Wei Yin very anxious. That anxiety showed in everything she did; even her meals slowed down compared with usual, and the expression she used while teasing the little turtle had shifted from pleased to tragically bitter.

Hua Yu tried tentatively, “I have a job here; do you want to consider it?”

Wei Yin looked up, waiting for the rest.

Hua Yu coughed lightly. “It’s with an elder in a friend’s family. They have a child at home, but none of them have time to take the child to and from school.”

Hua Yu briefly explained the job, along with the pay and benefits. Wei Yin was very happy after hearing it, not because the salary was especially high, but because a family recommended by Hua Yu must have a good temperament. If she went there, she wouldn’t be bullied.

Wei Yin said sincerely, “Thank you, Dr. Hua.”

Hua Yu, who had gone to great lengths to find Wei Yin a job and had even been forced to make a complete circuit through all kinds of elders’ dinner parties, replied calmly, “No need to be polite. They just happened to need someone.”

Mostly because the elder lived in the same residential complex as her; after Wei Yin was discharged, they would still run into each other often.

This time, she definitely couldn’t let her vanish without a trace.

On the day Wei Yin was discharged, the department prepared a small cake for her.

Since Hua Yu had two surgeries scheduled early that morning, Yang Cha and the others brought the cake over to Wei Yin first.

The cake had been made in the hospital cafeteria; it was low in sugar and oil, and the cream had been replaced with yam puree. Everything about it was plain and honest.

When Zhao Qi secretly took a bite and didn’t taste the sweet, creamy flavor she had expected, she burst into loud tears. Liu Cong rushed over in a hurry and shot Yang Cha an unhappy look, then reminded Mrs. Zhao once again to keep a close eye on Zhao Qi and not let her eat random things.

The noisy fuss put Wei Yin in a very good mood. She liked this lively atmosphere; it felt as if she were truly living a steaming, vibrant life, everything full of hope.

“Thank you for taking care of me. I really don’t know what to say.” Wei Yin stood up and bowed to Yang Cha and the others.

Yang Cha quickly stepped aside, helping her with a laugh. “No need, no need. We’ll make Dr. Hua treat us to a meal in return!”

Wei Yin smiled but didn’t speak, assuming they were joking with her.

She started cutting the cake; another young nurse pulled Yang Cha aside. “Put off the treat until next month. I’m guessing Chief Hua’s salary is going to be wiped out this month.”

Yang Cha didn’t care. “Chief Hua makes as much as you do, and she definitely has savings. Can you stop worrying so much about your boss’s worldly affairs?”

The nurse didn’t quite agree. “Wei Yin’s treatment costs are several tens of thousands. She doesn’t have insurance; it’s all out of pocket. Even if Chief Hua has money, she’ll still have to bleed a little. Better wait before making her treat us.”

Yang Cha had only been joining in the fun. “Fine, fine. I won’t tease your goddess anymore.”

Wei Yin’s hand, which had been cutting the cake, slowly came to a stop.