CHAPTER 115: 115 GOSSIP

He woke up quite early the next morning, ate a quick breakfast in the district hospital’s canteen, and then rushed to Binhai City.

For doctors like them, waking up this early was routine. How many times had they been jolted awake from a deep sleep while on duty?

He had just reached the emergency room when he received a round of applause from the medical staff. News of yesterday’s incident was already out, and everyone was well-informed about the actual situation.

Zhou Shuwen had become accustomed to this long ago, but Liu Banxia was not. His smug demeanor was so annoying that Liang Xiaolin, who walked in behind him, felt like kicking him.

However, Liu Banxia was a little puzzled. It seemed like everyone was looking at him differently. Even though he hadn’t gotten his hair done yet, he was still quite handsome, wasn’t he?

"Brother Wei, you’ve worked hard," Liu Banxia said, running over to Wei Yuan after he was done showing off.

"No worries, I’m just getting used to it ahead of time. The application has been submitted. Whether it gets approved or not depends on the higher-ups," Wei Yuan said with a smile.

"Haha, it’ll definitely be fine," Liu Banxia laughed.

"Let’s hope your good words come true. Last night went smoothly. We only had four debridements, and that was it," Wei Yuan continued.

"By the way, the father of that child you diagnosed with pancreatic head cancer came looking for you this morning. It seems they’re being discharged today."

"Wow, they’re being discharged already? Boss, you’ll have to cover for me for a bit. I need to go see them," Liu Banxia said hurriedly.

His bond with this patient was different. Wang Mingxing was not just a young boy suffering from such a disease; his case was also the first that had allowed Liu Banxia to truly hold his head high in front of Qin Hai.

He just hadn’t expected Wang Mingxing to recover so quickly. He had been so caught up in the emergency department lately that he had completely forgotten about the father and son.

When he ran to the ward, he saw that the father and son had already packed their belongings and were sitting on the hospital bed.

"Sorry, I was caught up with something yesterday and only managed to rush back this morning," Liu Banxia said.

"We watched the news yesterday and even saw your photo. We know you must have been exhausted," Wang Lishan commented.

"We wouldn’t feel at ease leaving without seeing you. When can you get some rest? We know you’ve been promoted and are very busy, but you still have to come to our place for a barbecue."

"I’ll definitely go. I have the kid’s WeChat, and I never miss out on a chance for a free meal," Liu Banxia replied, laughing.

"Go home and recuperate well. This illness is manageable. I checked with the oncology department. It would be safer to undergo one more round of chemotherapy."

"Dr. Liu, don’t worry. Every day I live now is a bonus. I need to study harder in the future. Even if I can’t get into a top-tier university, I have to get into a second-tier one to make my dad happy." Wang Mingxing’s smile was radiant.

Listening to Wang Mingxing’s sensible words, Wang Lishan could only wipe his tears.

"Brother Wang, it’s a good thing the kid is so sensible. There’s still a year. With this kid’s intelligence, if he revises thoroughly, he’ll have no problem," Liu Banxia consoled him.

"By the way, Brother Wang, how did you see my photo? I don’t recall any TV crew at the scene yesterday. When I got back to the hospital, I went straight to the operating room."

"Dr. Liu, I have it here," Wang Mingxing said cheerfully, handing over his phone.

Looking at the picture on the phone, Liu Banxia felt a bit awkward.

Wang Mingxing had taken it with his phone. It showed him sleeping on Liang Xiaolin’s shoulder in the corridor, and Liang Xiaolin seemed to be sleeping soundly too. On closer inspection, his own drool had soaked Liang Xiaolin’s clothes.

Even if his sleeping posture was rather handsome, drooling was still quite embarrassing no matter how you looked at it.

"Yesterday, I was really too tired," Liu Banxia said, his face turning slightly red.

"Sigh, we used to think those stories were just for publicity. We never expected you all to be genuinely that exhausted," Wang Lishan said with emotion.

"Normally, it wouldn’t be like this. A firefighter had extensive burns on his hand, and debriding the wound took a long time," Liu Banxia said.

"Is there anything else you need to take? Have you called for a car? I can help you carry things down. Mingxing can’t lift anything heavy, or it might pull at his incision."

"How could we trouble you? It’s just a few clothes and a basin; I can carry them. You should get back to your work; don’t worry about us," Wang Lishan said.

Liu Banxia didn’t insist and just saw them off to the ground floor of the inpatient building.

As he was walking back to the emergency department, his phone buzzed with a WeChat notification. He opened it and saw a message from Wang Mingxing: "Dr. Liu, keep it up!"

Keep it up? Liu Banxia was utterly confused. Keep what up?

When he returned to the emergency department, Zhou Li winked at him and beckoned him over with a finger.

"Sister Li, why didn’t you tell me such important news? Don’t hesitate, have Old Wang come over," Liu Banxia said as he approached her.

Zhou Li glanced at him. "Well, we also have to consider when we’re going to give you a little nephew or niece, don’t we? That patient you treated for the hemoglobin disorder last time—his son is in engineering, isn’t he? Could you help us ask if he knows of any houses a bit further out of the city?"

"Oh, so you’re really planning on buying?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"Sigh... let’s buy. Our earnings never keep up with rising housing prices. We originally didn’t want to take out a loan. Now, we’ll just take out a smaller one. If we really have a child in the future, we’ll just have to work harder to earn money," Zhou Li sighed.

Liu Banxia nodded. "Leave it to me. I’ll contact him at noon."

"Very good. I brought you a box of braised pork bones. Share them with Doctor Liang for lunch as an extra treat," Zhou Li said with a cheerful smile.

"Why her? I don’t even have enough for myself," Liu Banxia grumbled.

Zhou Li gave him a helpless look. What a clueless boy.

Regarding gossip, apart from deliberately manufactured hype, the individuals involved are often the last to find out. This was precisely the case for Liu Banxia and Liang Xiaolin. In everyone else’s eyes, there was definitely something more between them.

There was clear evidence. Why else would Liu Banxia take Liang Xiaolin on his freelance surgery trips? Why were they sleeping so soundly together outside? They were a good match: he was young, handsome, and talented; she was youthful, beautiful, and with a good background.

The only obstacle was the Chief Director’s grandson, Chen Xuehai. People had seen his interaction with Liang Xiaolin in the emergency room that night; their relationship was clearly not ordinary.

However, the staff felt closer to Liu Banxia, so they naturally sided with him, though they couldn’t say so openly.

So, Liu Banxia spent the whole morning in a daze, feeling that everyone was looking at him strangely. Xu Dan, in particular, kept looking like she wanted to say something but would then hesitate.

Looks like I really need to get my hair done at lunchtime. This messy hairstyle is seriously damaging my handsome image.