CHAPTER 361: 361 SWEET MORNING

(Special thanks to our friends, Fairy-tale Ending, Rustling Insect in Ruins, Book Friend 20190727205832637, Lost Lamb, 6847, Have Something To Say, and Shang Cheng for their encouragement with votes.)

There’s really no such thing as an easy day for doctors. After much struggling, Liu Banxia finally got a day off. He prayed his phone wouldn’t ring randomly. This way, he wouldn’t have to rush off to the hospital and would be able to enjoy a perfect day off with Qiaoqiao.

Before he could even wake up properly, Tang Dou ran over, determined to get Liu Banxia out of bed.

There was just no arguing with Tang Dou. The chances of getting to sleep in were slim when he was around. Half-asleep, Liu Banxia got dressed, put the leash on Tang Dou, and they went out for a walk.

WOOF WOOF...

After walking just a short distance, Tang Dou began to bark excitedly. Liu Banxia tactfully let go of the leash—Tiggie was playing on the lawn a little ways away.

"Brother Qiu, it’s so cold out, and you’re up so early," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"If it were in the past, I definitely wouldn’t be up this early. Ever since I got Tiggie, my life has become much more routine. So, are you off today?" Qiu Huaili asked.

"It’s quite rare for me to get a day off. Now I’m jealous of those who get two days off every week. Those are the good times," Liu Banxia sighed.

"Haha, well, you chose a profession that involves saving lives. Will your schedule be more flexible once your term as chief resident is over?" Qiu Huaili asked.

Liu Banxia shook his head. "That’s just wishful thinking. Not even the inpatient department can guarantee a fixed work schedule or regular breaks, let alone our Emergency Center."

"Normally, we start working at 8 a.m.," Liu Banxia explained. "But before then, we have to have a morning meeting to get updated on the status of our patients, and only then do we start our rounds.

"And at night, we have to check on the patients in the ward. One round typically takes us till six or seven in the evening, and that’s if there are no critically ill patients. Otherwise, we might not finish work until eight. We’re basically working from morning till night.

"As for us in the Emergency Center, our time is even more unpredictable. The more new patients we admit each day, the more time we have to spend on handovers.

"Because each patient’s condition is different, we have to explain the details thoroughly every time to avoid having to frantically search through case files during an emergency.

"In the future, the most I can hope for is to be able to sleep at home at night instead of having to stay at the Emergency Center. As for days off, they’ll probably be about the same as now—at best, maybe four days a month.

"And this is just for someone at my level. If you move up to attending physician, where you’re expected to supervise master’s and doctoral students, your time becomes even tighter.

"They have to attend seminars, manage research projects, and even use their days off for work. From what I’ve seen, our director rarely takes time off—at most, just half a day here and there."

"Damn, that’s much busier than us businessmen," Qiu Huaili commented.

"Haha, not only are we busier, but we also face the risk of medical disputes when treating patients. One misstep could lead to a medical accident," Liu Banxia said, laughing.

"My incident last time was a bit of a close call, but I still got suspended for half a month. If it had been someone else who hadn’t signed an agreement authorizing a guided surgery, they probably would have been fired outright.

"Because the public doesn’t care about your reasons. They just know you took the patient’s money, and to them, that’s unacceptable, so you have to be dealt with. For the past two months, the major hospitals in Binhai City have been practically overflowing; everyone’s flocking here.

"I heard some hospital staff chatting; the prices for daily rentals near the hospital have shot up again. Even so, you might not be able to snag one. Many require calling in advance to book."

"Is it really that bad?" Qiu Huaili asked incredulously.

"It’s even more exaggerated than I’m describing," Liu Banxia said. "Housing prices for residential buildings near the hospital have gone up by over a thousand yuan. Our Emergency Center has already treated several patients who rushed over from other areas, and we haven’t even been open that long."

He wasn’t just making things up; this was a significant consequence of stopping the ’flying knife’ surgeries. These patients, who could have originally been treated at local hospitals, now had to go to major hospitals to be on the safe side.

Take Zhou Shuwen, for example. He had cleared some of his surgical backlog a few days ago, but now his schedule was packed full again, with more patients waiting to get an appointment.

Everything has its pros and cons. Stopping ’flying knife’ surgeries helped regulate the chaotic practices in the medical industry, but it also meant more hardship for many patients.

He’d heard most of this from Wang Chao, but he didn’t really concern himself with these things anymore. He had already decided not to do ’flying knife’ surgeries, so that was the end of it.

The Emergency Center was already swamped. He didn’t want to use his precious day off to moonlight; he’d rather spend it with Qiaoqiao.

After chatting with Qiu Huaili for a while and agreeing to join him for lunch, he ran off with Tang Dou, who was hopping happily along.

This was the good thing about Tang Dou; he was very obedient. After playing with Tiggie for a while, he was completely happy. He would then obediently follow Liu Banxia without needing to be dragged along.

When he got back home, Qiaoqiao was already up and had made breakfast. It wasn’t particularly lavish, but Liu Banxia wasn’t picky. As long as there was food, what more could he ask for?

"By the way, I ran into Old Qiu earlier and agreed to join him for lunch at his place. So, we don’t have to worry about our lunch," Liu Banxia informed her.

"That’s great! Lunch at Old Qiu’s and dinner at the director’s. We don’t have to think about what to eat at all today," Qiaoqiao said cheerfully.

"Haha, I was actually wondering if I should make a trip to Jinshui District during the day for some teppanyaki," Liu Banxia joked.

Qiaoqiao glared daggers at him. He finally gets a day off, and he wants to travel so far just for a meal? Was he trying to stir up trouble?

"Do you want to visit Yanzi in the afternoon?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Aren’t you tired?" Qiaoqiao asked, a hint of pleasant surprise in her voice.

Liu Banxia shook his head. "We can just take a stroll. Besides, we have to go into the city tonight anyway; we’ll just leave a bit earlier. How are she and her boyfriend getting along?"

Qiaoqiao rolled her eyes. "That’s ancient history! They broke up ages ago. Good thing you asked, otherwise you would’ve really embarrassed yourself."

Liu Banxia felt helpless. He was so busy that he quickly forgot things he didn’t consider very important. Otherwise, even if he boosted his mental state, it wasn’t that easy to remember.

Their current dynamic was quite interesting. In the past, Qiaoqiao would have dragged Liu Banxia out for big shopping trips on his days off.

Later, she became very considerate of Liu Banxia. When he had time off, she would just stay home and be affectionate with him, not bothering about anything else.

Today, Liu Banxia taking the initiative to suggest visiting Wang Xiaoyan was a very perceptive move. He couldn’t always let Qiaoqiao be the one to make concessions; Wang Xiaoyan was her legitimate best friend, after all.

While they were eating, Tang Dou waddled over. He didn’t say anything, just stared at their dining table. What else could they do? If he was smart, they’d give him a bone to gnaw on.

Although these small animals should generally have a diet low in oil and salt, an occasional indulgence wouldn’t have much of an impact.

"When are Auntie and Uncle coming for Spring Festival this year? Are they staying here or at a hotel?" Qiaoqiao asked.

"They’ll stay at a hotel," Liu Banxia said with a laugh. "It’s one thing for me to live here shamelessly, but it wouldn’t reflect well on us if they stayed here too."

"But you’ll have to be in charge of receiving them. Anyway, they all like you a lot. I’m so busy that even when they come, I might not have time. Oh, right, are you going back home for the Spring Festival?"

Qiaoqiao wrinkled her nose. "We’ll talk about it then. I haven’t really thought about it yet."

Liu Banxia didn’t dare press further. After all, it was Qiaoqiao’s family matter. They were only dating now and weren’t married. Even if they were married, he shouldn’t interfere too much, right?

"I can’t finish these baked chicken wings," Qiaoqiao said, looking pleadingly at Liu Banxia.

Without a second thought, Liu Banxia took the leftover wings from her plate. For him, breakfast was a meal he had to eat his fill of.

This was a habit he’d developed after acquiring the system. It was possible the system itself needed to draw energy from him, which was why he had to eat so much.

Qiaoqiao was very satisfied and gave him an approving look. As long as Liu Banxia was there, she felt a sense of reliance.

She had to control her diet and didn’t dare eat too much, for fear of affecting her figure. With Liu Banxia around, this burden was much lighter. She could put more on her plate to look at, and it was as good as if she’d eaten it herself.

Now that she was full, she just watched Liu Banxia devouring the food. Those wings turned into a pile of small bones in no time; he had picked them clean.

"How’s the breakfast I made?" Qiaoqiao asked, somewhat self-consciously.

"Pretty good! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to eat so much," Liu Banxia said without lifting his head.

"You just know how to sweet-talk. The congee was even a bit lumpy and too thick," Qiaoqiao pouted.

"Haha, I thought it was fine. Just being able to come home to a warm breakfast is enough to make me content," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

Although Qiaoqiao knew Liu Banxia was just coaxing her, she was very happy. Then she picked up the yellow croaker fish and began to de-bone it for Liu Banxia.

This was something she enjoyed doing; otherwise, just watching Liu Banxia eat would be a little boring.

The breakfast was quite sweet. For a couple in love, just being together, no matter what they were doing, was sweet.

Otherwise, Zhou Li wouldn’t have teased Liu Banxia, saying he’d found himself a one-of-a-kind girlfriend. She never pestered him to do this or that, and never made any unreasonable demands. When she missed him, at most she’d pop by the hospital for a quick visit and wouldn’t stay long.

After breakfast, the two of them cuddled on the sofa. Tang Dou, beside them, glanced at the two of them and could only flop down helplessly by the sofa.

He was just a lone dog, with no thoughts of finding a partner for now. As long as those two remembered him once in a while, that would be fine.