Chapter 009: Picturing Her Youthful Beauty

Jiang Lin paid no attention to the chattering nurses; she simply observed her patient's condition with a calm demeanor.

"It would take Director Tong about one hour to get here," she replied indifferently to the nurses' hesitation, then turned to remind the family:

"The patient's condition is extremely urgent; surgery must be performed immediately. Any further delay will only leave amputation as an option. You can wait for another doctor or go to a different hospital if you want, but you will have to bear the risk and consequence of delaying treatment on your own."

"I… " The patient was unable to rebut after her speech, and although still forcefully obstructive, began to waver internally.

At that moment, the nurse beside the patient exclaimed, "Oh no! The patient has passed out!"

Jiang Lin bent over the patient on the bed, her expression darkened. "The patient is in septic shock; we need to operate immediately!"

After speaking, she helped the nurses rush the patient toward the operating room, but once again encountered resistance from the family members.

The family members glared fiercely, straightening their spines in an attempt to intimidate Jiang Lin, but when they met her cold gaze, it startled them into silence, reducing them to clutching the bed rails tightly while facing off against Jiang Lin.

Time ticked away as the struggle continued, and it became clear that any further delay would leave the patient with a one-way ticket to death. The older family member sighed, "Let's proceed with the surgery. She's the only one who can save him now."

After saying this, he took his hands off voluntarily.

The other family members still had their reservations but let go of the bed upon the old man's meaningful looks.

"If my dad dies on the operating table, I will never let you off the hook!" the patient's son threatened Jiang Lin angrily as she was closing the door to the operating room.

...

Five hours later

The doors of the operating room finally opened after an anxious wait.

The nurses pushed the patient out, faces bright with joy: "The operation was very successful!"

The family members were ecstatic, showering Jiang Lin with thanks as she followed behind.

"Dr. Jiang… we…" Before they could apologize and express their thanks, Jiang Lin stopped them with a gesture.

She removed her mask, pointed outside where the police were, and softly reminded them, "Go ahead with your business, you still need to give your statements." Grateful, the family members looked at her and then turned to cooperate with the police by going to the station to give their statements.

Outside, Jiang Hua was making a ruckus, "Jiang Lin, I'm your father, what are you standing around for?! Go get me a lawyer, you good-for-nothing! Officer, that's my daughter, she just certified my injuries, and I've suffered serious harm!"

The commotion from Jiang Hua reached Jiang Lin as she turned and saw two police officers looking her way.

Jiang Lin shook her head and, with a smile, told the officers, "Jiang Hua just has a split lip, please deal with it impartially."

Her comment thoroughly infuriated Jiang Hua, his eyes bulging with disbelief, followed by venomous and arrogant slurs. "Jiang Lin, you are a loss-making wretch. I should have smothered you in the hospital and ended it all back then!"

Jiang Lin didn't even look at him as she turned and walked toward the break room.

"So Dr. Jiang has a father like that!"

Suddenly, a buzz of discussion arose in the break room, and Jiang Lin halted abruptly with her hand on the doorknob.

Through the door left ajar, she saw several medical staff seated on the sofa, chatting merrily.

"Wow, Jiamei, aren't you Dr. Jiang's intern? You've followed her for three years; don't you know?"

Following the voice of the young nurse, Jiang Lin's gaze shifted toward Jiamei, who was hidden in the backlight, her expression indiscernible.

All Jiamei said was, "Dr. Jiang is distant by nature and rarely talks about anything beyond work with me."

Her statement seemed reasonable, but the tone left Jiang Lin with an eerie feeling.

"That Jiang Hua is a well-known troublemaker in Fanhua County, always causing trouble!" Nurse Zhang shivered as she recalled the earlier scene, still shaken. "Could Dr. Jiang have inherited some bad genes from him?"

"Definitely!" Mingyu, the intern nurse who had joined just three days prior, spoke disdainfully with a heavily made-up face, full of scorn, "You guys don't know, just now in the OR when I saw Dr. Jiang holding the scalpel and staring at the patient, her eyes were like she wanted to kill him, it scared me to death!"

The others shivered involuntarily. "No way, you're frightening me!"

Then, Nurse Zhang suddenly remembered something, straightened up, and said, "Hey, have you heard? Before Dr. Jiang came to our clinic, it seems she was involved in some trouble."

"What trouble?"

Zhang shook her head, "I'm not very clear on the details, but I heard it was a major medical incident that led to her bearing the blame for a patient's death."

"It seems that after that incident, she was dismissed from the top-ranked Haishi First Hospital and ended up working in our small clinic."

The group wore faces of surprise and confusion. "Oh my goodness, how can such a person still be a doctor? What did Chief Ma see in her?"

"Of course it's because she's young and beautiful!" Mingyu said with contempt. "Chief Ma's wife works in neighboring Shencheng, the couple barely see each other, basically leading separate lives."

"Ah! No wonder!" Jiamei suddenly exclaimed in shock, then quickly covered her mouth, muttering, "It can't be, it can't be."

"What can't be, Xiaoxiao?!"

"It's nothing... I just saw Dr. Jiang once at a restaurant, using her own chopsticks to pick food for Chief Ma, behaving intimately. But maybe my eyes deceived me, maybe I saw it wrong."

"You definitely didn't see wrong! I knew there was a trick when Chief Ma insisted on hiring her despite the opposition," Nurse Zhang cleared her throat boastfully, "Chief Ma's eyes on Dr. Jiang were too suggestive; I'm sure they're having an affair!"

"Heh! Dr. Jiang always has that poker face, treating us with cold words is one thing, but she doesn't really care to mentor Jiamei, an intern doctor, not thoroughly teaching her and causing her to fail the annual assessment every year. I thought she was acting superior with her own pride, but little did I know she was behind the scenes sneaking around as the mistress! Ugh!"