Waiting for You in a City

Chapter 1

Xu Qin calmed down and adjusted her breathing little by little. She threw away the tissue, opened the cupboard, put on the spare shoes, turned around and walked to the washstand. She turned on the tap, pumped the soap, rubbed between her hands, rinsed off the foam, pumped the soap once again, rubbed her hands together, rinsed off the foam, back and forth three times.

Xu Qin methodically completed this string of actions, took out her cellphone from the pocket of her white coat and glanced at it, 4:10 am. It was pitch black outside.

(T/N: 有条不紊 yǒu tiáo bù wěn – regular and thorough (idiom), methodically arranged)

The emergency room was peacefully quiet, as if the night was finally going to pass without any mishap.

There was a missed call and a text message on the phone from Meng Yanchen: "Come home over the weekend."

From the phone's black screen, Xu Qin saw that her eye sockets were slightly caved in. She had been working non-stop for 22 hours, her whole body felt numb.

Xu Qin placed her hand back in her pocket, her index finger gently tapping the cigarette case and lighter, and glanced at the "No Smoking" sign on the wall.

She stared at the sign for a while, curled her lips, got up and walked to the balcony.

Xu Qin leaned against the railing and lit a cigarette in the night wind.

Halfway through the puff, a yell came from behind: "Doctor!"

Xu Qin got up and put out the cigarette, closed the balcony door, and went back indoors to wash her hands three times. Just barely after turning off the tap, an unkempt man covered in ashes rushed in: "Doctor, help!"

Xu Qin's eyes swept over him quickly, no obvious injury: "Where are you not feeling well?"

The out-of-breath* square-faced man gestured with his hand: "No, my brother, he—"

(T/N: shàng qì bù jiē xià qì – out of breath (idiom) / to gasp for air)

(T/N: xiōng dì – brothers / younger brother / brotherly / fraternal)

Just as he finished, three to four dirty and disorderly men entered, the smell of smoke and pungent sweat came through too. The men wore military green tank vests and trousers, each of them tall and rugged, each of them more disheveled than the last, but each one more sloppy than the last, their arms exposed, covered in black ash, who knows from which construction site they came from.

The square-faced man took a breath and pointed behind him. Xu Qin looked over and saw a man's body, wrapped in a tank top, and still did not know who he was pointing to after a while.

"He, he has a terrible toothache."

Xu Qin suddenly stopped her steps: "Toothache?"

The square-faced man was still pointing: "Doctor, come over and see him..."

Xu Qin interrupted: "The emergency department does not do dentistry, go register in the outpatient clinic."

"The clinic is currently closed."

Xu Qin: "Then wait for it to open before going."

Xu Qin walked to her desk and sat down, tilted her head then saw a group of men staring at her.

It was at this moment that Xu Qin saw the "sick" man among the crowd, he wore a mask, his thick eyebrows underneath, the eyes above the mask stared straight at her, the gaze sharp and bright. Just a look, and it was enough to see that he was completely different from the people beside him.