A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 4

Chinese New Year’s Day, 8:20 a.m., Shen City Military Hospital.

The yellow medical waste bins next to the white walls were already overflowing with used gauze from disinfection and hemostasis. Lu Xiao sat bolt upright in the chair with his eyes tightly closed, as a nurse disinfected and sutured his wounds.

“Brother, I followed Dr. Shen and we found that scumbag in the utility closet in the bathroom. He’s incredibly weak but still has a lot of nerve. He still wanted to run even after falling into our hands!” Wang Deng reported the current situation while watching Lu Xiao, who was grimacing in pain from the wound disinfection but was trying his best to endure it.

“Did you reinforce security?” Lu Xiao opened his eyes with a frown.

“Director Gao transferred a team to support us at the hospital. The intensive care unit where the suspect is being held is now under strict guard. No suspicious personnel will be allowed in!”

Lu Xiao nodded. “Good. Can we interrogate him now?”

Wang Deng shook his head. “It’s unlikely. He narrowly escaped death, and he half-crawled to the bathroom. The shock messed with his blood pressure and heart rate again. Dr. Shen just gave him some powerful medicine.”

Lu Xiao nodded again. “Keep a close eye on him for me.”

“No problem!”

Lu Xiao stood up and walked out. Wang Deng followed him, running. “Where are you going, Captain? The doctor said you need to rest right now.”

“Where am I going? Why do you have to ask everywhere I go? Are you going to follow me on dates, too? Where else would I go? I’m going to thank Dr. Shen!”

Wang Deng scratched his head, wondering when his captain’s EQ had gotten so high that he would actually go to thank someone.

When the door to Shen Zhao’s clinic was pushed open, a flippant Lu Xiao stood there, his left shoulder wrapped in a bandage, a cut on his chin. After a few stitches, it was covered with a tension-reducing bandage, making him look comical. His leg was still limping. He leaned against the door, revealing a goofy smile.

“Something you need?” Shen Zhao placed the thin-framed glasses he used for reading medical records on the table, interlaced his hands on the desk, and glanced at Lu Xiao.

“Heh… I just came to thank you.”

Lu Xiao spoke with a jumbled, unclear voice as if his tongue had been scalded with boiling water, and his eyes darted around in embarrassment.

“No need.” Shen Zhao’s face immediately returned to an aloof expression, and he put his glasses back on.

What’s this doctor’s deal! He’s acting like such a saint it makes me want to punch him.

Lu Xiao took a deep breath, telling himself to be a grateful person.

Sigh… it would be great if I could have a couple of cigarettes right now. It’s so uncomfortable. I’m tired and in pain.

“Mostly, since it’s Chinese New Year, I know you guys have had a rough time.” Lu Xiao quickly went through the motions and was about to leave, but the person in front of him seemed to have become interested.

“Oh?”

Shen Zhao leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and narrowed his eyes, arms folded across his chest. “Then tell me, what did I do that makes you want to thank me?”

Lu Xiao was taken aback. He never expected the man to ask that. In this situation, don’t doctors usually say, “Oh, it’s nothing, it’s just what we do as doctors, you’re welcome,” and so on?

Shen Zhao saw that he was silent for a long time. “Never mind. You can go. I don’t think you’re very sincere in your thanks.”

“Ah… no, it’s not that. You performed surgery on me, which is like saving my life, and you also helped me subdue that masked man.” Lu Xiao felt like he was being interrogated by a teacher, and it made him itch all over.

“Is that all?”

“You also… saved the hostage and the criminal I brought in.”

“Nothing else?”

What is this guy’s problem? He just keeps pushing it, Lu Xiao cursed inwardly.

“…”

Shen Zhao’s lips moved slightly: “First, you kicked down my operating room door. Second, the orthopedic hammer I threw to disarm him is now unusable, and you owe me a new set. Third, if I hadn’t stopped you, you’d probably be dead on the road chasing that scar-faced man.”

Lu Xiao’s eyes widened. Does this guy keep track of things so clearly?

“In summary, I saved you twice,” Shen Zhao said impassively while scrolling on his computer. “Think about how you’ll pay back this favor, Officer Lu.”

Lu Xiao thought that Shen Zhao had a point. Plus, he was good at fighting, it was just his tone of voice that was so annoying. Did he mean he wants a red envelope just now? He must! That little punk, just you wait. I’ll get tens of thousands in cash and throw it in your face.

“Dr. Shen is right. I will definitely thank you properly.” Lu Xiao smiled, and after a few seconds of silence, he still asked the question that had been bothering him all night. “Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“If you saw with your own eyes a person brutally murder an innocent hostage, would you still do your best to save him on the operating table?”

“Yes.” Shen Zhao nodded.

“What if the person he murdered was a family member of yours? Would you still save him?”

“Yes.”

A saint! A once-in-a-millennium saint!

Lu Xiao thought this man was very strange, as if he lacked human emotion. He knew his actions last night were too impulsive, but having witnessed such a cruel explosion and two bodies being blown apart, as well as the brutally injured hostage, he just couldn’t control himself. Even though he knew he needed to keep the man alive for interrogation, it was just too difficult and too hateful.

“I am a doctor. Once someone is on the operating table, they are my patient. I only think about how to maximize my professional value. If we need to settle accounts, we do it after the surgery.” Shen Zhao paused. “Besides, a person can only feel pain if they are alive. But isn’t it unprofessional for you, as a police officer, to ask me such a question?”

Lu Xiao was speechless. He knew it was true. Director Gao also constantly scolded him, saying his methods were too violent and that he was always breaking suspects’ legs and arms, which led to appeals.

However, hearing Shen Zhao say this made Lu Xiao feel much more at ease. A cunning “black lotus” is better than a saint.

“I understand. Thanks.”

Shen Zhao stood up, intending to see him out, but suddenly thought of something. He gave Lu Xiao a knowing smile. “Do you want to know how I knew where he was hiding?”

Lu Xiao immediately became interested and nodded vigorously.

“After you told me about his atrocities, I thought about it carefully. Then, during the surgery, I installed a small device on him.”

“What? You?”

Lu Xiao felt his impression of doctors was changing starting today. This profession was terrifying! Truly!

“Alright, I need to rest now.”

Shen Zhao pushed the dumbfounded Lu Xiao out and mercilessly closed the door.

Lu Xiao stood at the entrance of Shen City Military Hospital and used all his strength to stretch his stiff body. He called to give instructions to a team to track down the whereabouts of the scar-faced man, while he himself planned to return to the crime scene from last night.

Inside the hospital, in Shen Zhao’s office.

The computer screen was scrolling, and a breaking news story popped up in the bottom right corner.

[Here is a breaking news alert—Early this morning, a vicious case occurred at a physical examination center in our city. An on-duty staff member discovered a suspicious man in the building and alerted the police. After police arrived at the scene, the suspect attempted to take a hostage and escape, triggering an explosion that resulted in two deaths in the building. The current situation of the suspect and hostage is not yet clear, and the police are making every effort to track them down.]