When the Doctor Uses A Hack

Chapter 406: Chapter 406: You’re the Warmth and Coldness of All Seasons!

An Yanjun’s night shift was filled with reflections as he sat in the office of the emergency department.

It had been a blink of an eye since he joined the Provincial Second Hospital; ten years had flown by. During that time, he had worked as an emergency physician and had learned all sorts of skills.

Originally trained in hand surgery, An Yanjun felt that, at the age of forty, he was increasingly straying off his path.

In reality, this was normal. It was in their year that medical posts aligned skill sets—most people learned technical skills as needed by their posts, filling in wherever there were shortfalls.

An Yanjun had thought he would retire as an emergency physician, but unexpectedly, at forty, he found himself returning to the stage of hand surgery.

“Dr. An! Thank you so much, my daughter’s hand has improved a lot, and the function is recovering very well now!”

“Director An, I really can’t thank you enough. My mom’s hand no longer affects her when cooking!”

“Director An…”

…

Recalling the “medals” he had received during this period, An Yanjun felt incredibly content.

At seven in the evening, after finally getting through a busy afternoon, Xiao Lin couldn’t help but ask An Yanjun, who was sitting in the office, “Director An, do you want me to get you some food?”

An Yanjun turned around and smiled, “No need.”

Xiao Lin giggled, “All right!”

Chang Lina sighed beside them, “If you ask me, the happiest person in our department has to be Director An. He leads a comfortable life; his wife always brings him food on his weekend shifts.”

At that moment, a woman wearing a mask and carrying a lunch box walked in, dressed in a white striped checkered shirt with simple jeans, her hair a bit messy from the wind.

“Wow, speak of the devil and she appears. What delicious food did you make for Director An today, sister-in-law?” Chang Lina approached with a grin.

The woman’s name was He Li, a sales associate working at a large shopping mall.

He Li had finished middle school when she and An Yanjun, from the same township, were desk mates in junior high. At that time, they had already started their secret romance, and after more than twenty years, their relationship was still strong.

He Li was enthusiastic and hospitable, and even a bit chivalrous—much more outgoing than the seemingly gentle and scholarly An Yanjun.

“Everyone can eat together; I’m off today, so I made some extra dishes,” she said, opening the insulated lunch box and starting to serve food.

A few people gathered around and were about to enjoy a lively meal.

But An Yanjun had just picked up his chopsticks when he heard an intern nurse outside say, “Director An, the old gentleman in bed 31 of the observation room is constipated. He has been in the bathroom for quite some time and can’t go.”

The word seemed out of place, as constipation and meals didn’t mix well, but everyone was already accustomed to it.

An Yanjun frowned upon hearing this; bed 31’s patient had hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and a previous cerebral infarction. Constipation… could be problematic.

As people age, their intestinal motility declines, and constipation is common. For most people, constipation is not a big deal.

But for those with underlying conditions like hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and history of strokes, constipation meant trouble!

Not to mention the patients with constipation-induced heart attacks still fresh in memory.

Every year, an appreciable number of strokes were caused by constipation.

An Yanjun quickly stood up, “Wife, you stay here for a while, I’ll go have a look.”

As he spoke, he walked out, followed by the nurse Chang Lina and Xiao Lin.

To tell the truth, there were many elderly people with constipation, and the emergency department routinely offered enemas or laxatives to aid bowel movements, but both methods often proved ineffective against stubborn cases in older patients.

Upon arriving at the ward, they found the old man sitting on the toilet, his face red and his neck bulging as if exerting effort, but to no avail.

An old lady by his side watched anxiously, her face filled with concern.

An Yanjun looked at the old lady and asked indifferently, “How long has he been constipated?”

The old lady blushed, “Maybe over twenty minutes?”

An Yanjun, visibly annoyed, said sternly, “Why didn’t you call us? The elderly are prone to worsening heart and brain conditions if constipated for a long time. In the future, call a doctor first when this happens.”

Hearing An Yanjun’s reprimanding tone, the old lady wasn’t offended; instead, she felt a warmth in her heart.

She was a bit embarrassed, “We saw that you were eating, and talking about this… it’s rather embarrassing.”

An Yanjun shook his head, gave the old lady some advice, then pondered for a moment. Seeing how hard the elder was struggling, he knew that persisting in this way was not a solution.

He stepped out to the nurses’ station and, after a few seconds, returned with disposable gloves on his hands.

As he entered the restroom, the old lady’s expression changed, “Doctor… no! It’s too mortifying, I can handle it.”

An Yanjun shook his head, “Let me do it.”

And with that, he proceeded without further discussion.

Honestly, such work might seem extraordinary, but it’s quite common in emergency departments where many doctors and nurses have done it before.

Take, for example, a recent news story.

A doctor on a plane sucked urine with his mouth to help a patient; this is something most people could not bring themselves to do.

So why do you think other doctors are reluctant to work in emergency? It’s dirty!

It’s chaotic!

It’s busy!

And it’s troublesome!

About two minutes later, An Yanjun emerged from the restroom, having discarded the gloves.

The old lady hurried to help the elderly man get up and then to get his pants on.

The old man, stepping out of the bathroom, felt much more relieved, his skin tone no longer ashen as before, his whole body at ease. Embarrassed but grateful, he said, “Thank you, Director An, really… thank you so much!”

Honestly, the old man was deeply touched. Such dirty work might even be shunned by his own children, after all… well! n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

And yet, a stranger like Director An never showed any disgust; it was truly… indescribable.

The old man’s heart was warmed by the gesture.

This appreciation was from the bottom of his heart.

An Yanjun, looking at the old lady, advised, “Eat more vegetables and fruits in the coming days. Boil the fruits if you can’t eat them cold. If you feel constipated, use some laxatives before it gets worse. The stools I just removed were as hard as rocks, and this can’t continue long-term.”

“The elderly patient has underlying medical conditions. Although constipation seems like a simple digestive system disorder, it can cause blood pressure spikes, cerebral hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, and even result in sudden death.”

An Yanjun was like that, he would state the issues very seriously with the truth because he was worried that patients wouldn’t take their conditions seriously enough, and he wanted them to pay more attention.

But these were all truths.

The old lady’s face changed color, to tell the truth, she was actually somewhat scared and quickly made note, “Okay, okay, thank you, Director An. I’ll definitely remember this.”

After speaking, she held Director An’s hands with both of hers, gratefully looking at An Yanjun, “Director An, I’ve troubled you, please go get some food.”

An Yanjun washed his hands, then went back to eating as usual.

Perhaps many people think it’s dirty, but what constitutes dirty has its own standards in the eyes of a doctor.

Are hotels clean? They look very shiny and beautiful.

Are hospital wards clean? They appear old and worn out!

Actually, the cleanliness in the eyes of doctors is about the absence of pathogenic bacteria, not the absence of bacteria and so on, not just about looking shiny and beautiful.

Hospital wards, observation rooms, and intensive care units, even including bedding like sheets and quilt covers, need to be regularly disinfected and sterilized.

After An Yanjun came back, He Li smiled and said, “You’re busy, so I’ll head off first. Remember to bring the thermos back tomorrow, the child is doing homework at home.”

An Yanjun hastily rose to walk her to the emergency department entrance, where He Li got on her electric bike, “Ah, you go back, I’m off.”

With a wave of her hand, she left.

It wasn’t until He Li’s electric bike disappeared from view that An Yanjun turned around.

Chang Lina sighed beside him, “Ah, how wonderful! I envy you…”

At that moment, an intern nurse couldn’t help but ask, “Director An, what does your sister-in-law do for a living?”

An Yanjun smiled, “She sells clothes at a department store, quite a tough job.”

After listening, the young nurse didn’t say anything, but she thought to herself that it’s no wonder she’s so good to Director An…

After all, in her eyes, An Yanjun is the deputy director of a provincial hospital, an impressive figure, and even a future director, while He Li is just a sales clerk, a job anyone could do. In her view of value, it seemed unequal.

So to her, He Li’s kindness to An Yanjun was out of fear that An Yanjun might leave her one day since, in her eyes, An Yanjun’s status and position were far superior to hers.

At this time, noticing the intern nurse’s thoughts, An Yanjun couldn’t help but say, “Compared to your sister-in-law, what I’ve contributed and given to this family is truly less than hers.”

Upon hearing this, Chang Lina suddenly became interested. Director An was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, yet he rarely talked about his family matters and didn’t speak much usually.

Unable to resist, she asked, “Director An, you’ve never mentioned this before. Tell us young folks about it.”

An Yanjun actually didn’t like to talk about his personal matters, especially family issues. He wasn’t much of a talker in the first place, nor did he participate much in gossip.

“I’ve known your sister-in-law for more than twenty years, been with her for just as long. We’re from the same town, sat at the same desk in junior high. She wasn’t keen on studying, but she’s actually very smart. However, she has older and younger brothers who also needed to go to school. Back then, in the countryside, we simply couldn’t afford to educate three kids.”

“We were together back then, but secretly, afraid to tell anyone. As soon as junior high was over, your sister-in-law quit school to work. Wherever I went to study, she’d go to that city to work.”

“She earned money but skimped on food and clothes, sending it all back home for her brothers’ education and saving some for my studies. At that time, I vowed to give her a better life in the future.”

“Later on, when I attended university, it was considered bringing honor to the village and quite an accomplishment. At that time, your sister-in-law was both happy and scared. While she was joyful about me getting into university, she also feared that one day I would leave her. Although she’s forthright and never said it, she never visited me at school, worried that my classmates would look down on me if they saw her.”

Listening to this, Chang Lina and a few other young nurses felt a twinge in their noses.

Even An Yanjun couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

“My sister-in-law was actually very pretty in her twenties, but she… never dressed up, loathed to spend money on new clothes. Instead, she saved to buy clothes and books for me. She didn’t know many characters and was afraid she would fall behind one day. She heard somewhere that she might lose common language with me, so after work she would help out at a bookstore… read more books. Over the years, she has bought more books for the house than I have.”

“After I graduated from university, I actually wanted to start working. But she insisted that I take the graduate school exam. I saw how hard she worked and didn’t want to take the exam. Back then, we could still arrange jobs.”

“But she heard some theory from who knows where, insisting I attend graduate school. We argued several times over this matter, but each time it came to nothing. In the end, she laid down an ultimatum. If I didn’t make it into graduate school, she would break up with me.”

At this point, An Yanjun couldn’t help but sniffle, visibly moved.

“Later, after I graduated from graduate school, I was assigned to Dongda Second Hospital’s hand surgery department. There were many people at my workplace who wanted to set me up with someone. When your sister-in-law found out about this, she cried secretly every day. But whenever she saw me, she smiled like a flower.”

“To tell the truth, we had been together for about fifteen years by that time. We had already gotten used to the presence of each other. If I truly lost her, I wouldn’t even know if I’d deserved to be called a person. The next year, when I had just started working and saved up over five thousand yuan, we got married.”

“But it’s also good. We’ve come so far over so many years, through all kinds of weather. Now our child is already twelve years old. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

A speech like that moved the young nurses somewhat. This kind of love, where each supports and provides shelter for the other, is enviable at any time.

It is by no means easy for a woman to do this.

In a society flushed with material desires, how many true feelings are silently being offered.

At this moment, how could these young nurses look down on He Li?

Recalling the woman who had just walked in, plain in dress, smiling and generous, they suddenly felt she was incredible!

All they could do was silently bless: people like you deserve happiness! You deserve to grow old together!

…

…

In the past decade or so, it was He Li who silently gave.

An Yanjun had sworn early on in his heart,

For the rest of his life,

Winter’s snow is you,

Spring’s flowers are you,

Summer’s rain is you,

Autumn’s gold is you,

All seasons’ warmth and cold are you.

This man, An Yanjun, who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, harbors a fire in his heart, a flame that burns fiercely only for He Li, to drive away the cold for her.

………

PS: Let me mention a thing, with winter here, the air becomes quite dry. It’s the high season for constipation, even people who don’t usually suffer from it may experience constipation, and for those who do, it can worsen.

Constipation is one of the high-risk factors for the elderly in inducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as heart attacks, cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, etc.

If you have elderly people at home with underlying diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, etc., please pay extra attention to them and remind them more often.

Every year, there are many cases of constipation inducing heart attacks and cerebral infarctions. I hope everyone will take this seriously.

Of course, as a suggestion, you can eat some white radish to help with bowel movements. Traditional Chinese medicine says that eating radishes in winter and ginger in summer is beneficial. Eating radishes in winter is good, but don’t overdo it. Eat more fruits and vegetables (as mentioned in the text).