Chapter 697: It's Not About the Money, It's About the Attitude

Meng Qingfei did not smell any alcohol on the patient, but he still asked indirectly.

"Once I finish stitching, you'll need a Tetanus shot. Have you been drinking?"

"No."

After receiving a definitive answer, Meng Qingfei stopped talking. He could sense that the patient carried endless trouble with him, so he subconsciously stayed away from such trouble.

The patient's trauma looked somewhat complicated, but compared to the Black Urine Disease from just a moment ago, it was quite simple, and Meng Qingfei did not want to stir up extra trouble.

Better to avoid trouble than to invite it.

Meng Qingfei had no interest at all in knowing why the patient was so stubborn.

That was what Meng Qingfei thought, but Ji Xiang did not think so.

Ji Xiang also sensed that something was wrong with the patient, but if asked to explain it clearly, Ji Xiang simply could not do it.

Seeing that Meng Qingfei was preparing to tidy up and debride the wound, he asked for the key to go change his clothes.

Arriving at the Duty Room, Ji Xiang focused his mind slightly and entered the System Operating Room.

"Teacher, hello." Ji Xiang bowed and greeted the system npc politely.

"You're here." The system npc smiled.

"Teacher, I just encountered a strange patient in the Emergency Department."

Ji Xiang told the system npc about the patient with the facial trauma.

"Oh, what do you want to do?" The system npc asked softly, hunched over, without even looking at Ji Xiang.

"I suspect the patient has a Mental Illness. If that's the case, I must see a guardian. Although the patient might have a similar condition, leaving a scar on the face is a disfigurement, which is never a good thing."

Ji Xiang stated his thoughts.

The system npc smiled, kindness overflowing from his wrinkled face.

"Is that wrong, Teacher?" Ji Xiang paused. He understood the system npc to some extent and knew that once the Old Man showed this expression, it meant he had guessed wrong.

"I haven't seen the patient you saw. Just listening to your account, which carries your subjective consciousness, your judgment is highly likely to be wrong." The system npc spoke in the manner of a Doctor, shifting the blame first.

Ji Xiang scratched his head. Doctors really are annoying when they talk like that; he guessed other professions like lawyers probably talk the same way.

"However, I don't think it's very likely that the patient you described has a Mental Illness." The system npc said.

"But he didn't care about the wound on his face at all. He didn't cover it with his hand when he came in, and he wasn't nervous at all, as if it were someone else who was injured." Ji Xiang said.

"Anything else?"

"Or maybe he has a fetish for this? That seems like it could count as a psychological disorder too." Ji Xiang thought of another explanation.

"There is a similar Empathy experience; do you want to try it?" The system npc asked.

"???"

Ji Xiang was stunned.

Was he going to experience the world of the Depression patient from last time, who came to the hospital early in the morning to take photos of the shift handover and post them in the group chat?

However, the system npc had made it very clear that he did not consider this patient to have a Mental Illness.

Ji Xiang hesitated for a moment. Not having had the chance to ask the system npc about Black Urine Disease, he nodded, preparing to first see what exactly this strange patient had been through.

"For this kind of patient, I suggest you just experience it from the perspective of a bystander." The system npc said.

"Understood, Teacher."

Arriving at the adjacent Operating Room, light flickered, and Ji Xiang seemed to see an indescribable smile on the system npc's face.

Closing his eyes, a musty smell suddenly drifted toward him.

This is...

Ji Xiang opened his eyes and saw trash all over the floor, a coffee table piled with chicken bones, and a young woman lying on the sofa binge-watching a show.

"Ji Xiang, why are you only just getting back!" the woman said with dissatisfaction.

"..." Ji Xiang was stunned, and he began to struggle to recall.

Unlike the Depression patient whose previous experiences could not be recalled, the memories of the person he was empathizing with this time appeared clearly in his mind.

"He" was 28 years old, a sales manager at a company, and had just returned home after a half-month business trip.

The person in the house was "his" wife; they had been married for 2 years, and she was pregnant.

Because they were going to have a child, "he" worked very hard.

But it seemed there was never enough money to spend.

Ji Xiang roughly understood the current situation; "he" had already changed his shoes, taken off his coat, and started cleaning the house.

"He" started cleaning from the kitchen out of habit.

In the kitchen, the mountain of bowls and chopsticks was covered in mold, and Ji Xiang even vaguely saw mushrooms growing out of them.

This must have been left over from the few meals the woman had eaten at home right after "he" left for the business trip; if it hadn't been half a month, mushrooms wouldn't have been able to grow.

This is just too much!

Ji Xiang had never seen such a lazy person.

Although Ji Xiang himself was not willing to do housework, he could not imagine being so lazy that the bowls and chopsticks in the house grew mushrooms.

The smell he had just caught was likely the moldy scent coming from the dishes; after such a long time, he didn't know if it would trigger Fungal Pneumonia.

"He" was quite diligent, cleaning the house immediately.

"Ji Xiang, let me tell you some happy news." The young woman lay on the sofa, not even having the slightest intention to help.

"Linlin, what is it?" "He" asked.

"My younger brother's girlfriend is pregnant. That kid is actually quite capable; when he came over to the house a while ago, didn't he say he was going to get his girlfriend pregnant? He managed to do it so quickly."

"..." From the perspective of a bystander, Ji Xiang could no longer bear to watch.

It would be one thing if the house were just dirty and messy, but these values could simply be taken out and exiled to Ningguta.

But then again, what did the people of Mudanjiang do wrong to deserve being exiled to Ningguta?

"Uh..." "Self" didn't speak, seemingly sensing something, and the hand washing the bowl trembled slightly.

"My younger brother is preparing to get married, the bride price is 300,000, and then we need to buy a house; a down payment of 650,000 seems to be enough."

"..." "Self" still didn't speak.

"Ji Xiang, say something!"

"That's great, congratulations." "Self" replied perfunctorily.

"My parents came yesterday, and we discussed it. There's no money at home, but my younger brother is in a rush; the woman's side said this is already the lowest price, it can't be any cheaper."

"Her family said, what they want isn't the money, it's just an attitude."

"Self" remained silent, and Ji Xiang sensed a complex state of mind, watching this scene with great interest.

He had often heard of "younger-brother-supporting demons," but he hadn't expected the system NPC to throw him into the home of one.

"My younger brother is getting married, we have to help out," the woman said decisively.

"Self" gave a bitter smile, "That's for sure, for sure."

After speaking, "Self" sighed deeply, knowing that what should be avoided couldn't be avoided, so he asked, "About that, this sum of money is a bit much. I calculated it and it needs nearly a million; our family doesn't have that much money. My salary card is in your hands, and every month we subsidize your Brother-in-law about 10,000; it seems there aren't many savings left at home."

"Ji Xiang! Are you fucking keeping accounts with me?!" the woman shrieked.

(End of this chapter)