Chapter 769: A Mix-up

"Your shop is swindling consumers!"

A middle-aged woman's voice, filled with righteous indignation, came from not far away.

Ji Xiang scratched his head. Why was he not in a hospital, but in some kind of shop?

Quickly recalling, Ji Xiang understood that "he" was a salesperson at a Benz 4S dealership, and a female customer had bought a Benz GLE350 a few days ago.

But a few days later, it broke down while she was driving on the highway.

The female customer believed the Benz GLE350 had quality issues, so she found a tow truck to pull the broken-down Benz GLE350 to the entrance of the 4S dealership, blocking the door in righteous indignation to demand an explanation.

What on earth did this have to do with the Patient Meng Qingfei encountered?!

Could it be that when the vehicle broke down, the driver or the passengers in the car were injured?

After a flash of thought, Ji Xiang opened his eyes and saw the female driver sitting on the hood, berating them.

Sigh, it was much the same as a Medical Dispute; it seemed that as long as one was in society, it was hard to avoid encountering trouble in any corner.

Perhaps this kind of rights protection right before his eyes was what they called being rubbed against the ground by society.

Even the person sitting on the hood might have had no other choice but to use this method to solve the problem.

Ji Xiang instantly cast aside his speculation; he was just a Doctor, and could only be a Doctor.

"This lady, let's go inside and talk," a middle-aged man said politely.

"What is there to talk about? I bought a new car from your 4S dealership, and the first time I took it on the highway to break it in, this piece of junk suddenly stalled while I was driving. That was the highway, the highway!"

The woman's voice was sharp, clearly burning with rage, which had already caused her to lose most of her reason, to the point that her voice had become like a long spear and a halberd.

"My car suddenly stalled while I was driving on the highway; you aren't just swindling consumers, this is fucking murder for money!!"

This seemed to make sense, Ji Xiang thought to himself.

However, the woman was too fierce, reminding Ji Xiang of many Medical Disputes and complaints.

He followed behind the middle-aged man, not daring to say a word, trembling.

This seemed to have a certain connection to complaints in the hospital; Bai Chuzhang's job was hard to do, Ji Xiang sighed inwardly.

"Lady, if you feel there is a problem with the vehicle, you still have to let us see what is broken," the middle-aged man said with a bitter smile, trying to console her.

"Let you tamper with it first?!" The woman pointed at the middle-aged man's nose and scolded, "I don't know cars; you'll just mess around with it, cover up the problem, and then say it was my improper operation, right!"

"Is that what you're thinking!"

Seeing the woman's emotions becoming increasingly agitated, Ji Xiang stepped back to the side to observe carefully.

Meng Qingfei encountered a Patient with Spontaneous Pneumothorax; could it be that the woman would develop Spontaneous Pneumothorax because of her anger?

That shouldn't be; Spontaneous Pneumothorax is mostly seen in ruptured pulmonary bullae, which is a congenital condition, and it is most common in thin, tall boys of 17 or 18.

Getting Spontaneous Pneumothorax from being angry? Books had never written about that.

Could it be a rare disease? Ji Xiang stood to the side, watching the show with great interest.

"Lady, please be reasonable. You have pulled the car to the entrance of our 4S dealership and blocked the door, which has already seriously affected our normal operations..."

"You are murdering for money, and you still want to continue swindling others? I am blocking the door just so everyone knows your shop is a black shop! A black shop!!"

"You at least have to let me see what is wrong with the car; right now I don't know anything," the man said helplessly.

The logic was a closed loop.

Following this sequence, the next part would be the woman saying the 4S dealership would fix the minor issues first, then claim she operated it improperly.

Ji Xiang spread his hands.

He estimated that when Bai Chuzhang handled various Medical Disputes, many of the Family Members he encountered were just like this.

Sure enough, just as Ji Xiang had imagined, the middle-aged man and the woman sitting on the GLE350 hood repeated what they had just said all over again.

Ten-plus minutes later, watching the woman pull up a banner, Ji Xiang felt it looked somewhat familiar.

This was truly exactly the same as the Family Members who complained about the hospital.

The middle-aged man stomped his foot and turned to leave in frustration.

"Manager Li, what do we do next?" Ji Xiang followed and asked.

As a manager's assistant, not helping at all—it was time to build some presence.

"()*... *&..."

The middle-aged man walked into the 4S dealership and began to curse in a low voice.

He didn't dare say a single vulgar word in front of the woman, but not saying them didn't mean he didn't have any thoughts in his heart.

Ji Xiang listened quietly to the middle-aged man cursing, wondering if Bai Chuzhang also cursed people behind their backs.

"What the fuck is this, she says the car has problems but won't let us look, just blocking the door and making a scene." The middle-aged man finally sat down in the chair in the manager's office, looking extremely distressed.

"Manager Li, what are her demands?"

"How would I know? She hasn't said."

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he sighed deeply, the light gone from his eyes, silently looking at the computer.

The woman's cursing could be heard from afar.

The sound was intermittent, faint and indistinct, but as Ji Xiang heard it, it felt as if he had returned to the hospital, encountering a thorny Medical Dispute.

"Manager Li, is this kind of thing common?" Ji Xiang asked subconsciously.

The middle-aged man glared at Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang also knew he had said too much; he lowered his head to look at the floor, trying hard to figure out whether the woman or the middle-aged man would develop Spontaneous Pneumothorax.

And if he encountered Spontaneous Pneumothorax, once it became a tension one, would he have to use a pen on them just like on the show?

There was a pen on the middle-aged man's desk; it must be the Emergency Rescue tool the system left for him.

Ji Xiang scanned the area with his gaze and confirmed what he could do.

"Bang~"

The door was kicked open, and the middle-aged man was startled.

Immediately, Ji Xiang felt someone behind him move to take action.

Ji Xiang wanted to dodge, but the "self" within the Empathy was too weak and didn't dodge at all.

That person kicked Ji Xiang in the left hypochondriac region, and a wave of intense pain surged through him.

Ji Xiang was kicked onto the ground, wanting to cry but having no tears.

So, he had been wrong!

This was no Spontaneous Pneumothorax; this was clearly a Traumatic Pneumothorax! It was caused by external force.

But by the time Ji Xiang realized this, it was already too late.

Intense pain came from the left chest wall, and every breath gave Ji Xiang a feeling of being on the verge of death.

The men had barged in, pushing and shoving; it looked like they hadn't intended to hurt anyone. It was just that some hotheaded fool didn't know his own strength and kicked Ji Xiang to the ground.

Seeing Ji Xiang's pale face and that something was wrong, their momentum instantly dropped.

When the others from the 4S dealership arrived, they quickly calmed the situation, preventing further damage.

The only one injured was Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang was streaming with tears; he hadn't even said a word to the woman, yet in the end, he was the one who got hurt.

It was truly bad luck.

"Ji Xiang, are you alright?" the middle-aged man asked, somewhat flustered.

Ji Xiang shook his head, signaling that he couldn't speak.

But his action caused the middle-aged man to misunderstand, "It's good that you're fine, it's good that you're fine. Let's handle the dispute first, then I'll take you to the hospital."

"!!!"

Ji Xiang took a breath, just about to speak.

But with the breath, a piercing pain rose in his left hypochondriac region.

What the hell is this!

"How can you people hit someone? If you have something to say, say it properly," the middle-aged man scolded.

It was visible to the naked eye that he was bluffing; he wasn't the one injured, and he was only prepared to use Ji Xiang's injury as a bargaining chip to resolve the trouble at hand.

"The piece of junk car your shop sold us had problems as soon as we got on the highway for the break-in period, and it almost cost my whole family their lives! What! You still think you're in the right?!"

A burly man opposite roared.

"If you say the vehicle broke down, we have to see what's wrong with it, right?" the middle-aged man replied with a mournful face, "If you won't let us look at anything, I can't give you an explanation even if I wanted to."

"Have the reporters arrived?"

"Soon, along with a few big influencers and social media people."

"Fine, we'll look at it together once they arrive." The burly man glared fiercely at Manager Li.

It looked like the other side was fully prepared; if it was a defect with the Benz GLE350, wouldn't they have to pay hundreds of thousands?

Although Ji Xiang felt like he had been kicked hard enough to fracture a rib, he had already been assimilated by that guy Shen Lang, and what he was thinking about in his mind were these messy, trivial matters.

Bai Chuzhang was definitely more composed than Manager Li; Ji Xiang even thought of the times Bai Chuzhang said he used to have high blood pressure and needed to cultivate his character.

Indeed, it wasn't easy working in the Medical Affairs Department.

Especially the Dispute Handling Office; that was simply not a job for a human.

Even if he fell on hard times later and went to the Emergency Department, he couldn't go to the Dispute Handling Office, Ji Xiang thought to himself.

Although Manager Li had said he would take Ji Xiang to the hospital after resolving things, he quickly dialed the 120 Emergency Vehicle.

The people from both sides were arguing incessantly; Ji Xiang refused help from other employees, slumped on the ground, and silently watched them argue.

Ji Xiang only felt that they were too noisy.

Ten-plus minutes later, with the arrival of the television reporters, the crowd walked out one after another, preparing to open the Benz GLE350 to see what exactly had gone wrong.

The woman was still sitting on the hood, holding a banner and telling the people who came to the 4S shop about how this "piece of junk car" had suddenly stalled on the highway.

She described it vividly, especially how the engine suddenly sounded wrong, *put-put-put*, and the car started shaking.

These descriptions gave people an immersive feeling.

Ji Xiang managed to prop himself up to stand, wanting to get closer to watch the excitement.

After only two instances of Empathy, Ji Xiang had already been led astray by Shen Lang, starting to become interested in all sorts of gossip, though Ji Xiang himself didn't realize it.

"Luckily I was alert at the time, tapped the brakes, and gripped the steering wheel tightly. The steering wheel slipped several times, but I controlled it. If I had been even a little careless, at 120 mph, my whole family would have died on the highway!"

The woman was emotionally agitated, accusing the Benz GLE350 to the people around her.

Ji Xiang found a spot with a good view and leaned against the wall to stand.

"Ji Xiang, do you want to go lie down for a while?" a friendly employee asked.

"No need, I'll see how this gets resolved. Supposedly our shop's cars are all original imports, and they haven't had any problems for so many years; this shouldn't be happening."

"I've worked here for 6 years and haven't seen anything like this happen. If it had run over 100,000 kilometers, who knows what might happen, but this car was just picked up, how could the engine have problems?"

"Wooo-ooo-ooo~"

The sound of the 120 Emergency Vehicle interrupted the argument between the two parties, and the Doctor in the White Uniform jumped out of the vehicle.

He saw a crowd gathered at the entrance of the 4S shop and nervously pushed through the crowd.

"Who is injured?!" the Doctor asked.

Then he saw the woman sitting on the hood cursing with full vigor, looked around again, and asked suspiciously, "Who called 120?"

"It's him." The middle-aged man led the Doctor to Ji Xiang's side.

"Where are you injured?" the Doctor asked.

"Here." Ji Xiang pointed to his left hypochondriac region, "I was kicked once, and now it hurts when I breathe; I can't take a full breath, it feels like a rib fracture."

"Kid, don't talk nonsense! I just touched you lightly; how could it be that easy to fracture a rib? Don't try to extort me." The burly man came up and pointed at Ji Xiang's nose, cursing, "Are you trying to extort me, you bastard?"

"I'm just telling the truth; we'll know once we go to the hospital and take an X-ray." Ji Xiang's complexion was very poor, and he said this with difficulty.

"Can you walk? If you aren't injured anywhere else, try taking a few steps yourself. If you get on the stretcher, the change in position will make you hurt more," the Doctor explained.

"Wait a moment, I'll open the car immediately; I want to see what the problem is exactly."

"..."

"..."

The middle-aged man, the Doctor, and the burly man were all stunned.

This is just too gossipy!

Ji Xiang's face was deathly pale, there was cold sweat on his temples, and when he breathed, one could see a painful expression on his face.

But even so, he refused to get into the Emergency Vehicle immediately.

The Doctor said helplessly, "You should hurry to the hospital; you're sweating from the pain. Let me tell you, even if it's a rib fracture, there will be many complications, and it cannot be delayed."

"Very quickly, I'll just take a look."

Damn it, the Doctor cursed inwardly.

This was the first time encountering this kind of Patient.

No matter how others tried to persuade him, Ji Xiang wanted to see the ending before leaving.

With television reporters and influencers waiting, they couldn't drag it out, so the two groups stopped paying attention to Ji Xiang; the woman opened the Benz GLE350, and the 4S dealership staff began checking where the problem lay with the car buyer's people.

"Buddy, are you in a lot of pain?" the Doctor asked.

"A lot, I don't dare to breathe; it hurts even with a slightly deeper breath," Ji Xiang replied softly while focusing on the car inspection.

"Then why aren't you going to the hospital yet?"

"Right away, I feel like the problem shouldn't be big, I don't know if it's an engine issue," Ji Xiang said while focusing on the car inspection.

The Doctor spread his hands.

"Don't worry, I am clear-headed and articulate, so there shouldn't be a major problem. Besides, if you go back, you'll still have to wait anxiously for the 120 call, so let's watch the excitement together."

"Oh, you're quite familiar with this," the Doctor said with a chuckle.

"I have a friend who is also a doctor."

Ji Xiang activated the "I have a friend" mode.

"You are way too curious," the Doctor sighed and said, "I have met many patients, but this is the first time I've encountered one like you."

"Waiting a moment is also good; there must be someone from the offending party present, otherwise if the injury report says I injured myself, both you and I will have trouble."

Ji Xiang replied calmly.

The Doctor's expression turned somewhat ugly; he was just working his normal shift and absolutely did not want to get involved in any trouble.

What Ji Xiang said made sense, and coupled with him being clear-headed and articulate, with only pain upon breathing, it seemed there shouldn't be anything major, so he stopped persuading Ji Xiang.

Soon, the Benz GLE350 was started, the engine emitted a weak, listless roar, and then there was no more sound.

"Look, I told you the engine was broken. This is a car I just bought, and I've driven less than five hundred kilometers in the city! It cost hundreds of thousands, isn't this cheating people!" the woman began to complain.

"Nobody's money comes from a strong wind; the 4S dealership is too unscrupulous to sell me such a piece of junk. The point is, I was on the highway when the incident happened; they are murdering for money!"

"Ma'am, please calm down." The middle-aged man glanced at the dashboard and walked over to interrupt the woman's words, "I just took a look, it's out of gas."

"Boom~"

The onlookers and others around let out sounds of surprise.

Out of gas?

Everyone had various guesses, but no one had guessed that the reason the Benz GLE350 stalled was that it was out of gas.

Ji Xiang was also stunned for a moment.

This reason was simply a fantasy.

"Out of gas? What kind of joke are you making!" the woman subconsciously denied.

But the burly man beside her had a dark face and grabbed the woman, signaling her to speak less.

"Ma'am, let us add some gas to the car and try again." Manager Li now had a confident expression, and he said with a smile.

They added a little gas to the car and restarted it.

The engine roared; this time the engine didn't have its previous listless appearance, and the roar was full of power.

Facts proved that adding just a small amount of gasoline to the tank solved the stalling; everything was understood without words.

The woman was suddenly stunned.

"Ma'am, do you see if there are any more problems with the car?"

The woman moved her mouth, but the burly man beside her hurriedly patted her shoulder with his hand, signaling her again not to say anything more.

Facts proved that she hadn't checked the fuel gauge at all before getting on the highway; such an absurd thing had actually happened, and no matter how one explained it, it made no sense.

Especially since she had brought in television reporters, influencers, and public accounts to threaten the 4S dealership, she was now trapped by her own schemes.

Say less right now and let the situation calm down quickly.

If she continued to be unreasonable, she would only lose more face in the end.

The more she said, the more she would be wrong.

"We also have an employee who was injured; your emotions were too agitated just now, and we understand everything else, but hitting people is wrong no matter what." Seeing that the other side had backed down, Manager Li steered the topic to Ji Xiang's injury.

"We didn't hit anyone! We just accidentally bumped into him, don't try to extort us."

The burly man denied it.

"The doctor is already here."

Seeing Ji Xiang walking toward the Emergency Vehicle with the support of the Doctor, the burly man hurriedly walked over quickly.

"Little brother." The burly man reached out wanting to pat Ji Xiang, but he happened to stumble, and his hand landed directly on Ji Xiang's left chest wall.

But his movement was as if it carried an immobilization spell; as his palm landed on Ji Xiang's body, Ji Xiang's stepping motion instantly froze.

"What are you doing!" the Doctor shouted urgently.

"I... I didn't do anything!" the burly man froze.

"Why did you hit his left side! I suspect he has a left rib fracture."

This time it was the burly man's turn to be speechless.

He stared blankly at Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang's expression was extremely painful, bordering on ferocious; cold sweat broke out on his forehead and temples, and the clothes on his back were soaked through with sweat.

This...

The burly man stood frozen in place, while Ji Xiang was cursing inwardly.

It was his own lack of attention; the Patient Meng Qingfei had originally admitted was a case of Spontaneous Pneumothorax, and what he had wanted to experience was Pneumothorax and Thoracic Cavity Closed Drainage Surgery.

But he had been so busy watching the spectacle that he had actually forgotten his original "initial intention."

As a result, what was originally just a rib fracture was struck with a precise force, causing the fractured end to poke into the thoracic cavity and puncture the lung.

A simple rib fracture had turned into a complication of lung rupture and Hemopneumothorax.

Who did he offend to deserve this?!

Although he had watched the spectacle and learned some gossip, the price for it was too high.

Ji Xiang felt the strength in his body being rapidly drained away, and his hands and feet began to turn cold and refuse to obey him.

"Stretcher! Stretcher!!" the Emergency Vehicle Doctor immediately signaled for the stretcher-bearers to hurry over.

Ji Xiang was placed on a stretcher and sent into the Emergency Vehicle, his mood extremely complicated.

At this very moment, Ji Xiang thought of the Patient he had witnessed Meng Qingfei admit and treat in the Emergency Department who had undergone Closed Thoracic Drainage.

The Patient was in a state of Shock; at the time, it felt like Hemorrhagic Shock, but now experiencing it personally, Ji Xiang knew there was another type of Shock that could explain the Patient's condition—Traumatic Shock.

Although Thoracic Cavity Closed Drainage Surgery was only a minor surgery, or perhaps could only be called a procedure, some hospitals didn't even consider Closed Thoracic Drainage a surgery at all.

But!

How terrifying; Ji Xiang was already feeling a bit cowardly.

"Blood pressure 100/60 mmHg, heart rate 98 beats per minute, oxygen saturation 94%," the Nurse reported to the Emergency Vehicle Doctor after checking Ji Xiang's vital signs.

"Look at you!" the Emergency Vehicle Doctor complained while holding a stethoscope, "I told you to go to the hospital early, but you wouldn't listen, you just had to watch the spectacle."

"I..."

"Don't talk, try to breathe slowly, a bit deeper," the Emergency Vehicle Doctor instructed.

Ji Xiang knew the Emergency Vehicle Doctor wanted to auscultate to see if his bilateral breath sounds were the same.

Hope it's nothing.

Although he thought this, Ji Xiang knew there was a high probability he would be diagnosed with Hemopneumothorax.

Damn it, it was just watching a spectacle.

Following the Emergency Vehicle Doctor's instructions, Ji Xiang breathed slowly and deeply, but before he had even inhaled half of his tidal volume, his chest wall expanded, and a piercing pain shot through his left chest wall.

Moreover, Ji Xiang felt that this pain was different from before.

The pain was one thing, but the main thing was that even if he gritted his teeth against the pain, he couldn't take a full breath.

In Ji Xiang's mind, an animated scene like a variety show appeared: his left lung had collapsed, and it was completely unable to perform oxygen exchange.

It's over, there must be Traumatic Pneumothorax!

The Emergency Vehicle Doctor frowned as he listened to Ji Xiang's bilateral breath sounds, then, without explaining anything to Ji Xiang, he went to the front and tapped on the partition between the rear compartment and the driver's seat.

"Driver, please hurry! The Patient has Hemopneumothorax."

"Woooooo~"

The siren of the Emergency Vehicle was piercing, and Ji Xiang could clearly feel the vehicle beginning to accelerate.

The driver kept honking the horn to signal that he was in a hurry.

"Sit half-upright, hurry and get some oxygen," the Emergency Vehicle Doctor gave a simple medical order.

He used his body to support Ji Xiang's back, letting Ji Xiang sit on the stretcher.

In a semi-sitting position, breathing could be slightly better. If he were lying down, Ji Xiang feared his oxygen saturation would have already dropped below 90%.

Although the Emergency Vehicle was driving very fast, the driver was very experienced, driving both fast and steadily, and arrived at the hospital without letting Ji Xiang suffer too much.

Note: This incident seems to have happened in Rongcheng, *giggle*.

(End of chapter)