Chapter 1572: 1524: Clever to the Bone (Alliance Leader Yun Piao Ying's Extra Chapter 1)

Zhou Litao took a quick look around; there was nothing happening outside, so he ran to see the child.

A child about three years old, after being away from his parents for a long time, finally broke down and started wailing loudly.

Zheng Ren thought about leaving, but after thinking, he decided to stay and help Zhou Litao watch the Emergency Department for a while.

Inside the child cries, outside the adults make a fuss; it's easy to make this hot-blooded, chuunibyou youth Zhou Litao collapse.

If that happened, it would be a pity.

Zheng Ren also didn't go into the consultation room; he sat quietly on the chair outside.

The Emergency Department has its own operating procedure; even without Zhou Litao, it can carry out emergency rescue smoothly. All Zheng Ren needs to do is help keep an eye, making sure no major rescue is short-staffed.

The crying coming from the nurses' duty room was loud, continuous, and long-lasting; no matter how Zhou Litao tried to comfort, he couldn't calm it down.

After a full half hour, the child's crying gradually weakened. Faintly, Zheng Ren could hear a slight laugh coming from that side.

Zhou Litao is also skilled at soothing the child—going from novice to adept in just half an hour; Zheng Ren admired him wholeheartedly.

If it were me, I'd surely be clueless.

Glancing at the time, Zheng Ren realized it was almost time to get off work.

He left a message for Xiao Yi Ren asking when she planned to leave. Actually that's pointless—when there's no surgery, Xiao Yi Ren stays just to wait to leave together.

Chatting about trivial things was actually quite fun; Zheng Ren smiled and made small talk with Xiao Yi Ren.

They talked about the patient who came back by plane in the afternoon to see a doctor, about why eating overnight wood ear fungus is bad, and about Zhou Litao watching the child in the nurses' duty room.

【Off work soon, is he still in the nurses' duty room?】

Xiao Yi Ren suddenly asked.

Zheng Ren immediately realized this was a problem.

But how to solve it, Zheng Ren hadn't even thought about it.

It's Zhou Litao's trouble; just being able to sit here and help watch the Emergency Department ward is already quite loyal of me.

As they chatted, a man strode down the hallway, looking left and right, as if searching for something.

Was he looking for a particular patient?

Or the patient who just had food poisoning?

Zheng Ren and Xiao Yi Ren exchanged a remark, then put their phones down.

"You… you're back!" Nurse Xiao Zhao was torn between getting off work and staying with Manager Zhou to watch the child.

The instant she saw that man, she rushed over and grabbed his arm, afraid he'd run off again.

The man behaved extremely humbly, bowing repeatedly, as if a spring were installed in his waist. Zheng Ren thought of Director Wei's old back—if it were Director Wei, he certainly couldn't do that.

"Sorry, sorry," the man kept bowing and performing the ceremonial salute.

Nurse Xiao Zhao was angry but held it in; the huge psychological pressure poured out like floodwater bursting from a dam.

"Where did you run off to!" she wanted to lash out at him, but his demeanor was so humble it went to the bone, leaving him unable to strike back or talk back.

"Go easy, I know I deserve to be hit. Where's the child?" he asked with a grin.

"The child? You even remember the child!" Nurse Xiao Zhao scolded.

"Isn't this coming back? I'm back, I'm back." The man kept agreeing, not refusing.

All along the way, not only Nurse Xiao Zhao but also Zheng Ren and even the patients' families around him, he kept putting on a smiling face.

His waist was bent so badly that Zheng Ren felt it was exhausting just to watch.

Nurse Xiao Zhao felt angry but could do nothing; you can't just go to the resuscitation room, draw some medicine, and inject it into him.

Blocking the nurses' duty room door, Nurse Xiao Zhao knocked and went inside.

Soon, Zhou Litao carried the child out.

The child clung to Zhou Litao's neck, holding a paper-folded windmill, constantly puffing out his cheeks and blowing, huff‑huff‑huff.

The windmill was rather crude; she blew hard, and it only turned slowly a little half‑circle.

Even so, she kept playing with it tirelessly.

"Are you the child's father?" Zhou Litao's face filled with a chill, his icy gaze like an icepick, as if to pierce the man through.

"I am, I am." The man kept bowing, his attitude so obsequious it made one's hair stand on end.

"What the hell were you doing!" Zhou Litao's belly of resentment exploded instantly.

Even honest people have their tempers.

When faced with this, who wouldn't get angry?

Yet the child's father remained in that dead‑pig‑not‑afraid‑of‑boiling‑water state, his smile thick and cloying. Even if you kicked him, he'd get up, brush off the dust, and keep smiling like that.

Zhou Litao, helpless, handed the child over to the man.

"Daddy, you went out to play again?" the child said in a sweet, babyish voice.

"Don't tell Mom when we get home." The man said to the child, likewise, "I'll buy you something tasty; help Dad keep it a secret, okay?"

Seeing that he really was the child's father, Zhou Litao finally felt the stone in his heart drop.

The man held the child, gave another round of polite bows, then turned and left.

Zheng Ren found it funny and curious, so he followed behind the man and gave him a tap.

The man jumped, turned back, saw a doctor in a white coat, and promptly put on that same obsequious expression.

"Hey, cut it out," Zheng Ren said with a laugh. "What's going on? Tell me, please."

The man blinked, then smiled: "Eh, nothing much—I just like to play a couple of rounds."

"Play money?" Zheng Ren asked.

"My wife keeps a tight hold on the purse strings; I've saved some private pocket money, and I slipped out while supposedly taking the kid out to play for a bit of fun." He grinned: "Today my luck's been great—unprecedentedly smooth!"

……

"Really, today my luck really is good! Leopard, back‑to‑back…" his eyes crinkled with laughter.

"Why did you put the child in the hospital?" Zheng Ren asked, puzzled.

"Doctor, let me be frank with you." The man said: "What puts my mind at ease, besides the police, are doctors. You say, I go out to play with my two hands... the police are so formidable—when they get angry, they deploy all kinds of equipment; even if I were in the sewer, they'd dig me out."

"After thinking it over, I still think putting him in the hospital is the most suitable. I can't put him in pediatrics either—there are too many kids there, and if someone accidentally walked off with him, where would I go to cry?"

The man said this, feeling somewhat pleased.

He seemed to be moved by his "ingenious" logic.

Zheng Ren was speechless.

"Putting him in the hospital, that bunch of idiots…… you people who save lives and heal the wounded will definitely help me look after the child." The man felt a little embarrassed, having let slip his words.

"What if no one looks after him and the child gets lost?"

"Impossible." The man laughed: "Without a sense of responsibility, how could one even be a doctor? I see this clearly."

Zheng Ren stopped; the man, noticing this, didn't halt his steps either, merely waved at Zheng Ren, indicating he wanted to leave.

Watching his retreating figure, Zheng Ren felt both amused and exasperated.