Chapter 1791: 1729 Unanimously

"Kidney stones, ureteral stones—just happened to coincide. The real problem isn't here; it's that the patient's condition has sharply deteriorated over the past few days, especially in the few hours since arriving at the hospital." Zheng Ren briefly explained, then brought the topic back and asked: "Has she eaten anything strange lately? Any gum bleeding or unusually heavy menstruation?"

A female coworker said: "Doctor, a few days ago we were resting in the office, eating apples, and I saw her bleeding gums. The apples were bloody, Looks Terrifying."

Gum bleeding—this is a clue.

"One day ago?"

"No, I recall it's been about a week."

Zheng Ren froze for a moment.

"About a week?"

Judging by the speed of the condition's progression, even one day is an overstatement.

The patient herself hadn't noticed the purplish bruise on her chest; that means the subcutaneous bleeding appeared this morning while she was at work.

Gum bleeding progressing to subcutaneous bruising would take at most twelve hours, yet the patient's coworker said it happened a week ago—this is simply too strange.

Zheng Ren couldn't figure it out, but he quietly noted this doubt.

"Time is important; please think again," Zheng Ren said seriously.

"It's definitely been about a week, maybe eight days ago—I brought the apples, one each for the department. As we ate, Xiao Hui's apple was covered in blood, seeing the blood dripping, Looks Terrifying." the female coworker said firmly.

Well, that's great—the time didn't get closer; it was extended by another day.

It could just be ordinary gum bleeding unrelated to this incident; Zheng Ren offered a "reasonable" explanation.

"Do you all usually eat the same things?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Pretty much the same—canteen at noon, and we often work overtime into the evening." The team leader said: "By the time we get home it's late at night; if we're hungry we just grab something on the way, and we don't know what she can eat."

"What does she usually like to eat?" Zheng Ren continued.

"She likes… Xiao Hui likes barbecue." Another female coworker said: "I remember her saying barbecue is most convenient—you can eat while walking, not wasting time. After getting home, exhausted like a dog, too lazy to wash up, she just flops onto bed and passes out sleeping."

Not easy, Zheng Ren thought.

This state is the same as when I was renting in Hai Cheng.

"Which barbecue stall?"

"Doctor, the urban management has been cracking down hard lately; we buy from whatever stall we run into, there's no fixed spot."

Several girls chatted while stealing glances at Su Yun.

If the patient's condition weren't urgent, the doctors' faces would be grim, like they wanted to scold someone, and they'd have already surrounded her asking for her phone.

"Barbecue… Boss, you said the meat—could there be a problem?" Su Yun pondered.

"A mobile barbecue stall might pose a problem," Zheng Ren said.

"Who would dare eat at a regular barbecue stall?" Su Yun said: "You don't know what meat it is. When I drink, I like to take Zhao Yunlong for grilled lamb leg—at least you can see it's lamb leg, impossible to fake with other meat."

Zheng Ren asked a few more things; this group of coworkers knows little about Chen Zehui's condition. This is a typical modern workplace relationship—we know little about each other's private lives.

Chen Zehui has no boyfriend and usually lives alone in a rented apartment.

Work is work; after shift it's usually late at night, and no one knows what she's been through.

Now Zheng Ren has hit a dead end.

"In the past two days, since the day she took leave for kidney stones, has there been anything special?" Zheng Ren grew a bit anxious.

"No." The team leader thought and said firmly.

Zheng Ren stared into his eyes, trying to see if anything was off.

"We've had a big project the past two weeks, everyone's been working overtime." The team leader said: "Two days ago Xiao Hui said she felt unwell; I thought she just wanted to slack off. I never expected the illness to be this serious……

Speaking, he tried to choke back two sobs.

But Zheng Ren's frank gaze exposed all their false faces—there was no time, and Zheng Ren had no spare moment to play along with them here.

Even if someone is unhappy, Lin Ge will arrive shortly and hand everything over to the Medical Department to handle. As for protecting clinical work, Director Lin himself said so.

"I ask: in the past two days, has the patient had any solo contact with anything?" Zheng Ren said in a low voice.

"Probably not." The team leader broke into a sweat, thinking about an employee dying during overtime in his team—this wouldn't make headlines, would it?

Just thinking about it trending… we're doomed.

If the boss refuses to take responsibility, or gets made the scapegoat, the whole project team likely will be disbanded, and each member will be fired.

"Probably?" Zheng Ren asked word by word, cutting off the team leader's wandering thoughts.

"Yes, at work we've been overtime together, and I'm the one who ordered the takeout." The team leader was a bit flustered.

"How many meals have you eaten at work?" Zheng Ren pressed without mercy.

"We haven't gone home these two days; we've got a project that's kept us busy nonstop. 996—it's like a dream." The team leader said helplessly: "We've eaten the same things these past two days; there couldn't be a problem."

Zheng Ren glanced around at the coworkers; their eyes were all dark and tired-looking, giving the impression of utter exhaustion, as if they might collapse and die suddenly.

"Boss Zheng, I'm here." Lin Ge's voice came from the doorway.

"Director Lin, these are the patient's coworkers." Zheng Ren stood up, his mind racing with countless thoughts.

"Xiao Sun, you handle this side: get the contact info of the patient's immediate family, keep the phone reachable, stay in touch." Lin Ge immediately arranged.

A clerk nodded repeatedly and began handling miscellaneous tasks.

Unable to find clues, Zheng Ren had to go back to the ICU to check the situation. Su Yun and Lin Ge followed alongside, and the three quickly changed clothes.

When they finished changing clothes, Su Yun paused.

"The things we've eaten these past two days are fine…" Su Yun began, but Zheng Ren cut him off.

"I suspect it's some kind of progressive poison, like rat poison." Zheng Ren completely forgot Lin Ge was there and said in a low voice.

"Exactly! I also suspected that." Su Yun, who had been hesitant, upon hearing Zheng Ren think the same, immediately slapped his thigh and said excitedly.

"I suspect the patient ate meat from a rat killed by poison." Zheng Ren continued: "We should first treat it as rat poison poisoning."

He wasn't certain; his speech slowed as he pondered the relevant diagnosis, comparing and analyzing it against the disease's progression.

"I know a barbecue stall owner who says pork, beef, and mutton keep getting more expensive; selling barbecue on the stall barely makes a profit." Su Yun said: "Only by substituting other meat can we survive."

「You also eat this kind of stall? 」Zheng Ren found it a bit Strange。

「After getting familiar with the Boss, he wasn't willing to do this kind of thing, so the barbecue stall quickly went under. 」Su Yun shrugged, helplessly said: 「Society, most of the time it's a process of reverse elimination。」。

「In the end, bad money wins……」。

「That's about right. 」Su Yun said: 「Don't change the subject, you always bring up such heavy topics. When we discuss your condition, you get artsy with me. When we get artsy, you start discussing your condition again。」。

「……」。

「You say, you're not being a rascal, huh? 」Su Yun said。