Chapter 2980: line with translation of chapter title

The girl was vomiting violently; she had probably thrown up most of what she ate, and now she could only bring up some bile. But the vomiting reflex remained, and the violent dry heaves caused her body to spasm, curled up on the hospital bed.

Tears streamed from her dry heaves, making her look especially pitiable.

"A bit yellow?" Su Yun pressed down on the girl and asked Zheng Ren.

"Hmm, let me take a look." Zheng Ren carefully pulled back the eyelid, examined the sclera, and said, "Suspected hemolytic jaundice... Manager Zhou!"

"Eh!" Zhou Litao was busy, but amidst the hustle he still heard Zheng Ren's shout.

"Zheng Lao Ban, if you have something to say, I'll note it." Lin Ge followed closely, pulling out a notebook.

Zheng Ren felt both amused and exasperated; everyone was in the same room, and Lin Ge's behavior made him uncomfortable. With the director and various department heads nearby, he wondered if he was being too overbearing.

"No need, Director Lin." Zheng Ren said hurriedly, then strode over to Zhou Litao's side, "Check the total bilirubin in the serum of the patient in Bed 2; suspect hemolytic jaundice."

"Hemolytic jaundice..." Zhou Litao paused for a moment, then immediately instructed the doctor beside him.

The entire Emergency Resuscitation Room was in chaos—gastric lavage, fluid replacement, blood drawing.

Suddenly, too many patients arrived, each needing emergency treatment,

Even a well-trained EmergencyDepartment could not easily cope;

Even if Zhou Litao had prepared as thoroughly as possible beforehand, he still could not easily cope.

"Zheng Lao Ban, what do you suspect?" Ye Qingqiu came up to Zheng Ren and asked.

"Acute copper poisoning." Zheng Ren said, "The patients show acute gastroenteritis symptoms, plus some have hemolytic jaundice symptoms; preliminarily, this is the diagnosis."

"Manager Zhou!" Zheng Ren shouted, "Administer sodium thiosulfate orally with clean water. If oral intake isn't possible, insert a gastric tube and deliver it via nasogastric feeding."

"Okay!" Zhou Litao didn't have time to debate, he immediately replied.

Although busy, there were only eight patients, and within a few minutes the gastric tubes were all inserted.

"Zheng Lao Ban, we've run out of sodium thiosulfate; would a 1% potassium ferricyanide solution work?"

"Okay, give 20 mL!" Zheng Ren stood beside Director Yan, but without consulting him, he scanned the entire Emergency Resuscitation Room and said in a low voice, "Prepare 1 g of sodium nitrite plus 10 mL of saline, and administer intravenously once the test results come back."

"Do we have sodium nitrite?!"

"Emergency doesn't have it."

"Zheng Lao Ban, I'll go to the pharmacy to get the medicine." Lin Ge volunteered; seeing Zheng Ren nod, he glanced at Ye Qingqiu and hurried off.

"Manager Zhou, give liver-protecting drugs to the critical patients first." Zheng Ren said, "Director Luo, what do you think?"

Director Luo was examining the patient in Bed 2 when he heard Zheng Ren's question; after finishing the exam, he said, "Zheng Lao Ban's diagnosis is correct; this patient's condition is relatively severe, I'll take him back to the ward for treatment in the ICU."

"Okay!" Zheng Ren had no objections; the place was chaotic, but with Director Luo overseeing care, there shouldn't be any problems.

It's just acute hemolytic jaundice, not hemolysis caused by an immune system disease; after a series of symptomatic treatments, improvement should come quickly.

"Director Luo, don't forget to give sodium nitrite once the results are back," Zheng Ren reminded.

"Are you sure it's copper poisoning?" Director Luo frowned and asked.

"Check serum copper, serum ceruloplasmin, and urinary ketones; urge the lab to hurry, and administer medication as soon as the results are out." Zheng Ren also lacked persistence, necessary examinations still needed to be done.

After all the tests and medication instructions were given, Zheng Ren stood aside, silent, watching the Emergency Department staff busy at work.

Lin Ge retrieved the medicine; everyone was waiting for the test results. Ye Qingqiu had made a phone call, and the lab staff were probably swamped as well.

"Director Yan." A group walked in from the Emergency Resuscitation Room's entrance; the leader, over fifty, wore a crisp suit and appeared refined and courteous.

"Director He." Director Yan smiled and turned, they shook hands, and Director Yan said, "The preliminary diagnosis is copper poisoning."

"Copper poisoning..." Director He paused, "Could someone have poisoned them? That shouldn't be the case."

"..." Zheng Ren was also speechless; the idea of poisoning showed some imagination, but even if it were poisoning, they probably wouldn't use copper to do it.

In northern hot pot, especially in Beijing, copper pots are normal; to ordinary people copper is non‑toxic. Even if it were poisoning, the likely agents would be things like rat poison, certainly not metallic copper.

"Has the school conducted a screening?" Director Yan asked.

"We're screening the cafeteria; we're tightening our self‑check." Director He leaned in and spoke softly, "Director Yan, may we have a word?"

Director Yan understood; this was a collective poisoning incident, which could be minor or serious.

Zheng Ren frowned; now wasn't the time for a thorough check to see where the school had gone wrong? He muttered under his breath, "What the hell is going on?"

Pricking up his ears to listen carefully, Zheng Ren felt his hearing had sharpened a bit, and he could faintly hear the conversation between Director Yan and Director He.

"Director Yan, could you help me stall on this?" Director He's voice was low; Zheng Ren edged toward the door and finally made out, "I'll first conduct my own check on my side to locate the problem."

"Director He, we're friends—we definitely should help." Director Yan's tone was sincere, "But we've already reported this to the health bureau and the municipal disease control center."

"Old Yan, how could you act so quickly!" Director He's voice began to tremble, slightly resentful as he spoke.

"Director He, three or more cases constitute a collective incident; they must be reported immediately—that's the old rule. The staff below went ahead and reported it, a procedural matter." Director Yan said softly, "I know it's tough for you, but I've detained Nobel Prize‑winning Zheng Lao Ban here to keep an eye on the patients. As long as the students are fine, you won't have any trouble."

Afterward, Director He remained silent.

2.3 seconds later, Director Yan continued earnestly: "On the disease control center's side, you should find someone to see if we can report the school's active screening efforts."

"Ah, there's nothing else we can do." Director He said, his mood visibly low.

The two returned, Director Yan's expression composed, while Director He whispered to the person beside him.

These old foxes, Zheng Ren thought. Just now in the emergency resuscitation room, Director Yan surely hadn't had time to report yet—why was he advising Director He to call the disease control center himself to mediate?

This little trick isn't something you can just poke and break—how could there be such a stupid person? Or maybe he's just panicked?

Afterward, Ye Qingqiu also came in from outside, his face showing no expression; Zheng Ren, following Director Yan's gaze, noticed the downward‑hanging fingers of Director Ye.