Chapter 8 Outpatient Service

  The train pulled into the Deep Sea Station with a long whistle and a deafening roar, slowly coming to a stop. As soon as they stepped out of the carriage, the hot air enveloped them tightly. Outside the platform, an ambulance was parked, accompanied by several small cars. Several young men and women in their 30s got out of the cars and stood beside the ambulance. After the elderly and children boarded the ambulance, a man and woman in their 30s also followed suit. Before boarding, the old man looked around as if searching for something.

  The train station in the deep sea, as a super-large city, is also one of the best in the country. There are trains going to any place in the country, so even though it's late at night, there are still many people waiting for the arrival of the train in the waiting hall. Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, those who have just returned and are about to return all look spirited and energetic, without a hint of fatigue.

  After leaving the station, Xiao Yu and Wei Jun parted ways and went their separate ways. After Wei Jun left, Xiao Yu looked at the neon lights flashing everywhere in the city that never sleeps and took a deep breath. In just a few days, Xiao Yu had experienced things that others might not experience in a lifetime, as if in a dream. It was already October, but the night in the deep sea still had some humidity and heat. Xiao Yu unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt and took a taxi back to his temporary residence.

  Xiao Yu's residence was a single room, which was actually an underground room in a high-rise building not far from the antique city. It was fully leased to some people between migrant workers and white-collar workers. The rooms were all uniformly configured by the contractor, with a bed, a simple wardrobe, a TV, and a table, for which they charged 100 yuan per month as usage fees. Xiao Yu put down his things and threw himself heavily onto the bed.

  Tomorrow is Sunday, Xiao Yu decided to stay at home and have a good rest for two days.

  Xiao Yu arrived at the infirmary on Monday to start work. In just a few days, the infirmary had already accumulated a thick layer of dust. Xiao Yu picked up a rag and began his day's work.

  Xiao Yu's small clinic was usually empty, so Xiao Yu spent his days wiping the table, sweeping the floor, organizing medicine, and reading a book until it was time to go home.

  "Doctor, I feel a bit dizzy and nauseous. I think I've got heatstroke. Can you prescribe me some medicine?" A man in his 40s with a non-local accent pushed open the door and said to Xiao Yu.

  Xiao Wei helped the man open a bottle of cooling herbal water and took it away. He was secretly puzzled, what's going on today? In the past, he wouldn't see even one patient in three or four days, but today, within less than two hours of starting work, he had already seen seven or eight people, all with similar symptoms, basically heatstroke, and mostly outsiders.

  Xiao Yu was pondering what had happened when the door creaked open, interrupting his reverie.

  "Xiao Xiao, get me some Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui, I'm feeling a bit heatstroke." Xue Yang looked up and saw it was Old Wang who had set up his stall on the first floor. He handed over the medicine and curiously asked: "Uncle Wang, what's going on today? Why are there so many people with heatstroke? The weather isn't that hot now!"

  "Little Xiao, you don't know?" Hearing Xiao Yu's question, Old Wang hesitated and said.

  "What's going on? I haven't been to work for two days." Xiao Yu looked bewildered.

  "It turns out that I didn't go to work, no wonder! It's been advertised for several days already, the 'Treasure Hunt' column of CCTV's 'Into the Deep Sea' will be held in our antique city, and this afternoon there is a free appraisal activity. All the experts who came are well-known nationwide, with 'Teacher Wang', 'Teacher Cai', 'Teacher Bai', 'Teacher Jin', and 'Teacher Mao' helping to appraise for free! Look at the crowd outside our gate, they've been queuing in the sun for half a day, it's a wonder nobody has heatstroke!" Old Wang said with a proud face when talking about those experts, as if he had some kind of connection with them.

  "Alright, I won't chat with you anymore, I have to hurry up and go, Little Bear is lining up for me! I have a lot of good stuff here waiting to be appraised, once the appraisal is done and I get the certificate, these things will increase in value by at least 100 times!" He said excitedly and walked out.

  For CCTV's "Pursuing Treasures", Xiao Yu has watched many episodes, but didn't understand how to identify some of the antiques inside. However, when he saw a piece of jade worth hundreds of millions, Xiao Yu was very envious and had fantasies about getting one himself. He even spent several hundred yuan at an antique market to buy one, only to be told by Wei Jun that it was made of glass and fake, which depressed Xiao Yu so much that he never bought antiques again.

  Later, Xiao You still watched the treasure-hunting program, but his mind was no longer on antiques, but on the experts' extensive knowledge, witty humor, especially 'Teacher Mao', 'Teacher Cai', and 'Teacher Bai' were among the best. As a nationally renowned expert, not only did they have no airs, but they would also patiently guide him on how to avoid being deceived in the future.

  At this time, Xiao Yu suddenly thought of the box he had bought, which contained a brush, a book and a wooden sword. In the past two days, when Xiao Yu was at home with nothing to do, he would occasionally open his "life and death eyes". One time, he inadvertently saw that box, which was very strange. According to reason, things from several hundred years ago should have exhausted their vital energy long ago. However, Xiao Yu discovered that the box would only emit a thread of dead air after half a day. At this rate, it's not certain that the dead air would be exhausted even in tens of thousands of years. This strange phenomenon made Xiao Yu think deeply and couldn't figure out why.

  These two days, Xiao Yu has been searching for a lot of information at home and still doesn't know what kind of wood this is made of. Coincidentally, many famous treasure-hunting experts have arrived today, so should he let the experts take a look?

  "Haha, Xiao Ye is leaving. Today's treasure hunt is being held in our Antique City, and I have a few treasures to show the experts too. Let's go together later!" Wei Jun excitedly said as he rushed in like a gust of wind.

  "Brother Jun, it's no good today. There are too many patients today, I reckon we can't make it." Xiao Ye said helplessly with his hands spread open.

  "Go..."

  "Xiao Xiao, get ready, we'll go for the next appointment soon. Behave yourself then! Damn it!" Wei Jun was about to speak when Fang Yuan, the new manager of Antique City, stormed in furiously.

  "What's wrong, Manager Fang? Who made you so angry?" Xiao Yu hadn't spoken yet, but Wei Jun, standing beside him with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face, chimed in.

  Fang Yuan heard someone speaking and only then realized that there were other people in the room. Turning her head, she saw Wei Jun. Fang Yuan knew Wei Jun's father, but they had only met a few times because they weren't on the same social level. Wei Jun's father was a famous figure in the business world of Shen Hai, while Fang Yuan was just a manager who worked for others.

  "Wei Shaoye is here too! Don't even mention it, that Chen Jinghai is a son of a bitch. He relies on his sister's husband working in the government and always opposes me, saying I'm just pretending to be a scholar by setting up a medical room, and who knows where he found some quack doctor to deceive people here. Not taking the company's money seriously, damn it, it's all because of him being the general manager."

  "Ah, well, yesterday the expert from Beijing fell ill and was hospitalized overnight for an IV drip but didn't get any better. Just now, in front of the expert, I mentioned this matter again, I think let Xiao Yu go take a look..." Fang Yuan sighed and looked at Xiao Yu with a helpless expression. From his appearance, it's clear that he doesn't have much confidence in Xiao Yu either. After all, the establishment of this medical room was just for show, and as for Xiao Yu, he only knew that he graduated from Deep Sea Hospital, nothing else. At first, he just wanted the name of Deep Sea Hospital, didn't consider his actual medical skills."

  "Fang Zong is leaving, let's go take a look" Xiao Yu waved his hand to stop Wei Jun from speaking and said confidently to Fang Yuan.