443 Be Careful (1/2)
Ling Ran walked toward the reception desk with grace. He looked outside the door as he waited for the ambulance.
Now that the traffic in the city was getting worse and worse, ambulances often had to spend more than half an hour on the road. This sort of made the atmosphere in the Emergency Department less tense.
Doctor Zhou ordered the young doctors under him to check that all the emergency equipment and drugs were ready before arranging a department consultation. He then leaned against the nurse's desk and said with a grin, ”Doctor Ling, didn't you mention that you feel like having some English afternoon tea just now? Why don't we head to my office and make some?”
”I never said that.” Ling Ran did not mind these little tricks from Doctor Zhou at all.
Doctor Zhou flashed a slight smile and said, ”I know that you feel like it, but find it troublesome.”
”I don't.” Ling Ran did not even turn to look at Doctor Zhou.
The young nurse behind the reception desk laughed and said, ”Doctor Zhou, you're the one who feels like drinking tea, aren't you?”
”Ling Ran's the one who mentioned it in passing,” Doctor Zhou said.
”Doctor Ling is a straightforward person.” The young nurse chuckled a few times. She looked at Doctor Zhou with the type of expression that showed that she was able to see through his tricks and said, ”Besides, if Doctor Ling feels like drinking tea, he'll just use the word 'tea'. He would never say something like 'English tea'.”
Doctor Ling chuckled a few times too.
The two other nurses behind the nurse's desk applauded the young nurse who managed to outtalk Doctor Zhou.
Three seconds, five seconds, thirty seconds…
The young nurses who were sitting in front of the computer suddenly stopped working and said, ”Since we have nothing to do anyway, why don't we make a pot of tea?”
”Doctor Ling doesn't like fancy things like English tea.”
”How do you even come to that conclusion?”
”I'll ask in our group chat if anyone has a pot.”
”Ask for things like red tea and milk too.”
”Cups. That's the most important thing.”
The three young nurses discussed among themselves, and less than ten minutes later, a pot of English tea appeared.
The pot and teacup were from a woman working in the Administration Department. They were gifts sponsored by some random medical company. Even though they had not been used for a while, they had been sterilized under high temperature before being stored in a box. Now that they were taken out and cleaned, the enamel flower motif on them still looked bright and beautiful.
The bone china cups which were the size of a fist was also very beautiful. The white eggshell porcelain was so thin that it was almost translucent, and together with the red tea, it was really aesthetically pleasing.
”Doctor Ling, have some tea. The ambulance happened to be stuck at a traffic light. We'll have to wait for around ten more minutes.” The young nurse behind the reception desk handed a tray with the whole set of an English afternoon tea to Ling Ran. Other than a small pitcher of milk, there was also a small plate with two handmade muffins.
Ling Ran only hesitated for two seconds before he took the tray and thanked the nurse. The English afternoon tea looked very ceremonial, so much so that how the tea actually tasted did not really matter. The warmth of the tea itself had a relaxing effect on people.
Doctor Zhou chuckled and asked, ”How about me?”
”You have a thermos, right?” The young nurse rested her hands on her hips and looked at Doctor Zhou.
Doctor Zhou obediently handed the nurse his thermos and said in a soft voice, ”There's some Chinese wolfberry inside…”
”Do you want tea or not?”
”I do.”
The young nurse poured the hot water and Chinese wolfberry inside the thermos into the sink and poured some red tea inside.
”Add in a little bit of milk too.” Doctor Zhou smiled. ”It's afternoon tea, after all. I need to replenish my energy.”
The young nurse did as she was told and poured a little bit of milk inside a thermos. She then handed the thermos back to Doctor Zhou with an Orion choco pie. Then, she turned around and ignored him.
Doctor Zhou did not mind the unfair treatment at all. He held his thermos and started sipping the red tea inside.
Ling Ran lifted the white bone china cup and quietly savored the tea.
The sunlight that filtered in from the second floor fell gently on the reception door on the ground floor, illuminating Ling Ran's face and the tiles behind him. It was a classy sight.
The vines of the two pots of devil's ivy on the reception desk were entangled together. Even though they were placed far apart, they were closely connected to each other.
There was a pot of spider plant on the windowsill. All its leaves hung low, and it was as quiet as an old willow. It seemed like it was quietly observing the devil's ivy on the reception desk.
The ambulance just got through the cross junction. It'll be here in thirty seconds.” The nurse at the reception desk placed the receiver of the phone back on its holder and notified the others in a soft voice.
Cases like this where patients were injured in ordinary car accidents were extremely commonplace in the Emergency Department of Yun Hua Hospital.