Is This Reporter Also Paying Off Debts Today? Chapter 4
byWen Di Nagged Again
Wen Di was jolted awake by the sound of a ringing phone. The person answering it deliberately lowered their voice, yet they did not release their hold on him.
“Hmm? This is Lu Huaichu. What? Alright, I’ll be right there.”
Lu Huaichu hung up the phone. Thinking Wen Di was still asleep, he checked Wen Di’s temperature. Finding it had returned to normal, he lightened his movements, lifting the blanket to get up.
Last night, Lu Huaichu had intended to take Wen Di home to rest once the IV fluids were finished. However, Wen Di had been too exhausted and refused to wake up. Left with no choice, Lu Huaichu had made the small sofa bed as soft and thick as possible, holding Wen Di in his arms as they slept in the office all night.
“Is there a surgery?” Wen Di asked.
“Hmm? You’re awake, baby? Did I wake you? There’s no surgery, just a meeting. The director just called to hurry me over; it seems quite urgent. I’ll go check it out. Why don’t you lie down a bit longer?”
“You didn’t wake me; I woke up on my own.” Wen Di stretched on the bed, feeling much lighter. “I have to get to work too. Shall we meet tonight?”
“Make sure to eat on time.” Lu Huaichu had already finished washing up and changed into his white coat. He was currently adjusting his tie in front of the mirror.
“I know, you sophisticated corporate drone.” Wen Di slowly sat up, his hair a messy bird’s nest as he watched Lu Huaichu’s back.
“No eating spicy strips!” Lu Huaichu suddenly turned around to stare at Wen Di. Wen Di felt a pang of guilt under his gaze.
“…I know, I know. You really are a nagger.” I’ll just brush my teeth ten times and swallow a whole bottle of mouthwash after I eat them; I guarantee you won’t smell a thing.
“And most importantly, miss me!” Lu Huaichu stepped closer and planted a kiss on Wen Di’s cheek. He then stood up and ruffled Wen Di’s soft hair. “I’m leaving. Just leave the room as it is; I’ll clean up when I get back.”
After Lu Huaichu left the office, Wen Di felt the temperature in the small room drop several degrees. He really was becoming more and more inseparable from the man, he thought with a self-deprecating smile.
Ignoring Lu Huaichu’s instructions, Wen Di cleaned the office thoroughly before leaving for the Radio and Television Center.
Anzhou City was slowly waking up as Wen Di stepped out of the hospital.
The March wind was still cold, but it no longer possessed the biting chill of winter. Wen Di tucked his neck into his collar, sneezed, and unlocked a shared bicycle to pedal slowly along the roadside.
The report was scheduled to be published today, yet Wen Di’s eyelid had been twitching incessantly.
The sharp intuition developed over five years as a reporter told him that this article would certainly attract significant attention.
With the intensification of doctor-patient conflicts and the shortage of medical resources, even someone with the Lu family’s status had to wait years for their younger son to receive a heart transplant. It was even worse for children from ordinary families.
For these patients, every extra day of waiting meant their hope for survival grew slimmer.
Human hearts cannot withstand the toll of waiting.
He hit every green light along the way, a streak of luck so smooth it felt almost surreal.
After parking his bike at the entrance of the Radio and Television Center, Wen Di stopped nearby to buy breakfast: two custard buns and a cup of soy milk.
Carrying his breakfast with his ID badge hanging around his neck, Wen Di greeted people along the way until he finally sat down at his workstation.
A photo of Lu Huaichu sat on his desk.
It was a candid shot he had taken of Lu Huaichu kneeling down to tie his shoelaces.
He took a bite of a custard bun, and his fragile stomach immediately protested. He covered his mouth and gagged, the force of it making his eyes redden.
He quickly unscrewed a bottle of water and took several gulps, finally suppressing the wave of nausea.
“Baby, are you at work? What did you have for breakfast? I applied for annual leave with the director after the meeting. I’ll book the flights and hotel during my lunch break. I’m going to take you to see the whales for your birthday~”
As if they shared a psychic connection, Lu Huaichu’s message arrived right on time.
Wen Di looked at the custard bun in his hand with a bitter expression. He wanted to throw it in the trash, but remembering Lu Huaichu’s morning reminder to “eat on time,” he pursed his lips. He took a photo of the bun to send to Lu Huaichu and then began to mechanically chew and swallow, one bite at a time.
Breakfast was finally finished with great difficulty.
“Reporter Wen, President Huo wants to see you in his office at 9:00.” A young girl knocked timidly on his door.
Wen Di looked up, his face instantly switching to a professional smile. “Alright, thank you. I’ll be up in a moment.”
He stared at her retreating back, searching his memory…
Who was that again? Was she someone’s apprentice? Had he met her before? It seemed so, perhaps at the new employee orientation? She seemed to be a high-achieving student who had returned from studying abroad. It seemed he really needed to spend more time in the office when he wasn’t busy; he couldn’t hide outside all day, or he wouldn’t recognize anyone in a few years.
Wen Di took a stomach tablet, grabbed his notebook, and prepared to head upstairs to President Huo’s office. It was most likely about whether he could be promoted to deputy department head.
The elevators at the Radio and Television Center were located on the exterior of the building. As he watched the ground shrink and the cars and pedestrians turn into tiny dots through the glass of the scenic elevator, Wen Di’s thoughts drifted back to two months ago.
Two months ago—
While Wen Di was organizing interview materials in a cafe, he suddenly received a text message:
“Reporter Wen, I have a lead that seems quite valuable. I’d like you to judge it. I’ve discovered that the surgical schedule for the Cardiac Surgery department at Anzhou First People’s Hospital is usually booked out for about a month. Some patients end up passing away because their condition can’t wait that long.”
What kind of lead was this? Wen Di was puzzled, but he still replied to this informant.
Every experienced reporter builds their own intelligence network across various industries and cultivates their own informants.
Senior investigative reporter Wen Di’s network was particularly vast.
Those informants were connections he had forged over five years of constantly chasing stories.
“Then why don’t they switch to another hospital? Can’t they distinguish between what’s more important, their lives or the queue?”
“I heard there’s a Dr. Lu in Cardiac Surgery. Patients go there specifically for his skills. They’d rather wait in line than change hospitals.”
“Understood. I’ll follow this lead. Thanks for the tip.”
And so, after reporting his plan for the story to the editorial department, Wen Di infiltrated the Cardiac Surgery department of Anzhou First People’s Hospital to begin his investigation.
Every day, he would sit in the hallway, researching data, recording the doctors’ shifts, noting the number of patients, and chatting with patients and nurses. The doctor named Lu Huaichu did indeed hold clinics frequently, but an appointment was required to see him. Wen Di booked one, and his turn was scheduled for four days later.
“A miracle doctor in the flesh? If a poor patient has an emergency, do they really have to wait four days just to see this Dr. Lu?” Wen Di grumbled to himself.
The day after making the appointment, Wen Di arrived at the hospital as usual. The young nurses there had already become familiar with him. Seeing him arrive, one teased, “Handsome, you come here every day but you never see a doctor. What exactly are you looking at?”
Wen Di handed a plastic bag of custard buns to the nurse. “I’m here to see your Dr. Lu. I’m willing to come every day to see such a handsome man.”
Wen Di was simply trying to brush the nurse off with a response that sounded intentionally unreliable. He never expected that those words would fall right into the ears of Lu Huaichu, who was just about to enter his office.
His barely perceptible footsteps faltered for a moment.