Waiting for You in a City

Outside the building, the sound of fire sirens was getting closer.

Xu Qin walked through the corridor and took a look through the window, just in time to see the red fire truck parting the crowd and driving into the hospital compound.

She quickened her pace and walked out of the building.

The fire engine had stopped, and several firefighters jumped down from the tall truck. Among the uniformly dressed men, she saw Song Yan at a glance. It was just the back of his figure, he quickly flashed away, blocked by fire trucks and the crowd, and disappeared.

She didn’t get close to the crowd, but stood at the door of the emergency building and looked up. The outpatient building was twenty-one stories high, there were two people standing on the top, waving their arms, looking very agitated. They seemed to be shouting, but the wind was too strong and the building was too high, plus the crowd downstairs was full of discourse, so they couldn’t hear them at all.

Song Yan walked towards the entrance and looked up at the people on the top of the building. Those two people stretched out their hands and feet from time to time, which caused the onlookers downstairs to exclaim. He looked back and asked the person in charge of the hospital: “What’s the situation?”

“Organized disruption by aggrieved family members. They are threatening to jump off the building. Colleagues upstairs are trying to persuade them, but they aren’t listening, not allowing us to approach.”

Song Yan: “Tong Ming, Xiao Ge, the two of you go to the roof first.” He specifically instructed, “Take safety measures.”

Turning back again, “Lao Dong, ascend the ladder, get him down.”

Lao Dong got into the truck to operate, and the ladder on the fire truck was slowly lifted up. Just as he raised his head, before it started to rise, there was a fierce cry from the roof.

Song Yan raised his head and squinted his eyes. Those two people waved their hands and feet, they didn’t know what they were shouting, they couldn’t hear a word.

But Song Yan quickly raised his hand, and Lao Dong immediately stopped operating.

The walkie-talkie in the person in charge’s hand rang, and a colleague from the top of the building said: “Don’t move, don’t move, this person is in a very agitated emotional state, he said if you raise that ladder again, he will jump off.”

The intercom was vaguely accompanied by the man’s screams: “My wife and child are dead, and I don’t want to live anymore. I don’t want you to save me! Don’t think that if you save me everything will be fine!”

Song Yan pursed his lips and frowned in thought.

The person in charge looked at Song Yan and was also troubled: “Captain, what should we do?”

Song Yan: “Yang Chi, you guys go to build an air mattress. Go behind the building—”

The person in charge hurriedly said: “No, what if he sees it and gets agitated again, and jumps.”

Song Yan: “Go to the back of the building. Once it’s set up, move it to the front while they’re not paying attention.” After speaking, he walked into the building, “I’ll go up and have a look.”

Xu Qin guessed what was going on when she saw that the ladder was not going up, and a few firefighters went behind the building with air cushions.

The two people upstairs were getting more and more agitated; the crowd downstairs was also getting bigger and bigger, and the traffic was jammed.

She was afraid that if they continued to squander like this, the firefighters could only find a way from the top of the building, then……

She put her hands in her pockets and walked through the crowd towards the outpatient building.

Around her, the people watching the scene gathered together to discuss:

“They’re so pitiful, being forced to the point of jumping off the building.”

“I heard that his wife was pregnant and was put to death, his son was lost too.”

“Being pregnant can cause death? Did this doctor pull his education out from his ass?”

“It’s such a big mess now, let’s see how they clean it up. They have to make trouble, if they don’t, no one will care.”

Xu Qin entered the outpatient building and went up to the top floor.

Normally, the door to the top stairwell was locked, but it had been broken into.

There was nothing on the roof, and the ground was covered with gravel. There were no railings on the edges of the roof, only a step less than half a meter above the sandy ground.

The mother and son pair were standing on the step, with a 21-story abyss beneath their feet.

The wind was very loud above the tall buildings, causing their down jackets to whistle, the sound was horrifying.

Several directors and doctors stood ten meters away from them, persuading them,

“You guys come down first, if there’s something you want to talk about, let’s go to the conference room to talk!”

“No talking, there’s nothing to talk about!” The obese woman in her fifties interrupted roughly, “My daughter-in-law was such a good person, filial and hardworking, and knew how to make money. You caused her death. My son was left ruined and destitute because of you. If you won’t pay for damages then there’s nothing to talk about!”

Her son in his thirties followed suit and shouted: “If you want to talk, talk here, just say whether or not you will pay!”

Director Liu tried to mediate: “Now society is ruled by law, you have to be reasonable, if you have any dissatisfaction, you can go to a lawyer to file a lawsuit—”

“You guys are rich and powerful, you must have bribed the court.” The man roared, “We have no money or power, so we can’t sue you. Then let the people watching downstairs be the judge!”

On the other side, several firefighters turned a blind eye to the dispute, did not stand in line, did not comment, and took protective measures silently and seriously, each tying safety ropes to their bodies.

Song Yan’s expression was calm, he glanced at where the two were standing, then looked at his feet, and quickly judged that the distance was about six or seven meters.

He could take advantage of the man’s distraction, rush to grab him in two seconds, flip him off the step and pin him to the ground.

But— there were two people over there.

The degree of uncertainty had greatly increased.

He couldn’t catch two at the same time, and if two team members rushed over, they may not be in sync, leaving gaps between the two time periods, or the four of them might bump into each other and cause an accident.

Just as he was thinking about it, the police arrived,

The troublemaker and his mother were even more agitated when they saw the police:

“You and the hospital are on the same team. If you wanted to solve the problem, you already would have let the hospital pay. You all don’t take the lives of ordinary people seriously. Alright, I will jump today, everyone down below is watching, it’s over for your hospital. Even if I die, I will let everyone see how your hospital hurts people! This is my last warning, if the matter is not resolved, then I will really jump!”

As he spoke, he edged out past the step.

The faces of the doctors and police officers on the rooftop suddenly changed, and just as Song Yan and Tong Ming were about to rush up to pull them away, there was a mocking sound in the wind:

“If you want to jump, then jump quickly, so much nonsense.”

Xu Qin put her hands in the pockets of her white coat, with a cold expression.

She walked towards them, looking calmly at the mother and son and not at anyone else.

“What the hell did you say?” The man couldn’t believe it, retracted his body, and cursed, “Sure enough! The people in your hospital want me to die!”

“You’re corrrect,” Xu Qin said flatly, “Go to hell.”

“You—” the man was so angry that his face was distorted, and he was about to curse, when he saw Xu Qin approaching, he pointed, “I’m warning you, don’t come over, if you come any further—”

“If I come any further then you’ll jump.” Xu Qin had already walked until she was only three or four meters away from him, looked up at him on the step, and said, “Go ahead and jump.”

“You—” the man’s legs trembled, and he pointed at the policeman, “Did you see that? The doctor here wants me to die, so arrest her.” He rushed towards Xu Qin again, and said ferociously, “You have guts, you want to force me to death? Haha, if I really jump, you won’t be able to get away with it, so don’t fucking think you can keep working here!”

“Right, I forced you to death. I won’t be a doctor anymore in this lifetime.” Xu Qin said coldly, “You jump right now!”

The man was startled, the face of the woman in front of him was extremely ruthless in the cold wind,

“You won’t get a single penny. If you jump to your death or become disabled, none of the doctors here will save you!”

The two were extremely stunned, emboldened by hatred, looked downstairs, and saw that the air cushion had been set up. The man rolled shifted his eyes, planning something,

Xu Qin: “The air cushion is useless. The building is too tall. If you fall, you will break your arms and legs, and you will be paraplegic to a high degree. Go jump.”

The man had no guts and trembled. His mother flushed red, pointed at Xu Qin and scolded: “You bitch, did the hospital send you here? You want to force us to death, huh? It’s just a small amount of money. How much black-hearted money has your hopital collected and how much have they earned, huh?”

Xu Qin looked at her coolly, a trace of disgust flashed in her eyes, and she said firmly: “Do you know why the hospital can’t give you money?”

This time the two said in unison: “Why?”

“After giving money, it will become a stain on Dr. Li.”

The two don’t understand at all, let alone care.

“Dr. Li is the most promising obstetrician in the hospital. He has studied medicine for more than ten years and studied everywhere, step by step to where he is today. It is true that some doctors only work to support their families, but some doctors are benevolent. Those who have humanity in their hearts have the pursuit and belief in the science of medicine. Dr. Li is such a person. He studies medicine to save lives and heal the wounded, to break through academic boundaries and create miracles for the entire industry and even mankind, not to be wasted on trash like you.”

“Do you know how much it costs schools, hospitals, and the country to train such a doctor? Of course the hospital can’t give you money. After all…why should his future be ruined by trash like you?” Xu Qin asked, staring at the man.

“Did you call my son trash?” The woman was furious.

The man also had a fierce look in his eyes, his face was flushed, as if it would explode in the next second.

“People don’t need to be so lofty to live. They just need to be self-reliant and not be a burden to society. But look at how many public officials have been played by you now. Look at the firefighters here who are prepared to save you. They didn’t choose to do this job so that they could sacrifice their lives for you!”

Her chest rose and fell, and she said word by word,

“A man in his thirties with no responsibility or ability. Your wife was blind to marry you. Not only dying because of you, you still rely on her to extort money? If people like you aren’t trash then what are you, go die as soon as possible.”

“You stinky bitch!” The man finally took the bait, was so provoked that he lost his mind, jumped down from the step, and rushed towards Xu Qin.

Song Yan rushed over in an instant, but it was towards the strong woman who rushed to the step.

The woman’s attention had long been drawn away by Xu Qin, she sensed that someone was attacking and she couldn’t dodge it in time.

Song Yan rushed to her side and grabbed her within a second, flipped her off the step, threw her on the ground and twisted her hand behind her, immobilizing her.

The police swarmed up and subdued her.

Song Yan quickly let go of her, looking for Xu Qin.

At the same time that he moved, Tong Ming and Xiao Ge rushed towards the man. Before the man could reach Xu Qin, he realized that his mother was being subdued, and he left the step, losing the advantage of being able to threaten jumping off the building. Only then did he realize that he had been tricked and hurried back. But his retreat was blocked, Xiao Ge and Tong Ming quickly detained him.

The man roared and struggled, his legs kicked wildly, one leg kicking Tong Ming’s supporting leg. Tong Ming took a big step back, his calf hit the step, and he lost control and fell backwards. In an instant, he turned over the step and fell downstairs.

Xiao Ge screamed: “Tong Ming!”

Everything happened so fast, Xu Qin and the others had no time to react, they just watched the orange blur disappear and fall down the building.

Everyone’s face was pale and lost all blood.

Song Yan had quick eyes and quick hands, and immediately rushed to grab the safety rope that was sliding rapidly along the ground. The fast-moving rope violently dragged Song Yan towards the step, and was about to pull him past the building.

Xu Qin screamed in horror: “Song Yan!”

Xiao Ge rushed up to grab the rope, and stopped Song Yan’s body that was about to be thrown out by inertia. The directors and doctors all rushed to pull the rope.

The frenziedly moving safety rope was stretched by the group of men, and suddenly stopped moving.

Song Yan and the others fell on the ground, sweating profusely, panting for breath.

Xu Qin’s heart was beating wildly, her legs were weak.

The mother and son pair were paralyzed and unable to get up, and were subdued by the police and taken away.

“Tong Ming! Are you okay?” Song Yan shouted down.

“Waist hurts—” Tong Ming cried out in pain.

Several people pulled him up, and the person in charge of the hospital immediately stepped forward: “Hurry up, go and check.”

While the figures shuttled around, Xu Qin’s eyes were fixed on Song Yan, her heart was still beating in panic just now, and she had not recovered.

She saw blood from the rope burn on his hands, scratches on his neck, and bruises on his head from hitting the step.

He was discussing with the police when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and glanced in her direction.

Looking at her, his eyes were deep but restrained.

After a brief second, his gaze moved away.

Xu Qin was also quickly called away by the director. Before walking into the stairwell, she glanced back. Song Yan was discussing business with the hospital manager and the police. This time, he didn’t even have time to look at her.

Xu Qin turned and left. When she went down the stairs, she realized that her legs were still soft, her back was covered in cold sweat, and the palms of her hands had already been scratched deeply by her nails.

The director didn’t praise Xu Qin, but he didn’t scold her either, and only asked those present to keep it secret. After all, a doctor said “go to hell” to the aggrieved. If this spread and someone with intent took it and made a big fuss, it would be hard to dispute.

The colleagues all agreed to keep the secret, and privately thanked Xu Qin for helping them vent their anger. What was even more surprising to everyone was that she had never interacted with them, and didn’t expect for her to help her colleagues out this time.

Everyone asked her to add their contact information one after another, and they also said that they would call her for colleagues’ gatherings in the future.

Xu Qin responded calmly, and then left on the grounds that she had other work.

When she went to the emergency room, she saw that the fire engine was still parked in the courtyard. The onlookers had dispersed, and several firefighters were collecting the air cushion.

She didn’t see Song Yan.

A moment ago, the courtyard was full of people, but now it was cold and windy.

When Xu Qin returned to the emergency room, for some reason, she felt a little depressed and tired. She didn’t usually feel that way at work, but the confrontation really exhausted her.

Or maybe, there were other reasons. But she didn’t bother to delve into it.

She worked until she got off work at midnight. Xu Qin took a taxi home and leaned on the back seat in a daze.

The car stopped at the intersection of Wu Fang Street. Wu Fang Street was a pedestrian street with roadblocks.

Xu Qin got out of the car, glanced at the deserted street with closed shops in the dark, and sighed softly. But in a blink of an eye, she saw uncle and aunt standing by the roadside.

She was stunned, and walked over: “Uncle? Aunt?”

“Qin Qin is off work?” Aunt smiled.

“Why are you here?” Xu Qin was a little puzzled.

“The alley is dark, we’re not at ease with you walking alone.” Aunt said, “Yan Yan is in the barracks, so your uncle and I are here to pick you up.”

Xu Qin’s heart suddenly felt warm, and she followed them home.

Uncle walked aside holding aunt’s hand, saying a few words from time to time, discussing the TV series he watched at night, Xu Qin listened silently, and looked back at the road she had just walked.

On both sides of the road, shop doors are tightly closed, with strange graffiti painted on them, which was a bit spooky at night. The ancient streets were empty, dim and deep.

It really was scary to walk alone.

“Time to turn the corner, what is this child looking at?” said aunt, and stretched out her hand to hold Xu Qin’s hand. Xu Qin suddenly felt the warmth and roughness on her hand, “Aiya, this child didn’t wear enough clothes, her hand is cold.”

Aunt put her hand in her pocket and led her through the narrow and dark alley at night.

At the end of the road, the lights in the courtyard were warm.

Xu Qin sat at the dining table and ate the glutinous rice balls in her bowl.

Uncle and aunt accompanied her to eat late-night snacks together, and aunt said: “Qin Qin, eat more, don’t be afraid of getting fat. You are too thin, and you are tired from work. You have to eat more to be healthy, you know?”

Xu Qin nodded.

Aunt sighed again: “Yan Yan is the same, he has no regular hours at work, over and over. He is also thin.”

Hearing this, Xu Qin licked her lips silently, the sugar syrup on her lips lost its taste at this very moment.

She thought about the moment when Tong Ming fell from upstairs, and the moment when Song Yan was dragged out by the rope.

Even thinking about it at this moment, her heart suddenly tugged,

“En.” She put down the spoon and said, “I think his job is too dangerous.”