The next day was the last day before the National Day holiday.

All over campus, you could see students dragging canvas suitcases with little wheels.

The sound of the wheels rolling, THUMP-THUMP-THUMP, was enough to make you homesick.

Jiang He woke up early.

He stuffed a few changes of clothes into his backpack, then carefully checked a hidden compartment for his ID card, student ID, and bank card.

That evening, he was scheduled to take a flight up north.

But before he left, he had to get his four-person team up to speed on the workflow for the medical records room.

"Everyone up. Stop dragging your feet." Jiang He kicked the leg of Chen Hao’s bed.

Ten minutes later, the three guys from dorm room 402 had finished washing up.

The four of them walked out of the school gates and waited for the bus at a stop by the intersection.

After a moment, a diesel bus pulled up, spewing black smoke. It looked ancient, and its doors CREAKED open.

"Squeeze in, move to the back!" A middle-aged female conductor with a satchel at her waist rapped a metal ticket punch against the window, hurrying them along.

The four of them swayed along with the bus until they got off at the Nanshan Medical University Affiliated First Hospital stop.

Cheng Xiyao was already waiting for them outside the outpatient building.

"Morning." She walked up and asked, "Are you heading to the airport directly from here later?"

Jiang He nodded. "Yeah. Let’s go."

The medical records room at Affiliated Hospital No. 1 was on the second basement level of Inpatient Building No. 2.

The person in charge of the archives was an older clerk named Sun, who had received a call from Professor Yang Xu beforehand.

He took out a string of brass keys, unlocked a row of metal cabinets, and pointed at the dense stacks of manila folders inside.

"These are all the archived medical records from General Surgery and Hepatobiliary Surgery from ’03 to ’07. Your Professor Yang said you’re looking for pancreatic cancer cases. Find them yourselves, but don’t mess up the order."

"Thank you, Teacher Sun," Jiang He said.

Clerk Sun pointed to a computer in the corner. "You can use that machine. It has Office 2003 installed. Don’t go plugging in any random USB drives. If it gets infected with the Panda Burning Incense virus, I’ll have your hides."

After giving his instructions, Clerk Sun left.

Jiang He got straight to the point and began explaining the workflow to the group.

When he got serious, he had a commanding presence.

Seeing this, Chen Hao dropped his usual smirk.

At ten in the morning, Jiang He said, "The workflow seems fine. If we keep up this pace, we should be able to finish during the National Day holiday. Let’s take a ten-minute break. Go upstairs and get some fresh air."

It was definitely stuffy after spending so long in the basement.

The five of them took the stairs up to the first-floor outpatient lobby.

The outpatient lobby was buzzing with noise, and long lines snaked from the registration windows.

"Hey? Young man, is that you?"

The group hadn’t even sat down yet when they heard a voice call out.

Jiang He turned his head and saw a middle-aged doctor in green scrubs with a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

It was Dr. Wang from the Emergency Department.

The one who had responded to the emergency call at Feiyu Internet Cafe that night.

Dr. Wang seemed to be in a good mood today. He walked over to Jiang He and said with a smile,

"Attaboy! I saw your back from a distance and thought it looked like you! Are you interning here at Affiliated Hospital No. 1?"

Jiang He shook his head. "Not yet. I’m here helping my advisor with some research."

"Research, huh?" Old Wang laughed heartily. "Nice! I could tell that night at the internet cafe—you’re a natural for clinical work! The guts to use a mineral water bottle for a water-seal drain... I bragged about that to my department director for days!"

Cheng Xiyao, standing half a step to Jiang He’s side, froze.

’Internet cafe? Mineral water bottle? Water-seal drain?’

’What does that mean?’

She stared, her gaze shifting back and forth between Dr. Wang and Jiang He, her mind going blank for a moment.

’Could it be...’

’No way, right?’

"You’re too kind, Dr. Wang. It was an emergency, just a blind squirrel finding a nut," Jiang He replied calmly, not wanting to dwell on the topic.

"Blind squirrel my ass!" Dr. Wang’s eyes widened. "The puncture site, the technique—it was so precise! Oh, right, that kid had his tube removed yesterday. He’s recovering remarkably well. His family even went to your school the day before yesterday to present a commendation banner!"

"What the fuck?" Li Zijian blurted out. "Old Jiang, a banner? How come we didn’t know? The school didn’t give it to you?"

Wang Bo frowned too. "Yeah, for something that brings so much honor, how come Old Sun never mentioned it?"

Dr. Wang said, "Your school’s leadership is being protective. You know what the general climate is like these days, right? The banner was probably taken by your department heads. It’s for your own protection."

The three roommates understood at once, clicking their tongues in amazement.

"Good thing..." Chen Hao looked at Jiang He, his eyes full of admiration. "Old Jiang, it’s a good thing you had the foresight, and a good thing we didn’t go around telling everyone."

Dr. Wang glanced at the students around Jiang He, his eyes lingering on Cheng Xiyao, and asked with a smile, "So what are you all here for today? You said you were helping an advisor with research? Which advisor?"

"Professor Yang Xu, from Hepatobiliary Surgery," Jiang He replied.

The smile on Dr. Wang’s face grew wider. "Professor Yang? He’s the top surgeon in our hospital, and his standards are incredibly high. For him to let a third-year student help him out, that means he truly values you. Keep up the good work! So accomplished at such a young age—your future is limitless!"

He had other things to attend to, so after a few more pleasantries, he waved goodbye and left.

The three roommates crowded around Jiang He, ready to ask about the commendation banner.

But then, Cheng Xiyao suddenly took a step forward.

Her cheeks were flushed bright red, and she struggled to keep her voice down.

"Jiang He, you... you’re the legendary hero who saved that person at Feiyu Internet Cafe?"

Jiang He: "Yeah, I am."

Cheng Xiyao: "?"

She got flustered.

She said, "No, but—why didn’t you tell me?!"

Jiang He seemed a little confused. "Did you ask?"

Cheng Xiyao: "..."

His words left her utterly speechless.

Then she instantly remembered that day in the library when she had vividly described the forum post about the internet cafe rescue to him.

A replay of Cheng Xiyao’s original words:

"If I had been there, I definitely wouldn’t have dared to do anything."

"That person is just so amazing."

"I really want to meet this student, even if it’s just to get a look at his notes..."

No wonder Jiang He had raised his hand to interrupt her at the time, saying, "Excuse me, I’m going to study now."

Cheng Xiyao was mortified, her toes curling in her shoes.

’How can a person die of social embarrassment like this? Ugh, I can’t, this is killing me.’

No wonder he’d rather go study in the creepy anatomy building that afternoon than come to the library!

’So that was it.’

’Case closed.’

’The whole mystery is solved!’

"I, uh..."

Cheng Xiyao was completely at a loss for words.

Jiang He didn’t plan to torment her further. "Chen Hao, I’m leaving the rest to you."

Chen Hao asked, "It’s still early, isn’t it? Want to grab lunch before you go?"

Jiang He shook his head. "I need to withdraw some money, and then buy a gift for her."

"Another gift?" Chen Hao was surprised. "Didn’t you already buy clothes?"

Jiang He said, "But I haven’t bought any local specialties yet. The sugar-free mung bean cakes from that shop by our school gate are delicious. I plan on bringing some for her."

Chen Hao: "You... alright, fine..."

Jiang He gave his final instructions. "I’m counting on you guys for the next few days. Wang Bo, if you come across a case with an unclear diagnosis, just skip it. Chen Hao, back up the data you enter to a USB drive every night before you leave."

He looked at Cheng Xiyao, who was still in a state of social death, and said in a calm voice, "Cheng Xiyao, I’m leaving the final data verification to you. You need to be meticulous."

Cheng Xiyao kept her head down, feeling like she couldn’t face him. She just mumbled a muffled "oh."

"Text me when you have the results." With that, Jiang He turned and left.

Cheng Xiyao silently put on a face mask and, looking as if she had lost all will to live, turned toward the stairs.

"Let’s go too. Back to work..."

Chen Hao watched Jiang He’s retreating figure, then glanced at the department beauty beside him, who looked like she was about to shatter. He inexplicably felt a pang of sympathy for her.

’Why did the perfectly fine department beauty suddenly seem to have such a bitter fate?’