By Zephyria 
Chapter 7: He Asked Me if My Driving Was Any Good
Xie Qingcheng, a former doctor, reflexively shook off Bai Jing’s wrist and crouched down to examine the elderly man’s condition.
Clinically, acute myocardial infarction is an acute cardiovascular disease with a very high fatality rate. Sudden mental stimulation is one of the primary factors that trigger attacks in elderly patients.
Regardless, Bai Jing, unable to grasp the situation, did nothing but pour out curses.
Xie Qingcheng rolled up his sleeves and began emergency first aid, then looked back at her, the veins in his neck straining.
“What are you just standing there for? This is an acute myocardial infarction patient! Call an ambulance! Now!”
“What about acute myocardial… acute myocardial infarction?”
Bai Jing was momentarily stunned.
Shock and fear flickered in her eyes, which were adorned with gold-pearl eyeshadow. Her face turned pale as she froze in a daze.
Xie Qingcheng barked, “Do you not even know the emergency number?”
She definitely knew. But in the sudden chaos, Bai Jing’s mind had gone blank. She muttered, “What, what was it?”
“120!”
“Ah, right, right…!”
Who could have known someone would collapse so abruptly? She hurriedly snatched the phone Xie Qingcheng had tossed to her and dialed the emergency number.
“Hello? Is this 110? Ah, no, no! Don’t hang up! I misspoke! I meant to call here, not the police! There’s, there’s an elderly man who collapsed here, it’s acute fainting-itis… no, what was it, acute myocarditis…”
“Acute myocardial infarction!”
“Ah! Right! Myocardial infarction, myocardial infarction!”
After finishing the call with a stutter, Bai Jing caught her breath and regained her composure. Even so, she didn’t dare approach Xie Qingcheng or the homeless man.
Since the secretions from the old man’s nose and mouth had been cleared, he needed to be laid down carefully to ensure he didn’t suffocate. With his forehead drenched in sweat, Xie Qingcheng looked up and told Bai Jing, “Come help me.”
Bai Jing immediately shot back, “No way! I feel like I’m going to throw up. What if he has AIDS and I get infected! And this is an expensive outfit; I won’t be able to wear it if it gets dirty.”
The vein in Xie Qingcheng’s neck bulged.
“AIDS isn’t transmitted this way! Is your clothing more important right now than a human life? Come help, now!”
“I said no! Isn’t this moral coercion? Do you know how long and hard I have to stand and work to buy a dress like this? Besides, he was already sick and had an attack; it’s not my fault, I…”
In the midst of this, the old man let out a gagging sound and vomited white foam again. Watching this, Bai Jing felt a surge of nausea and hurriedly scrambled backward.
“Don’t force me… I can’t do it.”
Right then, thankfully, a middle-aged woman rushed out from the crowd and immediately scolded Bai Jing.
“Young lady, do you have no conscience? You’ll be old one day too! You dress all fancy, but why is your heart so wicked!”
“I mean—”
The woman, looking appalled, ignored her and spoke to Xie Qingcheng.
“Tell me what to do. I’ll help.”
That is how crowds are. They stay quiet and watch from a distance without helping, but once someone takes the lead, they pop up like mushrooms after rain.
People who had been timidly watching for fear of getting caught up in the mess now swarmed in like a hive of bees. Some offered to find a pharmacy for emergency medicine, while others offered to fan the man if he was hot. Bai Jing was pushed to the side by the surging crowd.
However, no matter how much the onlookers tried, the urgent crisis remained. Everyone waited anxiously, second by second, for the ambulance.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Soon, Bai Jing’s phone rang. It was a call from the hospital.
-They say the ground collapsed on the way there, causing a water pipe to burst and flooding the main road. A detour isn’t possible, and it’s difficult to enter the old alleys, plus the traffic is severe. It looks like they’ll have to go the long way around by driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
When Bai Jing relayed the situation to Xie Qingcheng, who was still performing first aid, he shouted irritably, “How long will it take?”
Startled by his intensity, Bai Jing quickly asked into the phone, “Uh, how long will it take?”
-Even if they hurry, it looks like it’ll take thirty minutes to go around.
Xie Qingcheng scanned the old man’s condition. Thirty minutes would be life-threatening.
How could he be this unlucky? An accident at this exact timing? And a main road flooded because the ground collapsed and a pipe burst?
Just as he fell into despair, the piercing glare of headlights swept across the path. Rectangular taillights blinked leisurely behind them. A black Rolls-Royce Cullinan with an angel-wing emblem rolled up silently, flashing its lights, and turned from the one-way street into the alley.
Whenever Bai Jing saw something luxurious and extravagant, she was seized by the desire to start a live stream. Even though a human life was hanging by a thread, she instinctively held up her phone. She felt that if she were a second late, the Cullinan would drive away.
But to her surprise, the Cullinan slowed down, approached, and came to a complete stop.
Bai Jing’s eyes widened at the unbelievable reality.
What happened next sent a shockwave through her pupils. The rear window of the dream-like luxury SUV slid down quietly, and a woman leaned her head out, shouting toward Xie Qingcheng, who was performing first aid.
“Oppa!”
“Eh?”
Bai Jing let out a bewildered sound.
“He Yu said he’d buy me skewers, so as we were passing by, I saw someone who looked like you from afar and came to check, and it really was you… Oh my god! What’s wrong with that person? Was there an accident?”
Xie Qingcheng looked up and shifted his gaze. He Yu, sitting beside her, was buried in the natural leather seat, hidden in the shadows. He had a calm and elegant profile, with a refined and neat outline at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, he radiated the aura of a high-class piece of human trash.
Xie Qingcheng didn’t want to reach out to He Yu. But he was certainly in a position where he couldn’t afford to be picky.
“A patient went into shock and collapsed from an acute myocardial infarction. I’ve finished the basic treatment, but he needs to be taken to the hospital immediately.”
Xie Xue gasped.
“What about the ambulance?”
“I called, but due to the road conditions, it’ll take about thirty minutes.”
As soon as Xie Xue heard that, she opened the car door and jumped out. She rushed to the old man’s side without any sign of reluctance. Of course, since she didn’t know how to perform first aid, she could only stand there blankly. Anxious and unsure of how to help, she shouted back toward the car.
“He Yu! Get out and help quickly!”
The noble piece of human trash stepped out of the car, looked at the old man’s blue-tinged lips, and reached a decisive conclusion.
“Let’s go in my car.”
Xie Xue asked blankly, “What if people don’t move out of the way? It’s rush hour, so traffic will be heavy.”
He Yu snorted.
“Then tell them to ram into our car.”
Then he turned to the driver and asked, “Driver Zhao, are you good at driving?”
“I have a habit of driving safely, so I’m not that fast…”
Even if the young master tells me to ram into other cars, I don’t think I can do that!
“Then get out.”
He Yu rolled up his sleeves, stretched out his long legs, and climbed into the driver’s seat. Brazenly pulling the handbrake, he chewed the gum in his mouth and said, “Get in. Ten minutes is plenty to get to the city hospital.”
Then Xie Qingcheng asked, “Do you even have a license?”
He Yu replied expressionlessly, “I don’t. Are you getting in or not?”
“No, he does!”
Xie Xue wanted to applaud both of them. Especially He Yu. She truly admired how he could still pick a fight with her brother in a situation like this.
“He has a license he used abroad, and he exchanged it for a domestic one recently! He’s just acting like that, so just ignore him!”
Under Xie Qingcheng’s watchful eye, the old man was carefully moved into the seat of the Cullinan. Soon, the others climbed in as well. Just as He Yu fastened his seatbelt and stepped on the accelerator to gain speed, the puppy from earlier limped up to the car door and barked at those inside.
The soft-hearted Xie Xue muttered to herself as she watched the puppy follow them, wagging its tail and limping.
“Poor thing…”
He Yu glanced at her and opened the passenger door again.
“Pick it up.”
Xie Xue quickly jumped out, slid her hands under the scruffy yellow dog’s front paws, and lifted it into the car.
Perhaps it knew it hadn’t been abandoned. The yellow dog looked briefly at the old man lying in the back seat, then lifted its fluffy snout and rubbed its black-bean nose against Xie Xue’s cheek, sniffing her. Then it pushed its face toward the driver’s seat and carefully licked the young man’s face with its wet tongue.
Ignoring the dog’s attempt to win him over, He Yu operated the rearview mirror with the one-touch system and gripped the steering wheel with his large, bony hand.
“Call 120 again and explain our situation on the way. Now, let’s go.”
It was truly a blessing in disguise. Having received professional emergency care from the start and being transported immediately to the hospital, the old man managed to survive the crisis after a grueling night.
At the night emergency room payment counter, Xie Qingcheng finished signing the medical bill and opened his phone to access his banking app, only to realize he was short on funds. While he was hesitating on what to say to the administrative staff, a hand suddenly appeared from behind him and presented a card across the counter.
Xie Qingcheng turned his head and saw He Yu’s face.
“Why are you paying this?”
“Whatever. You can skip the thank-yous.”
Since the man was homeless and had no ID, let alone family, the admission process was quite tedious. It was fortunate that this city hospital was Xie Qingcheng’s former workplace and that he was acquainted with the night shift staff in the ER; otherwise, things would have been much more difficult. Although the immediate crisis had passed, there were many procedures to handle. The hospital contacted the city hall department responsible for managing the homeless to request follow-up care.
Like passionate citizens who had bravely stepped forward for justice, He Yu’s group decided to stay for a while instead of leaving immediately.
“Was that woman named Bai the blind date partner?”
After completing the payment, He Yu asked abruptly while stepping out into the hospital backyard with Xie Qingcheng to get some fresh air.
“Yeah. And her?”
“She’s sleeping in the underground parking lot with Xie Xue. It was late, so I guess they both got sleepy. Still, Xie Xue was anxious, so she told me to go see the doctor, which is why I came up.”
He Yu added one more thing.
“But why on earth did you have a blind date with a woman like that?”
At those words, Xie Qingcheng’s expression turned serious.
“We just had one meal.”
“If you’re that uninterested in blind dates, why not just refuse them from the start? And that woman, isn’t she around Xie Xue’s age? She doesn’t even suit a middle-aged man like you.”
Thirty-two is middle-aged? Is he crazy? For a moment, irritation flared, but Xie Qingcheng exercised generosity. If He Yu hadn’t helped him today, he would have undoubtedly cursed him, asking where a green brat got the nerve to lecture him. However, since he had used He Yu as both a driver and an ATM, he had to refrain from harsh insults. Instead, he glared at him with bloodshot eyes, accepted that he was ‘middle-aged,’ and replied coldly.
“I’m learning a lot thanks to Young Master He. Actually, I didn’t want to waste my breath on a brat under thirty either.”
“…”
A tense battle of wills began between the brat and the middle-aged man. There’s no point in talking further; it’s just a waste of breath. Thinking this, Xie Qingcheng turned his head away completely.
The walking path in the city hospital’s backyard, entwined with wisteria, was very long. With an expressionless face, Xie Qingcheng walked silently under the wisteria, hands shoved in his pockets. This was a place he had walked often ten years ago. Unlike now, with its well-maintained landscaping, the backyard had been desolate back then, lacking proper renovation. There had even been unauthorized street vendors along both sides of the road, selling pancakes, porridge, noodles, and rice balls to evade crackdowns.
Then he had left the city hospital, and for several years after, he had never walked this wisteria path again.
Perhaps because he had returned to a place of memories, he felt unexpectedly sentimental. After walking in silence for a long time, Xie Qingcheng suddenly spoke.
“Hey, kid.”
“Yeah?”
“Does the younger generation like influencers these days?”
“I’m not interested. But since the income is decent, many people aspire to be one. That Bai Jing person is an influencer, right?”
“…How did you know?”
“It’s obvious just by looking.”
He Yu spoke with a smile and continued, “Was the homeless grandfather’s collapse related to that woman?”
In the cool night breeze, the wisteria swayed with a rustling sound.
Xie Qingcheng replied, “The patient mistook Bai Jing for his daughter. Then Bai Jing chased the patient around to film a live stream. The patient pleaded with her to stop and avoided the camera, but she was too busy checking how many viewers were on her stream.”
After a pause, he added coldly, “As if that’s actually important.”
At that, He Yu let out a sigh.
“Xie Qingcheng, how do you know that ‘thing’ you despise isn’t the card that changes other people’s destinies? To you, people obsessed with fame might seem strange, but they probably wouldn’t understand your way of thinking either. Even if humans are the same species, the barriers between them are the highest. When people can’t even trust each other properly, understanding is a distant dream. Sometimes we look at each other as if we’re different creatures entirely.”
The moment he finished speaking, He Yu’s phone suddenly rang. It was the driver. A traffic policeman, whose blood pressure had risen because He Yu had been tearing through the streets like a biker gang, had followed them to the hospital.
-Young Master, perhaps we could ask Dr. Xie to explain… it was a very special situation…
“It’s fine, just use my ID to take the penalty points and pay the fine. Don’t waste time.”
He Yu abruptly hung up.
Xie Qingcheng said, “I guess you have money to burn?”
“For me, time is money. I hate wasting time on useless things. For example, giving various explanations to a civil servant. Or bringing in a reporter for a tear-jerking interview.”
He Yu lowered his almond-shaped eyes. His pitch-black pupils were emotionless. A temperament close to that of a psychopath seemed to flicker faintly. Yet, he was still smiling.
“I’d much rather chat with you, Doctor. After all, you can do what those people do. Right? Like checking a driver’s license, for example.”
“…”
As the other man’s expression darkened, the smile on He Yu’s lips melted away into those black pupils. He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, looked away from Xie Qingcheng, and stared ahead. Then, he leaned forward, bringing his face close to the side of Xie Qingcheng’s neck. His thin lips lingered near Xie Qingcheng’s carotid artery.
With his upper body slightly bent, the young man looked into the distance and whispered in a low voice into the man’s ear.
“Hyung, how was my driving?”
“…”
Xie Qingcheng’s expression distorted even further.
Why is this kid so obsessed with the license? Was asking if he had one that damaging to his pride?
He snorted with a crumpled face.
“Practice whenever you have time. How is a young guy going to make it if he’s that clumsy? You might end up as a driver after you graduate.”
Deciding to end the useless bickering, Xie Qingcheng expressionlessly brushed aside a drooping wisteria branch and walked ahead.
Of course, He Yu’s provocations showed no sign of ending. Finding the banter quite enjoyable, he spoke in a strange, playful tone.
“CEO Xie. Then I’ll be your driver. What car will you entrust to me? And what’s the salary?”
Xie Qingcheng replied without looking back once.
“A Wuling Hongguang. For a salary, I’ll prescribe you some medicine. Do it if you want, or get lost.”
Watching that retreating back with his hands in his pockets, He Yu kicked the ground with his sneaker and quietly gnashed his teeth with a fierce look in his eyes.
“Prescribe me medicine? …This is ridiculous, Xie Qingcheng. Did I really owe this man a debt in a past life?”