The strong man was somewhat incredulous. He stared at Lu Yuan for a good long while before slowly lowering his head.
Lu Yuan: "Now I'll let you choose again. If you stay, you will die."
"She is currently unconscious. If you want to leave, just go."
The strong man looked at Qiu Ying lying on the hospital bed, his eyes brimming with fragmented tenderness converging into a pool.
"Dr. Lu, I said to give her the chance, so I'll give it to her."
Lu Yuan: "..."
Suddenly, Lu Yuan tapped the bed railing with a ballpoint pen.
Zzaappp---
Electric arcs flashed over and Qiu Ying lying on the hospital bed slowly opened her eyes.
Seeing Lu Yuan standing at her bedside, Qiu Ying shuddered in an instant. "I-I'm back again?!"
Lu Yuan smiled and said, "You fainted by the roadside. One of my night shift nurses carried you back. Don't worry, it's nothing serious."
"I didn't know you now need nutrition for two people. If I had known earlier, I would have asked Liu Yuan to increase the nutrients in your IV."
Hearing Lu Yuan's words, a trace of panic flashed in Qiu Ying's eyes. She hurriedly glanced at the strong man.
With tears in his eyes, he choked out, "Little Ying, take good care of...take good care of our child after you leave here..."
In a moment, Qiu Ying's expression was quite colorful. She deliberately pretended as if she knew nothing: "I-I'm pregnant?! Really?!"
"Dr. Lu, I'm pregnant?! Is it true?!"
Lu Yuan smiled and said, "It's true, congratulations."
Qiu Ying put on a prudent appearance again: "Dr. Lu, I didn't mean to hide it from you!"
"I was too afraid to stay downstairs, so I've been using my own ability all this time. You know my ability is to conceal my presence..."
Lu Yuan nodded: "I understand. This is nothing."
Qiu Ying glanced out the window and timidly asked Lu Yuan, "Then, Dr. Lu, can I...?"
Lu Yuan said matter-of-factly: "As a doctor, I suggest you stay here to recuperate for a while."
"Of course, it still depends on your personal wishes in the end."
Delight flashed in Qiu Ying's eyes. "Then Dr. Lu, can I leave?"
Lu Yuan nodded. "You can go."
Then he looked at the strong man, "You can go too. Go far away, you understand?"
Still immersed in grief, the strong man was a bit dull in responding. "Dr. Lu, me?"
Lu Yuan impatiently waved his hand. "Don't waste words. I can't stand types like you. If you want to leave, hurry up and go. I only have one requirement - go far away."
Qiu Ying immediately nudged the strong man and nodded vigorously. "Okay, okay! Thank you Dr. Lu! We'll come see you in the future!"
She then jumped out of bed to leave. Reaching the door, she found the strong man still standing there and glared fiercely at him.
In the strong man's spinning tearful eyes, a certain emotion seemed to emerge. "Dr. Lu, am I...really leaving then?"
Lu Yuan: "Yes, go on now, go far away."
"I understand. Thank you Dr. Lu."
The strong man bowed solemnly to Lu Yuan. At the door, he looked at Qiu Ying and revealed an honest, silly smile.
But no matter how his smile looked, it did not seem to match the expression in his eyes.
"What are you smiling foolishly for?! Hurry up and go! We'll come see Dr. Lu again in the future!"
"Yes! We'll come see Dr. Lu again!"
...
The strong man and Qiu Ying left.
Under the eaves of the clinic, Lu Yuan and Liu Yuan watched the two depart into the night.
When their figures disappeared into the darkness, Liu Yuan said to Lu Yuan, "That strong man is No. 46."
"But No. 47, that woman called Qiu Ying, is carrying No. 48's child. You told that to the strong man too. He...why did he..."
Lu Yuan said lightly, "This is called true love."
Liu Yuan: "No. 48, that infected person you killed downstairs, he was actually the first to get together with Qiu Ying."
"But because his withdrawal was not very good, if you knew about his relationship with Qiu Ying, it would only affect Qiu Ying's prospects for discharge."
Lu Yuan: "Yes."
"But Qiu Ying wanted to take her child with her when she left, so she seduced No. 46 who had better withdrawal symptoms. She was gambling that for two infected people who had developed feelings for each other and had relatively good truncation, you would most likely give them a chance?!"
Lu Yuan nodded again. "Yes."
"So Qiu Ying and No. 48 joined forces to set you up. That strong man is just a pitiful bug who got played. In this situation, how could you let Qiu Ying leave?"
"Also, Qiu Ying is pregnant with No. 48's child. A child of two infected people can certainly be confirmed as an infected person as well."
"Yes, Liu Yuan..."
"Yes?"
Lu Yuan took a deep breath and said, "What I released was not Qiu Ying. I gave that 'honest man' and 'pitiful bug' you mentioned a chance. I was giving him an opportunity."
"What...what's the difference?"
"The difference is, an honest man is still an honest man, and that's not the same as a wimp."
Liu Yuan was confused and didn't understand what Lu Yuan meant by that.
Lu Yuan turned and walked down the corridor. "Let's go, continue rounds."
"Oh..."
Lu Yuan and Liu Yuan continued their rounds, all the way to room 399.
After Lu Yuan went in and chatted with the person inside for a while, he came out.
Then a swirl of black mist surged from the front of the corridor and the purple-haired girl appeared again.
Chubby cheeks, delicate features - in terms of looks alone, the purple-haired girl was no less beautiful than Liu Yuan.
Compared to last time, she seemed unchanged except her hair was a shade more purple.
The purple-haired girl was enveloped by black mist. She stopped between rooms 399 and 400.
Liu Yuan went up and handed her the lantern and prop box, saying, "Thanks for your hard work!"
The purple-haired girl sneakily glanced at Lu Yuan and took the things from Liu Yuan's hands. In a charming voice she said, "It's not hard work. Please remember to close the door on your way out!"
The purple-haired girl then walked ahead holding the lantern. "Dr. Lu, please follow closely."
...
Coming up from the -3rd floor, Liu Yuan noticed the sky was almost bright already.
Just then, she heard a man and little girl's laughter coming from the reception hall.
Going over to take a look, the man turned out to be the strong man who had left just hours ago, and the little girl was Zhang Baobao.
The strong man was playing with Zhang Baobao in the square and from the looks of it, they were having a great time.
Lin Youyou stood watching them in her white nurse uniform swaying slightly in the night breeze.
Liu Yuan walked over and asked her, "The brat stayed up all night?"
Lin Youyou nodded. "Yes. Dr. Lu originally asked me and Zhang Fenglan to go, but Baobao insisted on tagging along no matter what. So she simply took Zhang Fenglan's place directly."
Liu Yuan frowned. "That Qiu Ying...she really held back the urge to eat Zhang Baobao?"
"For the infected people, a seemingly tender, cute little girl like this is a premium delicacy..."
"I guess Qiu Ying could feel movement in her belly."
...
Not until almost 7am when the sun was fully out did Zhang Fenglan fetch Baobao back to bed.
The strong man walked up to the two nurses with an honest silly smile on his face.
Liu Yuan asked, "Why did you come back?"
The strong man grinned. "Hehe! Nurses, I've decided - I'm not leaving! I'll just stay here accompanying Dr. Lu!"
Lin Youyou asked, "What about your lady friend?"
The strong man: "You mean Qiu Ying?! Oh well! I figured it out!"
"People have their own paths! Some things can't be forced!"
"Although she took advantage of me, I don't resent her!"
"Because I love her!"
"Loving someone should mean embracing her, accommodating her!"
"Besides, now she can't leave me anymore, her child can't leave me anymore either, we'll be a family forever!"
As he spoke, the pitiful honest man patted his belly and burped loudly.
"Burp~"