Granting You A Second Life

Li Xiuying went to her office to pick up her things. As she entered her office she found Jiang Huan on the phone.

Jiang Huan: "I'm afraid there are no opportunities to shadow Dr. Li for the next three weeks. If you give me your details and tell me what specialties you're interested in I can tell you the next available date."

Li Xiuying went to her desk to check her rota for next week. She furrowed her brows at her timetable. The changes she had requested had not implemented.

She patiently waited for Jiang Huan to finish her phone call.

Jiang Huan finished entering the details of the resident into her spreadsheet. She then spun around in her chair.

Jiang Huan: "Good afternoon Dr. Li."

Li Xiuying nodded.

Li Xiuying indicated to the spreadsheet that was on Jiang Huan's screen: "No students next week."

Jiang Huan said confusedly: "Dr. Li you have eight students shadowing you next week."

Li Xiuying spoke coldly: "I asked you to cancel all my teaching sessions for next week."

Jiang Huan had completely forgotten. Li Xiuying had even written down the set of instructions for her.

Jiang Huan: "I'm so sorry Dr. Li. I don't know how this happened. I promise it won't happen again"

Li Xiuying looked at the red faced Jiang Huan before her. She began questioning whether it was worth keeping Jiang Huan around. She wanted to confirm her suspicions regarding the rescuer but keeping her as a PA was more trouble than it's worth.

Jiang Huan: "I'll immediately contact everyone and change the dates for the teaching session. I'm so sorry Dr. Li." Jiang Huan began furiously typing on the keyboard. She regretted not staying late the last few days. She had been constantly distracted by Tang Tingzhe.

Li Xiuying wrote down the changes she wanted again and put the piece of paper on Jiang Huan's desk. She also spotted her previous list among the pile of papers on Jiang Huan's desk. She pulled it out and placed the lists side by side next to Jiang Huan's keyboard.

Jiang Huan's ears turned red as she saw the two lists from the corner of her eye reminding her of her incompetence.

As Li Xiuying was half way out the door she said in a cold and low voice: "The flower has intentions, but the water has no feelings."

Jiang Huan hands froze on the keyboard. 'What does Dr. Li mean? Is she referring to me as the flower? The water has no feelings... Dr. Li couldn't possibly know about... '

Li Xiuying proceeded to leave the office. She decided to give Jiang Huan a subtle hint about the torturous path she was currently treading down for her rescuer. She wasn't a saint or a do-gooder she just believed that sometimes people needed to be shown the error of their ways.

Besides if Jiang Huan chose not to heed Li Xiuying's words then it would only be detrimental to herself. Later down the line when Jiang Huan regretted her choices she couldn't lie to herself or others and claim that no one had warned her.

Denial is a cloak that many people wear to shield themselves from the cruel realities of the world. Who would want to accept that they had destroyed themselves with their own two hands?

Li Xiuying strolled casually to her car and sat in the driver's seat. She pulled out her phone and searched for elder Qin's number.

Elder Qin answered on the second ring: "Hello Dr. Li. Is everything okay?" Elder Qin's voice contained a hint of worry.

Li Xiuying: "Yes."

Li Xiuying could hear Elder Qin moving around on the phone.

Li Xiuying: "New Personal assistant required please."

Elder Qin was surprised by the request. He had personally chosen Jiang Huan from the 200 personal assistants that had applied for the role. She had the best qualifications and experience. She also came highly recommended by her former employer.

When Cao Shan had interviewed Jiang Huan he had reported that she was adequate for the role and was compatible with Dr. Li. Elder Qin trusted Cao Shan's judgement entirely.

Elder Qin: "Has Jiang Huan done anything wrong?"

Li Xiuying: "Lied about a family gathering to leave work early and meet her boyfriend, lied about her grandmother's illness to meet her boyfriend next week Tuesday, leaving early from work for the last 3 days without permission, failure to adequately follow instructions and complete tasks."

The lines on Elder Qin's forehead deepened as he heard about Jiang Huan's wrong doings. She had only been working for 8 days and she had already managed to do so much.

Elder Qin: "I'll have Cao Shan look for her replacement. You'll have a new personal from next week Monday."

Li Xiuying: "No, 1 month." She would give Jiang Huan 1 month. That's all her patience would allow.

Elder Qin wanted to ask Li Xiuying why she wanted to keep such an incompetent PA any longer. However he knew that Li Xiuying must have a reason behind her decisions.

Elder Qin: "Okay Xiuying I'll find a new PA for you but instead of having him on standby how about I get them to work behind the scenes and pick up Jiang Huan's slack?"

Li Xiuying: "Incriminating Evidence"

Elder Qin: "I'll make sure they keep records of Jiang Huan's mistakes."

Li Xiuying: "Thank you. Goodbye."

Elder Qin: "Ah Xiuying before you go, I just wanted to ask if everything went okay with regards to the surgery."

Li Xiuying: "Yes."

Elder Qin: "Good. That's good. How was Huang Teng? He can be difficult to deal with."

Li Xiuying: "Fine."

Elder Qin: "Good, that's good. How about..."

Li Xiuying: "Elder Qin is there something you want to ask me?"

Elder Qin cleared his throat: "Xiuying. I just wanted to check that you were fine. I heard that your cousins came to see you at the hospital today." Elder Qin had many eyes and ears within the hospital. He had been informed about Li Xiuying meeting with her trouble making cousins, the Director of Northwest University's medical programme and Huang Teng.

Li Xiuying could hear the genuine concern in Elder Qin's voice. Li Xiuying thought that Elder Qin was worried that she may have dented the relationship between Unity hospital and the two elders.

Li Xiuying: "Li Yu Yan has been admitted into medical school."

Elder Qin was again filled with questions that he wanted to ask Li Xiuying.

Elder Qin: "Oh well I'm sure she is incredibly happy being admitted into the best medical school in the country."

Li Xiuying laughed. Oh Li Yu Yan was probably a lot of things but happy wasn't one of them.

Li Xiuying: "Sure."

Elder Qin didn't think that Li Xiuying would be so happy for her cousin. He had thought that Li Xiuying hated Li Yu Yan. 'Why would Xiuying help Li Yu Yan?'

Li Xiuying could hear Elder Qin shuffling around and the rustling of paper.

Elder Qin: "Sorry about that there's an annoying pest. Okay Xiuying I won't keep you any longer. Enjoy your weekend."

Li Xiuying: "Goodbye."

...

Elder Qin's office - Qin Enterprises

Elder Qin looked at his eldest son also known as annoying pest.

Elder Qin was annoyed: "Song, what's wrong with you? Couldn't you see I was trying to talk to Xiuying?" His eldest son kept writing messages on paper and waving it at him.

On the piece of paper Qin Song had written 'loud speaker?' When Elder Qin didn't comply he had written 'What's happening now?' Followed by the next message 'what meeting?'

Qin Song ignored his father's annoyance and remained indifferent: "What's going on with Dr. Li? Why did she ask for Jiang Huan to be replaced? What were her cousins doing there? What meeting? What did Elder Huang want?"

Elder Qin looked incredulously at his son.

Elder Qin's voice contained suspicion: "Why are you so concerned about Xiuying and her affairs?" When elder Qin thought back to the interactions between Qin Song and Li Xiuying he realized that his son had been behaving out of character.

Qin Song: "Father. Dr. Li is important for the growth of Unity hospital. She has only signed a contract with us for 3 months. We have to ensure she is happy with us so she will extend her contract. It has only been 8 days and she has already met with unfortunate circ.u.mstances at our hospital."

Elder Qin nodded. What Qin Song said made sense. Li Xiuying could break her contract with them at any time; God knows that she has enough money to pay the termination fee. They had to ensure that Li Xiuying was happy even if she didn't choose to extend her contract. They couldn't afford to effect any chances of future collaborations.