"Everyone, please pick your rooms on your own,—two people per room. Put down your belongings and come out; we’ll hold an emergency meeting first to discuss the important matters,"
The director had spoken, so naturally, no one had objections. They each grabbed their suitcases and headed upstairs.
The staircase was still made of wooden planks, creaking loudly upon stepping. I truly worried someone might miss a step and tumble down.
Fortunately, in the end, everyone made it upstairs without any such accidents occurring.
Lu Jing and a female doctor from the gastroenterology department chose the second room near the staircase entrance—it was more convenient.
After entering the room, Lu Jing immediately took out his mobile phone to check it.
He had wanted to make a phone call, but there was no signal at all.
In the end, he gave up.
The female doctor from the gastroenterology department, Doctor Wei, was two years older than Lu Jing and quite caring.
"Xiao Lu, let’s set up the bedsheets first. We’ll probably start getting busy soon, and we’ll be too exhausted when we return tonight."
Clearly, she was experienced.
Indeed, this was not Doctor Wei’s first rural stint; she had even been to assist poor regions two years earlier.
Lu Jing put his phone back in his bag. Since it was his first time, it was certainly right to listen to others.
He then took out the bed sheets and covers to set them up, but were these thin sheets and covers really enough for the night?
In mountain villages, the temperature variance between day and night was quite large, especially at night when it was much colder than in the city center.
At least in the city, one could turn on the air conditioning.
The house was bare, with nothing at all.
As Lu Jing pondered this, someone from the village knocked on the door:
"Hello, we’ve brought you some charcoal."
Lu Jing’s bed was closer to the door; he got up and opened it.
The visitor was a woman in her thirties, dragging a large basket filled with small bags of charcoal.
In a poor and backward mountain village, air conditioners were impossible, and probably only the village chief’s house might have heaters. Ordinary families mainly relied on burning charcoal, which was the most primitive heating method.
Lu Jing took the charcoal:
"Thank you," he said with gratitude.
The older sister had more deliveries to make for others and had no time for a chat.
Thud—the door closed again.
Doctor Wei had already swiftly made the bed and came to inspect:
"This charcoal?" She frowned and spoke.
Lu Jing was somewhat puzzled:
"Is there a problem?" he asked.
As the young miss of the Lu family, she had never really dealt with such primitive items, having seen them only on TV at best. Latest content publıshed on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
Doctor Wei clicked her tongue:
"There’s not a big problem,—just make sure not to close the windows when burning it, as it’s easy to get poisoned."
Other than that, there wasn’t much else.
Hearing this, Lu Jing also somewhat understood.
After all, the hospital frequently received patients suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Some were poisoned while showering, others due to gas leaks.
There were hardly any charcoal burnings in the city, but it occasionally happened in small towns.
"It seems like they’ve all gone downstairs."
"I will help you make the bed."
Lu Jing didn’t even have the chance to refuse; Doctor Wei had already begun skillfully.
Seeing this, Lu Jing felt it wasn’t appropriate to say much else.
After the bed was made, the two also went downstairs.
Nearly half of the colleagues were already gathered there, chatting in groups.
"Doctor Wei, come over here."
"Just come and join us for a chat!
Oh, is this the orthopedic Doctor Lu?"
Although everyone worked at the same hospital, being in different departments meant they rarely saw each other.
Even if they did meet, it would just be a brief passing or perhaps seeing each other at the cafeteria.