"What’s the use of reporting now if you can’t find the cause? It’ll just cause panic. When that happens, who will take responsibility?"
"So we just ignore it? Don’t you think it’s strange? How can there suddenly be so many patients with the same symptoms overnight? It must be infectious. If we don’t report it as soon as possible, it will be too late when something big happens!"
"Whether it’s infectious is just your speculation. If it was as you say, then their family members should have been infected first, but the patients now don’t have any direct connection."
The argument grew fiercer, and all the doctors in the office were arguing, but no one could convince the others.
"How do you know there’s no connection? Maybe they visited the same place or consumed food from the same source. And why is it that only our area is affected, and not other regions? I think we must report it."
"Doctor Liu and I aren’t saying don’t report it, but we should find out the cause before reporting! We’ve done blood tests, X-rays, but we simply can’t see what the problem is. How are you going to report that?"
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet, and someone sighed.
"If Doctor Yan were here, it would be better."
The surname was rare, but Yue Qingqing felt somewhat familiar with it.
Back when her aunt’s child was harmed, she heard that a Doctor Yan who temporarily took over the forensic work had found the cause.
She wondered if it was the same person.
A few more comments were made in the office.
Clearly, Doctor Yan must be an authoritative figure in the hospital. If he were here to make the decision, whether to report or not wouldn’t be the troublesome issue that it was for them.
"Alas," a young doctor said with despondency, "unfortunately, Doctor Yan went abroad for further studies with his son and probably will also see his ex-wife along the way. We don’t know when he will return."
Yue Qingqing listened for a while, and Wei Rong looked at her somewhat oddly.
"Weren’t we going to the bathroom?"
Upon hearing their voices, people in the office immediately turned to look outside.
They relaxed when they saw it was just two kids.
If some of the patients’ family members caught even a snippet of the conversation, it could be blown out of proportion once they spread the word among relatives and friends.
Currently, nobody knew what the situation was, as the cause of the illness couldn’t be identified.
"Little friends, are you lost?" A female doctor with a mask came out to inquire,
and relaxed once she knew they were children brought by parents to visit patients.
The office door was cautiously closed, and Yue Qingqing and Wei Rong went to the bathroom and then returned to the ward.
In the ward, Yue Xiaofang was trying to persuade Liu Pingxiu.
"We’ve just seen your mother-in-law’s attitude. I was in a similar situation before and only later did I realize that constant forbearance only harms the child. Pingxiu, I advise you to move out with your husband, stop living with your mother-in-law."
Although they had only met recently and it’s generally taboo to offer deep advice to acquaintances,
Yue Xiaofang saw herself in Liu Pingxiu.
She often heard about this deskmate from Yue Qingqing and had long held some thoughts.
So, taking the opportunity today, she intended to give Liu Pingxiu some earnest advice.
Liu Pingxiu thought for a moment, "I will have a good talk with my husband. Actually, I’ve brought it up many times, but he’s always worried about his mother living alone, thinking it would be unfilial."
Wei Rong’s mother spoke loudly: "He’s inconveniencing his own wife and child to take care of his old mother, and that counts as filial piety? To me, such a man utterly lacks perspective. Better off without him."
After speaking, she realized her blunder and carefully glanced at Liu Pingxiu, "I’m sorry, big sister, I speak too quickly and say whatever comes to mind."
Liu Pingxiu glanced at her daughter lying in the hospital bed and shook her head.
"Let’s wait for Ruorui to wake up before anything else."
As evening fell, the hospital no longer allowed visitors to stay in the ward, and both sets of parents took their children home.
This visit hadn’t provided much information.
But Yue Qingqing had a vague feeling that this illness was not a natural disaster but a man-made one.