Card Room (Rebirth)

Ye Qi, “……”

He really wanted to vomit up blood!

Last time, the Beacon in Troubled Times secret room made him dress up as a girl in a brothel. This time, he directly shrank into a child? Did the keepers have a vendetta against him, bullying him like this?!

Ye Qi had thought he was having a nightmare when he woke up in the morning and saw his short arms and legs. There were children all around him, chattering, being noisy and crying from time to time. The doctors in white coats and nurses pushing treatment carts hurried through the corridor as Ye Qi sat on the bed in a dumbfounded manner.

Next was the routine hospital check…

A group of doctors hurried in, asked him questions for a while and then left like a whirlwind. Ye Qi realized that he was in a pediatric ward. The headboard of his bed read ‘Pediatrics Zone 1, Bed 7’ so it couldn’t be more obvious.

The background of this secret room was a hospital. Ye Qi thought that if the background was a hospital then Xiao Lou was very likely to be a doctor. Maybe he could find Xiao Lou in the pediatric ward. As a result, he ran through the entire ward and didn’t see any teammates. They were all strangers.

The nurse soon found that the child Ye Qi in ward 7 was walking around early in the morning. The child’s face was full of confusion like he hadn’t woken up and was lost. It was too cute. The nurse couldn’t help walking over to stop Ye Qi and remind him that he shouldn’t run around. Although the child’s pneumonia symptoms were under control, he hadn’t fully recovered. It would be very troublesome if an infection occurred.

Ye Qi calmed down and smiled at the nurse. “Nurse sister, can I ask you a question?”

The little boy had white skin and two cute dimples when he smiled. He was so polite and sensible that the nurse’s heart softened. She crouched down to look at him and her voice was gentle. “What do you want to ask?”

Ye Qi asked seriously, “In your hospital, is there a doctor called Xiao Lou?”

The nurse was startled. “Xiao Lou? He seems to be the chief resident of the general surgery department.” To be certain, she turned back to ask the head nurse. “Head nurse, is this year’s chief resident of the general surgery department Dr Xiao?”

“Yes, Chen Yuqing in bed 18 just called for a surgical consultation.”

The nurse looked back at Ye Qi. “There is this person in the hospital. Why are you looking for Dr Xiao?”

Ye Qi was joyful after hearing Xiao Lou’s whereabouts and continued to maintain a child’s innocent smile. “Uncle Xiao is a good friend of my father. He often comes to my house and I know him very well.”

The nurse smiled. “I see. He’ll come here for a pediatric consultation later.”

Ye Qi had already noticed when the head nurse had said it just now. A surgical consultation was called for Chen Yuqing in bed 18.

He turned and ran to bed 18. He saw a little girl with a pale face and sweat on her face. Her parents were accompanying her by the bed. They saw Ye Qi curiously coming over and the young woman was puzzled. “Child, who are you looking for?”

It wasn’t good for Ye Qi to stay in other people’s rooms. In order to avoid causing suspicion, he smiled and scratched his head. “Auntie, I went the wrong way.”

At present, he hadn’t found his other teammates and as a child, he couldn’t go out of the pediatrics ward.

Xiao Lou was the only clue he had so he would wait for Xiao Lou. Thinking of this, Ye Qi turned and left. He found the place with the best view in the corridor and sat down, waiting for Xiao Lou to come.

Xiao Lou was wondering about Ye Qi’s age when he received a call requesting a surgical consultation for a little girl called Chen Yuqing in pediatrics.

The last name he typed into the computer was ‘Shao Qingge’ but nothing showed up after pressing the enter key. Xiao Lou frowned in a worried manner. “Everyone else has been found but there is no information about Chief Shao in the hospital.”

Yu Hanjiang made a guess. “Will Chief Shao have the setting of a wealthy businessman again? Perhaps his relationship with the hospital is on the financial side?”

Those who had economic links to the hospital were medicine suppliers, equipment suppliers etc. However, thinking about Yu Hanjiang’s cardiac arrest, Long Sen’s broken leg, Old Mo’s acute intestinal obstruction, Liu Qiao’s blood disease and Qu Wanyue’s immune disease, Xiao Lou always felt that the keepers wouldn’t be so benevolent as to let Chief Shao be a money man in this secret room.

He was silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll go to the pediatrics department to find Ye Qi first. I will check the information of Chief Shao later.”

There was no case information so perhaps Chief Shao hadn’t been admitted to the hospital.

Yu Hanjiang spoke in a low voice in his mind. “Find all our teammates and make an appointment with everyone. After the ward rests tonight, we will enter the Peach Blossom Spring together at midnight. I have to say that this case might not be that simple.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Okay, I’ll go find them first.”

The pediatric ward had called for a consultation. Xiao Lou took the elevator to the pediatric ward on the 10th floor.

The moment he entered the ward, he saw a familiar-looking little boy sitting in the corridor and looking around. The boy had short hair and was wearing a blue and white checkered gown. His face looked a bit pale due to illness but his eyes were clear. They flashed brightly when he saw Xiao Lou and he immediately ran over.

Xiao Lou looked at the kid who was only up to his thigh and didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “…Ye Qi?”

Ye Qi nodded vigorously. He showed a frustrated expression on his face as he said, “I’ve become smaller.”

Xiao Lou, “……”

Anyone would feel flustered at the keepers changing the age and suddenly becoming smaller. However, the Ye Qi in front of him was too cute with a tender face and some baby fat. Xiao Lou couldn’t help reaching out to gently rub little Ye Qi’s hair. “Don’t worry, everyone in the secret room is sick this time. You became smaller while Old Mo got older.”

Ye Qi stared at him. “You mean Uncle Mo became Grandpa Mo?”

Xiao Lou felt helpless. “Group Leader Yu just finished surgery and can’t get out of bed, Long Sen has a broken leg, Liu Qiao and Teacher Qu are also sick…”

In comparison, he was lucky to simply be smaller.

Ye Qi was concerned. “What about Chief Shao?”’

Xiao Lou frowned. “I can’t find his information. By the way, is the other Qin Guan card in your hands or his?”

Ye Qi answered, “All the copied cards are in his hands.”

In this secret room, there were two cards that could be used to find their teammates.

First, Qin Guan’s Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. This could establish a mind connection with the designated teammate. Xiao Lou had already connected to Yu Hanjiang. It was only after the skill was refreshed at midnight that he could change the target to try and connect with Chief Shao. The other Qin Guan card was with Shao Qingge. They wouldn’t be able to use it to find him unless Shao Qingge took the initiative to connect to Ye Qi.

The second method was Li Qingzhao’s Who Sent the Brocade from Beyond the Clouds. This allowed them to send letters to designated teammates.

Xiao Lou thought about it. “I will go back to the general surgery department and find a place with no one present to summon Li Qingzhao and send a letter to Chief Shao. Xiao Ye, please go back to the ward first and stay in bed at midnight tonight. Don’t fall asleep. I will use the Peach Blossom Spring to summon everyone. Group Leader Yu wants to talk about the case.”

Ye Qi nodded. Once he turned around and found the nurse looking at him, Ye Qi immediately smiled and said, “Goodbye Uncle Xiao.”

“…Yes.”

The nurse saw Dr Xiao and Ye Qi chatting in the corridor. Since Ye Qi said that Uncle Xiao was his father’s good friend, no one had any doubts. They just thought that Dr Xiao was concerned about Ye Qi’s condition.

Xiao Lou smiled politely at the curious nurse and went to bed 18 to check the little girl who required a consultation.

The little girl’s name was Chen Yuqing and she was 7 years old. The reason for the surgical consultation was that she had abdominal pain. The ultrasound found a rare congenital gallstone. Xiao Lou carefully examined the case and suggested surgery as soon as possible. An appointment was made for the operating room tomorrow morning.

After dealing with this patient, Xiao Lou turned and left the pediatric ward. He went upstairs using the stairwell to find Liu Qiao.

The 9th floor of this building was the surgery department, the 10th floor was pediatrics and the 11th floor was the internal medicine department.

The general surgery department was on the 7th floor and Yu Hanjiang was staying in a VIP room there. Long Sen was staying on the 9th floor and Ye Qi was in the pediatrics department on the 10th floor. The hematology department where Liu Qiao was living was on the 11th floor, the rheumatology immunology department where Qu Wanyue was staying was on the 13th floor and the 15th floor was the endocrine department where Old Mo was staying.

Xiao Lou first went to the 11th floor to find Liu Qiao. He arrived and found that Liu Qiao wasn’t in bed. He called the nurse to ask and the other person said, “Liu Qiao has been sent for a bone marrow biopsy.”

A bone marrow biopsy was a common method to check for blood diseases. It sounded very painful but in fact, local anesthesia would be used before the insertion. As long as one wasn’t allergic to anesthetics, they generally wouldn’t feel too much severe pain. Xiao Lou believed that Liu Qiao was a strong girl and definitely wouldn’t be afraid of this pain.

He waited for a while at the door of the bone biopsy room. He saw Liu Qiao being pushed out, her face unusually pale.

After looking at Xiao Lou’s concerned gaze, Liu Qiao nodded at him to say she was fine. Xiao Lou followed Liu Qiao to the room. Once the doctors and nurses left, Liu Qiao asked lightly, “Professor Xiao, what is the situation now? Where are the others?”

Her voice was very weak. Xiao Lou reassured her, “Don’t worry, the others are also in the hospital and living in different wards. At present, only Chief Shao hasn’t been found.” He paused and asked with concern. “How is your body?”

Liu Qiao answered, “The doctor said it was aplastic anemia and the condition is more serious. He wants to arrange a stem cell transplant for me.”

Xiao Lou, “……”

Another operation? After the operation, Liu Qiao would be unable to move freely.

Liu Qiao’s face was very pale due to anemia but her voice was calm. “Don’t worry about me. The A-grade rooms will clear the data after going out and it doesn’t matter if I’m sick or not. I just don’t know what the secret room is this time. Why do we all have to be sick and hospitalized apart from you?”

Xiao Lou also wasn’t clear about it but he had a guess. “There should be something happening in the hospital which is why the keepers had all of us stay here. Don’t go to sleep at midnight tonight. I will open the Peach Blossom Spring to gather everyone so we can discuss it.”

Liu Qiao nodded to show her understanding. Xiao Lou talked to her a bit before leaving. He went to the rheumatology immunology department on the 13th floor to find Qu Wanyue.

He reached the 13th floor and had just entered through the door when he saw Qu Wanyue and Long Sen sitting in the corridor with ugly expressions. Long Sen was holding Qu Wanyue’s hand and speaking in a low voice as if to comfort her.

Xiao Lou had some doubts and quickly stepped forward. “Long Sen, why are you here?”

Lon smiled bitterly. “I am Wanyue’s family member and the doctor called me to come over and discuss her condition.”

Xiao Lou suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart…

The next moment, Qu Wanyue explained with a white face, “Professor Xiao, not only do I have systemic lupus erythematosus, the doctor said that I am also two months pregnant. Since my condition is active and needs medicine to control it, the doctor is worried that the medication will lead to fetal malformation. He suggested that after discussing it with my husband, I should terminate the pregnancy.”

Xiao Lou, “……”

Long Sen scolded angrily, “Those four bastards, why did they arrange such a messy setting? Wanyue and I don’t have children in reality yet there is inexplicably a child in the secret room? The doctor also asked Wanyue to terminate the pregnancy?!”

Qu Wanyue’s face was pale while Long Sen was so angry that the blue veins on the back of his hands bulged. He wanted to immediately go to the four keepers to beat them up.

Xiao Lou helplessly comforted the two people. “In the future, you will have a child that truly belongs to you. The A-level secret rooms will clear the data after going out. This child… can’t be taken out. Don’t be too sad.”

Qu Wanyue responded softly. “I know. I don’t mind the baby. We can postpone the operation. However, this time the secret room is a combination of four colors. The problem of survival won’t be as simple as surgery, right?”

Hearing this, a chill went down Xiao Lou’s back. He took a deep breath and looked at the couple. “Tell the doctor that the matter of the baby needs to be carefully considered. The operation can be delayed a few days. I am worried that if there is a team escape setting, it will be difficult for Teacher Qu to move if she has the operation.”

Qu Wanyue nodded. “I understand.”

Xiao Lou added, “At midnight, don’t fall asleep. Group Leader Yu and I will gather everyone.” He patted Long Sen’s shoulder and whispered in Long Sen’s ear, “The pregnancy might just be a secret room setting but Teacher Qu will definitely feel uncomfortable psychologically. You should accompany her more. If there is something then call me.”

Long Sen smiled bitterly. “I know, I’ll always be with her.”

Xiao Lou said goodbye to the Long Qu couple and hurried to the operating room. Old Mo’s surgery was just completed. Director Liu said it was a success and fortunately, it was found in a timely manner. Otherwise, the acute intestinal obstruction would’ve caused a large amount of intestinal ischemia and necrosis, making it difficult to deal with.

Xiao Lou sighed with relief.

Old Mo’s anesthetic was still working and his eyes were closed tightly. Xiao Lou and the nurse pushed the bed and sent Old Mo back to the endocrine department. He told Old Mo’s attending doctor some postoperative precautions before heading back to the general surgery department.

After entering the elevator, Xiao Lou closed his eyes and rubbed his painful temple.

The 66 year old Mo Xuemin, the 7 year old Ye Qi, the severely anemic Liu Qiao, Long Sen with a broken leg and the pregnant Qu Wanyue…

This was really a complete gathering of old, young, sick, disabled and pregnant!

The pressure on the only healthy Xiao Lou was really great.

Author’s note: This secret room should be renamed: Xiao Lou is very busy.

Proofreader: Fictional Reality