The Film Emperor Is Sick, I have No Cure - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Xing Cheng still left in the end.

Lu Danggui remembered that when he was brought to the hospital after the car accident, he had fractures in both legs and his left arm, severe soft tissue bruising around the neck, and varying degrees of impact injuries to other parts of his body.

The hospital admission system showed that after over a month of hospitalization, most of his injuries had largely healed, but long-term rehabilitation was still needed for full recovery of physical function.

Only after checking the inpatient department’s database did Lu Danggui realize, not even the name this man registered under was his real name.

Even though his physical condition didn’t meet the discharge standards, he still left with a casual, unrestrained air, not leaving behind a single trace, not taking even a sliver of cloud with him.

Even the black card Lu Danggui had placed on the bedside table was left untouched. As if once something had been given away, he couldn’t even be bothered to take it back.

Not every butterfly’s wing flap triggers a ripple effect. The loss of one inpatient just meant one less task for the medical staff. The rehabilitation department continued to operate smoothly, no different from before.

Except for Lu Danggui.

Due to the excessive amount involved, he ultimately did not accept the full compensation Xing Cheng had paid to the hospital. He only took the portion that met the formal compensation standard, leaving the rest for the hospital to use as funding for the future development of the psychiatry department.

It took Director Wang quite a while to process the fact that their department suddenly had such a huge sum of income.

Not long after Lu Danggui returned to work, Director Wang brought him into a private consultation room in the psychiatry department that had a balcony.

“Xiao Lu.”

Director Wang’s tone held a faint awkwardness.
“With that large sum coming into our department this time… a big part of it is actually thanks to you.”

Saying it out loud, he felt like the words didn’t sit quite right.

After all, that compensation had come from an incident that happened while Lu Danggui was attending to a patient outside the hospital, an incident that nearly cost him his life.

Was he, the department head, really supposed to commend a subordinate doctor for getting injured on duty?

Thinking of that, Director Wang gave a couple of dry coughs.
“In any case, we don’t really have anything substantial to reward or compensate you with. After some internal discussion, the department decided to assign you a new workspace. You’ll be receiving patients here from now on, it might be more convenient.”

The room with the balcony was somewhat similar in layout to the top-floor specialist consultation rooms. A few pots of vibrant green plants sat in the corners, and it was fully furnished with desks, chairs, and a sofa set.

Lu Danggui noticed that there was a brand-new nameplate sitting on the desk:

[S University Affiliated Hospital — Department of Psychiatry
Practicing Physician / Lu Danggui]

He picked up the plaque and wiped the clear plastic cover with his fingers, revealing the photo underneath more clearly.

In his memory, the photo had been taken at a photocopy shop near the gate on the day he officially got hired.

The version of himself in the picture had eyes bright and full of life, as if glowing. The white coat he wore looked crisp and neat, because Wenfei had specifically gotten up the night before to iron it for him.

Standing behind Lu Danggui, Director Wang gave him a kind smile and said,

“Xiao Lu, from now on, this will be your consultation room.”

—

In the two weeks that followed, Lu Danggui was busier than before, but the busyness didn’t feel bad.

His information was officially entered into the hospital’s online appointment system. Some patients who couldn’t get expert or director slots began booking appointments with him instead.

Even though his profile in the system was brief and listed relatively far down, there were still patients who arrived on time early every morning.

Over the course of two weeks, after seeing more than a dozen patients, Lu Danggui gradually noticed something odd.

Eighty percent of the patients who booked his consultations were women. And among these women, the majority were college students, mostly from the nearby S University.

“Miss, could you please describe your symptoms in more detail?”

“I… I haven’t been sleeping well lately…”

The girl’s hands were tightly clasped together, and her voice was barely audible.
“Dr. Lu, can you… do hypnosis here?”

“……”

Lu Danggui gently and patiently explained,
“I’m sorry, but hypnosis isn’t covered in our outpatient clinic and isn’t really suitable for general sleep disorder patients. I suggest starting with medication treatment. If that doesn’t achieve the desired results, we can consider clinical intervention later.”

“Oh… I see…”

The girl stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye, then lowered her head and said nothing more.

The next day.

“Your insomnia may simply be due to irregular sleep habits. You probably don’t need medication yet, just try adjusting your routine a bit.”

Lu Dangui smiled at the girl in front of him and began writing up the medical record.

“Then, doctor, if we’re not doing meds, can you hypnotize me?”

This girl was more outgoing than the one from yesterday, her eye-catching pink punk-style hair stood out. She dragged her chair closer to his desk.
“My roommates are so noisy. I haven’t been able to sleep well lately, please, I’m begging you.”

Lu Danggui’s pen paused mid-air, though the smile on his face remained unchanged.
“Hypnosis?”

Seeing the confusion in the doctor’s eyes, the punk girl shook with laughter.
“Forget it, I can’t keep the act up anymore.”

“Doctor, to tell you the truth, I’m in the same department as Wenfei. She said her brother just started taking patients, so we should all come support him.” The girl had no hesitation in selling out her friend.

“She said you’re handsome, your voice is super nice, and when you tell sleep stories it’s like live-action ASMR. Super effective for falling asleep. Said if any of us were struggling with sleep, staying up too late, or wanted to forget an ex, we should all come find you.”

Lu Danggui: “……”

“So I won’t beat around the bush,” the punk girl pulled out her phone and waved it at him.
“Let’s exchange contacts, handsome. Should I scan you, or do you scan me?”

After seeing the pink-haired girl off, Lu Danggui immediately dialed his sister’s number.

Only to be mercilessly hung up on by Lu Wenfei.

A moment later, he received a text from her, an apology message.

Feifei:

[Ge, I really know I was wrong!!]

Danggui:

[Wait until you get home> I’ll grant you a real hypnotic experience.]

Feifei: [QAQ]

—

Two weeks later, on a weekday afternoon, Lu Danggui saw a new patient—a fourteen-year-old girl.

She was accompanied by her mother. According to the mother, they had previously consulted at other hospitals, but later heard that the affiliated hospital of S University had a good reputation, so they transferred here.

The girl had dimples on her cheeks and seemed a bit shy, but her smile was sweet. She clung closely to her mother, holding a purple lavender-scented teddy bear in her arms.

When Lu Danggui opened the medical record handed to him by the girl’s mother, a trace of solemnity flickered in his eyes.

This girl, who looked so cute and well-behaved, was diagnosed with moderate-to-severe depression.

The mother quietly closed the door behind her to give the doctor and her daughter space to talk in private.

She had taken her daughter to several hospitals before, but none of the consultations went particularly well.

Most of the doctors had recommended inpatient treatment, which the girl was firmly against.

While registering online on the affiliated hospital’s website, her daughter had seen the photo of this doctor, pointed to the screen, and insisted on booking an appointment with him.

This Doctor Lu was the youngest practicing psychiatrist in the department. Though he was relatively junior, he seemed gentle and approachable, maybe he would be easier for her daughter to talk to.

After some hesitation, the mother went ahead and booked the appointment.

“Jingjing—is that your name?”

Looking up from the medical record, Lu Danggui pointed to the stuffed toy in the girl’s arms and smiled at her:
“Would you introduce your friend to me?”

Hearing the question, Jian Jingjing was momentarily stunned, then pursed her lips slightly.

She lifted the purple teddy bear’s paw and gently waved it at him:
“Her name is Qiaoqiao. Qiaoqiao, say hi to the doctor.”

After the greeting, Jian Jingjing sat down on the sofa in the consultation room and carefully straightened the hem of her dress.

When she finished adjusting it, she placed Qiaoqiao on the sofa beside her, adjusted the toy’s posture, then twisted her hands together and lowered her head.

Footsteps approached. The hem of a white coat appeared in her peripheral vision.

Jian Jingjing slowly lifted her gaze and saw Doctor Lu crouching down in front of her, holding out his hand.

In his palm were two pieces of White Rabbit milk candy.

“They’re sweet,” Lu Danggui said gently to Jian Jingjing.
“One for you, and one for Qiaoqiao. No sneaking both for yourself, okay?”

Jian Jingjing took the milk candy from Lu Dangui’s hand and placed one piece into the small pocket on her teddy bear’s outfit.

“Doctor, Qiaoqiao is something dead.”

After a while, she suddenly spoke, “Even if you give her candy, she won’t eat it. Left in the pocket, it’ll just rot.”

Every doctor who had treated her had tried to build a bridge of communication. But very few ever truly understood what she was really thinking.

She believed she wasn’t sick, the world was sick.

Everyone who was alive was abnormal. Only she and Qiaoqiao weren’t.

So during consultations, she would always repeat the same few sentences to the doctor:

Everything will rot.

It will all go bad.

No one can escape punishment.

She stared at the young doctor in front of her, silently waiting for his response.

Lu Danggui didn’t flinch or look away. He met Jian Jingjing’s gaze directly, a faintly apologetic smile on his face:
“Qiaoqiao’s been by your side for so long, she deserves a reward. Sorry, all I have are milk candies.”

Hearing that, Jian Jingjing blinked and said nothing.

After a while, she stopped swinging her legs at the edge of the sofa, then reached her hand out to him, showing him a pair of sweet dimples.
“Doctor Lu, I’ll be in your care.”

He had passed the little test she’d given him.

—

An hour later, Jian Jingjing pushed open the consultation room door.

Mrs. Jian, deeply worried for her daughter, was nearly in tears when she learned her child had finally agreed to be hospitalized.

She had taken her to so many hospitals, only to come back empty-handed each time. Her daughter had always resisted systematic treatment in a hospital setting, she never expected her to change her mind this time.

As they stepped into the elevator, Jian Jingjing clutched her purple teddy bear’s hand and asked it softly:

“Qiaoqiao, did you hear what he said?”

In the reflection on the elevator wall, she seemed to see Qiaoqiao snuggled in her arms, gently blinking.

—

After Jian Jingjing left, Lu Danggui sat at his desk, carefully organizing all of her case information.

The patient had agreed to treatment, everything after that would be much easier. But her situation was complex and couldn’t be rushed.

He decided to stay late today and go over the cases he had handled during his internship, in case any of them might prove useful.

Looking at the smiling girl on the computer screen, he thought again of that person.

Also his patient, one, still young and tender, yet already filled with disillusionment toward the world; the other, experienced and polished, but with a growing self-loathing he couldn’t hide.

If it hadn’t been for that person, he wouldn’t be sitting in this private consultation room today, treating patients of his own.

But he had already given up on treatment. No one knew where he was now, or whether he was still enduring the dual torment of physical injury and mental suffering.

That man had looked him dead in the eye and said with certainty:
Doctor, I’m beyond saving.

—

Outside the window, the setting sun dyed half the sky red, it was time to get off work again.

Since he had decided to stay late, Lu Danggui opened his phone contacts, planning to order takeout from a nearby restaurant.

Just as he dialed the number, a nurse suddenly knocked on the consultation room door:
“Doctor Lu, there’s a man surnamed Xing at the front desk. He said he’s here to see you.”

Before the nurse could finish reacting, Lu Danggui had already hung up the phone and gotten up from his desk, striding quickly toward the door.

He drew in a deep breath, heart pounding fast in his chest, completely unaware that his steps were growing quicker and quicker.

Ran off faster than anyone else, now you decide to show up again?

Patients like this who refused to cooperate with treatment deserved a lesson. Only then would they understand how important it was.

But as soon as he caught sight of the tall, familiar figure leaning casually against the railing, Lu Danggui stormed up and shouted,
“Xing—”

Something wasn’t right.

He came to an abrupt halt.

Just two weeks ago, this man had still been half-disabled.
How was he suddenly able to walk into the hospital like this?

Hearing hurried footsteps behind him, the man by the railing put down his phone and turned around.

Seeing the little doctor now standing just a few steps away, a smile appeared on his handsome face:

“Danggui, long time no see.”

—
ASMR – Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response