Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 248: The Seventeenth Hospital

Chapter 248: Chapter 248: The Seventeenth Hospital

"Hey, you there, the tall and long-legged young man!" Outside the rundown residential area, an old lady holding several bags of vegetables and fruits stood at the intersection shouting.

The hurrying passersby did not turn around, but the old lady spoke again, "The tall and handsome young fellow... not you two ugly freaks, the one in black clothes."

Two young men with ready smiles who had considered turning around to help walked away with dark faces, and Xu Huo turned his head with a slight smile, "Elder, were you calling me?"

The old lady’s eyes sparkled, "Yes, yes, it’s you. What a handsome young man you are, with such a nice face. You look like a good fellow. Can you give me a hand and help me carry these things?"

Xu Huo walked over to pick up the items, supporting her arm with one hand, "Elder, where do you live?"

"Just ahead in the Hongxing Residential Area." The old lady held his hand, her face crinkling with a smile, "I don’t know which no-good son of a tortoise stole my little grocery cart, leaving me to buy groceries with my old arms and legs, nearly throwing my back out."

"Nowadays, kind-hearted young men like you are hard to find. If my grandson were still alive, he would surely be as tall as you and just as kind-hearted."

"That’s not true; there are still plenty of good people around." Xu Huo said with a laugh, "I saw some people just now who also wanted to help you."

The old lady tightened her grip on his hand without letting go, "They had bad faces; I didn’t care for them. I like you. How old are you, young man? Are you married? If my granddaughter were still alive, I would definitely introduce her to you. She was so pretty, already a beauty when she was just a teenager, and many neighbors wanted to betroth their children to her!"

Xu Huo helped her into the residential area and walked towards Building Three under her direction.

"Young man, I haven’t seen you around here before; you don’t live nearby, do you? Are you visiting relatives here?" The old lady looked at him affectionately.

"I’m here looking for someone. I heard that a famous psychiatrist, a well-known professor, lives in the Hongxing Residential Area. Have you heard of him?" Xu Huo asked.

"No!" The old lady tossed his hand away, her expression fluctuating between disdain and a smile, and then she bent over clutching her lower back, "Ow, I can’t walk anymore; I can’t climb up to the sixth floor!"

Xu Huo glanced at the elevator, which was out of order, and said, "Do you want me to carry you up?"

"You think you can carry me?" The old lady waved her hand, "I’m not naive. Nowadays, you young people can neither shoulder nor hand lift a thing. Instead of helping when outsiders come in, you loot in the midst of chaos, good for nothing."

She handed Xu Huo five yuan, "Go, buy me a bottle of drink from outside the residential area, the kind of functional drink that young people like to drink."

Xu Huo put the items down and had walked some distance when he heard the old lady, in a lowered voice, calling someone on the phone. He smiled faintly and went to the supermarket to buy a drink. When returning, he happened to meet a slight, hunched old man walking by with a cane.

He tapped the man’s shoulder, "Director Lin."

"You... you... you’ve got the wrong person! Professor Lin lives in Building Six..." The old man stooped and stared at the ground as he tried to walk away.

Xu Huo grabbed his shoulder, "I need to talk to you about something, don’t rush off."

"Let go of me, you stinking loan shark!" The old lady swung a bag of groceries at him and then told the old man, "Old thing, you run fast! I’m old enough that I don’t believe they’d dare do anything to me!"

Xu Huo dodged the flying objects and caught the old lady to prevent her from falling, but she deliberately sat down on the ground, wailing, "Help! The loan sharks are bullying an old person!"

Some passersby nearby seemed unsurprised at the sight, with some already taking out their phones.

"I’m not here to collect usurious debts," Xu Huo said. "Director Lin, I was treated at your hospital twenty years ago."

Only then did the old man straighten up to look at him, scrutinizing him for a while before saying, "I remember you, you’re... Xu... Xu... Xu Huo! You were a very smart kid!"

"After twenty years, you still remember what I looked like?" Xu Huo said, quite surprised.

"The few children who were admitted to that hospital back then were all exceptionally smart, it’s difficult to forget them," the old man said, helping his wife to her feet and dusting her off. "It’s alright now, he’s a former patient of mine."

The old lady’s face broke into a smile again as she took Xu Huo’s hand. "You’ve grown into such a handsome young man. If my granddaughter were still alive, I’d have you as my grandson-in-law for sure. Are you hungry? I’ll cook a couple of dishes for you, come and have dinner at our place."

"He came specifically to see us, he must have a meal," Professor Lin said with a chuckle. "Go upstairs first and start the rice, we’ll be right up."

The old lady walked away happily.

Turning back to Xu Huo, Professor Lin said, "Don’t take it to heart, her son and daughter-in-law died young, and after her grandchildren left, she became like this. But she’s getting by, all things considered."

Xu Huo carried the items and followed him up the stairs, looking at the dirty and disordered stairwell. "Why do you live here?"

Professor Lin turned to look at him. "You didn’t know, I stopped being the director a long time ago."

"Over ten years ago, after I resigned from Seventeenth Hospital, I never again held a post in any hospital. After so many years in the medical field, seeing the warmth and coldness of human relations and life and death, I didn’t want to continue..."

"I heard you were fired from the original hospital for repeated alcohol abuse," Xu Huo stared at him expressionlessly.

Professor Lin, embarrassed, scratched his thinning hair. "Is that so? Ah, I can’t remember anymore in my old age."

"Because of your history, no hospital was willing to employ you afterward. I want to know who it was that hired you to be the director of Seventeenth Hospital," Xu Huo said.

"I don’t know about that. I only heard his surname was Zhu, and he was a businessman. His secretary was the one who handled my contract and salary, I’ve never met him in person," Professor Lin said.

By the time their conversation ended, the two had arrived at the sixth floor. The old lady was waiting at the door, taking the items from Xu Huo’s hand and inviting him to take a seat and have some tea while she went to the kitchen to cook.

Although Xu Huo had anticipated that the old couple might not be living well, he didn’t expect them to be so poor. Their home was almost completely bare, not even a proper dining table, just a few plastic stools placed by the coffee table.

"Please sit, please sit," Director Lin said, wiping non-existent sweat from his forehead. "Are you here to find out who funded the establishment of Seventeenth Hospital? You might as well ask at the hospital; the current director should know."

"Seventeenth Hospital has disappeared," Xu Huo said. "Not just the hospital building, but any record relating to it as well."

"I’ve checked the records of patients transferred to Seventeenth Hospital, and during the years the hospital existed, there would’ve been exchanges of patients with other hospitals and institutions. Normally, these places would all have records, but now there’s nothing to be found. I’ve also seen the archived files of those transferred patients, and regarding the hospital, that part is blank."