When I'm on the night shift, all the department heads can't sleep.

It was past eight o'clock when the shift handover actually ended.

Qin Hai shoved the last consultation form into the hands of the day shift doctor and turned to shoo him away.

"Alright, those on the night shift, stop standing around. Go to sleep or get out of here. Anyone who tries to gravitate towards the red zone again, I'll make them work the next night shift."

Ma Hao originally wanted to ask about Jiang Xiaoning's blood energy, but upon hearing the word "connected," he immediately shut his mouth.

Nurse Li walked past the treatment cart, carrying a half-full bag of trash in her hand.

"Before you two leave, take those two empty lunchboxes out of the duty room. Whoever ate them last night can take responsibility; don't let them ferment by this afternoon."

Ma Hao looked at Lin Ye.

"I didn't eat my lunchbox last night."

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"I don't have any either."

Nurse Li stopped.

"That means neither of you ate. You should leave even more."

After she finished speaking, she returned to the nurses' station. The phone rang, and the end of her sentence was swallowed by the ringing.

As Lin Ye and Ma Hao emerged from the emergency room, the wind outside made Lin Ye realize how painfully empty his stomach felt.

Ma Hao stood on the steps and touched his stomach.

"I can eat a whole cow right now."

Lin Ye glanced at him.

"You didn't even finish a whole bucket of instant noodles last night."

"That's a problem with the noodles," Ma Hao said. "It's not my problem."

The breakfast stall behind the hospital has opened.

Steam billowed from the steamer, and the proprietress, while serving buns, called out to the people in line to scan the QR code and not to push. Two caregivers, carrying soy milk, leaned against their electric scooter and chatted about whose elderly relative had been causing trouble all night.

Lin Ye stood at the back of the line, smelling the steam from the steamer, his mind still blank.

Ma Hao was very decisive.

"Two meat buns, one tea egg, and a bowl of tofu pudding. What about you?"

Lin Ye looked around.

"Same."

Are you sure?

"The same goes for uncertainty."

Ma Hao chuckled, then yawned halfway through his laugh.

The proprietress put the buns into a bag.

"Are you two working the night shift again?"

Ma Hao paid by scanning the QR code.

"You noticed all of that?"

"His eyes are practically growing up to his steamed bun."

Ma Hao took the bag and whispered to Lin Ye, "She's better at treating patients than Teacher Qin."

Lin Ye didn't reply.

He sat down at a small table outside the breakfast stall. When the tofu pudding was served, the steam hit his face, and he realized his hands were cold.

As the heat dissipated, Lin Ye was reminded of Lu Jiashu's reddened eyes.

Lin Ye scooped up a spoonful of tofu pudding but didn't put it in his mouth immediately.

Ma Hao took a bite of the steamed bun and hissed as it was scalding hot.

"What are you thinking about now?"

"It's nothing."

"That's the scariest thing you said." Ma Hao blew on the steamed bun. "You said it was nothing, but then I started to feel like someone nearby had a problem with their platelets."

Lin Ye then took a bite.

The tofu pudding was a bit salty.

"If that child had continued to stuff paper into his mouth at school last night, who knows how much more blood he would have lost by the time he came back in the morning."

Ma Hao didn't crack any jokes this time.

He put the buns back into the bag.

"At first I also thought it was just a nosebleed."

"Didn't you have your gums bleeding after getting a filling?"

"I noticed his lips were red when he spoke," Ma Hao said. "I might have let him sit outside and massage me a little longer before. But I don't dare to now."

Lin Ye put down the plastic spoon.

"Not daring to do something isn't all bad."

Ma Hao looked at him.

"If Teacher Qin heard this, he would make you write an 800-word reflection."

"Then don't tell him."

"I'm not stupid."

The two ate quietly for a while.

Ma Hao's phone vibrated twice.

After he finished reading it, his face fell.

"The residency training group notified us that we need to sign in for skills training at 3 PM. Who set 3 PM? Are people who just finished their night shifts inhuman?"

Lin Ye also took out his phone.

A string of unread messages.

The messages included a residency training group, a department group, two WeChat messages from my mother, and a package pickup code.

He first opened his mother's WeChat.

The first message was posted around 11 PM last night: Still at work?

The second message is at 6:30 in the morning: reply when you see this message, don't be so busy that you don't eat.

Lin Ye stared at the two lines of text for a few seconds and replied: Just got off work, eating, going to sleep later.

The mother replied almost instantly.

In short: Good.

Then came the comment: "Don't always stay up too late and ruin your health."

Lin Ye placed his phone face down on the table.

Ma Hao is still criticizing skills training.

"Let me tell you, I can fall asleep sitting up at 3 PM. When the teacher asks me about the depth of CPR, I'll just answer 'two steamed buns.'"

Lin Ye said, "Five to six centimeters."

Ma Hao stared at him for a long time.

"Brother Lin, you're really hopeless."

By the end of breakfast, half a bowl of tofu pudding had gone cold.

Ma Hao put the tea egg into the pocket of his white coat, took a few steps, and then took it out again.

"No, it'll just taste like braised eggs if you leave it in there for a while."

Lin Ye put the empty bowl back into the recycling bin.

The two walked along the back wall of the hospital toward their dormitory.

The morning rush hour has begun, with electric bikes passing by one after another on the roadside. Some people are carrying groceries, some are leading their children to school, and delivery drivers are stopped at red lights, looking down at the orders on their phones.

Looking at the line of cars, Ma Hao lowered his voice and said, "If Tian Jianjun really is going to drive today, it will be around this time."

Lin Ye did not answer.

When the red light turns green, the electric bikes move forward together.

When they turned into the dormitory building, there was a smell of laundry detergent in the hallway, and someone's shoes were placed at the door, almost blocking half of the way.

Ma Hao used his toes to push the shoe aside.

"Whose is this? It's the murder of the night shift doctor."

Clothes that had been confiscated were hanging on the upper bunk, and training textbooks were spread out on the table. The charging cable that Ma Hao hadn't taken with him last night dangled to the floor. The curtains weren't fully drawn, and the room was dimly lit.

Ma Hao threw himself onto the chair.

"Let me make this clear first: wake me up for the training this afternoon. If you don't, I might sleep until tomorrow."

Lin Ye took off his coat.

"Set your own alarm clock."

"Is this how cold-hearted brothers are?"

"Brothers don't cover for each other when they're late."

Ma Hao cursed him for being heartless, but still set three alarms.

Lin Ye went to wash his face.

He only felt a wave of drowsiness when the cold water touched his eyelids.

The person in the mirror had bluish under-eyes and dry lips.

He dried his face, returned to the bedside, and his phone vibrated again.

This time it was sent by Qin Hai.

3:30 PM, demonstration room.

Zhou Min and the quality control office also came.

Bring along the verification forms for the high-risk leads from last night.

Also, remember not to wear slippers.

After reading it, Lin Ye stared at the last few words for a few seconds.

Ma Hao had already half-reclined in the chair, his eyelids almost closing.

Who is it?

Lin Ye placed his phone next to his pillow.

"Teacher Qin, please ask me to go to the demonstration room at 3:30 this afternoon."

Ma Hao asked with his eyes closed.

"To be scolded or to receive an award?"

Lin Ye lay down, and the ceiling flickered in front of him.

"have no idea."

He pulled the blanket up to his chest.

"But Teacher Qin said, don't wear slippers."

Ma Hao chuckled in a daze.

That's probably not a good thing.

Lin Ye didn't say anything more.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.