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

The voice message on the screen hasn't been opened yet.

Nineteen seconds.

Lin Ye stood beside the triage desk, his thumb resting on the play button. Ma Hao had just finished clipping Hu Qingsheng's triage record and peeked at it.

"Aunt?"

"Um."

Nurse Zhu was putting the thermometer back on the tray without looking up.

"Call back the home number if you need to. Ten minutes, don't dawdle. I'll call you back if there's a red number."

Ma Hao stood up.

"Sister Zhu is so kind."

"Come on." Nurse Zhu pressed down the next blank triage slip. "You two go out to eat. If they're not back in ten minutes, I'll have security go to the back door to get them out."

The back entrance of the hospital is quieter than the lobby.

Dinner time had passed, but a few small shops in the alley were still open. The plastic curtain outside the noodle shop swayed in the wind, and the proprietress, seeing their white coats, asked first, "Two bowls again?"

Ma Hao responded quickly.

"Two bowls, with plenty of scallions. Don't make Lin's bowl too spicy; he still needs to pretend to be composed when he gets back."

Lin Ye ignored him and turned on the voice message.

His mother's voice came through the receiver, very low, as if she didn't want to disturb him at work.

"Xiao Ye, are you working the night shift again tonight? I don't have anything to say, just wanted to ask if you've eaten. Your dad went to get his blood pressure checked this afternoon, and it was over 150. I told him to eat less salty food, but he complained that I was nagging. Call me back if you have time, otherwise it's okay."

As the voice message was about to end, she added another sentence.

"Did the socks I sent you last time arrive?"

The water in the pot was boiling loudly. The proprietress scooped out the noodles, and the plastic bowl was so hot that Ma Hao had to turn it back and forth between his hands.

"The auntie asked if I had eaten?"

"Um."

"Then hurry up and take the photos." Ma Hao placed two bowls of noodles on the small table. "You need to have all the evidence. The way your family is asking these questions makes it clear that they already suspect you of making false declarations over a long period of time."

Lin Ye took a picture and sent it over.

In the photo, two bowls of noodles are placed on a small table, with Ma Hao's chopsticks lying across the edge of the bowls.

My mother called shortly after.

"mom."

"Is this what you call dinner?"

"This is the only fast food restaurant near the back door."

"Even eating quickly is better than not eating at all," Mother said. "Eat first, don't just listen to me."

Lin Ye held the phone to his ear and picked up a mouthful of noodles.

"Your dad's blood pressure was over 150 this afternoon. I'll take him to the community health center to have it checked again tomorrow. Don't worry, I'm watching him take his medicine."

"Where's the pickled vegetable?"

"I put it away," the mother said. "He even asked me if I threw it away."

Ma Hao, who was eating noodles with his head down, heard this and muttered softly, "Uncle is so genuine."

Lin Ye tapped the rim of his bowl with his chopsticks.

"Don't keep those socks from last time," Mother said again. "Throw them away when they're worn out, don't be reluctant to part with them."

"Okay, Mom."

"Also, your second aunt asked you today if you're going home this weekend. Her cousin's child is getting married, and she saved you a seat. I told her you might not be available."

Lin Ye swallowed the noodles in his mouth.

"I'll check the schedule. I'll go back if I can."

The mother chuckled on the other end of the line.

"I can recite that sentence from memory."

Ma Hao's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and his face immediately scrunched up.

Lin Ye looked at him.

"catch."

"My mom," Ma Hao said in a low voice, "is probably going to be the same old three things again: a promotion, a raise, and a boyfriend."

"Then you should accept it even more."

Ma Hao glared at him, but still answered the phone.

"Mom, I'm eating. Really eating, it's noodles from the place behind the hospital, not instant noodles. Lin Ye is here too. Don't always compare me to him, he hasn't been promoted yet."

Ma Hao took half a step to the side with his bowl, pretending nothing had happened.

The mother heard the noise on the other end of the phone.

"Is Little Ma here too?"

"Um."

"Then you two keep an eye on each other," the mother said. "Don't each try to outlast the other."

"No, Mom."

Chen Kai's message popped up at that moment.

Class reunion on Saturday, are you coming? Don't say you're on duty again.

Before Lin Ye could return, a second one caught up.

If you don't show up soon, the group will almost assume you've registered at the emergency room.

Lin Ye replied with three words using one hand: "It depends on the schedule."

Chen Kai responded even faster.

Your "check the schedule" is the same as my wife saying "I'll wash the dishes right away."

Lin Ye couldn't help but chuckle.

The mother asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"Hahaha, just joking around with my classmates."

"It's good to have someone to banter with," the mother said. "Don't just talk to the patients all day long."

Lin Ye hummed in agreement, and just as his chopsticks touched the rim of his bowl, Nurse Zhu called.

"Mom, the department is urging me, I'll hang up now."

"Go ahead," the mother said. "If there's leftovers, so be it. Don't rush to eat them."

"Um."

Lin Ye hung up his mother's call and answered Nurse Zhu's call.

Someone on the phone interrupted, saying, "I was here first," before Nurse Zhu could be heard speaking.

"Ten minutes are almost up. Are you two going to eat, or are you helping someone set up a stall at the back door?"

Ma Hao immediately shoveled the last two bites of noodles into his mouth and mumbled, "Right away!"

"Don't choke," Nurse Zhu said. "If you choke at the back door, no one will write a work injury report for you."

The phone hangs up.

Lin Ye ate a few more mouthfuls, not even bothering to drink the soup.

As soon as the emergency room door opened, the smells of disinfectant, wet mops, and minty fever-reducing patches mingled together, along with the smell of a boxed lunch that someone had just opened.

Nurse Zhu had already placed a new triage slip on the table.

"I have pain in my lower right abdomen. My family says I ate something bad."

Ma Hao had just swallowed his drink when he almost choked on his words.

After washing his hands, Lin Ye walked back to the triage desk.

"Let him speak for himself first."