As night fell, Shan City was enveloped in a vast darkness. The stars in the sky looked as small and dense as dust, and the light among the lofty mountains shone like rainbows. It was a prosperous scene of flourishing age.
In Shan City Medical University.
At 18 sharp, Ning Tao discreetly tucked an acceptance letter into his pants pocket and walked out of the entrance guard room. With his back to the magnificent classroom building and facing the street in front of the gate, he stood upright on the duty platform for guards.
This was the last time he took over other's shift.
"Mom, dad, your son didn't disappoint you. I will go to the Affiliated Hospital of Shan City Medical University tomorrow and start my internship. Are you happy for me?" Ning Tao murmured in his heart as he looked up at the vast sky, as if he had seen the faces of his father and mother who had died in a car accident four years ago.
At this time, a BMW 745Li slowly came towards the school gate.
Casting a glance at the license plate, Ning Tao recognized it was Yang Hai's car.
Yang Hai was his classmate, who did nothing but evil relying on his rich family.
Ning Tao only took a glimpse at the car before he looked up at the classroom building, where it seemed that someone was calling him.
However, the BMW 745Li stopped beside Ning Tao and the car window opened. Yang Hai in a Mohawk leaned out of the passenger seat and looked at Ning Tao with a smile on his face. "Hi, Ning Tao, we are old classmates. Why don't you say hello when you see me?" He asked.
Ning Tao managed a weak smile at the corner of his mouth, and replied, "Hi, Yang Hai, are you going out?"
At this time, a girl from the front passenger seat leant to Yang Hai, put her face on Yang Hai's chest and softly said, "Hai, why do you say hello to a security guard? Let's go."
"He is not a security guard. He is an excellent student in my class. Since his parents died in a car crash, the school took care of him and gave him a job to earn some money." Yang Hai explained to the girl in a weird voice. "Am I right, Ning Tao?"
Ning Tao said nothing but looked at him calmly. It was a deep scar on his heart, but after four years of living alone without his parents, he had developed the habit of keeping his emotions close to his heart.
The girl squinted at Ning Tao and said to Yang Hai in an affectedly sweet voice, "I am desperately hungry. When are we going to the restaurant?"
In fact, Ning Tao also knew the girl. She was Tang Ling, the daughter of Tang Wanlin, the director of the school's office of teaching and instruction. She worked in the administrative department of the Affiliated Hospital of Shan City Medical University.
Toot! Toot!
The driver of a car behind Yang Hai, tired of waiting, honked the horn.
However, Yang Hai was not in a hurry to leave, but continued jokingly, "Ning Tao, give me a military salute, let me have a feeling that I'm going to the battlefield."
In a twinkling, a smile appeared on Ning Tao's face. "You must be a magical artilleryman that will hit your target every time." He flattered Yang Hai.
Pleased by his words, Yang Hai let out a good laugh.
Then Ning Tao leaned over to the car window and whispered, "I know a good Japanese restaurant on Liberating Road which is decent and classy. Your sweetheart will love it."
A shy smile lit Tang Ling's face as she heard the word "sweetheart".
Then Ning Tao leaned over to Yang Hai's ear and said in a smaller voice, "There's a theme hotel next to that Japanese restaurant. There are full of interesting things. You will know the essence of Japanese culture if you go to the hotel."
"Really?" Yang Hai's eyes seemed to have lit up.
"The one who lied to you is a dog." Ning Tao said, then straightened up and gave Yang Hai a military-like salute.
At 1.85 meters tall, with a sunny and angular face, he had the air of a flag bearer.
Yang Hai smiled and said, "You're an incredible friend to me. See you later."
The BMW 745Li sped out of the gate.
After that, Ning Tao took out his cell phone and dialed a number.
A few seconds later, a man's voice came from his phone, "Hello, who's that?"
"Director Tang, I saw a guy leave school with your daughter," Ning Tao said, covering his mouth with a hand. "That guy is a jerk. I heard there was a girl who was pregnant with his baby and had an abortion... He will take your daughter to a Japanese restaurant next to a love hotel for dinner and then check into the hotel. I suggest you take some students who are good at sport to... Address? Well, 78 Liberating Road... Who am I? I am your former student. Have you forgotten me? I am..."
"Don't ask me who I am," Ning Tao went on solemnly in his heart as he hung up the phone.
"I am a Lei Feng of selflessness."
Ning Tao then put his phone away and looked out the school gate.
Yang Hai's BMW that was stopped at a red light a second ago was getting into the driveway.
Suddenly, a black dog rushed into the driveway from the green belt across the road, trying to cross the road. Yang Hai's BMW didn't stop and hit the dog.
Bang!
"Woo..." A wail sounded as the black dog was immediately knocked into the air.
Yang Hai pulled over quickly and got out to check the car. As he found that the car was not damaged, he swore, got in and drove away.
The black dog lay dying on the road. Cars were driving past him. He could be run over at any moment.
Ning Tao, who took pity on him, rushed out of the gate and headed for the black dog.
"Do you want to die?" A driver, who had to stop because of Ning Tao, stuck his head out of the cab and scolded.
Ning Tao didn't argue with him. He picked up the black dog lying on the ground and quickly left the driveway.
The black dog that Yang Hai hit was a little special. He looked like a half dachshund and a half teddy. He was thin and with smooth fur and beautiful green eyes. His right leg was broken and bleeding.
Ning Tao took the black dog to the sidewalk and wanted to put it on the ground. However, he couldn't bear to leave him when he saw the poor look in the dog's eyes. So he took the black dog back to school, asked his colleagues to work for him, and then took the black dog to the basement below the laboratory.
There were a lot of discarded tables, chairs, and experimental equipment in the basement, and in the corner there was a small room where he lived. He was also responsible for fixing broken desk chairs and the like, so he took up the small room. In this way, it was convenient for him to work and he had a clean living environment.
The little room was crammed with books, all about medicine.
Ning Tao put the injured black dog on the table and then found some disinfectant to clean the wound for the dog.
The disinfectant would cause stinging pain but the black dog lay quietly and did not seem to feel the pain.
"Good dog, why did you come out alone?" Ning Tao inquired.
The black dog stared straight at Ning Tao, his dark green eyes looking mysterious.
"You poor dog, your bones are broken. You have to endure the pain. I don't have any anesthetic here, but I have to set your bone in place and put your broken leg in splints." Ning Tao treated the black dog's leg as he spoke. He had apparently taken the dog for his first patient and was trying to distract him by talking.
In the absence of anesthetic, however, the black dog remained quiet and did not even bark when the bone was set.
It took Ning Tao more than ten minutes to fix the black dog's broken leg. After that, his heart was full of pride. "Blackie, you are my first patient, I won't charge you for your medicine, your surgery, or your hospitalization."
"Woof!" The black dog gave a bark.
Ning Tao reached for the black dog's head and smiled, "You're welcome. It is the duty of doctors to heal the wounded and rescue the dying."
Surprisingly, the black dog took a bite at Ning Tao's wrist all of a sudden.
"Ouch!" The dog's teeth pierced his skin, and the burning pain was instantly transmitted to every nerve of his body. Ning Tao let out a scream of pain.
Then the black dog opened his mouth and loosened Ning Tao's wrist. He rolled over and jumped off the table, standing on his four legs.
Scarlet blood dripped from Ning Tao's wrist onto the floor, looking shocking. Surprised and furious, Ning Tao grabbed a bench and threw it at the dog's head. "You mad dog! I just saved your life. How dare you bite me? I'm killing you!"
The black dog darted to the door faster than a normal dog.
Ning Tao stood there dumbfounded, holding up the bench.
"Woof..." The black dog looked back at Ning Tao. Then he kicked his injured leg on the ground and ran out in a flash.
Ning Tao tried to chase him, but a fit of dizziness suddenly swept over him. Then darkness came over his eyes, and he fell on the ground...
After some time, Ning Tao slowly opened his eyes. He struggled to his feet and looked at his right wrist. The wound from the black dog had scarred over, but he still felt a dull ache in it. "That damn mad dog!" Ning Tao got angry at the thought of the black dog. Boom! There was a sudden jolt in Ning Tao's mind, like a door was opened and something was flooding into his head! It was smell, all kinds of smell. He smelled the blood, the disinfectant, the dust, the plastic, the iron, the synthetic fiber, even his own smell... There was no telling how many smells came into his nose and his brain processed them into corresponding messages, some clear, some vague, some familiar, some strange which he had never sensed. "I..." Ning Tao stood stupefied. Momentarily, he remembered the black dog and the knowledge of dogs. Dogs were capable of smelling two million differe
Several hours later, Ning Tao was slowly back to full consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he saw the dense tree canopy and the golden sunlight pouring down from the branches and leaves. Ning Tao rolled out of the ground and looked around. There was no old house or Chen Pingdao around. He was standing on a hillside with trees, thorns and weeds all round but without even a path! However, the medical book and the transfer contract that Chen Pingdao gave him were still in his hands, and they were real, not an illusion. "Oh!" Ning Tao suddenly remembered something. "Chen Pingdao smells exactly like that black dog, and he said he had given me a bit of cultivation. He's the black dog! Have... have I really run into a ghost?" After pausing for a short while, Ning Tao opened the medical book to read it. The content of the medical book was quite concise, with only four chapters, namely, looking, smelling, elixirs and acupuncture. The
Ning Tao strode under the archway of Garden Street and into the quiet street. The street were paved with blue flagstones, marked with the traces of people, mules and horses. Each piece exuded the weight of history. The Sky Clinic was at the end of Garden Street. It was a low, blue-tiled house, with moss and ivy covering its stone walls, making it cannot be greener. It had no facade, only a wooden door set in the stone wall, and the paint on the door had almost come off. If it hadn't been for the signboard which read "The Sky Clinic" on the lintel, Ning Tao would probably have thought he was in front of a poor mountaineer's house. "Is this a clinic?" Ning Tao wondered helplessly. Glancing back at the street where he'd come from, Ning Tao found it empty. In terms of appearance and location, the clinic was doomed to fail even if it had not opened yet. "Well, since I'm here, I'd better go in and have a look." Ning Tao
It took Ning Tao most of the day to tidy up the Sky Clinic. The jumble of bottles and cans were all arranged in good order. The blood graffiti written by Chen Pingdao on the right wall was also cleaned without leaving a trace. During the cleaning process, Ning Tao had attempted to open the doors on the walls on both sides, but he failed. The clinic's ledger gave him a hint that it took 5,000 points of the merits of good intention and sins of evil intention to open a door. In total, opening two doors would cost 10,000 points, which was more than four years' rent for the clinic. Ning Tao came to the conclusion that this was not the Sky Clinic at all, but a baleful clinic! "No wonder Chen Pingdao has never entered the two stores. How could he have enough good and bad values to open the two doors when the clinic is close to bankruptcy under his management?" Ning Tao thought with a sigh. After cleaning up, Ning Tao started to study the stuff in t
It was Yang Hai who asked Ning Tao to stop. Beside him stood four fierce looking young men, all tattooed, who were obviously not good persons. Ning Tao guessed from his phone conversation with Ge Ming that Yang Hai tried to pick on him with a bunch of hooligans. But he didn't expect that they found him as soon as he hung up the phone. Had it happened before yesterday, he might have turned to run away. Now he would not hide, not even thinking of it. Ning Tao looked at Yang Hai with a bright smile on his face and asked, "Yang Hai, my old classmate, what do you want to see me about?" "What do I want to see you about?" Yang Hai sneered. "You know what you've done!" Ning Tao shrugged and said, "I've done more than I can remember. What are you talking about?" "Damn, you recommended the love hotel to me yesterday, and then you called director Tang to tell on it!" Yang Hai thundered. "While I was in the bathroom with Tang
As the door opened, a young woman in a housecoat came into view. "You?" The short-haired woman and Ning Tao almost spoke with one voice. What a coincidence! Ning Tao never imagined that Jiang Hao was the woman who almost fainted and he helped on the street. No wonder he got a sense of deja vu when he looked at the photo. If Jiang Hao had her hair cut short like she did now, he would recognize her at a glance at her photo. "Do you... know each other?" Ge Ming asked, surprised. "We met in the street." Ning Tao smiled and greeted, "Hello, Miss Jiang." Jiang Hao suddenly grabbed Ning Tao by the collar and snapped, "Who the hell are you? How do you know I'm here?" Apparently, the chance encounter on the street and the sudden appearance had touched her sensitive nerve as a policewoman. "We'll talk about it on the road. Now I'll feel your pulse and examine you." Ning Tao said and
Jiang Hao released Zou Yumei's hand and looked at Ning Tao with a little anger and doubt in her eyes. She didn't expect that Ning Tao was a senior without a medical license. The fact startled her. Ning Tao didn't explain, and only calmly said, "Miss Jiang, if you believe me, just give me a chance. It's also giving your father a chance; If you don't believe me, you can turn me out at any time." Jiang Hao's mouth twisted, but she didn't say anything. "Who's making that noise?" A man's loud voice suddenly came from the corridor, sounding angry. Tang Ling took a look in the direction of the voice and answered, "President Chen, someone is pretending to be a doctor and insisting on seeing one of our patients. I tried to stop him, but he hit me." "Who is so bold?" A man came up, followed by two hospital guards. He was Chen Zhengyi, the president of the Shan City Medical University. He seldom worked on duty
Ning Tao yanked the IV needle off the back of Jiang Yilong's hand and pushed his bed through the black hole in the wall. Then he entered the hole as well. During the whole process, Ning Tao felt like he was pushing a hospital bed through a dark tunnel without lights. After a second or two, he saw familiar objects, like the good-evil tripod with a human face, ancient desk and bookshelf, utensils of different materials and sizes, and some other things. He was back at the Sky Clinic. Ning Tao jerked his head back. The black hole had disappeared, and there was a blood lock pattern on the wall. Subconsciously, he glanced at the clinic key in his hand and realized that if he wanted to go back, he would have to insert the key into the blood lock and open the door again. Then the face on the good-evil tripod suddenly opened its eyes which was full of anger. When a kind person came, it smiled; when an evil person came, it