As he argued, the friend who had pointed at his chest hurried over and crouched beside him, wanting to punch him but not daring. “Chang Ke, you scared us to death! You collapsed midgame. The teacher did CPR. Your heart actually stopped!”
“You’re joking. Could I be sitting here if it stopped? I’m fine!” He punched his friend, though his hand felt strangely weak.
Standing over them, Jiang Chan asked, “You’ve previously had chest tightness and palpitations, haven’t you? Sometimes a very slow heartbeat too?”
He stared. “Yes, but it passed quickly, so I ignored it. How did you know?”
She packed her needle kit. “Your pulse told me. Go to hospital while it’s still manageable. Delay, and you’ll suffer. Also, put your clothes on. Aren’t you cold?”
He dressed hastily, drawing relieved, good-natured laughter.
“Exactly. Thank goodness Jiang Chan was here. Without second-year Class One’s PE lesson, you’d probably be dead.” The boy looked at her in awe, frightened in retrospect.
“His heart stopped, and you call that manageable?”
The PE teacher finally recovered his senses. He had nearly died of fright himself. If this was minor to her, what counted as serious?
“His heart stopped because he couldn’t catch his breath after strenuous exercise, rather than because of the heart itself. That’s why I said it wasn’t serious.”
The ambulance entered the school. Students scattered, with many teachers and the principal following. Two doctors and six nurses jumped out.
“Where’s the patient?” They approached with a stretcher, then looked speechlessly at Chang Ke sitting there apparently well. How did he resemble a patient?
Under their gaze, he timidly raised his hand. “Um… I think that’s me.”
The leading doctor frowned. “You look fine. Why call an ambulance?”
“How is he fine? His heart stopped fifteen minutes before you arrived!”
“Without our hidden expert’s lifesaving skill, he’d have reported to the King of Hell.”
“We have video. Look.”
A student had begun recording when he collapsed, providing evidence. Now it proved useful. The doctors and nurses were astonished.
Doubtful at first, the doctor examined Chang Ke, listened to his heart rate, and noticed the almost invisible puncture on his chest. Only then did he believe it.
“Send me this video. I’ll study it with my colleagues. And you, as the person who treated him, please come to hospital too, in case something happens on the way.”
Jiang Chan had been trying to leave, but he caught her. She looked helplessly at him. “He’s fine now, isn’t he? I have lessons. A thorough examination will tell you everything.”
The principal coughed. “Xiao Chan, go with him. You can look after him on the way. We feel reassured leaving him with you.”
Chang Ke gazed at her with pleading eyes too. Raking her hair, she sighed. “Fine. Let’s hurry.”
After she and the teachers accompanied him into the ambulance, the students dispersed. But the stories about her were only beginning.
“There were rumors she knew medicine. She cured two girls in her dorm.”
“We thought they were just rumors. Who knew she was a genuine master?”
“How did you girls know about this when we didn’t?”
“You were born the wrong gender.” A girl tossed her hair. “We live in her dormitory building. Sometimes she makes medicine there. The smell gave us a rough idea.”
“But knowing medicine doesn’t explain that! Did you see the gold needle emerge on its own? What immortal technique was that?”
“I envy her classmates. Having someone like her around must make them feel incredibly safe.”
A boy’s comment earned nods. Bringing someone back after their heart stopped, what couldn’t she do?
Unlike the reflective third-years, Class One’s second-years were nearly beside themselves. They had witnessed everything. Her desk neighbors, Song Yi and Chen Wei, were utterly stunned.
Chen Wei had been playing with Chang Ke when it happened. At the collapse, his own heart nearly stopped.
He had hoped for a miracle, never imagining his friend Jiang Chan would provide it. Dazed, he said, “Pinch me. Is this a dream?”
Song Yi obliged immediately. Chen Wei howled. “That’s my hand, not a pig’s trotter! Why so hard?”
Adjusting his glasses, Song Yi answered, “I needed to check too. From that reaction, it’s definitely real. Come on, cafeteria.”
Chen Wei punched him and followed. They went off jostling and joking.
“A study god is a study god. Great grades, great medicine. What can’t she do?”
“With her around, I feel completely safe at school. Even a future boyfriend probably couldn’t make me feel this secure.”
“Exactly. Saving lives at a critical moment is some ability.”
Students dispersed in little groups. Unless something more astonishing happened, this would fuel campus talk for months.
Jiang Chan had never ridden an ambulance and found it novel. Few of her missions had involved modern worlds. Most were different times and places, leaving many modern things unfamiliar.
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