The entire room was stunned.
No one expected Ye Qiu to slap Old Li at a moment like this.
It's over. Something terrible is about to happen.
Bai Bing's face paled.
Guo Danu was shocked at first, then wild joy surged inside him. Ye Qiu was digging his own grave!
Everyone knew Bureau Chief Li was a devoted son. With Ye Qiu slapping his father right in front of him, the Bureau Chief would never let him off.
Sure enough.
Furious beyond measure, Bureau Chief Li roared at Ye Qiu:
"How dare you hit my father! I'll kill you!"
He lunged forward to attack Ye Qiu.
Guo Danu reacted quickly, grabbing the Bureau Chief tightly with both hands.
"Calm down, Bureau Chief Li! He's just a probationary doctor. He's not worth your anger. Leave this to me!"
"Let go of me! I'll handle him myself!"
Bureau Chief Li was seething. Even an ordinary man could not stand seeing his father struck — let alone someone in his position.
The angrier Li became, the happier Guo Danu was. It meant Ye Qiu would suffer worse.
"Bureau Chief Li, let me take care of this. I promise you'll be satisfied!"
He then snapped at Ye Qiu:
"You're fired!"
"Vice Dean Guo, what did you say? I don't think I heard you correctly," Ye Qiu said calmly.
"Cut the act, Ye Qiu! As a doctor, you dared to strike a patient. This is a serious violation of medical ethics and hospital rules. From this moment on, you are terminated."
Guo Danu wore a cold sneer.
Firing Ye Qiu was only the first step. Next, he would use Bureau Chief Li to destroy Ye Qiu completely.
Ye Qiu had crippled Guo Shaocong. Guo Danu would have his revenge.
Earlier, he had worried that moving against Ye Qiu would anger Zhao Yun. But now he feared nothing. Even if Zhao Yun intervened later, he could blame everything on Bureau Chief Li.
Guo Danu was not worried Zhao Yun would dare trouble Li. Since ancient times, commoners did not fight officials — especially not underground figures like Zhao Yun. Picking a fight with the Bureau Chief would be suicide.
Besides, Guo Danu believed Zhao Yun would not stick up for a dead man. A corpse had no value.
But before destroying Ye Qiu, he had to find out where Guo Shaocong was.
Yet upon hearing he was fired, Ye Qiu showed no panic at all. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Vice Dean Guo, you wield quite the authority. Do you really think Jiangzhou Hospital is your personal property? Fire whoever you want?"
Guo Danu's heart skipped a beat when he saw Ye Qiu's smile. Does this brat still have some trick up his sleeve?
Even if he does, I have nothing to fear. Li saw him slap Old Li with his own eyes.
Confident again, Guo Danu shouted:
"Ye Qiu, you have gravely violated medical ethics and hospital regulations. As executive vice dean, I have every right to fire you."
"Which eye of yours saw me break the rules?" Ye Qiu shot back.
"Ye Qiu, Li and I both watched you hit Old Li. You still want to deny it?" Guo Danu sneered.
"I did hit him. So what?"
"You still have the nerve to ask that? You think striking a patient is justified?!"
"Hold on!" Ye Qiu cut him off. "I admit I struck him. But how does that make me a serious rule-breaker? Just because you're the vice dean?"
Guo Danu flew into a rage.
"Stop playing word games, Ye Qiu! I've made up my mind. Not only will you be fired, but I will report you to the authorities and have your medical license revoked. Someone like you does not deserve to be a doctor."
"If I don't deserve to be a doctor, then you deserve it even less."
Ye Qiu snapped back, then turned to Bureau Chief Li.
"I hit Old Li to wake him up. I don't think you want your father lying unconscious in a bed for the rest of his life."
Guo Danu's face changed. "What are you talking about, Ye Qiu?"
"Are you deaf or just stupid?" Ye Qiu said. "I already made it clear. I struck him to wake him up. That means I broke no rules, let alone any medical ethics."
"Absolute nonsense!" Guo Danu laughed bitterly. "In all my years practicing medicine, I've never heard someone call beating a patient 'treatment.' If I weren't a doctor myself, I might've believed you."
"You don't believe me?" Ye Qiu smiled. "Take a look for yourself. Old Li is about to wake up."
Guo Danu did not believe him for a second. How could a man in a vegetative state for five years wake up from a single slap?
If that worked, there would be no vegetative patients in the world.
But after staring at Ye Qiu for a moment, he saw Ye Qiu looked completely calm, not like he was lying. A thought crossed his mind: Could this kid actually wake him up?
Impossible!
Guo Danu quickly dismissed the idea.
Old Li had been unconscious for five years. The Bureau Chief had brought in countless experts, tried every method, and all failed. Ye Qiu was just an unconfirmed rookie. There was no way he could succeed.
The brat is definitely lying.
With that, Guo Danu sneered:
"Give it up, Ye Qiu. Stop pretending."
"Pretending? Pretending what?" Ye Qiu looked confused.
"I know exactly what's going on. You've been stressed and frustrated lately with nowhere to vent. So you took it out on Old Li by hitting him.
You got caught by Li and me, so now you're pretending to treat him to weasel your way out of being fired. Am I right?"
Guo Danu looked smug, convinced he had figured Ye Qiu out.
Right my ass!
Ye Qiu almost swore out loud.
"Vice Dean Guo, your detective skills are truly impressive. I'm in awe." Ye Qiu's tone shifted. "Instead of running your mouth, why don't you just look? Old Li really is about to wake up."
Guo Danu still refused to believe it. But Ye Qiu looked so sure that he decided to check for himself.
He walked over to the bed and glanced down.
Old Li looked the same as before — unconscious, peaceful, no sign of change.
"So this is your 'about to wake up'? You think I'm some three-year-old kid? Who are you trying to fool —"
Pfft!
Before he could finish, Old Li suddenly opened his mouth and spat a thick glob of phlegm directly onto Guo Danu's face.