Chapter Eight: Embarrassment

As soon as they heard the news, An Changpu and his colleagues immediately asked the senior specialist for detailed information about the hospital in City A, as well as the name of the keynote speaker who had mentioned the case at the academic conference.

Aware that the matter was connected to a gruesome murder and dismemberment case, the elderly expert was especially eager to assist the police. Not only did he write down the hospital’s particulars for them, he even penned a personal note for Qin Ruonan and her team to hand to the relevant doctor.

“Dr. Jin has quite a proud temperament and isn’t the easiest person to get along with. I’m worried he might refuse to receive you. However, we were once alumni, and though we’re not exactly close friends, at least we can talk. Give him this note, and he should be willing to provide you with some patient information,” the old expert explained, though his tone was not entirely certain. “You know, especially with chest surgeries, patients are very concerned about their privacy, not to mention gender reassignment procedures! Unless a patient publicly discloses it themselves, no doctor would ever release such personal information without explicit permission.”

An Changpu and Qin Ruonan expressed their gratitude for the expert’s enthusiastic help and immediately drove to City A. Using the address provided, they soon found the hospital in question.

Only upon arrival did they realize that this was a specialized plastic surgery hospital, with departments divided into meticulous categories. Professor Jin, the expert the senior specialist had mentioned, was the hospital’s renowned chest plastic surgery specialist—his large photograph was displayed prominently on the LCD screen in the lobby.

Qin Ruonan and An Changpu asked the reception nurse about Professor Jin’s clinic schedule for the day. The nurse shot a glance at Qin Ruonan’s chest, looked at An Changpu with a hint of disdain, and pointed them toward the registration desk on the other side of the lobby. “Professor Jin is running a specialist clinic today. Go register over there!”

The nurse’s brazen assumptions made both An Changpu and Qin Ruonan, dressed in plain clothes, feel a wave of awkwardness. Qin Ruonan’s cheeks even flushed slightly as she coughed lightly and turned away.

Seeing her embarrassment, An Changpu could hardly suppress a laugh. Considering Qin Ruonan’s personality, however, he forced himself to keep a straight face.

Following the directions on the specialist schedule, they went upstairs to the clinic, only to find the waiting area outside Professor Jin’s office packed with patients. Since they were there to investigate a case, they didn’t want to take up the precious appointment slots of others who had waited so long for a consultation. They could only stand quietly at a distance in the corner of the corridor, waiting for Professor Jin to finish his consultations before approaching him.

Most of the patients waiting were women, some older and accompanied by family, apparently there for post-operative advice. There were even more young and middle-aged women, mostly alone, who seemed to be inquiring about breast augmentation for the sake of beauty.

An air of silence hung between Qin Ruonan and An Changpu as they stood apart from the others, clearly out of place among the expectant or anxious patients. While the two of them had no intention of observing or analyzing the women in the waiting area, the patients, on the other hand, found the time to study them.

“Wow, can you believe it? There really are men these days who are open-minded enough to accompany their girlfriends here! Are breasts really that important to you guys?” a woman whispered to her husband, not loudly, but just enough for An Changpu and Qin Ruonan to catch the words.

“Nonsense! I’ve never thought that way!” her husband hurriedly clarified. Noticing An Changpu looking their way, he quickly added, “Don’t think badly of people. Maybe, like me, he’s just here with his wife for a follow-up.”

An Changpu glanced at the couple wordlessly. When he turned, he saw Qin Ruonan’s face darkening, and he couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. Still, even if Qin Ruonan was unhappy, he could hardly blame her—what young woman would want to be misunderstood like this?

“Why don’t you wait in the car? I’ll stay here alone, so you won’t have to keep being mistaken,” An Changpu sighed, raising a hand as if to pat her shoulder, then remembering her aversion to friendly gestures and withdrawing it.

“And you think waiting here by yourself won’t attract any misunderstandings?” Qin Ruonan countered quietly, not moving.

An Changpu chuckled, spreading his hands. “With the way I look, no one’s likely to think I’m here for gender reassignment surgery, right?”

“You can never be sure,” she replied, leaving him at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

“People can say what they want—it’s their mouths, not mine. I know why I’m here, and that’s enough,” Qin Ruonan said, turning her back to the people in the corridor and gazing out the window at the leafy branches obscuring the view.

Seeing that she wasn’t letting others’ gossip get to her, An Changpu quietly felt relieved. He said nothing more and, following her lead, turned away from the curious stares behind them.

Finally, when the lunch break arrived, Professor Jin emerged from his consultation room looking somewhat weary. Had they not already seen his photo on the hospital’s expert display, An Changpu and Qin Ruonan might have struggled to recognize him among the patients crowding the door.

Seeing Professor Jin surrounded, they wisely chose not to approach immediately, waiting instead for him to explain to the patients that it was lunchtime and that further consultations would resume in the afternoon. Only then did they head toward the stairs to wait for him.

When Professor Jin walked over, Qin Ruonan, anxious to catch him alone, was about to hurry up when An Changpu pulled her back.

“Didn’t the other doctor say Professor Jin is rather proud and not easily approachable? He’s been busy all morning, finally gets a break, and before he’s even had a chance to eat, two detectives corner him in the corridor for questioning. Do you really think he’ll be happy? If he’s annoyed, we’ll get nothing out of him,” An Changpu explained.

Qin Ruonan paused, hesitated, and realized he had a point. She withdrew her step and, together with An Changpu, followed Professor Jin at a respectful distance to the hospital cafeteria. They waited quietly until he had nearly finished his meal before approaching.

When the man and woman sat down at his table, Professor Jin frowned, sizing them up.

An Changpu offered a polite smile, handed over the note from the senior specialist in City C, and introduced himself and Qin Ruonan. “Professor Jin, sorry to interrupt your lunch. We’re detectives from the Major Crimes Unit of the City C Police Department. We’d like to ask for a few minutes of your time.”