Bai Lixin followed behind the philanthropic couple into the hall.
Inside the hall, Mr. Oude lay on the floor with his eyes tightly closed, his life hanging in the balance.
The philanthropic couple stood nearby, somewhat apprehensive and hesitant to approach.
Bai Lixin secured Jia’er’s wheelchair to the side and calmly maneuvered past the philanthropic couple, making his way to the front through the gap in between them.
He first tested the pulse on Mr. Oude’s neck, feeling a faint beat, and calmly spoke to the people gathering behind him, “He’s still alive.”
“Oh, he’s alive! That’s wonderful,” Mrs. Aisli’s pale face relaxed, and she nervously leaned against her husband. “Thank goodness! Can someone please call a doctor for this poor old man?”
Richard, who was standing at the back, heard Mrs. Aisli’s question and quickly responded, “I’ll go, just wait!”
The hurried footsteps gradually faded away.
Mr. Oude’s face was slightly red, and although his pulse was weak, it was still present.
He lay there in a well-tailored tailcoat, with the shirt beneath impeccably buttoned, the black bow tie tightly fastened around his neck, leaving a faint mark.
Based on observation, it appeared to be a respiratory obstruction.
Bai Lixin gently loosened the bow tie and unbuttoned a few buttons, allowing for better airflow through his nasal cavity and respiratory tract.
Mrs Aisli bent down, “Poor Mr. Oude, he is lying on the cold ground. He might catch a chill, let’s lift him onto the bed, shall we?”
As she spoke, she called out behind her, “Which kind person can help?”
Seeing Mrs Aisli about to take action, Bai Lixin quickly stopped her, “Wait, don’t move him.”
Mrs Aisli’s finger hesitated in mid-air, her eyes slightly widened in surprise. “Why? He’s in such a pitiful state.”
Bai Lixin glanced at the nagging woman with some irritation but patiently explained, “Dropping to the ground could potentially cause a cerebral hemorrhage. He’s currently experiencing symptoms of vascular constriction and breathing difficulties. Moreover, fragile bones underneath his clothing might have been fractured. Moving him hastily would only inflict secondary harm.”
“Didn’t Richard go to call a doctor? It’s better to wait for the doctor to arrive.”
“The people behind, don’t all crowd in. Create some breathing space for Mr. Oude.”
Mrs Aisli’s expression changed, she looked at the red-faced Mr. Oude and then at Bai Lixin. After a moment of contemplation, she said, “Then why don’t you perform artificial respiration for him? Poor Oude is struggling to breathe, we need to help him quickly.”
Bai Lixin opened Mr. Oude’s mouth and took a look before gently closing it again. “No, we can’t do that.”
Mrs Aisli’s expression suddenly became haughty as she raised her chin and looked down at Bai Lixin. “Why not? Is it because you find Mr. Oude old and ugly? Is one person’s life less important than your aesthetics? Poor Mr. Oude, this gentleman would be devastated if he knew he was being despised.”
“Ah, you’re so annoying.” Bai Lixin gave her a disdainful glance, and Mrs Aisli, who was about to retort, suddenly felt a chill down her spine and fell silent.
Bai Lixin felt he had exhausted his patience, “I just checked, and I could see some food in his mouth and throat. If we perform artificial respiration recklessly, it might send that food into his windpipe and lungs, which will aggravate his condition. Besides, we are not professional doctors, the body of the elderly needs extra attention, if artificial respiration is not performed properly, Mr. Oude’s ribs may be broken.”
“Although Mr. Ode is having difficulty breathing, he can actually maintain signs of life. In this case, it is fine to maintain the status quo. Unless it is completely impossible to breathe, it is better not to use artificial respiration casually.”
“Madam, if you really insist on sending warmth, you can come and do artificial respiration for Mr. Oude yourself.”
Mrs. Aisli’s complexion changed slightly, she covered half of her face with a peacock feather fan, and said with embarrassment: “There are men and women, and besides, there are so many men here, it should not need a lady, right?”
Bai Lixin lost his last patience: “Since you can’t help much, just back away. Also, don’t you know that feathers and velvet can easily float into the patient’s nose and cause breathing blockage? For poor Mr. Oude’s safety, please stay away from him.”
The spectators at the back raised their necks one after another, their calm faces could not hide the fact that they were enjoying eating melons.
Mrs. Aisli was left speechless. Her face flushed, and she dragged her husband to move back angrily.
The ears were finally cleared, and Bai Lixin relaxed. He also started to observe the surroundings carefully.
Hongyue leaned forward: “Mr. Oude has not been seen for a day, but he is dressed up, obviously planning to go out. But the food has already been delivered to the room, so it should be ruled out that he was going to the downstairs dining hall for dinner.”
Bai Lixin: “Not necessarily. Dressing up may be because you plan to go out, or you may have just come from outside and haven’t had time to change your clothes.”
Hongyue: “There is only Mr. Oude here, what about Mrs. Oude?”
“I’ve searched all over this room, but I didn’t see Mrs. Oude. Mr. Oude is the only one in this room.” Emil’s voice suddenly came from not far away. He pushed through the crowd and came to the front.
Because Bai Lixin had unbuttoned his tie and shirt, Mr. Oude’s complexion improved a lot after a while, and his complexion was not so red anymore.
Bai Lixin calmly scanned every corner of Mr. Oude’s body, and finally, his eyes first fell on Mr. Oude’s hand.
After approaching, he raised Mr. Oude’s arm, and found that there were spots of golden powder in the nails of his right fingertips.
And on the coffee table in the hall, was the food the attendants had brought.
The food was covered with a square metal lid. Bai Lixin opened it and took a look, but the food hadn’t been touched at all.
“Here is a bottle of medicine.” Emil easily hooked out a bottle from under the sofa.
The medicine bottle was opened, and besides the medicine bottle, there were scattered pills under the sofa.
Most of the pills were scattered under the sofa, and only a few pills were left in the medicine bottle.
Emil looked at the medicine bottle for a moment and said, “It’s heart medicine.”
Mrs. Aisli covered her mouth: “Oh God, poor old Oude, it’s so pitiful that he has a heart disease.”
“He must have had a heart attack. He was going to take the medicine, but the medicine bottle suddenly rolled under the sofa, and he passed out.”
“Poor Mr. Oude, who knows where his wife is. If we didn’t think about him, who knows how long he would have suffered on the floor.”
Mr. Aisli gently patted his wife’s back and said, “Thanks to you, we were able to avoid a disaster by coming here. Dear, you are amazing. Your kindness has saved a precious life.”
“After I return, I will immediately contact the local newspaper and share this incident.”
Mrs Aisli blushed and smiled shyly. “You know I don’t care about such fame.”
“The doctor is here, make way!” Richard’s voice suddenly echoed from outside, followed by two hurried figures entering the room.
The resident doctor, wearing a white coat and carrying a medicine box marked with a red cross, quickly walked to the front. Bai Lixin and the others stood up to make space.
After a few minutes of rapid examination, the doctor calmly said, “The patient is not in immediate danger, but due to his old age, he has osteoporosis and has fractured his arm from the fall. There is also a mild concussion. I see that you have undone his collar, which was the correct thing to do. Who has been handling things? What else have you done? Did you move the patient?”
Bai Lixin replied, “It was me. I simply unbuttoned the collar to allow better airflow and make breathing easier. I did not move the patient’s body.”
The doctor turned to look at Bai Lixin and nodded in satisfaction. “It’s good that you didn’t do anything.”
He pointed to Bai Lixin, and then to Richard who had called him, and said, “You two, come here and assist me. I noticed something in his throat, it looks like food, but it could also be vomit. I need to remove it first. If the patient coughs, it could potentially enter his airway and lungs.”
The doctor’s words echoed In the hall, confirming the young man’s previous statement. Once again, the crowd looked at Mrs. Aisli with subtle eyes.
Her cheeks immediately turned red, her face burning with embarrassment like never before.
After a brief explanation from the doctor, the two quickly understood what to do. Bai Lixin helped open Mr. Oude’s mouth and adjusted his head to prevent any sudden awakenings or reflex movements that could lead to rejection.
Richard assisted the doctor by holding Mr. Oude’s arm.
The doctor took a long, thin tube from the first aid kit, with a rubber mouthpiece attached to one end. He carefully inserted the tube into Mr. Oude’s throat and manipulated the rubber mouthpiece, extracting the contents from his throat.
Others felt a sense of disgust and averted their gaze.
Only Bai Lixin stared expressionlessly at the contents extracted from the tube, silently observing.
The fragmented materials, with a slightly gritty texture and a hint of softness, caught his attention.
Hongyue frowned and asked, “What is this? It feels like something recently consumed, but not yet digested.”
The doctor replied, “It could be food he ate in the evening.”
Bai Lixin added, “He didn’t touch the food that the resort delivered to the room.”
The doctor said, “It could also be fruits or something he kept for himself before dinner.”
Emil chimed in, “That’s unlikely. I just searched the room thoroughly. If it were fruit, there should have been cores or stems. If it were bread or pastries, there should have been packaging. But the trash can was completely clean, there was nothing. Could it be that he choked on something and then suddenly had difficulty breathing, causing him to pass out?”
The doctor paused for a moment, furrowed his brow, and looked at the three people in front of him who had leaned in, “Um, that’s also possible. Alright, listen to me. Help me move him onto the bed. I need to provide some basic treatment for his arm.”
Are you sure you’re not here to stir up trouble?
People who had come merely for the spectacle found it uninteresting and left.
Nick’s family and the group of actors had already left early.
By the time Bai Lixin and the others placed Mr. Oude on the bed, only the three of them, the philanthropist couple, Richard, and Jia’er remained in the room.
Richard kept glancing at the doorway, seemingly wanting to leave but hesitant to do so.
The philanthropist couple stood beside them, with the husband even taking out a small notebook from his pocket. He watched their actions attentively while jotting down something in his notebook.
Jia’er leaned against the wall in silence, calmly lifting her head. Her eyes behind the veil relentlessly followed Bai Lixin’s figure, the hidden eyes flickering with eerie light.
Hongyue asked, “Doctor, is he alright now?”
“Thanks to you, it’s nothing serious. He should wake up soon,” the doctor replied.
She was probably the only person in this room who gave the doctor face.
Before his words completely faded from everyone’s ears, they heard Mr. Oude let out a low moan and he struggled to open his somewhat clouded eyes.
Seeing Mr. Oude regain consciousness, the philanthropist couple, who had been observing from behind, quickly approached
With a concerned expression, Mrs Aisli tightly held Mr. Oude’s hand and exclaimed with joy, “My dear Oude, you’ve finally woken up! Do you know how worried I was about you?!”
In just a few words, tears welled up in the her eyes.
The sound of “click, click” suddenly echoed, accompanied by the distinct flash of a camera.
The crowd turned with a frown and discovered that Mr. Aisli had taken out a mini camera from his bag at some point. He was squatting down slightly and earnestly taking photos of his wife.
Mrs Aisli was standing opposite the others, and the camera was aimed at her. From the angle, only Mr. Oude and Mrs Aisli were captured in the frame.
After dozens of flashes, the camera’s strobe finally stopped, Mrs. Aisli gently released Mr. Oude’s hand. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and asked once again, “How do you feel, my dear Oude?”
Mr. Oude had just woken up and was still a bit disoriented. He looked at Mrs. Aisli in a daze and weakly replied, “I feel okay, but I don’t know why my arm hurt when you grabbed me earlier.”
The doctor couldn’t help but interject, “It’s broken. How could it not hurt? Seeing you all happily taking photos, I thought maybe you had some kind of ‘painless syndrome’ that I didn’t know about.”
The crowd: “…”
The doctor’s words were razor-sharp.
————————–
In the live broadcast room.
[The truth hurts. I can already feel the doctor’s anger.]
[Haha, when the doctor starts criticizing, he can go from a common cold to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.]
[This philanthropist couple is really something. I can see it now. This is all just a show, right? The doctor said the arm was broken, but Mrs Aisli still grabbed it. She clearly didn’t listen to the doctor, did she?]
[Maybe she did listen, but for the sake of a better photo, she did it intentionally.]
[I can already predict how this material is going to be written. ‘The Angel Once Again Release Kindness, Rescuing the Elderly Gentleman from the Edge of Death.’ Let’s just say, I now have sufficient reason to doubt the authenticity of this philanthropist couple’s image. It seems quite exaggerated.]
[…Um, brother, are you serious? Did you just realize that?]
[Huh, did you notice it earlier?]
[Facepalm.jpg. I thought the “operation” was pretty obvious. You’re too cute.]
[…(╯‵□′)╯︵]
[Hahaha]
————————-
“Mr. Oude,” Bai Lixin stepped forward from behind the doctor and asked, “Where is your wife?”
Mr. Oude hesitated for a moment, “My wife? Why are you asking me that?”
Bai Lixin replied, “We can’t find her. We knocked on the door of the opposite room, but it was locked, and no one responded. That room should be where your wife stayed, right?”
Mr. Oude looked at the crowd dully, “My wife and I share a room. We’ve always stayed together, and it’s uncomfortable to be apart. Last night, I let her come to my room and sleep.”
Emil added, “There are indeed women’s belongings in the bedroom and bathroom.”
Mr. Oude paused for a moment and then nodded, “That’s right. Did you ask me about my wife because you didn’t see her?”
He strained his neck to look around, “My wife isn’t here?”
Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, and his expression instantly turned serious, “Oh no, could you please go to the foyer and see if there’s a key labeled ‘305’ hanging there?”
Bai Lixin stood up and walked to the foyer, carefully examining the key rack. Aside from the key for Room 306, there was nothing else.
Turning back towards the hallway, Bai Lixin returned to Mr. Oude’s bedside and said, “There’s only the key for Room 306.”
Mr. Oude’s expression finally shifted from concern to fear, “This is bad. She must have taken the key and gone to that golden room.”
