Beijing Jiangong Hospital.
Orthopedic inpatient ward.
Dong Xuebing was sent to the hospital by the ambulance.Zhuang Zhi who had accompanied him helped to get him admitted into thehospital. After a whole afternoon of checks and treatment, Dong Xuebing'sinjuries were under controlled. His arms and legs had some first-degree burns.He also sprained his shoulders and ankles. The cuts caused by the fluorescentlights were also bandaged. Overall, he was not too severely injured.
In the evening, everyone from the General Affairs Office,including the leaders, arrived at the hospital to visit him.
Dong Xuebing who was lying on the bed had just taken histemperature. 37.3 degrees. As the nurse took the thermometer away, Li Qing andZhou Changchun walked into the ward. Dong Xuebing immediately tried to sit up."Director Li, Chief Zhou." But Dong Xuebing's shoulders were hurting and couldnot sit upright.
Li Qing quickly steps forward and stop Dong Xuebing. "Don'tget up. Just lie on the bed."
Guo Panwei looked at Dong Xuebing who was wearing thehospital gown and did not say a word. Instead, he carried two chairs over forthe leaders.
Zhou Changchun and Li Qing sat down by the bed and asked."Xiao Dong, how are your injuries?"
Dong Xuebing was not used to be surrounded by so manypeople. He coughed. "Errr.... Thank you for asking. I feel well now. I think Ican be discharged tomorrow."
Li Qing had asked Zhuang Zhi about Dong Xuebing's conditionand knew that Dong Xuebing was putting up a brave front. He frowned: "How canyou be discharged tomorrow? You can't even get off the bed now, how can thehospital discharge you tomorrow? Xiao Dong, don't worry about your work. OldZhou and I will take care of your probation performance report and yourhospital bills. You don't need to do anything and focus on recovering well."
Zhou Changchun nodded. "That's right. You need to restwell."
Li Qing and Zhou Changchun had escaped from being forced toresign because of Dong Xuebing. Both of them were grateful to him. Even Li Qinghelped Dong Xuebing poured a glass of water personally. Guo Shunjie and GuoPanwei had never seen Li Qing and Zhou Changchun treating a subordinate sowell. They were jealous of Dong Xuebing, but they could not show it. After all,Dong Xuebing had done something great.
Dong Xuebing had also said it casually. Seeing the leadersgranting him permission to recuperate in the hospital, he did not insist ondischarging. He did not want to be discharged. First, he was still injured, andhis mother was not in Beijing. There will be no one taking care of him at home.Secondly, if he discharged too early, Li Qing and Zhou Changchun will not feelthat they owe him a lot. He had to pretend to be "seriously injured" to showthe leaders that he risked his life to help them.
Dong Xuebing was not very smart but was still quick-witted.
Li Qing and Zhou Changchun took turns to say somepleasantries to Dong Xuebing. After a while, Li Qing's mobile phone rang. Hetook a look at the number and left the ward with Zhou Changchun to answer thecall.
After the leaders were gone, Dong Xuebing's colleagues weremore at ease.
Tan Limei laughed and showed Dong Xuebing a thumbs up. "BingZhi, I am impressed by your guts. The fire was so big, and you dare to rush in.I was so stunned back then.
Changjuan also laughed: "You think you are the only one?Everyone out there was stunned. Luckily you are alright."
Old Yan said gently: "Xiao Dong, you did us proud."
Dong Xuebing was feeling great, but he modestly replied:"Stop praising me. I did not think much and just know that if the documentswere destroyed by the fire, the whole General Affairs Office would be introuble. That's why I rushed in."
Guo Shunjie knew Dong Xuebing was talking rubbish.
Guo Panwei was also thinking the same thing. If there is nocredit for doing this, will you still risk your life by running into theoffice? Who are you trying to fool?
But they could only say all these in their hearts. No matterwhat, Guo Shunjie and Guo Panwei were impressed by Dong Xuebing's guts. Ifgiven a chance again, Guo Shunjie and Guo Panwei will still not enter theoffice to risk their lives.
The door opened.
Li Qing and Zhou Changchun entered the ward again. Thepeople surrounding Dong Xuebing's bed moved aside to make way for the leaders.
Li Qing sat down beside the bed and patted Dong Xuebing'shand. "I have just received news that the Bureau had approved your application andyou are now a Party member."
Tan Limei and the rest were surprised. "Didn't Bing Zhisubmit his application two weeks ago?"
Dong Xuebing was also shocked to hear this. "Me? Approved?"He had not even submitted a periodical report and had not enrolled in any ofthe courses. He needs at least one year to qualify as a Party Activist andanother year to become a Probationary Party member. How come he become a Partymember two weeks after submitting his application? This was not right.
Zhou Changchun laughed. "Your approval is an exceptionalcase."
Everyone in the ward understood why.
Joining the Party through exceptional approval happens quitefrequently during the rescue efforts of natural disasters like earthquakes, orwar. Those individuals with exceptional performances and contributions areallowed to join the Party immediately.
Li Qing explained. "This afternoon, after we put out thefire, Old Zhou and I had a discussion and decided to submit your applicationletter to the higher-ups. We applied for an exceptional approval for you. Thephone call earlier was to inform us that the application is approved and whenyou return to work, you will be sworn in. After that, you will be ProbationaryParty member." Actually, Dong Xuebing's performance in the afternoon was stillnot good enough to qualify for exceptional approval. But to repay Dong Xuebing,Li Qing and Zhou Changchun made a few trips to their leaders' offices to talkabout this exceptional approval. Director Yan had also seen Dong Xuebing'sbravery, and with his help, the approval was granted.
Gou Panwei and Guo Shunjie were jealous. It was rare to seesomeone getting exceptional approval.
Dong Xuebing was overjoyed! This was not what he expected.He will be a party member, and it will look good on his resume. He showed a"grateful" expression: "Thank you, Director Li, Thank you, Chief Zhou. I willnot let you all down. I will work harder for the Communist Party and will beprepared to sacrifice myself for the party and people..."
Li Qing laughed: "This is not the place for you to pledgeyour loyalty to the Party."
"Hahahaha...." Everyone laughs.
After all the visitors left, Dong Xuebing covered his wholebody under the blanket and laughed. All these injuries were worth it. Not onlyhe had gained the trust of Li Qing and Zhou Changchun, even the Director andall his colleagues were impressed by him. Most importantly, he had successfullyjoined the CPC.
Hahahaha..... I am a Party member now!!