“Doctor Ling, let’s have dinner together tonight.” Doctor Qu waited outside the operating theater and wanted to extend his invitation before the doctors from the First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City.
He wanted to go to the operating theater and flatter Ling Ran. However, there were too many people in Ling Ran’s operating theater, and the circulating nurse he brought along controlled the number of people inside. She did not give Doctor Qu the chance to go in.
After considering the pressure he would have flattering someone in front of everyone else, Doctor Qu decided to do the sensible thing and left the operating theater then waited at the waiting room.
Some doctors from the First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City also waited in the same room. Due to the capacity limit of the operating theater, they could not even get the chance to seek advice from Ling Ran. In the end, those who could enter the operating theater were those doctors who were either associate chief physicians or were ranked above associate chief physicians.
That was the only option available to them, since they were a hospital without a visitation room.
Ling Ran had not expected to be surrounded by the people when he entered the waiting room. Certainly, he was used to this kind of scenario. Even if someone passed him a stack of love letters or one thousand paper cranes, Ling Ran would be extraordinarily calm.
Ling Ran immediately gave his reply with familiar ease. “Not going.”
Doctor Qu could not help but be stunned.
‘So direct? Have I offended Doctor Ling?
‘Hmm, I shouldn’t worry too much just yet. Maybe it’s because I haven’t applied my subsequent flattery yet. Once I do, Doctor Ling’s impression toward me might change.’
Doctor Qu looked at Zuo Cidian while thinking about it.
Zuo Cidian showed a kind smile and said, “Doctor Qu, Doctor Ling does not like to eat outside, especially as of late. So, maybe next time.”
Doctor Qu hesitated for a few seconds and smiled bashfully. “I understand that people nowadays love to eat home cooked dishes because they feel that the dishes out there are too oily and salty. However, aren’t we in Wuxin City now? You can’t just go back to Yun Hua City to have your meal and come back again, right? In fact, the restaurant that I booked serves homemade dishes. The taste should be reasonable after I give them some instructions. It’s healthy too…”
“Doctor Qu, I’m the one who cooks meals for everyone when our team is out.” Ye Sigong stood out and said energetically. He used a serious and formal tone as he stressed his words. “Doctor Ling loves to eat the meals that I cook!”
As Ye Sigong spoke, he took off his white coat, nodded at everyone, and said, “I’ll leave and prepare my meals first.”
Doctor Qu looked at Ye Sigong’s back dumbfoundedly. He found that Ye Sigong walked straight and in high spirits, just like… a soldier that was ready to sacrifice his own life for war.
“What… did he mean?” Doctor Qu felt that his mind was numb and uncivilized.
Zuo Cidian smiled faintly and said, “The small kitchen in the operating theater of the hospital can’t really operate as a fully functioning kitchen. It’s okay to use it to make some soup or heat up some dishes, but it’s not possible to use it to fry or stir-fry food. We usually eat more complicated dishes during the day. So, Young Ye will contact a place that allows him to cook, and once he is done preparing the meals, he will send it over. In this case, it would be easier to control the quality of the dishes, and the taste can also be assured…”
“Wait… This person left to cook meals?”
Zuo Cidian smiled without saying anything. He could not just say he recruited Ye Sigong because of his good culinary skills, right?
Although surgeons were also a skill-based occupation, just like a chef, which meant that there were certain similarities to them, Old Zuo was too lazy to make up a story.
“Let’s wait for a while. Doctor Qu, if you’re not in a hurry, we can have a meal together,” Ling Ran said while nodding at Zuo Cidian.
“I’ll ask Doctor Ye to take note of that.” Zuo Cidian nodded while smiling and raised his chin at the intern student, Qi Zao.
The intern student, Qi Zao immediately took out the note book and made some simple records.
Doctor Qu seemed to be a bit surprised. But since his original intention was to eat together with Ling Ran, he smiled and said insincerely, “Is it appropriate for me to eat with you, Doctor Ling?”
“It’s okay.” Ling Ran gave a warm smile.
Ling Ran’s mother, Tao Ping had taught him to treat others kindly after decisively rejecting their initial invitation.
While he was in school, Ling Ran would usually treat them to a drink. If he brought his bag along, he usually would give away the yogurt he brought. Since yogurt was light, he always brought a few bottles to deal with emergency scenarios.
Whenever this happened, even if the girl was sobbing, she would still take the yogurt and bite down on the straw hard so that she could gradually calm down.
Doctor Qu even accepted his invitation without any hesitation.
He sat together with Ling Ran and got a cup of green tea.
The new tea leaves floated in the beautiful porcelain tea cup, and this made Doctor Qu feel like he was at the luxurious hotel.
“You brought this tea set and tea leaves?” Now, Doctor Qu knew a little bit more about Ling Ran’s treatment group. Even though these people were out for freelance surgeries, their quality of life was much higher than his, and it was… truly worthy of envy.
Ling Ran nodded and said, “Using porcelain to drink makes us feel more relaxed than using a glass cup.”
This was also a ritual passed down in the family.
Doctor Qu could not help but look at Ling Ran. He saw Ling Ran hold the saucer with one of his hands while in the other, he held the teacup. His posture was not considered perfect, but he gave off an elegant feeling, and it would make others feel that they should learn his posture.
“I really hope that I can perform surgeries with you so that I can learn more…” Doctor Qu took a sip of his tea and said in a semi-fake, sentimental tone.
Ling Ran also took a sip of his tea, smiled, and said, “My team is full now.”
Ling Ran already had many people working under him, particularly the two subordinates that he just recruited. Thus, Ling Ran did not intend to recruit more people.
Even if he intended to recruit people, he wanted those who were younger. Doctor Qu was already in his forties, and he might even be older than Zuo Cidian. His competing capacity was too weak. If Ling Ran received a similar mission in the future asking him to prove things, he might be stuck.
Doctor Qu had just had his emotions become stable while he drank hot tea, but when he heard this, his entire body became stiff.
‘Ling Ran is really bad at chatting, huh?’
Doctor Qu looked down and sighed heavily. In the next minute, he readjusted his emotions. He smiled and went along with the topic. “That’s too bad, then. Actually, I’m happy just to be able to observe your surgery. If it is possible, I want to gather the doctors under me to come for surgery observation.”
Ling Ran could not help but put down his teacup and started to think, ‘In order to prove that my subordinates’ skills have improved, it is a must for others to come for surgery observation. However, how many people are needed and how long they need to observe the surgery is also a problem.’
“You can organize your subordinates and bring them for surgery observation at Yun Hua Hospital.” Ling Ran immediately decided and replied Doctor Qu.
This time, even Doctor Qu’s eyeballs had stopped moving.
He knew that Ling Ran had just treated his casual banter as something real, again.
However, what troubled Doctor Qu was this. ‘Should I tell Doctor Ling that I was just trying to be polite just now? No, the main problem is, will I be causing trouble to myself by doing this?’
“Surgery observation? It’s good,” Doctor Qu said. He tried to delay coming to a conclusion for this topic so that he had more time to think.
Yet, when someone’s mind stopped working, it was pointless no matter how much time he had to think.
“If I have time, I’ll organize an activity like this. No, I mean I’ll enquire other doctors.” As Doctor Qu spoke, he looked at Zuo Cidian and tried to ask for help.
Zuo Cidian could still be considered as one of considerate members within the Ling Ran’s treatment group.
Zuo Cidian could not quite guess Ling Ran’s thoughts right now as well, so he did not say anything. Instead, he just remained smiling.
Ling Ran continued with the conversation. “It’s okay to organize an event like this only once. We can invite the young doctors from a few hospitals to come over for an exchange so that we can all learn.”
Doctor Qu was dumbfounded. He had no idea what Ling Ran was up to, but he dared not ask.
Zuo Cidian realized that the situation had gotten a bit out of hand, so he immediately said, “Doctor Ling, even if we want to organize an exchange, there should be a limit. Furthermore, we must have an appropriate reason for this, right? Besides, in whose name are we to invite these young doctors, and from where should we invite them?”
He had started to think about the implementation in detail.
“We can carry out a selection or give them rewards.” Ling Ran thought about it and said, “I remember Department Director Huo said that there is some money left from the ICU fund. Maybe we can take a portion out? Zuo Cidian, go and ask if this is possible.”
“Um…” Zuo Cidian’s first reaction was to think that it was impossible. Certainly, there was some money leftover from the hospital construction, and they knew that quite a lot of it was left, but everyone also knew that Department Director Huo kept it for Ling Ran, which meant that there was not actually any money left from the construction fees. Moreover, the selection process and giving rewards were not simple matters…
However, the thought of rejecting Ling Ran only appeared for a brief moment in Zuo Cidian’s mind. On the other hand, another thought popped out in Zuo Cidian’s mind.
‘In this case, Doctor Ling could master the concept of giving rewards and selecting doctors.
‘In terms of qualification, Doctor Ling is already at the stage where he can do these things.’
