“Doctor Ling is very busy today.” Wang Jia decided to be nice because of the fruits, and she told Wang Maoshi, “If you look for Doctor Ling now, you probably won’t get anything done.”
“Ah, thank you so much, Sister Wang.” Wang Maoshi did not care if the information he received was useful. He quickly thanked Wang Jia and asked, “Why is he so busy today?”
Wang Jia glanced at Old Fang who was standing behind Huang Maoshi. She then smiled and said, “He has always been busy. And he’s been participating in an academic conference for the past two days.”
Huang Maoshi dragged Old Fang over and said with a smile, “Sister Wang, let me introduce Old Fang to you. He is the manufacturing representative of Duco and also our superior.”
Wang Jia nodded at Old Fang as a greeting.
Even though she was only a nurse, because she often worked with Ling Ran at close proximity, all the suppliers and manufacturers had to be nice to her. There was no need for her to get close to manufacturing representatives who she was not familiar with. This was the manufacturing representative’s job.
From this perspective, females and nurses were considered the goddesses of pharmaceutical sales representatives. Only the ones with the best abilities to attend to people could emerge victorious, while those who pretended to be cold and aloof with the intention of using reverse psychology would be forgotten after a few days. That was because there was really no way for female doctors and nurses who had been flattered by many to remember missing pharmaceutical sales representatives.
Old Fang flashed a bashful smile. He decided to get to know this young nurse first before conquering her.
Huang Maoshi asked, “Sister Wang, then, when will it be more suitable for me to look for Doctor Ling?”
“He performed more than eight hepatectomies today. What do you think?” Wang Jia was not very polite.
Huang Maoshi hummed in acknowledgment. He then turned to look at Old Fang. Only after Old Fang nodded at him did he turn back to look at Wang Jia and said, “Should we come tomorrow?”
“There will be four patients with ruptured Achilles tendons and two patients with atrial septal defect tomorrow morning. He will continue performing hepatectomy in the afternoon.” Wang Jia did not bother to hide things. All of this information could be seen in the schedules for the operating theaters.
Of course, Wang Jia was only willing to speak a little more to Huang Maoshi because he used to be a model and was rather handsome.
If some other ugly guy who looked like a rat came over instead, there would definitely be no young nurse who was willing to talk to him.
Life in the hospital was already stressful enough, and with pharmaceutical sales representatives that looked so ugly bringing about emotional stress to them, this would make their work environment an even more horrible one.
Huang Maoshi clicked his tongue a few times. “Doctor Ling is a busy man indeed.”
Old Fang cleared his throat and said, “Then, what if we come at night tomorrow?”
“Doctor Ling sleeps at seven or eight at night. What time do you guys plan to come at night?” Wang Jia snorted through her nose. She did not treat this new guy at the hospital with friendliness at all.
Duco was a large company, and they only hired manufacturing representatives with high qualifications. However, they did not pay their employees well or treat them well. The ones who were still stuck at the company at the ripe old age of more than thirty years old could at most be said to be decent men, and they obviously did not fit the requirement of young nurses.
Old Fang, who was more than thirty years old, was also a little slow due to old age. He gasped in resignation.
Huang Maoshi raised his head a little and flashed a well-trained smile. “How about the day after tomorrow?”
Wang Jia lowered her head and pretended not to hear him.
Huang Maoshi had basically been spending all his time in the Emergency Department of Yun Hua Hospital for the past two years. He merely smiled when he saw that and thanked Wang Jia. He then greeted a few nurses before leaving together with Old Fang.
The nurses treated him quite amiably.
Even though Huang Maoshi was nothing compared to Doctor Ling, he had quite a decent appearance.
Old Fang had no choice but to respectfully say, “Thank God that you were there with me. If I were to come alone, I would not have gotten anything done. By the way… in the end, there was some silent communication between you and the nurse. What’s the meaning behind the secret messages you exchanged just now?”
Old Fang could tell that Huang Maoshi enjoyed quite a good relationship with a lot of people in the Emergency Department of Yun Hua Hospital. At least, the nurses there trusted Huang Maoshi a lot more than him.
Huang Maoshi smiled. “What else? The day after tomorrow is a Saturday, so Doctor Ling is probably heading somewhere else for freelance surgery.”
This was actually within Old Fang’s expectations. He nodded slowly.
“Let me make a call to ask about it.” Huang Maoshi had the intention of getting things done well. Since there was no way for him to cut corners, he chose to do the thing Duco entrusted to him well so that Old Fang would owe him one. That way, Old Fang had no choice but to return the favor to Huang Maoshi in the future.
Soon, Huang Maoshi hung up and said, “Doctor Ling would be performing freelance surgeries on Saturday and Sunday, as quite a lot of hospitals have been hiring him lately. We’re racing against time. He’ll probably also be operating on patients all day on Monday. What are your plans?”
“What do you think?” Old Fang deliberately ignored why more hospitals were hiring Ling Ran for freelance surgeries.
“It’s more convenient to chat with him in the bullet train than the operating theater. Doctor Ling doesn’t like to talk when he’s operating on patients either.” Huang Maoshi pointed Old Fang in the correct direction.
Old Fang thought about it and said, “I’ll follow your suggestion, then. Is there anything I need to prepare?”
“There’s no need for that. Doctor Ling doesn’t like to receive gifts.”
Old Fang could not help but chuckle. “It’s true that a doctor who can perform freelance surgeries two days in a row doesn’t need anything else.”
…..
On Monday, Old Fang found out which train Ling Ran was taking and bought a ticket. He went early into the small business-class cabin of the bullet train. And when he heard the crew member outside gasp, he immediately stood up and smoothed the creases on his seat. He then smiled from ear to ear.
“Hello, Doctor Ling,” Old Fang said.
Huang Maoshi immediately made his presence known too. “Doctor Ling, we’ll be taking the same train as you today.”
When Ling Ran saw Huang Maoshi, whom he was familiar with, he hummed in acknowledgment and greeted the latter. He then sat in the window seat.
The crew member walked over happily and gave Ling Ran some snacks as well as a cup of tea.
Old Fang turned and took a look at the doctors who came with Ling Ran. There were three permanent doctors: Zuo Cidian, Lu Wenbin, and Yu Yuan. There were also two housemen whose names were not on the list. Old Fang froze a little when he saw how huge the team was.
Including Ling Ran, there were six doctors. How much would the hospital be paying them for transport, accommodation, and food…? A large string of numbers appeared in Old Fang’s head.
“Wow, so many people.” Old Fang sat beside Huang Maoshi. It was a double seat.
Huang Maoshi nodded. “When Doctor Ling travels for freelance surgery, he likes to work all night. If he were to only bring two or three assistants, they wouldn’t have been able to take the workload at all.”
Old Fang gasped. “I’ve seen quite a few doctors who’re very good at staying up late…”
“Doctor Ling is especially good at it.” Huang Maoshi shook his head a little and continued, “I heard that even Qin Shi Huang sleeps for four hours a day.”
Old Fang immediately understood. He said, “No wonder so many doctors are interested in having their in-service training in Yun Hua Hospital. They’ll definitely get enough training with this surgical volume.”
Huang Maoshi had always been interested in the business behind this. He asked, “What conditions do you set for a doctor before you help them with getting a slot for in-service training?”
Old Fang smiled. “What conditions can there be? As long as they’re willing to take it into consideration, we’ll help them with it.”
“Doctor Ling’s team wouldn’t be able to fit so many people.” Huang Maoshi twisted his mouth and said, “I suggest that you set a higher bar.”
For ordinary hospitals and doctors, it was usually a good thing when doctors were willing to go to them for in-service training. On one hand, it was because doctors who were up for in-service training were usually at their peak, and they could immediately help out upon arrival. Even if they were not as skilled in certain areas, they could pick things up very quickly.
Large hospitals usually took in plenty of doctors for in-service training, and in certain ways, those doctors were part of the hospital’s manpower.
Of course, large hospitals only took in doctors who fulfilled certain criteria or standards for in-service training. In the past, doctors from small hospitals would rely on their hospitals to get them a slot for in-service training in larger hospitals. They might also rely on connections. But now, plenty of doctors who did not have enough connections or even those with enough connections preferred to ask pharmaceutical sales representatives for help.
At most, they would have to pay some price by making some purchases from the pharmaceutical sales representatives.
After all, doctors headed to large hospitals for in-service training so that they could acquire some skills. So, correspondingly, they would be needing machinery, equipment, and drugs of the same league after they return to their respective hospitals.
Nowadays, many large hospitals were experiencing a shortage of manpower, which made it easier for pharmaceutical sales representatives to help doctors out by getting them a slot for in-service training. Hence, pharmaceutical sales representatives had become more and more into this task.
Of course, the prerequisite was that they must be able to survive and be successful in the said large hospital.
Old Fang knew that he could not fully depend on Huang Maoshi for this, or else, not only might he end up failing to fulfill his end of the deal, but he might also need to pass on the job entirely to Huang Maoshi.
When he thought about this, Old Fang smiled at Huang Maoshi and said, “I’ll go and take a look at how things are going.”
As he spoke, Old Fang turned to look at Ling Ran. He rose and sat down in the empty seat beside Zuo Cidian.
Huang Maoshi pursed his lips. He did not bother to call Old Fang out on that.
“Doctor Zuo.” Old Fang had met Zuo Cidian before. He smiled from ear to ear and said, “Doctor Ling’s team is huge indeed. I’m sure that it’s full of talented people.”
“I’m not considered one of the talented people. I’m just here to help out with physical labor.” Zuo Cidian smiled. He never had the habit of offending pharmaceutical sales representatives, so he never acted arrogantly in front of them.
“The Ling Treatment Group is tremendously large. You guys can actually bring a few more people so that it’s more convenient if anything arises.” Old Fang smiled as he slowly moved toward his target.
“We’re just here to help out Doctor Ling.”
“If you guys are short on manpower, you can take in a few doctors for in-service training.”
Zuo Cidian immediately understood what was going on. “Why? Is anyone asking you to do them a favor and get him a slot?”
Old Fang quickly said, “There’s more than one. I was thinking that…”
Zuo Cidian waved in dismissal and said, “For now, we don’t have space for any more doctors. We took in three doctors for in-service training a while back, and we took in two more yesterday. For the time being, we’re unable to take in any more doctors.”
“Then, what requirements do you guys have when you guys take in doctors for in-service training?” Now that Old Fang had managed to strike up a conversation with Zuo Cidian, he quickly explained, “There’s quite a lot of doctors on my end who sincerely want to learn from Doctor Ling. If you guys have any requirements when it comes to age or qualifications, I can filter out those who don’t qualify for you.”
Zuo Cidian looked at Old Fang. He thought about it and said, “I do have one requirement. But after we walk out of this cabin, I won’t admit to it.”
Old Fang could not help but size up Zuo Cidian’s face, which was as wrinkled as a century egg. He was tremendously shocked. ‘Don’t tell me that this old man wants a doctor with big b**bs and a big a** to come over for in-service training. Even if I manage to get a female doctor like that here, she won’t be interested in you anyway.’
Zuo Cidian cleared his throat a few times. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. I want a doctor who knows how to cook.”
“Huh?” Old Fang widened his eyes.
Zuo Cidian pointed at his team members. “Look at how many people there are in our team. Every single time we travel for freelance surgery, there would be four to six of us. And the trips usually take a day or two, which means that we would be away for twenty to thirty hours, or even thirty to forty hours. We only get to eat hotel food and restaurant food. I don’t mind eating these for a day or two, but who can stand this kind of lifestyle for more than a year or two? So, I was thinking about recruiting a doctor for in-service training who’s good at cooking and is able to whip up a few home-cooked dishes. This would make things a lot more comfortable and convenient for us.”
“Why don’t you guys get a maid?”
“Maids wouldn’t be as attentive as doctors who are with us for in-service training. Aside from this, we often have to eat in places like Operating Areas and stuff. It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to bring a maid along.” Zuo Cidian had no intention of mentioning that they would have to pay to hire a maid.
“So, you’re thinking about taking in a doctor who’s good at cooking for in-service training?” Old Fang concluded.
Zuo Cidian flashed a kindly smile. “There’s already a lot of people in our treatment group right now, but we’ll take in one more if we find a suitable candidate. If there’s no suitable candidate, we won’t be taking in anyone.”
“I understand.” Old Fang saw that Zuo Cidian had expressed his point of view, so he decided to say no more. But a thought appeared in his mind. ‘It would be easier for you to get a female doctor with big bo*bs and a big a**.’
