“Hm, this tastes…” Zuo Cidian took a bite of the cabbage stir-fried with sweet and sour sauce before him and widened his eyes so much that his eyes looked like two gaping holes on his face.
“Give this stir-fried potatoes with beef a try.” Ye Sigong extended his hand and gestured at the dish to showcase his handiwork.
He employed the same strategy as he did as a doctor, showcasing only what he was best at. The seven or eight dishes on the table right now were his best dishes.
He knew more than just how to prepare the ingredients, cook the dishes according to the steps, and control the fire as well as cooking time well when it came to those dishes. He knew how to tweak the taste of those dishes, especially the undertones. This only came with repeated practice…
Ye Sigong was also capable of cooking many other dishes right now, and he would have plenty of time to put in some practice to perfect his skills when it came to those dishes.
What he needed to do now was to emerge victorious among all his competitors by being the best in making home-cooked food, since the members of the Ling Treatment Group merely wanted good home-cooked food.
“How much oil and seasonings did you put into this dish?” Zuo Cidian ate a slice of beef and nodded slowly.
“I focused on serving healthy and tasty dishes today. Take the beef as an example. I could have stir-fried it with oil first, but I didn’t. Of course, when I’m actually serving it to you guys, you guys can tell me what to do.” Ye Sigong knew what Zuo Cidian meant very well. Since Zuo Cidian was a middle-aged man who looked older than his age, he reckoned that Zuo Cidian’s requirement when it came to food was like that of his grandfather: healthy.
Zuo Cidian could not help but nod again. He then tried the other dishes, including scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried snow peas.
“If you’re able to make vegetarian dishes taste so good, you’re capable of making more than just delicious home-cooked food.” Zuo Cidian showered Ye Sigong with praises.
“I’m pretty good at meat dishes too.” Ye Sigong smiled and continued, “But I heard that Doctor Lu is pretty good at braised dishes, so I believe that you guys need more vegetables for a balanced diet.”
“Hm, you’re right. Ah, all doctors are smart.” Zuo Cidian laughed.
Ye Sigong smiled and said nothing.
“Manager Fang, I really need to thank you this time.” Zuo Cidian shook hands with the manufacturing representative of Duco Medical Company.
Manager Fang quickly registered what Zuo Cidian said. He quickly replied, “My contributions are minute. Go ahead and continue your discussion. I’ll be taking my leave first.”
“Have a safe journey, Manager Fang.” Zuo Cidian smiled as he watched Manager Fang leave.
After that, Zuo Cidian looked at Ye Sigong. His expression had become slightly more solemn. “Since you know about how Doctor Lu is good at making braised dishes, it means that you know quite a lot about us already. I won’t be bothering you with other questions, but I have to ask you this. How long do you hope that this in-service training will last for?”
“Two years… is this too much?” Ye Sigong gritted his teeth.
When he was training in Tai Feng Restaurant, Ye Sigong had done a lot of thinking as he stood before the stove, the steamer, and the chopping board.
He no longer wanted to work in a county hospital.
Doctors in county hospitals were not like those in tertiary Grade A hospitals. Their lives were more relaxing, and they enjoyed more freedom and fewer responsibilities. Moreover, people were kinder there.
However, Ye Sigong had a paralyzed father who had to stay in the hospital all year long, and he still needed to pay his house loan for twenty years. He had no car either, and he had never enjoyed life in the city like what he had always watched on television.
The in-service training was the only chance Ye Sigong could get to obtain a better life.
He would probably be able to master a surgical method after two years of in-service training. He did not want to think about what would happen if he was not able to do so. He had already taken the leap, and there was no point in doubting himself.
Zuo Cidian was not surprised at all as he looked at Ye Sigong. He said with a smile, “Two years? Then, do make sure to get along well with all the team members.”
“Of course,” Ye Sigong quickly said when he saw that Zuo Cidian was inclined to agree to his request.
“I don’t object to you being with us for such a long time. But that would exceed the time period for normal in-service training, and I’m not sure if such an arrangement can be made. What does the hospital you’re working in think about this?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when it comes.” Ye Sigong had not decided on what to do either. It would not be worth it to resign immediately, but if he could, he would like to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
Zuo Cidian nodded. “I’ll leave that up for you to deal with. On our side, we basically have no problem with you coming on board. But I can’t give you a guarantee when it comes to how much you’ll get to learn and how much you’ll earn. Truth be told, you’re pretty high up in the pecking order because of your cooking skills, and the rest is up to you to strive for.”
“Noted.”
“The doctors in the Ling Treatment Group are relatively young, so you have to take extra care when it comes to interpersonal relationships. You have to understand what you want and think of how to achieve them.” After Zuo Cidian said that, he continued to speak in a different kind of tone. He chuckled and said, “When it comes to your cooking skills, you really need to tell me how you’re going to put it to good use. Hmm… you can tell me if you need to buy anything or prepare anything. It’s better if we talk about it beforehand.”
“Sure thing. I had been thinking about this too. If we aren’t going too far away, it would be best if we drive a car over.” Ye Sigong glanced at Zuo Cidian and continued, “I’m not sure if the team often does freelance surgeries in hospitals nearby, and how far you guys usually travel.”
“Half of our freelance surgeries are in the hospitals nearby, and half of them are further away. But as Doctor Ling prefers to travel via bullet train, we mostly carry out freelance surgeries in hospitals that are not too far away nowadays, and only about one-third of our journeys involve hospitals that are further away. We mostly work in several provinces near the ocean… Hmm, we can get some seafood locally…” There was a smile on Zuo Cidian’s face.
“Let’s do this, then. We’ll need a set of cooking utensils. When we have no choice but to take the plane, I’ll have to make simpler dishes. But if we’re only going somewhere nearby, we can drive a car over, and I can make more complicated dishes…” The more Ye Sigong talked about it, the easier things sounded to him.
It actually was not that simple to carry out freelance surgeries. More often than not, a doctor did not get to decide whether he would be going to hospitals nearby or those that are further away for freelance surgeries.
This was a form of imperfect competition. In short, it was because the pay for freelance surgeries depended on the skills and fame of a doctor. This had nothing to do with the distance that the doctor had to travel. This was why doctors would usually be more inclined to carry out freelance surgeries in hospitals nearby, as this would make the journey more bearable.
However, in Yun Hua City itself, there were three large general tertiary Grade A hospitals: Yun Hua Provincial Hospital, Yun Hua Hospital, and the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital. There were also twenty more tertiary Grade A hospitals of various sizes. All the chief physicians there needed to make an income too.
Even though a doctor would not be able to carry out all the freelance surgeries in the world even if he worked his a** off, they needed more than skills alone to be able to consistently carry out freelance surgeries in hospitals nearby. They also had to be extraordinarily charismatic and talented.
Aside from this, there were also certain senior doctors who preferred to carry out freelance surgeries in hospitals that were further away. This was a way to show that they were renowned.
It would not be easy for a doctor to become a freelance surgeon if he was not so renowned that hospitals far away knew about him.
Ye Sigong was feeling quite satisfied right now. Since the Ling Treatment Group was of such caliber, it would probably be fairly easy for him to get a job at another hospital two years later.
Perhaps, he would be able to stay in Yun Hua Hospital for a longer time, and he would only need to look for a job four or five years later.
As Ye Sigong gazed at Zuo Cidian’s wrinkly face that was rather ugly and the latter’s tired eyes that looked rather hideous, he suddenly felt a little more at ease.
