“Old Cai, don’t head to Huang Village just yet.” Associate Chief Physician Deng successfully found Cai Qiong in the cafeteria.
Cai Qiong’s mouth was full of chewed rice and vegetables. He muttered, “You aren’t even allowing me to go to Huang Village? Send me to exile, then. Forget about it, island vacations are in trend nowadays. I reckon that you guys aren’t prepared to be so merciful toward me…”
“No one’s sending you to exile. Can you please talk like a proper human being?” Associate Chief Physician Deng’s tone became slightly sterner.
“It’s just exile. Since you guys are capable of doing it, why aren’t you owning up to it?” Cai Qiong felt that morality wise, he had already obtained the upper hand in the conversation. Hence, he raised his voice and said, “I have already gone to Huang Village. Why would I be afraid of anything? But I am curious about whether there’s any place that’s worse than Huang Village… hahaha…”
In fact, he was truly not afraid. He was already an authorized doctor anyway, and the worst that could happen to him was to be sent to exile. Just like what he had said, Huang Village was the worst possible place that a doctor could be sent to. Aside from this, Yun Hua Provincial Hospital did not dare to let him stay there for too long, as he might otherwise refuse to go to work and make a scene, causing trouble to the hospital.
Associate Chief Physician Deng knew what kind of person Cai Qiong was, so he did not bother replying. He merely stood beside the table and glared fiercely at Cai Qiong. He had practiced this glare since yesterday.
Cai Qiong was merely a person who had trouble controlling his mouth. He was not an idiot. Now that he had spoken those harsh words and obtained gratification from doing so, he shut up. He then said slowly, “Tell me, where will I be going?”
“This is Chief Physician Li’s suggestion. Our position in Bazhaixiang is unstable right now, and we should mainly work on establishing our presence there right now.” Associate Chief Physician Deng first explained the situation. He then slowly said, “So, you’ll be staying in Cangping District Hospital’s Bazhaixiang branch and helping them out. This way, Yun Hua Provincial Hospital will be able to make a name for itself there.”
Cai Qiong widened his eyes. “You’re asking me to work on public health? I’m a clinician.”
“With the situation in Bazhaixiang right now, we would be at an advantage if we were to help them out with public health. We have to do it before Yun Hua Hospital does, and it would do nothing but benefit us if we’re able to do it successfully. Don’t you agree with me?” There was a smile on Associate Chief Physician Deng’s face. No one would be willing to do this kind of job, so he had no choice but to ask Cai Qiong to do it.
Cai Qiong, though, was extremely reluctant. He muttered again, “I’m a clinician, you can’t just make me work on public health.”
“It’ll just be for a while. After we sort things out, we’ll have somebody take over you.”
“What if no one’s taking over? I would have fallen into your trap, then.” Cai Qiong had trouble controlling his mouth, and this was a good time for him to start complaining. “You really have many tricks up your sleeve. Do you really think that anyone would agree to take over the job of helping out with public health in Bazhaixiang? No one from this hospital is as much of a pushover as I am…”
Associate Chief Physician Deng scrunched up his eyebrows tightly when he heard this, and his tone became stern once again. “Doctor Cai, this is an order from your superior, and you’re not in a position to talk about it or make any bargains. Do you really want to stay in Huang Village until the end of your career?”
Can Qiong’s neck stiffened. “I would rather go to Huang Village than to work on public health.”
“Are you sure?” Associate Chief Physician Deng said in a ghastly tone.
“I… wait, I didn’t say that I want to go to Huang Village.” Cai Qiong looked suspiciously at Associate Chief Physician Deng. ‘Don’t tell me that this is another trap.’
“You can choose between Huang Village and working on public health.”
“I’m not going to make any choice.”
“You were the one who said this…”
“Wait a moment… what did I say? I said nothing…”
…..
In the afternoon, Cai Qiong walked behind Chief Physician Li, and both of them were studying every inch of the Bazhaixiang hospital branch.
“Hm, based on what I can gather right now, this storeroom in the backyard is very suitable to be used for storing the stuff needed for public health,” Chief Physician Li said as he nodded.
To junior doctors, public health was an extremely uninteresting task. They were unable to derive any motivation from it or find any meaning in it. However, high-ranking doctors found public health quite interesting, and even though Chief Physician Li had been a clinician for many years, he made a lot of sense when he talked about public health.
Cai Qiong listened glumly. He did not know if he had made the right choice.
“Another choice would be the corner room on the first floor,” Chief Physician Li continued. “Even though the lighting there is a little bad, it’s quite a large room. It’ll be usable after we remove the sofas and other furniture inside the room and clean the place up. Not only can it be used as an office space, but it can also double up as a storeroom. I reckon that they would prefer to give us this room compared to the storeroom in the courtyard. When that happens, your first task would be to clean up and set up this room.”
Department Director Li chuckled as he observed Cai Qiong, who had made a name for himself in the hospital for being difficult.
In the environment of the hospital, young people who had the intention to improve themselves made the best subordinates. This also applied to middle-aged doctors who had the intention to improve themselves. They would persist until the end even if they were almost dying from overwork.
Correspondingly, doctors who have lost their desire to improve themselves made the worst subordinates. Take a man like Cai Qiong who had been beaten down many times as an example. There might have been some changes in his mental state.
Since Chief Physician Li was not Cai Qiong’s direct superior, he was being quite polite to him. He even kind of treasured Cai Qiong as Cai Qiong was his only subordinate right now. He turned and said with a smile, “If Bazhaixiang doesn’t let us use the storeroom downstairs or the corner room on the first floor, the third choice would be one of the shophouses near the hospital. But that would be a little troublesome.”
“If I were to do my job in a shophouse outside the hospital, people would mistake me for a quack.” Cai Qiong could no longer hold himself back from speaking.
There was a smile on Chief Physician Li’s face. “When you work on public health, it’s impossible to please everyone. Also, this is the last choice, isn’t it? If the doctors in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch insist on not allocating space for us, we would have no choice but to rent a shophouse.”
“Based on my experience, as long as there is a last choice, it would be what I get,” Cai Qiong muttered dejectedly, and it delivered quite a shock to those who heard him.
Chief Physician Li had high hopes of putting on a good performance in Bazhaixiang, and he almost tripped and fell to death when he heard what Cai Qiong said. He was so furious that he almost started scolding Cai Qiong, but he changed his mind after he turned and looked at Cai Qiong, who was already over forty years old but was still an attending physician. He could not help but sigh and say, “This isn’t the same. No matter what, working on public health is better than working as a village doctor in Huang Village, isn’t it?”
Cai Qiong had calmed down by then. “I think so too. But I always make the wrong choice whenever I have to answer a multiple-choice question.”
Chief Physician Li looked at Cai Qiong in a daze, and he was actually unable to come out with a retort.
But he finally understood why this man was still a senior attending physician even though he was already over the age of forty.
Chief Physician Li’s original plan was for Cai Qiong to talk to the people in Bazhaixiang and make some progress first before he handled things personally. But after what had just happened, he suddenly felt that he had not taken enough things into consideration.
Cai Qiong would probably make a mess of things.
“Alright, come with me.” No matter what, Chief Physician Li still felt that he needed someone to help him out with miscellaneous tasks.
Chief Physician Li led the way as they looked for the office in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch.
Unlike the hospital directors in large hospitals in the city, the hospital director of the Bazhaixiang hospital branch did not really hold much power. His office was extremely shabby. It was merely a small office room that was located inside the office shared by everyone.
Cai Qiong could not help but make a snide remark as he stared at the tiny office. “The hospital director doesn’t even have a separate office. Do you really think that they would allocate a room for us to use as a storeroom and an office space?”
“Don’t be pessimistic,” Chief Physician Li replied. For some reason, he no longer felt angry. Perhaps, he was used to Cai Qiong’s behavior already.
After he knocked on the door, Chief Physician Li stood in the office and said, “I’m Li Bingfu from the General Surgery Department of Yun Hua Provincial Hospital. May I know if the hospital director is around?”
“Director Wang is away. What’s the matter?” A doctor, who was clad in a large white coat and had a face that was full of wrinkles, looked away from the monitor and peered at Chief Physician Li as well as Cai Qiong.
“Huh? Doctor… Doctor Zuo, why are you here?” Cai Qiong cried out in surprise.
Chief Physician Li turned to look at Zuo Cidian. “Do you guys know each other?”
“This is Doctor Zuo from Yun Hua Hospital. He’s part of the Ling Treatment Group.” Cai Qiong managed to introduce Zuo Cidian to Chief Physician Li in a socially appropriate manner.
Zuo Cidian rose with a smile and said, “There’s quite a lot of tasks that have to be carried out in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch, so I came over to help out.”
He was extremely familiar with the way village hospitals operated. It was extremely easy for outsiders to enter the office. Meanwhile, the hospital director of the Bazhaixiang hospital branch was more interested in being an internist, and he was always missing from the office.
Chief Physician Li looked around. Even though he was reluctant to talk about the intention of his visit to Zuo Cidian, he was not the kind of person who bothered with trivialities. Hence, he told Zuo Cidian about their intention to help out with public health in Bazhaixiang. “It’s actually a good thing. Aside from allocating some space for us, the Bazhaixiang hospital branch will not have to be responsible for any of the expenses. Everything, from the drugs used to the doctors who are working on the project, will come from Yun Hua Provincial Hospital. After the roads clear up two days later, the Bazhaixiang hospital branch won’t even have to pay for the disinfectants we use…”
Chief Physician Li stood in the middle of the office as he spoke, trying his best to ensure that the two people in the office apart from Zuo Cidian could hear what he was saying. He had already made up his mind that if Yun Hua Hospital stopped their efforts, he would immediately head outside and rent a shophouse to make a name for themselves so that Yun Hua Hospital would not beat them to it.
Zuo Cidian looked as though he did not notice Chief Physician Li’s expression. He said with a smile, “I’ll make a call and ask Doctor Ling about it. Give me a few minutes.”
“Sure.” Chief Physician Li stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
Cai Qiong chuckled a few times. “So, Cangping District Hospital’s Bazhaixiang branch has to report to Yun Hua Hospital before doing anything nowadays?”
No one in the office looked at him.
Zuo Cidian’s call soon went through. He quickly explained the situation and hummed a few times before hanging up.
Chief Physician Li was already mentally prepared. He smiled and said, “If it’s not possible…”
“Doctor Ling has voiced his agreement. You guys can go ahead and use the storeroom as well as the office. But we don’t have enough manpower right now, so we can only allocate two helpers we hired from outside to help you guys out. Will this do?” Zuo Cidian spoke speedily and urgently, but everyone could hear him clearly.
Chief Physician Li froze for a moment before he turned and smiled. “Doctor Ling is a generous person indeed. Sure, thank you very much then.”
After he said that, Chief Physician Li asked for a key and happily went to make preparations.
Cai Qiong walked behind Chief Physician Li, and he did not even bother to smile. He was overcome with worry as he thought about things. ‘Aren’t things going a little too smoothly? If this continues, the Bazhaixiang hospital branch might just be caught up in the mudflow.’
