“All right.” After exchanging greetings with Chen Yinsheng for a while, the minister turned around, reached out to pat Fang Qiu on the shoulder, and said with a kind smile, “Since you’re already here, let’s get down to business first.”
Pausing for a second and then turning his head, the minister gently smiled, saying to the other leaders in the conference room, “Let’s go together.”
Upon hearing that invitation, the other leaders rose from their seats in succession. Then, led by the minister, the party walked towards the hall outside the conference room.
When approaching the hall, Fang Qiu caught sight of numerous people waiting there, almost all of whom were media reporters besides some staff members of Ministry of Public Health. Even next to the hall were two one-to-one interview seats.
It startled Fang Qiu immediately because he had thought it was a simple commendation. Chen Yinsheng, who stood aside, was even a nervous wreck.
In spite of the fact that he was a vice principal and had lived for decades, during which he had accumulated good experience in various issues, it was the first time that he had accepted such a serious commendation in public.
Therefore, he was extremely nervous.
By comparison, Fang Qiu was calmer and more composed.
Although it was the first time that he had participated in such an event as well, Fang Qiu had seen a leader above the minister level. His prior experience of negotiating with the leaders of other countries and making appalling remarks at the world-renowned medical conference also expanded his scope. Therefore, it was not worth being under strain for him on such an occasion.
“Clap…” Thunderous applause burst out from the assembled multitude when they saw the advent of all the leaders of Ministry of Public Health and Fang Qiu.
“Thank you. Thank you all.” The minister went straight to a small rostrum prepared in the hall. Confronted with all the people present, he nodded to them with an amiable smile, commencing his speech. “Today, it’s an award ceremony. Thank all the media present for witnessing the ceremony.
“In the history of our country, livelihood issues have always been a very big problem. And among a wide assortment of livelihood issues, health problems count the most…” on the rostrum, the minister said.
While off the rostrum, Fang Qiu and Chen Yinsheng stood in the wings under the arrangement of the other leaders of Ministry of Public Health, waiting placidly so as not to disturb the minister’s speech.
All the media reporters on the scene likewise aimed their cameras at the minister.
They were all aware that this was an incredibly solemn occasion where they must give up their desire for taking photos of Fang Qiu. They had to abide by the shooting rules of serious news rather than entertainment news.
“Today, what we are going to award is Bethune Medal, an award indicative of benefiting the country and the people, and making significant contributions to the livelihood of our country’s people!” When it finally came to the key point, the minister turned to look at Fang Qiu, who was standing on the side, and announced loudly, “This medal is the highest administrative reward for model individuals in our country’s health system!”
Everyone was numb with amazement as soon as the news broke like a blockbuster! They were all completely flabbergasted, including all the reporters on the spot, and even Fang Qiu and Chen Yinsheng!
Chen Yinsheng knew fully well—Bethune Medal was an honorary title in Interim Provisions on Honorary Titles of the National Health System, which was issued by the 14th minister of Ministry of Public Health in 1991. It was intended to commend health workers for their exceptional dedication in the front line of the health care system.
In addition to a certificate of honor and commendation, those who won Bethune Medal could also enjoy the special treatment of the provincial and minister level model workers!
It could be envisioned how hard this medal was to come by.
The name of Bethune Medal just left Chen Yinsheng dumbfounded.
He had never expected that Ministry of Public Health would give Fang Qiu this medal, which differed from his original anticipation of just a title of an advanced worker.
The current situation had completely exceeded his expectations.
“Next, let’s welcome the protagonist of this award ceremony, Fang Qiu, the winner of Bethune Medal!” Turning to look at Fang Qiu, the minister took the lead in applauding.
“Clap…” A roar of rapturous applause resounded through the whole conference hall at once.
Amidst the onlookers’ gazes of admiration, Fang Qiu stepped onto the stage with a smile on his face.
Subsequently, after saying a few words to the camera, Fang Qiu formally got the certificate of honor and Bethune Medal from the Minister of the Ministry of Public Health under the lens.
On the other side, Chen Yinsheng was so exhilarated that he failed to utter a word.
After the award ceremony officially ended, the reporters began free press.
“Vice President Chen,” the Minister of the Ministry of Public Health approached Chen Yinsheng and said, “I’m sorry. This time we can only give out the award to Fang Qiu because your school is an educational institution. Although it’s very rare and meaningful to cultivate such a talent like Fang Qiu, the award belonging to you should be issued by the Ministry of Education. We Ministry of Public Health can’t step in and do it for you.”
“I know, I know.” Keeping a tight grip on the hand of the Minister of the Ministry of Public Health in an excited mood, Chen Yinsheng replied, “It has been the greatest pleasure of the University of Jiangjing Chinese Medicine to award such a huge honor to our university’s students. How do we dare to ask for an honor?”
“That’s not exactly true.” The minister smiled and patted the back of Chen Yinsheng’s hand, adopting an appreciative tone. “Undoubtedly, your school possesses enough strength to nurture talents like Fang Qiu. However, you must guard against conceit and impetuosity, and keep working hard in the following time. Glory will come in the wake of achievements.
“I will always pay close attention to your university. If your university can produce good results, then we Ministry of Public Health can confer an honorary title of ‘The Advanced Collective of National Health System’ upon the affiliated hospital of the University of Jiangjing Chinese Medicine. We have the final say on this aspect at least though we can’t give you the honor of educational institutions.”
Chen Yinsheng’s eyes lit up and he became even more thrilled at the minister’s remarks.
“However, all honors are obtained through the endeavor. There are no shortcuts,” said the minister.
“Yes. Thanks very much, sir. I will continue to exert myself to train men for the profession, contributing to our country!” Chen Yinsheng expressed gratitude with emotion.
“Okay.” The minister nodded, smiling with satisfaction.
At this time, some reporters came to the door and invited Chen Yinsheng and the Minister of the Ministry of Public Health for an interview.
Then at the same time, Fang Qiu had already been surrounded by many media reporters.
It was seven o’clock at night. In the news program of Central Television, which had gathered a lot of attention from all over the country, the news of the award ceremony lasted for a total of five minutes, and even had a title “The Youngest Winner of Bethune Medal in the Country: Fang Qiu”.
Hardly did the news come out when it aroused public attention.
Besides the pictures of Fang Qiu being awarded with Bethune Medal, there were also personal interviews of Fang Qiu, Chen Yinsheng, and the Minister of the Ministry of Public Health in the news.
In the end, the news praised the 31 pharmaceutical companies that had participated in the “Three Billion Plan”, and even specially released a public announcement list.
The first one was out of question Renyi Group, followed by the names of the 30 pharmaceutical companies that had invested in this plan.
It was beyond all doubt that the five-minute news video extracted from the news program of Central Television was uploaded to the Internet by quite a few people after the end of the news broadcast.
In this case, around the country, almost everyone knew that Fang Qiu had received Bethune Medal.
Upon hearing that, the whole medical field was shocked!
“Bethune Medal?”
“Fang Qiu actually won Bethune Medal?”
“This is the national recognition. Few of the 50 highly-skilled doctors in the country can get this medal. Fang Qiu actually got it?”
“This time, with his Three Billion Plan, Fang Qiu indeed deserves this medal!”
Everyone in the medical field was stunned, but at the same time, they felt from the bottom of their heart that there was nothing wrong with Fang Qiu’s winning the award. After all, Fang Qiu was indeed a health worker who had made outstanding contributions in the front line of the health care system.
The most crucial thing was that Fang Qiu’s plan could not only help support the people in poverty-stricken mountains areas all over the country but also strive to develop Chinese Medicine. Although Western Medicine doctors accounted for a part of physicians who signed up for the countryside, Chinese Medicine doctors predominated. It was also good for Chinese Medicine to be taken to the countryside and better understood by more people.
Of course, Fang Qiu’s honor of the Bethune Medal was a big shock to not only the people in the medical field but also all the netizens on Weibo.
“What kind of medal is it?”
“Bethune Medal? It sounds great.”
“Let’s not talk about whether the medal is great or not. The most amazing thing is that Fang Qiu was reported by Network News Broadcast again, and this time, he occupied a full five minutes. Although he didn’t show up for such a long time, he was the absolute protagonist in the whole broadcast for five minutes. He’s simply amazing!”
“It is the second time, isn’t it? No one else can occupy five minutes in Network News Broadcast except Fang Qiu, I’m afraid.”
“To be frank, Fang Qiu’s charity this time is definitely worth him being on the Network News Broadcast!”
“He deserves to be called Master Fang Qiu. Appearing on Network News Broadcast is just a piece of cake for him.”
While netizens were astounded by Fang Qiu’s appearance in Network News Broadcast, all the medical colleges nationwide were envious of Chen Yinsheng after the news.
After making a speech in Network News Broadcast, he would definitely enjoy his reputation to some extent there. And in time, it would be particularly easy for the University of Jiangjing Chinese Medicine to handle everything.
More significantly, Chen Yinsheng had shown his face on Network News Broadcast on behalf of the university, which would certainly remove the obstacles of his future promotion. He didn’t need to fret about anything at all.
Additionally, nobody was more fevered than the 30 pharmaceutical companies.
They would never have thought that after getting picked on by Fang Qiu to attend that donation meeting, not only did they gain huge profit, but they also followed Fang Qiu to appear on Network News Broadcast, which even praised them through listing the companies’ names in public.
It was absolutely a huge profit that no other company owned!
The benefits were simply too great.
All the leaders of the 30 companies knew that the government would not punish them, provided they didn’t ruin themselves by producing ineffective drugs.
After all, they were praised in the news program of Central Television.
Undoubtedly, the excitement of the staff of the 30 companies reached its climax. They were all thanking Fang Qiu in their hearts.
As for the other pharmaceutical companies, they were all crying for their foolishness at the sight of this scene!
How could they be so narrow-minded that they did not attend that donation at that time?
“What the hell!”
Not to mention the donation of 50 million dollars, even if the deal was unprofitable for three years, it was perfectly worthy of being reported by the news program of Central Television.
Now thinking about it, they couldn’t tell how regretful they felt!
