Chapter 128: Passing Down Through Generations

"Director, I am a sales representative from Lailin Pharmaceuticals. The Tadalafil Oral Soluble Film our company produces is selling quite well in the South. It has just arrived in our Provincial Hospital, and I hope that when you have the opportunity, you can help promote it to patients."

"Tadalafil Oral Soluble Film, huh? It's finally arrived here," Director Liu said with a smile.

"Director, you know about it? That's great," Feng Yuqing said, without a hint of excitement; she was reciting lines entirely.

Her expression was artificial, slightly exaggerated.

Ji Xiang looked at her helplessly. With this level of skill, she wouldn't even pass for a green-screen actor in a TV drama.

Director Liu carried the items back to the ward area, and Feng Yuqing walked beside him, truly looking like a sales manager.

"Our company's product works as a Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitor. It mainly achieves the improvement of erectile dysfunction by inhibiting the activity of Phosphodiesterase 5, which can increase the levels of Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate within the Corpus Cavernosum."

Director Liu glanced at Feng Yuqing. "It's Phosphodiesterase 5. You haven't even memorized the most basic pharmacology. Go back and read the instruction manual again."

"..." Feng Yuqing was furious.

Is that even something a human can memorize?

The instruction manual was like a damn tongue twister, and looking at Director Liu's nonchalant demeanor, who would have thought he was actually listening to her speak?

"What are you doing?" Ji Xiang followed behind. Seeing Feng Yuqing stop with a flushed face, he asked, fearing she might be embarrassed into anger.

"Manufacturer sales," Feng Yuqing suddenly lowered her head, looking like a wronged little girl, her shoulders heaving.

"Stop acting and go home quickly," Ji Xiang said. "Why are you running around the hospital playing sales rep? It's bitter and exhausting work. Can you even bring yourself to do it?"

"It's a new product. If they won't even listen, what kind of doctors are they?" Feng Yuqing muttered softly.

"Hey, if there's nothing else, just go back. Why sell some Tadalafil Oral Soluble Film? Look at those people who constantly chew 'chewing gum'—is there a single one of them with a healthy body?"

Ji Xiang knew full well that Feng Yuqing couldn't possibly be a sales manager, so his tone grew a bit firmer.

Feng Yuqing stamped her foot in resentment.

"It's useless, just go home. This is an over-the-counter drug. You came to the hospital to promote it to the Director—I can't believe you thought of that. You don't even know this much; you haven't done your homework thoroughly." Ji Xiang shook his head and followed Director Liu back to the ward.

Liu Hui, who had been hiding to the side, saw Ji Xiang leave and her young mistress get snubbed, so she hurried over to comfort her.

"Didn't they say that manufacturer representatives and doctors are very familiar with each other? Why are they ignoring me?" Feng Yuqing asked, puzzled.

Liu Hui looked at Feng Yuqing's bewildered expression and knew she had absolutely no social experience.

Bringing Tadalafil Oral Soluble Film here—such a bizarre move was truly one of a kind. The key was that Feng Yuqing had inferred this from the behavior of people around her, assuming Ji Xiang would definitely be interested in this, and she wouldn't listen to any of her advice.

"Miss, don't you think Ji Xiang is different from the others?"

"He certainly is. He's so young yet lives like an old man. They say he even runs a half-marathon every morning. There's something wrong with him."

Liu Hui thought that speeding through the streets in a sports car in the middle of the night was what was wrong, but she couldn't say that.

"I'll give Tang Yan a call. I still need to ask people in their circle," Feng Yuqing thought of Tang Yan again.

Ji Xiang returned to the ward, having gained a great deal from spending the afternoon in the Outpatient Department with Director Liu.

Although there were some things Director Liu could use that he couldn't—for instance, Director Liu could tell a patient that he also had Prostatic Hyperplasia, but if he said that himself, it wouldn't be credible.

Once those words left his mouth, the patient would likely think he was mocking them, and they might even start a fight.

No wonder clinical doctors become more valuable as they age; Ji Xiang suddenly thought of an explanation.

"Doctor Xiao Ji, come here," Director Liu said. He had changed his clothes but hadn't left; he was calling Ji Xiang into the Doctor's Office.

"What is it, Director?"

"A patient with central Renal Cancer in the right Kidney. The examination data is out," Director Liu said. "I think it's operable. Take a look from the perspective of interventional radiology."

Director Liu felt it was strange to say this, but the image of Ji Xiang berating Director Zhao on the operating table was one he couldn't easily forget.

Lu Kai envied Ji Xiang. In truth, he had an accurate assessment of his own future, yet Ji Xiang, who had arrived at the same time, didn't seem to "care," but somehow quickly gained the favor of the Attending Professor and the Director.

Seeing Ji Xiang and Director Liu head to the office, Lu Kai sighed.

"What, envious?" General Manager Wu asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Lu Kai didn't deny it and said, "General Manager Wu, aren't you envious?"

"Let me tell you something," General Manager Wu was very candid, but he suddenly remembered something and immediately said to Lu Kai, "Don't record this. We're just chatting. Some things can't be told to outsiders, and even if they are, it shouldn't be me saying them."

"Oh, oh, oh, I know," Lu Kai put his phone away.

"Although I'm only a Chief Resident, as far as I know, in the field of Surgery, to reach a certain level, one needs to have a 'I am the best in the world' kind of aura."

"Aura? General Manager Wu, what do you mean by that?" Lu Kai expressed his confusion.

This sounded a bit mystical.

"How should I put it?" General Manager Wu rubbed his hands and organized his thoughts. "Let's put it this way: the more difficult the surgery, the greater the responsibility the surgeon bears. You understand that, right?"

"I understand," Lu Kai nodded, half-understanding.

"Some people just don't want to bear that kind of responsibility; they're soft and can't stand tall."

"Heh heh," Lu Kai felt General Manager Wu was making a double entendre.

"Be serious, I'm talking to you about clinical experience," General Manager Wu said earnestly. "If you don't believe me, pay attention in the future. Any surgeon capable of performing high-difficulty surgeries will have a decisive, 'my word is law' attitude when encountering problems."

"You might rarely encounter this, but simply put, you can see a doctor's level during a major emergency rescue."

Lu Kai frowned; he thought of a few scenes.

"Right, were you thinking of the burn patient?" General Manager Wu asked.

Lu Kai nodded.

"At that time, Doctor Xiao Ji's performance met the requirements for becoming a top-tier surgeon in the future."

"In the future, by whom?" Lu Kai was already used to this and asked casually.

"Pfft!" General Manager Wu laughed, not taking it to heart. "It's the same with teaching apprentices. Many big shots are stingy with their knowledge, not because they don't want to pass on their techniques, but because those who can truly learn them are all the same type of person in terms of character."

"Decisive?"

"Yeah," General Manager Wu said. "The biggest characteristic of this type of person is that they refuse to be subordinate to others. Do you watch basketball?"

"Look."

"Some people are born with leadership qualities, while others are born to be the second-in-command of a team; even if you hand the team over to them, they can't hold it up."

"General Manager Wu, hearing you say that, I roughly understand."

That may be so, but Lu Kai didn't understand what this had to do with Ji Xiang.

"It's like the struggle between an old lion king and a new lion king; one of them must eventually fall from the altar."

"Will Lao Zhuren retire?"

"In this country, we have a department director responsibility system, with all kinds of power in hand; it's not that easy to let go."

As General Manager Wu spoke, he recalled a past event.

"There was a Grade A Tertiary Hospital where the department director ranked in the top five in the country."

"Impressive."

"He was the type of person I described who has the temperament of someone whose word is law," General Manager Wu continued. "But, the problem lies right there."

"That Old Man had five students, the kind who had truly been initiated into his teachings. In the end, four were driven away, and only the youngest one remained."

"Is it that cruel? It feels like one mountain cannot hold two tigers unless one is male and one is female. Why not try taking on a female student?" Lu Kai said.

General Manager Wu knew this guy never said anything serious, so he didn't take his words to heart.

"In the end, when the old director retired, his youngest student took over the director's position. But even after retiring, the old director still held the power of the department. The new director couldn't stand it and fought with him for half a year, but ended up losing completely; he was eventually diagnosed with severe Depression and retired early."

"!!!"

Lu Kai was just a Standardized Training Student, and in his worldview, the world wasn't that cruel.

Who knew that what General Manager Wu said was cruel to this extent.

"Young directors think in their hearts whether it can be like in martial arts novels, where you pass on decades of internal energy and then just reach the end of your life," General Manager Wu said, laughing.

"The old director thinks, 'I spent ten years teaching you my life's experience, and you actually want to dig up my ancestral grave!'"

Lu Kai thought about it carefully; it seemed to be the case.

"General Manager Wu, then what should be done?"

"Because a gap in the medical industry is about ten years, the age difference isn't actually that large, so it's easy to create a life-or-death situation." General Manager Wu didn't rush to explain, but continued, "I heard that some hospitals in the South already have a new model."

"A new model?"

"The old director teaches the grandchildren generation."

"!!!" Lu Kai finally understood what General Manager Wu meant.

"They say that affection skips a generation, and there's actually truth to that. As the old director gets older, even if he hands the director's position to his grand-student after retiring, the new director still has those few people above him who have more seniority and whom he must call 'teacher' when they meet."

"Tell me, if you were that new director, what would you do?"

"Uh..." Lu Kai finally became serious, and the oily look on his face faded a bit.

General Manager Wu was right; a young new director comes up and looks up to see a row of old professors, all of whom were his teachers back in the day.

You can't glare at anyone.

"Naturally, you rely on the old director," General Manager Wu smiled. "In this way, the atmosphere in the department will be better, and internal friction will be less. The old director helps the new director of the grand-student generation get into the saddle and gives him a push, and finally returns to his hometown with honor, leaving the department with a new director in his prime."

"Quite perfect," Lu Kai mused.

General Manager Wu looked at the door of the Doctor's Office, his gaze profound.

Lu Kai was startled; he realized what General Manager Wu meant.

"General Manager Wu, you don't think Liu Zhuren is going to pass on everything he knows to Ji Xiang, do you?"

"It's possible," General Manager Wu said calmly.

"Oh my!"

Lu Kai felt a bit sorrowful.

Even though he had long known that he would return to his hometown and that the best outcome would be to become a doctor at a county hospital, it was still hard to accept that Ji Xiang had been secretly designated as the successor to the Urology Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital.

(End of chapter)