Chapter 264: Ride-Hailing and Food Delivery (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader CAA Malatang)

"Zhao Ge, where do you live?" Ji Xiang and Zhao Zhe prepared to go change their clothes and asked casually.

"I rented a place nearby," Zhao Zhe said. "Renting in the Provincial Hospital area is really expensive. It's over 800 a month, and I'm even sharing it with someone else. My neighbor is a big guy who comes back drunk every day."

"Every night when he comes back, he either hugs the toilet and vomits, or he sings loudly. Last night, he sang 'A Great River.' While singing, he actually started crying, bawling his eyes out. This was the first time I'd heard someone sing 'A Great River' with such emotion..."

"It's indeed very tough. Do you want to come stay at my place?" Ji Xiang had gradually grown accustomed to Zhao Zhe's chatter, and he interrupted Zhao Zhe's words to ask.

"No need, I think. It would be very uncomfortable to go home, and I'm doing fine there. Although the living conditions are a bit poor, it's 800 a month—only 800!"

As Zhao Zhe spoke, he held up his right thumb and index finger to gesture an "eight."

"Back where we are, for 800 yuan a month, you can get a small bungalow with a yard in the front and back, slightly off the beaten path, and you can even raise a big dog yourself. Speaking of big dogs..."

"I'm going to the Emergency Department. Zhao Ge, you head back first."

Ji Xiang interrupted Zhao Zhe's words and said.

"Why are you going to the Emergency Department?" Zhao Zhe asked in surprise.

Ji Xiang had gone to Nan Ke Yi Yuan early in the morning to perform circumcisions, and after finishing, he returned to organize the data for the patients scheduled for surgery tomorrow, explain their conditions to the Family Members, and handle other tedious tasks.

These were all necessary Clinical requirements; Zhao Zhe had gone through the same thing back in the day and didn't find it strange.

But after Ji Xiang finished his work, instead of going home to rest, he wanted to go to the Emergency Department, which made Zhao Zhe think there was something wrong with Ji Xiang's head.

"A very interesting Doctor is on duty today, I'm going to see him," Ji Xiang said.

"Let's go together, let's go together." Zhao Zhe didn't have anything to do back home either, and thinking it would be livelier to be with Ji Xiang, he said, "When I was young, I worked two shifts in the Emergency Department. Ever since then, I've been allergic to the mere mention of it. My respiratory tract starts to swell, and after a while, my body turns red and breaks out in papular rashes."

Ji Xiang turned a deaf ear to Zhao Zhe's chatter. Today was the day Meng Qingfei, a Doctor in the Emergency Department, was on duty, and he would go see him before heading home.

During this time, Ji Xiang had formed a habit. He got along quite well with Meng Qingfei and could learn more Clinical experience from the old Doctor. Moreover, he didn't have to pull an all-nighter or take responsibility; he was just helping out, so he didn't find going to the Emergency Department tiring at all.

Arriving at the Emergency Department, Meng Qingfei was busy.

On the weekend, many people took their children to amusement parks. There were many such Patients coming in for check-ups due to children roughhousing or accidentally falling, and there were no particularly serious cases for the moment.

Ji Xiang helped Meng Qingfei handle the Patients. After seeing a few Patients, the Emergency Department's Meng Yisheng felt relieved, but he was very interested in the "old" Doctor following behind Ji Xiang.

At a glance, Zhao Zhe looked like the type of experienced old Attending Physician.

An hour and a half later, finally finished with the work, Meng Qingfei let out a long breath and asked with a smile, "Xiao Ji Yisheng, why are you still coming to the hospital on the weekend?"

"I was busy all day," Ji Xiang said. "I'm heading home to eat, and I thought I'd stop by to see you."

"This is..." Meng Qingfei looked at Zhao Zhe and asked.

"Meng Laoshi, I am a visiting Doctor from Yuanliao City, working in Xiao Ji's medical team."

"..." Meng Qingfei was taken aback.

The Emergency Department worked on a four-day rotation of day and night shifts, and he wasn't usually at the hospital, so he had no idea what Ji Xiang did on a daily basis.

In Meng Qingfei's mind, Ji Xiang was just a small Standardized Training Student, quick with his hands and feet, and had no major problems with changing dressings or Suturing. His other skills seemed decent, but he was just a decent Standardized Training Student.

Yet Zhao Zhe actually said he worked in Ji Xiang's medical team.

It must be politeness, it definitely was. Meng Qingfei smiled, "Take a breath. I saw 112 Patients this weekend; I can't take it anymore."

"Meng Laoshi, what do you do after getting off work?" Ji Xiang asked.

"I drive for a ride-hailing service."

"Ah?" Ji Xiang was stunned.

He had asked casually and didn't expect to get an answer that was completely outside his consciousness.

"How much can you earn in the Emergency Department?" Meng Qingfei wasn't bothered and said with a smile, "The biggest advantage here is that you can work one 24-hour shift and rest for 3 days. You don't have to manage Patients, and there aren't that many things to worry about."

"Anyway, since I'm idle, I might as well. My son is already 17; the little brat has probably already found a girlfriend, and he spends money like water."

Emergency Department Doctor, ride-hailing driver—these two terms were completely unrelated in Ji Xiang's mind.

"Look at that expression on your face," Meng Qingfei said dismissively. "Xiao Ji Yisheng, it's all labor. Labor, do you know? It's glorious."

"Heh, I understand." Ji Xiang said he understood, but both Meng Qingfei and Zhao Zhe knew he didn't.

Zhao Zhe sighed, "I delivered food for a while when I was back home."

"You're in the Urology Department? That shouldn't be necessary, right? Even if the income in the department is low, it shouldn't be so low that you have to deliver food." Meng Qingfei looked at this old Attending Physician with curiosity.

"Our General Manager is a miser. If a penny leaks through his fingers, he makes a huge show of it," Zhao Zhe said. "The city government owes the hospital wages, and everything is based on performance. Performance, you know how it is—you really don't earn much. And the more surgeries you do, the more money you lose. At the end of the month, I don't earn as much as someone who just lies flat. Where can I go to reason with that?"

"Can you make five thousand a month?" Meng Qingfei asked.

"At most, including performance bonuses, it's five thousand; at the least, it's two thousand seven or eight hundred."

"The cost of living in Yuanliao City isn't high, so that should be okay. By the way, how much can you earn a day delivering food? If you only do it after getting off work, it seems like you can't deliver that many orders."

"Don't even mention it," Zhao Zhe waved his hand and said sullenly, "Delivering food is also not a job for humans!"

"How so?"

"If you don't go against traffic, don't run red lights... in short, if you don't break the rules, you definitely can't meet the time limit set by the app. As Doctors, we all know that riding a motorcycle is a dangerous job itself. Two of my high school classmates who rode motorcycles are already dead, and the rest are all injured to some degree. I did it for two days; I didn't earn any money, but I was so scared I almost died on the spot."

"If you say it's not easy, ever since then, I feel that wearing Lead Clothing to perform surgery seems acceptable. It's all risking your life, but at least the Family Members of the Patients smile more, and we are more respected, whether it's genuine or not."

"Unlike people who order food, who are all stubborn and rude, and don't give you a good look at all. People who spend money think they're the masters. In the hospital... heh, ever since I delivered food for a few days, I feel that the hospital is actually quite good. Those who spend money aren't the masters here."

Zhao Zhe recounted his experience of delivering food in a continuous stream. Meng Qingfei didn't know him and, out of politeness, did not interrupt Zhao Zhe's words.

However...

Zhao Zhe spoke for nearly ten minutes, and Meng Qingfei couldn't get a word in at all.

"Knock, knock, knock~"

A knock on the door sounded. Meng Qingfei, as if granted amnesty, quickly sat up straight, "Please come in."

(End of this chapter)