Chapter 306: Accepting Fate

Ten-odd minutes later, after Zhao Zhe's repeated entreaties yielded no results, he could only leave the department head's office in low spirits, clutching his form to find the Personnel Department at the administration building.

He had a "social butterfly" personality, but being a social butterfly isn't truly being powerful; it's more akin to a type of psychological disorder.

To put it bluntly, Zhao Zhe was just a minor clinical Doctor with no background and no connections; he knew all of this.

The department head told him to go to the administration building first, so he figured he would just be kicked around like a ball once he got there.

It was like that absurd business of having to prove your father is your father; if people had the mind to kick the ball back and forth to each other, one would likely never solve the problem in a lifetime.

Biting the bullet and going to the administration building to find the Personnel Department, Zhao Zhe confirmed his conjecture.

With no other way, he could only turn back to find the Muniu Waike Zhuren.

After several rounds of mutual buck-passing, a day after Zhao Zhe returned home, his job transfer had made zero progress.

Zhao Zhe knew very well what the department head was thinking—he couldn't stand to see Zhao Zhe do well; for Zhao Zhe to move up a step was more painful to him than having his own ancestral grave dug up. No matter the cost, he was determined to keep Zhao Zhe under his thumb.

As for the Department Head, Vice President, and Dean in the administration building, there wasn't a single decent bird among them, damn it.

Three years ago, a Doctor wanted to resign and go to the south, so they went to process the resignation.

That was a resignation, not even a transfer, yet the Education Department jumped out and said this Doctor had gone for further training on public funds four years ago and demanded tenfold compensation.

In the end, it angered that Doctor, who decided to go down with the ship and went directly to the inspection team to file a real-name report.

As for himself... Zhao Zhe sighed deeply at this thought.

He also wanted to go down with the ship, but he had no idea through what channels to achieve that.

Usually, he was engrossed in clinical work, finding joy in it as if playing a game.

Only when he was truly pressed into the dirt by society and manipulated by others did Zhao Zhe helplessly discover that he could do nothing.

Buying a bottle of Red Star Erguotou and a bag of peanuts, Zhao Zhe sat alone at home drinking his sorrows away.

After a few gulps of liquor, feeling a bit tipsy, Zhao Zhe's eyes turned red, and he rubbed them vigorously.

Forget it, he was just destined to be an old Attending Physician in clinical practice, nothing to be done.

Zhao Zhe accepted his fate.

Since resistance was useless and he couldn't fight back, he might as well just lie flat.

Picking up his phone, Zhao Zhe made a call.

"Xiao Ji, it's me, Zhao Zhe," Zhao Zhe said, choking up.

Mentioning the name Xiao Ji, Zhao Zhe's vision was filled with the seemingly radiant Ji Xiang.

This period of time he had spent working with Ji Xiang was the happiest time of his life.

He didn't have to worry about other matters, just focus on doing his clinical work well; the surgeries were also very smooth, and Liu Zhuren and the higher-up Bai Chuzhang were very supportive, making everything incredibly comfortable.

As for income, for an old bachelor like Zhao Zhe, that wasn't an issue.

It was just a pity.

"Zhao Ge, what's wrong?"

Zhao Zhe recounted his experience.

"Our department head just doesn't want to let me go, I know," Zhao Zhe sighed deeply. "It's me, your older brother, who has let you down; I'm truly sorry. Bai Chuzhang used quite a large favor to get everything ready to receive me, but I just wasn't up to the task."

"Hmm? Is transferring jobs that difficult?" Ji Xiang asked, not understanding.

"Actually, it's not difficult; I know he's just bullying an honest man," Zhao Zhe said gloomily. "Before, he kicked me from the inpatient ward to the Outpatient Department, and almost kicked me to the Emergency Department. If it weren't for a few Renal Cancer Patients who came specifically for me, and if it weren't for the postoperative bleeding of a city leader's mother, I'd probably be an Emergency Department Doctor right now."

"He can't stand to see me do well, and there's nothing I can do..."

"Zhao Ge, what about that person you know in the city? Have they retired?"

"They retired a few years ago; I can't get in touch with them at all. You know what I'm like... let's put it this way: our department head is 8 years older than me, and when I started working in clinical practice, he was already an Attending Physician. One day, I saw him writing something in a notebook and then locking it in a cabinet."

"Later, I found out that it was a list of Patients and Family Members who were powerful, influential, or wealthy."

"These are future connections; I understand that, but I can't do it. I prefer treating patients who have no money. It's not for the few small chickens they send me after they recover and are discharged; it's just that I feel if I don't treat them, they..."

As Zhao Zhe spoke, tears welled up silently.

He reached out to wipe the tears away, struggling to open his eyes wide.

"Sigh, let's not talk about this; it makes me seem so noble. I also can't stand those people who talk every day about being content with poverty and happy to contribute; isn't that just being a scoundrel, damn it! Why should an honest person have to be content with poverty? Don't you agree, Xiao Ji?"

"But that's just how this system is; doing things honestly just leads to poverty."

"Zhao Ge, don't get off track; where exactly are you stuck?"

Ji Xiang didn't listen to Zhao Zhe's rambling; he pulled the topic back and asked directly.

"I can't get it done in any department of the hospital, from the department head to personnel," Zhao Zhe said sadly. "I'm sorry, Xiao Ji, I can't go. The further training... wait for me to go back and hand over the work to you, and then this part will be yours."

"In the future, whatever I do here in Liaoyuan will count as your data, so it can be easier for you when you advance. During the holidays, come to Liaoyuan to visit your older brother..."

"Psh, such a small matter, don't you worry yet, let me ask around."

Ji Xiang said it very lightly.

Zhao Zhe sighed deeply; he knew Ji Xiang was just comforting him.

How difficult things are to handle in society, a Standardized Training Student like Ji Xiang simply didn't know. Although he could gain the favor of Qin Chu and recklessly give up that heaven-sent opportunity, it didn't mean he could get things done in a place where the mountains are high and the emperor is far away.

The smaller the place, the harder it is to get things done; it doesn't matter who comes.

Zhao Zhe couldn't even be bothered to be polite; he would wait until he returned to the Provincial Hospital to eat with Ji Xiang before talking about it.

Disheartened, Zhao Zhe's heart felt like cold ash.

Hanging up the phone, he figured that since he had notified Ji Xiang, although it didn't count as a handover, there was no other way.

For a moment, Zhao Zhe even had the thought of resigning.

But he was just an old Attending Physician, and it wouldn't be easy to find a job in the south either.

At this thought, Zhao Zhe began to loathe himself deeply.

When he was young, he was "aiming too high," thinking that other people's "scientific research" was just shoddy work, just fooling around, purely for the sake of advancement, and completely useless.

But those colleagues who used connections or faked a research project were already Department Heads or Deputy Chief Physicians; their paths were getting wider and wider, while his own path was getting narrower and narrower.

It reached the point where even resigning to go to the south became impossible.

Nanfang Yiyuan is looking for talent to recruit, not a nursing home.

What use could an old Attending Physician be over there? They wouldn't care for one at all.

Zhao Zhe tilted his head back and downed the Red Star Erguotou in one gulp. The pungent liquor scraped against his esophagus like a knife, causing some pain.

There was no burst of heroic spirit, only leaving Zhao Zhe feeling even more lost.

Forget it, just accept fate.

(End of chapter)