Chapter 230

The speaker had a forehead that bulged slightly forward; in ancient times this would have been called a full "heavenly court."

Wu Xuanqi just laughed and played the peacemaker: "It's like this, Brother Hua, Ziye has only just arrived; having him make a round isn't appropriate. Those who don't know might think we brothers are bullying him."

"Here's what I propose: let's all drink one together. Brother Hua, you properly introduce us to your little brother!" Wu Xuanqi no longer overstepped.

It could be seen that Wu Xuanqi was indeed clever, and among the crowd, he was a rather subtle pivot.

And what that Brother Shu had said earlier was also true.

Brother hospitals are also competitor hospitals, and brother departments are the same.

Not saying they never interact until death, but the older generation more or less leaves behind some grudges.

For example, the Hand Surgery Department of Zhongnan Hospital now more or less doesn't get along with the Hand Surgery Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

Nie Xue Hua introduced them one by one to Fang Ziye.

The person with the full "heavenly court" was the young hotshot Fang Ziye had heard about from Associate Professor Xie Jinyuan: Pang Shu of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Beside Pang Shu was another young attending physician from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, named Xing Fang.

Hearing Xing Fang's name, Wu Xuanqi teased: "Ziye, it seems you've met your nemesis?"

Well, Fang Ziye only learned from Wu Xuanqi's reminder that this name really was somewhat of a counter to himself.

"Hello, Teacher Xing." Fang Ziye bowed slightly and greeted him again.

Xing Fang had big ears, but paired with those big ears was a melon-seed face. His appearance was rather delicate.

"Just call me Little Xing or Brother Fang." Xing Fang clenched his fist and shook it, correcting Fang Ziye's form of address.

Two options were given, but there was only one correct answer; unless Fang Ziye was addled in the head, he wouldn't really shout "Little Xing."

"Brother Fang."

Next came Zhang Wenshang and Ceng Tai from Provincial People's Hospital.

Zhang Wenshang wasn't familiar with Fang Ziye, but because Shen Tao had been dissed by An Lumming, Ceng Tai had an impression of the name Fang Ziye.

Nie Xue Hua joked: "Brother Tai's name is the easiest to remember; in the jianghu he's called Tiger!"

"A very poetic name, philosopher." Fang Ziye hurriedly corrected himself, not really calling Ceng Tai a tiger, but getting by with a pun on the celebrity Rabindranath Tagore.

The three from Tongji Hospital were introduced by Wu Xuanqi himself.

Wu Xuanqi didn't need introducing; Fang Ziye and he were already well acquainted. The other two were Chen Tai Lin, who had also been mentioned to Associate Professor Xie Jinyuan before, and...

Chen Tai Lin was an attending physician, but the other person was a doctoral student only one year older than Fang Ziye, currently in his second year of doctoral studies, not yet in his third, in the same cohort as Wang Yuanqi.

Guo Haichao.

Guo Haichao had a very large nose, stood close to 1.9 meters tall, and had considerable heft; his whole body looked exceptionally strong and sturdy, the kind who could beat a man to death with one punch.

But his voice was very pleasant, carrying a magnetic quality: "Hello, Doctor Fang. Long ago, from my senior brother, I've heard of you."

Besides that, Fang Ziye met one more person: Ning Jindong from Provincial Central Hospital, a name he had also heard before.

After the round of introductions, it actually came to the stage of boasting, chatting, and shooting the breeze.

Because Fang Ziye was new and wasn't a social butterfly like Wu Xuanqi, after chatting a few sentences, Fang Ziye didn't enthusiastically join in, and everyone just chatted among themselves.

On the scene, the three who chatted the most were Pang Shu, Chen Tai Lin, and Ning Jindong.

Ning Jindong was also an attending physician, thirty-three years old this year. Although he only had a master's degree, he had slipped at Waterloo while pursuing his doctorate, later entered Central Hospital, and even with a master's identity was received with courtesy by the director, giving up the idea of continuing to pursue a doctorate.

But even so, Ning Jindong had now obtained the National Youth Fund, was leading a project, and had published quite a few articles, equivalent to entering the boss level of Central Hospital in advance.

His professional skill and research ability were not to be underestimated.

Pang Shu liked to touch his high forehead, especially scratching with his right thumb, while saying: "What's so special about being special? Being special is useless. Who knows if among you there's a dog bi, and then he'll squeeze us three so we can't save face."

"Blowing hot and cold describes you people perfectly." Pang Shu's words were very blunt, rolling his eyes, as if looking at a group of bitches.

Zhang Wenshang of Provincial People's Hospital stood up, touched his round little belly, stood there like a little fat lump, and said with a smile: "Here's what, Brother Shu, if you get the Special, give me the money, and you keep the award certificate yourself."

"If you don't get it, I'll make up one-tenth for you. Wanna bet?"

"Hey, you others can all bet too. I'll take nine, purely earning five thousand, okay?"

"That way everyone can split it evenly." Zhang Wenshang's abacus was indeed well played.

That said, his distribution method really was more harmonious.

Pang Shu, Xing Fang, Zhang Zi Xi, Nie Xue Hua, Chen Tai Lin, Guo Haichao, Wu Xuanqi, Ceng Tai, Fang Ziye, Ning Jindong.

Plus himself, exactly eleven people.

Besides himself, there were exactly nine others, equivalent to: the one who won the Special Prize loses fifty thousand, while the others exactly eat up the fifty thousand.

Pang Shu said upon hearing this: "I bet!"

"Don't take any more bets, just let me and Professor Zhang bet." Pang Shu squeezed.

Professor Zhang was naturally joking.

Hearing this, the others decisively shook their heads.

"Brother Shang, I'll give you a chance to swallow fifty thousand alone." Wu Xuanqi said.

Zhang Wenshang was instantly embarrassed.

"Ptooey, you're really dogs. I planned benefits for all the brothers, and you scheme against me like this. Do I deserve it?" Zhang Wenshang rolled his eyes, continued rubbing his belly, and sat down again.

He didn't dare mention the bet again.

Like a shrunken version, Professor Zhang, not very much like Professor Duan Hong, was full of resentment on his face.

After this topic was skipped, everyone shifted the topic to the two doctoral students Guo Haichao and Fang Ziye, saying that these two would definitely get fifty thousand, it was just a matter of when.

Guo Haichao's voice was indeed pleasant: "If I really get it, I'll treat all the big brothers to a foot bath, okay?"

"Meat or vegetarian?" Someone added.

Guo Haichao continued with his pleasant voice, greeting the speaker: "Brother Tai'er, I'll give you the money directly, you go choose meat or vegetarian yourself, isn't that fine?"

Ceng Tai wasn't tall, only 1.6 meters, but his whole body was a big muscle tyrant.

At this moment he seemed a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, right!" Seeing the topic had veered off, Wu Xuanqi asked:

"Brother Tai. This time, the judges for our Trauma Surgery competition seem to be Professor An, right? Did Professor An say anything about the competition process?"

"Or will it only be officially announced tomorrow?"

"We'll find out tomorrow; I didn't ask in advance either. You can rest assured about this—Professor An didn't reveal a thing. I'm not the kind of person who knows but doesn't tell." Ceng Tai clenched his fist while stretching lazily, as if he were a bit sleepy.

"Hey, what time is it now? Why talk about this? We'll know once we get there tomorrow anyway."

"Wu Xuanqi, I heard Enshi has plenty of entertainment activities? Anything fun?" Finally, someone couldn't hold back and asked about some relatively private topics.

Then, Fang Ziye didn't know which direction the topic had skewed toward.

It was just that there was more trash talk than anything else.

But when Wu Xuanqi actually had to arrange room registrations or take people out, he didn't dare agree to a single person.

It's a joke—tomorrow is the competition, today is for entertainment; if they got caught and locked up, they couldn't make it to the venue tomorrow, and their superiors would lose face.

Soon, after the dinner party ended, everyone left in small groups.

Muttering about gathering again next time.

Wu Xuanqi and the others weren't polite, each leading their own unit's people away, while Fang Ziye followed Zhang Zi Xi and Nie Xue Hua back to the hotel.

In the car, Nie Xue Hua looked at Fang Ziye and said: "Ziye, remember these people you met today well; to the two of us, they are just friends."

"To you, they might very well be your benefactors in the future."

"Your future attending physicians, deputy chief physicians, associate professors, and even chief physicians and professors at that level of judging examiners will very likely be one or more of these people."

Fang Ziye nodded solemnly and said: "Thank you for your guidance, Teacher Nie, I know!"

"We've all added each other on WeChat."

With such a great opportunity to make connections, how could Fang Ziye let it pass?

Obviously, those who came today were all elite circles.

Simply put, regarding Zhongnan Hospital, neither Qin Geluo of the younger generation nor Attending Physician Li Nuo were present, which proves that the two of them might be slightly inferior, so they haven't entered this circle yet.

But Fang Ziye had squeezed in by a twist of fate.

Nie Xue Hua continued: "Pang Shu of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chen Tai Lin of Tongji Hospital, and Ning Jindong of Central Hospital can all become deputy chief physicians before thirty-five, and will soon become doctoral supervisors."

"Also, there are Wu Xuanqi and Guo Haichao; they are expected to be your biggest competitors in the future."

"But Guo Haichao is not Professor Duan Hong's student; he is Professor Tao's student. I don't know how they will be distributed in the future."

"When two tigers fight, one must win."

"Resources on all platforms are limited," Nie Xue Hua said with emotion.

Hearing this, Fang Ziye stirred and asked: "Teacher Nie, is what you're saying the reason why, in general teaching hospitals, there are far fewer associate professors and professors than attending physicians?"

It's not hard to see that in Zhongnan Hospital, there are many attending-level people, but only two or three associate professors, and the same goes for professors.

What about the others?

"Ziye, this is the martial world," Nie Xue Hua said.

The martial world is splendid; no one wants to be subordinate to others—if this place won't have me, another place will.

Many people are naturally unwilling to work for others, so they go elsewhere to seek another path.

(Chapter End)