Chapter 1196: 1164 Boss Zheng Is Too Ferocious (27000 Extra Chapters ×11 Seeking Monthly Votes)

Early the next morning, Zheng Ren discovered he hadn't just gained one extra chore, but two—watering the flowers and walking the dog.

Some are tedious, some seem like a "waste" of time, but this seems to be what real life is all about.

After retirement, living anywhere with Xiao Yi Ren would be fine—spending each day watering flowers, walking the dog, going downstairs to play chess with the old folks; that would also be a nice life. Hmm, I don't know how to play chess, so I'll start from scratch.

By then, the two old men would sit there for a while, even forgetting whose turn it was to move.

After finishing all the work, Su Yun finally got up, yawning widely, soothed Heizi, and the two went upstairs to eat.

Before he even reached the hospital, Zheng Ren got a call from the Emergency Department saying that Cui Lao wanted him to come over.

He figured out that today was Cui Lao's clinic day, and Zheng Ren had nothing else to say, so after seeing the inpatients at the hospital he hurried to the Emergency Department.

He still had six surgeries waiting for him today; he'd go to the Emergency Department first to see what Cui Lao needed.

Arriving at the Emergency Department, Cui Lao had just arrived. He had called Zheng Ren from home, not expecting him to come so early.

"Cui Lao." Zheng Ren smiled and greeted him.

Cui Lao nodded, opened his office, pointed to a chair, and said, "Please have a seat."

Zheng Ren sat with formal composure, waiting for Cui Lao's instructions.

"The other day you rescued Xiao Miao; all the measures were timely." Cui Lao went straight to the point, "I later looked at the rescue record, and the whole process was basically flawless."

Zheng Ren merely smiled and said nothing.

"How about it, are you interested in the Emergency Department?" Cui Lao asked.

"I guessed that's what this was about; for the sake of the Emergency Department's cause, Cui Lao has put some thought into it." However, Zheng Ren has a love‑hate relationship with emergency work—just hearing the sound of a gurney makes him anxious and short‑of‑breath, a habit he's picked up.

"Cui Lao, you also know I still have a lot on my plate," Zheng Ren apologetically explained, "the TIPS project; the hospital has found me a community hospital, and it looks like we're on the fast track."

Cui Lao said nothing.

"I've also applied for a project on interventional surgery—embolization of the gastric fundus and left gastric artery to treat refractory diabetes. What do you think of this…?"

"I didn't have you come directly; I said, Xiao Zheng, do you know anything about being an academician of the Engineering Academy?"

"……" Zheng Ren blinked, wondering what that meant.

"By rights, your achievements should earn you a Nobel Prize nomination and qualify you for the Engineering Academy. But you're still young, and people have unintentionally overlooked this. In my view, you're all young people; this shouldn't be ignored." Cui Lao said calmly.

Zheng Ren didn't understand what Cui Lao meant; staying silent seemed the better choice at that moment.

"Each week, could you set aside half a day to accompany me on emergency shifts?" Cui Lao shifted the topic, no longer mentioning the Engineering Academy.

"If I'm not going abroad, I'll definitely come join you on emergency duty."

"Oh, I'd forgotten you're currently a visiting professor at the Mayo Clinic." Cui Lao raised his white eyebrows slightly and said, "Then it's settled—do you have time this afternoon?"

"Yes, yes." Zheng Ren quickly replied.

"Go get busy; come see me this afternoon." Cui Lao waved his hand and sent Zheng Ren on his way.

Zheng Ren walked down the Emergency Department hallway, still pondering what Cui Lao had said. It was rather vague, not too vague, with no concrete promise—just using the Engineering Academy as a talking point.

"In a subsidiary discipline, the unwritten rule is that only one academician can exist. To elect a new academician, at least the incumbent must nod in approval."

"Could it be that Cui Lao intends to use this method to get himself into the Engineering Academy?"

"But Cui Lao also said that people generally care a lot about age. At my age, getting into the Engineering Academy seems a bit early. In China, seniority-based hierarchy is strong. I wouldn't consider the Emergency Department, but if it were the Interventional Medicine Discipline, I could still ponder it."

Zheng Ren thought to himself.

"To be frank, he isn't all that interested in the title of academician. Fame and profit are just so‑so. But since the old man has made a request, setting aside half a day each week for emergency duty doesn't seem like a big deal."

As for that vague, illusory promise, Zheng Ren didn't give it a second thought.

Back in the ward, after handing over shift and sending off patients, Liu Zewei squeezed Shen Boshi aside and took on the "heavy responsibility" of transporting patients.

Professor Rudolf Wagner wasn't around, so these miscellaneous chores would now be handled by Liu Zewei.

Zheng Ren didn't rush upstairs; he first reported to Director Kong what Cui Lao had said to him that morning.

This was out of respect for Director Kong; Zheng Ren knew it in his heart. Some things can be left unsaid, but some must be spoken.

"Boss Zheng, this is Cui Lao extending an olive branch to you." Director Kong said with a smile, "Go keep him company—it won't take up too much time."

With Director Kong's permission, Zheng Ren felt much more at ease. He just didn't know how complicated Director Kong's gaze became after he left.

Arriving at the Operating Room, Feng Xu Hui and Liu Xiao Jie were already there. Two large rolling suitcases had been prepared, packed to the brim, just looking at them was exhausting.

Zheng Ren hadn't even had a chance to say a word to Feng Xu Hui when the Head Nurse came over and whispered, "Boss Zheng, is the person doing the sterilizing inside a professor from the Northern Province Provincial Hospital?"

"Hmm." Zheng Ren nodded.

"Boss Zheng, your setup is pretty luxurious," the Head Nurse laughed. "Either a foreign professor or a domestic one handles patient transport and sterilization—ordinary people don't get this treatment. Still, having been downgraded from Professor Rudolf to a domestic professor, you've still got to work harder, Boss Zheng."

Zheng Ren blinked; the Head Nurse's words seemed to make sense. He had never noticed before, but the medical team's configuration was actually quite luxurious.

"I'm really blind—I used to just overlook that."

Liu Xiao Jie also realized she hadn't noticed this; watching the bustling Professor Liu busy with disinfecting and laying out sheets, she felt a bit dazed.

"Professor Liu is someone I saw in person at the Provincial Hospital—can't be faked. I don't know how high his level is, but his position is clear: he's a team‑leading professor from the Provincial Hospital."

"Having a team‑leading professor come for further training to serve as a junior doctor—what the Head Nurse said is right, it's indeed too luxurious. Yet the Head Nurse says his status isn't enough; just how much more luxurious would it have to be?"

Liu Xiao Jie knew that, without Changfeng's minimally invasive equipment, trying to sell in the Intervention Department of the Northern Province Provincial Hospital would surely fail to move any volume—let alone whether they could even get into the Provincial Hospital.

"Half of the team‑leading professors are Zheng Ren's people, and they still want to push sales—this isn't a joke, is it?"

"It's just like in the liver and bile wards of the Imperial Capital… Gradually, Liu Xiao Jie pieced together the reason for her own setbacks in the Imperial Capital's liver and bile unit."

"But this really isn't her fault."

"It's not that her ability is lacking; it's… Boss Zheng is too ruthless!"