Chapter 820: 808 Gathering

After reading several hundred messages, Zheng Ren took just over twenty minutes.

Xie Yiren had already reserved a table; it is said that this TRB Western restaurant is one of the filming locations of the movie *Lost in Love for 33 Days*. The best seats are by the window overlooking the moat, with the Forbidden City's scenery across the seasons—spring willows and winter snow—all visible at a glance.

Now spring is warm and flowers bloom, all things revive; sitting outside Donghua Men, looking at the old streets and alleys, red walls and black tiles, if you go a little earlier you can enjoy the sunset over the Forbidden City while listening to their casual chat, which is also quite pleasant.

In the end of the group chat, everyone was looking forward to getting off work soon.

Zheng Ren glanced at the time—4:05. There was nothing else, so he headed straight to TRB. Morning and evening rush hours are a frightening phenomenon: leaving at 7 a. m. gets you there half an hour early, while leaving at 7:10 a. m. gets you half an hour late.

Zheng Ren also gradually accepted this strange thing.

Unlike Hai Cheng, where the evening rush hour means the same distance basically takes an extra ten minutes compared to usual.

【All clear then? I'll bring Chang Yue, Fugui'er, and Xiaobao'er and we'll meet in the parking lot?】

Since we're leaving, don't dilly‑dally. Zheng Ren left a message in the group, just about to mention everyone when a few messages popped up.

【Chief Zheng, what's it like not being the inpatient chief?】

【Isn't Di Du very relaxed? I heard you don't have to do emergency work anymore—surgery in the mornings, nothing much in the afternoons. Chief Zheng, please take us in; be sure to save us a spot—once our residency ends we'll come over.】

The Chu Family Sisters said as such.

If possible, nobody wants to work in emergency.

【I'm fine; I'm setting off now, heading to East City District—let's go early.】

Xie Yiren replied.

Zheng Ren didn't have time to reply to the Chu Family Sisters; he rarely chimes in the group anyway, which is basically just the girls chatting.

When the group was first created, its nature was a work group; the girls were still reserved, not letting casual chat disturb work.

Since Zheng Ren, Su Yun and others left Hai Cheng, the group has completely turned into a water group.

Zheng Ren greeted and called the three people from his department to go to the parking lot together. The professor has a car, and Xiao Oliver is the assistant‑driver.

Chang Yue habitually walked to the outside of Xie Yiren's car, then suddenly wondered whether she had become a glaring lightbulb.

But she seemed a bit uncomfortable today, her brows slightly furrowed, and she didn't feel like walking back to the professor's car, so she opened the rear door and got straight in.

"At this time, happy hour is already over," Xie Yiren said as she started the car.

"Are there also discounted drinks over there?" Zheng Ren asked curiously.

Besides, Xie Yiren isn't short of money—there's no need to wait for happy hour, the time when discounted drinks are offered; she goes out of her way for it.

"During happy hour there are still quite a few people, which is rather interesting," Xiao Yi Ren said with a laugh. "Lots of people on blind dates come at this time to sit down. I enjoy watching people on blind dates—two strangers meeting for the first time, still having to decide whether they'll spend the next several decades together; it's quite fascinating."

That preference is really rather unconventional.

"Is the Western food at TRB good? Yi Ren, are you used to using a knife and fork?" Zheng Ren asked offhandedly, without really thinking.

In his view, if you're with Xie Yiren and still have to think before you speak, life would be as boring as you make it.

"TRB is a restaurant that gathers Franco‑Italian‑Belgian and other pan‑Mediterranean flavors; many of its Western dishes are quite authentic. Give them a try, but I actually still prefer hot pot. Now that I have time, I can sit down and slowly sip and eat piece by piece." Xie Yiren drove, eyes on the road, giving a simple, off‑the‑cuff reply.

"Zheng Ren, eating hot pot with you in Hai Cheng is simply wasting the essence of hot pot—throwing in a pile of stuff, everything ends up overcooked." Xie Yiren complained.

"It was Su Yun who put it down," Zheng Ren said without hesitation, tossing the pot to the absent Su Yun with no psychological burden whatsoever. "He can't handle spice, hoping to finish it quickly."

What Zheng Ren said wasn't without reason; Xie Yiren recalled eating xiaolongkan in Hai Cheng, which seemed to be just such an experience. Su Yun kept complaining about the importance of standardized weights and measures.

Gradually relaxing, leaning against the seat of the Volvo XC60, Zheng Ren felt himself expanding.

Every three to five days is a surgery day; doing six TIPS procedures in a day leaves the rest of the time free. If it weren't for the Nobel Prize prodding him like a whip from behind, this life would be a dream come true.

He just didn't know how much the salary for 912 would be.

"Yi Ren, when is the salary paid?"

"I don't know either—I haven't looked into it. You're not short of money, are you?" Xie Yiren asked.

"There's not much to spend money on; I'm just asking casually. How much can one earn here in a month?" Zheng Ren asked.

"According to our group's surgery volume and… various calculation methods, I once figured it out with Yue‑jie—we should be able to earn about 30,000 to 50,000 per month." Xie Yiren said.

That's not bad; Zheng Ren laughed.

At least it won't be like in Hai Cheng, where you get by on 3,000 a month.

Haicheng Shi Yiyuan, especially the emergency department, is busy, exhausting, and doesn't make money. A few days ago Zheng Ren occasionally browsed the news, saw that the 996 work schedule was causing a big fuss, and he was initially surprised.

Later he recalled starting work at 9 a. m., being able to rest two hours in the middle, finishing at 9 p. m., and still getting a day off each week… if the inpatient chief could live like that, it would simply be a blissful bubble.

Besides, Di Du is more scientific, and he no longer has to be the inpatient chief—he finally got through that darkest period.

In light chatter, Chang Yue was following the progress of the incident where a little nurse from Hai Cheng was beaten after arriving for treatment; she got the information from other groups and then streamed it for everyone.

Neither laughing nor not laughing helps. Zheng Ren thought it was just an internal people's conflict—best to leave it be; overthinking makes a person unwell, turning them into an extremist like Su Yun.

Extremist, dark—no good, that's what Zheng Ren thought.

Thinking of Su Yun, he finally realized: had that guy received the notice?

"Has Su Yun gone?" Zheng Ren asked.

"He's already here," Chang Yue said from the back row. "He's relatively close to TRB—apparently he's now looking at the walls of the Forbidden City, enjoying the afternoon sunshine."

That guy…

Although he set out early, after a busy afternoon he still caught the first half of the evening rush hour.

By the time they reached TRB, it was already nearly six o'clock.

Zheng Ren felt somewhat helpless, thinking that if he had money he would definitely buy—or rent—a place near 912.

But even renting seems out of reach for him now. This really is a dilemma—spending several hours a day just commuting to work is such a waste.

Fortunately, the library provided by Big Pig Trotter offers books to read, killing time.