This doctor is already middle-aged, and he's only just started practicing medicine.

Chapter 8 Home and 'Blind Dates'!
"Mom, I've cooked rice, bought vegetables, and chopped them all up."

At 5:40 p.m., Lu Cheng walked out of the kitchen wearing Ms. Tian Hui's kitchen apron, his face full of regret: "I just didn't learn your cooking skills, I was afraid you and Dad wouldn't have enough to eat."

"Didn't Dad pick you up today?" Lu Cheng asked, slightly puzzled as he didn't see Lu Nan's house.

“Your dad got a last-minute call about moving and went to do some work with his coworkers. He won’t be back until tonight.”

"I'll take care of grocery shopping and cooking. You can rest when you have time." Tian Hui's figure has changed a bit, and her face, with its crow's feet and fine spots, still faintly shows the beauty of her youth. She took off her straw hat and changed her shoes.

The father, Lu Nanjia, was a three-wheeled truck driver, responsible for delivering home appliances and goods to merchants, and helping people move, earning money through manual labor. The mother, Tian Hui, would buy some vegetables and sell them at the market.

Lu Cheng took off his apron, his face beaming with smiles: "Mom, my knife skills are still pretty good. The potato shreds I cut are even, uniform, and crystal clear."

"I also bought beef..."

Seeing that Tian Hui was about to take the apron from his hand, Lu Cheng hung it up a step higher: "Dad won't be back for a while, Mom, you can rest and cool off. There's no rush to eat."

"I'll get you some fruit." Lu Cheng pushed Tian Hui toward the sofa in the living room to rest.

Lu Cheng's words were reasonable and well-founded, and Tian Hui did not refuse. After sitting down, she watched Lu Cheng walk towards the refrigerator with great 'happiness': "It's actually good that our son has grown up. He also knows how to care for others."

"I know you have excellent knife skills, but..." Tian Hui hesitated, feeling a pang of heartache, before continuing.

"The melon that has just been chilled has a refreshing taste, but it's not too cold."

"Mom, your stomach isn't good. You must remember to eat breakfast on time from now on. Eat less raw and cold food, and eat chilled fruit. Just put it in the refrigerator for about an hour."

"Don't eat leftover fruit. Don't ruin your stomach just because you're reluctant to part with food," Lu Cheng meticulously nagged.

"I know, I know." Tian Hui felt sorry for Lu Cheng when she heard him say that: "Every morning when you go to work, you throw away some fruit. Those are all bought with money."

Tian Hui is a typical rural woman. She dropped out of school before graduating from primary school. The wages for working in the county town were too low, so she could only earn a little money by buying and selling vegetables. She had to be very frugal to support her family.

“Money can be earned back if it’s gone, but my mother’s health is not good, so it can’t be earned back.”

Lu Cheng casually picked up a piece of melon with his fork and put it in his mouth: "By the way, Mom, didn't you say Uncle Liu was going to introduce me to a blind date? Is that all?"

Uncle Liu was Lu Nan's father's "coworker"; they were both delivery drivers.

Lu Cheng is already thirty years old. In the county, it is considered a great disgrace to not be married at this age. Fortunately, Lu Cheng has a government job at the county hospital, which "protects" him and prevents him from being "expelled" from the family genealogy by his parents.

However, they arranged quite a few blind dates for Lu Cheng.

"Have you ever gone on any of the blind dates I've arranged for you? You've been on more than ten dates and haven't found anyone you like even once?"

“Your Uncle Liu’s niece is a good girl, with good education and character. If you don’t want to go on blind dates, there’s no need to arrange for you to meet.”

At this point, Tian Hui turned around, her expression serious: "Lu Cheng, tell Mom honestly, are you still in contact with that Mu Nanshu? Is that why you haven't thought about finding a partner?"

Lu Cheng used another fork to pick up a melon and feed it to Tian Hui, shaking his head: "After she went abroad, we kept in touch for two years. Later, she was busy and I was busy, and there was also a time difference, so we didn't keep in touch much."

"Mu Nanshu and I are just friends."

Mu Nanshu was Lu Cheng's classmate from fifth grade in elementary school, middle school, and high school. When it came time to take the college entrance exam, she went to Fudan University for clinical medicine (a five-year program). Both of them were "good kids" in school.

After chewing and swallowing the melon, Tian Hui sighed: "Lu Cheng, it would have been better if you had checked the box for accepting the transfer to Fudan University, or not accepting the transfer to Wuhan University."

"With your score, you can still get into a good university."

Lu Cheng scored exactly 666 on the college entrance exam, which was a good ranking in Hunan Province that year. However, his choice of Fudan University's Clinical Medicine (eight-year program) was rejected. Wuhan University's Clinical Medicine (eight-year program) was his third choice, but by a twist of fate, he selected "accept adjustment" as his preferred major.

Back then, Mu Nanshu's college entrance exam score was slightly lower than Lu Cheng's. Sometimes, choices and luck are more important than 'ability'.

Lu Cheng chuckled and said, "Mom, you can say that at home, but don't go around bragging about it. How is my alma mater, Han City University, not a good university?"

Tian Hui's expression tightened: "I'm not saying that Han City University is bad, it's just that you haven't done well in your major."

"Otherwise, why would you need to take the postgraduate entrance exam?"

"Now that your educational background hasn't improved, even the state-level people's hospital looks down on you. What's your classmate's name? He only got into a second-tier university before, but after getting a master's degree, he even got a talent introduction program..."

Lu Cheng replied, "His name is Peng Feng. Mom, Lao Peng is also my friend. The past is the past, and the present is the present. Don't talk about him like that, saying he only went to a second-tier university."

"The job posting clearly states that applicants must hold a master's degree. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for the state hospital to reject me?"

"The only thing I didn't expect was that the web of personal relationships at Longxian People's Hospital was so complicated."

"I have no opportunity to learn surgery or perform surgery."

"Mom, could you tell Uncle Liu that I always try my best on blind dates, but the blind date market is too chaotic these days, with too many weird ladies, and I can't handle them all?"

"My requirements are actually very simple: first, filial piety; second, normal values."

Tian Hui wanted to say something more, but when she heard Lu Cheng mention blind dates, she became more talkative: "Then you can rest assured, your Uncle Liu said that Xiao Xu is very well-behaved. She's also quite pretty."

Lu Cheng replied with a smile, "I hope it's not the kind where she invites her boyfriend over for a blind date..."

Tian Hui was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then her tone sharp: "There are people who invite their boyfriends to blind dates? Who introduced them? This is so unreliable, what kind of people are they introducing..."

"Mom, it's all in the past, why are you still going to pursue it?"

"Come on, let your son massage your shoulders. My rehabilitation techniques are so good, they'd charge you for them in a hospital. Consider this a free gift from me, like a mother to you." Lu Cheng stood behind Tian Hui and began to gently stretch and loosen the muscles in her shoulders...

After Lu Cheng got to work, Tian Hui immediately relaxed, leaned back on the sofa, and closed her eyes, her voice barely audible: "Son, do you want to take the postgraduate entrance exam again now?"

“Your father and I aren’t that capable either. According to you, you’ll have to toil away in the county hospital for another ten years before you have a chance to get ahead…”

"Now that I'm older, it's not worth it to go on to graduate school."

“It’s okay. I’m in the emergency room now. Professor Chen from Xiangya No. 2 Hospital is very skilled and willing to give me a chance. I think I can make a difference.” Lu Cheng’s tone was calm.

Tian Hui suddenly asked again, "When you were in your residency training, why didn't any teachers take a liking to you and teach you some skills?"

After hearing this, Lu Cheng laughed again: "Mom, you need to understand your son's status. Back then, I was just a junior resident doctor, which is equivalent to a primary school student."

"The surgeries performed at Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital are like high school math problems."

"It's already a favor if the teacher just gives me a few simple arithmetic problems to solve, let alone ask me to write out the solutions?"

Do you really think your son is that much of a genius?

The road to becoming a doctor is long and arduous, and the diseases are complex and varied, requiring lifelong learning.

Good hospitals certainly offer better learning opportunities, but the starting requirements are too high.

Although Lu Cheng was a resident in orthopedics at the Affiliated Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, the fracture that Longxian People's Hospital treasured was completely ignored by the professor. He was dismissed without even being admitted.

Complex bone defects, complex pelvic fractures, and limb deformity correction and reduction—let alone Director Peng Haibo of a county hospital, even the head of orthopedics at a prefecture-level city hospital could try to handle them.
One by one, they remained silent...

(End of this chapter)