Healing Doctor

Chapter 197: It seems like nothing happened.

The next morning, after Zhao Zhe woke up, he contacted Ji Xiang and was surprised to learn that Ji Xiang had already gotten up early and had almost finished a half marathon in the hotel gym.

Zhao Zhe didn't even know how to describe Ji Xiang, this monster.

Isn't sleeping in nice enough? Running a half marathon in the morning... Zhao Zhe, a middle-aged man, wouldn't even dare to dream of it.

He asked the hotel staff for directions, found the gym, and saw Ji Xiang running at a considerable pace on the treadmill from afar.

Zhao Zhe didn't see Ji Xiang sweating profusely. It seemed that a half marathon in the early morning was normal for Ji Xiang, just like taking a stroll.

After Ji Xiang came down, Zhao Zhe asked, "Little Ji, do you run for this long every day?"

"How long has it been? Are you alright?"

"..." Zhao Zhe knew that he was different from Ji Xiang Channel in this respect.

"I'm going to take a shower, then we'll go have breakfast," Ji Xiang said.

"The more I think about it, the scarier I get. Didn't you see Qin Chu's expression yesterday? How about I go with you to see your mother, and then we can go back?" Zhao Zhe started to back down.

"I have to take a look, right?" Ji Xiang hung a towel around his neck, his youthful exuberance making Zhao Zhe nostalgic for his own past.

"Don't worry, even if he gets scolded, he won't go to Yuanliao City to affect your future," Ji Xiang continued to comfort you.

"As for me, I'm just a resident trainee. No matter how capable Qin Chu is, can he really turn me into an associate resident trainee?"

That's what he said, but Zhao Zhe was still a little uneasy.

He had never seen a big event before, and the lack of a cheerful atmosphere at the meeting he was attending today made Zhao Zhe very worried.

But unable to dissuade Ji Xiang, the two went to the venue after dinner.

Even on weekends, Shanghai's hepatobiliary hospitals remain packed with people.

Ji Xiang contacted him, and soon Ling Tian, ​​dressed in white, came out to meet him. He had a big smile on his face, showing no sign of what had happened yesterday.

Zhao Zhe even had a misconception that his memory was faulty. He thought that since Boss Qin hadn't stormed off yesterday, Ji Xiang was about to step onto a huge platform and soar freely in the future.

Perhaps Qin Chu, the boss, wasn't feeling well yesterday, or perhaps he was too excited about Ji Xiang's surgery and needed to rest.

Actually, he was just overthinking things. Qin Chu still wanted to take Ji Xiang as his last disciple.

Zhao Zhe pondered this with suspicion, his mind uneasy.

"Xiao Ji, why did you leave so early yesterday?" Ling Tian complained with a smile, full of warmth. "The boss wasn't feeling well, and when I came out after my surgery, you were already gone."

"I thought Teacher Qin was angry," Ji Xiang said calmly.

"How could that be! The boss is overjoyed that you did so well," Ling Tian laughed. "Come on, let me show you the doctors who attended the meeting today. Because it was a bit rushed, they are mostly interventional radiology directors from provinces and cities in East China."

"Boss Teng from Jinling is here too. After the meeting, you can chat with him for a bit."

Ji Xiang simply nodded.

Ling Tian led the two to the conference hall, introducing the attending directors to Ji Xiang along the way.

Zhao Zhe was stunned. He had finally met many people in person, people he had only ever seen in periodicals and magazines.

Everyone was very polite to Ling Tian, ​​and they would especially look at Ji Xiang a few more times and say a few words of praise.

"Having six directors give research reports and their visions for the future of interventional medicine is still a bit rushed. I'll take you to see the world at the national academic conference at the end of this year."

Upon entering the conference hall, Ling Tian and Ji Xiang spoke.

"The end of the year," Ji Xiang murmured softly.

"What's wrong?"

"No." Ji Xiang smiled. He was supposed to rotate to his second department at the end of the year—orthopedics.

"There are five minutes left. The boss is going to pick up Boss Teng. Let's have a seat."

Ling Tian, ​​along with Ji Xiang and Zhao Zhe, sat in the second row on the side, chatting and laughing, showing no signs of anything amiss.

Zhao Zhe observed for a long time and realized he was wrong. He had to admit Xiao Ji was very patient; if she had secretly slipped away as he had planned, things would have been terrible.

A few minutes later, the doctors in the room stood up and stared at them.

Qin Chu walked in side by side with a sprightly old man in his sixties.

"That's Boss Teng from Jinling," Ling Tian said, standing up as well.

Ji Xiang stared blankly at the people behind Boss Teng. Why were his parents here too?

Really!

Ji Xiang had some reservations about this.

I need to perform better today, otherwise I don't know how long my mother will nag me.

Qian Ying found Ji Xiang easily. She quietly raised her hand and waved to indicate that she had seen him, then sat down in the first row of VIP seats.

Ling Tian didn't recognize Ji Xiang's parents; they looked unfamiliar, but he was certain they were people brought by Boss Teng.

Seeing them sitting in the first row, he said with a smile, "Xiao Ji, the boss really went all out to support Academician Teng this time."

"What is Academician Teng's main focus in surgery?" Ji Xiang asked.

"We started by researching TIPS surgery, then moved on to particle implantation and stents," Ling Tian explained simply. "Now we're even dabbling in neurointerventional surgery."

"Amazing!" Ji Xiang exclaimed.

He has performed tens of thousands of interventional surgeries in the operating room, and his understanding of the procedures is much deeper than that of others. He also knows that there are some diseases that current medical technology can no longer cover.

Particle implantation and radioactive particle scaffolds are the major directions for future development.

Such technological pioneers certainly deserve respect.

"I'm going to accompany the boss to give the opening speech." Ling Tian patted Ji Xiang on the shoulder, leaving him with a gentle smile.

Watching Ling Tian walk away, Zhao Zhe leaned close to Ji Xiang and whispered, "Ji, it's a good thing you didn't listen to me. I think I was wrong. Professor Ling's attitude was very calm. I must have guessed wrong."

"Brother Zhao, have you attended many associations?"

"Academic conferences? I do attend some, but they're really not very useful." Zhao Zhe whispered to Ji Xiang as he watched the staff bustling around the venue. "The academic conferences I attend don't really serve as platforms for disseminating knowledge; they're more like big shows."

Either the big shots are showing off their "unique skills," or they're cooperating with the manufacturer to do product placement.

It's rare to see someone show off their unique skills and broaden the horizons of other doctors; how many top doctors have such unique skills?

In most cases, the manufacturer pays for it, mainly for product promotion.

"If you add a few academic credits to such an academic conference, people will come to attend."

"The manufacturer," Ji Xiang said softly.

He lacks clinical experience, especially in matters of rules and unspoken rules.

"It's not like that now," Zhao Zhe said. "When I first started working, there were few academic conferences. There was a big shot in Beijing who was doing academic promotion for Rehmannia Pill, which sounded like they were selling fake medicine to me. Later, we caught up with a golden period of almost twenty years, and many of the older generation made a living off of this."

"Oh, by the way, let me tell you some gossip." Seeing that the academic conference wouldn't start for a while, Zhao Zhe, being a chatterbox, began to ramble on.

"The head of the orthopedics department at the hospital next door, you know how lucrative the orthopedics department was a few years ago, right?"

"How fat are you?" Ji Xiang asked.

Zhao Zhe hesitated slightly. This topic was a bit taboo, and it was best not to talk about it if possible. Most importantly, he wasn't an orthopedic surgeon, and it wouldn't be good for hearsay to spread.

"To put it another way, that hospital didn't have any new staff for six years. Later, they recruited a batch of new doctors, and after all the surgeons had completed their rotations, they all wrote orthopedics as their preferred specialty."

"If he weren't fat, how could this happen?"

Ji Xiang nodded.

"Let's not talk about that, let's get down to business." Zhao Zhe rarely took the initiative to steer the conversation back to the topic. "Back then, their hospital had a vice president position, and the head of orthopedics was a 'renowned doctor in the province,' with a good reputation and all the necessary resources."

"But the problem is that once he leaves, no one in the orthopedics department will know how to perform joint replacement surgeries, and the department will basically fall apart. The hospital director criticized him severely in a meeting, saying he couldn't even lead a team and hadn't done anything all day!"

"Later, he led the team for another five years, and only when the junior professors were able to perform surgery were he promoted."

"Oh, there's such a thing?" Ji Xiang asked, somewhat surprised.

"Hey, Xiao Ji, there's more to this than meets the eye," Zhao Zhe said, counting on his fingers. "Those were the years when orthopedics was at its most lucrative, and I reckon this director was a little hesitant. But then, after another five years, he built up a team, and just then, the centralized procurement program came into effect."

After they finished eating and got ashore, we were all incredibly envious when we talked about it.

"This person, it's all about timing, fate, and luck. He's made money, become the vice president, and has a bright future ahead of him."

"Huh? Why are you bringing this up?" Zhao Zhe suddenly asked, puzzled.

"We were just talking about manufacturer sponsorship," Ji Xiang reminded him.

"Yes, it's sponsored by manufacturers. That's why many big shots are so eager to improve their academic standing. Performing surgeries can be lucrative, but it's risky. A few years ago, an orthopedic professor from Beijing went to a nearby area to perform surgery. After the surgery, the patient's bone did not ununite. The patient's family brought people to the hospital and broke the professor's leg."

"!!!"

"These are all risks, there's nothing we can do about it," Zhao Zhe said. "It would be great to fly out and give lectures on weekends, to improve your academic standing, and the manufacturer pays you quite a bit, don't you think, Xiao Ji?"

"What's most infuriating is that some provincial academic conferences and associations actually charge fees. I didn't know that before. I thought I could exchange ideas with everyone, but after paying the membership fee, I found out that I was just there to show my support and listen to gossip."

The list of invitees to the conference offers a rough indication of the rivalries and conflicts between the various hospitals, as well as whether one bigwig has become estranged from another, making it a topic of gossip and entertainment in the industry.

"It's so complicated. I thought academic conferences were just about exchanging techniques." Ji Xiang was slightly disappointed by Zhao Zhe's description.

"It's not that simple." Zhao Zhe looked at the stage with envy. "For example, this academic conference isn't mainly about exchanging technology. It's more about Boss Qin telling everyone that he's taken you on as his last disciple."

A closed-door disciple?

Just him?

Ji Xiang smiled slightly.

The meeting officially began at 9:30.

(End of this chapter)