Healing Doctor

Chapter 750 Striving to Pass the Outstanding Young Scientists Award in One Go

"What do you mean?"

"My child has been living with his grandparents since my divorce," Zhao Zhe sighed. "I'm very busy at the hospital, and I always feel bad for my child. Sometimes I think, why do people even get married?"

"Of course there are advantages to marriage. I see my dad and mom talking on the phone every day, they're really affectionate," Ji Xiang said, trying to comfort Zhao Zhe when he saw that he was feeling down.

"I'm so envious that old married couples can still be so affectionate. I could never do that."

After a few casual words, we started working.

There were six surgeries today, which is nothing for Ji Xiang, but compared to before, it represents a fundamental change.

With his participation in variety shows, the hospital's publicity department's intentional or unintentional help, and Ji Xiang's generous spending, publishing one SCI paper after another, many people in the medical circle were willing to introduce patients to him.

Therefore, Ji Xiang is now doing very well.

After get off work, Ji Xiang received a call from Director Liu, who invited Zhao Zhe, Lin Jiuze, and Tang Yan to a banquet.

There's an annual year-end dinner; after a year of hard work, everyone gets together to have some fun.

Director Bai, sitting in the central seat, saw Director Liu take out several bottles of wine with the labels torn off. He smiled and asked, "We're all family here, why are you being so cautious? By the way, what kind of wine did you bring? Judging from the bottle, it looks like Feitian."

"Be careful, keep a low profile," Director Liu said.

Ji Xiang didn't understand, so Zhao Zhe explained in a low voice, "A few years ago, we weren't allowed to eat and drink excessively. Back then, I was doing further studies in Beijing, and before the Lunar New Year, our department had a dinner party where we drank Moutai, but the labels and other markings were torn off."

"This is..." Ji Xiang didn't know what to say.

"There's no way around it. If someone records it and posts it online, it'll cause a huge uproar." Zhao Zhe shrugged. "Back then, the operating room was full of money. Didn't it even make the trending topics for a while?"

"Tell me about Xiao Ji. He should have received government funding, but they didn't give him any money, and they weren't allowed to earn any. Without money, he can't even rent a place, let alone buy one. They're really treating him like a donkey for the production team."

"Xiao Zhao, stop complaining," Director Liu said with a smile. "What stage are we in? The primary stage of socialism. You need to adapt to society, not the other way around. Keep a low profile and behave yourself."

"Yes, yes, yes," Zhao Zhe replied perfunctorily, shutting his mouth and not continuing his rambling.

"It's not just us who are having a hard time, everyone's in the same boat." Director Bai didn't stand on ceremony. Since they were all on the same side, he acted very casually and relaxed, opened a bottle of wine, filled it himself, and ignored Director Liu.

He raised his hand, but Ji Xiang shook his head.

"Xiao Zhao, pour it yourself... Professor Lin, if you want to drink, you should do it yourself too."

Director Bai glanced at Tang Yan again, but didn't speak to her.

"Now TV dramas have to be educational, crosstalk has to be educational, skits have to be educational, but textbooks have to be completely devoid of educational value."

This old rant was so profound that Ji Xiang was speechless.

"So it's not just us who are having a hard time. Just do your job well and that's enough. Thinking about all that other stuff is pointless." Director Bai didn't rush to raise his glass.

The food hadn't been served yet; everyone was still chatting.

"Old Bai, these annual gatherings, I remember once you put your arm around my shoulder and said, 'The future belongs to us.' Now... hahaha, we're all getting old." Director Liu said with a sigh after laughing.

"You're not even fifty yet, you can work for another ten years or so. By the time you retire, you'll probably be seventy, so you need to think about when to let go."

"I'm telling the truth. A few days ago, I performed four surgeries in one day, one of which was a bladder surgery. The network of blood vessels was incredibly dense, and it took a full six hours. After that, my back started giving out as soon as I got home."

"Not bad, you still have a back," Director Bai joked, then suddenly said, "Speaking of which, I was having dinner with some friends the other day, and one of them, who's in business, said he's getting old too."

"Party B was responsible for the hospitality. The girl from the public relations department was beautiful, generous, and had an excellent temperament. After drinking, he was helped back to his room by the girl. When my friend lay down and opened his eyes again, he saw the girl changing clothes."

"Hehe, you're not going to use the 'I have a friend' joke here, are you?" Director Liu asked with a smile.

Director Bai glanced at him, ignoring Director Liu's teasing, and continued, "He chased the girl from the client's public relations department away and called his wife. He got scolded a few times, but he felt much better afterward, took a shower, and went to sleep."

"I'm fine!" Director Liu said.

Director Bai cast a disdainful glance at him.

"Hahaha." Director Liu laughed. "Let me tell you a joke. A few days ago, I was having dinner with some guys from the branch office next door. I don't know what we were talking about, but their political commissar asked, 'Tell me what the Three Purities are.'"

"A young man, having drunk a bit too much, started saying—'Yuanshi Tianzun, Daode Tianzun, Lingbao Tianzun.'"

"The political commissar's face turned black at that moment."

"What exactly are the Three Pure Ones?" Lin Jiu asked, puzzled.

"Clear up hidden dangers, clear up backlogged cases, and address key issues raised by the public." Director Bai smiled and said, "Does this young man sleep with Investiture of the Gods in his hand every day? Talking about this in front of the political commissar, he'll probably get scolded when he gets back."

"Who knows? I saw the young man break out in a cold sweat on the spot."

As they chatted, the dishes were served one by one.

The menu wasn't extensive, but it was exquisite. The owner and Director Liu were quite familiar with each other, and the owner brought his middle-level managers to greet them respectfully.

They didn't exchange many pleasantries; they were just there to make an appearance, served two dishes, and then left.

"Old Bai, could you mention it?" Director Liu handed the task of bringing the wine over to Section Chief Bai.

Director Bai raised his glass. "Everyone has worked hard this past year. Next year... Speaking of which, I never believed that Xiao Ji could pass the Outstanding Young Scientists Award on his first try, but now I have some hope."

Director Liu's expression froze; he never expected that Director Bai would bring up this when mentioning wine.

Passed the Outstanding Young Scientist award in one go?

Ji Xiang is only a few years old!

If it passes, it'll probably be trending on the front page for days.

Doing this would undoubtedly contradict the principle of keeping a low profile, and it's not like Lao Bai's usual style of doing things.

"I'll try my best," Ji Xiang replied with a smile, holding a glass of water.

"come on."

Director Bai raised his glass, lightly touched it to his cup, and drank it all in one gulp.

"They really have confidence," Director Liu thought to himself.

However, Xiao Ji was also lucky, and he was truly capable. Old Chen's grandson had been coughing for two years, and they had traveled all over the country. In the end, it was Xiao Ji who gave a definitive diagnosis—the cough was caused by cerumen impaction.

Looking at Ji Xiang's young and handsome face, Director Liu was somewhat dazed.

Being young is truly wonderful.

Time flew by amidst the laughter and conversation. After several rounds of drinks, two bottles of wine with the labels torn off were downed when Zhao Zhe's phone suddenly rang.

He answered the phone, and his expression changed drastically after listening to just a couple of sentences.

"No, absolutely not!"

(End of this chapter)