System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

”Oh, actually you don’t know. When I was attending the training course in Han City, the teachers over at Zhongnan Hospital also contacted me.”

Xie Yuan’an, of course, knew about these things; Xie Xiao had told her: ”But weren’t those things all resolved?”

Lu Cheng had already given a heads-up: ”In the future, my superiors and I won’t have too much personal interference, so it’ll be purely a working relationship.”

”Reciprocating kindness is fine, but there’s not much attachment if we go our separate ways.”

”Once you become superior and subordinate, there’s bound to be a conflict of interest.”

Having experienced so much, Lu Cheng naturally understood one principle: How many nails can you drive with iron arms?

Human relationships and the ways of the world are important, but for someone without a background wanting to build their own network, the most crucial reliance is being strong enough so that no one can control you.

Only then will you not become a pawn or a disposable chess piece.

Otherwise, you will end up as a small pawn on the chessboard, one that can be discarded at will.

Protected so well by Xie Xiao, Xie Yuan’an hadn’t thought deeply about many things: ”But Lu Cheng, if you have a good mentor to guide you, wouldn’t that be more beneficial for your development?”

Lu Cheng replied directly: ”Xie Yuan’an, how can you be so sure that Teacher Xie Xiao is a good mentor for me?”

”From my position, how is he different from Professor Zhong Junyun?”

Hearing this, Xie Yuan’an fell silent.

For a long time afterward, Xie Yuan’an didn’t revisit this topic. She simply shifted the conversation to the actual project, also telling Mu Nanshu and Lu Cheng how she planned to return to Han City to wrap up the prior project...

The next day, Monday.

The weather was clear, the sun bright and warm but not scorching.

In a duck restaurant, Lu Cheng raised his glass, his face full of smiles: ”Brother Zhang, thank you so much for agreeing to stay and help us out, really, our team really needs you right now.”

”I toast to you!”

Zhang Xibei sat diagonally across from Lu Cheng, not very tall, about one meter seventy, with a ruddy face, slightly dark skin, a very standard northwestern man, broad but not tall.

Zhang Xibei’s skin was thick, his lips also thick; his expression seemed hardly affected by emotion, and his voice was deep, he sighed: ”Dr. Lu, to be honest, I really couldn’t stay on at my current workplace.”

”That’s why I agreed.”

”I don’t ask for anything else, just to have a job, to make a living.”

Lu Cheng finished his drink in one go, and Zhang Xibei accompanied him. Mu Nanshu and Xie Yuan’an also each had a glass of beer.

The conversation and cooperation with Zhang Xibei went surprisingly smoothly.

After putting his glass down, Lu Cheng asked: ”Brother Zhang, may I ask one more thing, last time we met, you mentioned that your parents wanted you to stay.”

”Do they know about your coming to Xiang Province this time?”

Zhang Xibei nodded: ”Of course they know.”

”I’m quite a straightforward person, let me tell you something funny, don’t laugh at me. You know, at my age, I also once went on a blind date.”

”Got cheated, all my savings from work were taken out as bride price money.”

”So, my parents don’t pressure me about anything anymore.”

Zhang Xibei only told a small part, but Lu Cheng could sense what had happened to him.

Zhang Xibei was two years older than Lu Cheng, now thirty-two.

Working in a prefecture-level city hospital, his salary wasn’t bad, and his savings weren’t particularly inadequate. Being at this age and still unmarried is practically ’criminal.’

Perhaps Zhang Xibei had also figured it out, so he agreed to the arranged marriage set up by his family.

After the blind date went reasonably well, his parents arranged everything after, including the bride price and engagement.

But a marriage scam, even his parents probably didn’t expect it, and once the person ran off, getting the money back wasn’t meaningful anyway.

Moreover, Zhang Xibei already felt somewhat disheartened and unaccomplished, so he simply couldn’t be bothered to think about it.

After that incident, Zhang Xibei was uncomfortable, not wanting to become a laughing stock at his workplace, he simply resigned without another job lined up.

”Brother Zhang, indeed there are all sorts in blind dates. Was the loss significant?” Lu Cheng enquired.

”The amount wasn’t much, but it was embarrassing, and quite ridiculous.”

After saying that, Zhang Xibei added: ”Let’s not talk about that, anyway, you both know my situation now, and currently, I’m just looking for a job.”

”And taking a break for my mind.”

”I chose to come see you because I wanted to visit Zhang City and Feng County to refresh myself, to wander around.”

”Xiangzhou is very close to Zhang City and Feng County, and you had come looking for me before, it’s only right to give you all a reply.”

Mu Nanshu casually asked: ”Brother Zhang, with your strong abilities, hadn’t you cooperated with other professors before?”

”Yes, but it was all because of our director, I was just doing the work.”

”We fell out. The director targeted me everywhere, he wanted to use me like a beast of burden, but he neither had the ability nor the resources.” Zhang Xibei said very straightforwardly.

”I’m sorry, Brother Zhang, I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just, our team at the moment might not be able to offer you a very high salary.” Mu Nanshu said.

”How much per month?” Zhang Xibei asked directly.

”Maybe, it’s just five or six thousand for now?” Mu Nanshu said.

”That’s enough, at the hospital, I was moved to administration by our director, and I didn’t get paid this much.” Zhang Xibei smiled brightly.

Zhang Xibei’s reply left Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu taken aback.

No way, really?

He didn’t even earn five or six thousand? Wasn’t Zhang Xibei a senior attending physician?

But considering the cost of living and basic expenses in Shan Province, Zhang Xibei’s salary over there was considered relatively high.

”So, Brother Zhang, what are your plans now? Will you just wander around Zhang City and Feng County?” Lu Cheng asked.

Zhang Xibei nodded: ”Yes, just visiting and it won’t be too long, I’ll be back for work later.”

”Whenever I come back, you can start paying me then. It doesn’t really matter.”

Xie Yuan’an looked at Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu with some confusion, seemingly about to say something like, ’Aren’t you guys being a bit hasty by agreeing without checking his skills?’

However, since Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu didn’t bring it up, she just decided not to mention it either.