This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Gao Qin nodded. ”Alright, I’ll arrange it.”

Just as she finished speaking, the woman who had just gone for a check-up walked in.

Du Heng nodded at the woman and walked straight out of the consultation room.

The woman looked puzzled at the departing Du Heng and quickly turned to ask Gao Qin, ”Doctor, why did your Dean leave?”

Gao Qin composed herself and said to the woman, ”The Dean came to help diagnose your condition. Now that the diagnosis results are out, his part is done. I’ll explain the rest.”

Upon hearing that her check-up results were out, the woman’s attention was completely captivated. She no longer cared whether Du Heng had left and, staring intently at Gao Qin, asked, ”Doctor, am I alright?”

This was the last sentence Du Heng heard; by the time she finished speaking, he had already left the consultation room.

Just as he returned to his office, he saw Secretary Huang at the doorway.

Du Heng laughed. ”Secretary Huang, didn’t you go wrangle with those bureaucrats today?”

”You hit the nail on the head, it’s all just wrangling.” Secretary Huang shook his head with a wry smile. ”After you mentioned it yesterday, I spoke with Professor Li. But at the discussion meeting in the afternoon, it was the same as always—everyone put forward their own conditions.”

Du Heng, who was busy fetching water for Secretary Huang, paused for a moment. After setting the water down for him, he asked, ”So, they couldn’t reach an agreement?”

”Everyone knows each other. For example, the Director of the Chinese Medicine Department at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine is Professor Li’s colleague, and also his superior. The Director of the Chinese Medicine Department at the first affiliated hospital of JZU is also a professor of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Jinzhou University’s medical department. It’s very difficult to turn them down flatly due to these connections.”

When Du Heng had left ten days prior, Secretary Huang had confidently taken on the task. However, after several days of negotiations, he discovered that the interpersonal dynamics in the traditional Chinese medicine community were far more complex than he had imagined.

Du Heng remained silent, sitting quietly. After a while, he suddenly asked Secretary Huang, ”Secretary Huang, is there another discussion meeting today?”

”Yes, at 3 p.m. in the conference room of the Provincial First Hospital.”

”Alright, then you don’t need to go today, Secretary Huang. I’ll go and take a look.”

Secretary Huang was taken aback.

He knew Du Heng had been avoiding the hospital the past few days precisely to steer clear of these intricate social politics. What caused such a significant change in him after just one trip away?

”Dean, are you planning to cut the Gordian knot?”

Du Heng nodded. ”They have time to waste, but I don’t. Our hospital needs to develop. We’re not just lacking achievements and high-level doctors; we’re also critically short on time. Besides, I have many other things to do. How can I afford to waste time fooling around with them like this every day?”

Since Du Heng had put it that way, Secretary Huang didn’t say anything more and just nodded in agreement.

Just as he was about to stand up and leave, Du Heng suddenly stopped him. ”Secretary Huang, what’s the status of the arrangements for Zhonghu Health Center?”

Secretary Huang looked at Du Heng, puzzled. ”Didn’t we discuss this during the last video conference? The matter was assigned to Deputy Dean Qiao. Hasn’t he informed you of the outcome?”

It dawned on Du Heng. No wonder he felt like something was left unsaid when he chatted with Deputy Dean Qiao the day before yesterday. Now he remembered: he’d forgotten to ask about the Zhonghu Health Center.

However, Du Heng recalled that Deputy Dean Qiao had left early today and wasn’t at the hospital, so he couldn’t ask him even if he wanted to. For now, dealing with the upcoming discussion meeting was the priority.

At noon, he went to see Gong Daoyang. They chatted for a while, and he lingered until just after two o’clock before finally heading to the Provincial First Hospital.

Upon arriving there, the first thing Du Heng did was present Li Jianwei with the gift he had brought.

Li Jianwei looked at the gift in his hand, then at Du Heng with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. ”I really don’t know what to say about you, kid. You’ve been back for three days, and only now do you remember to visit me, your teacher?”

Du Heng chuckled sheepishly. ”Well, Teacher, I just got back, and things have been hectic at work. See? The moment I freed up today, I came straight here with a gift, didn’t I?”

Li Jianwei pointed a finger at Du Heng. ”I think you only came because you couldn’t put it off any longer, right?”

”Teacher, you’ve misunderstood! How could I possibly think that?”

”No?” Li Jianwei glared at Du Heng, clearly annoyed. ”Alright then, tell me this: the school term ends tomorrow—where’s your homework? And now that you’re also a lecturer at the school, pray tell, how many classes have you actually taught?”

Du Heng’s face instantly burned with embarrassment. He quickly grabbed Li Jianwei’s arm. ”Teacher, let’s go to the meeting first. Can we discuss these minor things afterward, okay?”

”Minor things? You call *these* minor things?”

”The meeting first, Teacher, please! I promise I’ll listen attentively to your guidance afterward.”

Du Heng truly didn’t want to hear any more about these matters. Feeling utterly mortified, he practically pushed and shoved Li Jianwei into the conference room.

When Du Heng and Li Jianwei entered the conference room together, it suddenly fell silent. All eyes, burning with intensity, focused on Du Heng.

Li Jianwei glanced back at his student, an involuntary smile playing on his lips.

He’d lived for half a lifetime, and his proudest achievement to date wasn’t becoming the Director at the Provincial First Hospital, nor his promotion to Professor at the School of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It was successfully taking Du Heng under his wing as his student. Look at him now. An unremarkable Director at the Provincial First Hospital, a newly promoted Professor at the School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, yet he could summon all the renowned traditional Chinese medicine practitioners within the Jinzhou establishment and even preside over their meetings. On what grounds? Simply because Du Heng was now his student. Back when he sat in the school’s conference rooms, he was considered a peripheral figure. Why were the hospital leaders now greeting him with smiles? Again, it was because Du Heng was now his student.

Once Li Jianwei was seated, the previously silent attendees suddenly broke into smiles, warmly greeting Du Heng one by one.

Du Heng, for his part, adopted the perfect demeanor of a junior, respectfully greeting each of these seniors.

After everyone had exchanged pleasantries, Li Jianwei cleared his throat. ”Everyone, let’s continue our discussion from yesterday. Today, we absolutely must come up with a solution. If we keep dragging this out, I’m afraid it will be difficult to answer to Director Zhuo.”

As Li Jianwei finished speaking, the expressions of the previously amiable crowd instantly shifted. They all sat up straight, glancing at their colleagues and then at Du Heng, who was seated to the side.

After a moment of looking around, the Director of the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine couldn’t hold back any longer and was the first to speak. ”We explained our hospital’s position yesterday. Since Xiao Du is here today, I’ll state it again. Our hospital can sponsor this project’s funding with an additional 200,000 yuan, making a total of four hundred thousand yuan. We can also make concessions regarding first authorship on publications—we only require three core journal publications and four regular national-level journal publications. However, we require five of our people to participate in the project.”

He then turned to Du Heng. ”Xiao Du, when your project was just starting, we were among the first to support you. This request isn’t unreasonable, is it?”

Du Heng grinned. ”Not unreasonable.”

”Good.”

No sooner had the first speaker finished than the Director of the Medical Affairs Department from the first affiliated hospital of JZU spoke up. ”Professor Zhu has urgent school matters today and couldn’t make it, so he asked me to attend this discussion on his behalf. I’ll outline our hospital’s conditions as well. Our hospital’s funding commitment for the project remains unchanged at four hundred thousand yuan. We can also make concessions on first authorship. However, our conditions are the same as those of the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine: three core journal publications, and our personnel participation must also be increased to five people.”

Once the first few had spoken and laid their conditions bare, the others no longer held back, openly stating their demands and objectives directly to Du Heng.

Throughout this process, Du Heng remained silent, his expression growing increasingly placid until it became completely devoid of emotion.

He now understood clearly. These people viewed him and his project as nothing more than a publication mill and a training ground for their personnel. Setting aside the matter of them essentially buying publications, the sheer number of personnel was a major issue. The personnel requests from these six hospitals, large and small, already totaled thirty. Add to that the staff from his own Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital and the Provincial First Hospital, and the number would exceed fifty.

The other representatives present also knew this total was absurd. So, they began to bicker amongst themselves, trying to pressure others into showing some decency—to either withdraw their demands or reduce their requested numbers. Some argued they were contributing more money; others claimed a closer relationship with Du Heng; some pointed to past assistance rendered to him; and still others invoked the supposed wishes of certain leaders. The justifications were wildly diverse.

Each hospital had its own rationale, yet none were willing to back down.

Du Heng slowly leaned forward, placing both hands on the table. Then, in a soft, deliberate voice, he said, ”Everyone, may I have a word?”