Chapter 120: Okay, The Classroom Exploded!
It was already 5:20 PM, and it was reasonable for a teacher who disliked extending class to dismiss it at this time.
Lan Hualuo was already dragging Chen Song out, so people didn’t say much more. However, after Lan Hualuo went out, he poked half his body back in:
“Xiao Xie, please help tidy up Chen Song’s workstation.”
Xie Yuan’an’s eyelids flickered, but she still smiled without hesitation and replied obediently, “Okay, Professor Lan.”
Neither the morning nor the evening sun penetrated the corridor of the physiology laboratory, yet a fluorescent lamp every half meter illuminated the corridor just as brightly.
The shadows of Chen Song and Lan Hualuo had nowhere to hide. Lan Hualuo put his hands on his hips, looking at Chen Song with admiration: “Xiao Lu, it’s been a few years.”
After Chen Song took off his mask, Lan Hualuo recognized him. Chen Song’s features were quite handsome, making a deep impression on Lan Hualuo, whose appearance was average but better than Liu Huanglong’s.
“Professor Lan, it should have been about five years.” Chen Song was already thirty years old, having just turned yesterday.
When Chen Song finished his standardized training, he was not yet twenty-six. A full five years had passed.
“Congratulations, Professor Lan! In just six years, you’ve gone from chief resident to full professor.” Chen Song’s happy smile was sincere, and his voice was polite.
In 2015, Lan Hualuo was a doctoral candidate; in 2016, he served as chief resident. Chen Song completed his standardized training in June 2017 and left…
Lan Hualuo appeared to be nearly forty years old, but he was actually only thirty-five. He had graduated with his doctorate a year early.
He just looked more mature.
“Never mind the past, let’s go have dinner together.” Lan Hualuo patted Chen Song’s sturdy shoulder with his palm, even pinching his broad deltoid.
Chen Song stopped, his feet not moving, and calmly said, “Teacher Lan, it’s like this, I made plans with my classmate to have dinner together today.”
“I didn’t have time to explain to you in detail in the classroom just now, so I can only thank you for your kind offer, Teacher Lan. She and I are old classmates.”
Lan Hualuo’s expression froze slightly upon hearing this. He stared at Chen Song carefully for a moment: “Xiao Lu, aren’t you being a bit unsportsmanlike? You’re rejecting my invitation too?”
“Do you have a problem with me?” Lan Hualuo touched his large earlobe, recalling details about Chen Song, but finding few memories.
If he remembered correctly, Chen Song back then wasn’t particularly outstanding.
Chen Song smiled with his mouth, and his eyes followed suit: “Professor Lan, you’ve misunderstood. It’s mainly because this old classmate and I haven’t seen each other for many years. She was my classmate from primary school through high school.”
“Childhood sweethearts?” Lan Hualuo’s expression was taken aback.
He didn’t even dare to pick fault with this reason.
Chen Song nodded: “Not the most standard childhood sweethearts, perhaps.”
Since Chen Song had resorted to such a reason, Lan Hualuo couldn’t insist further. However, he still spoke graciously: “Then next time. We’re old acquaintances, so there’s no need to be so fixated on today or tomorrow. There’s plenty of time.”
Lan Hualuo didn’t close the door completely and continued walking forward.
Chen Song and Lan Hualuo entered the elevator lobby together and accompanied Lan Hualuo all the way to the parking lot on the first floor…
After exiting the parking lot, Lan Hualuo asked, “Xiao Lu, where are you working now?”
Chen Song replied, “Professor Lan, at Long County People’s Hospital, a very remote small county town in the northwest of Xiang Province.”
“County… County Hospital?” Lan Hualuo’s eyelids twitched slightly, and his tone rose.
“Professor Lan, it’s hard to find a job now… I’ve taken it to make a living… It might be a disgrace to our hospital,” Chen Song said.
With standardized training at Zhongnan Hospital, if one had some family background, there was a chance to get a position in a tertiary hospital in a prefecture-level city. It might not be the best hospital in the city, but getting into a secondary or tertiary hospital wasn’t difficult.
The platform and starting point were also better than a county hospital, but Chen Song didn’t have that kind of background.
Lan Hualuo sighed lightly and spoke his mind directly: “It seems Xiao Lu, you genuinely intend to follow Professor Zhong. That’s understandable… Professor Zhong’s favor is usually hard to refuse.”
“However, one thing is, our work requirements at Zhongnan Hospital aren’t that high?” Lan Hualuo still wanted to try.
Although he didn’t know how so many people in the department that year had been blind and let Chen Song slip through their fingers for years without noticing his talent.
The current Chen Song, among his peers, was undeniably ‘excellent’. His only drawback was his low academic qualification.
But in a teaching hospital, academic qualifications were easy to improve.
“Professor Lan, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. Anyway, I just want to learn more techniques.”
“To be an honest doctor, as our teachers taught us, if we advance, we must fight for a way to live for untreatable patients, and if we retreat, we must protect the health and well-being of the local populace.” Chen Song’s reply was quite formal, quoting the original words of the late Professor Chu from the Trauma Surgery department.
“Then if there’s a chance next time, we can still have a drink together.” Lan Hualuo opened the car door and leaned in.
Chen Song waved his hand, his expression very natural, and his smile exceptionally sincere—
He had no objections to Zhongnan Hospital or Lan Hualuo, nor any unresolved issues in his heart.
Chen Song didn’t blame Lan Hualuo for not appreciating him back then. The essence of the adult world was to admire strength, and no one would pay attention to inconspicuous ‘roles’.
The general environment was like this, Zhongnan Hospital was like this, Huashan Hospital was like this, and Xiehe Hospital was also like this. Since everyone was like this!
Then choosing any professor as a teacher was a choice. Professor Zhong’s level was also very high. If it was a matter of first come, first served, Chen Song couldn’t be a turncoat.
Moreover, Chen Song actually felt he was quite opportunistic. It was precisely because Professor Zhong Junyun offered more that he ‘immediately surrendered’; Professor Tong Yuan’an and Professor Chen Song promised less, so he had always ‘politely declined’.
He was a truly ‘realistic’ scoundrel, and being sentimental in his heart was truly being a cheapskate.
Lan Hualuo looked at Chen Song’s composed expression in the rearview mirror. Chen Song stood firm, watching him leave, with an expression as if he were sending off the Chen Song of the past.
“Sigh!~” Lan Hualuo let out a long sigh.
He also knew that the connection between Zhongnan Hospital and Chen Song had come to an end.
The world was full of talent, and it was absolutely impossible for all of it to gather in one place.
After Lan Hualuo’s car completely drove out of sight, Chen Song sent a message to Mu Nanshu, asking if she could get off work on time today.
Mu Nanshu said she could, so Chen Song went upstairs first. He still had his own workstation to tidy up.
…
In the skills laboratory, Dong Qiaoshan and others had just finished organizing their workstations. Dong Qiaoshan looked around at everyone and sighed, “As the saying goes, comparing goods makes one throw them away. What do we do about this situation now?”
“Xiao Lu is really too strong!” Dong Qiaoshan said with a smile, asking for everyone’s opinions.
Dong Qiaoshan certainly didn’t blame Chen Song for being too excellent, but with him starting the class, everyone’s attention was focused on Chen Song, which was relatively unfair to them.
Xie Yuan’an’s phone vibrated at this moment, and she said, “I have good news for everyone: Chen Song won’t be coming to class tomorrow!”
Dong Qiaoshan’s expression immediately tensed: “Ah? Why? Is he taking leave?”
Xie Yuan’an explained, “No… Professor Zhong wants to take him to perform surgery individually.”
“Just now, Chen Song was out to dinner with Professor Lan, and it was photographed by a doctoral student in our department.”
Dong Qiaoshan’s face twitched as if he had Parkinson’s disease.
Chen Song was gone, but the classroom remained. The teachers couldn’t be biased, but Chen Song had disrupted the classroom by poaching the most influential teacher.
