Chapter 146: A Path Forward, And Someone Beside You
…
At the underground parking lot of Building 12, Chengxin Plaza, Lu Cheng watched Mu Nanshu emerge from the elevator shaft.
Today, she wore a light makeup, a knee-length denim hip skirt, a white shirt with silk flowers on the cuffs, and carried a small pale yellow bag, wearing chunky shoes with hidden heels.
Her steps were graceful as she approached.
Lu Cheng glanced at her and then said with a smile, “It seems you have plenty of time today, so you’ve dressed very meticulously.”
Mu Nanshu first gave Lu Cheng a look, then naturally walked to the passenger seat and opened the car door, stretching:
“Having no work tasks and being able to sleep until I wake up naturally is really great. I woke up at ten in the morning and then even took a taxi to work out.”
“I think I’m very suited for this kind of lying flat.”
“What’s for dinner tonight?”
Lu Cheng opened the driver’s door, not acting the gentleman by intentionally opening the passenger door for Mu Nanshu: “Mayfly larvae.”
“We have an old saying here: July is for gourds, August is for mayflies, and September and October are when they’re plump!~”
Mu Nanshu’s eyes lit up, and she fastened her seatbelt: “That’s not cheap, is it?!~”
“So, Boss Mu, are you going to make the move? Little rich woman, I’m hungry.” Lu Cheng said without any ‘macho’ demeanor.
Mu Nanshu was fastening her seatbelt and gave Lu Cheng another look: “How did you become like this?”
Because her gaze wasn’t focused on the seatbelt, Mu Nanshu didn’t buckle it into the clasp in time; instead, it got caught on something else…
With seatbelts, if you don’t pull enough the first time, you need to retract it and pull again.
Lu Cheng felt like laughing again. Mu Nanshu twisted her body to retract the seatbelt, pulled it again, then sat up properly and adjusted the passenger seat.
She said sternly, “Don’t laugh!~”
Lu Cheng’s gaze didn’t linger for long; he changed the subject and asked, “When will Uncle and Aunt be back?”
“I want to find an opportunity to treat them to a meal. I remember the last time I saw Uncle Mu was in May, and it’s already August.”
Mu Nanshu’s father is called Mu Leng. His name is unremarkable; according to his father, Lu Nanjia, it was particularly cold the year Mu Leng was born, hence the name.
Although Mu Nanshu went abroad, Mu Leng often returned to Long County and drank with Lu Nanjia at Lu Cheng’s house. However, most of the time, he wouldn’t mention Mu Nanshu.
He came to their house to drink, not to go out!
It was clear that Lu Nanjia and Mu Leng had a deep friendship.
“My dad said he’s in the process of handing over some things. He’s probably retiring and letting someone else manage the company.”
“So it will definitely be some time later,” Mu Nanshu replied.
“That’s great!~” Lu Cheng nodded. “Uncle and Aunt Mu work very hard usually. They can rest when they retire.”
“They’re not the type to sit idle. They plan to go back to Long County after retiring and open a hot pot restaurant for fun. If they lose money, so be it. Anyway, they’re not thinking of doing any big projects…” Mu Nanshu said.
In Lu Cheng’s opinion, they had simply earned enough money and were content.
Lu Cheng said, “Have you told Uncle and Aunt about you coming to Long County? I suggest you’d better tell them the truth directly, to avoid any misunderstandings, like me leading you astray or something.”
“If they misunderstand and think I lured you back, causing you to lose your job at Xiehe Hospital, we might have misunderstandings when we first meet.”
Mu Nanshu gave Lu Cheng a look, “You’re overthinking it, okay? In their eyes, I’m not any dumber than you. You can’t trick me.”
Lu Cheng replied, “That’s true… I can at most trick people, but I can’t trick matters…”
Mu Nanshu changed the subject, “I heard from my classmate that you’re doing very well at the People’s Hospital now?”
“Aren’t all your classmates my classmates too?” Lu Cheng countered.
Mu Nanshu mentioned a name, “Fan Wenhua. She’s a nurse in the operating room now.”
“You mean Sister Hua? She’ll be asking for a wedding gift. She’s having a second child at the end of the year, so since you know, you can’t skimp on the red envelope.”
Fan Wenhua is a little older than Lu Cheng, her birthday is in March. When they were in Long County, she lived in a similar area to where Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu rented, so the three of them often went to and from school together.
However, Fan Wenhua’s grades weren’t good. She seemed to have gotten into a nursing program at a third-tier university during the college entrance exam. They occasionally kept in touch during university, but their contact gradually lessened…
Mu Nanshu secretly glanced at Lu Cheng and casually asked, “Fan Wenhua said there’s a nurse named Xiao Min who’s very close to you?”
“Wang Limin, she’s also in the operating room, almost four or five years younger than us.”
“People have high standards. Even if a nobody like me wanted to ask her out for a meal, this young lady wouldn’t have time.”
“Someone like Luo Changwu from our Orthopedics department is more her type.” Lu Cheng replied.
“Luo Changwu? The one with relatives in the provincial government you mentioned? Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” Mu Nanshu remembered Luo Changwu’s name clearly.
Lu Cheng glanced at Mu Nanshu, “Having a girlfriend doesn’t stop him from being popular, does it?”
“Right, your Surgery department has always been chaotic.” Mu Nanshu delivered a decisive blow.
Lu Cheng was hit on the head without seeing it coming and couldn’t refute: “…”
Long County in Xiang Province and Feng County in E Province are separated by the You River, and a wide bridge spans the You River, connecting the two provinces and two counties.
Feng County’s foundational infrastructure is more than twice that of Long County, but Long County’s lively atmosphere is something Feng County cannot match.
It was seven in the evening. On the Long County side of the Xiang-E Love Bridge, due to the poverty of the economy, the lights were brilliant, pedestrians were like weaving threads, small carts and small vendors were set up, hustling for a living.
As for people with no urgent matters like Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu, they strolled, bought two bowls of rice tofu, and Mu Nanshu spotted fried skewers, asking Lu Cheng to buy them…
Mu Nanshu’s hair today must have been styled by herself. She had two very thin braids on both sides of her temples, tied with pale purple cords at the bottom, hidden behind her earlobes.
If one didn’t look very carefully, one wouldn’t even notice the existence of these two small braids.
Of course, when Lu Cheng returned with fried ham sausage, he saw a young man beside Mu Nanshu, holding his mobile phone and asking Mu Nanshu something.
Mu Nanshu pointed in the direction of Lu Cheng, who was holding the ham sausage. The young man turned and saw Lu Cheng approaching, and still said, “Beautiful lady, let’s add each other as friends first. Maybe we can go out and play together sometime.”
As Lu Cheng approached, he looked the other person up and down, holding two ham sausages in one hand, and reached out to shake hands, “Brother, let’s get acquainted… My name is Lu Cheng…”
Lu Cheng didn’t care if the other person extended their hand or not; he directly squeezed the person’s face until it was slightly distorted before letting go.
Long County used to be in northwestern Xiang, a place where bandits were prevalent. Lu Cheng is also a standard Tujia ethnic person. While he might not have a bandit’s aura, he carries a rogue-like charm and wouldn’t tolerate such a thug.
“Sorry, bro.” The young man was put in an awkward spot and knew Lu Cheng was not someone to be easily bullied. He left without saying any harsh words.
Mu Nanshu was unfazed by this and merely said, “Is this kind of temper a specialty of our Long County?”
“Isn’t a strong local custom always our specialty here?”
“Otherwise, why do you think I had to work overtime yesterday? It was because some young people were reckless and were playing around with knives.”
“If you don’t bother with them, then that’s it.”
Lu Cheng continued, “We can walk along the river all the way to the driving school ahead, and then cut through. You can go back through the back gate of the residential area.”
Mu Nanshu took the heavily spiced ham sausage from Lu Cheng’s hand and asked, “Then your car is just going to be left here?”
“I’ll come back to get it later,” Lu Cheng said.
Mu Nanshu took a bite and nodded repeatedly, “The taste of Long County is still more suitable for my palate. When I was in Hanshi City, I often felt something was missing in terms of flavor.”
“Actually, completely lying flat in Long County is also very good. There’s no pressure.”
Lu Cheng nodded and shook his head, “Lying flat is suitable, but the education and medical conditions are not good.”
“I work there, so I have a lot of say.”
Mu Nanshu glanced at Lu Cheng, “You work at the People’s Hospital now. Is it really okay for you to criticize your own workplace like this?”
Lu Cheng replied, “Don’t I know my own skills better?”
“What is my skill worth? I can’t even perform a standard finger replantation. This level is considered exceptional even in the hospital’s orthopedics department. You can see the overall level of the county hospital from this.”
Of course, Lu Cheng added, “However, despite the poor conditions, our hospital is still the final destination for many, many patients.”
“Even with the current convenient transportation, many patients are unwilling to travel far. For those who cannot be cured at the county hospital, even for what are relatively incurable diseases, many elderly people choose not to seek treatment.”
Mu Nanshu leaned closer to Lu Cheng, “You have some understanding of your patients?”
Lu Cheng fell silent, “It’s only understanding, the kind of understanding where I’m powerless.”
“I see. You’ve wanted to be a doctor for a long time, and you’ve truly planned to be a good doctor.”
“Doctor Lu has long had his plans set.” Mu Nanshu said with a smile.
Mu Nanshu’s words were ambiguous, so Lu Cheng asked, “Do you regret studying medicine?”
Lu Cheng had his own plans. Mu Nanshu, at the time, felt that anything was acceptable and didn’t reject studying medicine.
The main reason was that she calculated that no matter which industry she worked in, her salary would likely not exceed the interest from her family’s savings.
Mu Nanshu herself didn’t have great ambitions. She had long ago planned her life strategy, which was to lie flat.
“Saying I don’t regret it at all would be false, and saying I regret it entirely would also be false.”
“Now, whether I regret it or not, things have turned out this way. It’s just a bit of a pity that I can’t get into clinical practice, so I can only keep drifting on the fringes.” Mu Nanshu’s tone and expression were somewhat complex.
Choosing to specialize in the Gastroenterology Department but being unable to perform endoscopies is a major limitation for a gastroenterologist. It’s impossible for Mu Nanshu to have a successful clinical career.
“Is there no way to recover?” Lu Cheng asked.
Mu Nanshu changed the subject, “Has your department’s surgical scope increased significantly compared to before?”
“Yes, it has increased slightly. For now, it’s mainly tendon suturing, spleen preservation surgery, and gallbladder preservation surgery.”
“But in a while, we should be able to perform limb replantation and similar procedures.”
“Specifically, we’ll have to wait until Professor Tong makes a clear judgment. Only after it’s relatively foolproof can we take the technique into the operating room, and not ‘avoid risks’ with perfunctory efforts like last night.”
“Learning more techniques is good, and it will be more beneficial for me to participate in the selection examination for the Prefectural City Hospital in November.”
The selection examination is a way to select a group of talents within the system, allowing people from the county to work at the Prefectural City Hospital. This is usually a ‘shortcut’ for those with connections.
Of course, ‘shortcuts’ still require competence. Today’s people with connections aren’t simply those who rely purely on their relationships and know nothing.
‘People with connections’ will comprehensively utilize their network resources, perfecting their techniques, resume, and academic qualifications to make the assessment “more perfect” and handle it without loopholes.
Including, but not limited to, the selection examination.
“Before that, Teacher Mu, you need to teach me how to write proposals.” Lu Cheng said.
Mu Nanshu glared at Lu Cheng, standing rooted to the spot, “Are you really going to call me Teacher?”
Mu Nanshu is a young person. While playful, constantly teasing like this feels a bit out of place.
“Then how about calling you Boss, okay?!~” Lu Cheng changed a word, sounding a bit mischievous.
Mu Nanshu walked along, saying in a serious tone, “Generally, only graduate students call their teachers ‘Boss’.”
“I know! This ‘Boss’ is not that ‘Boss’.”
“Little rich woman like you, I’m definitely sticking with you!” Lu Cheng replied earnestly.
“What kind of fetish is that?” Mu Nanshu bit down hard, leaving teeth marks on the bamboo skewer.
“Boys and girls who have suffered severe beatings from society are very sensible. Isn’t there a saying?”
“In youth, you don’t know the value of a rich woman, mistaking young girls for treasures…” Lu Cheng looked up, took the bamboo skewer from Mu Nanshu’s hand, and threw it into the trash can from afar with a clank.
Mu Nanshu asked Lu Cheng, “Are you implying I’m old with those words?”
“You’re both rich and precious, a perfect combination.”
“Given this, why wouldn’t I try to please you? What am I waiting for?”
“Didn’t you just see… how popular I am?” Lu Cheng gestured towards the direction they came from.
Mu Nanshu’s expression was helpless, “You’ve really changed a lot.”
Lu Cheng said, “If one day you can also achieve a clear mind, will you become more lively than me?”
“Clear mind? What does that mean?” Mu Nanshu was confused.
“Having a path forward, having someone by your side, having enough strength to reach heights, and being able to fulfill the boasts you made in your youth.”
Lu Cheng spread his arms, completely letting himself go.
“With a clear mind, everything seems peaceful.”
“If at this point, I were still timid and let others dictate my actions, without my own ideas, then I would deserve to be useless and stagnant.”
Having confirmed that the panel was useful, Lu Cheng was not afraid of his future. Therefore, even though he was thirty years old and just a junior doctor at a county hospital, he could still achieve a clear mind.
“But you still have to follow the rules…” Mu Nanshu advised Lu Cheng.
Lu Cheng said, “Rules must be followed.”
“But the ideas are my own. What am I rushing for?”
“Tell me more about it?” Mu Nanshu asked…
Lu Cheng replied, “Speaking of which, it doesn’t have much to do with me. It’s just that I’ve seen the Discipline Inspection Commission’s inspections recently.”
Mu Nanshu rolled her eyes, “What does the Discipline Inspection Commission’s inspection have to do with Long County? Most people wouldn’t even want to go to a grassroots Prefectural City Hospital.”
“The people in the Xiangya system should be the ones worried right now…”
ps: Requesting minimum monthly tickets. Thank you, readers.
