Chapter 185: Competitive Vision!
“Director Xiang, I can’t call Zhang Boyuan; I’m not in Shashi right now.” In a residential area in Jishi City, Xiangzhou, Chen Song replied to Director Xiang Dongshan with a cool tone.
“Chen Song, what are your thoughts right now? You’re getting upset with me!” Xiang Dapao, true to his name, had a loud and resonant voice.
“Director Xiang, I’m not upset; I just really don’t know how to handle this.”
Chen Song suppressed his emotions: “Just tell me, how many times have I mentioned Lu Cheng to you? Zhang Boyuan is someone from our department. You’re the director, if you call him, would he dare not answer?”
Xiang Dongshan said, “Isn’t it that your relationship with Zhang Boyuan is closer? I’m not saying I haven’t called Zhang Boyuan; he really won’t budge.”
“Besides, Chen Song, when you asked for leave before, you didn’t explain the specific situation clearly. If I had known it was like this, would I have refused?”
Chen Song said, “Director Xiang, it was already too late when I found out.”
“Promising now would just be adding flowers to the brocade, not sending charcoal in the snow.”
“Lu Cheng is coming back from Xiehe Hospital with his girlfriend. No one in our hospital can do this.”
“What’s the use of talking about anything else?” Chen Song’s statement carried a personal emotion.
If I, Chen Song, had personnel authority, what business would Xiehe Hospital have?
Around Teachers’ Day before Lu Cheng went to Xiehe Hospital, Chen Song had made multiple phone calls to report.
“If I say it’s useful, then it is useful,” Xiang Dongshan said.
“You keep saying you like Lu Cheng and want him by your side. Now that there’s hope, and Lu Cheng has this need, you’re hesitating?”
“What kind of logic is that?”
“If this isn’t you getting angry with me, what is it?”
After listening, Chen Song was silent for a long while before saying, “Director Xiang, what do you mean by that?”
“If we’re going to talk about this matter, it has to start from when Lu Cheng was studying at Hanshi University Zhongnan Hospital.”
“Didn’t Liang Yuanqiu go to work at Zhongnan Hospital?”
The personnel and academic qualifications in top teaching hospitals are mixed; the origins of staff in each hospital, and even each department, are diverse and chaotic.
Liang Yuanqiu, whom Xiang Dongshan mentioned, was a doctoral graduate from Xiangya Second Hospital. Not being able to stay there but going to Hanshi University Zhongnan Hospital was within reason.
After listening to Xiang Dongshan’s words, Chen Song’s expression suddenly tightened.
At this moment, he recalled Lu Cheng’s repeated expressions of wanting to speak but stopping himself, when he had gotten angry with Lu Cheng back then.
At this moment, Chen Song finally understood that Lu Cheng wasn’t as “glamorous” as he appeared on the surface. Professor Zhong from Xiehe Hospital had truly maximized the labels of ‘advance and retreat’ and ‘sit-ups’.
“Professor Xiang, is the news reliable?” Chen Song asked cautiously after deep thought.
“If I’m telling you this, the information is naturally reliable.”
“They only have a verbal agreement, no written documents, and right now,” Xiang Dongshan swallowed a mouthful of saliva:
“The successor for the next term in Xiehe Hospital’s Hand Surgery department has been decided; it’s basically impossible to change.”
“But what they don’t know yet is that Lu Cheng also has such profound achievements in organ suturing in General Surgery.”
“This information gap must be seized as quickly, as early, and as urgently as possible. Otherwise, after today and tomorrow, perhaps tonight, this matter might see other changes.”
“Nothing else, but based on what you said, I’m afraid Lu Cheng’s little girlfriend will use this to negotiate with Xiehe Hospital’s General Surgery department.”
“Once it goes beyond Hand Surgery, it will be troublesome.”
“The current situation is that Lu Cheng is once again ‘advancing and retreating’ and drifting, and we know he is very excellent, his potential is enormous.”
“Therefore, we must seize this time point and arrange a suitable platform and team for him as early as possible.”
“Chen Song, you haven’t done well in this regard; you shouldn’t have kept it from me.”
Chen Song said, “Director Xiang, I don’t have personnel authority, my suggestions to you are often rejected, and you are not in Long County.”
“What I tell you is just hearsay. I keep telling you, wouldn’t you think I’m ‘bothering you’?”
Chen Song was an adult, a person of some status, and he often heard people recommend ‘excellent students’ to him!
Empathize, put yourself in others’ shoes.
The number of “excellent students” recommended to Xiang Dongshan annually could reach dozens, some seeking to study, some seeking employment.
There were not a few people whose status was higher than his own.
“Moreover, even if I had known, I was in an unsolvable situation at the time, because Lu Cheng didn’t state it clearly, and we had no idea what he was experiencing at Xiehe Hospital.”
“I only found out from you that there was such a small episode between Professor Zhong and Lu Cheng.”
“If Lu Cheng’s girlfriend, Xiao Mu, really went to negotiate with Xiehe Hospital’s General Surgery department, I think that’s what Lu Cheng deserves.”
“He deserves someone very professional to strategize for him.”
Xiang Dongshan asked, “What’s the relationship between this Doctor Mu you’re talking about and Lu Cheng?”
Chen Song said, “Childhood sweethearts, inseparable since childhood. Decades of affection.”
“Director Xiang, I want to remind you that even if we have many advantages, if we can’t properly accommodate Doctor Mu, it will all be in vain.”
“Let’s see Lu Cheng first!” Xiang Dongshan understood social graces better than Chen Song.
“Miss Mu is a doctoral student and still doesn’t dislike Lu Cheng. Therefore, in this relationship, the one currently in a state of sacrifice is Miss Mu. When she engages in strategic thinking, she will prioritize Lu Cheng’s future.”
“Because Doctor Mu’s professional baseline is high enough, while Lu Cheng’s baseline is too uncontrollable!!”
“Chen Song, can you come back?”
Chen Song said, “Director Xiang, my suggestion is that it’s best if I don’t come back.”
“Lu Cheng can be told the situation clearly by Zhang Boyuan. Lu Cheng is a person who values feelings, but he doesn’t consume them.”
“There’s another detail I need to report to you.”
“Back then, when Lu Cheng was at Long County People’s Hospital, he said that Professor Tong Yuan’an’s tendon suturing was inferior to his.”
Xiang Dongshan had heard of Tong Yuan’an but hadn’t paid much attention, as he was just a minor associate professor at Xiangya Hospital.
Of course, this was from Xiang Dongshan’s perspective. From Lu Cheng’s perspective, Tong Yuan’an was still a towering figure: “Then this young man suits my taste even more.”
Chen Song: “…”
“…”
Shashi City, Yuhua District, High-speed Rail Station.
The morning sun shone, and the sunrise after the light rain was particularly brilliant.
After Mu Nanshu exited the station and entered the subway station, she indeed saw Lu Cheng waiting for her at the entrance. She said, “Aren’t you supposed to be competing?”
“The nature of the competition is a salon-style event; you can boost your score or not, it’s mainly about fixing the highest score.”
“I can’t manage vascular suturing or nerve suturing, so there’s no point in boosting my score. I don’t even need to go to the competition venue this morning!”
“Those who were supposed to compete yesterday have already competed. Today’s participants are either there to try their luck and get guidance, or to boost their scores.”
“It doesn’t matter, let’s go get breakfast first.” Lu Cheng took the red box from Mu Nanshu’s hand and headed towards the elevator.
Of course, as Lu Cheng grabbed the box, he also happened to grab Mu Nanshu’s hand.
Mu Nanshu clenched her hand into a fist, then relaxed it, not making a big deal of it: “I have some things to tell you later.”
“No rush.”
“How is Teacher Xie Yuan’an doing? Is it going smoothly?” Lu Cheng nodded.
“It’s okay, not particularly tricky. The actual data is fake, but the general direction is correct!~”
“It’s not like someone is deliberately targeting her; if you find a time to change the data, the editorial department should agree,” Mu Nanshu said.
“It’s good that it’s going smoothly!” Lu Cheng didn’t want to judge the matter of paper trading.
If you say it’s uncivilized, it’s definitely uncivilized.
But if there were no exchange, another doctoral student might not be able to graduate smoothly. They both got what they needed.
At a Changshi beef noodle shop near the subway station outside the Century Jinyuan Hotel, both Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu could only eat half of their meal.
It wasn’t that Changshi beef noodles weren’t tasty, but they were vastly different from the flavors of their hometowns, and they couldn’t appreciate the taste.
Flavors etched into one’s genes do not change just because of a change in living location.
“Lu Cheng, I have some things to tell you, please don’t be angry,” Mu Nanshu said, wiping her mouth, her tone calm.
Lu Cheng wasn’t very picky about taste, so to fill his stomach, he continued eating noodles: “Go ahead.”
“Frankly speaking, your starting point is quite low, so you can’t, like many people, follow the steps to improve your career vision.” Mu Nanshu’s voice was steady.
Lu Cheng looked up slightly: “Career vision? What do you mean?”
“It’s the specific and detailed focus of each person.”
“For example, if you are a junior high school student, then getting into a good high school is your career vision.”
“If you are a high school student, then getting into Tsinghua or Kyoto University is your general career vision.”
“Undergraduate students hope to get into a good master’s program, master’s students hope to pursue a doctorate, and so on…”
Mu Nanshu said this, and Lu Cheng nodded: “I know that.”
Mu Nanshu continued, “Yes, I know you know about this career vision, but you’ve never put yourself in that role. Actually, I haven’t really put myself in other roles either.”
“But I know this way of thinking; you can try to put yourself in others’ shoes.”
“If you were Director Lin at your hospital, what would you think when you saw you?”
“Is this a talent that can be cultivated well?”
“Is this a threat that needs to be eliminated?” Mu Nanshu asked Lu Cheng tentatively.
Lu Cheng’s brow furrowed instantly: “I’ve really never considered this problem.”
“Yes, you never used to think this way, because it wasn’t realistic, but now, you must be unrealistic.”
“Even if this kind of thinking involves too much subjectivity, you must proceed this way!”
“You need to make a choice,” Mu Nanshu’s tone was decisive, indicating she wanted to cultivate a certain mindset in Lu Cheng.
“From my personal perspective, considering my habits, I would probably choose to cultivate,” Lu Cheng replied.
Mu Nanshu was not surprised: “Then think again, why cultivate rather than suppress? What’s the reason? Is it purely admiration?”
“Is it possible there are other factors and thoughts?”
Lu Cheng was bewildered; Mu Nanshu’s relentless questioning of “why” was truly difficult for him.
Mu Nanshu continued to give hints: “Now, put yourself in the shoes of Director Lin at Long County People’s Hospital. What pressures would you face? What specifically would you need to do if you wanted to advance?”
“There are only three points. First, manage interpersonal relationships and build your network, which is very basic and indispensable in China and even worldwide.”
“Second, achieve results to improve your comprehensive score in competitive advancement.”
“Third, be realistic, earn more money. Preferably money earned honestly.”
“Can we attribute this to three factors?”
“First, connections; second, advancement; third, economics.”
Lu Cheng nodded: “About right!~”
“Okay, now, based on these three points, analyze why Professor Chen Song, who is very close to you, chose to collaborate with you on this research project.”
“What benefits would this bring him?” Mu Nanshu tore off her fig leaf and pretense.
“Do we have to be so realistic?” Lu Cheng scratched his temples.
Mu Nanshu’s pretty face showed helplessness: “Isn’t reality reality? If no one guides us, can’t we only guess like this, guessing, learning, observing, and pondering as we go?”
“This way of thinking was taught to me by my father.”
“My teachers never taught me these things.”
Lu Cheng tentatively thought: “He just wants another paper?”
“If Professor Chen Song lacks this paper, he won’t be able to get a senior professional title at Xiangya Second Hospital!”
Mu Nanshu shook her head: “While papers are important, what’s even more important is the nature of the research project at the core of this paper.”
“An original, breakthrough project can expand the indications for surgery for a certain disease type, and even redefine a certain surgical procedure to some extent.”
“Lu Cheng, please don’t be angry. Some of what I’m about to say might hurt you.”
“Because you haven’t done research projects, you don’t understand the classification of medical research projects at all, which ones are just for show, which ones have extremely high academic value, and which ones have significant practical value.”
“Okay, now let’s think about what these projects would be useful for Professor Chen.”
“First, after having experience participating in and leading such innovative projects, he will have a greater advantage when applying for them, and he will obtain projects more easily.”
“This is the reality.”
“Currently, solid organs do not have their own specialized suturing technique; you are the first.”
“Based on this suturing technique, including but not limited to the future, when Professor Chen Song returns to work, he will get more surgical volume, and even make spleen preservation surgery a unique feature of Shashi. Do you agree with this?”
Lu Cheng simply didn’t object; he truly rarely thought about such issues.
“Since this is his specialty, who do you think professors at Xiangya Second Hospital will think of first when encountering similar situations in the future? Has a network been established?”
“One killer skill can lead to success everywhere.”
“Secondly, when Professor Chen Song attends provincial or inter-provincial academic conferences, won’t he be one of the benchmarks?”
“Although you are also a developer, this research project is not just for your benefit.”
“If you were to work in E Province in the future, then in Xiang Province, Professor Chen Song would be the unique expert in spleen preservation surgery. Any other professor, when discussing spleen preservation surgery within its contraindications, would be subject to Professor Chen Song’s say.”
“This is the academic benefit.”
“Third, economics. Winning awards, promotion of professional title, research bonuses, out-of-town surgical consultations…”
“But these are not what I truly want you to internalize. What I want you to think about is, at this juncture, what should Professor Chen Song be thinking about? What will he do?”
When Mu Nanshu became serious, she had a special aura.
It wasn’t the spoiled petulance of the “little chili pepper” from long ago, nor the appearance of a dazed, cute young girl, but a mature presence.
Lu Cheng smiled: “I don’t know either. I feel now that reaching Professor Chen’s level is already bringing great honor to the family.”
Lu Cheng wasn’t lying. If he could truly achieve what Professor Chen Song had, he would sit at the head of the main table at family gatherings, and his grandparents, maternal uncles, paternal uncles, etc., wouldn’t dare say anything!
Only his father, Lu Nanjia, would scold Lu Cheng.
“He would want to pass on his techniques so that more people can learn them, and even establish his own circle.”
“For example, the emerging minimally invasive techniques are for younger circles, while the older open techniques are concentrated in the circles of the older generation.”
“He would also want to take more students, scale up this surgery, and enjoy the feeling of ‘founding a school,’ wouldn’t he?”
“This is a natural personal ambition that Professor Chen Song can achieve.”
Mu Nanshu took a sip of water here: “Now, try to think, if you were Professor Zhong Junyun, what would you want to do?”
Mu Nanshu was very bold, and her questions were even more tricky.
Lu Cheng shook his head: “I don’t dare to think, and I can’t think of it. You might as well just say it directly.”
Mu Nanshu shook her head: “Actually, I don’t dare to think either, and I can’t think of it.”
“It can only be speculation. I guess, professors like Professor Zhong would probably think about how to overcome some untreatable diseases.”
“I’m guessing. Most professors can think about how to improve existing surgeries. “
“For example, tendon suturing, high-quality tendon suturing, even higher-quality tendon suturing.”
“And the top big shots in each specialty might think about how to turn diseases currently deemed untreatable into treatable ones.”
“This brings us back to the question we discussed a long time ago.”
“The difficulty from 0 to 1 is theoretically countless times greater.”
“Professor Chen would think about finding students and building his team, so what about Professor Zhong?”
“Here, I want to remind you that in the field of hand surgery, there are absolutely no more than ten top magnates like Professor Zhong!!”
“If there are more, there must be imposters!!!” Mu Nanshu’s tone was certain.
Lu Cheng looked at Mu Nanshu: “Then your meaning is, I should continue to choose to follow Professor Zhong?”
Mu Nanshu shook her head, very rationally: “We are just doing practice problems, making you think from different perspectives, not making you choose sides.”
“If you listen to me and choose Professor Zhong, it would be purely for profit, because you think Professor Zhong has the biggest reputation and his considerations are the most sophisticated, so you choose him.”
“At this point, if an academician were to poach you, according to your thinking, you would unhesitatingly switch allegiance.”
At this point, Lu Cheng finally understood why Mu Nanshu had preemptively stated that those words might hurt him.
With this prerequisite, Lu Cheng suppressed his inner discomfort: “So? What should I choose now?”
“You are just an attending physician at a county hospital, so any choice you make is the right one.”
“Because your career vision is just how to get from a county hospital to a provincial people’s hospital, and what you need to do is just how to obtain a platform for experimentation.”
“No results, no accumulation, no academic qualifications, no prerequisites.”
Hearing this, Lu Cheng retorted: “Aren’t my prerequisites your and my skills?”
Mu Nanshu suddenly froze, blushing slightly, but not shyly.
After a long silence, she nodded: “But reality doesn’t allow you to peddle a future without a foundation.”
“Otherwise, any undergraduate student from Tsinghua University or Kyoto University could have a more brilliant future than you.”
“So, you still need to accumulate. No matter what you choose, you will ultimately have to accumulate.”
Lu Cheng suddenly lowered his head: “Yesterday, I met a senior brother of mine, his name is Zhang Boyuan.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Nanshu’s expression tightened slightly, but then she quickly realized: “That’s good.”
Mu Nanshu hadn’t done anything wrong. Even if she had spoken to the other party on Lu Cheng’s behalf, it wasn’t to harm Lu Cheng, so she wasn’t afraid of Lu Cheng digging into the past.
“Senior Brother Zhang told me that Teacher Chen treated me so well because he had pleaded with Professor Chen Song to mentor me.” Lu Cheng’s tone was calm, but there was a hint of dejection.
Mu Nanshu thought for a moment and said, “That’s quite normal.”
“For ordinary people like us, being able to clearly understand the reasons is a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Exactly!~” Lu Cheng nodded.
“It’s not love or hate for no reason, which makes it easier to handle.”
“Bookworm, tell me, how should I choose?” Lu Cheng suddenly hesitated.
Last night, Lu Cheng had actually decided on an answer: he would wait for Professor Zhong Junyun to contact him and then make a decision based on the actual situation.
But now, Lu Cheng was hesitant again.
Damn it, my realistic situation is that I’m a small attending physician. Anyone who helps me is doing me a favor.
But the real situation is, I have potential, I’m not a thing, not merchandise! My future can even blow up the “platform” itself! Why are you pushing me around like an object?
Because there’s one thing that only Lu Cheng knows.
He created so many original things in just a few thoughts.
However, there’s one problem: Lu Cheng’s originality is originality, but the real world doesn’t allow for speculation or doubt; you must prove that your technology is good.
And to prove these technologies, a platform and a team are needed; one person cannot do it.
It requires people and money.
Lu Cheng knew that once he chose a platform, and if these platforms could support him, it would soon be his turn to reciprocate the platform.
