Chapter 212: Chen Song, Truly Not Human!
“You’re Cao Qiheng? Then we shouldn’t know each other.” Lu Cheng’s voice was slightly puzzled, then very decisive.
This forced decisiveness was no different from Senior Brother Zhang Boyuan introducing himself.
However, Lu Cheng actually knew the name Cao Qiheng.
Senior Brother Zhang Boyuan said that when he was pursuing his doctorate under Professor Dong Qilang, he had two senior brothers, one classmate, and one junior brother.
Chen Zhuoheng and Senior Brother Dan Yue were the two ‘eldest brothers’ at the time; they were in their third year of doctorate and after graduation went to Yunnan Provincial People’s Hospital and the world’s number one hospital, respectively.
Zhang Boyuan’s classmate, Peng Guangzhao, went to WX City’s Ninth People’s Hospital, and Zhang Boyuan came to Xiangya Second Hospital, while only Cao Qiheng, who was still in his first year of doctorate, ended up staying at Huashan.
As the senior brother that Senior Brother Zhang Boyuan emphasized, Lu Cheng could not possibly forget Cao Qiheng.
Cao Qiheng’s voice had a unique magnetism, not the kind of announcer’s voice, but simply extremely rare: “Lu Cheng, it’s normal that you don’t know me, because when the teacher took you in, you hadn’t arrived yet.”
“Although I don’t know why afterwards you weren’t admitted in the second round of examination, that was almost ten years ago.”
“It’s quite a pity that I tried to find your contact information, but I never succeeded.”
“Until today, when I was participating in the National Microsurgery Skills Competition, I coincidentally met a few orthopedic colleagues from Xiangya Hospital, and after chatting, we talked about you…”
Cao Qiheng continued, “If we were to count by fate, I should be able to call you Junior Brother Lu, reluctantly.”
Lu Cheng dared not readily accept this title, only saying, “Teacher Cao, we were never fellow disciples, calling you Senior Brother would be me climbing too high.”
“You? Why are you calling me today?”
Cao Qiheng said, “Of course, it’s to catch up.”
Lu Cheng calmly replied, “Teacher Cao, I’m a bit confused right now, because it’s difficult for me to determine what we can catch up about.”
“I haven’t met Teacher Dong either.”
To catch up, there must be some events, some shared time, or some mutually known matters.
Lu Cheng had never even been to Huashan Hospital, so he truly couldn’t talk about catching up with Cao Qiheng.
Lu Cheng was very cautious not to call Professor Dong Qilang “Master,” as Professor Dong Qilang had only spoken to his students unilaterally, and Lu Cheng had not become his student.
Lu Cheng’s current status meant that casually calling someone “Teacher” was akin to clinging to status.
Lu Cheng’s reply was watertight, but from Cao Qiheng’s perspective, it was understandable: “Doctor Lu, the teacher’s unexpected passing is indeed a rather regrettable matter.”
“If the teacher had rested well at the time, perhaps everything would have changed, but?”
“Sigh… the world changes, at that time, I remember the teacher saying in the group that Junior Brother Lu, your talent was exceptionally good.”
Lu Cheng ignored Cao Qiheng’s praise, “Teacher Cao, are you deliberately teasing me?”
Cao Qiheng hurriedly said, “Lu Cheng, please don’t misunderstand, I have no such intention.”
“And based on the facts that have been revealed so far, Lu Cheng, your talent truly amazes everyone, including myself, your ‘unknown senior brother’.”
“Although I’m not in hand surgery, I have several friends in hand surgery, and I heard about you from them.”
“That’s truly amazing!!!”
“If it weren’t for that, I don’t know when I would have encountered you again, Lu Cheng.”
Lu Cheng replied, “Teacher Cao, I don’t understand what you mean.”
Some things, you can do, but don’t speak of them carelessly.
Especially since Cao Qiheng was from Huashan Hospital, so some words had to be spoken with caution.
Not even an Academician would dare to make sweeping generalizations about a particular hospital!
Cao Qiheng said, “Lu Cheng, are you still thinking about pursuing a master’s or doctorate? Given your talent, wouldn’t it be a pity if you were confined to a county hospital?”
Lu Cheng replied, “Teacher Cao, are you joking with me by saying this?”
Cao Qiheng’s words reminded Lu Cheng of some recent bizarre talent introduction programs—
For full-time Nobel laureates, a research funding subsidy of 500,000 yuan and a settlement allowance of 1,000,000 yuan were provided, along with a monthly stipend of 7,500 yuan!
What Cao Qiheng was saying to Lu Cheng now was certainly not as exaggerated, but the nature was similar.
Cao Qiheng hurriedly said, “Lu Cheng, I’m not saying I can help you. With your current accumulation, you could certainly pick any university at will.”
“But choosing a university is different from choosing a teacher. Some universities with good reputations may not have good professors in orthopedics, and even renowned orthopedic hospitals require finding a relatively suitable teacher for better growth.”
“Our hand surgery department at Huashan Hospital is second to none in the entire country. With this serendipitous encounter, I can introduce you to teachers who are a good fit for you, Lu Cheng.”
“This will be more beneficial for your future growth.”
“You should be able to understand what I mean.”
Lu Cheng understood that Cao Qiheng’s intentions were good, but perhaps Cao Qiheng had only heard partial information and, thinking he knew Lu Cheng, called the person named ‘Lu Cheng’.
Lu Cheng said, “Teacher Cao, I have my career plan clearly in mind, so you don’t need to worry about it. I’m on duty today.”
“If you have nothing particularly important to discuss, I will not bother you further.”
Cao Qiheng hurriedly said, “Lu Cheng, don’t hang up yet. Listen to me for a few more minutes.”
“I know you are currently collaborating on a research project with a professor from Xiangya Hospital.”
“But you should understand a few points: your perspective is too limited to Xiang Province. Within Xiang Province, while Xiangya Hospital is the best platform,”
“if you look at the whole country, there are still many places with better platforms than Xiangya Hospital, with broader and freer platforms for hand surgery and orthopedics.”
“Do you understand what ‘freer’ means?”
Lu Cheng patiently listened, then chuckled, “Teacher Cao, are you trying to educate me or give me a popular science lecture?”
Lu Cheng’s tone was not very good.
Frankly speaking, Cao Qiheng had almost forgotten the name Lu Cheng. If Lu Cheng hadn’t become a focus of discussion in Huashan Hospital’s inner circle, he wouldn’t have dug up Lu Cheng’s information from his memory.
Even after remembering, Cao Qiheng’s first thought was to call and catch up, not expecting Lu Cheng to be “a bit difficult”!
Cao Qiheng did not press further about what had happened in the past; there was nothing then, and there was nothing now.
Cao Qiheng was a person with advanced logical thinking and intelligence, and he quickly found the core: “Lu Cheng, do you still have too many unresolved issues from the past second round of examination?”
“It’s been so many years, looking back at the past is meaningless. We need to look forward.”
Lu Cheng said, “Since Teacher Cao understands this principle, you don’t need to call me.”
“I’ve always been looking forward, I’m not trying to reach back.”
“And I’m not dwelling on the past and unable to extricate myself.”
Cao Qiheng’s breathing hitched. He realized that Lu Cheng was very calm, so calm that he immediately dissected and misinterpreted part of his intentions.
“Lu Cheng, life’s road is very long and winding. Relatively speaking, only cooperation, mutual benefit, and win-win situations exist. It’s hard to say the actual right or wrong of a matter.”
“When we think about issues, we should be objective, not targeting individuals, nor specific units, or other attributes of this person.”
“Now, if you are willing, Lu Cheng, Huashan Hospital’s platform is definitely a platform where Lu Cheng can really showcase his skills, isn’t it?”
“And looking at the whole country, there are not many platforms that can compare with our hospital’s orthopedics.”
“Another point is that our hospital highly values the development of hand surgery, even more so than Jishuitan, and provides more resource allocation!”
Lu Cheng did not deny this.
Huashan Hospital’s hand surgery department had an Academician, so the hospital naturally allocated a lot of resources, even half of the entire orthopedic department’s resources were drawn to hand surgery.
Lu Cheng replied, “Teacher Cao, I think you’ve misunderstood a few points.”
“First, I am on duty, and I should do my duty well and perform my basic tasks.”
“Second, no matter how good Huashan Hospital’s platform is, it is only relative to my objective reality. Its excellence has nothing to do with me.”
“I have not provided any assistance or contribution to Huashan Hospital, and of course, it did not help me when I was disheartened.”
“Therefore, in my view, everything you’ve said does not exist.”
“Third, I am no longer an orthopedic doctor, nor will I return to orthopedics. Therefore, the conditions you mentioned about Huashan Hospital highly valuing hand surgery and having more resource allocation can only make me shy away further.”
Cao Qiheng interrupted, his tone slightly distorted, “You’re not planning to enter hand surgery? Then what do you want to do?”
Lu Cheng said, “Teacher Cao, there’s no need for me to explain this in detail to you, is there?”
“This is my personal freedom of career choice.”
“I am on duty. Do you have any other matters? If not, I will hang up!”
“Lu Cheng, wait a moment!” Cao Qiheng interrupted again.
“Lu Cheng, do you have any thoughts, grievances, or other feelings that you could discuss with me in a chat or heart-to-heart conversation?”
“Consider it a way to pass the time, even.”
Lu Cheng’s laugh broke, “Teacher Cao, I’m on duty. How am I bored?”
Cao Qiheng decided to use a direct question to get the answer he wanted: “Do you feel the previous second round of examination process was unfair? What thoughts do you have about it? How much impact has this matter had on you?”
Time was too long, everyone only remembered the students from their own hospital who succeeded in the second round of examination, not those who failed.
Even if Cao Qiheng inquired, he wouldn’t get a clear answer.
For example, many second and fourth place finishers in competitions are only recorded online; everyone remembers the champions.
“Teacher Cao, the past cannot be pursued.”
“I need to be on duty. This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve emphasized this to you. If you don’t have any other formal matters, I hope Teacher Cao, you won’t disrupt my work.” Lu Cheng could also use moral blackmail.
Did Cao Qiheng have important matters? Whether he did or not was irrelevant.
However, Cao Qiheng saw many messages in the group. As someone from Huashan Hospital, Cao Qiheng was very clear about the benefits and foundation brought by original techniques.
The Limb Replantation Surgery back then was originally created by Academician Chen Zhongwei at a hospital in Magic City. Later, Elder Chen brought it to Huashan Hospital, which still made Huashan Hospital’s hand surgery department a “temple”!
It had always been this way.
To be at the forefront, one had to engage in original creation and research and development, which was the core competitiveness.
Huashan Hospital, having benefited from this, understood the advantages of research and original creation better than many other hospitals.
“Lu Cheng, you can name your terms, any terms!” Cao Qiheng said.
Lu Cheng raised his tone, “If it’s not a transaction, then there are no terms.”
“Teacher Cao, what exactly do you want?”
Cao Qiheng also got straight to the point, “I want to bring you to Huashan Hospital.”
“And I believe that coming to Huashan Hospital will lead to better development for you!” Cao Qiheng’s voice was sincere, with every fiber of his being.
Lu Cheng asked, “I have no such intention. Teacher Cao, do you have any other questions?”
Cao Qiheng insisted on getting to the bottom of it, because only by finding the wound could one perform debridement: “Why?”
“Are you not taking what I say seriously at all?” Lu Cheng retorted without answering.
“You’re still angry.”
Cao Qiheng said, “If you have unresolved issues, then speak them out. Only by speaking them out can we discuss whether there are ways to resolve them.”
“We are all adults. Adults are most prone to acting on impulse. Lu Cheng, you should have understood this principle long ago.”
“Do you still want this unresolved issue to affect your entire life?”
Lu Cheng said, “Teacher Cao, you think too highly of me. Firstly, I don’t have any unresolved issues, and even if I did, I’ve resolved them.”
“Secondly, you underestimate me too much. Even if there were unresolved issues, they wouldn’t affect me for my entire life.”
“I’m hanging up now, I have to work!”
“Lu Cheng, wait a moment longer.” Cao Qiheng still wanted to try.
Lu Cheng lost his temper, “Are you done yet? Are you a three-year-old child? Do I have to coax you?”
Cao Qiheng fell silent.
…
In a hotel in Rongcheng, after hanging up the phone, Cao Qiheng began to listen to the recording.
After listening to the recording with Lu Cheng about two times, Cao Qiheng’s brows furrowed deeply.
Through the conversation with Lu Cheng, he found no reason for Lu Cheng to be angry. Or rather, Cao Qiheng didn’t find the “trigger point of unresolved issues” he had guessed!
Instead, he inferred a tendency: Lu Cheng might genuinely not want to be an orthopedic doctor anymore.
In that case, the current situation where Huashan Hospital’s resources favored orthopedics held no attraction for Lu Cheng.
That’s not right. If Lu Cheng isn’t interested in orthopedics, why did he come up with so many suturing techniques?
Cao Qiheng certainly had friends, so after a while, he invited a few colleagues and friends from Xiangya Hospital’s Trauma Surgery department for a late-night snack.
Cao Qiheng was a senior attending physician, and among the younger generation, his acquaintances from other hospitals were also from the younger generation.
Their time was flexible and not valuable, so if there were no Big Shots accompanying them, they were easy to invite out.
The same applied to the younger generation in hand surgery.
So, after an hour, Cao Qiheng got the answer from Gu Yanlin, an attending physician in Xiangya Hospital’s hand surgery department.
But this answer caused Cao Qiheng’s Dao heart to collapse on the spot.
Cao Qiheng didn’t react, but an attending physician from Huaxi Hospital slammed the table and roared, “Are you kidding me?!”
“Creating original suturing techniques to compete for money, are you out of your mind?”
“If you don’t want to say it, then don’t make it up.”
Gu Yanlin glanced at the other party and calmly said, “Yes, you know, you know everything. Since you’re so clear, then believe your own reasons, okay?”
“What are you f—ing asking here!”
Gu Yanlin was not going to indulge the other party.
The title of an attending physician from Huaxi Hospital could intimidate some people, but not those present.
I’m coming out for a late-night snack with friends, and I’m willing to share gossip, and you’re throwing a tantrum?
Two other attending physicians from Xiangya Hospital’s Trauma Surgery department quickly intervened, “Hey, hey, Brother Lin, don’t be angry, don’t be angry, we’re all brothers.”
“Brother Chu, you shouldn’t get so agitated either. Brother Lin is definitely telling the truth, at least from his perspective. He wouldn’t embellish it.”
Gu Yanlin crossed his legs and said calmly, “I’m not angry, I just don’t want to be verbally attacked for no reason.”
Cao Qiheng pondered thoughtfully and asked very politely, “Brother Lin, he created several original techniques just for the competition? That’s so bold! Who taught him to do that?”
Gu Yanlin said, “I don’t know either. According to my superiors in the department, this ‘money-making idea’ was taught by an Associate Professor from Xiangya Second Hospital.”
A few minutes later, the group whose Dao hearts had collapsed reached a conclusion.
“Chen Song is a complete scoundrel!!!”
…
Lu Cheng dared not turn on the do-not-disturb mode for his mobile phone, so when he saw a number with an unfamiliar area code, he decisively hung up.
When Lu Cheng was on duty, if clinical matters called him, the area code was at least from his own province.
For numbers from other provinces, no matter how high the level, they were not his immediate responsibility, so it didn’t matter.
Lu Cheng spent the night in the lounge without incident.
The nights in all places would eventually become nights without incident.
The next day, Lu Cheng finished his shift early, and after participating in rounds, he “obediently” followed Director Du Qiang’s order and went home directly.
After a short nap at home, he drove onto the highway and headed straight for Jishi City.
And as Lu Cheng was rushing to Jishi City, Chen Song’s phone was being bombarded.
“Yeah, it’s me, Teacher, I’m Chen Song.” Chen Song didn’t understand why some peers of similar age were always calling him, but after being scolded so many times, Chen Song finally understood the reason.
He also had a clear mind.
“What business is it of yours how I teach my students?” Chen Song blurted out an expletive.
“You’re an Associate Professor too, and you’re throwing your weight around with me? Do your parents know?”
“How great of an Associate Professor are you?”
Chen Song argued with the person on the other end of the phone, his chin pointing towards the light, “Oh? You’re that great, so what? Am I scared to pee my pants because of you?”
“If I didn’t know, I’d think you were a candidate for Academician!”
“So what? In what way can you defeat me??”
“The student I taught is going to make money through competitions, if you’re not happy, tell your student to fight him!”
“Come, come… tell me, who is your teacher? Give the phone to your teacher!~”
“Tell me, what’s your name? Come on.”
After the other side stammered for a while, Chen Song cursed, “Useless! You only know how to spout nonsense without leaving your name!”
“My name is Chen Song, Chen Song of Xiangya Second Hospital, what about it?”
“You’re getting too big for your boots, aren’t you?”
“Your parents gave birth to you, and you’ve forgotten who you are? If I’d known this, I should have shot you on the wall.”
The other party had not expected Chen Song to erupt so fiercely.
It truly lived up to the phrase “not acting like a proper human.”
Chen Song was also simmering with anger!
Damn it, other people were taken down by Lu Cheng’s people, and they started blaming Chen Song when investigating the reasons. Once or twice, Chen Song could tolerate it.
But how could Chen Song tolerate it indefinitely?
Even if the other party was a disciple of an Academician, if they cursed Chen Song like this, as long as Chen Song didn’t insult their teacher or elders, even an immortal would be cursed at first!
Xiang Dongshan the Great Cannon taught him this way, and he had always acted accordingly.
