Physician’s Odyssey

While Di Shiyuan sat on the desk tapping on the keyboard, there was a document shown on the screen with the title, Comrade Su Tao’s Notice of Appointment. He massaged the centre of his brows. He had spent a great deal of effort regarding Su Tao’s promotion. He had pulled half of Su Tao’s feet into this world, so Su Tao had to follow the rules here. He would have to reach a certain age, along with ample experience before he could slowly climb up the ladder.

Even if Su Tao had repeatedly made contributions after entering the Jianghuai Hospital, he’s not even twenty-one! For others, that would be the age that they started to attend university. Especially hospitals that required high academic qualifications, postgraduates were at least twenty-seven. As for those that wanted to contribute, they would at least need to have a Ph.D.

Gently tapping his finger on the document beside him, he took a file out with all of Su Tao’s experience in it, which was completely blank. Pushing Su Tao to be the TCM Department’s Head was within his authority, but if he wanted to push Su Tao towards the Vice-President position, then he would need to provide Su Tao with more academic background!

The door was knocked and Di Shiyuan raised his head before pointing at the couch with a smile. “You’re here? Please, have a seat.”

Sitting on the couch, Su Tao took the initiative to brew tea. Di Shiyuan clicked on the printing function, and after a few printing noises, Di Shiyuan blew on the paper before walking towards Su Tao and placed the file down. “Take a look!”

Sweeping two glances at it, Su Tao smiled. “I’m sure President Di must have burnt quite a bit of brain cells.”

Nodding his head, Di Shiyuan replied, “Yeah, and I still need your cooperation.”

Knitting his brows, Su Tao asked, “How do you want me to cooperate?”

Di Shiyuan stood up from his seat and took another file from his desk, then smiled. “I found a school for you, the Principal is my Senior Brother. Although you don’t need any studies with your medical skills, society puts importance on academic qualifications. Especially if you want to make progress in your career, you will need those qualifications to back you up.”

He spoke tactfully, but the meaning behind his words was clear. The truth was, with Su Tao’s resumé, he didn’t even qualify to be a doctor. In fact, Di Shiyuan was curious about how Su Tao had obtained his medical license!

Su Tao had no reason to refuse, since Di Shiyuan had recommended him to a Medical University located in Qiongjin that’s even stronger than the Huainan’s TCM University. It’s just that their TCM studies were weaker than the Huainan’s TCM University, so Di Shiyuan could be said to have made a lot of effort to arrange such a good academy for him.

Nodding his head, Su Tao smiled. “President Di, are you forcing me to improve?”

Pursing his lips, Di Shiyuan smiled. “Indeed. If I don’t put my heart into nurturing such a good sapling like you, I’m afraid that I might regret it in later years. I have already discussed this matter with my Senior Brother, and he will deal with the human resources for you. He is a postdoc, so you can fill up your resumé under his name!”

Although Di Shiyuan said it lightly, Su Tao knew that it was a great favor, so he could guess how many resources the former had used.

Hearing Di Shiyuan’s words, Su Tao felt touched in his heart. Meeting Di Shiyuan could be considered as the greatest turnaround in his life. Although Di Shiyuan was sly and cunning, he didn’t hold any selfish motives for Su Tao. He had guided Su Tao step-by-step and gave all his support at the same time.

Naturally, Su Tao had also secretly given Di Shiyuan help, like how he dragged Qiao Dehao down, which could also be considered as helping Di Shiyuan getting rid of a significant threat.

Taking a sip of the tea, Di Shiyuan softly said, “Qiao Dehao was arrested by plain-clothed police just when he tried to flee on the high-speed rail. After being interrogated for days, he had come clean. It was shocking that he had accumulated such a great wealth behind my back, living a rotten life. This is also a wake-up call to me, since I also have a responsibility in his fall.”

Shaking his head, Su Tao replied, “This is a problem to do with the system. After all, Qiao Dehao was not a qualified medical worker. Thus, there are many loopholes in the system that was used by him. Now that his matter is exposed, I believe many people will be dragged along with him, right?”

Nodding his head, Di Shiyuan responded with a solemn voice, “I can’t tell you the exact information. Ultimately, the world isn’t as clean as you’ve expected, so we have to be cautious to not forget our aspirations.”

Su Tao could sense the calling from Di Shiyuan. Di Shiyuan was righteous deep in his bones, which was also the reason why Su Tao felt admiration for him. After a brief thought, Su Tao asked, “Who will be taking over the Jianghuai Hospital now?”

With a smile, Di Shiyuan answered, “Wang Hong. He was the President of the People’s Hospital and has moral integrity. He is a leader that makes swift and decisive actions that possess charisma. Actually, I was going to let him replace me when I left, but Qiao Dehao had done a lot of things in the background, so my plan fell apart. Now that Qiao Dehao was brought to justice, it’s justifiable for Wang Hong to take over the Jianghuai Hospital now.”

Su Tao sat in Di Shiyuan’s office for a while longer before leaving. Di Shiyuan’s motive for calling him over was simple, to pursue his studies in the Qiongjin Medical University. It’s just that it wasn’t for studies but for the sake of a certificate. Although it was a shortcut to a promotion, it wasn’t so bad for him to occasionally enjoy the ride of a rocket.

He could understand the meaning behind Di Shiyuan’s words. Without any academic qualifications and certificates in China, it’s tough for him to put his ambitions into action fully.

---

With Qiao Dehao sacked, Lu Shimiao’s suspension was naturally canceled. When Su Tao arrived at the Paediatrics Department, he saw her looking through the recent patient cases.

She wore a milky-white shirt inside her coat that emanated an indolent and charming air around her. Her ample peaks stood towering with an indistinct ravine that’s catchy to the eyes. When she saw Su Tao, she raised her head, and asked with a smile, “You came here to look at Xiaoxiao?”

Nodding his head, Su Tao smiled. “Yep, and you as well!”

Lu Shimiao’s face blushed while she tidied up her messy desk before saying, “Let’s go. We’ll take a look at Xiaoxiao together.”

When Su Tao saw Lu Shimiao’s light steps, he followed her. He knew that she must have felt relaxed after Qiao Dehao’s arrest. In the future, she wouldn’t have to worry about the harassment of her father-in-law anymore. This sort of worry was something one must experience to know about it.

Xiaoxiao’s complexion was pretty good today, since she has stopped all chemotherapy. Through Su Tao’s acupuncture techniques and medicine to nurture her body, which was damaged by the chemotherapy, it was successfully reconstructed. Many illnesses weren’t something that could be resolved in a few days, especially something like leukemia, and even Su Tao had to take it slow. Not only was it physically exhausting, but it also exhausted his Qi as well.

Finishing the treatment session with Xiaoxiao, Su Tao walked out of the ward as Lu Shimiao sighed, “Liangliang has already switched hospitals during the period I was suspended.”

Seeing Lu Shimiao brooding, Su Tao comforted her, “I can understand how you feel. A responsible doctor will want to do their best to treat every single patient. But the truth is, patients are free and have the authority to choose where they want to have the treatment. So don’t brood over this too much.”

Lu Shimiao gently sighed, “Qiao Dehao was the backbone of the Qiao Family. Now that he’s in trouble, the entire family is in a mess. Just yesterday, my mother-in-law begged me to go back and stay!”

Su Tao was briefly stunned before asking, “What do you intend, then?”

With a sigh, Lu Shimiao answered, “I’ve wavered a little. After all, we’re a family. Although that father and son aren’t good things, my mother-in-law has treated me very well. I can sense that she was sincere in how she treated me.”

Shaking his head, Su Tao sighed, “Being indecisive leads to further troubles. You have to think this through. Can you continue to walk together with Qiao Bo? Otherwise, don’t give excuses to yourself.”

Biting her lips, Lu Shimiao sighed again, “I will be cautious.”

After separating from Lu Shimiao, Su Tao returned to his office. As usual, Zhang Chao came to his office, swiftly as usual, before the latter mysteriously closed the door and smiled. “Head Su, I heard that you’re going to be promoted again?”

“Where did you hear this rumor this time?” Su Tao faintly smiled.

With the thinking that Su Tao still didn’t know of this matter, Zhang Chao earnestly said, “They’re not rumors, they came from a reliable source. With Qiao Dehao down, Wang Hong will soon replace him, and at the same time, you will be promoted as the Vice-President!”

Su Tao guessed that it must have come from Wang Hong. After all, Di Shiyuan naturally spoke with Wang Hong before and also informed the latter of Su Tao’s arrangement. Su Tao played it down as he replied, “Nothing is in the bag before the Letter of Appointment is here.”

Zhang Chao nodded his head and sighed, “Head Su, if you can become the Vice-President, then you will be bringing glory to our TCM Department. After all, there has never been a Vice-President in the hospital from the TCM Department.”

Even as a pillar in the Jianghuai Hospital, Tang Nanzheng only made it to being the Department Head before he retired. With a faint smile, Su Tao said, “Work hard, the future of Jianghuai Hospital’s TCM Department will be a glorious path!”

Su Tao knew the passion burning in those of the TCM Department right now. Not long ago, the Health Ministry had allocated funds for the Jianghuai Hospital to construct a TCM Building. Now that there was news of the TCM Department Head, Su Tao, being promoted to the Vice-President position, those two pieces of news was a good message that the Jianghuai Hospital was going to put their focus on TCM. As the Vice-Head of the TCM Department, Zhang Chao would undoubtedly have significant developments in his career in the future.

Zhang Chao knew that the fate he had for Su Tao was already built. Although the latter was young, he never participated in the affairs of the TCM Department. But in less than three months, Su Tao turned the entire TCM Department around with remarkable contributions.

Su Tao stayed in the TCM Department for the whole day. He had figured out his new progression path. Aside from the Three Flavour Hall, he also cannot push aside the responsibility in the Jianghuai Hospital. Whether it was Di Shiyuan, Lu Shimiao, or even the colleagues of the TCM Department, they had become a part of his life.

Su Tao was someone that knew how to plan. He could make constant changes to his plan for it to be appropriate to the situation. Just a few months ago, he initially just wanted to revive his family business when he returned to the Three Flavour Hall. A few months later, he had more responsibility to bear. Not only did he need to continuously improve, he even had to bring those around him along.

He felt hugely inflated right now, causing him to proudly raise his head!

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