At nine in the morning in the administrative building’s grand meeting room of Jiangzhou First People’s Hospital, the deputy director of the hospital, Pan Yingshao, was explaining a recently published article from East Suzhou Provincial Department of Personnel entitled ‘Opinions On Implementing Institutional Reform For Professional Ranks’ on the rostrum.
“It must be based on the actual performance of outstanding abilities and not just based on qualifications, credentials, or publications of journals to elevate the standards of public health services.”
On the other hand, any person that applied for a senior professional skill position must pass the medical ethics examination. Failure to pass the medical ethics examination would essentially mean failure in getting the position.
Half an hour later, the meeting ended.
Pan Yingshao said to the deputy chief of the laboratory department, Cao Hui, “Please stay back, Chief Cao.”
Cao Hui made her way to Pan Yingshao. Pan Yingshao said to her smilingly while she packed up her documents, “Your laboratory department is famous now.”
Cao Hui understood Pan Yingshao’s intention, so she said with a self-reproving sentiment, “It’s all my fault! Zhou Wen was incorporated into the department as a talent hire. There are some rules and regulations that he hadn’t learned properly yet. I’ll certainly reinforce my training for him later…”
Whether it was Sun Jing, Liu Weiping, or Zhang Shuguang, they assumed that it was only a simple interview for a newspaper so they did not mind much as well.
Yet, they had never expected that the article would be published to Weibo’s trending list to the point where the entire nation learned about them.
Even though it was a good thing in their eyes, who would have known the thinking of the superior leaders above them? There was a saying that ‘when you don’t hold an office, you don’t need to consider the policies’.
Leaders who sought not to be meritorious only to avoid blame were everywhere at this age. They were branded as people who ‘occupy a post without doing a stroke of work’.
Pan Yingshao waved her hand to interrupt Cao Hui’s self-reproving remarks. She asked, “I’ve read the article… is it the truth or an exaggeration?”
Cao Hui immediately answered, “I’ve already talked to the others. The information reported in the article is supported by substantial evidence without any boastful comments.”
Pan Yingshao replied in astonishment, “Hmm, in that case, did he really manage to come up with a genetic modification formula?”
Cao Hui answered, “It has yet to be verified for the time being. This is because the process of reproducing the aphids requires a period of time that lasts about ten days. However, we should be able to find out soon. There’s going to be some laboratories that complete the verification around today or tomorrow.”
Pan Yingshao said, beaming with joy, “I didn’t expect to find a talent like this in our hospital.”
Cao Hui realized that Pan Yingshao’s remarks did not sound like sarcasm. Hence, she chuckled and said, “Zhou Wen is a very professional young man. It was he who discovered the Filoviridae virus previously.”
Pan Yingshao held up a finger and said with a smile, “Oh, right, right, right, I remember now that you reminded me of it.”
Pan Yingshao paused for a moment and then continued to speak, smilingly, “The entire province is all in on cultivating young talents these days. Since he is so capable, your laboratory department should pay more attention to him and give him more opportunities for training.”
At this point, Cao Hui was finally at ease.
“Hmm, he will be representing the PCR team and viral test team to take part in the provincial youth conference…”
…
In the office on the sixth floor of the laboratory department, Zhou Wen’s phone had almost exploded from the number of calls he took from yesterday evening until this morning.
His classmates from junior middle school, high school, university, and even elementary school – who had not kept in touch with him for a long time – called him. They tried to curry favor with him and reminisced about their friendship.
On the other hand, there were also relatives and friends who seldom contacted him for years from his hometown. They called him up to inquire about his well being.
In fact, he wondered where they got his contact number. This had verified an old saying of ‘in times of prosperity, friends will be aplenty’.
Wu Yan teased him by saying, “So how does it feel to be famous?”
Zhou Wen laughed and said, “Pretty good. Would you like an autograph?”
“Sure, sign a few for me, please. Perhaps, I can sell it for a few hundred bucks one day when you become an influencer.”
“Forget about being an influencer; it’s a derogatory term…”
Wu Yan was about to speak when Zhang Shuguang pushed open the door and entered. He said with a tensed face, “You seem to be having a good time chatting. Did you finish your work?”
Zhou Wen cracked into a smile and said, “Yes, it’s done.”
Zhang Shuguang wanted to say, ‘Why don’t you find some other work to do since you’ve completed your work?’ Yet, he thought about it and remembered that Zhou Wen signed a contract only for DNA extraction and that other work did not go with his job description.
“You have to be on a low profile for the next few days, okay? I heard that the hospital director mentioned your name, but I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing yet.”
“Noted.”
Zhou Wen wanted to say something when the office phone on Wu Yan’s table rang.
“Hello. What…? Yikes, yikes, yikes… Alright, I shall let him go downstairs.”
Wu Yan hung up the phone and said, “Zhou Wen, a girl is looking for you, and she’s waiting at the entrance downstairs.”
“A girl? What’s her name?”
“Ye Ziyao.”
“Huh?” Zhou Wen was surprised and bewildered. “Sure, I shall head downstairs now, boss.”
“Hmm, go ahead.”
After Zhou Wen left, Zhang Shuguang and Wu Yan chatted for a while, and then he went downstairs as well.
Zhang Shuguang witnessed Zhou Wen and a girl standing behind a pine tree when he reached downstairs. The girl bowed in appreciation toward Zhou Wen with tears streaming down her face.
Zhang Shuguang was planning to walk to the other side, but he considered his actions for a moment before he walked toward them straightforwardly.
Zhou Wen was a young man with a lot of potential. Zhang Shuguang did not hope for Zhou Wen to take any detours for the sake of love.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Zhou Wen turned around and saw that it was Zhang Shuguang. He smiled and greeted, “Team Leader Zhang.”
Zhang Shuguang nodded and took a glance at Ye Ziyao before he asked, “What’s going on?”
Zhou Wen answered, “Nothing much; it’s just a small matter.”
Zhou Wen had just finished his sentence when Ye Ziyao wiped her tears with her sleeves and then bowed toward him once again before she said sobbingly, “Thank you, uncle.” She turned around and ran away upon saying that.
Upon seeing that, Zhou Wen hastily said to Zhang Shuguang, “Please hold on, boss.” Then, he ran after Ye Ziyao.
Ye Ziyao’s father passed away yesterday evening, and he was cremated in the funeral parlor this morning. Ye Ziyao wanted to take her father’s ashes back to their hometown in Hunan for a burial. She came to bid her farewell to him before her departure.
“Hey, wait up.”
Zhou Wen jogged over to catch up to Ye Ziyao. He asked, “How much money do you have with you now?”
Ye Ziyao hesitated and did not speak.
Zhou Wen had given her 10,000 RMB. She spent 5,000 RMB to purchase the medication and paid 2,000 RMB for her father’s medical bills with the remaining 5,000 bucks. Otherwise, the hospital refused to issue the death certificate.
The hospital had already done everything called for by humanity and duty. The total medical bill cost over 10,000 RMB, but the attending doctor knew about her family situation, so he applied to waive most of the bill.
On the other hand, she spent the remaining 3,000 bucks for the cremation of the body and had less than 100 RMB left. It was not even enough to get her a bus ticket back to her hometown.
Zhou Wen could see that Ye Ziyao was conflicted. He heaved a sigh in his heart and said, “Come with me; I shall withdraw some money for you.”
Ye Ziyao hastily shook her head and said, “There’s really no need for that, uncle.”
Zhou Wen responded, “What do you mean by no need? How are you going to return to your hometown without any money? I believe that you don’t have anybody else with you in your family, right? How are you going to pay for meals when you’re back? How are you going to bury your father?”
Ye Ziyao hesitated for a moment and said, “There’s still half of a bottle of medication left. I shall go and ask around if there’s any patient in the ward looking to buy the medication later.”
“Don’t sell it. You don’t have the authority to sell medication. If someone were to learn about that, you will be caught.” Zhou Wen tried to frighten her. He said, “See if there’s any patient that you’re close to, give it to that patient. I shall withdraw some money for you to get home…”
Ye Ziyao still wanted to reject his offer, but Zhou Wen pulled her to the ATM machine.
He conveniently learned more about Ye Ziyao’s situation on the way to the machine.
Ye Ziyao and her father lived in the suburbs of Jiangzhou City. She was in grade three in a civilian-run junior middle school there.
However, she dropped out after her father suddenly fell ill.
Zhou Wen withdrew 5,000 RMB from the ATM machine. It should be enough for the return fare and burial costs.
“Take this.”
“Thank you, uncle…” Ye Ziyao was about to cry again.
Zhou Wen said, “Don’t need to thank me! Bury your father when you’re back in your hometown and then come back to continue your studies. I will sponsor your education from now on.”
“Mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm…” Ye Ziyao nodded continuously while she sobbed. She suddenly knelt down and covered her face to weep loudly. “Boo-hoo… Uncle, my father is gone… Boo-hoo…”
“Yikes…”
Zhou Wen heaved a sigh. It was a tear-jerking moment for him.
Cao Hui walked out of the administrative building and passed Building 3 just in time to see Zhang Shuguang standing next to a wall staring at the ATM machine not far away. She walked over and asked, “What are you looking at?”
Zhang Shuguang pointed to an area not far away. “There…”
Cao Hui followed his gaze and saw the young man mentioned by the hospital director with a young girl. They were squatting under the tree next to the ATM machine.
“What’s going on?”
“It seems that the girl’s father was gravely ill before this. Zhou Wen donated money…”
Zhang Shuguang narrated the situation that he half-guessed to Cao Hui.
Upon hearing that, Cao Hui could not help but nod in approval in her heart. The young man, Zhou Wen, was really impressive.
She thought about it for a moment and said, “Old Zhang, from today’s meeting, the hospital is looking into promoting a batch of young talents. What do you think of Zhou Wen? There are two senior positions in our laboratory department that are open to anyone below the age of 40 years old.”
“Hmm, I see.” Zhang Shuguang was surprised, but he shook his head soon afterward and said, “Come on, leave it at that for Zhou Wen. He has just been employed in the laboratory department for over a month; it won’t be his turn yet.”
Cao Hui said, “That’s not for certain either! The evaluation this time will not be based on experience, qualifications, credentials, or publications of journals, but it will mainly be based on one’s professionalism. This is the instruction given by the higher-ups. Even if it’s just a slogan, they will certainly honor the system by setting up one or two typical examples. On the other hand, the medical ethics examination is also very important…”
As she was speaking, Cao Hui pointed to Zhou Wen in the nearby area. “However, I believe that this should not be an issue…”