System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

Mu Nanshu was still a bit worried, but there didn’t seem to be any good solution anyway.

Lu Cheng had told Mu Nanshu about this "annoying pest" before, saying he was shameless to the point of having almost no bottom line.

...

On March 18th, Lu Cheng was on backup duty, and backup duty was basically a day you could take as rest.

But neither Lu Cheng nor Mu Nanshu slept in; Thursday was still a workday, the people in their project team were still working, and Lu Cheng also had an operation task down in Long County.

This time during his backup period, Lu Cheng’s surgical load wasn’t heavy, just one operation—Professor Chen Song had invited him to scrub in together and perform a Spleen Preservation Surgery to remove a splenic "fibroma."

"I’ll drop you off at the lab first, then head back to Long County. I’ll come find you all again in the evening and we’ll go do a barbecue team-building."

"I’ve already talked to Dai Linfang, he’ll go buy ingredients in the afternoon," Lu Cheng explained to Mu Nanshu.

"Mm...okay." Mu Nanshu nodded in agreement.

"That thing from last night, it’s not going to cause trouble, right?"

Lu Cheng smiled and said, "Honestly, I don’t want to throw my weight around, but if he insists on making a scene, then I don’t mind throwing my weight around."

"Even if he kicks it all the way up to the National Health Commission, I can still get some inside info through Professor Lu in Kyoto."

"For a trauma center director position, just how far can he really push it?"

Before actually getting any power, Lu Cheng had already been making some preparations, including but not limited to "procedural justice" preparations and a good number of network connections.

This Professor Lu, to a certain extent, was someone Lu Cheng had proactively "set up" through Xiao Mingqi.

...

State People’s Hospital, administrative building, one of the dean’s offices.

Seeing Dong Chang rush in, Liang Nanmin scrubbed his face hard and said, "Dong Chang, let it go. You’re no match for this Lu Cheng."

"Uncle, but—?" Dong Chang trailed off, wanting to say more.

As one of the vice deans, Liang Nanmin didn’t have to be responsible for the shelving of the trauma center. He hadn’t strongly supported restarting the trauma center, but he had considered whether he could slip one of his own people in.

"The trauma center has to be rebuilt. That’s something Dean Huang and the State leaders have already signed off on; it has to be done."

"The responsibility is huge, someone has to take the fall for it, it’s not some cushy post! And the trauma center has a special nature; you can’t just muddle through with it."

"Since Lu Cheng doesn’t want to make a deal with you and prop you up, just drop it."

Dong Chang grimaced and cursed, "This is like a rock in the outhouse—stinking and hard as hell, totally impossible to talk to."

"I really don’t get why he insists on clinging to this position."

"Does he actually have that kind of ability? We’re all just muddling along here!"

Liang Nanmin’s eyes rolled once. "Not necessarily. This Lu Cheng didn’t show any stage fright in front of those two professors from the Provincial People’s Hospital that Dean Huang and the others invited."

"And right now their relationship is going very well. It doesn’t look like a connection built just through a few casual team-building dinners."

"Wasn’t it Dean Yao who made the introductions?" Dong Chang’s gaze turned obscure.

In Dong Chang’s view, Lu Cheng was on Yao Xin’s side, being propped up by Yao Xin.

If Yao Xin could pull Lu Cheng up, why couldn’t Liang Nanmin pull him, Dong Chang, up as well? Everyone’s muddling along—being able to save face is enough, right?

If someone really had sky‑high ability, who the hell would be willing to spend all day studying human relationships and licking other people’s asses?

This whole game of human relationships only exists because people’s abilities are limited and everyone is roughly on the same level; it’s a flexible environment created to smooth things over.

"Dean Yao only built the bridge, that’s all!" Liang Nanmin knew more of the inside story.

"If I could build the bridge for you, could you actually hold up your end? If you’re sure you could, it’s still not too late now."

Dong Chang instantly lost his nerve. "Uncle...I..."

"So Lu Cheng really can hold up under all that? He’s not relying on connections? Not relying on spending money to bring in people?"

"Won’t he just turn the trauma center into a bottomless pit? Whoever sits in that seat, wouldn’t it become a bottomless pit anyway?"

The trauma center would be established and had to be restarted. After restart, if Lu Cheng couldn’t cut it, wouldn’t the hospital have to keep paying to bring in experts to sit in?

Long‑term appointments meant the hospital would have to keep pouring money in!

And if they’re all pouring in money, it’s not like I, Dong Chang, don’t know how to spend money.

"How did you end up thinking like this?" Liang Nanmin was a bit perplexed.

"Isn’t that how it is?" Dong Chang shot back.

"Dong Chang, are you obsessed? Why is it that, once things get to you, everything becomes about connections and about throwing money at problems?"

"Have you really never considered the possibility that Lu Cheng might actually be able to carry this?" Liang Nanmin raised his voice.

This nephew of his, he had to give him a good knock on the head, or the kid would definitely go down the wrong path in the future.

Dong Chang listed his reasons. "Based on what? On him being just an undergrad? On him being just an attending? On him being only in his thirties?"

"If he really had that kind of skill, he would’ve gone to the provincial level long ago. Why would he keep hanging around in Xiangzhou?"

Liang Nanmin was getting angry. "Then let me spell out exactly what he’s doing."

"Lu Cheng could’ve gone to the provincial level long ago. He stayed in our Xiangzhou to use our hospital as a springboard and to get his associate chief physician title in hand."

"In terms of ability, compared horizontally with his peers at the provincial level, he’s not worse than anyone else."

Dong Chang’s torso trembled slightly, his face barely hiding his shock. "The hospital would agree to that?"

"If Lu Cheng hadn’t refused to sign an extension, no one would’ve known he had this extra layer of intent in his mind."

"Of course the hospital wouldn’t agree. But someone’s setting up a seesaw for him! Otherwise, what do you think prompted the push to restart the trauma center?"

"The trauma center is a thorn in the hearts of many leaders. If this thorn can be pulled out using Lu Cheng, then that counts as making the best use of a man."

"Otherwise, how else do you think they should handle it?"

"Do what Director Xiao Zhaoxi did before—stash Lu Cheng away and block his promotion?"

"Since when has our State People’s Hospital ever lacked an attending who does nothing?"

Lu Cheng was using Xiangzhou People’s Hospital, and Renmin Hospital was also using Lu Cheng; this was a kind of invisible transaction.

The State People’s Hospital certainly didn’t lack attendings, but it did lack an attending who could shoulder responsibilities.

If problems could be solved, then even if it meant using him, as long as Lu Cheng needed a normal promotion, the hospital leadership felt they could "compromise."

"So that’s how it is. I was wondering why Lu Cheng insisted on clinging to this position!"

"Now I get it."

After this moment of clarity, Dong Chang shivered all over. "But, Uncle, can one person really pull off something like this?"

Only now did Dong Chang start to understand just how big the gap between him and Lu Cheng was.

He only wanted to ride the trauma center wave to bump up his own rank, but Lu Cheng wanted to use the entire hospital as expendable fuel for his "advancement."

And the hospital leadership had even agreed.

What kind of joke was this?

"Otherwise, why do you think I told you to talk to Lu Cheng privately instead of simply issuing an order from on high?"

"You’re not a kid anymore, Dong Chang. You’re thirty‑six this year. How can your thinking still be this naïve?" Liang Nanmin was so angry he felt dizzy.

Dong Chang, however, felt extremely wronged. "Uncle, is this something you can just think up with a bit of brainpower?"

"Let me put it this way: if you told me now that you want to use the State Health and Health Commission as your springboard to climb higher,"

"I’d only think you’ve gone crazy, Uncle."

How big do you think you are, that you want to use an entire administrative unit as a springboard for your own promotion??

Unless you’re absolutely crucial, irreplaceable, and you’ve also got perfect timing, geography, and human support.

Otherwise, no unit—no, not even an entire county‑level department—would accompany you in staging this grand show.

Liang Nanmin fell silent for a moment. "Risk and opportunity go hand in hand. I wouldn’t think this way, which is why I’m not Lu Cheng."

"Whether Lu Cheng can pull it off or not depends entirely on his ability."

...

In Long County, after arriving early, Lu Cheng even went to help his mom sell vegetables for a while at the market.

It wasn’t to make a few extra bucks; he simply wanted to spend some time with Tian Hui.

With work on his shoulders, he didn’t have much time to accompany his parents; that was something he had no choice about.

When he arrived at their usual spot at Long County People’s Hospital, Lu Cheng immediately sensed that the atmosphere was off; Professor Chen Song’s expression was clearly a bit irritated.

"So your wings have hardened, huh? Letting people use you as a gun now?" Professor Chen Song suddenly tossed out this line, then walked straight into the director’s office and shut the door.