This doctor is already middle-aged, and he's only just started practicing medicine.

Chapter 146 There is a path forward, and people are by my side.

……

In the underground parking lot of Building 12 of Chengxin Plaza, Lu Cheng watched Mu Nanshu walk out of the elevator shaft.

Today, she wore light makeup, a knee-length denim pencil skirt, a white floral print shirt, a pale yellow handbag, and chunky sneakers with hidden platform soles.

He walked with a graceful stride.

Lu Cheng glanced at it and said with a smile, "It seems you have plenty of time today, so you dressed up very carefully."

Mu Nanshu rolled her eyes at Lu Cheng, then naturally walked to the passenger side, opened the car door, and stretched:
"It's so nice to be able to sleep in when I don't have any work to do. I woke up at 10 a.m. and then took a taxi to the gym."

"I feel like I'm perfectly suited to lying flat like this."

"what's for dinner?"

Lu Cheng opened the driver's side door, but didn't bother to open the passenger side door for Mu Nanshu in a gentlemanly manner: "Bee Chrysalis."

There's an old saying here: "Gourds in July, bees in August, and plump, healthy berries in September and October!"

Mu Nanshu's eyes lit up, and she pulled on her seatbelt: "That must be expensive!!"

"So, Mr. Mu, are you going to make a move? Little rich lady, I'm hungry." Lu Cheng said without any of his 'manly' spirit.

Mu Nanshu was fastening her seatbelt when she rolled her eyes at Lu Cheng: "What happened to you?"

Because her eyes weren't focused on the seatbelt, Mu Nanshu didn't fasten it in time; instead, it was caught in another part of her body...

All seat belts, if you don't pull them tight enough the first time, you need to pull them back a bit and pull them again.

Lu Cheng almost laughed again. Mu Nanshu turned to the side, put the seatbelt back on, pulled it up again, then sat up straight and opened the passenger seat to adjust himself.

In a serious tone: "Don't laugh!~"

Lu Cheng's gaze didn't linger for long before he changed the subject, asking, "When will Uncle and Aunt be back?"

“I’d like to find an opportunity to invite them to dinner. I remember the last time I saw Uncle Mu was in May, and it’s already August.”

Mu Nanshu's father was named Mu Leng. His name wasn't unusual; according to his father, Lu Nanjia, the year Mu Leng was born was exceptionally cold, hence the name.

Although Mu Nanshu went abroad, Mu Leng often returned to Long County and later drank with Lu Cheng and Lu Nan, but he rarely mentioned Mu Nanshu.

Come to my house for a drink, not go out to drink!
This revealed that Lu Nanjia and Mu Leng truly had a deep friendship.

“My dad said he’s handing over some things; he’s probably retiring and handing the company over to someone else.”

“So it will definitely take some time,” Mu Nanshu replied.

“That’s great!” Lu Cheng nodded. “Uncle Mu and Aunt Mu work very hard, so they can rest now that they’re retired.”

“They’re not the type to sit still. They said they plan to retire and then go back to Longxian to open a hot pot restaurant for fun. They’ll just lose money if they want, but they’re not thinking about doing any big projects…” Mu Nanshu said.

In Lu Cheng's view, he had simply earned enough money and was satisfied.

Lu Cheng said, "Did you tell your uncle and aunt about your trip to Long County? I suggest you tell them the truth directly to avoid any misunderstandings, such as them saying that I led you astray."

"What if they misunderstand and think I abducted you and caused you to lose your job at Peking Union Medical College Hospital? There will still be misunderstandings when we first meet."

Mu Nanshu glared at Lu Cheng: "You're overthinking it. In their eyes, I'm no dumber than you. And you can't fool me."

Lu Cheng replied, "That's true... I can only lie to people, not to things..."

Mu Nanshu changed the subject, saying, "I heard from my classmate that you're doing very well at the People's Hospital now?"

"Isn't one of your classmates my classmate?" Lu Chengqi asked rhetorically.

Mu Nanshu then said the name: "Fan Wenhua, she's a nurse in the operating room now."

"You mean Sister Hua? She's asking you for a wedding gift. She's having her second child at the end of this year, so since you know that, you're bound to get a red envelope."

Fan Wenhua is a little older than Lu Cheng and her birthday is in March. Back in Long County, she lived in a similar direction to Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu, so the three of them often went to and from school together.

However, Fan Wenhua's grades weren't good. It seems she got into a third-tier university for nursing at the time. They kept in touch occasionally during university, but their contact gradually faded away...

Mu Nanshu glanced at Lu Cheng secretly and casually asked, "Fan Wenhua said there's a nurse named Xiaomin you're quite familiar with?"

"Wang Limin is also from the operating room, and she's almost four or five years younger than us."

"People have high standards. Even if a nobody like me wanted to ask her out to dinner, this young lady wouldn't be able to find the time."

“She’s the type of guy like Director Luo from our orthopedics department,” Lu Cheng replied.

"Executive Director Luo? The one you mentioned who has relatives in the province? Doesn't he have a girlfriend?" Mu Nanshu had a deep memory of Executive Director Luo's name.

Lu Cheng glanced at Mu Nanshu: "Having a partner doesn't stop someone from being in high demand, does it?"

“Yes, your surgery department has always been a mess.” Mu Nanshu delivered a fatal blow.

Lu Cheng was hit on the head with a stick without being told what to do, and he couldn't refute it: "..."

Longxian County in Hunan Province and Fengxian County in Hubei Province are separated by the You River. A wide bridge spans the You River, connecting the two provinces and the two counties.

Fengxian's infrastructure is more than twice as good as Longxian's, but Longxian's lively atmosphere is something Fengxian can't match.

It was 7 p.m., and the Longxian side of the Xiang-E-Qing Bridge was brightly lit and bustling with pedestrians due to its poor economy. Small carts and vendors were lined up, busy making a living.

Meanwhile, people like Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu, who had nothing to do, took a walk and bought two bowls of rice tofu. Mu Nanshu also took a fancy to fried skewers and asked Lu Cheng to go buy them...

Mu Nanshu must have styled her hair herself today. She had two very thin braids on her temples, with the lower edge of the braids tied with light purple ropes and hidden behind her ears.

Unless you look very closely, you can't even see the two little braids.

Of course, when Lu Cheng returned with fried sausages, he saw a young man standing next to Mu Nanshu, holding a phone and asking Mu Nanshu something.

Mu Nanshu pointed towards Lu Cheng, who was holding a sausage. After the young man turned around and saw Lu Cheng approaching, he said, "Beautiful lady, let's add each other as friends first. Maybe we can hang out sometime."

Lu Cheng approached, looked the man up and down, and, with two sausages between his fingers, extended his hand to shake his: "Brother, let's get acquainted... My name is Lu Cheng..."

Lu Cheng didn't care whether the other person reached out or not; he simply gripped the other person's face until it was slightly distorted before letting go.

Longxian County used to be in northwestern Hunan, a place known for its bandits. Lu Cheng was a typical Tujia person. He might not have the air of a bandit, but he certainly had a roguish streak and wouldn't tolerate such petty thugs.

"Sorry, bro." The young man, having been rebuffed, knew that Lu Cheng was not someone to be trifled with, and left without uttering any harsh words.

Mu Nanshu was not surprised by this, and simply said, "Is this kind of temper a characteristic of our Long County?"

"Hasn't our local people's tough and unyielding spirit always been a characteristic of this place?"

"Otherwise, why do you think I was working overtime yesterday? It was because some young people were being reckless, running around with knives."

"Just ignore them."

Lu Cheng continued, "We can walk along the river to the driving school in front, and then go through it. You can return through the back gate of the community."

Mu Nanshu took the extra spicy sausage from Lu Cheng and asked, "So you left your car here?" "I'll come back for it later," Lu Cheng said.

Mu Nanshu took a bite and nodded repeatedly: "The taste of Longxian is still more to my liking. When I was in Han City, I often felt that the taste was a bit lacking."

"Actually, it's quite nice to just relax completely in Longxian County. There's not much pressure."

Lu Cheng nodded and then shook his head: "Lying down is suitable, but the education and medical conditions are not good."

“I work there, so I have a lot to say about this.”

Mu Nanshu glanced at Lu Cheng: "You work at the People's Hospital right now, is it really okay for you to criticize your own workplace like this?"

Lu Cheng replied, "Don't I know my own skills better than anyone else?"

"What's so special about my skills? I can't even do a standard finger replantation. This level of skill would be considered top-notch in the orthopedics department of a hospital. You can see the overall level of the county hospital from this."

Of course, after Lu Cheng finished speaking, he added, "However, although the conditions are poor, our hospital is still the final destination for many, many patients."

"Even though transportation is very convenient now, many patients are unwilling to travel far. If the county hospital can't treat it, even if it's a relatively incurable disease, many elderly people choose not to get treatment."

Mu Nanshu leaned closer to Lu Cheng: "You know a little about the patients?"

Lu Cheng remained silent: "It's limited to understanding, the kind of understanding where there's nothing we can do."

"Yes, you've wanted to be a doctor for a long time, and you really intended to be a good one."

“Dr. Lu’s identity was something he had planned long ago,” Mu Nanshu said with a smile.

Mu Nanshu's words were ambiguous, so Lu Cheng asked, "Do you regret studying medicine?"

Lu Cheng had his own plans, while Mu Nanshu felt that anything was fine and he didn't rule out studying medicine.

The main reason is that she has done the math herself. No matter what industry she works in, as long as she goes to work, her salary will basically never exceed the interest on her family's savings.

Mu Nanshu himself didn't have much ambition; he had long ago planned his life to be just relax and do nothing.

"It would be a lie to say I don't regret it, and it would also be a lie to say I regret it all."

"Whether you regret it or not, things have already come to this. It's just a bit of a pity that you can't get into clinical practice, so you can only keep hovering on the edge." Mu Nanshu's tone and expression were somewhat complicated.

Choosing gastroenterology but being unable to perform endoscopy is a major limitation for a gastroenterologist, making it impossible for Mu Nanshu to succeed in clinical practice.

"Is there no way to recover?" Lu Cheng asked.

Mu Nanshu changed the subject: "Has your department expanded its surgical scope significantly compared to before?"

"Yes, there will be a little more. For now, it's just tendon sutures, spleen preservation surgery, and gallbladder preservation surgery."

"But after a while, we should be able to do something like limb replantation."

"Specifically, we can only bring the technology into the operating room after Professor Tong has made a clear and relatively foolproof assessment. We can't just 'avoid risks' like we did last night."

"Learning more skills is good; it will be more helpful for me to take the selection exam for the state hospital in November."

The selection exam is a way to select a group of talented people from within the system to work in the state-level people's hospital from the county level. This is usually a "shortcut" for those with connections.

Of course, even 'shortcuts' require real skills to succeed. Nowadays, those who rely on connections are not simply people who rely on connections without any real ability.

Those with connections will make good use of their relationships and resources to perfect their skills, resumes, and education, making the assessment "more perfect" and leaving no loopholes.

This includes, but is not limited to, selection examinations.

“Before that, Teacher Mu, you need to teach me how to write a bid proposal,” Lu Cheng said.

Mu Nanshu glared at Lu Cheng, then stood there, dazed: "Are you really going to call me teacher?"

Mu Nanshu is a young man, and while he can use memes, his constant sharp wit and satire make it seem a bit incongruous.

"How about calling me boss?!" Lu Cheng changed a word, sounding a little mischievous.

As Mu Nanshu walked, he said in a serious tone, "Only graduate students usually call their teachers 'boss'."

"I know, this boss is not that boss."

“You little rich girl, I’m definitely going to stick with you!” Lu Cheng replied seriously.

"What kind of fetish is this?" Mu Nanshu took a big bite, leaving teeth marks on the bamboo skewer.

"Boys and girls who have been toughened up by society are very sensible. Isn't there a saying that goes like that?"

"Young people don't know how good rich women are, and they mistake young girls for treasures..." Lu Cheng raised his head, took the bamboo stick from Mu Nanshu's hand, and threw it into the trash can from a distance, making a jingling sound as he scored.

Mu Nanshu asked Lu Cheng, "Are you saying I'm old?"

"You are both rich and valuable, the best of both worlds."

"With this in mind, why shouldn't I hurry up and try to please them? What am I waiting for?"

"Didn't you see... how popular it is?" Lu Cheng gestured in the direction they had been looking.

Mu Nanshu looked helpless: "You really have changed a lot."

Lu Cheng said, "If one day you can also achieve a state of mental clarity, you will become even more lively than me?"

"Understanding the mind? What does that mean?" Mu Nanshu asked, puzzled.

"There is a road ahead, people by my side, and I have the strength to climb high. I can even fulfill the boasts I made when I was young."

Lu Cheng opened his arms wide, completely letting go.

"With a clear mind, I feel at peace with everything."

"If at this point I am still timid and cowardly, letting others do as they please, without my own thoughts, then I deserve to be left to ferment."

Having proven the panel's effectiveness, Lu Cheng was not afraid of his future. So even though he was already thirty years old and just a junior doctor in a county hospital, he could still maintain a clear mind.

“But you still have to follow the rules…” Mu Nanshu advised Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng said, "Rules must be followed."

"But it's my own idea. Why should I be in a hurry?"

"Explain in detail?" Mu Nanshu asked...

Lu Cheng replied, "It doesn't really concern me, but I recently saw the Discipline Inspection Commission's inspection team."

Mu Nanshu rolled her eyes: "What does the Discipline Inspection Commission's inspection have to do with Long County? Others might not even be willing to go to a grassroots hospital like a prefecture-level city hospital."

"The ones who should be feeling insecure now are certain people within the Xiangya system..."

P.S.: I'm asking for your guaranteed monthly votes. Thank you all!

(End of this chapter)