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

Chapter 178 The Clever 'Layman'!
"Why did she send me a video?" Lu Cheng quickly asked Mu Nanshu.

Mu Nanshu has never been one to express coyness or jealousy, but that doesn't mean she's immune to jealousy.

Lu Cheng's personality wasn't that of a playboy, so he rarely made Mu Nanshu jealous.

However, Lu Cheng is still handsome. Even though his grades are average and he didn't rank at the top of his class during his undergraduate studies, he is still above average. He is not a homebody and is not introverted, so one or two classmates have had a crush on him.

This goodwill is limited to just goodwill.

Mu Nanshu said, "She said she wanted to learn about tendon suturing techniques because she was eager to learn and wanted to participate in the 'tendon suturing' track of the Hubei Provincial Microsurgery Skills Competition."

She also said that she and you were completely innocent...

Both sentences Mu Nan wrote back ended with punctuation marks.

Lu Cheng was even more speechless.

Lu Cheng then understood Mu Nanshu's current mood: "Why is she saying this? Can one's innocence be proven by words alone?"

"Competition format? A separate track for tendon sutures? How come I didn't know about that?"

Lu Cheng had previously registered to participate, but the organizers of the Hunan Provincial Skills Competition had not announced the competition schedule or format...

"The organizer of this year's Hubei Province Microsurgery Skills Competition is Union Hospital, and I estimate that the competition format held by the organizer in Hunan Province will be similar."

"It was roughly divided into four tracks: tendon suturing, blood vessel suturing, nerve suturing, and solid organ suturing."

Xie Yuan'an said that currently only the tendon suturing and solid organ suturing tracks have not been completely settled, while nerve and vascular suturing have always been the main focus of microsurgery.

"Why don't you help her? Otherwise, people will think she's not good enough..." Mu Nanshu said after explaining for a long time.

Only the last paragraph has a semi-ellipsis punctuation mark.

Tong Yuan'an did not explain the competition system to Lu Cheng. It was not that Professor Tong Yuan'an wanted to intimidate Lu Cheng, but rather that the organizer of the Hunan Provincial Competition was not Xiangya Hospital. Therefore, how to make decisions and how to contact the organizer of the National Microscopic Competition was the responsibility of the Second Hospital.

However, the provincial competitions are for selecting candidates for the national competition, so the competition format is likely to be similar.

"Not living up to its name? What do you mean?" Lu Cheng asked curiously.

Since the father and daughter duo had already eaten so much gossip about the two of them, Lu Cheng felt it wouldn't hurt to eat some of their gossip too.

"Well, Xie Yuan'an's clinical talent is just average."

"His research talent is also average."

"Based on the recruitment standards for newly hired employees at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, their overall qualifications are quite strong!"

“It probably won’t convince the public…” Mu Nanshu explained.

The relationship between Xie Yuan'an and Professor Xie Xiao is there for all to see.

Peking Union Medical College Hospital's recruitment emphasizes both clinical skills and scientific research. If someone excels in only one area while being weak in another, Xie Yuan'an will definitely eliminate several candidates who are not well-rounded.

"When is the competition in Hubei Province? It's already started here," Lu Cheng asked.

"The Hubei Provincial Capital will be held a little later, on November 10th, so there's still plenty of time."

“After we finish our short-term project, she wants to come back to Longxian with me to learn sewing techniques from you so she can participate in the provincial competition,” Mu Nanshu said.

She lives in my house.

Xie Yuan'an's actions instinctively reminded Lu Cheng of the "competition-based college entrance examination" tracks in provincial capital cities.

Children from ordinary families have no other options but to take the high school entrance exam in the usual way.

How many children from ordinary families can start preparing for competitions from elementary school?
Some of the better learning methods are simply unavailable to them.

But Xie Yuan'an is different. She can bypass many people and learn tendon suturing techniques directly from me through Professor Xie Xiao or Mu Nanshu.

Currently, the mainstream tendon suturing techniques are the Tang method, the modified Kessler method, and at most, the Tajima method.

If a tendon suture track were actually set up in the competition, Xie Yuan'an could very well cross over and compete through the tendon suture track.

This is unfair to the other participants from Hubei Province.

But Lu Cheng didn't care about any of that, because he would also use this technique to compete. In adult competitions, there is never any such thing as fairness.

"I'm sure there won't be any problems here."

"Xie Yuan'an will not participate in our tendon suturing project in the future. Her good performance will not affect the progress of the project."

“But there’s one thing you need to make clear to her beforehand: this thing is not suitable for clinical application at the moment…” Lu Cheng instructed.

Before Lu Chengdu could finish typing the next sentence, Mu Nanshu said, "As a research-oriented institution, Xie Yuan'an, although not an associate chief physician, is still an associate researcher at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. As long as she obtains ethical approval, she can carry out new surgical procedures in clinical practice."

"If she doesn't mention the 'new technique,' who will discover it?"

After replying to Mu Nanshu, he explained to Lu Cheng, "I didn't mean anything else. I just wanted to tell you that in a better organization, there's more freedom to do things and fewer rules to restrict you."

"On the contrary, in a county hospital, all the rules are just constraints that cannot be broken."

"This is also the specific reason why I hope you can get over it as soon as possible."

Lu Cheng deleted the follow-up message in the chat box and replied with a single word: "Mm".

A light rain continued to fall outside the window, and the light was constantly being broken by the tunnel, but it also kept bringing in the light.

……

Shashi, Kaifu District, Xintong Road, Century Golden Resources Hotel.

The hotel is situated at the confluence of the Xiangjiang and Liuyang Rivers, surrounded by towering buildings and offering expansive views. Although Lu Cheng's room was not on a high floor, it had a perfect river view.

Although Professor Tong Yuan'an didn't secure many benefits for Lu Cheng in the competition, he privately used his connections at Xiangya Hospital to get Lu Cheng a room with a better view.

Outside the window, a light drizzle still fell, and the streetlights were just coming on.

After eating his takeout, Lu Cheng waited for Professor Tong Yuan'an's message, but Tong Yuan'an seemed to have disappeared. He waited until 9 p.m., but Tong Yuan'an did not contact Lu Cheng again.

This was Lu Cheng's first time in Shashi, and he didn't have any acquaintances or connections. So, although he often heard familiar faces greeting each other outside the door, none of these belonged to Lu Cheng.

He simply drank his Luckin Coffee and chatted with Mu Nanshu.

"Don't worry, Professor Tong said he would contact you later, and he definitely will."

"Right now, he's probably handling personnel reception."

“Even in hospitals like Xiangya Hospital and academic conferences in a province, associate professors still have many big bosses to serve,” Mu Nanshu said.

As Mu Nanshu was speaking, Xie Yuan'an's voice drifted over: "When are you two going to stop being so lovey-dovey?"

"Little Mumu, we have to go to the lab to look at cells at 3 a.m., are you going to sleep or not?"

"Sister Xie, why don't you go to sleep first?" Mu Nanshu shifted to a more relaxed posture and turned her head away.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to get up later," Xie Yuan'an said.

Lu Cheng replied, "You still have to go to the lab at three o'clock? Then you should rest first. I'll wait here and watch some TV shows or something."

Xie Yuan'an appeared in the video view, her voice clear and polite: "Hello, Teacher Lu. I'll be looking forward to your guidance in a few days."

"Teacher Xie, you're too kind," Lu Cheng said politely.

Xie Yuan'an explained, "Actually, I can't do anything about it. The nerve suturing and vascular suturing tracks in our hospital are packed with people. Even if I go to participate, I'll just be a participant."

"So, the only option is to take a shortcut and broaden my horizons."

"Luckily I know Xiao Mumu, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to bring it up."

Lu Cheng replied, "Teacher Xie, you're too kind. If you hadn't given me a hand before, I might not have had the opportunity to study at Peking Union Medical College Hospital."

Mu Nanshu interjected, "You two should stop flattering each other and get some rest..."

"Lu Cheng, you have a competition tomorrow, so get some rest."

"Don't worry about you not making it to the national competition."

Lu Cheng finally understood what Mu Nanshu meant by talking to him so much today. Lu Cheng had genuinely felt that he might not make it into the national competition.

After all, the province is full of experts and talents. When it comes to the basic skills of vascular suturing, Lu Cheng is definitely no match for a master like Tong Yuan'an.

There are at least eight associate professors in several Xiangya hospitals alone, and many associate chief physicians in prefecture-level city hospitals and Shashi hospitals are just there to make up the numbers, not to mention a nobody like Lu Cheng...

However, if there were an additional tendon suture track, Lu Cheng would still be quite confident.

Five minutes after hanging up the video call with Mu Nanshu, the "clever" layman, and the gossip girl, Professor Tong Yuan'an's voice reply finally came through.

"Lu Cheng, come up to the twenty-fifth floor. Let's have a simple late-night snack together."

Lu Cheng, who was on the 19th floor, quickly replied after hearing this, "Okay, Teacher Tong, I'll be right there..."

Lu Cheng deftly picked up two bottles of his own liquor and took the elevator upstairs.

Tong Yuan'an had already told Lu Cheng his room number.

After Lu Cheng knocked on the door, a short woman with an oval face and delicate features came out. At first glance, Lu Cheng even thought she was a girl.

"Hello? Is this Professor Tong Yuan'an's room?" Lu Cheng asked.

A clear, melon-faced voice said, "Is this Dr. Lu Cheng? Brother Tong is having a drink inside, come in..."

"Lu Cheng, come in. Now it's our turn, the time for small fry like us." Tong Yuan'an also greeted him.

Lu Cheng quickly followed the "oval-faced" girl inside. The girl was only about the height of Lu Cheng's shoulder, probably around 1.5 meters tall, and had a petite and well-proportioned figure.

But Lu Cheng didn't dare to underestimate him...

Lu Cheng glanced over and saw eight people sitting inside, but he only recognized Tong Yuan'an.

Perhaps Lu Cheng noticed that the big-nosed guy seemed more talkative, so he asked, "Brother Tong, who's this guy? It seems like we're meeting for the first time?"

Today's gathering was for senior attending physicians and above, and Tong Yuan'an was undoubtedly the most "outstanding" among the associate senior level. His abrupt introduction of a stranger surprised them. "Lu Cheng, a brother I made when I was working in the countryside. He's a very interesting guy. Lu from the east, Cheng from success," Tong Yuan'an introduced.

"Xiao Lu, what are you waiting for? Show some serious attitude from your Longxian People's Hospital..."

Lu Cheng quickly said, "Hello everyone, my name is Lu Cheng. Hello, Teacher Ding!"

Besides Tong Yuan'an, Lu Cheng also knew Associate Professor Ding Mou from Xiangya No. 2 Hospital.

However, it was only a brief encounter. Ding Mou was there in the same month that Lu Cheng joined the company, just as he was leaving Longxian People's Hospital to work in the countryside.

Ding Mou touched his flat nose, and upon hearing that Lu Cheng worked at Longxian People's Hospital, his serious expression instinctively softened, and the mole on his right eyebrow twitched.

"You're from Longxian People's Hospital? You must have a high alcohol tolerance!"

"Come, come, come," Ding Mou quickly invited.

Tong Yuan'an said, "Brother Ding, be more civilized today. Xiao Lu has to compete tomorrow. You've all already secured your places, so don't make things difficult for him..."

"Xiao Lu's drinking capacity is so high, he once knocked out two of me."

Tong Yuan'an then introduced the other people to Lu Cheng.

The main group consists of Associate Professor Han Yunshen, Associate Professor Xie Ziyuan, Attending Physician Hu Yi, Liu Xiadong, and Gu Yanlin from Xiangya Hospital, and three associate professors from Xiangya Second Hospital and Xiangya Third Hospital.

After the introduction, Zhou Jian from Xiangya Third Hospital touched his big nose and said, "Brother Jun, you should ask Xiao Lu for some tips on skincare. People often say you went to Africa for aid work, how unfair is that?"

You can't tell if Huang Jun's face is dark or not, because his face and neck are really dark. If it weren't for the faint yellow skin showing through, no one would suspect that he is African.

Jun was quite honest: "Bro, how do you maintain your youthful appearance?"

Lu Cheng dared not put on airs. Tong Yuan'an had just introduced Huang Jun to him, saying that Huang Jun was currently the top associate professor in the Department of Hand Surgery at the Second Hospital: "Professor Huang, I don't take care of myself, let alone have any experience."

Lu Cheng wanted to say that Huang Jun looked very masculine, but the words just wouldn't come out.

“Brother Jun, this is actually quite good for you. If you were walking at night, your wife probably wouldn’t recognize you if you bumped into her. Isn’t this convenient for you to run to Jiefang West?” Associate Professor Wei Jianwen from the Second Hospital tucked his big eyebrows and laughed heartily.

Associate Professor Ding Mou, with his serious face and flat nose, jokingly asked, "Brother Jun, to be honest, with your face, wouldn't you be very attractive when you go out to play? Quite a few women like to be relaxed."

“Jun Ge’s looks bigger.”

Huang Jun wasn't about to let the joke slip out: "Yeah, we're all guys, we've been to the bathroom together."

Upon hearing this, Ding Mou's expression immediately turned serious again, and the mole on his eyebrow continued to twitch.

"Cough cough cough..." Tong Yuan'an coughed, covered his face, and turned his head aloofly: "Xiao Lu, I don't know any of these people."

Associate Professor Wei Jianwen from the Second Hospital then called out, "Xiao Lu, come on, let's drink! You're from Long County, you must be a good drinker."

"You're late, you should have some more to drink."

Ding Mou asked at the opportune moment, "Brother Wei, aren't you going to keep this wine jar company? Xiao Lu should be able to keep you entertained today."

"..."

These people chatted enthusiastically, one after another, but most of the conversation revolved around the word "alcohol."

After Lu Cheng was forced to drink three full glasses of beer, Associate Professor Zhou Jian from Xiangya Third Hospital stroked his chin and asked casually, "Brother Tong, what's the story behind Lu Cheng's visit today?"

"Let's drink," Tong Yuan'an replied.

"Is it just drinking?" Zhou Jian's expression instantly changed, and his tone became somewhat frivolous.

Zhou Jian's words caused many people to become solemn, their faces displaying a half-smile, a look of utter amusement.

"So what kind of explanation do you want?" Tong Yuan'an asked back, sounding completely nonchalant.

Zhou Jian glanced at Lu Cheng a few times, but wasn't so brainless as to say that Lu Cheng was unworthy: "Brother Tong, it's getting late, I'm going back to rest first, I have something to do tomorrow."

"Professor Zhou, you're not competing tomorrow, what brings you here?"

All three Xiangya hospitals have internally recommended quotas for the competition, so they do not need to participate in the provincial competition.

However, each hospital has a limited number of slots, so if you want more slots, you have to compete.

“Teaching students isn’t as carefree as it is for you, Brother Tong,” Zhou Jian said casually.

Ding Mou quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Xiao Lu, why don't you quickly offer Professor Zhou a few drinks? Professor Zhou is just bored. People who don't know the situation might think we can't afford to drink."

Lu Cheng thought for a moment, then raised his glass: "Teacher Zhou... I'd like to toast you."

Zhou Jian raised his right hand to interrupt: "Hey, don't listen to Professor Ding's nonsense. He's just trying to get us to drink together so he can make a fool of us."

"Since you know Professor Ding, you should toast him a few more times. If you don't even show respect to your teacher here, then there's no excuse for it."

"I don't need your respect."

Zhou Jian made it clear that he was not Lu Cheng's teacher, which may also mean that if Tong Yuan'an hadn't called Lu Cheng over, Lu Cheng would never have had the chance to sit at the same table with him and drink.

"Teacher Zhou, you should all pay your respects."

"I'll drink this, you can drink as you like. I also want to toast Teacher Ding." Lu Cheng can handle beer, though.

Drinking ten or eight bottles of liquor will only make you need to pee, not get drunk.

Zhou Jian didn't directly slap Lu Cheng in the face. Although he didn't drink the whole glass, he did drink half of it: "We've been through this before, and now I can't handle Dr. Lu's drinking prowess."

"Brother Ding and Brother Wei, they both love to drink." Zhou Jian politely shifted the blame, but his words carried a hidden meaning.

Wei Jianwen from the Second Hospital immediately added, "Xiao Lu, since you've already called Professor Ding Mou 'teacher,' shouldn't you show your respect a few more times?"

Wei Jianwen sat with his arms clasped together, slumped back, showing no intention of raising his glass.

Ding Mou then raised his glass: "Xiao Lu, let's go last. To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen you before when I was working in the countryside in Long County."

"I think my memory is pretty good. Are you from Ward 2?"

As Lu Cheng poured the wine, he explained, "Teacher Ding, you were leaving the same month I arrived. I joined the company early and we had dinner together. Director Peng introduced you to me."

Ding Mou then laughed in realization: "I thought my memory was that bad."

Tong Yuan'an remained calm and composed, offering no words of support or assistance to Lu Cheng.

After Lu Cheng and Ding Mou had a drink, they each had a drink with several people from Xiangya Hospital, and the atmosphere gradually dispersed...

"Brother Tong, I'm leaving now, I have a competition tomorrow." The exceptionally handsome Dr. Liu Xiadong also said goodbye and got up.

Tong Yuan'an stood up to see him off: "Okay, Xia Dong, prepare well for tomorrow. You'll definitely be fine."

Lu Cheng also stood up.

Liu Xiadong, however, looked at Lu Cheng intently for several moments before hesitating to speak.

After leaving the room, Liu Xiadong didn't say anything more: "Dr. Lu, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Teacher Liu." Lu Cheng's expression remained unchanged.

If Tong Yuan'an hadn't told him to leave, Lu Cheng would have left long ago. Clearly, his arrival had disturbed the others' enjoyment.

Even those few people from Xiangya No. 2 Hospital felt that they might not deserve to be in today's situation.

But since he had previously worked at the Longxian People's Hospital in the countryside, and it was a unit that provided counterpart assistance, he was polite and dealt with the situation in a few words.

After everyone had left, Tong Yuan'an yawned and asked, "Xiao Lu, what did you eat for dinner? I was with the boss earlier too."

Lu Cheng said, "Teacher Tong, I ordered takeout. I could have gone down to eat at the buffet, but I don't like the food there."

"It's getting late today, thank you, Teacher Tong, for introducing me to so many teachers."

Lu Cheng did not feel any displeasure towards Tong Yuan'an. The reason why he was not favored was not because Tong Yuan'an had instructed others to do so, but because these people felt that he was 'unworthy' to be in the game.

If Tong Yuan'an doesn't introduce them this time, they'll think the same thing the next time they meet.

This time, Tong Yuan'an at least created an opportunity for himself to get to know them.

"Even if we don't know each other now, we'll still have to get to know each other later!"

Tong Yuan'an continued, "I called you here for two reasons: first, to help you recognize people, and second, to explain the general format of the competition over the next few days."

"This competition consists of four matches over two days."

"Medical skills competitions are not like video games; every match is different."

"Medical competitions are just like video game competitions. Showing off your skills is allowed, and the competition mode is similar for each game. So, as long as you perform well enough, you will get the best result, and the result will be fixed."

"It will be a regular event in the provincial competition."

"It means that as long as your performance in one operation is good enough, the final ranking will be based on that data, so you can participate in more tracks."

"For example, tendon sutures, solid organ sutures, blood vessel sutures, and nerve sutures."

"The national competition should adopt a similar format at that time."

Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng nodded: "Okay, thank you, Teacher Tong."

"Secondly, your purpose in participating in the competition is to make money. You can think of this idea, but you can't say it. If you're unlucky enough to be called upon to give an acceptance speech, that would be a problem."

"Don't say this out loud, or you'll become the target of everyone's criticism."

"That's too pretentious," Tong Yuan'an warned Lu Cheng in advance.

Tong Yuan'an can also confirm that Lu Cheng is 100% guaranteed to enter the full-scale competition of the tendon suture track.

Lu Cheng chuckled awkwardly: "I certainly wouldn't dare say that."

"Alright, are you still hungry? There's still a lot of barbecue left, why don't you eat some more?"

"Why don't you go back and rest after you finish eating?" Tong Yuan'an invited again...

(End of this chapter)