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

Chapter 26 'The Ladder to the Clouds'!
Lu Cheng still has a car, but the house his family bought is less than 500 meters away from Longxian People's Hospital, so a small electric scooter is enough to solve everything.

There might not be a parking space if you drive to the hospital, so Lu Cheng often uses his electric scooter to get around.

Everyone ordered a coffee, and Han Jingyi sat down and chatted for a while longer. Lu Cheng then went back to get the car to pick up and drop off people...

"I'll take you to a teppanyaki restaurant that's a bit out of the way but has really authentic flavors. The best teppanyaki in the county isn't on Chaoyang Road anymore, it's in Tuchengba..." After Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu dropped Han Jingyi off back in Feng County, they turned on the navigation.

Mu Nanshu gave a soft "hmm," looking rather aloof!
Feng County is very close to Long County. Lu Cheng only drove for thirty minutes to cross the county towns of Feng County and Long County to reach the "suburbs" of Long County.

After the two parked and sat down, Lu Cheng said, "This place was built about 20 years ago. It's a subsidized community and public rental housing. Originally, it was planned to be converted into a market. You know, the market near the Second Primary School is too small and too chaotic."

"But then I don't know why it stopped, and now all that's left is this shell. I ordered beef, green beans, scrambled eggs with chives, and cartilage. What would you like to add?"

"Let's add some beef tripe and squid, that should be enough, we can't finish it." Perhaps it was the stimulation of the delicious food that brought Mu Nanshu, this foodie, back to her senses.

"Uncle Mu, are you in Jilin City or Long County now? Where will you be staying later?" Lu Cheng asked.

Mu Nanshu replied, "You live in Chengxin Plaza? My family also has an apartment there. Could you take me there later?"

Chengxin Plaza is a residential area located on the river where Longxian County and Fengxian County meet. The environment is quite nice: "Chengxin Plaza is great, with first-line river views."

"How's your job going? It should be alright, right?" Mu Nanshu asked with a smile.

Lu Cheng rolled his eyes: "Can my ass. I'm so frustrated by the interpersonal relationships in this small county that I'm completely overwhelmed. Would you believe me if I told you that I've never actually performed a single level-two surgery?"

Mu Nanshu is a medical student, so Lu Cheng didn't need to explain what a level-two surgery was: "We're already out eating, so let's not talk about these things... You haven't been to any prefecture-level cities or counties, so don't worry about these things in the future..."

"What you'll be dealing with from now on isn't interpersonal relationships, but absolute hard power."

"I heard that Peking Union Medical College has almost no requirements for newly admitted PhDs? But if they don't get a grant within five years, their contracts are automatically terminated?"

It's harder to get by in a teaching hospital than in a county hospital. Many top-tier teaching hospitals operate on a "publish or perish" principle!

The term "general" refers to projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. These are very difficult projects to obtain, and failure to secure one can result in termination of the grant. It's a system where merit is the sole criterion for success, which is truly brutal.

"There is such a contract. If I can't make a living in the future, I might come to the county hospital too," Mu Nanshu said with a smile.

"That won't do. With your qualifications, you could easily get a job at any provincial-level hospital, even if you don't work for a subordinate unit. Besides, I believe you could do very well even in a very competitive environment..."

"Now I can brag about it! Professor Mu Nanshu from Union Hospital in Central China is my old classmate and also my good friend!"

"If I say this to the public, would ordinary people have something to talk about like me?" Lu Cheng gave a thumbs up with great enthusiasm, his emotions completely natural.

Lu Cheng was genuinely happy for Mu Nanshu's current job opportunity.

Mu Nanshu suddenly said, "Lu Cheng, do you know that every top hospital has its own unique 'ladder to the top'? Both in the research field and the clinical field."

"If we could overcome that, we could transcend all educational limitations..."

Lu Cheng interrupted with a smile: "Little sister."

"Those 'ladders to the top' in top hospitals are only for the most outstanding professors. They're just empty promises to motivate ordinary people to work like slaves." "If I had that kind of ability, I would have taken off through the normal channels long ago."

"The most important thing for a person is to have self-awareness. Look at me, I am the best example of someone who has no self-awareness."

"If I had taken the entrance exam for the master's program at Zhongnan Hospital before, who would have made things difficult for me?" Lu Cheng boasted, trying to keep the atmosphere between the two from getting too down.

Mu Nanshu explained with a hint of guilt, "I never expected that the master's students in the Department of Orthopedics at Huashan Hospital would be so demanding, and that they would even bring their own papers."

The decision for Lu Cheng to take the master's entrance exam for Huashan Hospital was made privately by the two of them. Lu Cheng's grades weren't exactly overly ambitious; he just hadn't found the right "rules of the game" for others.

Mu Nanshu's family has some money, but in Shanghai, that amount is nothing. How much does Mu Nanshu understand about the most basic operating rules?
At that time, Mu Nanshu was also a young person. How much more knowledgeable could she be than Lu Cheng?

Lu Cheng laughed and said, "I am very grateful for my old classmate's loyalty. He said he would not continue his master's studies at Huashan Hospital, and in a fit of anger, he even went abroad at his own expense."

“This back-and-forth transaction cost me more money than I could earn in my entire life…” Lu Cheng said, clicking his tongue in amazement.

It wasn't that Lu Cheng only realized how hard it was to earn money after he started making money, but with his current salary level, he might never earn enough in his entire life to cover Mu Nanshu's seven years of studying abroad.

Master's and doctoral graduates from Fudan University have good job prospects and are highly sought after in China. Mu Nanshu can continue to work normally, and it won't be too difficult for him to get a government-funded opportunity to study abroad, which also meets the requirement of top teaching hospitals that they need 'overseas experience' for recruitment.

"When I come to Han City to visit in the future, can I look for you, my old classmate? I might even be your tour guide."

"After starting work, there won't be much time for sightseeing." Lu Cheng asked, trying to make conversation, his eyes becoming slightly complicated.

After Mu Nanshu's parents' business took off, Lu Cheng didn't feel that there was a "class difference" between them. But now, even with the "panel" in hand, Lu Cheng dares not "expect" or "promise" anything anymore.

After all, Lu Cheng knew that he was no longer a young man and had a long future to 'borrow'!
"Sure," Mu Nanshu readily agreed.

……

After the meal, Lu Cheng drove Mu Nanshu back to the Chengxin Plaza residential complex and its underground parking garage.

Mu Nanshu invited Lu Cheng to sit for a while, and it wasn't until 4:30 pm, when Mu Nanshu's parents were about to return to Longxian from Jishi, that Lu Cheng drove back.

However, as soon as Lu Cheng got into the car, his phone vibrated. It was a message from Mu Nanshu, whom he hadn't contacted in a long time.

It is a document titled 'Special Talent Introduction for Huazhong Union Hospital…'.

Lu Cheng didn't open it to take a look right away. He didn't need to; he could figure out with his eyes closed that the requirements inside were unattainable.

From a purely clinical standpoint, it would probably require performing surgeries that even professors at Peking Union Medical College Hospital cannot do.

Lu Cheng is currently just a junior doctor at a county hospital, and even his specialty, tendon injury, is being snatched up by other doctors...

"I'm past the age of chasing dreams..." Lu Cheng murmured to himself as he hung up the phone.

(End of this chapter)