Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

"Dean Zhao, we've already eaten..." Chen Ping said.

"Oh, I've already eaten..." Zhao Guosheng said, picking up a steamed bun and eating it while muttering, "Section Chief Fang looks quite energetic, so why is it so difficult for him to get out of bed? Back in the army, we had to be on the parade ground within thirty seconds of a whistle..."

"Dean Zhao, when did you serve in the army?" Li Fang walked over and casually grabbed a steamed bun to eat.

"I've never been a soldier, but I did undergo military training," Zhao Guosheng explained.

Li Fang rolled her eyes, found a place to sit down and eat her steamed buns.

It's 8 o'clock, time to go to work.

Patients arrived one after another. Wang Tao called out numbers at the door, Liu Wei organized medical records in the consultation room, and Li Fang inventoried medicines in the pharmacy. Everything was as usual.

But Fang Hai did not appear.

The door to the accounting office was closed, and Cui Ying sat alone inside. The stack of account books on the table was still the same as yesterday.

Nine o'clock.

9:30.

ten o'clock.

Zhao Guosheng couldn't sit still any longer.

He went to the backyard, but Fang Hai's dormitory door was still closed, and the steamed buns at the door were gone.

He stood at the door, hesitated for a long time, then turned and left without knocking.

At 10:30, Zhao Guosheng called everyone to the locust tree in the courtyard.

It wasn't a meeting; it was standing together discussing things.

Wang Tao, Liu Wei, Li Fang, Wang Jianguo, Chen Ping, Cui Ying, and himself—seven people in total—stood under the locust tree, sunlight filtering through the leaves, casting golden hues on the ground.

"Section Chief Fang hasn't come out yet, let's have a meeting first." Zhao Guosheng, holding a jar, glanced at everyone, "The 500,000 has arrived. How should we spend the money? Let's share our ideas."

Wang Tao was the first to speak: "Buy equipment! Big equipment! CT scanners! MRI scanners!"

"You think this is buying cabbage?" Zhao Guosheng glared at him. "Five hundred thousand yuan is enough to buy a single part for a CT scanner, let alone an MRI. Why don't you just say you're buying an accelerometer?"

Wang Tao shrank back and remained silent.

Liu Wei thought for a moment and said, "Let's hire more people. There are more and more patients now, and we don't have enough manpower."

Dr. Chen is doing the work of three people, Wang Tao's legs are getting thin from running around so much, Li Fang's pharmacy is overwhelmed, and I'm almost at my breaking point. Hiring another doctor and two more nurses would significantly reduce the pressure.

Zhao Guosheng nodded and made a note in his notebook.

Li Fang said, "We need to get medicine. The pharmacy's shelves are half empty, and the last batch we ordered is almost sold out. What illness do we need to treat if we don't have any medicine?"

Wang Jianguo pushed up his reading glasses and said slowly, "The building needs repairs too. The paint on the walls of the clinic is peeling off, and the windows in the wards are drafty. Patients can't stand it in winter. It gets below minus ten degrees Celsius here in winter. Making people lie in drafty rooms isn't treating them; it's killing them."

Zhao Guosheng made another note, sighed, and looked at Chen Ping: "Dr. Chen, what do you think?"

Chen Ping leaned against the locust tree, holding the mug with the kitten printed on it that Cui Ying had given him that morning. He hadn't finished the water Cui Ying had poured for him that morning.

He thought for a moment and then spoke up, "I'll suggest four directions."

Everyone was looking at him.

"First, renovate the clinics and wards. Paint the walls where needed, replace the windows where needed, and repair the toilets where needed. Make sure the exterior is clean and tidy so patients feel at ease when they come in. This is the most basic thing."

Zhao Guosheng nodded and wrote the word "repair" on the notebook.

"Second, purchase basic equipment."

Chen Ping held up two fingers. "An electrocardiograph, a small ultrasound machine, and basic laboratory equipment—these three are indispensable. An electrocardiograph isn't expensive; you can buy a decent one for a few thousand yuan."

A small, domestically made ultrasound machine can be had for around 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. Basic lab equipment—blood routine, urine routine, liver function, kidney function—would cost around 200,000 yuan. In total, it'll be a little over 300,000 yuan.

Wang Tao, standing to the side, counted on his fingers, then gasped, "Dr. Chen, you've just spent a huge sum of money like that."

"The equipment is a hard investment, a one-time investment with long-term benefits," Chen Ping said. "With this equipment, we can diagnose many diseases ourselves, so patients don't have to go to the county hospital. People save on travel expenses and time, and the health center's revenue can also increase. It's a win-win situation."

Zhao Guosheng hesitated for a moment, but still wrote down the numbers.

"Third, stock up on medicine. Set aside 100,000 yuan for medicine. Li Fang is right, what kind of illness can you treat without medicine? But the medicine you stock up on must be targeted. Stock up on more medicines for common and frequently occurring diseases, and stock up on less expensive or obscure medicines. Don't let the money sit in the warehouse."

Li Fang nodded vigorously beside her.

"Fourth," Chen Ping said, looking at Zhao Guosheng, "I want to set up a 'Village Medical Mutual Aid Fund'."

The courtyard was quiet.

The group looked at each other, none of them understanding.

Chen Ping explained, "We're poor here, and many people can't afford medical care. They endure minor illnesses and delay seeking treatment for serious ones, only coming to the doctor when it's too late."

I'd like to set up a fund from the government allocation specifically for villagers who can't afford medical expenses. They can receive treatment first and pay later, or in installments. If they really can't afford it, we can offer reductions or exemptions.

Zhao Guosheng's pen hovered in mid-air, not falling for a long time.

"Dr. Chen, your idea is good, but..." he carefully chose his words, "...is it legal to come from government funding?"

"Compliance".

Chen Ping said, "There is a policy basis for establishing medical assistance funds in primary health centers. I have checked, and there are documents from the province that encourage township health centers to explore the 'treatment first, payment later' model. We are not the first, nor will we be the last."

Zhao Guosheng glanced at Chen Ping, then looked at the others.

Wang Jianguo was the first to speak: "I agree with Dr. Chen's plan; it is comprehensive, pragmatic, and visionary."

Liu Wei nodded in agreement: "I agree too."

Li Fang said, "Whatever Dr. Chen says goes, I have no objection."

Wang Tao raised both hands: "Agreed! Agreed!"

Cui Ying stood to the side without saying a word, but the corners of her mouth were turned up, and her eyes were fixed on Chen Ping.

Zhao Guosheng closed the notebook, took a deep breath, and exhaled: "Okay, let's go with Dr. Chen's plan then. When Section Chief Fang arrives, I'll show him the plan, and if he approves, we'll get started."

Everyone dispersed and returned to their posts. Chen Ping turned and walked towards the consultation room, with Cui Ying following behind him. She whispered, "Your idea for that foundation is really good."

Chen Ping smiled but didn't turn around.

Around noon, Fang Hai finally came out of the backyard.

But it wasn't something they walked out of; it was something they crept out of, with their heads down and small steps, as if afraid of stepping on a landmine.

His face was covered in bruises, a band-aid was on the bridge of his nose, his left eye was swollen shut, and his lip was cut with a black scab.

Without his glasses, he squints when looking at people, like he's nearsighted with 800 degrees of myopia.

Zhao Guosheng was talking to a patient in the courtyard when he saw Fang Hai, and he stopped talking halfway through his sentence.

He stared at Fang Hai's face for several seconds with his mouth agape before he finally realized what was happening.

"Section Chief Fang! What's wrong?"

Fang Hai forced a smile, a smile that looked more like a grimace.

He squinted, unable to see Zhao Guosheng's location clearly, and waved his hand in the general direction: "It's nothing, it's nothing. I drank too much last night, got up to go to the bathroom, and in the dark, I tripped and fell."