As Li Chu emerged from the farewell hall and looked at the assembled leaders who had already reached the parking lot, he let out a deep breath.
"Director Li"
"Old leader, are you trying to put me down?" Li Chu looked helplessly at the retired Deputy Minister Cheng, who had just come out from inside.
Many elderly people from the city's health and medical system came today; the scale of the meeting was even larger than that of the health department's meetings.
"Please just call me Xiao Chu, it sounds better to me."
"Things are different now. As a retired old man, I still need to be careful about what I do."
"Fine, then I won't chat with you anymore, okay?"
"What's wrong, Lao Cheng? Are you bullying Director Li?" Another elderly man was helped out of the farewell hall by a young man. He was the dean of the medical school when Li Chu was in school.
"Old Dean, you also call me Director Li, isn't that just bullying me?"
"Then what can we do? We can't keep calling you Xiao Chu."
"You're right, it just sounds better when you call me Xiao Chu." As he spoke, Li Chu carefully looked the old dean over.
"Xiao Chu, I'll just call you Xiao Chu, it'll be easier for me to say. Don't look at me like that, your eyes are like an X-ray machine, they're making me uneasy."
“Old Chen, you’re absolutely right. I don’t know who Xiao Chu learned it from, but he stares at everyone he sees, and it makes people feel uncomfortable.” Vice Minister Cheng chimed in with his own complaints after hearing what the old dean said.
Li Chu stood to the side, smiling silently.
"Sigh, Xiao Chu, we know you mean well, but I'd like to tell you in advance that if I ever pass away, like Lao Liu, don't try to save me."
"Old Dean, you think too highly of me. It's as if I can pull a dying person back from the brink of death with just a little effort. It's not that exaggerated."
"I don't care if it's that exaggerated or not, I just want to let you know in advance."
"Okay, okay, I've got it. Don't worry."
"Hello, Uncle Li!" the young man supporting the old dean called out, interrupting their conversation. As the old man's grandson, he couldn't stand his grandfather saying such things.
"Mulin, how are you? You're graduating soon, right?"
"I'll graduate next year, and Wenxuan, Wenhui, and I will be in the same year."
"So, how about it? Are you interested in coming to the main hospital after graduation?"
"Hey, little Chu, you're trying to poach our staff right in front of me, a member of Peking Union Medical College Hospital." Before his grandson could say anything, the old hospital director was furious.
"Don't forget you also graduated from Peking Union Medical College."
"Why don't you just ask? You've been retired for so many years, don't worry about that."
"Director Li, are you planning to poach our people again?"
As more and more people came out of the farewell hall, they saw the group chatting outside, and more and more people gathered around, including a few people from the main hospital.
"What do you mean by 'again'? It's as if I've dug up a lot of people."
"Wenxuan and Wenhui don't count?"
"Can't I even make arrangements for my son and daughter?"
...
A large group of middle-aged and elderly people were gathered together, making a lot of noise, while a group of young people who had come with their elders or leaders looked on with envy.
Most of the people who are here today are from the medical and health system or the military. From a doctor's perspective, those who can speak with authority in this circle are already at the top level in the medical profession.
"Director Li"
The voice behind him made Li Chu turn around. It was Director Zhou of the Department of Surgery at the Women and Children's Hospital who called him.
"Old Zhou, what's up?"
"Director Li, are you familiar with that infant patient our hospital admitted?"
Li Chu was slightly taken aback by the question, then asked uncertainly, "Are you talking about that baby who's only a few months old and has two tumors in his abdominal cavity?"
"Yes, yes, that's it."
"I heard you had a consultation with surgical experts a couple of days ago. What? Didn't you come up with a surgical plan?"
"We've come up with a surgical plan, but the success rate is too low. We've also consulted several experts in traditional Chinese medicine, but they weren't confident about the treatment plan they came up with. So we'd like to ask if you could take a look."
Li Chu glanced at the time, thought for a moment, and said, "How about this, Lao Zhou, I'll go check on the child at 2:30 this afternoon. Is he in your surgery department or pediatrics department?"
"Thank you, Director Li. We'll send a car to pick you up."
"No need, no need, I can go by myself."
“This…” Director Zhou hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll wait for you downstairs in our inpatient building.”
After most of the people in the farewell hall had left, Li Chu went in to greet Dean Liu's children, and then left with Ding Qiunan, who had been helping out inside.
At 2:30 p.m., he appeared on time downstairs at the maternal and child hospital.
After exchanging pleasantries with several hospital leaders, he was led to the pediatric inpatient department.
The pediatric ward is like a morning market, so noisy it gives you a headache, with children crying and shouting everywhere.
The poor child was in a four-person ward. When they entered, the four children in the ward seemed to be having a competition to see who could shout the loudest, with their cries rising and falling in waves.
"Director Li, this is the child." Director Wang from the pediatrics department walked to the innermost part of the ward.
"Xiao Chen, put the child on the bed, the expert is here."
Director Wang spoke to a young woman who was comforting a child.
The other family members in the ward looked at Li Chu curiously, as he was the only one not wearing a white coat.
They had never seen such a young expert before.
The child's mother was about to put the crying child on the bed, but the child cried even harder, so Li Chu went over to her.
"Come on, give me the child."
"Uh... Doctor, my child is shy around strangers and won't let anyone else hold him."
The young mother was heartbroken by her child's crying.
“I can’t see the baby while you’re holding me. You have to give me the baby, and it will be over soon.”
A miraculous scene unfolded: after Li Chu took the child, without him making any move, he was simply patted twice and stopped crying.
The child stared at him with wide, round eyes in his arms, one hand still clutching the lapel of his military uniform.
He teased the child a couple more times, and the child started giggling.
"Director Li, you're really good at soothing children," Director Wang of the pediatrics department couldn't help but exclaim.
“My child is about the same age as this one, and he’s always clinging to me, so I’ve been there.”
"You've had another child?"
The hospital leaders who came with him looked at Li Chu in surprise. In their memory, this man's two children were about to graduate from university, so why did he have another one?
"What? I'm having another one? It's Wenxuan's child, my little grandson."
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