Chapter 139: Going off to college!

Zhang Fan felt much better after vomiting all the Naren horsemeat that he ate. Maybe he had eaten too much!

Shao Hong understood quite well why Zhang Fan had vomited. She smiled and told the nurse to bring Zhang Fan a can of Red Bull. Veteran doctors had been through the same things as newbies. Zhang Fan's behavior wouldn't be made fun of here. The veteran doctors would be able to understand what it was like for newbie doctors.

After Zhang Fan successfully saved the baby, the mother absolutely insisted on having her husband thank Zhang Fan. When Zhang Fan got off from work today, the baby's father was at the hospital entrance, waiting for Zhang Fan. He insisted on giving Zhang Fan a red packet.

Zhang Fan absolutely refused the red packet, so there was nothing that the baby's father could do. But on the next day, the father brought milk, fruits, and eggs to the gynecology and obstetrics department for Zhang Fan. The parents were truly grateful to him. There was no way to refuse the gifts this time. The gynecology department typically wouldn't accept red packets, but edibles such as milk and eggs were acceptable. They would be placed in the department, and anyone that was hungry could eat them.

Three days later, the baby that Zhang Fan saved was about to leave the hospital. Before the baby's parents left, they specially invited Zhang Fan to visit the child again! In just a short three days, the child's face seemed to bloom. The baby no longer resembled a tiny rat like how when it was still a newborn. Zhang Fan gently caressed the baby's face.

"This is the child that I saved!" Zhang Fan indeed felt quite a sense of accomplishment in his heart as he felt the child's warmth and watched the child sleep so sweetly!

"Even if I must vomit up my organs, I would still definitely perform artificial respiration for a baby again if I meet with a similar situation," Zhang Fan thought to himself as he watched the happy family leave. What was a doctor? This was a doctor! A doctor would always bravely charge forward when faced with pain and illness!

If Zhang Fan had failed to save the child, this family definitely wouldn't be like this today. They would obviously be incredibly downcast instead! Zhang Fan was truly happy! He was happy for the sake of this child, for the child's family, and for himself!

At Shao Hua's home, Jingshu was pretty much finished with gathering and packing up her things. Shao Hua had purchased the plane tickets long ago. Tomorrow morning, they would first fly to Raptor City, then to Lan City, and finally a direct flight to Shanghai after taking along Zhang Fan's mother.

Jingshu didn't really want to go without her older brother. Zhang Fan was seven years older than Zhang Jingshu. He really doted on his younger sister. He recalled how she would pull on his sleeves when she was much younger, shouting about wanting some candy. But now, she had grown up, and was almost as tall as Shao Hua.

Zhang Fan had previously gone to the factory to steal iron and coal. He was also unwilling to eat snacks for himself, preferring to save money to buy snacks for his younger sister. Not, she had suddenly grown up.

Now, Zhang Jingshu had grown up and was going to college!

Next morning, at Chasu City's airport, Jingshu was teary-eyed as she said, "Brother! I'm leaving! I'll come visit you over the holidays!"

"Go now, you're an adult now that you're in college. Stop always crying. Work hard at studying in school, and make sure to take good care of yourself. Don't worry about money. You can see for yourself. Your older brother has a home and car already, so I don't need the money that you save. If you want to make me feel reassured, then treat yourself more generously, instead of being so stingy to yourself. Listen to Shao Hua on the trip. Make sure to call me often." Zhang Fan was quite a naggy chatterbox.

"Alright, that's enough. Jingshu is quite a good girl. I'll definitely personally look over her school and make all the necessary arrangements before coming back to report to you. Hurry now. If you waste any more time, we'll miss the flight!" Shao Hua said.

"Brother!" Jingshu jumped into Zhang Fan's arms and started crying for real now that she was about to leave!

"Go, go now! You're all grown up now, Little Jingshu!" Zhang Fan felt even worse about this goodbye than when he had left his own hometown! For some reason, even though he should be happy for his sister, he had this indescribable sense of sadness.

Only when Jingshu and Shao Hua were no longer visible did Zhang Fan secretly wipe away his own tears and go back to his car.

Jingshu, Shao Hua, and Shao Hua's mother arrived in Lan City by noon. Since this was the first visit by Shao Hua's mother, Zhang Fan's parents personally reserved a hotel and restaurant already for them.

Zhang Fan and Shao Hua were happily in love with each other. Neither set of parents had any complaints. Although Zhang Fan's family's financial situation was only average, Zhang Fan himself was quite amazing, so Shao Hua's mother had no objections. On the next day, Zhang Fan's father drove the women to the airport for a flight to Shanghai.

Originally, he had wanted to buy something for his daughter, but then he saw that his daughter had already brought countless things from the border province, so he felt reassured. He truly doted on his only daughter. As Jingshu was leaving to board the flight, he secretly stuffed a bit more than 1,000 yuan into her pocket while nobody else was watching.

This money was from his secret stash. Normally, he didn't want to spend it, but he was ridiculously generous to his daughter. He watched the three women boarding the flight. Zhang Fan's father was much more stoic than his son, as he didn't cry. Everyone in their neighborhood would be envious of and praise his daughter for being able to attend Shanghai University!

Zhang Fan's father went home right after the flight took off. Whenever he met someone in his neighborhood, he would declare, "I just sent off my daughter on a plane to Shanghai to attend Shanghai University!"

It was currently September, the month for the best weather in Shanghai.

The wind would often send breezes over the eastern sea.

Walking around Shanghai University's grounds, there seemed to be a faint taste of sweetness in the air. It might have also been the grass, as the grass which had just been restored had a unique sweet scent that would make people want to take several deep breaths savoring this bliss from the end of summer and beginning of autumn.

When looking up at the sky, there would be blue sky and white clouds, and very fresh air. It wouldn't be extremely hot like the 40 degrees Celsius of summer, nor would it be misty, wet, and cold like Shanghai would be famous for later in winter. It would be quite comfortable in September.

While Jingshu would be attending Shanghai University's branch in Minhang District, they were currently touring the main university, since Shanghai University was far too famous in China.

Shao Hua's mother and Zhang Fan's mother got along quite well. Both mothers were highly satisfied with Zhang Fan and Shao Hua's relationship. After Shao Hua got everything settled for Jingshu at the latter's dormitory, she then took both parents for a tour around Shanghai which lasted for two weeks. It was thanks to Wang Qian that Shao Hua could have this much vacation time. Normally, this wouldn't have been possible.

After Jingshu left, it was almost time for Zhang Fan to leave the gynecology and obstetrics department. It was now mostly a season of free time for farmers in the border province. People here didn't plant cotton, so the farmers would have a lot of free time after the summer harvest. They would either go work at other jobs, or go treat their problems at hospitals.

Several smaller hospitals contacted Zhang Fan as they had too many patients for them to handle. Zhang Fan started working for other hospitals again. He had very little time on the weekends for resting.

For most ordinary merchants, it would be quite difficult for them to obtain the necessary licenses to allow them to legally start a private hospital. You would need licenses from the local taxation bureau, Bureau of Industry and Commerce, the Bureau of Fire Prevention, and the Bureau of Health. Licenses from the last two would be especially difficult to obtain.

Since hospitals were a business that would affect countless people's safety, the Bureau of Fire Prevention had incredibly strict standards for fire safety. It truly would be difficult to obtain a license from them. But for someone of Ma Wentao's standing, as long as the quality was indeed good, nobody gave him any trouble at all. He successfully obtained all necessary licenses without a single problem.

Ma Wentao had already finished negotiating the specifics of how to collaborate with Chasu City Women and Children's Hospital, with how the profits would be split, what would be collaborated on, and so on. He was now just waiting for the renovations to be finished so that he could open up his new hospital.

Ma Wentao already had all the necessary experts of internal medicine. He just lacked a skilled surgeon for his planned department of hand and foot surgery. Zhang Fan was constantly working at other hospitals or working overtime at Chasu City Hospital. He was so busy that it was impossible to find him. Ma Wentao had originally wanted to personally pay a visit to Zhang Fan with a gift, but this plan failed. In the end, he could only ask his aunt Li Xiao to arrange a time to meet with Zhang Fan.

Since Li Xiao was asking to meet him, Zhang Fan had to make time no matter how busy he was. This time, the meeting took place at a hotel, the only hotel in all of Chasu City with a star ranking, rather than at Li Xiao's room. Li Xiao, Ma Wentao, and Zhang Fan met in a private room. Since it was only the three of them, this made the private hotel room seem quite large.

For doctors, as long as they had no interest in later joining government jobs, they truly didn't need to pay attention to those with high social status. It wasn't like the doctors would need anything from such people.

Zhang Fan was this type of person who didn't have any needs. 'No matter how great your social status, I'm just a mere doctor!' This was why he always spoke to and treated Ma Wentao as an equal. If a career politician like Kang Hua had known about this, she would have really wanted to take his place and show him proper etiquette towards those with high social status!

"Doctor Zhang, have a taste of some famous tea from Xihu. It's the best to drink in midsummer!" After they ate a meal together, Li Xiao left. This was because Ma Wentao had been worried that Zhang Fan would feel too awkward to accept any direct offers of cash to work for him if Li Xiao was still present.

"Okay! Thank you. President Ma, if you have anything to ask, please tell me directly. I must go to Teca City in a bit." Zhang Fan did at least address Ma Wentao with the same title that he did with Li Xiao in more formal situations.

"To Teca City?"

"I have some laparoscopic surgeries to perform there!" Zhang Fan told him the truth.

"Aren't you an orthopedic surgeon?"

"Not yet, as I haven't been permanently assigned to a department!"

"Oh! I see." Ma Wentao figured that the amount he had been planning to pay Zhang Fan needed to be increased now. "It's like this, Doctor Zhang. I just started a small hospital adjacent to Chasu City Women and Children's Hospital. This is only the beginning. I plan to expand my hospital to become one of the best in the entire border province within the next five years. Right now, I just lack an especially skilled surgeon. I would like for you to be that surgeon for me. I will give you 5% stock ownership of my hospital, along with a salary of 50,000 yuan per month."

Ma Wentao knew quite well that when negotiating with people that didn't have good economic backgrounds, he needed to convince them on the first offer, rather than haggling. It was common that problems would appear if he hesitated or went low with the first offer. However, Zhang Fan shook his head without even thinking about Ma Wentao's offer.

Ma Wentao's expression went dark before Zhang Fan could even say anything. "Doctor Zhang, it's not good to be too greedy. Honestly, this hospital will be able to develop far beyond your imagination."

"Haha, that's not it! I'm really not trying to be greedy and ask for more. It's just that I've never even considered working for a private hospital before. I'm just a low-ranking rotation doctor. Won't others in the medical field laugh you to death if someone likes me becomes the head surgeon at your hospital?"

"You're truly not interested? If I had to guess, you won't be able to make that much money even with ten years of your current income combined." Ma Wentao's expression became a lot more pleasant when he heard that it wasn't that Zhang Fan wanted more money.

"It truly isn't a matter of income. You don't understand what it's like to be a doctor. Things must be taken slowly, step by step. Rushing won't do any good. But if you still don't have any good candidates for a skilled surgeon for your hospital, I can help you out!" Zhang Fan was still quite motivated at the prospect of earning extra money on the side, though!

"How will you help me?"

"You see, you probably won't have very many surgery patients since it's a new hospital. You also won't have any surgery patients who require very major surgeries, do you agree? But, you still haven't managed to hire an expert surgeon. Don't worry about it! As long as there's a surgery, feel free to call me. We can then arrange a time for me to come over and perform the surgery! Relax! My asking price isn't very high, I only charge half of what the experts do!"

'Oh! So this brat had such an intention in mind!' Ma Wentao cursed in his mind. "Haha, that's fine as well. But, you truly won't consider my offer?"

"You really do need to invite a higher-ranking doctor to be the director of your surgical department. Otherwise, others will laugh at you!"

Ma Wentao was rather baffled. Why was an ordinary doctor not moved at all by such truly excellent conditions he was offering to Zhang Fan?

Well, this was because Ma Wentao didn't actually understand doctors or the medical profession. For true doctors who had graduated from medical school, they would all have their own ambitions and expectations. It was just that life and work would gradually grind away at their ambitions and expectations.

However, such doctors would still keep their original intentions in mind. But if you took a look at all the illegal unlicensed Fujianese private hospitals running amok in China, not a single doctor working at such a hospital would actually have graduated from a proper medical school!

After experiencing countless amounts of hard work in medical school and then finally managing to obtain a medical license, if that doctor still went for working at a job which illegally added extra costs to surgical fees, then that doctor truly wouldn't have done right by the decade or so of hard work that he or she had done!