Chapter 2: No clue what to do

Zhang Fan was so filled with regrets that he really wanted to hit himself. Since the recruitment fair was over already, he could only depend on himself to find a job.

Zhang Fan had never even considered the possibility of continuing with postgraduate studies. He was too busy earning money for tuition and living expenses, so his grades in every subject were only barely passable.

As he was someone from a small village, Zhang Fan's skills in English were almost nonexistent. In fact, the only way he passed all his English tests was because his roommates were kind enough to help him cheat by secretly slipping him notes with all the answers during the tests.

Not only that, his younger sister was now in high school and about to take her college entrance examinations. As the oldest brother of the family, Zhang Fan needed to worry about his younger sister and gradually aging parents.

Zhang Fan rode around town on his shoddy bicycle that not even a thief would be interested in, trying to find a job. Obviously, a job at a Grade 3, Class A hospital would be impossible. Without a high-level provincial connection, it would be impossible for a fresh graduate like him.

[TL note: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_of_Chinese_Hospitals]

There would also be no hope of obtaining a job at a public hospital. Although public hospitals would always have recruitment tests, it would likely be more difficult than winning the lottery for someone as bad at his studies as him to be accepted without any connections.

There weren't many options available to him. He could only try the smaller hospitals, community hospitals, private hospitals, and so on in the outskirts of the town.

Although L City was in the northwest of China, it was at least still the capital of a province. However, Zhang Fan had already gotten skinnier from so much bicycling exercise over the past few days, traveling to every nook and cranny in search of a hospital he could get a job at. Yet, he still hadn't managed to find one.

There was a standard required for becoming a doctor in China—you had to have obtained your medical license already. Fresh medical school graduates weren't allowed to take the medical license test until one year passed since their graduation. Of course, it would be illegal to work as an official doctor without a medical license.

Private hospitals would be interested in hiring intern doctors that could do work for a much lower salary, immediately bringing benefits to the hospital.

However, despite being a fresh medical school graduate, Zhang Fan appeared rather haggard and worn out, resembling a farmer trying to find work rather than a medical student. As expected, all the hospitals rejected Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan couldn't come up with any other ideas. He kept bicycling everywhere he could in order to save on transportation costs. This made his appearance even more lacking as he was covered in dirt and sweat. Zhang Fan was unable to get accustomed to working society that also judged you by your appearance.

Every day, Zhang Fan would set out on his bike to go job hunting before it was even light outside. He only returned after it was dark. But after an entire week, he still hadn't received a single job offer.

Zhang Fan had no appetite. He was also unable to sleep well at night. Zhang Fan was never pudgy to begin with, but now he was skinny to the point where even his cheekbones showed.

Zhang Fan had five roommates, including two who had guaranteed postgraduate recommendations already. Those two had gone out to have fun after graduating. His other three roommates were either out with their girlfriends or visiting their homes. Zhang Fan was the only one present in his dorm room.

As he lay there on his bed, Zhang Fan felt like he was forming a grudge against his own school. "Damn it all, why'd you have to send out an advertisement? If it wasn't for your recruitment advertisement, I wouldn't have gone to medical school. Maybe I'd be rich already if I worked for several years by now."

Well, Zhang Fan felt so helpless that he could only complain to the heavens. Maybe he was misfortunate, but he was also fortunate in a way.

Colleges were on a recruitment spree. Not only that, the employment rate for fresh graduates was a golden number by which colleges were measured so that they could attract even more top talents. Nobody would want to attend a college with an abysmal employment rate, after all. That was why the colleges would try their best to help their graduates find jobs, no matter if the job was good or not. As long as the student was hired, that would count for the employment rate statistic.

China in the year 2008 had experienced great joys and great misfortunes, from the Sichuan Earthquake to the successful Beijing Olympics.

Something major also happened to S Province's medical school in this year. In response to China's rising standards, the only top college in S Province combined with S Province's medical school. Thus, a third-rate medical school suddenly became a top-level school.

This was the first year that the medical school was combined with the top college, so the school administrators worked extra hard on the medical school students' employment rate. They couldn't afford to have a former third-rate medical school's employment rate affect the top college's statistics. Thus, the college established a "fresh graduates working in the western part of China" program.

S Province was already in the northwest of China. However, China was a big country with provinces that were even farther west. Since this medical school was now associated with a top college, they had plenty of connections with border provinces' city hospitals at the very least. Thus, the medical school was able to help several hundred medical students find a job.

Of course, Zhang Fan was included amongst this group of several hundred students. The head teacher handed Zhang Fan a work contract and the school's reward money of 2000 yuan for working in western China to him.

Zhang Fan was rather stunned to learn all this. So, he was going to be sent all the way to China's border province?

Of course, the head teacher told him he could refuse this job offer if he wanted. But, this was basically his final chance. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to find a job as an intern doctor anywhere. Although western China was far away, the salary offered was pretty nice, and the school even gave him this reward money!

Being scared for his future prospects, Zhang Fan immediately signed the work contract. This was also the head teacher's first time to pay so much attention to Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan could only helplessly accept his fate and go to the border. It couldn't be helped. His younger sister was an excellent student, and he didn't want to hold her back in her studies.

Although it was a job in a remote location, he would still at least become an intern doctor! He could be Doctor Zhang in the future!

Since Zhang Fan now had a job offer, he packed up his things and went back home.

His home wasn't far from the province capital. The village was simply a small town roughly one hundred kilometers away. The problem was that there was no highway leading to his hometown. There were only shoddy roads filled with small pits everywhere. The bus would take more than three hours to reach his home with all the stops.

After Zhang Fan started attending medical college, he rarely returned home as he was always busy studying and working. His parents also felt helpless about how Zhang Fan would have to take a job in a border province. Still, he wouldn't even have a job if he didn't go there... but if he went, it was so far away. The distance would be more than two thousand kilometers. He would basically be right next to all the -stan countries neighboring China.

Zhang Fan had already accepted his fate after signing the work contract. Regardless, it was still part of China. He had also heard that the border province had beautiful scenery, earning it the nickname of the "Border Jiangnan". Still, he felt that he was losing out by going there.

He had worked so hard to be able to attend school in a second-tier city. But after he graduated, he was sent all the way to a fifth-tier city in the border province. If he used an investment analogy, this was absolutely a failed investment.

In the few days before he had to leave, Zhang Fan went together with his father to pay respects to his ancestors' graves, helped out with housework for a few days, and secretly gave one thousand yuan to his younger sister.

Seeing all the tears in his sister's eyes, Zhang Fan squeezed her cheeks. "Hey, crybaby, what's there to cry about? I'm going there to work and earn money, it's not like I'm going to a battlefield. You need to properly concentrate on studying so that you can go to a first-rate college. Don't go to a third-rate school like I did. That will make it hard to find a good job."

"When will you come back to see me and mom and dad? It's so far away. I don't want you to go." His younger sister Zhang Jingshu tugged on her brother's shirt as she always did since young, relying on him.

"Hey, my silly sister, once I earn tons of money from work, I can just fly back anytime in just two hours. Don't cry, I'm leaving now. Listen to mom and dad, and don't neglect your studies."

"I'm not that dumb, Brother. I don't want to take your money. You'll need it more because you're going so far away."

"Just take what you're given. You're also growing up. Be more generous to yourself instead of being so stingy. You know how I am. Would I possibly lack for money? Okay, just take this thousand yuan. Otherwise, I'm going to be angry."

Choo~ Choo~ Zhang Fan then took a train to the westernmost part of China.

On a train where you couldn't feel the outside temperature, it would be impossible to tell by vision alone if it was winter or summer. The steppes had zero signs of greenery. Apart from snow in the winter and rain in the summer, there was only one color—earthen yellow. Zhang Fan's butt hurt from the hard seat ticket that he purchased. He was hardly interested in playing cards with the other people on the train. His mind was completely empty apart from his expectations and confusion about the future. Slowly and gradually, the train set off into the distance.

The train was only capable of bringing Zhang Fan to the western province's capital city. Kuake City, the city that Zhang Fan would be working in, didn't even have a train line. Kuake City was six hundred or so kilometers away from the province capital, so he would need to take a bus and sleep on it for an entire night before he finally arrived.