(Special thanks to Black Fallen Angel, bobolove25, sincostgctg for the encouragement with monthly tickets)

"So, what are you thinking about now?"

Zhou Shuwen asked with a smile.

Liu Banxia felt a little shy again, also knowing what Zhou Shuwen meant.

"Had a good talk yesterday and I've thought it through," Liu Banxia replied.

"The words 'fame' and 'fortune' aren't something you can just let go of as you wish. I'm not putting much weight on money these days because I have Qiaoqiao supporting me, and I don't have other expensive hobbies. No matter how I spend, it's enough."

"But the word 'fame' comes in two forms, doesn't it? Broadly, it's about making headlines in the news, while narrowly, it's about how others evaluate me."

"This test wasn't easy. I still care about how others view and evaluate me, and I like being praised. I almost drove myself crazy over it."

Zhou Shuwen nodded, "We discussed you with the Chief Director and Chief Director Li. They think highly of you and are also concerned about you. We thought with your usual fearless and determined nature, you wouldn't have so many concerns."

"But we forgot that everyone has their own growing period. You were a bit impatient before, but now you're much more stable. You think things through rather than just act on impulse."

"Don't put so much pressure on yourself. The work you're doing now is really outstanding. If it weren't so, neither I nor the Chief Director would consider promoting you to deputy director."

"Now that you and Xuehai are handling the business and administration matters, I'm at ease. Even if I'm not at the hospital, having both of you around means our emergency center can be managed well."

"I haven't been involved in many of the earlier tasks. First, because I just took over as the emergency center director and deputy director, and there's a lot of work associated with that."

"The other reason is that I wanted to see how much you could achieve. The mentorship for you started when we retained you at the second hospital."

"It's often said a new regime brings its advisors, and every manager has a different way of managing. Moreover, being skilled in medicine alone doesn't necessarily mean you can progress within this system."

"Things are often very complicated, but the Chief Director has truly devoted everything to the second hospital. He doesn't want to see the hospital decline in the near future."

"There are many examples like this. Many hospitals rise and fall, even the well-known ones retain talent merely by relying on decades of reputation."

"For a tertiary hospital like ours, attracting top talent is very difficult. Even Xuehai was persuaded by the Chief Director to return. If he pursued his career abroad, his achievements could certainly be higher."

"So, the hospital's main tasks for the upcoming phase are twofold: building the emergency center and enhancing education and training."

"We need to develop future teams, ensuring the constant growth of the second hospital without gaps occurring at any period."

"To many doctors, this hospital is just a workplace. But to the Chief Director, it's a meticulously crafted endeavor into which he's poured countless efforts."

"Steady your mind and work on honing your medical skills. You have a long road ahead, and even small stumbles along the way don't matter."

"You have talent. Having this talent already sets you apart. For a doctor, rote memorization alone is of little use. Each patient's case will have subtle differences."

"Off you go now. I've already reported your surgery privileges to the hospital. Once the procedures are completed, there shouldn't be any issues. Don't overthink it, take it slowly."

"Thank you, Teacher." Liu Banxia stood up and bowed respectfully.

He really hadn't expected to be valued so highly.

Zhou Shuwen was a reserved person, and the fact he was willing to put down his pen to talk at such length was indeed rare.

This was a form of recognition and praise, or at least that's how Liu Banxia saw it.

"Hey, you look energized. What's up?"

Just as Liu Banxia walked out, Xu Hui greeted him.

"Received some guidance, feeling pretty comfortable inside. What did that patient decide?" Liu Banxia asked.

"They've gone home to discuss. Did you ask the director?" Xu Hui replied.

"I did. The director also said a liver autotransplant is needed, and mentioned the right kidney might be an issue. We'll have to see when we actually open up. Do you think they'll go through with the surgery?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

Xu Hui shook his head, "It's really uncertain. It's a huge amount of money. You have to consider not only the cost of the surgery but also the postoperative recovery expenses."

"If it weren't for financial constraints, they probably wouldn't have waited for the tumor to grow so large before checking it at the hospital. If they came here earlier, they might have avoided the suffering of chemotherapy."

"With such a big tumor, even if chemotherapy is effective, how much can it shrink? After two or three courses, it might be bigger than it is now."

"Chemotherapy really requires caution, even if it's currently the most effective conservative treatment. But there's a lot of uncertainty with drug sensitivity. If the response isn't good, it could accelerate tumor growth," Liu Banxia said.

"Anyway, now, whenever I recommend chemotherapy to patients, I think twice. Didn't Tiggie's owner face rapid tumor growth after chemotherapy, leading to a not-so-good ending?"

"Still thinking about it? You need to let go when it's time. We've got a lot more to go through in this line of work," Xu Hui said.

"Teacher Liu, the muscle biopsy of that young patient came back, and it's negative." At this moment, Xu Yino came over.

"It's a headache, such a headache. What kind of illness is this?" Liu Banxia's face instantly looked troubled.

"Please calm them down for now, I'll be over in a bit. Be cautious, the child's father has a bad temper, and the couple might have some conflicts too."

Xu Yino nodded and walked over.

"Brother Xu, help me out with this too." As Liu Banxia spoke, he explained the child's situation.

After listening to his account, Xu Hui furrowed his brows, "The muscles don't show any stress response, and the pain nerves and knee-jerk reflex are still okay, this is so strange."

Such symptoms were something he hadn't encountered before, but just then, sounds of an argument came from the diagnostic bed area. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Looking over, Liu Banxia sighed inwardly, the young patient's parents were at it again, both quite heated.

"Calm down, you two. With the child's current condition, we should prioritize the child, don't frighten them." Liu Banxia said as he approached them.

"How to calm down? We've been at the hospital for so long, spent so much money, and done so many tests, aren't you supposed to give us an explanation?" The patient's father shouted at Liu Banxia.

"I ask for your understanding, you have been involved throughout the process, and we've explained the purpose of each test to you. The child's condition is very unique. I dare say this condition is quite rare even in the medical field," Liu Banxia said patiently.

"I understand how you feel. If it happened to any family, they'd be anxious. Let's observe for a while and see if other symptoms manifest."

"Him? If he really cared about the child, he wouldn't be away from home." The patient's mother said while wiping her tears.

The patient's father looked at her and, this time, said nothing, turning around and walking out instead.

Liu Banxia gave Xu Yino a look to take care of the patient's mother, while he drew the curtain around the diagnostic bed.

"Feeling down? Have some water first," Liu Banxia said, sitting on the diagnostic bed.

The young patient glanced at him, without saying a word.

"Do they often fight at home? Don't take it upon yourself, I don't think it's about whether you're ill or how much the tests cost," Liu Banxia continued.

The child still didn't speak, just hung his head, staring at his hands.

Liu Banxia sighed internally, his assessment seemed correct, this wasn't a harmonious family.

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to figure out what's going on with your leg," Liu Banxia said.

"It's just as well that it's the holidays, if we're lucky, you won't miss school. At the very least, don't make your mom worry too much. Your leg might just be a temporary issue."

The child remained silent, only starting to cry.

It's actually a good sign, at this age, bottling everything up inside would be unbearable.

At this moment, Xu Yino and the child's mother returned, Xu Yino gave Liu Banxia a look.

"Got it figured out?" Liu Banxia asked as he came out.

Xu Yino nodded, "The couple fights all the time, the husband is often not at home, they're planning to divorce now, he might have someone else outside, maybe even another child."

"It's a pity for the child, even if they divorce, it's unlikely the mother and child will get much money, life will surely be harder."

Liu Banxia sighed as well, how could a child not know about a family like this? In such an environment, how could a child feel happy?

He furrowed his brows at the thought, could the child really be faking illness? Trying to use this chance to bring the parents back together?

But that shouldn't be it, even the most resilient child, faking illness, would speak up when they saw their father leave.

"I actually think it would've been better if they divorced sooner, started living a happier life earlier, why put up with it until now?" Xu Yino added.

"You mean they've just started talking about it?" Liu Banxia asked.

"The man suggested it before, but the woman didn't agree for the child's sake. Last night, the woman realized, living like this is just muddling through, better to just get divorced," Xu Yino said.

Liu Banxia pinched his brow, thinking carefully. Slowly, a sparkle appeared in his eyes, and his expression relaxed significantly.

Xu Yino was taken aback, what was this? Did he figure out the diagnosis?