Chapter 157 - 156: Severing the Official Career Path, Severing the Academician’s Ambition

Chapter 157: Chapter 156: Severing the Official Career Path, Severing the Academician’s Ambition

Saturday morning, nearly nine o’clock. Jiaoda Affiliated Hospital.

When Wang Yaxian walked into her office, she found Zhang Rui already waiting for her.

To her disappointment, she saw no trace of fear or anxiety on Zhang Rui’s face, nor were there any dark circles under her eyes.

Wang Yaxian sat down behind her desk, her expression grim.

Just as she was about to speak, Zhang Rui placed a sheet of A4 paper on the desk.

"Teacher, this is my resignation letter. Go ahead and sign it."

Wang Yaxian glanced at the resignation letter, then looked up at Zhang Rui’s nonchalant expression.

"Why?" Wang Yaxian couldn’t help but ask.

"Why?"

Zhang Rui repeated the word and scoffed. "Teacher, haven’t you been wanting to get rid of me all this time? My resigning on my own, isn’t that exactly what you wanted?"

"Ever since that incident with Yu Zhiming, your attitude toward me has changed drastically. You never said anything, but I could feel it clearly. I especially remember the look of disgust that would sometimes appear in your eyes."

"As a good student, I wouldn’t want to make things difficult for you."

’Was I really that obvious?’

Wang Yaxian reflected for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and demanded, "Just because my attitude toward you changed, you decided to resent Dr. Yu and meticulously plot against him?"

Zhang Rui’s expression tightened as she defended herself. "I didn’t meticulously plot against him. I was just worried about the baby’s life, and I let my emotions get the better of me. I handled the situation poorly, that’s all."

"I never imagined that guy, Yu Zhiming, would have such an extreme reaction, threatening to delay the project..."

Zhang Rui’s face twisted into a sneer. "Then again, for a project this important, he’s the only one for the job."

"If that were me, my ego would swell too. I’d get completely carried away..."

Wang Yaxian cut her off. "Hu Peng. Guangshen People’s Hospital. That classmate of yours. I’m not mistaken, am I?"

"He did indeed admit a pregnant patient with symptoms of umbilical cord torsion. She was thirty-five weeks pregnant, not thirty."

"She was scheduled for a C-section two days ago, but for some reason, it was delayed until last night."

Wang Yaxian looked at Zhang Rui, whose eyes finally betrayed a flicker of panic even as she fought to keep her expression neutral, and sighed softly.

"The hospital’s network is far beyond what you can imagine. Investigating a matter like this only takes a phone call or two."

"I can also tell you that your classmate, Hu Peng, has been suspended pending an investigation."

"Being fired, having his medical license revoked, and even facing legal charges are all on the table."

"As for you..."

Wang Yaxian flicked the resignation letter across her desk. "I won’t be signing this."

"The hospital’s decision regarding your case is termination!"

Zhang Rui’s expression faltered, but she quickly suppressed it and tried to explain herself. "I have no idea why Hu Peng delayed the woman’s C-section for two days."

"As for it being thirty-five weeks instead of thirty, I must have misheard in my panic."

"You’re firing me over this?"

"I don’t accept it, but fine, I’ll take the punishment."

"It’s all because that guy is indispensable to the project. You, Teacher, and the entire hospital have to suck up to him and coddle him now."

"I accept being sacrificed to appease his anger. Consider it my way of repaying you for your years of guidance."

Wang Yaxian was thoroughly disappointed in Zhang Rui. Even now, she was being stubbornly defiant and refusing to admit she was wrong.

’All my efforts have been a complete waste.’

"Zhang Rui, if it weren’t for my insistence, the hospital’s punishment would have been far more severe than simple termination."

Seeing the mocking look on Zhang Rui’s face, Wang Yaxian knew she wouldn’t be grateful and gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Zhang Rui, I know you must have prepared for this, and that you’ve probably even lined up your next move."

"Let me tell you something..."

Wang Yaxian said slowly, "If you still want to be a doctor, don’t stay in Binhai."

"No major hospital in Binhai or the surrounding provinces will hire you."

This time, the color truly drained from Zhang Rui’s face. She could no longer maintain her forced composure.

"Blacklist me?"

"You don’t have that much power. That’s impossible."

Finally seeing Zhang Rui lose her composure in a panic, Wang Yaxian felt a strange sense of satisfaction well up inside her.

"Our Jiaoda Affiliated Hospital and Huashan Hospital are two of Binhai’s four most established medical institutions. Our influence in the medical communities of Binhai and the surrounding provinces is greater than you can possibly imagine."

"Add the powerful Ning’an Group to the mix, and blacklisting a junior doctor like you is child’s play."

"If you don’t believe me, feel free to contact that fallback you arranged. Go on, verify it."

Zhang Rui was truly panicking now.

Ignoring Wang Yaxian’s presence, she pulled out her phone, found a number, and dialed.

But after three consecutive attempts, all she heard was the automated message: "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable..."

Zhang Rui understood. She had been blocked.

She took a few ragged breaths, trying her best to calm her racing heart.

Zhang Rui knew the hospital was truly furious this time, dead set on making an example of her for Yu Zhiming’s sake.

This was beyond their calculations.

In fact, when Zhang Rui had learned yesterday that Yu Zhiming was threatening to delay the project indefinitely to pressure the hospital, she’d already felt a sense of unease.

Yu Zhiming’s response had been far more extreme than they had anticipated.

Just then, Wang Yaxian’s voice sounded in her ear again.

"Why did you do it?"

"Zhang Rui, you should have known that a small stain on Dr. Yu’s reputation would be of no real consequence to him. He would carry on just as before."

"But for you, the instigator, it’s a different story. You were bound to face severe punishment."

"I don’t believe you failed to consider that."

Her mind in utter turmoil, Zhang Rui blurted out without thinking, "Once his reputation is ruined, his only choice is to walk the path of a medical expert."

"Just like that Qi Yue, with all sorts of rumors floating around about him..."

"So what if he’s supposedly Binhai’s best diagnostician? He’s still just the director of a so-called department with a dozen or so people, with layers of hospital management above him."

"More importantly, with his reputation, no matter what great medical achievements he makes, he’ll never be elected as an academician."

As she said this, a look of smug satisfaction returned to her face, the thrill of a successful scheme.

"Yu Zhiming will follow in Qi Yue’s footsteps."

"So what if his medical skills are incredible? So what if his medical achievements are sky-high?"

"Our country has always emphasized that moral character comes first!"

"With a ruined reputation and gossip swirling around him, he’ll be deemed unworthy on moral grounds alone. Promotion will be impossible, becoming an academician will be impossible. He’ll be stuck with the title of ’expert’ for the rest of his life."

Watching Zhang Rui’s expression twist into something sinister, Wang Yaxian’s heart sank lower and lower.

’Their scheming... it’s truly far-reaching.’

"Zhang Rui, planning this far ahead... this can’t be your idea alone. It looks like you have accomplices."

"Let me ask you, Zhang Rui... as the pawn being sacrificed, have you given any thought to your own present and future...?"

A little after ten in the morning, Yu Zhiming was examining a retired gentleman at the Qi Yue Medical Research Center when he received a call from Teacher Qi.

After hearing what Teacher Qi had to say, Yu Zhiming was stunned.

"Sabotage my career path? Destroy any chance I have of becoming an academician?"

"Holy fuck, are they really thinking that damn far ahead?"

"Don’t those people have anything better to do all day than sit around scheming against others?"

After a moment of silence, Yu Zhiming laughed and replied, "Teacher, I’ve never once thought about a career in administration."

"I’m not cut out for a government post."

"As for becoming an academician, I’ve never given it a single thought. That’s still way too far in the future for me..."

"I actually have a shot at becoming an academician?"

Yu Zhiming scoffed. "Teacher, so what if I do? I can’t just spend my life walking on eggshells and pretending to be some moral paragon for the sake of a title that’s still a distant dream, can I?"

"Teacher, keeping up an act like that for decades... it’s just too exhausting. It would probably shave years off my life."

"Teacher, I think what’s most important is to be true to yourself, live in the moment, and live life to the fullest."

"For me, as long as I can live with a clear conscience and be comfortable, that’s enough. I won’t ask for anything more..."