44: Chapter 44, residency exam passed! Promoted to resident physician!
At 6:30 AM, Lu Chen's alarm rang on time.
He opened his eyes and saw an unread message on his phone screen.
[Shen Xiaoning: Dr. Lu, good night.]
Lu Chen took a look, thought for a moment, and replied with two words.
[Lu Chen: Good morning.]
Then he put his phone down, got up, and washed up.
Today was his first workday after returning from Guangfu Hospital, but it was not just an ordinary workday.
Because of what President Zeng Dayang had promised, there should be a result today.
After washing his face, Lu Chen put on his white coat and adjusted his collar in the mirror.
The person in the mirror was twenty-four years old, with a clean face and a composure between his brows that exceeded his age.
He picked up his work badge and glanced at the words on it.
[Jiangcheng City Central Hospital Emergency Department Trainee Physician Lu Chen]
If everything went smoothly, the status on this badge would change today.
...
At 7:00 AM, Lu Chen arrived at the Emergency Department.
The morning meeting hadn't started yet, but quite a few people were already busy in the hallway.
Lin Xiaoyu saw him from afar and trotted over.
"Brother Lu! Did you sleep well last night?"
"It was alright."
"That video got so many more likes, it's almost at one hundred thousand now!"
"Hmm."
"Why aren't you excited at all?"
"Can I get a raise after being excited?"
Lin Xiaoyu pouted.
"Why do you relate everything to money?"
"Because money can solve ninety-nine percent of my problems."
Lin Xiaoyu was left speechless and could only walk away with a pout.
Lu Chen walked into the locker room, hung up his badge, and then went to the Emergency Department office area.
Zhao Yaqin had already arrived and was looking at last night's shift handover records in front of the computer.
Seeing Lu Chen enter, she looked up.
"You're here?"
"Good morning, Teacher Zhao."
"You came to the morning meeting just in time. Director Li has something to announce."
"What is it?"
Zhao Yaqin did not answer directly, but gave him a meaningful look.
"You'll know when you go."
...
At 7:20 AM, the morning meeting started on time.
The doctors and Nurses of the Emergency Department arrived one after another and sat around in the Conference Room.
Director Li Sen sat at the head of the table, holding a document, his expression unreadable.
Zhou Ze sat next to him, holding a thermos cup, sipping tea unhurriedly.
Zhao Yaqin, Wu Fan, and several on-duty Resident Physicians were all there.
On the Nurses' side, Sister Fang sat in the back row with Lin Xiaoyu and several other Nurses.
Director Li Sen cleared his throat, and the morning meeting officially began.
First was the routine handover report: the situation of last night's cases, which ones needed special attention, and which ones could be transferred out.
Then came Director Li Sen's work arrangements and comments.
Everything was normal, no different from usual.
Until the end.
"There is one more thing."
Director Li Sen closed the document in his hand and scanned the room.
"Yesterday, the Hospital issued a batch of personnel adjustment notices, and there is one that concerns our department."
He paused and looked at Lu Chen.
"Lu Chen."
"Here."
Lu Chen stood up.
"Approved by the Hospital's Human Resources Department, your Trainee Physician assessment has been passed."
"Effective immediately, you are officially promoted to Resident Physician, and your staffing and salary benefits will be executed according to the Resident Physician standard."
Director Li Sen's voice was not loud, but in the quiet Conference Room, every word could be heard clearly.
"Congratulations."
The Conference Room was silent for about two seconds.
Then applause rang out.
Lin Xiaoyu clapped the most enthusiastically, her two dimples deep enough to hold water.
Zhao Yaqin was also clapping, with a faint, subtle smile on her face.
Zhou Ze put down his thermos cup, clapped twice, and nodded slightly.
Wu Fan clapped three times expressionlessly and then stopped, but it was clear that his clapping force was stronger than usual.
Lu Chen stood there without too much exaggerated expression.
"Thank you, Director Li, thank you, teachers."
"Alright, sit down."
Director Li Sen waved his hand.
"Don't think that just because you've been promoted to Resident Physician you're something special. Your mentorship relationship will remain unchanged for now; you will still be with Zhao Yaqin."
"Understood."
"However, your scope of responsibilities will be adjusted. I will discuss the specific scheduling with you this afternoon."
"Okay."
After the morning meeting ended, Lu Chen walked out of the Conference Room.
Lin Xiaoyu rushed over first.
"Brother Lu! Congratulations, congratulations! You are now an official Resident Physician!"
"Hmm."
"Can you act a little more excited? Shouldn't normal people treat everyone to a meal when they get promoted?"
"Treating is fine. Cafeteria, a twelve-yuan set meal per person, my treat."
"Do you have some misunderstanding about what 'treating' means?"
Sister Fang also walked over and patted Lu Chen on the shoulder.
"Little Lu, not bad. I've worked in the Emergency Department for so many years, and you are the first one to go from Trainee Physician to Resident Physician this quickly."
"Sister Fang, you flatter me."
"It's not flattery, it's the truth. How long have you been in the Emergency Department? Counting it all up, it's less than two months, right? This speed is really fast."
Zhao Yaqin walked over from behind, heard this, and added a sentence.
"It is fast, but it's not without reason. His Trainee Physician assessment score was in the top three of the entire Hospital, plus his performance during the exchange at Guangfu Hospital, President Zeng signed off on it personally."
Sister Fang raised her eyebrows.
"President Zeng signed it personally?"
"Yes."
Sister Fang gave Lu Chen a meaningful look, didn't say anything else, and turned to get busy.
Lu Chen noticed that look from Sister Fang.
There was quite a bit of information in that look.
...
Facts proved that Sister Fang's look was just the beginning.
For the rest of the day, Lu Chen clearly felt some subtle changes in the attitudes of the people around him toward him.
It wasn't that their attitudes had worsened; on the contrary, some people had become more enthusiastic.
But within that enthusiasm, there was a bit more caution.
When eating in the Cafeteria at noon, a few surgeons at the next table were chatting in low voices, and Lu Chen heard his own name.
"It's that Lu Chen, from the Emergency Department, who just got promoted to Resident Physician yesterday."
"How long has he been a Trainee Physician? How is it so fast?"
"How else could it be fast? President Zeng approved it personally, what do you think?"
"Oh, one of President Zeng's people."
"Exactly, I heard that the previous exchange at Guangfu Hospital was specifically requested by President Zeng, and he got promoted right after coming back."
"No wonder, no wonder."
Lu Chen shoveled the last bite of rice into his mouth, picked up his tray, and went to the return area.
President Zeng's person.
These words, in a place like a Hospital, spread extremely fast.
From the end of the morning meeting to lunch, in less than half a day, basically the whole Hospital knew.
There was a Trainee Physician named Lu Chen in the Emergency Department, and Vice President Zeng had personally signed off on his promotion to Resident Physician, an exceptional promotion.
The speed was so fast that there had been no precedent in the Central Hospital in recent years.
There was only one conclusion: this person was one of President Zeng Dayang's people.
Lu Chen's reaction to this was very indifferent.
Whose person he was didn't matter.
What was important was that he was now a Resident Physician, his salary had increased, and he could send more money to the Orphanage every month.
As for how others saw him or labeled him, that was their business.
He couldn't control it, and he didn't want to.
At 2:00 PM, Lu Chen treated a patient with acute gastritis in the Yellow Zone. After finishing, his phone vibrated.
It was a message from He Wenbin.
[He Wenbin: Brother, congratulations on the promotion.]
[Lu Chen: Thank you, Teacher He.]
[He Wenbin: Don't call me teacher anymore. You're a Resident Physician now, we are on the same level.]
[He Wenbin: No, wait. At the rate you're being promoted, it won't be long before I'm calling you teacher.]
[Lu Chen: Teacher He, you are joking.]
[He Wenbin: By the way, let me tell you something. Your video has now broken one million views. Many people in the comment section are digging into your identity. It probably won't be long before you get exposed.]
[Lu Chen: Whatever.]
[He Wenbin: You really don't care? If it were me, I would have already gone to the comment section to self-expose. This is massive traffic, brother.]
Lu Chen did not reply again.
One million views sounded quite impressive, but what did it have to do with him?
It couldn't be exchanged for money anyway.
For things that couldn't be exchanged for money, he didn't have the energy to pay attention to them for the time being.
He put his phone away and continued to see the next patient.