Chapter 18: Is this the taste of power?
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
After Zhang Fan knocked on the door and went inside Superintendent Batu’s office, Batu pulled Zhang Fan over to have a seat.
“Don’t listen to Old Gao’s rubbish. It’s not actually certain that he’ll get the position of orthopedic director in his hospital. The new director still hasn’t been officially chosen, and it’s possible for any of the other veteran doctors in his department to be chosen. Everyone is just calling him Director out of respect. If you go to his hospital, you won’t have an official position, nor will you have enough experience. And if Old Gao doesn’t manage to become the orthopedic director, he won’t have a good time at his hospital anymore. Will he really be able to take care of you well?” Batu really wanted to convince Zhang Fan against going to Gao Shijun’s hospital. “Just rest assured and continue working here while slowly improving your skills. Medical skills are what’s the most important. At the beginning of the next year, the government intends to send some doctors and teachers to go study in Q City. At that time, I’ll send you as the representative of our surgery department #2. Q City Hospital is one of the single best hospitals in the entirety of northwestern China. It won’t be any worse than Old Gao’s city hospital. After you go there, just remember to come back and help us out for a few days each month, and I’ll give you an extra 3000 yuan per month for your hard work.”
‘I’m receiving such good news after drinking only a single glass of wine? Should I try learning from Nuar?’ Zhang Fan was rather stunned.
Batu instantly knew that Zhang Fan had been convinced by judging the latter’s expression. Batu then spoke up again. “When you treat our Kuake City Leader Kang Hua, pay extra attention to her, and report anything that happens to me.”
Seeing that Zhang Fan was still in a daze, he pushed Zhang Fan slightly. “Look at how unseemly you are. You’re so overjoyed at the opportunity to go study in Q City? You’d probably go absolutely crazy if you were sent to the provincial hospital! Did you even hear what I just said?”
Zhang Fan wasn’t actually in a daze about the opportunity to go study in Q City. He was calculating how much more money he would have with the extra 3000 yuan per month. There was no helping it, as this much money had shocked him.
“I got it, Superintendent. I’ll definitely work properly.”
“I’m not talking about that, I was talking about Politician Kang.” Batu was rather anxious. Why did it seem like they weren’t talking about the same thing?
“Oooh, I remember, I remember. I’ll report to you immediately if anything happens.”
“Yes, make sure to pay extra attention to her. By the way, how are your driving lessons going? Are you good enough to drive on the road yet?”
“I’ve learned how to drive, and I’ve even taken the ambulance out several times on the highway already. Old Zhou says that he’s taught me everything already,” Zhang Fan said happily. He felt that it was truly fun to drive.
“Tomorrow, bring two one-inch photographs of yourself. Go take a rest since there’s no scheduled surgeries right now. Look at how red your face is. Since you can’t drink alcohol, don’t force yourself.”
Batu was still quite displeased with Gao Shijun’s efforts in trying to snatch Zhang Fan from him.
Zhang Fan went back to his department, and saw that the fatty Li Liang was practicing how to tie surgical knots. Li Liang became embarrassed upon seeing Zhang Fan. “Mr. Zhang, I’m really slow at tying surgical knots. Doctor Chen has lectured me several times already.” Zhang Fan had mentioned many times already that it wasn’t necessary to address him as Mr. Zhang, but fatty Li Liang kept insisting, so Zhang Fan finally gave up.
“If you tie one hundred surgical knots before you go to sleep every night for an entire week, you’ll definitely get much better.”
“Could I try becoming your assistant in the future? Doctor Chen doesn’t seem to like me. He doesn’t even allow me to do the surgical sutures. All he lets me do is to hold the surgical retractors.”
“Sure, no problem. Doctor Chen can be a little impatient, but he’s a good person.”
Li Liang felt like he was going to break down upon hearing this. Chen Qifa, a nice person? Every day, Chen Qifa had a strange attitude as if Li Liang owed him lots of money.
Although Zhang Fan had only imbibed one glass of wine, he was someone with alcohol tolerance low to the point where his limit was three glasses. He was a little dizzy, so he decided to take a nap on one of the beds in the doctors’ resting area.
Batu felt far more reassured after what he viewed as successfully convincing Zhang Fan to stay. He had been a superintendent for more than ten years now, and felt that trouble might be coming for him if he didn’t change his job soon. He had been eyeing the even better position of the leader of the Bureau of Public Health for quite a while now. And since Batu finally had a connection to Kuake City Leader Kang Hua, this promotion he dreamed about seemed like it might finally come true.
“Yang Suo, what have you been busy with lately? I’m aggrieved because you haven’t been holding any parties! It’s like this, I have a relative who needs a driver’s license.” Batu was already acquainted with Yang Suo, the head of Kuake City’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It only took a simple chat for Batu to easily obtain a driver’s license for Zhang Fan.
A car was even easier for Batu to obtain than a driver’s license. He would need to owe a favor for the driver’s license, but the car was so much simpler.
“Manager Li, do you have any extra cars? It doesn’t need to be a very good one. Loan one to me for a while.”
Manager Li was a merchant who sold all sorts of equipment. Kuake City Hospital also purchased most of its equipment through Manager Li. It was rumored that he was the relative of a leader in one of the bigger cities, but his relative had apparently been recently sent away to a farther city, so Manager Li was feeling anxious about his own prospects. He instantly arranged a car right after he received Batu’s phone call. He didn’t treat seriously what Batu said about the car not needing to be good. In Chinese culture, being polite like this typically meant that the car couldn’t be allowed to be a bad one.
The next day, Batu had Zhang Fan bring the two one-inch pictures to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to receive his driver’s license. And right when Zhang Fan started his lunch break, a white 2008 Toyota Cruiser Prado 2700 was brought over to Kuake City Hospital.
“Superintendent Batu, this is a Toyota Cruiser Prado that’s 80% new. It was a rush job to have it prepared, since you wanted it immediately. I could have prepared an even better car if you gave me a few more days.”
“Er, this seems better than what I needed.” Batu had only wanted to get a normal car for Zhang Fan to use. He didn’t expect that Manager Li would bring over one of the top-level cars on the Chinese car market right now, the Toyota Cruiser Prado. He also wanted to drive this car, but didn’t dare to do so, as only the politicians drove such excellent cars. It would be suicidal for him to show off by driving such a car.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not that good, since it’s still a used car. Please make do with it. It would also be inconvenient for you if the car was too good!” Manager Li also heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that Batu seemed to be overall satisfied. He was worried about not being able to meet Batu’s standard.
“Okay, I’ll borrow it for a few days, and return it to you when I’m done with it.”
“No need to be in such a rush to return it, Superintendent Batu. Whenever you have some free time, I’ll treat you to some tea.”
When Zhang Fan arrived at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a police officer was especially waiting for him already. That police officer was incredibly polite to him. Zhang Fan managed to obtain his driver’s license in under thirty minutes.
“Hey, I’m someone with connections now!” Zhang Fan sardonically said that to himself. Back when he saw his classmates with their connections, he had been so jealous. But now that he also had connections, it all felt rather strange to him.
He returned to the hospital, and reported to Batu that he had successfully obtained his license. Batu wanted Zhang Fan to report to him about everything, big and small. Although Batu did say not to bother him about the small things, if Zhang Fan really believed that, maybe Batu would start making life difficult for him if he was displeased. Besides, this was something that Batu personally told him to do, so it would be inappropriate not to report in.
“You got your license?” Batu then looked over Zhang Fan’s driver’s license. “When I look closely, you look really handsome in your picture. You’re also really lucky. Do you see that white car over there? I’m loaning that to you for the time being. Remember, don’t drive after you drink alcohol, though I probably don’t need to worry, since you’re not a drinker. Still, you need to be careful on the roads because you’re a novice driver.” Batu pointed at the white Toyota Cruiser Prado in the hospital’s parking lot.
“Oh, that’s a really big car.” Zhang Fan knew almost nothing about cars, but was able to tell that this car was probably a high-class one.
“Here’s a card with some money on it for gas. Remember, don’t go crazy having fun outside every day just because you have a car now. I’m loaning you this car so that it’s easier for you to go treat Politician Kang.”
“I got it, Superintendent. I’ll definitely work my very hardest and report regularly to you.”
“Okay, you can go to work now.”
Zhang Fan forced himself to go through the motions at work today. This was the first time he had ever wanted to get off work so badly. When he finally finished his shift, he immediately drove away in his new car while nobody was around. Recently, he had been addicted to driving the ambulance.
Zhang Fan felt like driving a car was similar to performing a surgery. Both made him feel like he was in total control of everything. However, driving a car gave him a different feeling from the sense of accomplishment he could receive from surgeries. Without regarding anything else, this Toyota Cruiser Prado being lent to him was far more comfortable on the inside. Kuake City Hospital’s ambulances were basically slightly larger minivans with absolutely nothing but medical equipment on the inside.
Right when he arrived at Kuake City Hotel, Superintendent Batu called Zhang Fan. “Are you at the hotel yet?”
“I just arrived, Superintendent. Have you come today as well?”
“No, I’m not going over today. I was just worried that you would forget to go to the hotel for her treatment since it’s your first day with a car, so I was just reminding you. Since you’re there, then go treat her already.” Old Batu was working hard, needing to worry about the actions of a single intern doctor when he was the superintendent.
Zhang Fan’s rehabilitative massage techniques were cultivated from China’s best massage techniques from 100 years in the future. Of course they would be highly effective.
Kang Hua was a politician who had plenty of experience in analyzing people. Not to mention, she was the head of the Bureau of Culture, Education, and Health.
Her back no longer hurt after all these days of Zhang Fan’s massages.
“Doctor Zhang, you’re incredibly skilled. I don’t think that your medical college taught you something like this?” Kang Hua was in a very happy mood as she chatted with Zhang Fan after her massage.
“An expert in S Province taught me some of his techniques before, and I also figured some out on my own. Are they effective?” There was no helping it. Zhang Fan could only use the excuse of having learned from an expert to make his skills believable.
“Oh, no wonder. Doctor Zhang, is your treatment the type that can be temporarily suspended?”
“The effects would be best if you continuously receive massages.”
“Okay, I understand. I’ll have Little Tang treat you to some dinner. I need to finish dealing with some documents now.”
“No need, Leader. I can just go back and eat at the hospital cafeteria.”
“No need for that. Why not simply eat here? Little Tang, treat Doctor Zhang to a good meal and tell the chef to make his best dishes.” Secretary Little Tang was all smiles as she dragged Zhang Fan, who was covered in sweat from performing the massage, to a restaurant.