Chapter 34: Preparations

Director Wang stood up to apologize and hurriedly chased after. Zeng Yi was invited by him, and seeing the situation turn out like this, he felt the most guilty and was extremely anxious.

"Hua Shan cursed, 'His skills are not good, but he sure has a big attitude!' 'All the people from the Chinese Medicine Association are like this, with such a stinking attitude!'"

Gu Xiankun glared at him, "What are you saying? If others are not skilled, are you skilled?"

Hua Shan did not speak again, but he was very不服 inside. If I am not skilled, how could I have seen through this impostor at first glance?

Bai Mutton smiled indifferently. He also felt that a young Chinese doctor was somewhat unreliable. He picked up the prescription he had written and handed it to Gu Mingzhu, "Chairman Gu, this is the prescription. Take one dose in the morning and one in the evening. It's best to take it with brown sugar for better results."

"Mr. Bai, thank you for your efforts!" Gu Mingzhu smiled and took it, but did not look at the prescription, instead handing it to Gu Xiankun.

Gu Xiankun picked up the prescription, glanced at it, and his face changed drastically. He hurriedly said, "I will arrange for someone to get the medicine right away!" and quickly left the meeting room.

With his mother being ill for so long, Gu Xiankun had almost become a half-doctor. He could recite the prescriptions of the past doctors almost by heart, and even knew where they came from and their historical context. This prescription by Bai Mutton had been given before. It was somewhat effective at first, but after a while, the condition began to recur.

Gu Xiankun did not expect that the councilor Zeng, without even taking the pulse, knew that Bai Mutton's prescription was ineffective. This meant that Zeng's medical skills were far superior to Bai Mutton's, and he must have accurately identified his mother's condition.

Rushing downstairs, he saw Director Wang sighing. Gu Xiankun hurriedly approached, "Director Wang, did you not catch up with Councilor Zeng?"

Director Wang shook his head and said worriedly, "I have really offended Councilor Zeng this time. I spent a lot of effort persuading him to come this morning."

"Yes, yes, I understand," Gu Xiankun said anxiously, "Does Director Wang have Councilor Zeng's contact information? I want to personally apologize to him."

"It's no use. I don't think Councilor Zeng will come again," Director Wang sighed, "The health care doctor of the provincial party secretary was left waiting downstairs for more than ten minutes. It's fortunate that Councilor Zeng has a good temper and a broad mind. If it were me, I wouldn't have come up this building today."

After saying this, Director Wang bowed and said, "Mr. Gu, I have already invited the best experts from our Chinese Medicine Association for you. I am truly powerless to help with Chairman Gu's illness."

"Director Wang... Director Wang, please wait!" Gu Xiankun chased after him, wanting to apologize to Director Wang.

But Director Wang, feeling disheartened, had no interest in listening. He waved his hand and got into his car and left. He had invited Zeng Yi with the intention of getting closer to him and to connect with the Gu family. Who knew it would end up in such a mess. If he had known, he would never have invited Zeng Yi.

Standing there, Gu Xiankun felt a surge of anger, wishing he could tear Hua Shan to pieces. You, who always mess things up, are always involved in bad things but never in good ones.

Zeng Yi was somewhat angry. Getting out of the car, he walked into the compound of the Health Department.

"Stop! I'm talking to you! Do you know what place this is? You just walk in!"

A guard rushed out from the guardhouse, saying the same thing as last time. The difference was that he was wearing a standard security uniform, not the cadre shirt from last time.

Zeng Yi glanced at him, feeling even more depressed. This is a government office, and even if you change the guards ten times, they will still have the same attitude.

Zeng Yi did not want to argue with him and was about to take out his work ID when another person quickly ran out from the guardhouse, kicked the previous guard in the thigh, and shouted, "You scoundrel, you don't even recognize Expert Zeng. Do you want to keep your job?"

After saying this, he saluted, "Good morning, Expert Zeng!"

"Do you recognize me?" Zeng Yi asked.

"Of course, I recognize you!" The head guard smiled brightly, "Director Guo from the Health Bureau showed me your photo. I remember it clearly!"

Zeng Yi shook his head, "Can I go in now?"

The head guard immediately bowed and gestured, "Please go in, please go in."

Watching Zeng Yi enter the building, the head guard sighed in relief and turned to scold the young guard, "You dare to stop Expert Zeng? How many guts do you have? If you don't want to work, get out of here and don't drag me down!"

The young guard was still in shock and did not dare to argue. He quickly memorized Zeng Yi's appearance to avoid making the same mistake again.

At the Health Bureau, Guo Penghui led Zeng Yi into the meeting room.

Inside, there were already dozens of people from the Health Bureau. Seeing Zeng Yi enter, they all stood up and greeted him with smiles. Zeng Yi felt somewhat embarrassed because he did not recognize any of them. He only heard them calling him "Expert Zeng" but could not call them by name, which was very awkward. In a short while, he was sweating profusely.

After the greetings, Zeng Yi walked toward the back, but Guo Penghui pulled him back, "Expert Zeng, your seat is prepared at the front."

"That's not good!" Zeng Yi waved his hand to refuse, "I am not a staff member of the Health Bureau. Sitting at the front would be inappropriate. I'll just sit at the back and listen."

"Respecting experts is a tradition in our Health Bureau. Even if there is no seat for me as the director, there must be a seat for the expert. This is the bureau's rule, and everyone knows it," Guo Penghui said, looking at the people in the meeting room, "Isn't that right?"

Everyone came forward to testify, "Yes, that's our bureau's tradition. We have always done it this way. If Expert Zeng doesn't sit at the front, we will have to stand."

Zeng Yi then bowed and, under everyone's watchful eyes, sat in the front row. The seat was directly facing the podium, where he could see the names on the nameplates. According to the placement, today's meeting would be chaired by Feng Yuqin, and Director Chen Gaofeng would also attend.

"Everyone is here. Expert Zeng, please wait a moment. I will go and notify Director Feng," Guo Penghui said to Zeng Yi, then got up and went outside.

Two minutes later, the meeting room door opened, and Chen Gaofeng and Feng Yuqin entered together. After a brief exchange, they sat down according to the nameplates on the podium.

Feng Yuqin, known for her decisive and efficient style, did not waste time on formalities. She picked up the microphone and said, "Comrades, please let Director Chen read the higher-level document."

Amid applause from the audience, Chen Gaofeng held a document with both hands and read, "To further implement the central government's policies for cadres and ensure the health of cadres to support the effective operation of the government, the South River Provincial Party Committee, Provincial Government, and Provincial Health Bureau have decided to establish a provincial cadre health base in South River Province. The relevant preparatory work will be handled by the Health Bureau of the South River Provincial Health Department."

As the saying goes, no matter how poor, education cannot be neglected; no matter how hard, leaders cannot be neglected. When leaders are sick, they cannot queue up for registration, stay in ordinary wards, or eat in the hospital cafeteria like ordinary people. What kind of leader would that be? Even if the leader agrees, the subordinates would not.

Therefore, high-level wards in hospitals have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, allowing leaders to stay in comfortable wards, have dedicated nurses, use advanced equipment, and enjoy delicious meals. This way, leaders can be happy and recover quickly, returning to their posts to serve the people.

The hospitals' intentions may be good, but the common people do not understand. Why should we lie in the hallway for treatment while leaders occupy over a hundred square meters? Isn't this a privilege?

With such opinions, leaders also felt the pressure. After discussion, they decided to build a dedicated cadre health base. Find a place with beautiful scenery, build a modern, comprehensive health base, which can both treat and provide rest, without the smell of hospitals and without the trouble from the public. This is a win-win situation.

Thus, cadre health bases were built all over the country, and South River Province was not the first.

After Chen Gaofeng finished reading, he handed the meeting back to Feng Yuqin.

"The purpose of today's meeting is to discuss the establishment of the preparatory group for the cadre health base," Feng Yuqin looked at the audience, "After discussion, the preparatory group is officially established today, with Director Chen as the group leader. The other members are Feng Yuqin, Guo Penghui, Wang Lixing..."

A long list of names was read out, and the officials mentioned were somewhat excited.

"... Zeng Yi!" Feng Yuqin finished reading the last name and closed her notebook, "All matters related to the preparatory work should be reported to the relevant responsible persons in the preparatory group."

Zeng Yi was stunned. How could he be involved in the preparatory group? Not only him, but many others in the audience were also surprised. Experts had never been part of such preparatory groups before.

When they came to their senses, they looked at Zeng Yi with envy and jealousy. This is a provincial cadre health base, and from nothing to something, there are many places that need to be handled. Even if we don't talk about the small things, just the big ones, such as the location, the design, the construction, the medical equipment, the cabinets, and the beds, each of these big items alone is worth a fortune.

Other items like bed sheets, pillowcases, sofas, and air conditioners are countless. Whoever can enter this preparatory group will just sit at home and wait for people to line up to give money.