Chapter 11

"I'm going to the restroom."

In the middle of the meal, Lin Ruyu, whose hands were greasy from her mischievous son, stood up to go to the restroom to wash her hands.

"I'll go with you!" Zhang Hongjuan, being considerate, stood up as well and walked gracefully with Lin Ruyu.

When Lin and Zhang finished washing their hands and came out of the restroom, they happened to bump into a fat old man.

"Doctor Lin? Ha ha, you always refused bonuses and didn't make money by exploiting patients. How come you have money to come to this Jiuzhou Hotel and indulge in luxury?" the fat old man sneered sarcastically.

"Dean Qiu?" Lin Ruyu's delicate eyebrows furrowed, and a look of disgust appeared on her face.

This fat man was named Qiu Baili, the deputy director of the People's Hospital in charge of pharmaceuticals. Ever since Qiu Baili took charge of pharmaceuticals, he had implemented a salary scheme for doctors that included a base salary plus commission. The so-called commission, of course, was the commission from selling drugs.

Because doctors could earn a commission from the drugs they sold, every doctor, regardless of the patient's condition, would prescribe a large number of drugs, useful or not, just to increase sales.

Lin Ruyu deeply detested this kind of reckless drug-selling behavior. She always felt that each patient was a pitiful person, and being sick was already pitiful enough. If they were further exploited by the hospital, it would be truly heartless.

Therefore, no matter what others did, Lin Ruyu never prescribed extra drugs to patients. When she encountered patients from financially struggling families, she would try her best to get them cheaper drugs. This naturally earned her the resentment of Qiu Baili.

At the last hospital staff meeting, Qiu Baili publicly criticized Lin Ruyu, saying that as a doctor, she did not care about her patients and was unwilling to prescribe drugs to treat them, only wanting the patients to die of their illnesses.

Lin Ruyu could only feel helpless about such obviously black-and-white accusations.

What was even more infuriating was that Lin Ruyu should have been promoted to chief physician long ago, but because of Qiu Baili's interference, she was still a deputy chief physician and had not been promoted.

"Dean Qiu, where I eat has nothing to do with you!"

Lin Ruyu was never one to pretend, so she directly retorted at Qiu Baili.

"Fine, fine, Doctor Lin, you have guts! Just wait for your punishment! You won't be considered for the chief physician position this year either!" Qiu Baili chuckled, his small eyes gleaming with a sharp light.

Zhang Hongjuan, standing beside her, frowned and said, "Comrade, does the hospital leadership really have the right to control where the staff eats? And they can even punish them?"

Qiu Baili did not recognize Zhang Hongjuan, but he assumed that a friend of a junior doctor was not a big shot, so he raised his eyelids and said disdainfully, "I can't control where they eat, but Doctor Lin's dereliction of duty must be punished!"

"Dereliction of duty?" Lin Ruyu's voice suddenly became shrill. She had always acted with a clear conscience, and she never expected to be accused of dereliction of duty!

"Here is the complaint. Take a look!"

Seeing the material in Qiu Baili's hand, Lin Ruyu was instantly furious, as it was a conspiracy!

There was a cancer patient named Wang Héhuá at the hospital, whose family was in very difficult financial circumstances. All the treatment costs were borrowed. Without money, the three children in the family had all dropped out of school and started working to earn money for their mother's treatment.

Since Wang Héhuá's cancer was already in the late stage with widespread metastasis, there was no effective treatment. Considering their family's situation, Lin Ruyu advised them to stop the treatment, as it would only waste more money without saving her life.

However, when Qiu Baili heard this, he intercepted Wang Héhuá's family and told them that there was still hope for her condition if they were willing to spend more money on treatment. A seriously ill person would cling to any hope, unaware that it was a scam.

The family had already sold their ancestral home and borrowed all the money they could from relatives and friends. In the end, one of the filial children sold a kidney to raise 100,000 yuan to give to the hospital, just to save their mother.

These people with low education levels did not realize that they were betting their future on this treatment, which could not save their mother's life. At best, it would only prolong her life by one or two months.

But it was precisely these one or two months that gave Qiu Baili an opportunity. When Lin Ruyu advised them to stop the treatment and go home, Qiu Baili used it as a pretext to incite Wang Héhuá's family to complain about Lin Ruyu for not saving their mother.

The family, unaware of the situation, thought the dean was kind and enthusiastic, so they wrote a complaint letter as instructed.

With the complaint letter in hand, Qiu Baili's argument was righteous. How could a doctor let a patient go home to die? This was serious dereliction of duty and must be punished!

"Dean Qiu, you can earn money from the kidney of an orphan and a widow, but you want to punish me? Do you have any medical ethics? Do you have any conscience?" Lin Ruyu was so angry that she trembled all over.

"The one without a conscience and who lets patients die is you! I won't argue with you, a shrew. Go home and think about how to write your self-criticism. At the next hospital staff meeting, you will have to make a public self-criticism in front of all the medical staff! If it's not satisfactory, you will be suspended! I don't believe I can't deal with you, this thorn in my side!"

Pausing for a moment, Qiu Baili continued, "Doctor Lin, this is all your own doing! I heard your husband has already passed away, and you have two children still in school? Be careful, don't get suspended because of your attitude, or you and your two children will have to go hungry!"

When he came out of the restroom, Qiu Baili was in high spirits and very pleased with himself. In the past six months, he had made a lot of money from drug kickbacks, but due to the resistance of doctors like Lin Ruyu, the situation was not as ideal as he had hoped. This time, by making Lin Ruyu, the most resistant one, a typical case and having her make a public self-criticism at the hospital meeting, he could set an example and ensure a steady flow of wealth in the future.

Humming a tune, he returned to the table, his face full of flattery. Today, he was treating the Health Bureau Director Lu Hanrong at the Jiuzhou Hotel.

The old director of the People's Hospital was getting old and was about to retire. Among the current deputy directors, Qiu Baili had the most seniority, the widest network of connections, and the most qualifications to take over as director.

Qiu Baili's purpose in treating Lu Hanrong today was to feel out his stance. Lu Hanrong did not disappoint him and secretly hinted that, if everything went well, he would take over the director's position within the year.

Truly, good news makes one feel refreshed. Qiu Baili unconsciously drank a few more cups. Just as he was about to toast Director Lu again, he noticed that Director Lu was staring blankly outside the private room, as if he had seen something.

"Director Lu?" Qiu Baili asked in confusion.

"I just saw Secretary Liao from the Discipline Inspection Commission!" Lu Hanrong said nervously.

Among the deputy secretaries of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Liao Shengwei was the youngest and had the best chance of promotion, with a bright future ahead. In the next reshuffle, Liao Shengwei was likely to become the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission. Once he took charge, he would be a member of the Municipal Committee, one of the most influential figures in the city, and could not be disrespected!

"Wait, I need to go and toast Secretary Liao!" Lu Hanrong picked up his glass and walked out of the private room, only to find that the person was indeed Liao Shengwei. Beside Liao Shengwei was the Public Security Bureau Director Hu Wanshan!

Just as Lu Hanrong was about to greet them, he saw the two figures flash into another private room, seemingly going to toast someone else.