Chapter 100: Struggling to Move Forward (10,000-word chapter, seeking monthly votes)

Jin Yonghao has been the director of Weishan Island Branch for almost a year. Gu Houyi promised to transfer him back by the end of the year, but now Gu has already left, and Jin has not returned. His son will take the high school entrance exam next year, and Jin reported this situation to the new director, Zhao Feiyang, but Zhao has not yet given any response.

The driver, Old Lu, is a local, and Jin Yonghao cannot speak freely in front of him. He only reported the recent medical work to Yan Huiyi. In the first three quarters, the income has increased compared to the same period last year, but it is still far from turning a profit.

The island has 23 natural villages. In the past, there were two towns, Shiliang Town and Huanhu Town. Last year, to facilitate management, avoid mutual shirking, and improve administrative efficiency, the two towns were merged into Hushan Town, which is one of the largest towns in Weishan County.

Old Lu, the driver, stepped on the brakes and cursed fiercely. A farm tricycle was blocking the road in front of him. The island's roads are narrow and poorly maintained, leading to very chaotic traffic. Although there are not many cars, farm tricycles often compete for the road.

The sudden braking made Tang Mingmei's body lurch forward due to inertia, and this old car doesn't even have seat belts.

Yan Huiyi couldn't help but remind the driver, "Driver, drive slower. We're not in a hurry."

Old Lu cursed, "I'll run you over, you damn fool!"

Although he wasn't cursing at Yan Huiyi, it just happened to follow his words. Yan Huiyi's face turned red. The people at the branch seemed to be on edge, lacking the respect they should show to the leaders from Changxing.

Jin Yonghao, worried about Yan Huiyi's loss of face, explained, "Old Lu has a short temper. Director Yan, please don't take it to heart."

Yan Huiyi tried to defuse the situation, "Driving around this small island all day, anyone would get agitated."

Old Lu honked the horn loudly, but the farm tricycle in front ignored him. Old Lu gritted his teeth, "I really want to run him over."

Tang Mingmei couldn't stand it anymore, "Driver, can you not be so impatient? There are people in the car."

Old Lu glanced back in the rearview mirror, "Sorry, I forgot. In the past, my car mostly carried patients and the dead, rarely living people."

Tang Mingmei's face turned pale. What was Jin Yonghao thinking, using such an ominous car to pick them up?

Jin Yonghao said, "Old Lu, what are you talking about? These are all leaders from Changxing."

Old Lu replied, "I'm telling the truth. You're all leaders. Leaders, can you solve our salary issues this time? We haven't been paid since August."

Jin Yonghao's face turned grim. Managing the Weishan Island Branch was genuinely difficult. Although Changxing didn't invest much, they had to bear the salaries and insurance of over 200 employees at the branch.

Now, performance is tied to bonuses, and the branch loses money every year, so there are no bonuses. It's already a challenge to pay the salaries on time. Last month, Changxing changed the director, and the finance department cited the ongoing handover as a reason for not yet transferring the salary funds to the Weishan Island Branch.

Most employees rely on their salaries to support their families, and without salaries, they naturally have grievances, which they vent on the higher hospital.

Many departments at the Weishan Island Hospital are supported by experts from Changxing Hospital, whose salaries are paid regularly. In comparison, the employees at the branch feel even more unbalanced.

Many people believe that Gu Houyi's management of the Weishan Island Hospital was flawed. First, he retained the original leadership, and the deputy director of the branch, Zhang Haibin, was the former director.

In fact, Gu Houyi tried to make changes, but the Weishan County government believed that the original leadership should not be significantly altered, leading to the current situation where the branch leadership is essentially the same, and Jin Yonghao, the appointed deputy, has been marginalized.

Zhang Haibin is a local power player and can be considered the biggest beneficiary of the acquisition, but he is not grateful and instead undermines Changxing.

Jin Yonghao believes that the poor performance of the branch is largely due to Zhang Haibin's presence.

Yan Huiyi, having long served as the deputy director of Changxing, has a way of calming people. He told Old Lu that he came to solve the problems at the branch and that any issues should be reported to him, and he would address them as soon as possible.

After Yan Huiyi said this, Old Lu fell silent.

The car entered the town, and Xu Chunliang observed the buildings on both sides of the road, finding the place as backward as Tang Mingmei had described, a world apart from the city of Dongzhou.

There are few cars on the island, mostly farm tricycles, motorcycles, and bicycles, and even horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts. The market is full of fish vendors, who buy fish at low prices and transport them to the county's wholesale market by boat. The island's main industry is fishing.

The population is aging, and young people cannot tolerate the monotony and hardship of island life, leaving to work and start businesses elsewhere. In recent years, the island's population has significantly declined.

The merged Hushan Town is located south of Shiliang Mountain, which is over 200 meters high and the only mountain on the island. The island is rich in vegetation and is home to many snakes and insects.

Old Lu drove directly to the back of the Weishan Island Hospital, where the family dormitory area is located. In the overgrown yard stands a solitary two-story building.

The main structure of the building is made of red bricks, built in the 1980s, and was once used as a ward. Later, with fewer patients, the hospital reduced the ward area to the southern yard, and the northern yard became the family dormitory. Few families actually live there, and most hospital employees live in the county, while a few local residents live in the town.

This small building has become the temporary dormitory for experts from Changxing.

As soon as they got out of the car, Old Lu drove away without even saying goodbye.

Jin Yonghao sighed, "Don't be upset. He's always like this, as if everyone owes him money."

Tang Mingmei said, "Not just owing him money, we haven't been paid. I was worried he'd drive the car into the lake."

Everyone laughed, and Yan Huiyi said he would report the issue to the hospital leadership and try to resolve the salary problem as soon as possible, otherwise, the next three weeks would be tough.

Jin Yonghao told him that he had reported the issue many times, but the finance department said that the hospital's fixed assets are being re-audited, and the earliest they could pay the salaries is next month.

Jin Yonghao led them upstairs, where rooms had already been prepared for them. Although the conditions were simple, each room had an air conditioner and a TV. Since Changxing frequently sends experts to support the branch, the rooms are always occupied and are relatively clean. The biggest issue is that the bathrooms and showers are shared, with separate facilities for men and women. There are facilities on each floor, but they require a short walk, and hot water is supplied at specific times, which are posted on the back of the door. He reminded them to pay attention to the schedule.

Jin Yonghao told them to rest first and that he would organize a welcome dinner for the leaders in the evening.

Yan Huiyi asked why Zhang Haibin hadn't shown up yet. Jin Yonghao told him that Zhang was attending a town meeting and had requisitioned the Santana 2000. He had already discussed the welcome dinner with Zhang, and if everything went well, Zhang should attend.

Xu Chunliang helped Tang Mingmei carry her luggage to her room. Their rooms were next to each other. Tang Mingmei told Xu Chunliang that she had brought many daily necessities and that he could come over if he needed anything. She had a good impression of Xu Chunliang and had recently asked Zheng Peian to introduce him to someone.

Xu Chunliang returned to his room, organized his things, and called his grandfather to report his safety. He checked the schedule on the back of the door and, seeing that there was still hot water, went to the bathroom to take a shower and change clothes.

As Xu Chunliang came out of the bathroom, he met Tang Mingmei, who was carrying a basin to take a shower. He greeted her with a smile, and she complained about the high humidity on the island, saying the air conditioner's dehumidifying function was not sufficient, and the room had a musty smell.

As he passed Yan Huiyi's door, it was open, and several doctors from the main hospital were chatting with him.

One of them was familiar to Xu Chunliang, Cao Jing from the ultrasound department, who had previously missed diagnosing Zhao Xiaohui's ectopic pregnancy. Due to the medical dispute, the department had sent her to the branch for two months as a form of punishment.

Changxing had recently sent a color ultrasound machine to the branch, and since no one in the branch knew how to operate it, Cao Jing was responsible for training them.

The other two were Miao Xiujuan from the geriatrics department, a retired person hired by the hospital to work at the branch, and Yu Xiaofeng, a resident physician from the orthopedics department, who was facing a promotion and needed to work in the countryside for a year. Two others in similar situations were busy with work and couldn't come this time.

Initially, Changxing sent many experts to the Weishan Island Hospital, hoping to bring the most advanced diagnostic and treatment techniques. However, they soon realized that the infrastructure was too poor to support major surgeries, and the local residents lacked trust in the hospital, preferring to travel to Dongzhou or Weishan County for serious illnesses.

The experts' income would be affected here, and once their personal interests were involved, they lost enthusiasm. Gu Houyi tried to change this by setting up a field allowance, but even so, no one was willing to come. The visible benefits were not as good as the hidden ones.

In the end, only the old and the young came, and true experts would not stay here. Occasionally, experts would be sent symbolically for a short period.

Because the Weishan Island Hospital's performance did not improve, the frequency of expert visits decreased. Currently, Miao Xiujuan is the most authoritative expert, but her title is that of a chief physician, and her real diagnostic skills are not top-notch in the main hospital, as she graduated from a workers' university.

The main hospital