Chapter 514: When Old Friends Call

No matter how much disdain you feel inside, you still have to put on a polite face.

That’s not being fake—it’s just a rule of survival all adults have to learn.

If you can’t tolerate the smallest fault, if you rage against every injustice, you’re bound to make enemies everywhere. Our ancestors gave us this bit of wisdom: speak as the situation demands.

“Haha, Dr. Zhou, you really remember the old days! Are you busy now?”

Right now, Deputy Director Lu was probably grinning ear to ear over the phone.

“I’m at work, Director Lu. If there’s something you need, just go ahead and say it.”

Zhou Can’s reply already held a note of refusal.

If he’d said he wasn’t busy and responded warmly, that would’ve meant he was still close to Deputy Director Lu.

As things are, it looks like only Deputy Director Lu is clinging to that idea.

Of course, maybe Deputy Director Lu could sense Zhou Can’s coolness, but since he needed help, he pretended not to notice.

Sometimes, you really have to bow your head when you’re under someone else’s roof.

Otherwise, you’re just asking to bump your head.

“Uh… I wanted to treat you to dinner tonight. Do you have time?”

Deputy Director Lu was usually stubborn and very concerned with saving face.

For him to fumble so much just to ask Zhou Can out for a meal only showed his deep insecurity.

“I’m afraid not. Our Emergency Department and Cardiothoracic Surgery have been slammed lately, working overtime almost every night. If there’s something you want to discuss, we can talk over the phone just as well.”

Once more, Zhou Can politely turned him down.

How could Zhou Can possibly agree to dinner in a situation like this?

Does he really think the hospital leadership are blind and deaf?

The reason Zhou Can’s gotten such strong support from the hospital isn’t just his talent and rapid improvement. It’s also because of his loyalty.

He was even given an exception to attend last time’s meeting about countering Third Hospital’s poaching.

At the meeting, Director Zhu relied on him, asking for advice and strategies.

Perks like that aren’t something just anyone can get.

Loyalty often matters even more than skill.

“Tuyu is thriving these days, and Cardiothoracic Surgery is rising like the morning sun—unstoppable. You’re a key member there, of course you’re busy. The capable get more work, right? I really envy you. These days, I have so much free time I’m counting my fingers.”

Hearing how busy Tuyu Hospital was made Deputy Director Lu feel even worse.

“To be honest, a while back Third Hospital tried to poach me. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I just… agreed without much thought.”

Deputy Director Lu really didn’t hold back—shifting all the blame to Third Hospital.

Instead of facing his own mistake, he blamed others for poaching him.

At his age, he should know better. If he’d held to his principles, Vice Director Zhang from Third Hospital could have talked until his tongue fell off and it wouldn’t have mattered. Zhou Can stood his ground and never wavered.

I bet Director Le and Director Xueyan were also approached to leave, but they held firm too.

If you can’t even stand by your team, how can things ever go well?

Maybe you get something in the short term, but in the long run, it only ends badly.

“Dr. Zhou, I know you have huge influence at Tuyu and a wide network, plus you’re really close with Director Xue. I’ve never asked for help before, but today I have to. Could you please put in a good word for me with Director Xue? Help me return to Tuyu?”

After all that talk, he finally got to the real reason for his call.

Zhou Can just sneered to himself.

If Deputy Director Lu had just come straight out and asked for help, maybe it would’ve earned some respect.

At least that would’ve shown some integrity.

Instead, he beat around the bush for ages, which only made Zhou Can feel he was being two-faced.

It’s hard to see someone’s true character in everyday situations.

But when personal interests are at stake, it all comes out.

“Director Lu, if it were anything else, maybe I could help. But with this, I’m afraid I really can’t. Sorry about that.”

Without missing a beat, Zhou Can rejected him.

Seriously, how could he possibly agree to something like that?

He and Deputy Director Lu only ever crossed paths at work—they weren’t friends outside the hospital.

Last time, Pu Dingdong asked Zhou Can for help switching positions, and Zhou Can agreed.

That was fine—it wasn’t anything bad.

But now, asking him to persuade Director Xueyan to take Deputy Director Lu back… how would that look?

After all, Deputy Director Lu left without a second thought, pretty much stabbing Director Xueyan in the back.

Now he wants Director Xueyan to repay betrayal with kindness?

Or does he expect Zhou Can to use his own favor to pressure Director Xueyan into forgiving the betrayal? The nerve of it.

“Isn’t there anything you can do to help?”

The sorrow was plain in Deputy Director Lu’s voice.

You reap what you sow.

He had only himself to blame—not anyone else.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t help with this. Better try another way.”

Zhou Can gave a clear refusal again.

He’d bailed on the hospital for Third Hospital as soon as they were in the ascendant—leaving behind the place that nurtured him for decades. Now that Tuyu Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Surgery is booming again, he wants to come crawling back.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Life doesn’t work that way.

“Alright then. Thanks for talking with me for old time’s sake. I regret leaving for Third Hospital so much—it breaks my heart. Third Hospital is lifeless now, and all those perks they promised us never materialized—not even a proper paycheck. Really, it was my mistake and I deserved what came to me. If any of our former coworkers call you hoping to return to Tuyu, help if you can. Maybe there’s nowhere left for them to go.”

With that, Deputy Director Lu said goodbye and hung up.

Hearing the despair in his voice, Zhou Can couldn’t help but feel a sting of sorrow.

They’d worked together for years, after all.

They weren’t just colleagues—they were comrades.

Especially in the operating room, everyone fought side by side for a common goal, relying on each other completely.

That sort of bond isn’t so easily washed away by one or two bad moments.

Some friendships stick with you for life; there’s the bond of classmates, the bond of comrades in arms, and the bond formed in hardship.

Watching Deputy Director Lu brought low by greed, Zhou Can just felt a deep heaviness in his chest.

Maybe the right thing to do is to mention this to Director Xueyan, see how she feels.

Zhou Can thought about bringing it up with Director Xueyan in Cardiothoracic Surgery after work.

It wasn’t really about pleading for Deputy Director Lu—just being honest so she’d know how badly the former colleagues who left for Third Hospital were being treated.

Third Hospital rose up by playing dirty—they were always doomed to fall apart sooner or later.

……

Zhou Can was busy all day long.

The Emergency Department’s patient volume has spiked so quickly it’s actually overloaded now.

Every day, staff in the Emergency Department are running beyond their limits.

People are exhausted.

If nothing unexpected happens, Zhou Can’s surgical team should be able to expand again soon.

Director Lou came to speak with him personally, asking him to recruit an additional medical assistant and a surgical nurse.

A proper surgical team needs at least three surgical nurses, three medical assistants and one chief surgeon.

A truly top-level surgical team is a different story.

Some teams have dozens of people, each with their own specialty—some vice chief surgeons excel at orthopedics, others at cardiovascular work, some at tissue separation, others at anastomosis, or even nerves… only then can you call it a top-tier team.

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So Zhou Can’s team still has a long road ahead before reaching that level.

When work ended in the evening, Zhou Can left the operating room to find Su Qianqian waiting outside, dinner in hand.

His coworkers always smiled with envy at sights like that.

This kind of love really does make people jealous.

As Zhou Can ate, he checked his missed calls and unread WeChat messages.

Everyone who can add him on WeChat is either a friend or family.

These days, even getting his private number isn’t easy.

Still, there’s always someone resourceful enough to track down his number and keep calling him.

At first, he’d sometimes answer or call back if he wasn’t busy.

Now, he ignores any unfamiliar number he hasn’t saved.

There’s just no time—he’s way too busy.

Even a five-minute call is a huge chunk of his day, and most things can’t be fixed over the phone anyway.

If a patient really needs him, they should just come to Tuyu Hospital and register properly.

As for getting him to arrange a hospital bed or surgery, honestly, only friends or family get that privilege. Or maybe a few rare patients who genuinely deserve sympathy and happened to catch his attention.

If that’s the case, he’ll make a few calls and help out.

Director Xueyan called too, and left a message.

She must have something urgent.

Among the missed calls was one unknown number that called nineteen times.

Even though nobody answered, that number kept trying, again and again.

Whoever it was, they were either desperate or had a real emergency.

He decided to listen to Director Xueyan’s voice message on WeChat first.

He could only take things one at a time.

“Zhou Can, Lu Xiangbei attempted suicide by jumping from a building. He’s in critical condition, being treated at the hospital.”

Hearing this, Zhou Can felt like a needle stabbed through his heart.

The pain was sharp and sudden.

He never imagined Deputy Director Lu would try to kill himself.

Lu was always the blunt type, not great with people, but he was unbeatable when it came to academic knowledge and surgery.

If he wasn’t so capable, Third Hospital’s Vice Director Zhang wouldn’t have come in person to recruit him—and with such tempting offers.

Adults are always pragmatic when it comes to decisions.

After calling Zhou Can for help and being turned down, maybe Lu just couldn’t take it anymore.

He really had sounded downcast on the phone that morning.

Who else he may have called afterward, Zhou Can didn’t know.

No matter what, news of Lu’s suicide attempt felt like a punch in the gut.

If he had never left, he might be a key figure in Tuyu Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Surgery right now.

One wrong step, and there’s no coming back.

It’s a punishment far too heavy for Deputy Director Lu.

“What hospital is Director Lu in? I just got off work and want to visit him.”

Zhou Can replied to Director Xueyan’s message with a voice note.

What’s done is done—now he could only hope there was still a chance to save him.

He really couldn’t understand why Deputy Director Lu would try to end his life. With his skills, even if he couldn’t stay at Third Hospital, he could find work elsewhere.

Even in the provincial capital, he could have gone to a slightly smaller Grade A hospital and enjoyed a chief physician’s treatment.

Tuyu Hospital holds a top position in medicine—both within the province and nationwide.

Doctors from Tuyu are respected wherever they go.

Just like how doctors from Imperial Capital Renhe Hospital are always given high regard wherever they work.

Put simply, that’s what it means to have credentials.

Director Xueyan was probably busy and hadn’t replied yet.

In a situation like this, she likely wouldn’t pick up the phone either.

Whenever doctors are performing surgery, their phones are on silent—sometimes not even set to vibrate.

Especially for chief surgeons like Zhou Can and Director Xueyan. During crucial moments, a single call could disrupt their concentration dangerously.

So Zhou Can decided to call back the number that had called him nineteen times.

After two rings, someone answered right away.

“Hello, you’ve called me several times—can I help you with something?”

Zhou Can asked politely.

“Are you Dr. Zhou Can?”

A young woman’s voice came from the other end, a bit hoarse—like she’d just been crying. Her emotions still felt shaky. Or maybe she just had a smoky voice.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Hello Dr. Zhou, I’m Lu Fen. My father is Lu Xiangbei…” The woman started to introduce herself, choking up and unable to finish.

So she was Deputy Director Lu’s daughter.

“This afternoon, around two o’clock, my dad sent me a text asking me to take care of myself, and said there was a letter in his study. I had a bad feeling and called him right away, but his phone was off. I told my family, and we searched everywhere. Not long after, we got word from the police and the hospital—my father had jumped off a building…”

She broke down sobbing as she reached the word ‘jumped’.

“Miss Lu, I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. Which hospital is your father in?”

“He’s at Provincial People’s Hospital—still in a coma. The hospital has given us multiple critical condition notices. There’s severe intracranial bleeding, his spleen might be ruptured… things are looking really bad. The reason I called you is because my father’s letter says that if he doesn’t make it, I should bring you a letter. He said you would help them all find justice.”

So that’s why Lu Fen kept calling Zhou Can.

Her father’s suicide attempt would make anyone feel devastated and angry.

What was it that drove him to this?

Maybe she knew part of the story, but not all the details.

For now, her father was still alive, but his life hung by a thread.

The only thing she could do was fulfill his last wish and fight for justice.

Zhou Can never expected Deputy Director Lu would entrust him with that mission at the end. It was a sign of trust, and maybe hope.

When a person nears death, words become sincere and the heart grows clear.

Maybe, in those final moments, Deputy Director Lu finally understood the world’s cruelty and saw the truth behind it all.

The only one he could trust was Zhou Can.

He truly believed Zhou Can would help him get justice.

Maybe it was because Zhou Can once stood up for the hospital staff, fighting to safeguard clinicians—challenging the powerful heads of security and general affairs.

That image of standing for what’s right left a deep impression on Lu.

So, in the end, he left everything in Zhou Can’s hands.