Chapter 572: Rapid Promotion to Deputy Team Leader

“Thank you, Director Ye and Director Bai, for your guidance. I’ll do my utmost to strive for progress.”

Director Xueyan couldn’t hide her joy at receiving this confirmation.

Who doesn’t dream of climbing the ranks and gaining wealth? It’s just that opportunities are often hard to come by.

Deputy Director Ye had told her that her chances were high and even took the initiative to share this news. That meant her odds of becoming the new Vice-Director were incredibly promising.

“Just keep working hard! Director Bai and I both hope to see dedicated and capable talents like you rise to the top. It would be a misfortune for the hospital if some unqualified outsider parachuted in instead!”

Deputy Director Ye nodded at her with encouragement.

Over the past decade, Tuyu Hospital’s rapid growth owed much to a group of upright hospital-level leaders.

Even if Deputy Director Bai once considered sacrificing Zhou Can, a mere trainee doctor, to protect a discipline leader from the Second Affiliated Hospital, it doesn’t mean his character was flawed or his intentions malicious.

It was simply the pragmatic mindset of an adult.

For the greater good of the hospital, small sacrifices were sometimes necessary. That’s a mindset every high-ranking leader must adopt.

“Now, Zhou Can, let’s talk about you. I’ve heard your preliminary exam scores for postgraduate studies are outstanding. Barring any surprises, your spot is basically secured. However, your limited experience and academic credentials are still significant hurdles. Despite your strong abilities and excellent character, the current round of management reforms won’t offer you a major leap in position.”

Deputy Director Ye and Zhou Can could be considered old acquaintances.

They had interacted many times, and Zhou Can always left a positive impression on him.

Over the years, Deputy Director Ye had done his best to support Zhou Can.

Whenever he could help, he made sure to lend a hand.

Zhou Can wasn’t blind to this kindness and felt a genuine closeness to Deputy Director Ye.

“Right now, my main focus is to deepen my medical knowledge and push my surgical skills to greater heights. Climbing the ranks or gaining a title sounds tempting, but I’m not that eager for it. Taking on a leadership role means heavier responsibilities, and I’m worried it might hinder my growth as a surgeon.”

Zhou Can spoke his mind without holding back.

For now, he wasn’t overly desperate to take on an administrative role.

“Zhou Can, that’s actually a misconception on your part. There are two types of leadership roles: part-time oversight and full-time management of specific areas. The former is more of a nominal position, but it elevates your status within the department, the hospital, and even the broader medical system. Take this as an example—if you remain just an ordinary doctor without ever holding an administrative post, you won’t even qualify for consideration as a Vice-Director or Director in the future.”

“Starting with a deputy role within your department, assisting the Department Head with management tasks, not only hones your leadership skills but also boosts your standing in the hospital. Why wouldn’t you seize such an opportunity?”

Deputy Director Ye wouldn’t usually take the time to patiently impart such practical wisdom, the kind you can’t learn from textbooks.

Even learning this from senior doctors would be a rare chance.

“Director Ye is right. If you truly have big ambitions, you need to shed some of that rigid, scholarly mindset. When I first started working, I was just like you—proud and convinced that knowledge and skill trumped everything. My favorite saying back then was, ‘A scholar holds unyielding integrity, values friendship above all, and despises officialdom.’ But society beat me down time and again. My girlfriend of six years was snatched away by a college classmate I never even took seriously. At the city-level People’s Hospital where I worked, I reported a senior leader for taking kickbacks and keeping a mistress, only to get myself fired.”

“Yet that senior leader faced no consequences. What kind of world is this?”

Deputy Director Bai rarely opened up about his past struggles to Zhou Can.

Even someone as esteemed as Deputy Director Bai had endured such grievances and hardships in his youth.

This reminded Zhou Can of a profoundly classic saying.

Kind-hearted people often mature late, only growing wiser after being shaped by the harshness of others. While some are clever and sharp from the start, the kind remain naive and clumsy. While others weigh pros and cons, the kind stay pure and sincere. Only when others exhaust their schemes do the kind finally awaken to reality.

Without experiencing heartbreak a few times, one can never truly grasp the cruelty of human nature.

But… if Deputy Director Bai had been battered by society in his youth, why was he so quick to sacrifice Zhou Can, a ‘small fry,’ for the reputation of a discipline leader?

Wasn’t that, in itself, a harsh lesson for Zhou Can?

Zhou Can had no intention of dwelling on past grievances. Back then, Deputy Director Bai had been forced to lower his head and offer sufficient compensation.

That chapter was closed.

Now, by sharing embarrassing stories from his youth to advise him, Deputy Director Bai was extending a gesture of immense goodwill.

“Later, I came to realize that to achieve something great, one needs not just exceptional skills and knowledge, but also valuable traits and a deep understanding of how to navigate relationships. I see shades of my younger self in you, and I don’t want you to stumble into avoidable pitfalls. As someone who’s been through it, I advise you to carry yourself with grace, but never with arrogance. Even in ancient times, renowned divine healers often held titles or official positions.”

These life lessons from Deputy Director Bai were incredibly valuable.

His words struck Zhou Can like a wake-up call.

They indeed sparked a small awakening in him, prompting him to rethink his life’s direction.

“I’m truly enlightened! Thank you for your heartfelt advice!”

Zhou Can bowed deeply to Deputy Director Bai.

With that bow, any lingering tension between them melted away completely.

“From my personal perspective, I believe you have the potential to vie for the Director’s position in the future, or even aim higher. This round of hospital management reform is essentially a renewal of the leadership structure, drawing on advanced management practices from major hospitals in the Imperial Capital. At that time, the number of Hospital Assistants will increase to three or four. To gain management experience, I suggest you focus on progressing in areas like quality control or consumables management.”

Seeing Zhou Can’s sincerity, Deputy Director Bai offered a couple more pointers.

Zhou Can listened without much reaction, but across the table, Deputy Director Ye’s eyes lit up slightly.

“Zhou Can, Director Bai is genuinely invested in your growth! Based on past trends, the roles most likely to succeed a Director are Hospital Assistants or Vice-Directors overseeing quality control, consumables management, medical insurance, or pricing and billing. Among these, quality control is the absolute core and aligns perfectly with your professional skills. I think you should seriously consider his suggestion.”

Deputy Director Ye also strongly endorsed this career path.

Medicine has its own trajectory, as does academia and research, each with distinct paths for growth. Management, however, operates on a completely different track.

In the first three, success often comes from sheer ability, deep knowledge, and relentless hard work.

But in management, the leadership circle is always small, and they rarely share insights or strategies for advancement with outsiders. As a result, many who pursue this path end up taking detours or hitting dead ends.

In management, if you’re on the wrong track, no amount of effort will yield results.

That’s no exaggeration.

With Deputy Director Bai’s guidance, Zhou Can stood to gain a tremendous advantage in competing for the Director’s seat in the future.

“I’ll definitely give it serious thought. I’m still clueless about management, so I hope both Directors will continue to guide me. I’ll always remember the kindness you’ve shown me.” Zhou Can was already known in the hospital for his loyalty and gratitude.

His promise to remember their kindness carried significant weight.

It brought genuine smiles to the faces of both Vice-Directors.

Despite their current high positions, they knew that once they retired, their influence would quickly fade.

Building a bond with a promising talent like Zhou Can now meant that if they ever needed help in the future, he’d likely step in to lend a hand, remembering their past support.

“Director Bai, I think Zhou Can is a genuinely solid young man. How about we help him out a bit more? What do you think of arranging a part-time role for him in the Quality Control Office?”

The Quality Control Office operates under a team leader system, typically headed by a Vice-Director in charge, with members including the Medical Department Head, Department Heads from various units, and experts.

Many medical staff believe the Infection Control Office holds immense power, but that’s only because the Quality Control Office rarely intervenes directly.

In terms of actual authority, the Infection Control Office often just uses minor issues to make a big fuss.

When it comes to wielding power, they tend to stretch their limited influence to harass others.

“I’m afraid that proposal might not be very feasible. Zhou Can’s lack of experience, academic credentials, position, and title leaves little to justify his placement there. If we force him in, he’s likely to face exclusion and struggle to gain respect. It could end up having the opposite effect.”

Deputy Director Bai seemed quite hesitant about this suggestion.

After all, he currently oversees quality control himself.

He’s not in full charge, just supervising.

The person truly responsible is the newly appointed Hospital Assistant.

Quality control is one of the hospital’s core management areas, typically kept under the Director’s direct control.

With the Director swamped by countless duties, the task is often delegated to one of the Hospital Assistants.

Tuyu Hospital hasn’t yet implemented management reforms and still follows the old system.

Currently, there’s only one Hospital Assistant, who essentially monopolizes the role.

Once reforms are enacted and the number of Hospital Assistants rises to three or four, power will be distributed, significantly diluting their individual authority. It’s a more balanced and democratic approach.

More democratic, more scientific.

Though Hospital Assistant Qin appears polite and welcoming when meeting Zhou Can, always greeting him with a smile, Zhou Can knows this is a sign of distance, not closeness.

The more courteous the interaction, the greater the gap between them.

Even with couples, ‘mutual respect as if guests’ was a compliment in ancient times, but in modern days, it’s often a red flag.

Many young or middle-aged couples who maintain such formal politeness end up divorced.

Why?

If you have to respectfully ask your own spouse, ‘May I hold you while we sleep?’ isn’t that just absurd?

Couples or lovers with genuine affection might bicker and squabble, but their bond is real. Every compromise during a fight, whether by one side or both, is a step toward mutual understanding.

Deputy Director Bai currently serves as the deputy head of the Quality Control Office. He’s not afraid of Hospital Assistant Qin, but he must adhere to proper protocol.

Their relationship is one of mutual oversight and balance.

“Zhou Can has been working at the hospital for five or six years now, hasn’t he? That’s not a short time. If it weren’t for his academic credentials holding him back, he’d have secured a position long ago. How about this—I’ll talk to Lou Jingshan from the Emergency Department and ask him to arrange a Deputy Team Leader role for Zhou Can. There’s still plenty of time before he could join the Quality Control Office. By then, his postgraduate studies will be settled, upgrading his credentials from undergraduate to in-service postgraduate. With the Deputy Team Leader title in the Emergency Department Operating Room, plus his outstanding surgical skills and achievements, he should qualify for the Quality Control Office.”

Deputy Director Ye racked his brain to pave the way for Zhou Can.

Having a key leader who valued him so highly was truly Zhou Can’s good fortune.

Many view in-service postgraduate credentials as a bit of a shortcut.

Heh, that’s just how the world works. Black cat or white cat, as long as it catches mice, it’s a good cat.

Some people have talent and strong skills but lack academic aptitude, or they’re older and missed out on higher education due to limited resources back in the day. An undergraduate degree can feel outdated in such cases.

What to do?

Some brilliant leader came up with the concept of in-service postgraduate credentials.

It sounds prestigious, almost on par with a full postgraduate degree.

In practice, it does rank notably higher than an undergraduate degree.

This way, when leaders compete for key positions, their publicly listed credentials don’t stand out as a glaring weakness.

With Zhou Can securing a postgraduate spot through a part-work, part-study program, he unexpectedly found himself with in-service postgraduate credentials as well.

Of course, unlike older leaders, he’s on a different path. Barring surprises, he’ll at least graduate with a master’s degree.

If he gets the chance to study abroad in the future, even a doctorate isn’t out of reach.

Deputy Director Bai pondered for just a moment before giving his approval.

“This arrangement should minimize resistance. It’s at least worth a try.”

He essentially agreed to the plan.

Zhou Can expressed his heartfelt gratitude to both Vice-Directors.

…

Just two days later, Zhou Can was called into Director Lou’s office for a talk.

The conversation was straightforward. Director Lou first praised Zhou Can, noting his diligent and commendable work in the Emergency Department Operating Room over the years. After careful evaluation, the department concluded that he was fully capable of taking on the role of Deputy Team Leader in the Operating Room.

Currently, the Operating Room’s Team Leader is Dr. Xu.

He’s also the de facto person in charge.

Zhou Can’s promotion to Deputy Team Leader was seen as a popular and well-deserved move.

Not just in the Emergency Department—even in Cardiothoracic Surgery, if Zhou Can were appointed Team Leader, few would object. Most veteran staff would likely support it.

As Deputy Director Ye had pointed out, Zhou Can’s main shortfall was his academic credentials.

Zhou Can expressed his gratitude to Director Lou for the promotion and support, gladly accepting the Deputy Team Leader role.

In his heart, he couldn’t help but marvel at the influence of a Vice-Director.

Just two days after Deputy Director Ye mentioned discussing the matter with Director Lou, the appointment as Deputy Team Leader had already been finalized.