Chapter 587: A Seat at the Heart of Quality Control

Let’s talk about why Assistant Director Qin was so adamant about blocking Zhou Can from joining the Quality Control Department. It’s not just that there’s only one spot open—what really matters is that Qin wanted to save this valuable position for a young chief physician from Neurosurgery.

Everyone here is an adult, so it’s not purely about talent. Assistant Qin’s desire to back that person isn’t just because he’s brilliant.

It’s also because this Chief Physician Nong has a much closer relationship with Assistant Qin.

From what Zhou Can heard, Director Nong is actually Assistant Qin’s brother-in-law—his wife’s younger brother.

Assistant Qin’s wife comes from a pretty complicated family. Her father’s a hugely successful businessman with assets in the hundreds of millions. Typical story—once a man gets rich, he gets into trouble.

The very first thing her father did after making his fortune was divorce his wife and marry his young and beautiful secretary.

Even though he’s a renowned flirt, the old man truly loves his kids.

Raising his daughter to adulthood is proof enough of that.

Not long after remarrying, he had a son—that’s Director Nong.

Whatever else you say about him, he knew how to raise his children and wasn’t stingy about it. One son, one daughter—both accomplished.

With only one opening in Quality Control and Assistant Qin heading the selection committee, it’s only natural he would use his power to reserve it for the brother-in-law.

That’s the real reason Zhou Can’s been kept out.

But this time, Zhou Can helped push surgery standards in the Emergency Department up a notch, and that progress is still continuing, which drew strong praise from Director Zhu. It also unexpectedly broke the deadlock that was holding Zhou Can back.

Director Zhu personally put out word that Zhou Can would be given more responsibility. That definitely won’t be some average assignment.

At the very least, it’ll be a post that carries real weight.

Given how sharp Director Zhu is, he’s surely aware both Deputy Directors have been lobbying hard for Zhou Can to join Quality Control. But as the hospital director, the boss of the whole place, he’d never make a rash statement.

After all, Assistant Qin is his right-hand man.

He wouldn’t want to upset Assistant Qin just to help Zhou Can. That’s not in Director Zhu’s interest.

So the matter’s been on hold.

Now that Zhou Can has made a major contribution by raising surgery quality, Director Zhu decided talent comes first and stepped in to help.

A director with such grand ambitions naturally wants the hospital to keep getting stronger.

That means the selection and promotion of talent has to be strictly managed—family ties can’t be allowed to mess it up.

If Assistant Qin bends the rules a little to help his brother-in-law, Director Zhu will just look the other way.

But for such a key position, only the best will do.

Director Nong is certainly capable, but his family connection does play a part, and compared to Zhou Can, the gap is obvious.

Zhou Can showed out-and-out management talent in the Emergency Department, prompting Director Zhu to step in personally.

……

On the afternoon of the day Director Lou called Zhou Can in for a talk, he received word—he was to report to the director’s office.

It’s worth mentioning: the director’s office and the hospital’s administration office are different places.

The director’s office is mainly where the hospital director works.

In many major hospitals, the director’s office is just for the director alone. Right nearby is often the assistant directors’ office, their team bustling. If anything needs doing, the director either goes over in person or makes a call.

The administration office is run by the head of administration and their staff.

No matter if it’s an assistant director or the head of admin, they all work under the director.

Strictly speaking, assistant directors outrank admin heads by half a level.

But in terms of real power, the head of admin wields plenty.

Just look at how Director Fang from admin used to keep Director Xie from Surgery firmly under his thumb.

Zhou Can knocked and entered the director’s office, finding quite a few staff absorbed in their work.

The hospital’s administrative staff aren’t as relaxed as people think.

Especially in a huge hospital like Tuyu, with thousands—or even tens of thousands—of employees, managing and coordinating is a herculean task. They also have to oversee every aspect of the hospital’s development and manage relationships with a plethora of departments and organizations.

Hospital admin work is more exhausting than most people imagine.

Negotiating with regulators and important social sectors requires real administrative experience. If you send a doctor or nurse—someone used to surgery and research—after these challenges, they’re bound to get nowhere.

Chances are the hospital faces three or four waves of inspections a day.

First the fire inspectors, then the drug regulators, then the health bureau comes by after that…

Because admin staff oversee doctors and nurses, punishments and criticisms often land on the medical staff. That’s why most doctors resent administration.

Truth is, there are two sides to every story.

Some admin managers and staff throw their weight around, giving pointless orders or bullying doctors and nurses—that’s infuriating. Sure, it’s the medical team who bring in the revenue, but try running a hospital without administrators—it would be chaos.

Without admin, management would fall apart, and when dealing with regulators and outside agencies, the hospital would look hopelessly weak.

Even one medical dispute can leave doctors and nurses panicking, not knowing what to do.

One inspection from the authorities could mean the hospital gets fined so badly it really hurts.

Take medical disputes—send over a trained agent from the Medical Department, and even a major conflict can be settled. That’s why professionals handle professional problems.

Everyone has their area of expertise.

“Good afternoon, Assistant Director Qin!”

Zhou Can walked over and greeted him politely.

“There you are! Have a seat!”

Assistant Qin looked up with a greeting, then finished reviewing the file in his hands, put it aside, and finally turned to Zhou Can.

Compared to his last, enthusiastic welcome, his attitude was noticeably cooler this time.

Zhou Can understood; after all, he’d just taken the spot that Qin wanted to leave for his brother-in-law. No wonder Assistant Qin wasn’t thrilled.

“Dr. Zhou, you’re young and capable—very impressive!”

Assistant Qin’s sudden compliment took Zhou Can by surprise.

“You flatter me!”

He offered the safest, most neutral response and stayed on guard.

“Haha, young people are always so humble. I hear that surgery standards in the Emergency Department have really jumped over the past month, and the whole department’s quality of care went up with it. That’s all thanks to you. I never expected you’d be so skilled at surgery and management both!”

Assistant Qin didn’t stop piling on the praise.

The issue of Zhou Can joining the Quality Control Department had been stalled by Assistant Qin for ages, and both men knew it.

Every time Zhou Can tried to reach out one way or another, Qin could see right through his intentions.

Qin thought that if he simply avoided Zhou Can, he’d have no chance to ask for favors, and that way, he could block him from joining Quality Control.

He didn’t count on Zhou Can taking another path—breaking through his blockade with merit.

So while Assistant Qin was displeased, he couldn’t help but respect Zhou Can a little more.

Anyone who shows this much smarts early on will likely go far later.

“It’s all due to Director Lou and Dr. Xu’s strong leadership. I’d never dare take all the credit.”

Zhou Can wasn’t about to fall for being flattered into a trap.

He kept his reply cautious.

“No need to be nervous. The reason I called you here is to follow Director Zhu’s guidance and give you a bigger challenge. Our hospital has always followed fair promotion practices. Even if your education and seniority are a little lacking, your abilities stand out, and the hospital has noticed. So, we’ve decided to give you a new opportunity to grow.”

Qin waved his hand, smiling, signaling that Zhou Can could relax.

“Thank you for trusting me, Assistant Director Qin! And my thanks to the hospital for cultivating me!”

Zhou Can thanked him directly.

He didn’t even wait for Qin to announce his new role before expressing his gratitude.

It wasn’t impatience—it was smart.

Set the stage for your benefactor, then go from there.

“I know a bit about Emergency’s struggles. Surgery quality has been worrying for the past six months, and the rate of follow-up passing is much lower than other top departments. That’s why I pushed Quality Control to be stricter, but it didn’t do much good. Looks like self-management is the real key.”

Rather than announce Zhou Can’s new position, Assistant Qin started venting his frustrations.

It made sense.

Zhou Can had snatched the spot meant for Qin’s brother-in-law, and that was bound to annoy him.

Despite all of Qin’s efforts to improve Emergency’s surgery standards, the department didn’t cooperate, making his own efforts in Quality Control look weak. That, in turn, made his competence seem questionable to the top brass.

Now, this nobody Zhou Can comes along and actually pulls off a turnaround—raising the department’s quality by a huge margin. Didn’t that put Assistant Qin to shame?

A perfect storm of reasons for Qin to be resentful and Zhou Can to shine. So it’s understandable that Qin wanted to get some complaints out first.

“Self-management”—those words were Qin giving himself an out.

“The hospital’s grown rapidly these last few years and seen real progress. But we still have plenty of challenges—some old, some new. Medical quality is always top priority. Quality Control is responsible for that, and we need people like you on the team. So, how about it—are you interested in joining the Quality Control Department?”

After venting, Assistant Qin got straight to the point.

When he asked Zhou Can’s opinion, there was a sly glint in his eyes.

Usually, asking for input is just a formality.

No one actually says no.

Maybe they’ll put on a little humility—thank the leaders, express doubts about their own ability, that sort of thing.

Spotting that sly glint, Zhou Can set aside his usual modesty.

No polite refusals.

He responded sincerely: “Thank you, Assistant Director Qin, for giving me this chance. Being able to contribute to the hospital’s growth is every employee’s duty. I gladly accept. If I do anything poorly, please let me know.”

Don’t be fooled by his age—when it comes to talking, Zhou Can can hold his own with the most seasoned veterans.

Push came to shove, and he lost out to no one.

Qin seemed a little disappointed when Zhou Can didn’t follow the usual script and decline.

But the disappointment flickered in his eyes for only a moment.

See, if Zhou Can had taken the usual route—saying things like “I’m not worthy,” or “I’m afraid I’ll let you down”—Qin would probably have said, “You make a good point.”

Then he’d say, no rush, why not get some more experience first, and add responsibility later.

That way, even if Director Zhu pushed back, Qin could answer easily.

It’s not that I’m denying Zhou Can a chance—it’s that the young man himself feels he needs to grow more.

Unfortunately for Qin, Zhou Can saw through the little trick and didn’t play along.

You have to admit, Assistant Qin is a clever operator.

But once it was clear nothing would stop Zhou Can from joining Quality Control, he set aside any negative feelings.

He smiled and said, “Welcome to the Medical Quality Control Department. By procedure, every new member starts from the bottom. You’ll be a regular member in the First Group. I’m the group leader—if you have any ideas, bring them to me anytime. And if you have questions, let me know right away.”

So that’s why Qin guarded this vacancy so closely—it was for the First Group of the Quality Control Department.

If his brother-in-law had landed that spot, helping him rack up achievements would have been child’s play.

There are five groups in total under Quality Control, though back in the day, an incident with Dr. Xu led to the Third Group being wiped out.

And by “wiped out,” it means dissolved—no one was actually hurt.

That incident with Dr. Xu caused a lot of collateral damage.

Not only was Dr. Xu’s own department shut down, but the supervising Third Group of Quality Control got disbanded as well.

Shows just how severe that storm was.

Even today, many hospital leaders won’t talk about it—it’s still taboo.

So now Quality Control has only four groups. The First Group leader is always the Quality Control Department head.

And the Quality Control head is always either the hospital director or assistant director themselves.

You can guess how important the First Group is.

Even though Zhou Can is just a basic member there, he’s now in the core team—a definite step above members of the other groups.

His influence will be greater too.

It’s a bit like being a eunuch close to the emperor—

They might get mocked, but no one dared question their power. Even top officials had to treat them with respect.

If Zhou Can sees any issues at work, he can report to Assistant Qin directly. That privilege alone gives him tremendous sway.

It’s what they call an “overflow of power.”

Not so different from borrowing the tiger’s authority, really.

“Everyone’s busy today. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the First Group at a future meeting. Your new post will be officially announced to the whole hospital tomorrow.”

Assistant Qin continued.

“Understood!”

Zhou Can nodded obediently.

“Let me explain what the Quality Control members actually do. There are four groups, each responsible for monitoring the medical quality of different departments and fields. If something goes wrong, whoever’s in charge bears responsibility.”