Chapter 645: A Shake-Up at Tuyu Hospital

The conference hall had fallen completely silent.

It was obvious that many clinical department chiefs and deputy chiefs were anything but happy about the Emergency Department trying to split off into several subspecialties.

But since Director Gao had already made his stance public, no one wanted to oppose him outright in front of everyone.

Sitting at the head of the table, Director Gao could easily sense the awkwardness in the air, but he had his own plans and didn’t seem the least bit bothered.

The meeting continued as they made decisions about several important hospital affairs.

Everything was put to a vote.

Director Gao had done a lot to prepare for this meeting—those efforts showed, even in small details.

“The last item: the hospital management structure will undergo a new adjustment, which everyone has just approved by vote. Let’s now discuss the addition of hospital assistants.”

As soon as Gao finished speaking, Hospital Assistant Qin’s face went pale.

So this whole meeting was essentially an elaborate setup by Director Gao to target him, hitting him over and over with pressure and splitting up his authority.

Maybe he’d seen this coming for a while.

Easy come, easy go. A new king means new ministers.

Just like in ancient times, whenever a new county magistrate arrived, he always brought his own staff. You never heard of a newcomer keeping the old clerk—he’d always use someone from his own circle.

Director Gao had parachuted into Tuyu Hospital with no roots or connections whatsoever.

All he really had was support from higher up.

To secure his position and truly take charge of management and personnel, he still had a long road ahead.

A hospital with over ten thousand employees… managing all those people was incredibly complex.

He could make things difficult for Assistant Qin, but he couldn’t just remove him directly.

Dismissing a hospital-level leader required jumping through multiple hoops. The hospital assistant wasn’t just the director’s secretarial aid—it was actually a high-ranking position.

But assistants were crucial when it came to stabilizing the director’s grip on power.

If the director was like an octopus, then the assistants were his tentacles.

First, he’d harshly criticized Assistant Qin in front of everyone, even ordering him to write a self-criticism. Now, with a proposal to create more assistant positions, the intention to sideline or split up Qin’s authority couldn’t be clearer.

“I especially referenced the organizational structures of top hospitals around the country and considered our reality as well. Raising the number of assistant positions to five would work best. They’ll help the vice-directors, department chiefs, and the director with managing medicine, logistics, HR, quality control, information construction and management, tender procurement, complaints, the medical affairs department, Outpatient Department, Pharmacy, IT, procurement office, and more.”

A clear move to dilute authority.

There was no doubt about it—this was a blatant power split.

Director Gao was shrewd. He knew winning over the other vice-directors and key department heads would take time, so he chose to carve up power instead.

Adding in four new assistants at once was enough to smash open a gap for himself in the hospital’s management hierarchy.

“I completely support Director Gao’s proposal. Adding these four new assistants isn’t just keeping up with the times—it’s what our hospital really needs. I back it with both hands!”

To everyone’s surprise, Director Lou was the first to jump up and voice his support.

Zhou Can was genuinely shocked—Lou sounded like a totally different person.

Was it really worth working this hard as Director Gao’s follower just to get more subspecialties for Emergency?

To put it bluntly, Lou’s actions might look like betrayal in the eyes of others—turncoat behavior.

Even if Emergency got its wish, splitting into more departments, their relationship with other units would get awkward. Was it really worth it?

Emergency was only making rapid progress thanks to Zhou Can’s aggressive surgeries and his team’s nonstop work on big operations, which brought in lots of revenue. Their rising critical care survival rates were also thanks to solid support from the other departments.

“Director Lou, you’re so proactive when it comes to building the hospital! That’s fantastic—a sign of true dedication and loyalty to Tuyu. You’re just the kind of person we need. In fact, for the new Emergency Department vice-director position, you seem highly qualified. Of course, that’s just my personal view—the final decision will follow official procedures, with all the medics in Emergency voting.”

Director Gao flashed a warm, encouraging look at Director Lou.

He fully acknowledged Lou’s enthusiasm.

And threw him a tempting offer along with it.

Soon, most of the people present started raising their hands for the next round of voting.

Four new assistant positions were created, though around 30% abstained.

Zhou Can didn’t raise his hand.

After all, he and Assistant Qin had worked together for quite some time.

Their relationship wasn’t bad, really.

Voting to expand the roster of hospital assistants felt like stabbing Qin in the back.

That was something Zhou just couldn’t bring himself to do.

“More than seventy percent have agreed to increase the assistant positions to five. Majority rules, so the proposal passes. We’ll announce the new assistant names in due course. If anyone has other recommendations, let the Director’s Office know.”

Having just pulled off several big moves, Director Gao looked to be in pretty good spirits.

He was all smiles.

“If there’s nothing else, let’s adjourn!”

With that, Director Gao stood and walked out.

He was the top dog—no one dared leave before he did.

A few staffers went over to greet him and exchange a few words.

Quite a few people crowded around.

Meanwhile, Zhou Can left the conference room and quickly caught up to the despondent Assistant Qin.

“Assistant Qin, how about I treat you to dinner tonight?”

Now that he was getting sidelined by the director, hardly anyone dared get close to Assistant Qin. Everyone kept their distance, scared that being seen around him might hurt their own prospects.

After all, everyone had seen how ruthless Director Gao could be.

No one wanted to be labeled as Qin’s ally and wind up getting caught in the crossfire.

Survival instincts ran strong in the workplace.

Back when Zhou got sidelined in Emergency for refusing to take the blame for Tuyu Affiliated Hospital No.2’s doctors, he’d been suspended for a day and immediately shunned by most of his colleagues.

“Thanks, man! But honestly, I’m like a pariah right now—anyone who gets close to me is just asking for trouble. Let’s take a rain check. Once things calm down, dinner’s on me.”

Right now Assistant Qin was being shunned by everyone. Only Zhou Can chose not to avoid him, even inviting him to dinner.

He was already in his forties or fifties, but that act of kindness still moved him almost to tears.

It’s easy to help someone when they’re on top—it takes real character to show up when they’re down.

It’s only during hard times that you see who’s real and who’s just faking it.

Instead of calling Zhou Can ‘Director Zhou,’ Assistant Qin now called him ‘brother.’

“A pariah? Please. Everyone has their ups and downs. I think there’s no such thing as a dead end—at worst it’s just a rough patch. Tonight’s the night for a good drink! Let’s go, I know a place with food you’ll love.”

Zhou led Assistant Qin straight into the elevator.

Qin was so overwhelmed with gratitude it was hard to put into words.

“Brother, back when you joined Quality Control, I gave you a hard time. Now I’ve fallen from grace and you’re the one who’s truly stood by me. Makes me realize I was wrong back then.”

His voice was rough with emotion.

Men tend to keep their feelings buried deep, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care.

“No point dwelling on the past! I know you tried to block me so your own relative could move up. Who wouldn’t help their own? That’s just human nature.”

Zhou drove Assistant Qin straight to his Mercedes.

To Assistant Qin, a car costing hundreds of thousands wasn’t exactly surprising.

After all, as a hospital-level leader, you could get one with a couple years of hard work.

Push your luck with a little extra ‘gray income,’ and you might have it within a year.

Just as the car pulled out of the hospital’s back gate, the phone rang.

“Zhou Can, there’s another level-four cardiac surgery tonight—don’t forget you promised to help!”

It was Director Xueyan from Cardiothoracic Surgery.

She had a firm grip on her department, and with her stellar performance, being promoted to vice-director was practically guaranteed this time.

“Sis Yan, tonight I really want to have a drink. Can we push the surgery till tomorrow, or maybe you can handle it with your team?”

Zhou was now at least the equal of Dr. Hu Kan when it came to surgical skill.

In fact, in many ways he’d even surpassed him.

Whenever there was a complicated surgery in Cardiothoracic, Zhou was the must-have help.

Sometimes, even if he just sat beside the operating table, everyone felt reassured.

He was the department’s guardian—their good luck charm in surgery.

With the car’s speaker on, Assistant Qin could hear the whole conversation.

Seeing Zhou willing to skip surgery just to keep him company hit him with another wave of gratitude.

“You never drink, Zhou—what’s going on?”

Director Xueyan had no idea what was happening on Zhou’s end.

Figuring he must be troubled by something, she asked with real concern.

“Ah, it’s nothing really. Assistant Qin is in the passenger seat. I’m driving, so talk later!”

Zhou hung up right after, not wanting Qin to notice how close he was with Director Xueyan.

Although the two were like family, outsiders could easily get the wrong idea.

To everyone else, their sibling-like closeness could be easily misunderstood.

“Brother, maybe you shouldn’t drink. You’re not like us admins—you do surgeries every day. Patients’ lives are on the line. If anything went wrong, your future would be ruined, and I’d be to blame.”

Assistant Qin tried to talk him out of it.

“Don’t worry. My tolerance isn’t great, but I can handle two drinks for you.”

“But what about your car? Drunk driving’s illegal.”

“I’ll call a driving service!”

“Right, I totally forgot about that.”

Assistant Qin gave a wry, self-mocking smile.

It was the first time he’d smiled since the meeting ended.

Zhou pulled into the parking lot of a Sichuan restaurant—Qin was from Sichuan province, after all, so that cuisine was guaranteed to suit him.

“You’re a thoughtful guy, Zhou!”

Qin couldn’t help but feel moved again.

He knew from that moment on, no matter what trouble Zhou faced, he’d be there to help—even if it meant doing the impossible.

No danger would make him back down.

Over dinner, Zhou made sure to order liquor and clinked glasses with Assistant Qin.

Alcohol is harmless until you start drinking.

But once you do, it can be hard to stop.

Ever since Director Gao had taken charge, Assistant Qin had been constantly suppressed at work, pushed down and pushed aside, weighing heavy on his mind.

And today, he’d been publicly targeted during the conference.

He couldn’t even push back—just had to grit his teeth and take it.

Once he started drinking tonight, there was no holding back.

Glass after glass—Zhou tried but couldn’t stop him.

By the time Zhou helped Assistant Qin out of the restaurant, he was completely wasted.

He had no choice but to get him a room at a nearby hotel.

Then Zhou used a driving service to get home himself.

……

Time sped by as Tuyu Hospital’s sweeping reforms went forward at full speed.

They reorganized the management, split departments, and even restructured the Pharmacology Department.

New vice-directors took over, and four new assistant directors stepped into their roles.

The Emergency Department’s split into subspecialties also went off smoothly and successfully.

But it was clear that after Director Lou threw his support behind Director Gao, many long-serving staff in the other departments were unhappy. Attitudes toward Emergency had chilled noticeably.

If Zhou Can weren’t still working—and serving as deputy director—in Emergency, the risk of that department being totally isolated would be sky-high.

Thanks to Zhou’s management, the Pharmaceutical Division—now Han Soul Pharmaceuticals—made huge strides with smart rules, clear rewards, and consequences. Their R&D kept churning out results.

A new liver-protecting herbal tonic exploded onto the health market, quickly becoming a hot seller and a breakout hit.

Medicines for breast nodules and bone fractures were already in clinical trials and doing well, but official sales would need at least another year or two for approval.

It would take time, but at least things were looking good so far.

Overall, under Zhou’s management, Han Soul Pharmaceuticals was gaining real momentum.

It might still be an unknown name today, but in three to five years it was bound to become a leading domestic producer of top-tier traditional Chinese medicine.

Meanwhile, Zhou kept up his studies and research in neurosurgery.

With help from Wu Baihe, his reputation in surgery was only growing.

His surgical skills improved by leaps and bounds.

The one thing that frustrated him was hitting a wall with the Fast Scalpel and Steady Scalpel techniques—stuck at the second level, without any break through.

If he could reach the third level, his surgical ability would leap from department chief to national top expert

But that next step was practically impossible.

Unlike Dr. Xu and Dr. Hu Kan, who each focused on just one scalpel technique—

Zhou practiced both at once, and even fusing the two was already a monumental feat. Breaking through to the third level was something else entirely.

If he could do it, though, he’d truly be one-of-a-kind—unprecedented and probably never to be matched.

Tuyu Hospital would then have the best ‘Scalpel’ in the country—maybe even the world.

For more than a year now, Zhou had rarely dealt with administrative work. All his energy went straight into clinical medicine.

Because of that, Director Gao stopped making things difficult for him.