Chapter 517: Chapter 518: Pick It Up
Qian Yu was quite adept at securing positions for himself; by his thirties, he had become a Section Chief at the provincial Health Bureau, which was certainly a respectable career trajectory.
However, this man was rather greedy. He never visited a hospital without skimming some perks for himself. This time, his duty was to escort two foreign experts, which genuinely offered no chance for personal gain, and that irritated him a lot.
He Wenbai constantly praised Mr. Song, and Qian Yu had assumed he was speaking of an elderly practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, at least in his fifties or sixties. But upon seeing that Song was merely in his twenties, the idea of exploiting him sprung to mind effortlessly.
He Wenbai immediately said, "Indeed, Mr. Song holds an exceptionally high standard in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine."
Qian Yu snorted and said, "Are you trying to fool me with ignorance? To master Traditional Chinese Medicine takes many years of accumulation. To become a truly skilled practitioner requires more than twenty years of experience. To claim that someone in their twenties is highly skilled in medicine, and even allowing him access to the laboratoryâdo you intend to use this as a pretext to siphon off research funding?"
This accusation was quite severe. The faces of Chen Qing and He Wenyuan changed instantly. He Wenbai glared and said, "Section Chief Qian, I, He Wenbai, am upright and honest. The level of Mr. Songâs medical skill is well known to many in our hospital."
Qian Yu sarcastically remarked, "Well known, is it? That must be true. With one as the dean and the other as vice dean, you completely control the narrative here. Whomever you say is skilled, is skilled, and who in the hospital would dare to disagree?"
The expressions of the two deans, He Wenbai and Chen Qing, grew even more unhappy. Chen Qing gestured for silence, restraining He Wenbai from speaking further. He Wenbai was professionally trained, and thus not as adept with personal and administrative interactions as Chen Qing.
"Section Chief Qian, letâs discuss this matter later in our office. For now, letâs first settle the experts into their laboratory," Chen Qing suggested.
Qian Yu snorted again and said, "Since Iâve noticed this, I will certainly handle it. I wonât let you waste research funds like this anymore. However, since there are foreign experts present, I will discuss this with you later."
Chen Qing sighed to himself, fully aware of Qian Yuâs character. Though Qian Yu spoke with righteous indignation, it all boiled down to money and personal benefits. As long as the money was right, he didnât care whether it was justifiable or not.
But on the other hand, since Song Xiaodong was not officially a doctor, He Wenbaiâs support for him did indeed raise some questions and gave Qian Yu a handle to use.
Upon entering the laboratory, the two foreigners immediately frowned; the place was filled with the strong scent of herbal medicine. While this was not an issue for Song Xiaodong and his associates, the foreign experts found it problematic.
"Mr. Qian, youâve turned your lab into this state? I canât conduct experiments or teach here; this is simply a desecration of medicine," a forty-something foreigner complained in stiff Chinese.
This shocked Qian Yu, who recognized the importance of handling foreign experts carefully; his responsibility was at stake. He quickly responded, "Mr. Xiang Te, I apologize. They are conducting research in Traditional Chinese Medicine. We will clean up immediately to your satisfaction."
Mr. Xiang Te replied unhappily, "These items must be removed, and their scent completely eradicated. The smell of formalin is far preferable to this."
"Yes, yes, we will clean up immediately," Qian Yu relieved, then casually grabbed a bundle of herbs from the workbench.
"Donât touch those!" He Wenbai immediately protested. Those herbs had been carefully categorized and arranged, and seeing Qian Yu handle them so carelessly was unbearable.
"Is it poisonous?" Qian Yu was startled and quickly threw it back onto the workbench.
"Itâs not poisonous, but we have spent a lot of effort categorizing them. Donât mess with it; let us handle it ourselves," He Wenbai explained.
"Itâs not poisonous? Then why the shouting? They are just some worthless herbs," Qian Yu, now annoyed, once again grabbed the bundle of herbs and threw it into the trash, shouting, "Did you hear me? Clean this place up immediately. A fine laboratory turned into a herbal stall; you are causing such a disturbance."
The faces of He Wenbai and Lin Suâer turned very ugly. Being so rudely treated after their diligent work was hard to bear.
"Pick that up!" Song Xiaodong who had been silent all this whileâhe was using the hospitalâs lab and did not wish to cause them troubleâbut Qian Yuâs attitude was unbearable, and now that he had thrown Songâs materials away, he finally erupted.
"Youâre asking me to pick that up?" Qian Yu tilted his head toward Song Xiaodong.
"Indeed," Song Xiaodong looked at him coldly.
"Young man, youâre very bold. Do you know who I am?"
Song Xiaodongâs expression grew colder as he said, "I donât care who you are. This is my material. You threw it away, so you must pick it up."
Seeing that the situation was escalating, Director Chen Qing quickly intervened, saying, "Mr. Song, let it go, letâs clean up later. Section Chief Qian is from the provincial Health Bureau," simultaneously reminding Song Xiaodong.
Puffing his chest with confidence in his own status, Qian Yu asked, "So, are you going to make me pick it up?"
Song Xiaodong stared at Qian Yu and slowly asked, "Are you going to pick it up?"
"Fuck!" Qian Yu had not expected Song Xiaodong to maintain such an attitude. He burst out angrily, "Director Chen, it turns out you do have a talent in your hospital. Well, this is indeed something I need to address."
The corner of Director Chen Qingâs mouth twitched as he replied, "Mr. Song is not from our hospital."
"Not from your hospital?" Qian Yu widened his eyes, incredulous, "Not from your hospital, yet you allow him to conduct research here? You really are bold. Young man, which hospital are you from? Iâd like to see which hospital has produced such a talent."
Song Xiaodong replied coolly, "Iâm not from any hospital."
"Not from a hospital? Then do you have a medical license?" Qian Yu asked almost out of habit.
"No," Song Xiaodong still fixed him with a cold stare.
"You donât have a medical license?" Qian Yu was taken aback, then his expression darkened, and a wave of official authority burst forth.