When Cheng Liquan received a call from Zhu Cheng, he was on his way back to the hospital. He hadn’t seen Zhu Cheng for a long ti and felt quite excited.
Back then, he was in his thirties. Together with Tian Yuan and Zhu Cheng, they were part of a group sent by the province to the United States for further training at Hopkins. The three of them shared a dormitory, talking about everything, and built a deep friendship.
Zhu Cheng’s matter had always been a knot in his heart. At that ti, he couldn’t help at all, could only watch helplessly as Zhu Cheng was destroyed. Whenever he saw Zhu Cheng after Zhu Cheng left his job, he always felt very guilty.
Heading south from the Nandu City Center, after about an hour’s drive, a new area surrounded by gardens and low-density modern buildings gradually ca into view.
There were no walls, only artfully arranged hedges and trickling water features that naturally separated the area. At the entrance, the words "Liquan International dical Center" glead in a gentle matte finish on the streamlined sign wall.
The park area adopted a "petal style" layout. At the center was a giant circular sunlit atrium, covered by a transparent climate do, remaining evergreen all year round, with trickling water, serving as the core public space for patient rest and rehabilitation activities. Surrounding the atrium, five elegant "petal" buildings spread out gracefully, connected to the atrium through transparent sky corridors, each carrying different core functions: outpatient, inpatient internal dicine, inpatient surgery, administration, dical technology support, and more.
No building was taller than twelve stories, but the horizontally extended streamlined design made it appear expansive and imposing. The exterior was a combination of specially made light gray ceramic panels and glass curtain walls, modern in form yet exuding Oriental stability. The rooftops of each "petal" featured interspersed sky gardens, echoing the greenery of the atrium. The entire park seed less like a hospital and more like a serene, advanced, humanistic life science park.
Cheng Liquan’s car, a dark gray Maybach S680, drove into the exclusive underground passage, stopping in the director’s exclusive area. Cheng Liquan got out, a man in his forties, upright in posture, his well-tailored dark blue cashre suit accentuating his extraordinary air. Dean Cai and several core managent mbers were already waiting there.
"Chairman Cheng, the Mayo delegation has arrived at the International Exchange Center. The briefing is expected to start in thirty minutes. The itinerary for the Tokyo University dical Departnt delegation remains at three in the afternoon. President Huang from Ruixing dical requested to et with you at four-thirty to discuss the final equipnt plan for the System Regulation Comprehensive Demonstration Center," Dean Cai reported steadily.
"You handle Mayo’s briefing using the panoramic presentation room. I’ll just observe from the side. The Tokyo exchange will proceed as planned; have Dean Wang (the Vice Dean in charge of research) manage it. I’ll personally negotiate with President Huang, in my office," Cheng Liquan instructed while walking towards the exclusive elevator, his steps steady.
The elevator reached the top floor where the administrative office area was located. It wasn’t a "luxurious top-floor office" in the traditional sense, but rather a composite space that integrates office, eting, small academic salon, and viewing functions. Cheng Liquan’s office occupied one corner, with three sides of floor-to-ceiling windows offering superb views. The interior was of modern minimalist style, yet detailed with taste: Italian Minotti sofas, a German Nimbus lighting system, and a high-definition reproduction of the Southern Song Li Tang’s "Village Doctor Picture" hanging on the wall, a subtle dialogue between ancient and modern dicine.
The desk was made from a whole piece of African teak, and aside from necessary office equipnt, the most striking item was a slightly old but polished surgical scissors displayed on a crystal base—the only "souvenir" he took when he left the Provincial People’s Hospital, also symbolizing the starting point of the Liquan dical kingdom.
Cheng Liquan didn’t imdiately sit down; instead, he walked to the window. The entire "petal style" park spread out before him. In the atrium, patients accompanied by physiotherapists conducted walking training, while family mbers conversed quietly at a coffee corner; healthcare personnel walked calmly along the sky corridors.
Further in the distance, there were supporting facilities such as international doctor apartnts, a family service hotel, and the finishing touches on the stand-alone "System Regulation dical Demonstration Center." The traffic flow design, functional layout, and environntal creation of the entire park had been ticulously considered by top international design firms, achieving an ultimate balance of dical efficiency, patient experience, and staff well-being.
His gaze grew distant, his thoughts drifting back to ten years ago.
Back then, he was still a deputy chief physician of orthopedics at the Provincial People’s Hospital, technically proficient, straightforward, and intolerant of sand in his eyes.
When Zhu Cheng’s incident occurred, he was righteously indignant. He knew Zhu Cheng; he was absolutely a good doctor, responsible to patients and technically excellent. The nonsensical report was clearly a malicious fra-up! Why could a maliciously slandering article be published openly without anyone being held accountable, why?
What disheartened him even more was the attitude of the hospital leadership, who, instead of uncovering the truth to protect the doctors, chose to sacrifice Zhu Cheng in the na of "calming public opinion," forcing him to resign. Why should a good doctor be sacrificed for a slandering article? Why?
He stord into the dean’s office, questioning face to face.
The dean hemd and hawed, evading direct answers, talking about "the bigger picture," "individuals must obey the organization," "trust the organization to handle it appropriately." Cheng Liquan’s temper flared up, that inherent Chaoshan blood and righteousness ignoring everything else, slapped the dean’s face several tis.
"This bigger picture lets good people suffer wrongs, and petty people gloat? You, as the dean, can’t tell right from wrong, black from white? I’m quitting this doctor job!"
He slamd the door and left without even writing a resignation letter. He took with him only the surgical scissors he had bought for practice during his internship and a belly full of suffocating grievances with nowhere to vent.
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