Chapter 257 233: Human Life Is Worth a Thousand Gold

Xu Changshan sighed, "It's a pity that now the Western influence has overshadowed the Eastern ways. Even we don't know how to cherish our ancestors' creations. I don't know when it started, but people began to say Chinese medicine is outdated, useless, and lacks scientific basis. They claim that practitioners of Chinese medicine are just quacks in the Jianghu, deceiving people everywhere. These people fundamentally don't understand Chinese medicine. The 'Suwen • Baoming Quanxing Lun' begins by stating: 'The heavens cover, the earth supports, all things are prepared, nothing is more valuable than mankind!' The 'Qianjin Yaofang' proposes: 'Human life is of utmost importance, worth a thousand pieces of gold.' The so-called Western humanitarianism, the so-called medical ethics, written lavishly into volumes, cannot compare to the essence distilled by our ancestors in one sentence."Elder Qiao laughed, "Yes, Mr. Xu, and precisely because of that, it is even more essential for you to promote and expand Chinese medicine domestically, let our traditional medicine bloom everywhere, so that people can see for themselves whether Chinese or Western medicine is stronger."

Xu Changshan said, "There is no definitive conclusion about the strengths and weaknesses of Chinese versus Western medicine. Personally, I don't think it's necessary to praise one and belittle the other. Each has its strengths, and we should combine the strengths of both."

Elder Qiao nodded.

Xu Changshan said, "Don't just listen to me talk, Elder Qiao, are you here in Dongzhou for a visit?"

Elder Qiao laughed, "A visit? Maybe so, and to see a few friends along the way. What's fun in Dongzhou?"

Xu Changshan said, "Historically, Dongzhou has been a strategic place for military contention. In the past, due to the Yellow River changing course, the old city was flooded several times, so good things were either destroyed in war or buried underground. I think Han Tomb is still worth seeing."

Elder Qiao said, "I heard Weishan Lake is nice."

Xu Changshan said, "I haven't been there for a few years, but my grandson is currently working on Weishan Island."

"Really?"

Mentioning his grandson made Xu Changshan beam with joy, "You met him yesterday. Despite his young age, he's already the director of Weishan Island Hospital."

Elder Qiao praised, "Truly young and promising."

"Isn't he?"

"Which university did he graduate from?"

Xu Changshan was stumped by the question, thought for a moment, and said, "My grandson doesn't like academics. I had him learn some Chinese medicine from me, so his academic qualifications are a bit lacking."

Elder Qiao said, "Academic qualifications don't represent everything. I've seen many people with high scores and low abilities."

Xu Changshan felt an increasing affinity with Elder Qiao, "I used to think young people should at least get a degree, but now my views have completely changed. Take my grandson, for example. Even though he doesn't have a university degree, his abilities are in no way inferior to graduates from prestigious universities. He is filial, responsible, and has excellent calligraphy skills."

"Oh? Do you have any of his works for me to admire?"

Xu Changshan, while modest and low-key all his life, took pride in his grandson and wanted the world to know of his abilities. He immediately invited Elder Qiao to his study, and Elder Qiao was impressed by his collection of books.

Many calligraphy works were hung on the wall, all written by the grandfather and grandson duo. One piece, "The Song of Ascending Youzhou's Platform," caught Elder Qiao's interest.

None before me, none after me.

As I ponder the boundless universe, I am alone with my tears.

Seeing that the inscription was by Xu Chunliang, Elder Qiao's deep-set eyes shone brightly. The calligraphy was dynamic yet elegant, gracefully composed, refined and simple, with motion within stillness. Upon closer look, the brush strokes varied profoundly, naturally composed, making it an exceptional piece of running script.

Although there were also many of Xu Changshan's calligraphy works around, after seeing Xu Chunliang's running script, other works failed to hold Elder Qiao's interest. It wasn't that Xu Changshan's work was bad, but that Xu Chunliang's was exceptionally good.

Xu Changshan, seeing Elder Qiao linger in front of the piece, knew he liked it and said with a smile, "If Elder Qiao likes it, I'll gift this piece to you."

Elder Qiao replied, "That's too generous, a gentleman does not take what others cherish."

Xu Changshan said, "This is a doodle my grandson casually made. Honestly, he threw it aside, and I thought it was decent, so I framed it myself. If you like it, please take it."

Elder Qiao joyfully said, "Then I'll gratefully accept it. By the way, when will your grandson return?"

"He went to work on Weishan Island, and this time he'll probably return by the weekend."

Xu Chunliang was sitting in his office, browsing news from Changxing. The collective protest of Changxing's medical staff had caused a sensational effect. The city had sent a task force to Changxing because of this matter, reportedly at the request of Director Zhao Feiyang himself. The advantage of doing so was to show the city that there were no corruption issues as others claimed. He wasn't afraid to be investigated, as this investigation could just prove his innocence.

He also did not request an investigation of only himself, but also a comprehensive investigation of Changxing's leadership. Just because he was clean did not mean the entire leadership team at Changxing was.

Lu Qi called, trying to find out about the situation in Changxing. He was actually asking on behalf of the Deputy Director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Yu Mo. After all, he and Yu Li were already at the stage of talking about marriage, and Yu Mo was his future sister-in-law. The restructuring of Changxing concerned every employee.

Xu Chunliang didn't know the specific situation inside Changxing. As a branch hospital's director, he wasn't the director of the headquarters, and he was now at the Weishan Lake Branch, far from where the drama unfolded. No one informed him about the commotion at the headquarters, nor did anyone include him in their plans.

Receiving Lu Qi's call, he guessed the reason. Xu Chunliang looked at the photos and found Yu Mo in the front row of the protest. He didn't expect Yu Mo to be so radical about this matter.

Xu Chunliang said, "Did Deputy Director Yu also join the protest?"

"Yes!" Lu Qi found this matter somewhat troublesome. Yu Mo had also signed the protest, following others impulsively, though Zhao Feiyang was quite good to her.

After participating, Yu Mo regretted it. Initially, they said all department heads and deputies would join, but when they arrived at the scene, she found that she was the only deputy director from Obstetrics and Gynecology. Yu Mo felt she was being used as a pawn.

Now the task force had settled in Changxing and was interviewing every employee involved in the protest, focusing on department and deputy directors. If Zhao Feiyang's misconduct was discovered, it might even result in his removal, halting the restructuring.

Lu Qi had specifically consulted his elder brother, Lu Ming, about this issue. Lu Ming told him that these medical staff were thinking too simply. They only saw the surface and didn't realize that the decision to reform the public hospital was not made by Zhao Feiyang. At most, he was a proposer and executor; the decision-makers were higher up.

In other words, regardless of whether Zhao Feiyang was found guilty of any issues or if he continued as the director of Changxing, the hospital's restructuring would proceed.

If no problems were found, these medical staff would be seen as disrupting the normal medical order and creating negative social impacts, and they would have to bear responsibility for that.

After Lu Qi relayed his brother's analysis to Yu Mo, she became anxious and asked Lu Qi to help find out what would ultimately happen with this matter and whether she would face suppression because of it in the future.

Xu Chunliang asked Lu Qi about the Seven Star Bar case. Lu Qi told him that the DJ bitten by the spider had been treated and discharged, and they had now found some clues, completely clearing Xu Chunliang of any suspicion.

At that moment, Secretary Tan Haiyan came to see him. Xu Chunliang hung up the phone and greeted her to sit.

Tan Haiyan said, "I won't sit. I just received a notification from the hospital to attend an emergency meeting. I'm here to inform you and then I need to head back."

Xu Chunliang nodded. The notification was about an emergency meeting in the hospital this afternoon, requiring attendance from all department heads and deputy heads, team leaders, and all administrative staff above deputy section level.

Although Xu Chunliang was an internally appointed deputy section level, he was, after all, the person in charge of a branch, and this time he was also notified personally.

Xu Chunliang realized that attending this meeting was not going to be pleasant. Most likely, they would ask him to express his stance. Since the situation was still unclear, he was reluctant to involve himself in the turmoil, so he decided to stay put, believing that distancing himself from trouble was the best strategy.

Xu Chunliang urged Tan Haiyan to return promptly. He needed to stay behind to manage the situation; they couldn't both leave. Once Tan Haiyan finished attending the meeting, she could convey its spirit.

Tan Haiyan nodded and asked him to inform Zhang Haitao, saying she was in a hurry and needed Zhang Haitao to drive her.

Only then did Xu Chunliang understand her main reason for coming to him. Zhang Haitao now only listened to him; usually, when deploying vehicles, unless he spoke up, no one could instruct him, and Tan Haiyan was not exempt.

Xu Chunliang called Zhang Haitao, asking him to immediately take Tan Haiyan to the pier, and Zhang Haitao agreed to do so right away.

Just after Tan Haiyan left, Wang Xiaofeng from orthopedics came to find Xu Chunliang, secretly informing him that several old directors were planning to prepare a banner supporting the protest action at Changxing Headquarters and intended to hold a silent demonstration in front of the emergency building at noon when work ended.

Upon hearing this, Xu Chunliang realized he couldn't take this matter lightly. Initially, he thought the situation at Changxing Headquarters was unrelated to this branch, but he didn't expect that such actions would be emulated, with branch staff also wanting to protest. This was only going to complicate things for him.

Luckily, he had the foresight. If he had returned to the headquarters with Tan Haiyan for the meeting, there would be no one to stop this from happening. If the headquarters were in a meeting while the branch started protesting, Zhao Feiyang would undoubtedly hold him accountable, but this incident also justified his decision not to attend the meeting.

Xu Chunliang found out that the protest was being organized by the same core members who had protested at the town government in the past: Internal Medicine Director Zhao Hongda, Gynecology Director Luo Chunmei, and Liu Fugui, who was in charge of the medical office. It was crucial to take down the leaders first, and Xu Chunliang decided to start with the head of the medical office, Liu Fugui.

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