"Promotion? What promotion?"
Chen Xiao was stunned. Good heavens, after not coming to work for so many days, he was lucky not to be fired by the hospital, let alone promoted!
Director Hao took a sip of water and spat out tea leaves, saying, "Song Anran has been gone for so long. You can't continue to waste time as her assistant. Not only are you wasting time, but you're also wasting your talent..."
Chen Xiao immediately understood what Director Hao meant.
Wasting talent? He meant to tie him down to the hospital.
It must be because he hadn't been coming to work lately, and Director Hao couldn't fire him, so he came up with this idea.
Then he heard Director Hao continue, "The position of Director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department has just become vacant. I think it's time to give you more responsibility. Young man, keep up the good work, I have high hopes for you!"
With that, Director Hao spat out another mouthful of tea leaves and waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright, go report for duty quickly. Don't waste my time here."
Chen Xiao was speechless again. What kind of talk was that? Wasting his time? As if he was eager to come!
However, to be honest, when Chen Xiao heard that he had become the Director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, he was a little excited.
After all, at one point, being able to work at Jiangcheng Hospital and become a department director was his lifelong dream!
Although it was a dream from a long time ago, and times had changed, a dream was still a dream. Whether it was new or old, achieving it would bring happiness!
It was like buying a game console that he couldn't afford as a child. When he grew up and finally had the money to buy it, even though he might no longer have the time or mood to play games, the satisfaction of buying the game console still brought him joy.
The current Chen Xiao was like that adult who bought the game console, with an irrepressible flutter and excitement in his heart.
This pleasant mood, this flutter and excitement, lasted until Chen Xiao walked into the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department.
When he discovered that there was only one person in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, that pleasantness, excitement, and flutter burst like a balloon soaring high into the sky.
Chen Xiao knew that traditional Chinese medicine had declined in this era, but he never imagined that the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of Jiangcheng Hospital would be so deserted.
In the spacious office, a young man in his early thirties was dozing at his desk.
Chen Xiao walked over and knocked on the man's desk.
Tap, tap, tap—
The man suddenly woke up, picked up his glasses, and looked at Chen Xiao blankly, "Who are you?"
"I'm Chen Xiao."
Chen Xiao's tone was very indifferent, "The new department director."
Chen Xiao naturally couldn't be enthusiastic towards someone who slept during work hours.
The man suddenly realized and became cautious, saying obsequiously, "So it's Director Chen, you're here, Director Chen, please have a seat!"
Chen Xiao frowned slightly, thinking, "I'm in my own department, why does it feel like I'm visiting?"
At this moment, the man slapped his forehead and said, "Look at me, Director Chen. I was so excited to see you that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jia Bing, and I've been in our Traditional Chinese Medicine Department for eight years."
Chen Xiao casually found a chair and sat down, asking, "Where is my office?"
Jia Bing said with embarrassment, "Director Chen, our Traditional Chinese Medicine Department hasn't had a director for three years, so the director's office has now become a storeroom. If you're not in a hurry, please wait. Give me half a day... no, a day and a half, and I'll definitely clear it out for you."
"Wait! You said our department hasn't had a director for how many years?"
Chen Xiao almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Three years, what's wrong, Director Chen?"
Jia Bing said with embarrassment.
Chen Xiao gritted his teeth, "Damn it, I've been tricked by that old man Director Hao again!"
Didn't he say it just became vacant recently? Good heavens, so three years ago was also considered recent?
Chen Xiao calmed down after a while. Fine, if you can't beat them, join them.
He looked at Jia Bing and asked, "So, besides you and me, there's no one else in our department?"
Hearing this, Jia Bing shook his head, "No, no, how could that be? With such a large department, how could it just be the two of us!"
Then Jia Bing introduced, "Besides the two of us, our Traditional Chinese Medicine Department has three other doctors."
"Then where are they?"
Chen Xiao couldn't help but frown. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning, and they still weren't at work. That was too unprofessional!
Someone forgot who had been skipping work for several days...
Jia Bing said with embarrassment, "The three of them haven't arrived yet... Sigh, forget it, Director Chen. I'll be frank with you, the three of them have their own businesses outside. They basically don't come much, and even if they do, it's in the afternoon, because they can eat at the cafeteria for free at noon."
Chen Xiao was furious upon hearing this, "This is outrageous! Is there no one to manage them? The Traditional Chinese Medicine Department has had no director for three years, so there's no vice-director either?"
Chen Xiao slammed the table. As soon as he became the director, his authority immediately kicked in.
Jia Bing smiled sheepishly, "Director Chen, you're right. Our Traditional Chinese Medicine Department actually has vice-directors, and three of them!"
Chen Xiao was instantly dumbfounded.
He asked tentatively, "The three vice-directors you're talking about, they aren't those three, are they?"
Jia Bing said with a wry smile, "That's right, Director Chen, you're truly brilliant, you guessed it right away!"
Chen Xiao: "..."
This was truly the epitome of speechless, a speechless mother giving birth to a speechless child, reaching the pinnacle of speechlessness!
Then Jia Bing continued,
"Director Chen, do you now understand why our Traditional Chinese Medicine Department has no director? Because after the old director retired, none of these three were willing to yield to each other. All three of them felt they were the most qualified to be the director."
"As they fought amongst themselves, in the end, none of them became the director. Moreover, with the declining status of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department in the entire hospital, the hospital was unwilling to intervene. So it remained vacant, and it has been vacant for three years!"
Chen Xiao finally understood. These three old men were not only arrogant but also unwilling to be managed!
Director Hao wasn't promoting him; he was throwing a hot potato at him.
Not only a hot potato, but a rotten potato that no one was willing to pick up from the roadside.
Seeing Chen Xiao fall silent for a long time, Jia Bing sneered in his heart, "Little brat, now you know how deep the water is in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, right?"
He was disdainful in his heart, but he said with a fawning smile, "Director Chen, please rest. I'll go and help you clear out the office!"
Chen Xiao waved his hand, stopping him.
"Forget it, clearing out the office is not urgent. The immediate priority is to summon those three vice-directors!"
Jia Bing looked troubled, "Director Chen, those three vice-directors are like dead pigs who aren't afraid of boiling water. I'm afraid I can't summon them..."
Chen Xiao snorted, "If they dare not come today, they don't need to come anymore. Just say I said so!"