I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 374 - 159: Upgrading the Qiu City Street Health Center (Double-Length)

"Leader, do you have time this afternoon?"

Ma Shanjun dialed the personal phone number of the deputy district chief in charge of health. After some small talk, he got straight to the point.

"Do you have something?"

Yi Gang didn’t directly answer whether he was free and instead said, "If you have something to say, you can say it over the phone."

Ma Shanjun thought for a moment and said, "This matter is a bit complex, I’m worried I can’t explain it clearly over the phone..."

Ma Shanjun expressed his difficulties, and Yi Gang thought for a moment: "Do you have time now? If so, you can come over now. I have some matters to attend to this afternoon."

"Sure, sure, I’ll come right over."

Ma Shanjun replied repeatedly in agreement, feeling quite frustrated once he hung up.

Clearly, it wasn’t his own problem, yet he had to run around for it.

The project that Hu Meiqiao reported couldn’t proceed without the nod from the deputy district chief in charge. It would be difficult to get approval from the development office, so Ma Shanjun thought it best to communicate with his direct supervisor before heading to the development office. If he couldn’t pass Yi Gang’s level, there was no point going to the development office.

After all, Yi Gang was at least an acquaintance and his direct supervisor. If he couldn’t persuade Yi Gang, there was no chance with the less familiar city development office.

Going directly would most likely result in a closed door.

Moreover, if he went and didn’t get the desired result, reporting back to Yi Gang would probably make him feel some kind of way.

Ma Shanjun tidied up and quickly grabbed the materials Hu Meiqiao had brought last week, calling the driver: "To the district."

"Alright."

Ma Shanjun’s personal driver nodded, clearly accustomed to this routine, and quickly drove toward the district government.

The district health bureau was not far from the district government, a ten-minute drive. While thinking about how to report the project application submitted by Hu Meiqiao to Yi Gang, the driver’s reminder broke his thoughts: "Director Ma, we’ve arrived."

"We’re here?"

"Yes, we’re here."

"Oh, okay, please wait in the car for a while. I’ll contact you if I need anything."

Ma Shanjun got out of the car and headed straight for Yi Gang’s office.

At the door, Ma Shanjun took a deep breath to calm himself, then gently knocked. Shortly after, Yi Gang’s voice came from inside: "Director Ma, come in."

Ma Shanjun pushed the door open with a big smile: "Leader, you’re amazing. Many people knock on your door every day, how do you know it’s me?"

"How do you think I know?"

Yi Gang pointed to the tea on the table: "The tea was just brewed for you. Help yourself."

Ma Shanjun put down his bag, just about to sit down, then stood up looking flattered: "Leader, if word gets out that you made tea for me, I’ll be criticized to death!"

"Just drink it. If you, Ma Shanjun, were afraid of criticism, you wouldn’t have called me during lunch asking if I had time in the afternoon. You tell me, do I have time in the afternoon?" Yi Gang said with feigned exasperation.

Ma Shanjun chuckled awkwardly, "You have to admit, I’m no match for you when it comes to brewing tea."

"Alright, let’s put the flattery aside for now and get to business. I doubt you came here just to say these things. Once you’re done, I have lunch to eat and things to do this afternoon," Yi Gang urged Ma Shanjun to get to the point.

"Ahem~"

Ma Shanjun cleared his throat and didn’t delay any longer, getting straight to the heart of the matter: "Leader, I’ve come to ask you to look over a project and see if it can work, if it can get approval from development. I’m not quite sure about it."

As he spoke, Ma Shanjun took out the materials from his bag and handed them to Yi Gang.

Yi Gang didn’t speak and took the materials, quietly looking through them.

Ma Shanjun sat upright, watching Yi Gang with a nervous expression. Each minute felt like an eternity to him, especially as he saw Yi Gang’s brow furrow deeply. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

After a while, Yi Gang set down the materials but didn’t speak immediately. After tapping on the desk a few times, he looked up at Ma Shanjun and said, "Old Ma, I glanced through the materials. I’d like to know what you think?"

Yi Gang didn’t directly express his opinion but asked for Ma Shanjun’s thoughts. The situation made Ma Shanjun’s heart sink. Although Yi Gang didn’t say the project was unfeasible, his words hinted at it.

However, Ma Shanjun didn’t want to give up, so he played dumb and said, "Honestly, I think there’s some sense to it. After all, the traditional Chinese medicine department at Qiu City’s Health Center faces many difficulties. Without expanding, it will be tough to provide better services to patients. If we can expand, it will be different.

And you probably saw, the Health Center has a vacant building. Leaving it unused is a waste. The funding is manageable, but staffing is the tricky part."

"Do you really think so, Comrade Ma Shanjun?"

Yi Gang said indifferently, "There’s no need to trouble yourself if that’s truly what you think. If the project was as straightforward as you say, you wouldn’t have come to me. Do you think I can’t see through you pretending to be dumb? 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Or did you not understand what I just said?"

Ma Shanjun had planned to keep up the act, but he didn’t expect Yi Gang to call him out directly, leaving him momentarily embarrassed. He had no choice but to bravely say, "Mr. Yi, is it really hard to implement this project?"