"Never thought about taking the second postgraduate exam again. My pride got in the way, so I sabotaged myself," Lu Cheng replied candidly.

Xie Yuan'an looked at Lu Cheng in shock, her delicate face with lips pouting slightly, not ladylike at all: "You're really acting out..."

"A mere undergraduate student, actually dreaming of taking down a PhD at Huashan Hospital without a teacher guiding you? Who gave you the courage?"

"Liang Jingru?"

"Fortunately, Xiao Mumu still believed you were at Zhongnan Hospital. If I hadn't done some investigation after returning to the country, she would have been misled by you into going to Zhongnan Hospital."

Lu Cheng didn't like Xie Yuan'an's tone. He replied formally: "Teacher Xie, although Zhongnan Hospital's platform isn't as prestigious as Union Hospital, it's still my alma mater where I did my internship and training."

"Mu Nanshu working there won't harm her."

Xie Yuan'an waved her hand to admit fault: "Alright, alright, I misspoke. What I meant was, if Xiao Mumu insisted on going there but couldn't find you, then it would've been a waste of effort."

"She endured a lot of hardships studying here."

"Our domestic academic system is different from overseas, reaching the standards of an American Medical School is no small feat."

"Yet you're putting yourself in this situation, so what will you both do in the future?" Xie Yuan'an asked objectively.

Lu Cheng didn't reply, but he sat down with Xie Yuan'an, though he didn't quite like her scrutinizing gaze.

However, her gaze only held scrutiny and concern, with no ridicule, which made Lu Cheng feel that Mu Nanshu really found a good friend.

"Looking for opportunities, I'm searching too," Lu Cheng replied.

Xie Yuan'an suggested: "I always hear Xiao Mumu say you're very excellent, much better than her. If that's truly the case, at your age now, pursuing a PhD and staying at a hospital in Han City shouldn't be difficult."

"Although joining at an older age might mean the platform isn't as good, it won't be in a different city. Have you considered that?"

"Anyway, Xiao Mumu has thought about it. She even asked me about the recruitment standards of our Huazhong Union Hospital, but according to your age, they are outdated."

"Of course, she also confidently asked me about the Cyan Cloud Ladder in our orthopedics department or something like that, and I told her..."

Xie Yuan'an didn't treat herself as an outsider at all, or rather, she fits the typical girlfriend type.

Seeing Lu Cheng, she began her "scrutiny!"

Lu Cheng interrupted Xie Yuan'an's scrutinizing: "I've also thought about it."

Mu Nanshu's parents never looked at him with such a gaze, and Lu Cheng didn't quite like others using a 'special' gaze to view his relationship with Mu Nanshu.

"Ahem..." Xie Yuan'an, being the host, was opening the coffee machine. Upon hearing Lu Cheng's words, she coughed twice.

Turning back, her voice suddenly became hearty and amusing: "Brother, what are you talking about?"

Lu Cheng smiled and said, "Are dreams not allowed to be bold? Who made that rule?"

Xie Yuan'an nodded: "That's right, you're very sincere. There's a sense of competitiveness in your bones, so it's no surprise you captivated our little Mumu."

"I've agreed to this marriage of yours!"~

Gulp gulp gulp!~

Xie Yuan'an poured two cups of coffee into disposable paper cups and pushed one towards Lu Cheng: "I don't like iced coffee, so I haven't prepared ice cubes; you'll have to make do, Dr. Lu."

"Thank you, Teacher Xie," Lu Cheng replied.

Xie Yuan'an said: "In class, you can call me Teacher Xie; out of class, you can call me Sister An or Sister Xie, as does Xiao Mumu."

Xie Yuan'an sat down with her legs together and said: "Although Xiao Mumu is a bit naive, she isn't lacking in vision. She mentioned your talent and qualifications are quite good, so you're certainly remarkable."

"This nerve suturing workshop's threshold is quite high, most participants are deputy chief physicians from city-level hospitals."

"Are you not afraid of wasting tuition fees by registering?"

"Or is this a public-funded date? If it's the latter, I can decide and issue you a completion certificate in advance."

"Anyway, if you can arrange for your hospital to attend the workshop, I won't interfere."

"After all, this would make our Xiao Mumu very happy."

Lu Cheng's tone was serious: "Teacher Xie, Mu Nanshu is Mu Nanshu, and studying is studying."

"I can come to see her individually, but I won't use studying as an excuse to meet her, they are two different things."

"Tuition isn't meant to be wasted like this."

Xie Yuan'an responded indifferently: "You speak boldly, but do you know what's required to officially enter our workshop?"

Lu Cheng shook his head, saying: "The recruitment announcement states attending physicians."

"That's only for senior attending physicians from three hospitals. Union Hospital's nerve suturing has always been a top-tier specialty in Han City."

"This time, among six trainees, four are from city-level hospitals; you're from a county hospital, and another is an associate professor from the provincial hospital's hand surgery department."

Xie Yuan'an said: "Hmm, really, if..."

Lu Cheng sighed: "Teacher Xie, although you have a good relationship with Nanshu, you don't have to belittle people like this. Since I've come, I certainly won't waste tuition."

After hearing that, Xie Yuan'an counted Lu Cheng's age on her fingers, her expression changing sharply as she muttered to herself: "Impossible, right?"

"You're only thirty years old; don't tell me you can suture fine blood vessels..."

After saying that, Xie Yuan'an carefully scrutinized Lu Cheng.

Since Xie Yuan'an is also a professional in hand surgery, Lu Cheng replied: "Teacher Xie, actually, I've not been heavily involved in hand surgery. During my training, I mostly rotated in trauma surgery."

"However, I later met a hand surgery teacher, under whose guidance I can currently perform 'two-stitch-three-segment' suture on a nude mouse's tail artery for display, but I haven't found a suitable way to apply it clinically. That teacher said..."

"Impossible!" Xie Yuan'an's face changed dramatically, her neck almost appearing to have a phantom Adam's apple moving up and down.

"What you just said is false, tell me honestly, you're just saying this to counter my point!"~

Lu Cheng said calmly: "I'm not a hand surgeon, why would I make stuff up? I don't even know how these suturing skills should be used."

"I learned them to participate in competitions for earning money," Lu Cheng's tone was lightly jesting.

Xie Yuan'an's ponytail swayed left and right like a real horse's tail upon hearing that, her tone finally completely changing: "You learned suturing skills to become a professional competitor and participate in competitions?"

"Did you not? Who guided you this way?"

Xie Yuan'an completely broke down: "You got the suturing skills to this level just for the competition? Why?"

"No way, I can't believe it, it's impossible!"~

"Come with me... I absolutely don't believe it, unless you prove it to me."

Xie Yuan'an's drastic expression change made Lu Cheng more convinced that Tong Yuan'an's autism wasn't naturally congenital.

Perhaps, having suturing skills to this level at his age truly makes others feel a bit 'peculiar'!

After all, in comparison to an 'expert doctoral' level in tendon suturing, the difficulty of nude mouse tail artery suturing is unknown how many times higher...