Long County is Lu Cheng's hometown, not that of Chen Song or Tong Yuan'an. The two of them just smoked a last cigarette outside the high-speed rail station before heading into the security checkpoint.

Watching the two enter, Lu Cheng turned and descended to the underground parking lot.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Lu Cheng's expression was conflicted as he looked at the dinner invitation sent by Xiang Kuihua on his phone, hesitating for a long time.

Lu Cheng really couldn't understand why Xiang Kuihua would invite him out for a meal.

Breaking ties? Pleading? Or telling some kind of humorous joke?

About ten minutes later, at six and five, Lu Cheng finally said, "Director Xiang, I just saw your message after sending Professor Chen and Professor Tong on the high-speed rail."

"Then I'll just drive over directly."

"Come on, come on... you come," Xiang Kuihua replied quickly.

...

Tujia Dingguant Traditional Cuisine Restaurant, main hall.

The number of customers wasn't large, so Lu Cheng and Xiang Kuihua could enjoy a large table by the window.

This restaurant specializes in old-style iron pot firewood rice, known locally as 'dingguant', hence the name.

After sitting down opposite Xiang Kuihua, Lu Cheng smiled like a rolling blade and said, "Director Xiang, both Professor Chen and Professor Tong have gone back. If you have any instructions, please speak directly."

Xiang Kuihua was burly, a typical orthopedic build, but his face was relatively small.

He had distinctive eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and a rounded hanging gall bladder nose—a rather standard central facial feature.

At this moment, Xiang Kuihua's eyes narrowed into slits as he poured a cup of tea for Lu Cheng saying, "Lu Cheng, do you think that since Professor Tong Yuan'an happens to be on vacation, and you've lost your guardians, I should start giving you a hard time?"

Lu Cheng shook his head, replying somewhat hypocritically, "Director Xiang, that's not it. I also know you're not such a petty person."

"Besides, we're not exactly enemies."

Xiang Kuihua's skin was dry, with occasional scabs from acne scars. Seeing Lu Cheng's words, he simply replied, "Actually, I did think about it."

"You son of a... you've driven me out of ER, leaving me with hardly any operations to perform these last few months. Do you have any idea how big an obstacle you've been?"

Lu Cheng kept his expression calm, though his eyes flickered cautiously.

"You even forced me to go out and spend a lot of money learning manual reduction techniques, just a waste of resources..."

At this point, Xiang Kuihua's tone shifted: "But after going through all this, I realized that Director Peng's so-called skills aren't much at all."

Lu Cheng's expression froze for a moment, looking at Xiang Kuihua with some surprise.

"You've been in orthopedics for a long time, so you know that the PFNA for tibial plateau fractures and femoral neck fractures in trauma has always been monopolized by Director Peng."

"It's the same with spinal surgery's pedicle screw fixation..."

"We always thought these techniques required a high threshold, that we simply hadn't mastered it yet."

"But in reality, these were just smokescreens put up by Peng Haibo... these techniques aren't that special, nor that difficult."

"I mastered it in just five days."

"Brother Luo also went out this month, and he performed a lumbar spondylolisthesis operation flawlessly when he returned..."

Lu Cheng looked at Xiang Kuihua, finding no anger in his expression, just a hint of irony.

"Director Xiang, what are you getting at by telling me all this?" Lu Cheng couldn't quite grasp Xiang Kuihua's intention.

Xiang Kuihua looked at Lu Cheng, glanced around, then leaned in slightly and lowered his voice: "It doesn't matter if we have Director Peng in the orthopedic first department!"

"With him, the department operates normally; without him, it might even run better."

"Besides, the network of contacts he controls isn't all that special."

"Once the smoke clears, the reality becomes obvious."

"Honestly, I should thank you, which is why I specifically invited you for dinner." Xiang Kuihua spoke with genuine sincerity.

Lu Cheng didn't take Xiang Kuihua's tone seriously and replied, "Director Peng's skills are still good."

Xiang Kuihua nodded, "His skills are indeed good, but not as great as he's always claimed."

"Once I get the hang of intramedullary nailing and Brother Luo has micro-invasive pedicle screw fixation down, he'll just be one among the many."

"Lu Cheng, honestly, sometimes I feel we've been wronged."

"A person's lack of skill is a matter of accumulation, but lack of awareness is truly pathetic... How we were all played by Peng Haibo like fools." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Sigh... serves us right!"

"After all, it's our own fault for not striving to improve." At this point, Xiang Kuihua's face turned bitter.

In Long County, the fundamental rule is that skill is king, and as the director of orthopedics, Peng Haibo certainly had some expertise.

But when it was Brother Luo and the others working, there was no standardized training, and when they later went for further training, they were still young with limited exposure to surgical techniques and insufficient accumulation, preventing a comprehensive understanding of surgical difficulty.

So they always thought Peng Haibo was amazing, but after years of operations, they went to learn and found Peng Haibo's supposed prowess was just an illusion.

It's not that he couldn't be replaced, it's just that they were always locked in the county, unwilling to spend money to learn real techniques.

Only upon returning did they discover Peng Haibo was no different, and now they have embraced this realization.

"Xiao Lu, take a word of advice from your brother, come back. Let's truly establish the subspecialties in orthopedics together."

"Director Liu for joints, Brother Luo for spine, Tayama for sports medicine, I'll handle trauma, and hand surgery is yours, that's sufficient!" Xiang Kuihua's expression and eyes were very earnest.