...

After dinner, Lu Cheng said goodbye to Qiu Ye.

The few words of "devouring training model" that Qiu Ye mentioned were almost etched into Lu Cheng’s mind, lingering persistently.

However, this thought was interrupted as soon as Lu Cheng started chatting with Mu Nanshu.

Mu Nanshu had just woken up; she and Xie Yuan’an had been busy until eight in the morning before coming back.

After catching up on some sleep, she was now out looking for food.

"When you were doing experiments abroad, was it the same kind of thing?" Lu Cheng asked.

"Yes, the life of a research dog."

"Day and night reversed, you work whenever the cells need handling."

"Where I was, the time difference with Hua Country was almost exactly the opposite... It wasn’t that I didn’t want to chat with you before, it’s just that the pressure was a bit much..."

"I was afraid I’d pass my stress on to you."

"Anyway, let’s not talk about this. Let me show you what we’re eating..." Mu Nanshu sent a picture of a spicy hot pot.

Just as Lu Cheng was about to respond, he received a fairly unfamiliar call.

The caller ID showed it was from Sha City.

Upon answering, the person directly identified himself: "Is this Dr. Lu Cheng? I am He Aiyong from Xiangya Second Hospital."

For a moment, Lu Cheng’s brain seemed to cramp.

Tong Yuan’an had already introduced the top three hand surgery experts in the province to Lu Cheng.

Tan Zhongyuan and Zhou Yuhui from Xiangya Hospital; He Aiyong from Xiangya Second Hospital.

The absence of Director Leng Hua’an from the Third Hospital was because the allure of the veteran Professor Zhou Yuhui was simply too strong. Even though Professor Leng Hua’an became the hand surgery director at the Third Hospital, he couldn’t oust the venerable professor.

Of course, Lu Cheng did not lose composure: "Hello, Director He, I am Lu Cheng."

He Aiyong jumped right in: "Dr. Lu Cheng, the tendon suturing technique you competed with today, was it original? Otherwise, the data wouldn’t have been so good."

"Yes, it was, Teacher He."

"The competition shouldn’t forbid choosing any specific suturing technique either." Lu Cheng explained.

He Aiyong hurriedly said: "Of course, it doesn’t forbid it. We welcome and even recommend that clinical doctors independently improve suturing techniques. Ideally, they should become scalable and standardized surgical techniques."

"So it’s settled then, you’ll represent our tendon suturing team from Xiang Province in the competition, and you must bring us a good ranking."

"Currently, is your performance stable, not up and down like a roller coaster?" Professor He Aiyong’s voice was particularly hearty, cracking a straightforward joke.

"It should be alright, Teacher He." Lu Cheng responded naturally.

"As long as it’s fine. In this competition, to beat the competition, it has to be original."

"I also asked Director Tan later, saying you are collaborating on this tendon suturing technique project. Make sure to complete them as soon as possible."

"On a broader level, it’s related to the further development of tendon suturing in hand surgery. On a smaller scale, if Professor Tang from Su Province can make a name for himself in hand surgery with his Tang method, then our Xiang Province can also become renowned in the hand surgery field through better original techniques."

"The best way to honor our predecessors is to stand on their shoulders, soar while maintaining respect."

Lu Cheng said: "Teacher He, isn’t it a bit much to say killing the competition?"

"That’s exactly what it is, defeating the competition. And it can dominate the competition for years, even a decade. In the coming years, if people from other provinces can’t master this technique, in this competition, they simply won’t stand a chance."

"Even if there’s a difference in skill level, the technique can bridge those gaps."

"Of course, the biggest competition is naturally still clinical, bringing better recovery to patients. I have faith in you, Dr. Lu."

"I’m wondering if Dr. Lu is interested in joining our team?" Professor He Aiyong suddenly changed the topic.

Lu Cheng paused for a moment, quickly replying: "Teacher He, thank you for your kindness. I’ve already promised other teachers."

"If circumstances change, I sincerely hope you’ll still give me the opportunity, Teacher He."

"You sure are greedy." Lu Cheng’s approach didn’t gain traction with Professor He Aiyong.

"Teacher He, you can’t have it both ways." Lu Cheng replied calmly.

"Ah... no problem, just a joke. Take a good rest, I hope you enjoy yourself in other arenas as well."

"I have some matters to attend to here. If you’re not in a hurry tomorrow, let’s stay and have a meal together so we can properly discuss the national competition." He Aiyong said.

...

After hanging up, Lu Cheng looked at the phone, lost in thought.

Hey, wasn’t it agreed not to seek fame? Weren’t competitions meant to be about the experience? About exchange? 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Bullshit!

As soon as Professor He realized he could dominate a certain competition, he wanted to discuss the follow-up competition arrangements with him.

Friendship is for personal matters; on the field, what needs to be done is to ’defeat’ everyone.

However, this perfectly aligns with Lu Cheng’s intentions, as Lu Cheng is in it for the prize money.

With righteous money in his pocket, everything is negotiable.

In the afternoon, Lu Cheng continued participating in the competition methodically, first with blood vessel suturing, then with the suturing of substantive organs...

In the blood vessel suturing competition, Lu Cheng unsurprisingly lost, ranking only ninth. Even with all his skill points thrown into suturing, he scored only 92, with eight others scoring better.

Fortunately, this competition was divided into categories. Otherwise, the national competition would have no relation to Lu Cheng.

However, when Lu Cheng went to participate in the substantive organ suturing, he found that this time the object of operation for the competition was pig spleen.