Tong Yuan'an and Chen Song are not fools. Lu Cheng's diligence and 'hard work' surpass most of his peers.

It doesn't surpass Tong Yuan'an and Chen Song in their twenties, but certainly surpasses Chen Song at thirty.

As the saying goes, when the soul is unwilling, madness must have a purpose.

Deep in Lu Cheng's psyche, there's definitely a knot they're unaware of.

Of course, unless Lu Cheng brings it up, it's not appropriate for them to pry.

Lu Cheng calmly looked at the two teachers, calmly sat upright, and said, "To seek a clear mind, either to willingly concede or candidly express one's quirks, there's no other reason."

"Over the years, aside from my parents, at least thirty percent of my relatives have said I aim too high, not understanding the need to be grounded."

The exam for professional master's degree candidates is organized nationally; universities only have the right to set the threshold, not to make the exams, and candidates can only choose one first-choice institution when applying.

After failing, schools of the same level generally do not accept transferred candidates.

Of course, Lu Cheng is indignant!~

At the time, it was made clear, the reason for not choosing to retake the exam all these years is actually because I failed.

But to say Lu Cheng has accepted it, fundamentally, Lu Cheng still hasn't.

Even now, if Lu Cheng were to abandon this platform and be given the equivalent teaching resources at the same age as them, Lu Cheng might choose to abandon the "platform" and openly compete again!

However, reality is not about "if." Lu Cheng is now just a few days shy of thirty, and can't go back in time.

They didn't even care if Lu Cheng existed, or if he would consider them competitors, yet Lu Cheng still wishes to have a clear mind for himself.

It's unrelated to winning or losing.

It's just to put the past to rest, to unload the burden.

"Can you elaborate?" Chen Song asked further.

Every type of admission selection has its loopholes, including the college entrance exam.

The minimum admission scores for each major at each university are only announced before the next year's college entrance exams. If candidates haven't recorded their choices and order, even if they see the minimum scores the next year, it's useless.

For master and doctoral entrance exams, apart from the initial test scores, there's a lot of flexibility for manipulation elsewhere.

"Teacher Chen, this is the 21st century. Can you still find a verbal loophole in such matters?"

Lu Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I believe it was a particularly fair retest because the ones who succeeded were ranked second and third, not further down the list!~"

"Overall, their academic achievements far outshine mine."

Lu Cheng didn't mention where their research articles came from; that's not important. What's important is they have SCI, whereas he doesn't.

"Do they know what you're trying to do?" Tong Yuan'an and Chen Song exchanged a glance and asked again.

Lu Cheng smiled candidly, shook his head: "Teacher Tong, they don't know. It's just my own selfish thoughts."

"My own selfish thoughts."

After the retest, who cares about the thoughts of those who failed, where they go, who cares?

Mentors don't care; the ones who made it certainly don't care!

"But fortunately, the medical profession is relatively fair, based heavily on skill, and is a long-term profession with a very long career line."

"According to both teachers' estimates, even if they manage to stay at Huashan Hospital, they're probably just at the age of residency."

"So, it's still possible to catch up; it's not insurmountable."

Lu Cheng continued, "Teacher Tong, I just mentioned, the results and winning or losing aren't important. I just want to put the past to rest, and I won't stand in front of them or my former teachers, doing or saying anything."

"I just hope for clarity in my mind, to completely put the past to rest, at least to tell myself that I, Lu Cheng, am not that incompetent..."

"This is important because everyone else may not believe I can be excellent, but I must believe in myself."

"Yes... This could be considered a form of self-confidence." Lu Cheng nodded to himself, repeating the phrase.

Chen Song asked again, "Then why didn't you retake the exam later?"

"There are two reasons. The first is that during my internship, a teacher actually took a liking to me, but I didn't choose. Although I later took the training exam, the teacher also had their own 'pride,' so they didn't mention it."

"Secondly, nobody is perfect. Everyone has reckless times in their youth. At that time, my thought was, training is training... It turns out my understanding of medicine was too shallow..."

Lu Cheng's bitter smile emerged: "Of course, medicine isn't something you can explore on your own; it requires a teacher's guidance to learn well."

Lu Cheng continued: "So, the disadvantage for me is, even if I work hard and feel I have some talent, without a teacher's careful instruction, no matter how hard I try, my skills are only equivalent to the master students in Zhongnan Hospital."

"Unable to stand out."

"Teacher Tong, you also know, in a big teaching hospital like yours, what is a master's degree that's not particularly outstanding?"

"Not to mention, there might be outstanding juniors who shine, seniors above, and even doctors, resident chiefs, attending physicians, associate professors..."

"Why would the big bosses notice a not particularly outstanding resident, even if this resident has always been training independently?"

"Professors only see results; they won't question the process you've gone through."

"After returning to work, I realized that in the county hospital, learning skills requires seniority, which led to the current situation..."

At this point, Lu Cheng looked again at Tong Yuan'an and Chen Song, saying: "Fortunately, I met Teacher Chen and Teacher Tong, who gave me opportunities, guidance, and some hope..."

"Otherwise, the clarity of mind I could hope for would be deserved!~" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"I've also recognized and accepted that it's what I deserve."

Lu Cheng doesn't hold himself up as noble, nor does he boast of being extraordinary, just doesn't belittle himself unwarrantedly.

It was the same before and remains so now; this is the stubbornness etched into Lu Cheng's core. Even though he's endured many beatings for this stubbornness, it hasn't completely extinguished.

Lu Cheng made his stance clear: he will pursue further studies, a Ph.D., but first, he seeks a clear mind.

That is, he wants to compare himself unilaterally with the two people he wishes to compete with, not to defeat them, just to seek confirmation for himself!~

Thus, the plans of Tong Yuan'an and Chen Song were completely disrupted. Discussions for this year couldn't proceed, so what's the point of arguing now?

Soon, the dishes arrived.

The aroma filled the air. Although Chen Song had lost his appetite, the high-end ingredients triggered the body's instinct to rapidly secrete saliva...

"Let's eat first. No matter what, actually, Xiao Lu's current foundational knowledge and potential exhibited are still exceptionally outstanding."

"Tong Yuan'an, what do you think?" Chen Song looked at Tong Yuan'an.

Arrogance is the exclusive privilege of geniuses. An ordinary person's arrogance is a foolish trait...

Still, as the saying goes, those who can perform replantation of severed fingers at thirty are one in a million, just based on this, it's enough to assert that Lu Cheng is a genius, even one who could carry the arrogance of talent.