"So, how does it feel? Happy?" Lu Zhongjiang chuckled, raising his teacup.

Du Heng looked at the trophy and certificate in his hand and nodded emphatically.

"Director An said you had to choose between Outstanding Individual and Outstanding Young Doctor for this one. He helped you pick the more significant award."

"Can’t I have both?" Du Heng asked, a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.

Lu Zhongjiang gave Du Heng a speechless look. "Come on, that’s plenty. Give the other young people a chance. Besides, you’ve already been nominated for Municipal Level Outstanding Youth; let someone else have the district-level award."

Du Heng sighed heavily. "It really is a shame I didn’t go to receive the award in person."

Lu Zhongjiang, on the sofa, was rendered completely speechless. "I told you yesterday afternoon about today’s year-end awards ceremony and that you were getting something. You’re the one who said you weren’t going. Who can you blame?"

Du Heng chuckled, setting down the trophy. He placed both trophies and certificates together, looking them over again with satisfaction. "Ah, my good Secretary Lu, you nearly scared me to death just now."

Lu Zhongjiang just smiled, saying nothing. He’d done it on purpose, just to get a rise out of Du Heng.

"Dean, should we call a meeting for everyone?"

"Yes, absolutely. This award belongs to everyone, so we should all celebrate together."

Lu Zhongjiang set down his teacup and stood up cheerfully. "Alright, I’ll go inform everyone. You can chair the meeting."

"Good. Thank you for your trouble, Secretary Lu."

After Lu Zhongjiang left, Du Heng gazed again at the trophies and certificates before him. District-level. Not the highest, perhaps, but it’s recognition. It’s an honor. And with such wonderful news, especially with the organization showing such high regard, it would be a disservice not to share it on ins!

Du Heng turned, walked back to his desk, and picked up his phone, intending to take a picture.

However, upon opening WhatsApp, he noticed a red dot on his contact list. Clicking it revealed a friend request.

Applicant: Qinqin

Message: I want to see Amei.

Du Heng felt a twinge of annoyance. This woman is definitely unhinged, he thought yet again.

Simultaneously, his eagerness to post about his award on ins diminished considerably.

With a sigh, Du Heng accepted the request. Instantly, a message popped up: "Ten minutes. I won’t wait."

Seeing this, Du Heng’s good mood vanished completely. Post on ins? My ass! He snatched up his phone and stormed out of the office.

Arriving at Liu Amei’s hospital room, Du Heng forced a smile. "I found Ms. Li’s number. I mentioned you’d be adding her."

Liu Amei brightened, sitting up excitedly. She took out her phone and added Li Qin’s number.

Du Heng had little experience with women. His relationship with Wang Shuqiu worked because she was straightforward and unfussy. Faced with the somewhat bewitching Li Qin, he was at a loss for how to interact. So, he decided to let Liu Amei handle the contact herself.

But then, an awkward situation arose. Liu Amei’s calls to Li Qin always went to a busy signal; clearly, Li Qin had set her phone to reject calls from unknown numbers. Her WhatsApp request, even with a note identifying herself as Liu Amei, went unanswered for a long time.

Liu Amei looked at Du Heng with hurt, innocent eyes, a pitiful expression on her face. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out.

Du Heng was completely exasperated. What kind of vexing creature is this woman? he wondered.

Left with no alternative, he had to use his own phone to make a video call.

Then, things got even more awkward.

The call connected instantly!

This is just too much! Du Heng now deeply regretted agreeing to help Liu Amei.

Seeing the refined face on the screen, Du Heng glanced at Liu Amei’s complicated expression, then handed her the phone with an awkward smile.

Listening to their conversation, Du Heng figured it would be a long chat, just like last time. He quickly excused himself, intending to go hold the meeting and share the good news with everyone.

However, just as he reached his office door, he spotted Cui Guanghai coming out. An idea instantly flashed into his mind.

"President Du, what’s the meeting about today?" Cui Guanghai asked, having seen Du Heng and taking the initiative to greet him.

Du Heng didn’t answer, instead smiling and gesturing Cui Guanghai over. "Vice Dean Cui, perfect timing. Come into my office for a moment."

Once inside, Cui Guanghai’s eyes widened at the sight of the trophies and certificates on Du Heng’s desk. "President Du, did our Health Clinic win an award?"

Du Heng smiled faintly; his initial surge of excitement had subsided. He picked up the Health Clinic’s trophy and handed it to Cui Guanghai. "It’s an award from the district. Not a bad design, is it?"

Cui Guanghai examined the trophy with great admiration, his gaze then shifting to the other award and certificate on the desk, a flash of envy in his eyes. In over twenty years of work, he had never received such an honor.

"Dean Ruoge, I have something else to attend to and can’t make it. Could you preside over the meeting later?"

Du Heng glanced at the eager-eyed Cui Guanghai—notably omitting "Vice" from his title—and then stated his intention.

He wanted to mend fences with Cui Guanghai and also gauge his attitude. If they could find common ground, he planned to assign Cui Guanghai a challenging task after the New Year.

Cui Guanghai was taken aback by Du Heng’s sudden proposal. He had expected Du Heng to assign him marginal duties or awkward tasks, as before. He never imagined Du Heng would ask him to preside over such a prominent meeting.

Cui Guanghai’s mind raced. Is there some ulterior motive here?

But Du Heng just chuckled and asked again, "Dean Ruoge, would that be a problem for you?"

Cui Guanghai couldn’t immediately fathom Du Heng’s reasons, so he quickly shook his head.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Dean Ruoge." Du Heng smiled genuinely and walked Cui Guanghai out, adding, "By the way, Dean Ruoge, with such great news, everyone deserves a bonus. Please discuss with Wang Zhenzhen and Secretary Lu how best to reward the team."

Cui Guanghai was stunned again. He asked in disbelief, "I get to make the decision?"

"Of course," Du Heng replied simply.

But Cui Guanghai still couldn’t fathom what Du Heng was planning.

Du Heng didn’t dwell on it and headed back to Liu Amei’s hospital room. All I need now is a resolution to this, he thought.

When he reached the room, Du Heng found that Liu Amei, who he’d left chatting, was already lying back on her sickbed, his phone on the bedside table.

Seeing her subdued mood, Du Heng picked up his phone without much conversation and left the room again.

As the workday ended, all the Health Clinic staff emerged from the meeting room, beaming. This time, however, no one packed up to go home. Instead, everyone spontaneously grabbed cleaning cloths and brooms. A major pre-New Year’s Eve cleanup campaign began in full swing.

While everyone was busy, Wang Zhenzhen brought a quickly prepared report to Du Heng. "Dean, Vice Dean Cui just approved an additional 200 yuan holiday bonus for everyone. Here’s the report; it just needs your signature."

Du Heng quickly scanned it and signed at the bottom. "Zhen, can this money be distributed tonight?"

"Yes. We have a 30,000 yuan cash reserve in the safe."

"Alright, then let’s distribute it once everyone’s finished cleaning."

Wang Zhenzhen nodded and took the report, but she seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to say something more.

Du Heng knew Wang Zhenzhen wanted to ask why he had pushed Cui Guanghai into the limelight, but he remained silent on the subject. He had learned one thing by now: some actions are permissible, but some things are better left unsaid.

The next day, the day before the New Year’s Eve holiday, the so-called inspection began as scheduled at 10:30 AM. And once again, Du Heng pushed Cui Guanghai to the forefront. Cui Guanghai is better suited for dealing with leadership than I am, Du Heng thought.

"Director An, why schedule the inspection for today?" Du Heng asked An Chunhui from the back of the group, voicing the question on his mind.

An Chunhui stepped back slightly, allowing the officials from the Municipal Bureau to move ahead. He glanced at Du Heng and said softly, "Is this an inspection? This is a goodwill visit. The District Bureau and your Health Clinic both operate under the Municipal Bureau. Do the leaders need your approval to decide when they visit?"

Du Heng was gently rebuffed and awkwardly rubbed his nose.

To Du Heng’s surprise, An Chunhui added in a low voice, "Just focus on your work; it will definitely be beneficial for you. Also, today’s arrangements were excellent."

With that, An Chunhui blended back into the group.

Benefits? Du Heng was puzzled. What kind of benefits could there be? He usually couldn’t be bothered to speculate about such vague prospects.

The comment about "today’s arrangements" being "excellent" puzzled Du Heng even more. Truthfully, apart from a thorough cleaning last night, nothing special was arranged at the Health Clinic; everything was as it usually was. If anything counted as an ’arrangement,’ it was having Cui Guanghai act as today’s guide. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

A thought suddenly struck Du Heng, and his gaze drifted to the front, where Cui Guanghai was earnestly giving a tour. Could his connections be not at the district level, but with the city?

However, Du Heng quickly chuckled to himself. Wherever his connections lie, it really has nothing to do with me.

The Health Clinic’s facilities and environment were inspected, and Du Heng gave a brief work report. Afterwards, the perplexing group of inspectors departed as enigmatically as they had arrived.

Although Du Heng and his colleagues were bewildered by the visit, the fact that the inspection concluded without any issues was the best possible outcome.

After seeing them off, the Health Clinic officially shifted into its New Year’s holiday schedule.

In the original on-call schedule arranged by Yu Haiting, Du Heng was not included. Yu Haiting had scheduled himself and Cui Guanghai each for three days of duty, with Lu Zhongjiang on duty for two days. Everyone would officially return to work on the seventh day of the New Year.

However, after reviewing the on-call roster, Du Heng replaced Lu Zhongjiang’s name with his own.