Doctor Xiao Yu gleefully grabbed her hand.
Ya’er’s eyes flew wide.
"Really? You’re not kidding ? Doctor Song... is the new dean?"
The news was so sudden that she couldn’t process it at first.
But as she thought about it, a feeling of ’Of course’ slowly surfaced.
Doctor Song was an exceptional physician. Whether it was a difficult case or a critically ill patient, she could always pull them back from the brink.
What’s more, she was kind-hearted, never put on airs, and treated her patients like family.
For a doctor with such integrity and skill to beco dean, it really was only a matter of course.
"It’s absolutely true!"
Xiao Yu nodded emphatically, his face lit up with a brilliant smile.
"Just now, Old Qin and the others in the pharmacy were all talking about it. They said there was a hospital-wide eting this morning where the political commissar himself announced the appointnt! Comrade Song Qingya has officially been appointed Dean of the hospital and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee!"
Hearing this, a warm feeling surged through Ya’er.
The towel in her hand dropped into the sink with a SPLASH. She grabbed Xiao Yu’s arm and started pulling him toward the door.
"What are you standing around for? We have to go congratulate her right away!"
"This is such a huge honor! As her forr interns, people she’s helped, how could we not go congratulate her in person? That would be so ungrateful!"
Doctor Song had helped them so, so much.
Back when Ya’er’s mother was gravely ill with no money for the hospital stay, it was Song Qingya who personally handled the paperwork to get her mother admitted to a ward.
When Xiao Yu failed his first major surgery and had an emotional breakdown, Doctor Song stayed up all night with him, reviewing the case.
Now that she’d been promoted, this was the perfect opportunity for them to repay her kindness and show their respect.
Xiao Yu nodded repeatedly, just as excited.
"Right, right! We have to go! I’ll go find Old Qin right now, hand off my work, and then we’ll head out imdiately!"
No sooner said than done, they turned and rushed toward the pharmacy.
After saying their goodbyes and handing off their duties, they hurried to the hospital.
As they neared the main entrance, they both instinctively slowed down.
They looked down at their clothes.
The cuffs were a little frayed, the collars were slightly turned up, and their white coats were spotted with a few dicine stains.
Ya’er quickly smoothed the wrinkles on her chest, then helped Xiao Yu straighten his crooked collar.
"Gosh, we rushed over here so fast our clothes are a ss," she muttered.
"We’re going to see the dean. We have to look presentable. We can’t have people thinking we don’t know any better."
Xiao Yu quickly adjusted his cap, took a deep breath, and composed his expression.
"Excuse ..."
He had just started to speak when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar figure walking out of the hospital’s main entrance.
It was Qi Yuanyuan.
Dr. Xiao Yu imdiately swallowed the rest of his sentence.
Qi Yuanyuan saw them too.
She lifted her chin slightly, her gaze coldly sizing them up.
Before Dr. Xiao Yu could figure out what to say, she spoke first.
"What are you two doing here?"
Dr. Xiao Yu couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with her tone.
But he suppressed his unease and forced the most sincere smile he could manage.
"Doctor Qi, we... we ca especially to see the new dean, Song Qingya."
He made a point of stressing her new title, "Dean Song," hoping to convey the proper respect.
But the mont the words left his mouth, Qi Yuanyuan’s gaze turned icy.
"Dean Song? Hah."
She let out a short, mocking laugh.
"I’m sure you’re not aware, but she’s the head of the hospital now. She’s buried in work, big and small—inspections from superiors, seminars, research proposals, personnel adjustnts. Is there anything that doesn’t require her personal approval? Her ti is incredibly valuable."
She paused deliberately, her eyes sweeping up and down their faded, washed-out white coats.
"There’s a protocol for eting with leadership, isn’t there? Do you have an appointnt? Did you check in with her office? Did you submit a visitor request in advance? Do you have a pass? What do you think this hospital is? A place where outsiders can just wander in?"
Dr. Xiao Yu’s smile froze on his face.
He understood the aning behind her words perfectly.
’You’re not qualified, and you’re not worthy.’
Ya’er was even more furious, her face turning red.
She gritted her teeth, took a step forward, and her voice suddenly shot up an octave.
"Doctor Qi!"
"We all know what Doctor Song is like! She’s not so high-and-mighty figure; she’s a good doctor who only thinks about her patients. She saved , and we all rember that!"
"She’s the dean now, her status is higher, but I’ll say it again: she’s still the sa Doctor Song! She’s not going to change who she is or refuse to see her old colleagues just because she got a promotion!"
To be contradicted to her face by a country nurse she looked down on—Qi Yuanyuan’s expression instantly darkened.
"Who do you think you are?"
"What do you know! This is a hospital! Not your little remote health clinic! This is a provincial-level key institution with strict discipline and regulations! Without an appointnt, without official clearance, no one gets into the dean’s office! That’s the rule, do you understand?"
Her voice rose sharply, causing passersby to turn and stare.
Ya’er was young and fiery, and she couldn’t stand people who bullied others with their authority.
She straightened her back and t Qi Yuanyuan’s gaze without backing down, retorting loudly.
"We’re not trying to force our way in! We just want to congratulate Doctor Song to her face and say thank you! She saved my life—I had a high fever that almost killed , and she traveled over the mountains overnight to give a shot to bring it down. When our clinic was short on dicine, she requisitioned so from the hospital and had it sent to us several tis. When the snow was heavy and the roads were slippery in winter, she personally carried an elderly patient down the mountain to get treatnt."
"Which of these things didn’t she do? She’s helped us so many tis, and now we can’t even co to see her and express our gratitude? Does becoming a leader an you forget all your past relationships and old colleagues? What kind of logic is that!"
"You!"
Qi Yuanyuan’s face turned pale with rage, her finger trembling as she pointed at Ya’er.
"You’re just being difficult! Spouting twisted logic! You think you can just show up here, say a few sentintal words, and disrupt the hospital’s order? This isn’t a vegetable market where you can co and go as you please, crying whenever you want! This is a place of rules and procedures, not sowhere you can run wild based on your feelings!"
Seeing the situation escalate, Dr. Xiao Yu’s heart sank.
He knew Qi Yuanyuan.
On the surface, she seed quiet and refined, but in reality, she was petty and held grudges.
’If we really tick her off, my life is going to get a lot harder.’
He quickly tugged on Ya’er’s sleeve and urged in a low voice.
"Ya’er, let it go. Arguing like this is causing a scene, and it will put Dean Song in a difficult position if she finds out. Let’s just go for now. We can always co back another day."
But Ya’er was furious and in no mood to listen.
She violently shook him off and, without turning back, continued shouting at Qi Yuanyuan:
"You say we don’t know the rules? But do human decency and rules have to be mutually exclusive? When Doctor Song helped us before, she never asked if we had ’official clearance’! If she were as obsessed with rules as you are, I’d be in my grave by now! How dare you stand here and give us that attitude?"
The two of them went back and forth, arguing heatedly.
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