Chapter 1: The Office's Unspoken Rules...

  "You farted." Li Jian couldn't say anything else besides these three words.

  "My fart smells better than the words coming out of your mouth. I told you to stop the surgery, everyone knows that. Now the person is dead, do you still think it's someone else's fault?" Yang Zongbao's mind recalled the patient's appearance at the time of death, his anger was rising, normally gentle and elegant, but now he was arguing fiercely.

  "Alright, stop arguing for now and get out. Li Sisi and Kang Le too."

  Director Li has spoken.

  Yang Zongbao could only leave the principal's office.

  "You're sick." Li Jian spat as he walked past Yang Zongbao's side.

  "You're the one who's sick, your whole family is sick." Kang Le was the first to explode.

  Li Jian quickly walked down the stairs, not engaging in a verbal dispute with Kang Le. However, his back figure seemed to be fleeing in disarray.

  "Look, he's wearing slippers! I reckon he was scared and rushed over from home without even changing his shoes. On a cold day like today, the sweat on his feet hasn't even dried yet." Kang Le said with disdain.

  Yang Zongbao ignored him, feeling annoyed and just wanting to go home and sleep. Kang Le saw that Yang Zongbao was ignoring him, got angry and hummed, then pulled Li Sisi and parted ways with Yang Zongbao.

  In the dean's office, everyone was silent. This wasn't something that could be settled with just a bit of money. In this era where doctor-patient relationships were already tense, medical accidents resulting in death could have big or small consequences. Small ones would be settled with some compensation, while bigger ones would lead to several doctors being fired, causing the hospital to suffer greatly from its social reputation. Therefore, everyone involved was afraid of getting into trouble and didn't dare speak out easily.

  "I think the deed is done, people have died, so someone has to take responsibility." Li Ze's gloomy opening words were accompanied by an uncertain expression: "So now the question is who takes this responsibility."

  Li Ze looked around at the silent people and continued, "If it was a doctor from our hospital who made the mistake, it would undoubtedly have a negative impact on our hospital..." Li Ze's words trailed off, leaving everyone to think for themselves.

  "You mean finding someone to take the blame? Then who will take this blame?" Director Zhou calmly waited for Li Ze's next words.

  Yang Zongbao.

  "What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with him. If we had respected Yang Zongbao's suggestion from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened at all." Director Mao knew that Li Ze was going to push Yang Zongbao out as soon as he opened his mouth. The two of them had been at odds for a long time and also knew that Li Ze was narrow-minded and would take the opportunity to suppress Yang Zongbao, but they didn't expect Li Ze to actually push Yang Zongbao out to take the blame, which is a matter of a doctor's lifelong career.

  "Now that things have happened, Li Jian is a graduate student and Yang Zongbao is an undergraduate. Li Jian has already been promoted to deputy high-level title, while Yang Zongbao still doesn't have a medical license yet. You tell me, who would be pushed out with less impact on the hospital? A resident doctor without a medical license, society's tolerance should be much higher."

  "Director Mao, what's your take on this?" Dean Li tossed the tricky question to the head of the anesthesia department, after all Yang Zongbao was Director Mao's man.

  "He's my student, do you think I'd let him ruin his promising future for this trumped-up charge?" Director Mao suppressed the anger in his heart and said word by word: "Whoever made the trouble should clean it up. What do you say, Old Dean?"

  But unexpectedly, Old Director Li remained silent and didn't echo himself: "Director Li, what do you think?" Director Mao didn't give up and asked again.

  "Hey, Little Mao, calm down. Isn't this just a discussion? Director Li first comforted Director Mao and then continued: "Think carefully about what Director Li Ze said, it's not necessarily unreasonable. If Yang Zongbao doesn't take the blame for this matter, and we handle it according to the original responsibility, many people will be involved. First and foremost is Li Jian, he's the main surgeon, of course, he has to take responsibility. Next is Director Li Ze, and then all the personnel who participated in the rescue, which also involves the hospital management system. This year we're applying for financial funding, at this time we absolutely can't afford any mistakes, after all, our competitors are not few. If the funding application doesn't go through, we'll have to lay off some medical staff. The current situation of the hospital, Old Mao you should know, is that funds are insufficient, and every step is difficult. At this critical moment, a single medical accident can mess up our entire year's plan."

  "But isn't it a pity to sacrifice the medical career of a promising doctor? Moreover, sacrificing a talented doctor to save an incompetent one is a loss for the entire medical community." Director Mao stood up: "I strongly oppose this matter."

  "Lao Mao, sit down." A stout middle-aged man with a thick voice next to Principal Li stopped Director Mao from leaving his seat.

  "Director Chen, what are your thoughts?" Director Mao asked from his original position.

  "Director Mao, you should know that we are a whole, and everything is for the benefit of the hospital." Dean Chen said with emphasis.

  "Boiled down to it, isn't it just that Yang Zongbao doesn't have any backing? Li Jian and Li Ze are both people with some background." Director Mao didn't give Dean Chen any face, directly tearing off the facade: "Your consciences over the years have been eaten by dogs. I won't watch a good doctor be ruined at your hands. If you insist on making Yang Zongbao take the fall, I'll report it to the higher-ups."

  "What's the point, Old Mao? We all have something to say. We know Yang Zongbao is your student, so we're more protective of him. But you should know that it's not worth sacrificing your future prospects for a single student. You are one of the strong candidates for next term's deputy dean."

  Director Chen's words couldn't be clearer: if Director Mao wants to protect Yang Zongbao, then he himself will have to bear the consequences.

  "Are you threatening me?" Director Mao's anger reached its peak and he suddenly became calm.

  "Lao Mao, you can't speak so harshly. We've been colleagues for many years, who would make the other uncomfortable? Let's be more open-minded and live a happier life." Director Chen stretched out his own legs as he spoke.

  "It's absolutely impossible." Director Mao said finally and left his seat in anger.

  After Director Mao walked out of the president's office, President Chen coldly snorted and said: "It's really not a favor, can't analyze the overall situation clearly. What we need to do now is to modify the medical records overnight."

  "Don't worry about this, I've already told Li Jian to take care of it." Li Ze seemed to be waiting for this question and said with a hint of pride.

  "You're not bad." Dean Chen and Li Ze smiled at each other with a tacit understanding.

  "You two shouldn't be so disgusting, should you?" said Director Cheng, sitting next to Director Chen: "This is originally an illegal act. Moreover, you are going to ruin the future of an innocent person, don't you have any guilt?"

  "Dean Cheng? Are you trying to be a good person now? A righteous person?" Dean Chen leaned back in his chair and said, "Your noble words just now were like Mao Ai Guo's. What are you doing now, playing the hero after the fact? It's as if we're all petty people, but you alone are lofty. If you had any real ability, you wouldn't have said a word earlier!"

  Director Chen and Director Cheng were originally at odds with each other, often clashing in meetings of all sizes. This time, they surprisingly agreed on pushing Yang Zongbao out as a scapegoat, but due to habit, the two immediately began arguing again.

  "Alright, do you think Yang Zongbao would be willing to be the scapegoat himself?" Dean Li suddenly interrupted the argument between the two deans.

  "We can't help but say it's him, and that's him." Dean Chen was completely nonchalant, as if this wasn't a big deal at all.

  "That's not necessarily true, I heard that kid was very spoiled in his original school." Principal Cheng still maintained his usual contrarian style and immediately retorted.

  "How's the school doing? Without any background, even if you have talent, it's useless. Director Chen, I think that's how we should handle this matter?" Director Chen sought the old director's opinion.

  "You handle it then." Director Li let out a deep sigh, indicating his agreement. Although Director Chen's words were exaggerated, there was some truth to them. The hospital really couldn't afford to suffer any more damage at this point. Sacrificing Yang Zongbao was also an unavoidable move.

  Is it really unavoidable? Only President Li himself is clear in his heart, this matter can push Li Jian out as a scapegoat, but what he would rather see is Yang Zongbao being blamed. It's not that President Li doesn't value talent, but completely because of his precious granddaughter - Li Sisi. That girl has already fallen deeply in love with Yang Zongbao, but he really doesn't know if there are any decent people in the Yang family. This is undoubtedly impossible, it's better to get rid of Yang Zongbao and satisfy his own granddaughter's desires. After all, a mismatched door and household is absolutely not allowed.

  His affection for Yang Zongbao's talent cannot compare to his doting love for his granddaughter, and the balance in Director Li's heart has long been lost.

  All of this happened after Yang Zongbao left, and now Yang Zongbao went home and boiled a package of instant noodles before going to sleep. He had no idea that he had already been chosen as the scapegoat.

  The next morning, Yang Zongbao was woken up by a sudden and urgent phone call.

  Zong Bao came to the hospital president's office.

  It was just one sentence and he hung up, Yang Zongbao looked at the phone number and it was a hospital's landline.

  Without delay, he put on his clothes and rushed to the hospital without even having breakfast. Because Yang Zongbao had a premonition, this summons must be about last night's death of the patient.

  As he walked up to the very familiar door of the principal's office, Yang Zongbao suddenly felt a strong palpitation. It seemed that there was some unsettling factor behind the crimson door.

  Shaking off his own groundless wild thoughts, Yang Zongbao knocked three times on the door and then waited.

  It wasn't until he heard a voice from inside saying "come in" that Yang Zongbao pushed open the door and entered.

  The atmosphere in the dean's office was very solemn, as if a sense of sadness could be felt lingering in the air. The patient's family members who had met once before sat on one side of the sofa, while the other side was occupied by those who had participated in the discussion last night.

  "It's him, he caused the patient's death." Dean Chen saw Yang Zongbao coming in and quickly explained to the patient's family.

  The patient's family directed all their firepower at Yang Zongbao. At first, Yang Zongbao felt very strange when Director Chen said such words, but soon he reacted and realized that he was being made a scapegoat. A cold smile spread across Yang Zongbao's mouth. When Director Chen spoke those words, the other doctors in the office, including Li Jian, showed no change in expression, clearly they had already done their homework before his arrival and were all on the same page. In short, it was to let him take all the responsibility.

  "He is an outsourced doctor from our hospital. He has just graduated from university and does not have a medical license, with relatively shallow qualifications and insufficient experience, which led to this accident. On behalf of the hospital, I apologize to you." Dean Chen solemnly bowed to the patient's family.

  "You don't need to apologize. As the saying goes, 'a life for a life, a debt repaid', as long as that person returns my mother's life, we won't pursue this further." It seemed like the patient's son was speaking.