Chapter 19 — On my first day as Director, I was kicked out of the cafeteria by the resident doctor

Chapter 24 Appraisal preparations entered the second week, all departments were sprinting with all their might. After that, To Nha Lam appeared again. Not at the hospital. It's online. Early in the morning, Han Man rushed into my office.

“Director Co, please look at this.”

She gave me the phone. A short video account just posted a 4-minute clip. The account is called "The medical path has passed". In the video, To Nha Lam sits in front of the camera with a bare face, behind is a white wall. She spoke for 4 minutes, every sentence and every word was carefully prepared. The core content is:

"I was a resident doctor who was fired. I was fired not because I didn't make an effort, but because I offended the Director. The Director's husband was my superior. The Director was jealous because I was close to her husband, so he used all sorts of tricks to oppress me, and finally kicked me out of the hospital."

"I know a lot of people will say I deserve it, say I have a bad degree, I didn't pass the exam. But I want to ask a question, can a degree and a test represent a person's entire ability? I've been on the operating table for a year and a half, I've personally participated in hundreds of surgeries, are these things not counted as abilities?"

“I'm just an ordinary girl with no background, my only mistake was sitting in the wrong chair.”

The video's likes have exceeded 50,000. The comments section exploded. Half cursed To Nha Lam for pretending to be pitiful, the other half said "this kind of thing happens all over the state payroll". I returned the phone to Han Man.

“When was this video posted?”

"It was 11 o'clock last night. It's been less than 10 hours so far."

“Who filmed for her?”

"I don't know. But the video quality is very high, the lighting, recording, and cutting don't look like they were filmed haphazardly."

I thought for three seconds.

“No need to pay attention.”

Han Man's expression clearly showed surprise.

“Not paying attention?”

"What she said cannot stand comparison with reality. The inspection team's conclusions, professional test scores, personnel approval records, all are still there. Anyone who takes the trouble to carefully read the source of the incident can distinguish whether she is telling the whole truth or not."

“But netizens won't read carefully…”

"So we don't argue with her online. We did well in the appraisal of the Provincial Medical Center and presented our achievements. The achievements are more convincing than any feedback."

Han Man thought for a moment then nodded. But things don't go away that easily. That afternoon, To Nha Lam's video was reposted by the largest online forum in Hai Thanh. The discussions on the forum are even more heated than the comments section of the short video. Some people started digging up my background, saying I was "the guy who parachuted in from the Provincial Health Committee through the back door". Someone dug up Phuong Tri Vien's previous essays and said that "isn't it a pity that such an excellent doctor was dragged down by his own wife?" Some people even bluntly said, "That's just how women are leaders, there's no distinction between public and private." Han Man took screenshots of these posts and placed them in front of me.

“Director Co, do you need the Propaganda Department to respond?”

“No response.”

“But someone in the post is hunting for your family information…”

“For dharma tracking mechanism. Content related to personal privacy must be removed through legal channels. Leave the others alone.”

I stood up.

"Let's prepare a little, I want to go to the Bone and Joint Department at three o'clock in the afternoon."

“Department of Bones and Joints? For what?"

"Let's see how the patient who underwent artificial joint replacement surgery by Phuong Tri Vien is recovering."

At three o'clock in the afternoon, I went to the Orthopedics department. The surgery patient's name was Ly, 63 years old, a retired high school teacher. Seeing me enter, he was a bit nervous.

“Are you the Director?”

"Yes. I came to see how you are recovering."

“Much better. Doctor Phuong's skills are very good, my knee can now bend, I never dared to think about it before."

The family member standing next to him, a woman in her 40s, his daughter, also said the same.

“Doctor Phuong is very good, he comes to the room every day, if there is any problem, he can always be found. Completely different from our previous experiences at other hospitals.”

I nodded.

“That's good then. If you need anything, just report it to the nurse's station immediately."

When I came out of the hospital room, I met Phuong Tri Vien in the hallway. He had just come out of the operating room, had changed into clean surgical clothes, and still had a surgical cap on his head.

“Are you going to the Department of Bones and Joints?”

“Visit your artificial joint replacement patient. Recovery is very good.”

His expression softened a bit.

“That was the most careful joint replacement you've ever done.”

“From now on, every shift will have to do the same.”

He looked at me.

“Have you seen To Nha Lam's video?”

“Aren't you angry?”

“I don't have time to be angry. The assessment of the Provincial Medical Center is almost here, I have to put my energy where it counts."

He was silent for two seconds.

“Do you need me to do anything?”

“Do well with your surgeries. That is the greatest contribution you can make.”

He nodded. This is the most normal conversation we've had in the past few weeks.