At nearly 6:50 PM, Qi Xiuping hurried to the teaching building in the southeast corner of the Affiliated Hospital. Following the directions in a text message, he arrived at a classroom on the fifth floor.
Pushing the door open, he surveyed the scene inside. Qi Xiuping immediately thought, ’Holy shit,’ and his heart pounded with even more anxiety.
Not only were there at least thirty people in the classroom, but he also saw many familiar faces.
Qi Xiuping even recognized that two of them were already attending physicians.
’Dammit, why are attending physicians competing for this too?’
’At this rate, there must be another two or three attending physicians among the dozen or so unfamiliar faces.’
’How is anyone supposed to survive this?’
"Hey, Qi Xiuping, what’s your number?"
Feeling the immense pressure, Qi Xiuping followed the voice with his eyes.
He saw that the person calling him was Pan Jichuan, a "second-generation doctor" of the same rank who had interned with him in several departments.
"Number eighteen!"
Qi Xiuping quickly composed himself, replied cheerfully, and strode into the classroom.
At the same time, he constantly nodded or waved to acknowledge the colleagues he knew.
After some pleasantries, Qi Xiuping sat down at the desk labeled with the number "18" and stuffed his briefcase into the desk cubby.
Just then, he felt a weight on his left shoulder. He saw Pan Jichuan leaning in, his hand resting on it.
"Hey, Qi Xiuping, feeling confident?"
Qi Xiuping shook his head with a wry smile. "I was confident, but after seeing this lineup, I’ve got none left."
"There must be five or six attending physicians here today, right?"
Pan Jichuan sat down next to Qi Xiuping and said nonchalantly, "What’s there to be afraid of with attending physicians?"
"If we had taken the assessment early, we could have passed it easily and become attending physicians too."
Qi Xiuping said flatteringly, "With your skills, of course you don’t have to worry about competing with them."
"But I’m not on the same level."
Pan Jichuan chuckled, leaned closer to Qi Xiuping, and lowered his voice. "Qi Xiuping, you don’t have to play weak with me."
"I know you’ve been getting pointers from Yan Feifan these past few days."
"Got any useful inside information? Spill some, won’t you?"
Pan Jichuan raised an eyebrow, gave Qi Xiuping a knowing look, and added, "I’ll owe you one. If there’s ever anything I can do to help, I won’t hesitate."
Qi Xiuping said with a frank expression, "Pan Jichuan, since you know that much, you must also know that I haven’t been doing anything else these past few days."
"I’ve been in the emergency department from morning till night, treating patients’ flesh wounds and drilling my wound treatment and suturing techniques."
"Occasionally, Mr. Yan points out my shortcomings."
"That’s all in the realm of basic skills, which have always been your strong suit."
Pan Jichuan said, somewhat smugly, "As for basic skills, my dad has been forcing me to practice them since I was a kid."
"My level... well, it’s just a tiny bit better than yours."
He then looked toward the classroom door and muttered to himself, "I just wonder how Mr. Wang will test our basic skills."
Pan Jichuan had barely finished speaking when the sound of shuffled footsteps came from outside the classroom door.
Then, Wang Chuan and Lin Qian walked into the classroom.
In addition, a group of young women dressed like university students were crowded at the entrance.
Standing at the lectern, Wang Chuan first swept an authoritative gaze over everyone sitting bolt upright in dead silence before speaking slowly.
"Thank you for your faith in me and for participating in this assessment."
"However, due to my limited energy, I can only take five people. Yet, thirty-three of you signed up, so I must resort to this rather crude assessment method."
After saying this, Wang Chuan gestured with his hand.
The university students gathered at the door filed in, each one taking a seat next to a candidate.
As the young women sat down, they also placed a small roll of clear tape and a pair of scissors on the desk in front of each candidate.
This scene made Qi Xiuping’s heart pound wildly.
He was both excited and apprehensive.
Over the past two or three nights, Qi Xiuping had been cramming last-minute, boning up on knowledge related to plastic surgery aesthetics.
But this kind of perception wasn’t something you could improve just by wishing it.
Yan Feifan had even commented on it.
His skill level in this area could only be considered average.
To be blunt, it was mediocre.
As Qi Xiuping carefully studied the ordinary face of the girl next to him, Wang Chuan’s voice sounded again.