Regarding the patient Zheng Ling mentioned, Yan Feifan agreed to take a look and then decide what to do based on their specific condition.

After a first half that was more of an academic discussion, the latter half of the evening settled into the proper rhythm of a banquet.

Eating, drinking, shooting the breeze, and cracking jokes.

No matter if they were department heads or famous doctors, at the end of the day, they were all just ordinary people. They were under a lot of pressure, had heavy workloads, and needed to unwind.

Accustomed to fine dining, these connoisseurs could all tell that the dishes on the table were anything but ordinary.

It was just that many of the dishes had already been picked clean by a few gluttons.

These weren’t the type of people to deny themselves, and their solution was just as extravagant.

Another order of this!

If one isn’t enough, then bring two!

This made Yan Feifan, who knew the prices here were anything but cheap, cringe, even though it wasn’t his own money being spent.

But the project’s funding was his to manage. The more money spent on food and drinks, the less there would be for everything else…

At nine-thirty in the evening, the celebration banquet came to an end.

When Yan Feifan got the bill, his heart sank.

The food cost was over 26,000, which came out to a standard of 1,000 per person.

The drinks, however, came to 38,000.

Even though it was a large group, they were all medical professionals with good self-control, so they hadn’t drunk much.

Among so many people, they had only finished three bottles of red wine and three bottles of yellow wine.

But the price per bottle was anything but low!

Yan Feifan paid the bill with his credit card, planning to get it reimbursed from the project fund with the receipt in the next day or two.

After seeing most of the guests off, Yan Feifan, Yan Ziruo, Wang Chuan, Qin Ying, and Liu Jin moved to a small private room on the second floor for tea.

Wang Chuan picked up the teapot to pour for everyone, but the perceptive Yan Ziruo quickly took the task from him.

“That Xiao Yang will most likely be promoted to chief physician in the next couple of years.”

Wang Chuan said with a hint of disdain, “He’s probably scheming to take over from Dr. Lo as the head of neurosurgery, which is why he’s trying so hard to be seen everywhere.”

“Feifan, you don’t need to bother with people like him.”

Yan Feifan grunted in acknowledgment, and then Liu Jin added a reminder, “Feifan, you must write an excellent paper on this surgery.”

“It’s likely to generate a lot of discussion, and it wouldn’t be good if people found any problems or flaws.”

Yan Feifan grunted again. “I’ll put my best effort into it.”

Liu Jin chuckled. “I have complete confidence in your work.”

After a brief pause, he changed the subject. “Feifan, according to Mr. Pan’s earlier promise, he’ll be adding another four million to the fund.”

He asked, as if offhandedly, “That’s a considerable sum of money. Have you thought about how you’re going to use it?”

Yan Feifan thought of the one million Song Yan had given him before. With a knowing glance at Qin Ying, he asked, “Mrs. Qin, does our research and teaching office need any new instruments or equipment?”

Qin Ying shot Liu Jin a sharp glare. “Mr. Liu promised that the hospital would cover everything our research and teaching office needs.”

“Feifan, don’t let him take advantage of you again.”

Liu Jin explained awkwardly, “Many of the hospital’s expenses are based on the plans set at the beginning and middle of the year. Besides, I’m not in charge of that part of the budget.”

“I’ve had to strong-arm other departments to get what you need so far. Once your office is officially in the budget for the second half of the year, things will be much easier.”

Liu Jin added, “Feifan is my student, after all. Would I really let him get the short end of the stick?”

At this, Liu Jin’s expression turned awkward again. “Feifan, your research and teaching office still needs an advance of nearly one million.”

Seeing that Mrs. Qin only moved her lips without saying anything, Yan Feifan readily agreed. “Alright, no problem.”

He added, “Much of the equipment in the research and teaching office is what I need for my own daily studies, anyway.”

“So how about this? Instead of an advance, let’s just designate it as equipment purchased for my research project!”

Liu Jin said, looking very gratified, “Feifan, that’s very considerate of you.”

He then admitted frankly, “In another year or two, I plan to contend for the position of hospital president. I need to be more careful and not give anyone any ammunition against me.”

Yan Feifan said, “Oh,” and then asked, “Mr. Liu, is there anything else you need me to do?”

Liu Jin laughed. “No, you’ve already done more than enough.”

“Feifan, just focus on improving yourself.”

“The more capable and famous you become, the more my own influence as your teacher will grow. A rising tide lifts all boats.”

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something.”

Liu Jin added with a grin, “I had dinner with the executive vice principal of the Affiliated High School over the May Day holiday.”

“He said that if a student’s abilities are lacking and their grades are poor, no one would dare make an exception.”

“If that little sister-next-door of yours is confident her high school entrance exam scores can reach the level of a Tier 3 city-level key high school, then tell her to go ahead and apply to the Affiliated High School. He can handle things from there.”

Binhai has over sixty city-level key high schools in total.

These are also divided into tiers.

Bin University Affiliated High School is considered one of the ‘Big Four’.

Apart from the Big Four, the other city-level key high schools are further subdivided based on their teaching quality and matriculation rates to top-tier universities: Tier 1 has six schools, Tier 2 has eight, and Tier 3 has eight.

The problem was, Tian Yu was only at the level of a district-level key high school.

Noticing the troubled look on Yan Feifan’s face, Liu Jin chuckled. “Feifan, just have your little sister-next-door apply!”

“Even if her scores don’t meet the standard for the Affiliated High School, getting her into a slightly less prestigious city-level key school… I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s just a matter of buying someone dinner.”

Yan Feifan realized that was true.

With the connections of Mr. Liu and the other teachers, the Big Four might be a stretch, but getting into any other key high school would be no problem at all.

Besides, if she were rejected by one of the Big Four and then reassigned to another school, it would be much easier for her to accept.

Even if Tian Yu’s exam scores weren’t great, as long as they weren’t completely abysmal, it could easily be explained away as her just having a bad day during the test.

Once he figured this out, Yan Feifan said cheerfully, “Mr. Liu, thank you for going to all this trouble.”

“It was nothing!” Liu Jin was all smiles.

Yan Feifan looked at Wang Chuan. “Director, I’d like to schedule the postponed nasal reconstruction surgery for the child from the orphanage for Tuesday evening.”

Wang Chuan smiled. “Alright!”

Yan Feifan then turned to Qin Ying. “Mrs. Qin, I’d like to attempt a total thumb reconstruction surgery.”

Qin Ying said thoughtfully, “You can already lead a finger reattachment surgery on your own. Combined with the plastic surgery techniques you’ve learned, a total reconstruction shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

“However, to be on the safe side, you should run a few more practice trials to familiarize yourself with the procedure.”

Yan Feifan grunted in agreement. “Mrs. Qin, that’s what I was planning as well.”

Just then, his cell phone rang.

It was a call from Mrs. Yu.

She was on duty in her department tonight and hadn’t been able to attend the celebration.

The moment he answered, Chen Yu’s furious voice came through the phone.

“Feifan, I just got some news.”

“People from the Health Commission are coming to the hospital tomorrow to investigate our finger reattachment surgery for possible procedural violations…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep