3 【3】Doctor's Relative

Tomorrow, national college entrance exam candidates across the country are going to fill out their college preference forms.

She wants to study medicine, so her mother took her to her aunt's house to seek advice. Her aunt, Zhou Ruomei, went from being a midwife to a self-taught obstetrics and gynecology doctor, and married Ding Yuhai, a general surgeon at the same hospital; her life story is truly inspirational.

"Other lines are as mountains," meaning that people outside of an industry never know the secrets within. If you want to pursue medicine, you must understand what the doctors' circle is like. Fortunately, they had such an impressive cousin, and Sun Rongfang naturally brought her daughter to consult with relatives.

Sun Rongfang was picking out fruits at a fruit stand near the hospital, selecting Sunkist oranges imported from America, which were extremely expensive, nearly ten yuan apiece. In 1996, when an average family's monthly salary was a few hundred yuan, these fruits were simply unaffordable luxuries.

For her daughter's future, Sun Rongfang was all in, squandering money left and right while saying, "Your aunt's family is not lacking in good things. She definitely won't appreciate if we buy small oranges or watermelons. The gifts others give to their family are incredibly good. So, study hard, and after you graduate, have your aunt help you arrange a position in a hospital. Once you become a doctor, your life will be different, too."

Xie Wanying looked at her mother's actions, held herself back three times, but ultimately couldn't help blurting out, "Mom, there's no need to buy them, aunt doesn't like the oranges we buy, and she doesn't think I can become a doctor."

"What?" Sun Rongfang turned around, disagreeing with her daughter's words, "You can be a doctor, and your aunt would be thrilled to death. Her own daughter couldn't get into medical school, which pained her for a long time. Now, you can vindicate her daughter, she would be delighted."

How big of a face her mother must have, to think that her cousin would treat her niece's daughter as her own.

After reflecting on it, Xie Wanying realized that intellectuals are indeed different. Zhou Ruomei truly never spoke ill of anyone in front of others. There was only one reason: doctors could silence ordinary people with their medical knowledge, which most don't understand.

To her mother, who hadn't even completed elementary school, her doctor cousin was always surrounded by a halo of admiration. Of course, it remained to be seen whether her cousin was genuinely kind to her niece or if she harbored ulterior motives.

After spending one hundred yuan on eight oranges, holding the heavy bag in her hand, Sun Rongfang was quite pleased and felt she had the confidence to take her daughter to visit her cousin's home.

The mother and daughter then walked into the small alley next to the hospital, which was the shortcut the security guard had mentioned, leading directly to the hospital staff residential area.

The hospital had good benefits and its staff residential quarters. The buildings in the neighborhood were well-situated, with good quality, safe and elegant environment, and proximity to the hospital. People invariably get sick, and having a home next to the hospital was reassuring. Xie Wanying remembered that later, when housing prices soared, the apartments left over from this era in the hospital were all without exception hot commodities in the resale market.

Zhou Ruomei lived on the so-called golden floor, the third floor, in the middle of the residential area. Upon this, Sun Rongfang once again boasted to her daughter about her cousin's home: "Your uncle-in-law is the lead surgeon of the general surgery department, you know? When you get there, remember to greet him properly."

Xie Wanying didn't make a sound at first, seeing as she had been unable to stop her mother earlier and could only wait to get to the other's home for them to throw a damp towel, waking her mother up to reality.

After climbing to the third floor, Sun Rongfang pressed the doorbell and, worried that no one inside would hear, additionally called out, "Is Zhou Ruomei there?"

"I am," a woman's voice answered from inside, walking to the door to open it.