Chapter 131: Di Wei Grumbles

"Do you two know each other?" Duan Bowen asked curiously.

Yang Meng nodded. "Heh, of course we do!"

The man in the white coat, however, snorted coldly, "It’s a small world—enemies are bound to cross paths."

This man in the white coat was none other than Di Wei, whom Yang Meng had met twice before.

*Isn't he a doctor at the Municipal Hospital? What is he doing here?*

"Enemies crossing paths? Dr. Di, do you have a grudge against my master?" Long Teng asked, intrigued.

Di Wei looked bewildered. "Master?" Having rushed in, he hadn't clearly grasped the dynamics of the room.

Long Teng and the others nodded in unison.

Yang Meng interjected, "Hey, I haven't even agreed to be your master yet!"

"But you accepted when I called you master just now!" Long Teng insisted.

Bai Ze nodded as well. "Yeah, I called you master and you agreed too!"

Duan Bowen raised his hand. "Mr. Yang, I can bear witness to that."

Yang Meng was speechless. "Are you guys setting me up? Long Teng, don't get too smug! This private doctor friend of yours doesn't just have a grudge against me; he has one against your sister, too!"

"My sister? Which one?" Long Teng asked, puzzled.

Yang Meng laughed. "Long Xixiang, of course. I try my best to avoid Long Nanyao! As a matter of fact, I have to hide from Long Xixiang too now! Both of your sisters are crazy! But this Dr. Di here nearly got into a fight with Long Xixiang back then. You figure out how to handle that."

"Mr. Long, don't listen to his nonsense!" Di Wei jumped up. "I've never even met Ms. Long Xixiang! How could I have had a dispute with her?"

Yang Meng spread his hands. "Who do you think kicked your side mirror? Who do you think the girl riding that '狒狒' (Baboon) motorbike was?"

"What?" Di Wei exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? Everyone knows the Second Miss Long is a refined lady. How could she be riding a motorbike in the mountains? And kicking my side mirror? That’s something a delinquent would do!"

Duan Bowen and Long Teng exchanged a strange look, and after a moment, Long Teng said, "Dr. Di, my sister did indeed buy a 'Baboon' motorbike, and she does ride in the Qingniu Mountains."

Yang Meng laughed heartily. "Hear that? I wasn't lying, was I? Tell me, Dr. Di, I heard people saying you were destined to be a 'master of the medical arts.' How did you end up working as a private doctor here?"

Di Wei’s face flushed red, then turned pale. "If I'm not welcome here, I'll just leave!" He turned to walk away.

Duan Bowen quickly grabbed him and said to Yang Meng, "Mr. Yang, Dr. Di was recommended by an old friend of Uncle Long’s. If there isn't any major conflict, can’t we put aside our prejudices and turn enemies into friends? If he leaves, I’m afraid it will be difficult for Uncle Long."

Yang Meng shrugged. "Look at you, it’s not like he made me lose face or suffer a loss. Why would I be angry? I should thank him; he helped me get a BMW HP4! By the way, Long Teng, I need to talk to you about this. Your sister scared me away from the motorcycle club, and my bike is still stuck there. You need to help me get it back."

Long Teng looked innocent. "I can't control Xixiang. Don't look at her like she's just my little sister; she’s usually the one bossing me around. If I mess with her affairs, she’ll make my life a living hell! I don't dare get involved in this. Master, please spare me!"

He was playing the victim. Who knew if Yang Meng and Xixiang might become a bickering couple? Long Teng would fully support them getting together!

Yang Meng, oblivious to Long Teng’s thoughts, pointed at him in annoyance. "Look at how spineless you are! Fine, Dr. Di, stop acting so temperamental. It was never a big deal between us anyway! I never considered you an enemy. Want a cigarette?"

Di Wei paused and realized he was right. His two encounters with Yang Meng hadn't been serious issues. To be precise, he had been the one losing out: first, getting a lecture on traffic laws from Yang Meng, and later, losing face... and his job.

Seeing the cigarette Yang Meng offered, Di Wei sighed and waved it away. "I don't smoke. For the sake of your health, you should smoke less too."

Yang Meng lit one up. "I smoke to give those who hate me a little hope. Tell me, Dr. Di, why are you here? Taking a side job while on break from the hospital?"

Di Wei glanced at Yang Meng. "Isn't it thanks to you? I’m currently suspended!"

"Suspended? Why?" Yang Meng asked, confused.

Di Wei looked bitter. "How should I know! I go to Qingniu Mountain for a ride, get my mirror kicked, and that's not even the worst of it. The moment I get back to the hospital, people start investigating my relationship with Zhou Chun from Norton Medical Instruments. It was an investigation ordered from the top! If it weren't for my father’s connections, I might have been taken in for questioning. Being suspended pending investigation is already lucky!"

Yang Meng raised his hands. "Don't look at me! This has nothing to do with me! Ask Long Teng—my relationship with the hospital isn't great, it's impossible for me to go there and cause you trouble. But honestly, getting too close to that Zhou Chun isn't a good idea. You'll run into trouble sooner or later!"

Just as he finished, Di Wei’s phone rang. Di Wei glanced at the number, turned the ringer to silent, and shoved it back into his pocket.

Yang Meng, sharp-eyed, caught the name "Huo Yan."

"Oh? Isn't that Manager Huo from Norton? Why aren't you answering?" Yang Meng asked, then suddenly realized. "Oh, I see. She’s latched onto you, hasn't she? What? Treating you like a golden goose?"

"Golden goose, my foot!" Di Wei said indignantly. "Why do they want me? To use my connections to sell a photon knife machine to the hospital! Do they think I'm stupid?"

Yang Meng blinked. "So, you intend to take their benefits without doing the work?"

Di Wei looked a bit embarrassed. "Uh, their motives are impure, so why should I be polite to them? You could say I’m doing a public service!"

Yang Meng gave him a thumbs up. "This is the first time I've heard someone justify taking small bribes so righteously. You've got talent!"

Di Wei sighed. "What else can I do? A poor man has no ambition, and a hungry horse has no energy! Who told me to be so poor?"

Yang Meng was stunned. "What did you say? You’re poor? Aren't you a full-time doctor in the Emergency Department? You call that poor?"

Di Wei spread his hands. "Nobody believes me when I say it, but I really am poor! Fine, I admit I bought a house, and the mortgage is suffocating me."

Yang Meng scratched his head. "Aren't doctors high-income?"

"Pah!" Di Wei spat. "My biggest regret is listening to my dad and going to medical school! If I had put that same effort into anything else, I’d be doing much better than I am now!"

Long Teng, lying nearby, said, "Dr. Di, that’s a bit of an exaggeration! Doctors have low income? No one will believe that! Ask the average person—who doesn't complain about medical costs?"

Yang Meng patted Long Teng. "I can say that, but are you really an 'average person'? Still, Dr. Di, I have to say, it’s hard for people to believe a doctor when they say they have no money."

Di Wei shook his head. "Everyone thinks doctors are high-income, right? Heh. Every industry has people at the top who make a lot. A hospital might have a thousand doctors, but there are maybe only a dozen truly top-tier ones, and that's being generous! These doctors determine the hospital’s reputation and revenue—they are the brand. Can their income be low? If you were the dean, wouldn't you pay them well? Go to the big hospitals in Northern Capital; those top department heads start at five million a year, and many make eight figures! But do they represent all doctors? Those top-tier doctors are what make a hospital 'top-tier.' If you took them to some private chain hospital, that chain would become the best in the country! But you can't just stare at the top few people. The income of ordinary doctors is what’s truly representative, isn't it?"

Yang Meng paused. "Is the income of ordinary doctors really that low? Your Municipal Hospital is a public institution, surely the benefits aren't that bad?"

Di Wei grumbled, "Don't even mention the term 'public institution.' That's exactly where the bad luck starts! Let me tell you, in these institutions, the salary is based on your professional title! Doctors are divided into five tiers: medical practitioner, resident, attending, associate chief, and chief physician. The base salaries are roughly two thousand, three thousand, five thousand, seven thousand, and nine thousand, respectively. And that’s at a formal Grade-A hospital; it’s even lower at town-level hospitals!"

Yang Meng waved his hand. "Come on, you have bonuses, right?"

Di Wei nodded. "Of course. If there weren't bonuses, how could I survive on four thousand a month? But bonuses depend on the hospital's performance and your position! Before you become an attending physician, you're just a nobody. How much of a bonus can you expect? I don't mind saying it: I spent five years in undergrad, three in a master's program, and two in a PhD. I was nearly thirty when I finally started at a Grade-A hospital. Everyone thinks I make a fortune, but in reality, I make less than the nursing assistants at the hospital!"

"What?" Yang Meng blinked, then laughed. "You're joking, right?"

Di Wei shook his head. "Fine, since we're on the subject, I'll vent. Mr... Mr. Yang, give me a cigarette. I really need one now."

Yang Meng handed him a cigarette, though it was clear Di Wei didn't know how to smoke. He took one puff and coughed for a long time. After he finished coughing, Di Wei took a deep breath to compose himself. "A doctor's income doesn't just come from the base salary and bonuses. If that were all, no one could support a family. Look at me: PhD graduate, working in a Grade-A hospital, but not yet an attending. I have to get my training certificate before I can even take the exam to become an attending. Even then, the salary plus bonus is only about ten thousand a month. Is that worth all those years of burying my head in books?"

"Definitely not!" Yang Meng and the others shook their heads in agreement, gesturing for him to continue.

It was truly a case of "different professions are like different mountains." Yang Meng had never imagined that the "white coat" people revered could be in such a miserable state.