When Yan Feifan got home, he found his sister groaning on the sofa while Yu Suye and Du Qiu massaged her arms and legs.

"Sis, what happened to you?"

Yan Ziruo turned her head, looking a bit embarrassed. "I went to the gym after work and accidentally overdid it."

Yan Feifan couldn’t help but laugh. "Sis, with your on-and-off gym schedule, you might as well stop wasting your money."

"Why don’t you just wake up a little earlier and join us for our morning workout?"

Yan Ziruo declared brazenly, "I can’t!"

After a pause, she turned her head back to him and continued, "Feifan, our uncle called this afternoon. He said his resignation has been approved."

"He won’t be able to leave the ship and come home until next month, though, after his freighter returns to its home port."

Yan Feifan let out a soft "oh" as his sister continued, "Uncle also said he’s been in constant contact with Mrs. Xia these past few days."

"He’s not just chatting, but also sending her pictures and videos from the ship and out at sea. Their relationship is progressing quite smoothly."

Yan Feifan sighed softly. "I hope everything goes smoothly for them."

"Uncle’s one of our elders, after all. If he really gets into trouble, he might not listen to anything we say."

"He needs someone formidable like Mrs. Xia to keep him in line."

Du Qiu couldn’t help but ask, "Is that Mrs. Xia really that formidable? I thought she seemed very friendly last night."

Yan Feifan chuckled. "Mrs. Du, don’t be fooled by her. Mrs. Xia has quite a history."

"She used to run with gangs and even got into knife fights when she was younger."

Du Qiu gasped in surprise. "I never would have guessed. She’s always smiling, yet she used to be a gangster..."

After dinner, Yan Feifan returned to his room. He simultaneously worked on two things: in his mind, he studied the puncture and injection protocol for a patient with an intraspinal tumor, while at his desk, he drew a perspective diagram of the procedure for a patient whose surgery was already complete.

This ability to multitask was something he had only recently developed through practice.

With so much work on his plate, Yan Feifan had no choice but to find ways to be more efficient.

He had tried to mentally simulate the puncture and injection protocols for two different patients at once but discovered it was too difficult.

Not only was it far too easy to mix them up, but the mental energy it consumed was several times greater. Before long, he’d feel dizzy and muddle-headed, his vision going dark.

However, Yan Feifan found that he *could* spare enough mental energy to control his body for simple tasks while he was deep in thought.

And so, after a bit of trial and error, Yan Feifan could now draw the tumor puncture perspective diagrams while simultaneously thinking about other matters...

"Feifan..."

Hearing his sister’s voice, Yan Feifan stopped his thoughts and his drawing hand, turning to look at her as she came to his side.

"Let’s go do something fun this Sunday..."

Yan Ziruo reminded him, "Ever since you and Su Ye got together, you’ve just been working at the hospital all day. You haven’t had a single proper date."

"Feifan, you have to put effort into a relationship."

Yan Feifan said softly, "Sis, Su Ye and I are both passionate about treating patients and saving lives."

"We’re perfectly happy spending every day at the hospital."

Yan Ziruo shook her head, speechless. "Feifan, come on. Life needs a little variety."

"I love steamed fish."

"But if you made me eat it every day, even if it was wild large yellow croaker every single time, I’d get tired of it, maybe even grow to hate it."

Yan Feifan nodded in agreement. "You have a point, Sis."

"So, where should we go this weekend?"

"Karaoke?"

Yan Ziruo reached out to pat her brother on the head. "Have you forgotten that you sound like a wailing banshee when you sing?" she laughed.

"You might enjoy yourself, but everyone else has to suffer."

"How about Disney?" Yan Feifan suggested.

Yan Ziruo shot that down. "To Disney? We’d spend most of our time wasted in lines, and it’s way too hot for that."

"Feifan, I heard Water World out in the southern suburbs is nice. It has a bunch of water rides but also some on land."

"I also heard the food there is quite good, especially the roasted whole pig."

Yan Feifan had no objection and nodded. "Let’s go to Water World then."

Yan Ziruo happily patted her brother’s head again and warned, "It’s a deal, then, Feifan. Don’t you dare tell me you have to work on Sunday."

Yan Feifan shook his head, dodging his sister’s hand.

"I can’t promise that, Sis. What if an emergency patient comes in that day? It’s not something I can control."

Yan Ziruo huffed. "The Affiliated Hospital has so many doctors. How come you’re the only one who’s so busy?"

"I know for a fact that many department directors and chief physicians have plenty of time to play golf or go sea fishing every week."

Yan Feifan chuckled. "They’re already established in their careers and make good money, so of course they’re going to enjoy life."

"People like us, residents and attending physicians, are right in the middle of the grind. We wish there were forty-eight hours in a day."

Yan Ziruo’s eyes lit up. "But Feifan, you’re a special consultant for two renowned hospitals now. That’s more impressive than a lot of the chief physicians at the Affiliated Hospital."

"The Affiliated Hospital should make an exception and promote you."

Yan Feifan chuckled. "My consultant positions at Baining Hospital and the PLA General Hospital are just because of my expertise in a very specific area."

"It doesn’t mean I’m qualified to be promoted to chief physician."

He then added nonchalantly, "Besides, titles don’t mean anything to me."

"What do you mean they don’t mean anything?"

Yan Ziruo quickly reminded him, "That title affects your salary, your benefits, your office perks, and a whole lot of other things!"

"And, once you become a chief physician, you can mentor students."

"Imagine it: when you do your rounds, you’ll have a whole entourage of more than ten students and junior doctors trailing after you, all at your beck and call."

"How impressive would that be?"

Yan Feifan rolled his eyes at his sister. "Sis, you have a seriously feudal mindset..."

Just then, his phone rang, which luckily saved him from his sister’s "Mighty Vajra Palm."

It was a call from Tian Yu.

"Mr. Yan, my homeroom teacher came for a home visit. He just left after dinner..."

Tian Yu chattered on, "The high school entrance exams are right around the corner, and he still shows up for a home visit. It’s only because he saw I put down Binhai University Affiliated Middle School as my choice and wanted to come sound things out."

"Sigh..."

She sighed heavily over the phone, then said in exasperation, "My dad... he’s driving me crazy."

"Once he has a little to drink, he can’t keep his mouth shut."

"My teacher asked a few leading questions, and he just blabbed everything."

"My dad went on and on about how amazing you are and even said the director of the Affiliated Hospital personally pulled strings for me."

"He said that as long as I do okay on the exam, getting into Bin University High School will be no problem. And even if I choke, I can still take my pick of the other top high schools."

"My mom is furious, too. Absolutely furious. She said when my dad sobers up, she’s going to make him kneel on a durian..."

Yan Feifan couldn’t help but chuckle. "Well, what’s said is said."

"I’m sure your teacher is a discreet person; he won’t go spreading it around."

Yan Feifan added, "There’s less than a month left for the final sprint, Xiaoyu. Don’t slack off now."

"Wouldn’t it be even better if you could get in on your own merit?"

Yan Feifan pondered for a moment, then continued, "I still remember my middle school subjects."

"How about this: I’ll spend some time reviewing the material and looking up resources, and I’ll create a few practice exams for you..."

He couldn’t help but boast, "Back when I used to tutor high school seniors for their college entrance exams, the practice tests I wrote managed to predict questions worth dozens of points on the actual exam."

"A mere high school entrance exam should be a piece of cake..."

P.S.

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