Chapter 283: Chapter 283

Even though it had been a while since Liu Banxia had seen his parents, he hadn’t taken them sightseeing yesterday. High-speed train journeys, while comfortable, are still tiring.

In the evening, he took everyone out for roadside barbecue skewers, an outing Peng Xiuqin had arranged. One reason was Qing Kewa’s fondness for it, and another was to save money. Even if the grand restaurant was Qiaoqiao’s family’s, and they’d get a discount, the bill wouldn’t be small. They didn’t want their visit to drain their son’s finances. These were very normal thoughts for parents. Liu Banxia guessed some of it but didn’t elaborate. As long as everyone was happy, what they ate didn’t really matter.

"I’m entrusting my parents to you. Thanks for your hard work," Liu Banxia said sincerely.

Qiaoqiao shot him a glance. "Why are you so hesitant? Are you a man or not?"

Liu Banxia blinked. "I thought you were turning over a new leaf. You were so well-behaved yesterday."

Qiaoqiao, exasperated, shot him a glare, stepped on the gas, and sped off.

How could it be the same? She had been holding back all day yesterday. Whatever she wanted to say or do, she had to think it over first. And after she finished thinking? A new topic would come up, and she’d have to start thinking all over again.

Liu Banxia shook his head. This girl’s personality was probably just like that, truly unpredictable and fickle.

After arriving at work, he first checked the admission records. There were still no new inpatients; at most, there were some patients receiving IV drips in the emergency department. Most were cases of upper respiratory tract infections or enteritis, conditions often triggered by the change in seasons and dietary carelessness.

After reviewing them and seeing nothing urgent, he informed his colleagues and headed to the proctology department.

"You’re here quite early. Wait a moment, let me sign these documents," Jiang Tao said with a smile. Follow current novᴇls on noᴠelfire.net

"You go ahead. To quote Wang Chao, we’re in the calm before the storm. I estimate things won’t get too busy until we move to the new building," Liu Banxia said.

"It’s good to get some rest. Once things are truly up and running, there really won’t be any chance to sleep," Jiang Tao said with a sigh.

"I overheard something during a meeting a few days ago. The quality of patient reception in our emergency department has improved significantly. Moreover, your handling of patient admissions is also excellent. Director Zhou even specifically mentioned you."

"It’s really nothing; I’m just doing my job systematically," Liu Banxia said.

"Have you smoothed things over with Qi Wentai? I haven’t heard of any new trouble from your end," Jiang Tao asked with a smile.

"It’s mostly resolved. I had a frank discussion with him," Liu Banxia said. "Either he improves his performance, or I’ll have him transferred. Otherwise, I’m genuinely worried something bad might happen.

"The conversation was quite effective; at least he’s much more proactive now. Although I can be petty, I won’t keep targeting him for revenge. There’s no need for that; I have to consider the entire emergency department."

"Director Jiang, you didn’t call me over just to praise me, did you? Is there something else important? Go ahead, I can handle it."

"Do you have any conflicts with Vice Director Wang Guobin?" Jiang Tao asked.

Liu Banxia was taken aback. "Director Jiang, do you really think someone like me, who spends all day in the emergency department, could have any conflict with such a high-ranking official?"

"Are you genuinely clueless, or are you playing dumb with me?" Jiang Tao asked in surprise. "Do you really not know that Old Qin and Wang Guobin are on very good terms? I thought you’d heard some rumors and were deliberately trying to make trouble for him."

Liu Banxia was exasperated. "Director Jiang, you know I’m always in the emergency department. How would I have the standing to make trouble for a vice director?"

"You wrote the complaint email, right?" Jiang Tao asked. "Wasn’t it because Qin Hai went to Jinshui District to dig into your background, and then you retaliated against Old Qin, dragging Wang Guobin into it as well?"

"What did I complain about? Oh... I remember now. Is it about this batch of IV tubes?" Liu Banxia asked, frowning. "I did write an email the day before yesterday. But what does this have to do with Vice Director Wang? And why is Old Qin involved again?"

"It seems you genuinely don’t know anything. You’ve cluelessly stirred up a lot of trouble," Jiang Tao said, sounding somewhat helpless.

"Our hospital’s medical consumables, like IV tubes, are primarily supplied by Dazheng Group. Because Old Qin previously worked at our hospital, he’s the liaison responsible for this.

"The hospital administration has to handle complaints like these carefully, especially since they concern consumables that come into direct contact with patients. And Vice Director Wang is precisely the one in charge of bidding and procurement for our hospital.

"Speaking of which, the reduced quality of this batch of consumables is also somewhat related to our new emergency building. Purchasing so much equipment at once costs a lot of money.

"The hospital has limited funds. With so much spent here, savings have to be made elsewhere. That was Vice Director Wang’s explanation. However, he also said he would urge Dazheng Group to improve the outer packaging for the next batch.

"At the meeting, he also mentioned that your emergency department has the highest consumption of supplies. Although this is partly due to the higher number of trauma patients, he said management practices should still be improved."

Hearing Jiang Tao’s explanation, Liu Banxia was speechless. The email he had written wasn’t really a complaint; it merely reported the actual situation. When he had opened the boxes, he found some outer packaging was damaged. During storage in the emergency department, even more would get damaged, leading to unnecessary waste.

And now Wang Guobin had painted him as retaliating against Qin Hai and provoking Wang himself. Where was the justice in that? He didn’t even know Wang Guobin was in charge of this area. What on earth would possess him to foolishly pick a fight with a vice director?

"Ah, I remember now. I did have a small conflict with Vice Director Wang before," Liu Banxia said, rubbing his face. "A celebrity came to our hospital for treatment. His agent wanted to jump the queue and use a fake name. I didn’t agree, so he contacted Vice Director Wang.

"It was for a deviated septum. How could I let him jump the queue for that? And using a fake name was even more out of the question. I was afraid he’d insist, so I preemptively shut him down. Perhaps this is related. Anyway, I haven’t thought about it since."

Jiang Tao was at a loss for words.

Initially, he thought Liu Banxia had retaliated because Qin Hai was investigating his freelance surgeries. Now that he understood, he knew Liu Banxia had suffered an ungrounded disaster. But regardless of the original reason, this was the outcome. He could only inquire about it because he had a good relationship with Liu Banxia. Others? They would definitely see this as a challenge issued by Liu Banxia.

"Director Jiang, don’t you think my life is quite bitter?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

"I don’t know if it’s bitter or not, but your mindset is quite good. Besides, your work and Vice Director Wang’s don’t overlap much, so you don’t need to worry excessively," Jiang Tao said after a moment’s thought.

"I’ll talk to some other people later. I can’t just let you be a scapegoat . Our proctology department will also be using the new IV tubes soon; I’ll help raise the issue then."

"You still have the old stock? We’ve been using the new ones for ten days or so, almost half a month," Liu Banxia said.

"Our department’s consumption isn’t small either, so naturally, we requisition more at a time," Jiang Tao said with a smile.

"Your emergency department is different. You had fewer patients before, but I hear you’ve had many intoxicated patients recently, right? So your usage must have increased significantly. When your emergency department actually moves to the new building, who knows how much you’ll use? I estimate even the inpatient departments won’t be able to compare with you."

"Don’t overthink it; the innocent will eventually be proven innocent. However, Old Qin is indeed rather petty. He’s already left, so why couldn’t he just let things go cleanly?"

"Director Jiang, thank you so much," Liu Banxia said.

"No need to be so polite with me. Didn’t you come running as soon as I called?" Jiang Tao said with a laugh. "It’s just that you’ve caused quite a stir in the hospital before, so people tend to think you’re a bit of a pain."

Liu Banxia felt quite awkward. In the past, it was unavoidable. He was partly acting recklessly out of desperation and partly trying to get the hospital administration’s attention. So, like a shrew, he would seize any opportunity to make a scene.

His work attitude is so much better now. He not only serves the patients well but also the department. He’s very conscientious in his work every day and hasn’t even tried to make things difficult for Qi Wentai.

"Alright, it’s just this small matter. Go on with your work," Jiang Tao added.

"Director Jiang, there’s something else I’d like to consult you about," Liu Banxia said quickly. "Our emergency department is planning a public outreach event to educate people on basic medical knowledge, specifically targeting some of the misleading health products currently on the market.

"If we were to do this jointly with other hospitals, would it need to be escalated to the hospital leadership level? We initially planned for only our department to do it, but then others suggested that expanding it would have a better effect."

Jiang Tao frowned. "This kind of activity definitely needs approval from the hospital administration. Prepare the proposal and report it to the Chief Director and Secretary Du. But next time you have such an idea, you need to think it through more carefully and try to get it right from the start."

"I really didn’t think it through properly this time, so now I’m a bit unsure myself. Director Jiang, you should probably start your rounds. I’ll head off," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

Jiang Tao nodded; it was indeed time for him to start his rounds.

Walking back, Liu Banxia still felt quite frustrated. After all, being unfairly blamed for something wouldn’t sit well with anyone.

Director Jiang had a good relationship with him, but he couldn’t go around explaining on his behalf everywhere. It seemed that improving his image needed to be put on the agenda; otherwise, he would end up being a scapegoat more often in the future. Any little move he made might be interpreted as him causing trouble.