"A husband worries about his country! A commoner worries about food! Song Hao worries about medicine! Hehehe..." Tang Yu laughed lightly.
"Song Hao is a quack!" Song Hao misheard and shook his head, saying, "If you're going to be a doctor, be a qualified one, someone who understands the principles of medicine. Otherwise, don't do it, lest you harm others and yourself. Alas! In this world, nine out of ten doctors are quacks, and the other one is just a half-baked amateur. It's true that traditional Chinese medicine is vast and profound, making its principles difficult to understand!"
"Alright! Stop reminiscing, let's go over there and get something to eat." Tang Yu smiled and pulled Song Hao away.
"Girls these days all like to lose weight. You eat so much good food, aren't you afraid of getting fat?" Song Hao joked.
"Let's eat our fill today, and we'll talk about dieting tomorrow," Tang Yu replied with a smile.
"You practice kung fu, so you can't get fat. It's also a good thing you didn't choose sumo wrestling, otherwise you would have been in big trouble!" Song Hao laughed.
"You'd be the one practicing sumo wrestling!" Tang Yu scolded playfully, giving Song Hao a sidelong glance.
The two walked away laughing.
Song Hao and Tang Yu had sampled several rare local delicacies along the way, until their stomachs were full and they felt utterly satisfied. Just as they reached the street corner and were about to look for their way back to the inn, they suddenly heard someone call out loudly behind them, "Song Hao!?"
When Song Hao heard the sound and turned around, he saw a man in a suit and tie, with a big belly and a radiant face, standing next to a luxury car. The man was pointing at him with a look of surprise.
Tang Yu suddenly heard someone on the street calling Song Hao's name, and alertly stepped in front of Song Hao.
"Song Hao! It really is you! No wonder your back looked so familiar!" The man was overjoyed and happily came forward to greet him.
"Maji!" Song Hao exclaimed in surprise, overjoyed. It turned out that the man was his classmate and roommate from when he lived in Baihe Town and went to the county health school. Although he had gained weight, Song Hao recognized him at a glance.
The two met unexpectedly and, overjoyed, embraced. Tang Yu, seeing this, knew that Song Hao had met an acquaintance and stood aside watching with a smile.
"Good lad! I didn't expect to run into you here! Who is this beautiful young lady?" Maggie asked excitedly, glancing at Tang Yu beside him.
“One of my friends is named Tang Yu. Tang Yu, this is one of my classmates, named Ma Ji,” Song Hao introduced.
"Hello!" Tang Yu greeted with a smile. She was secretly puzzled; how could Song Hao have a classmate so much older than him? Little did she know, Song Hao had skipped a grade.
"Hello, Miss Tang! My name is Magee, and I was Song Hao's best friend back in school. Well done, Song Hao! You have good taste!" Magee said, giving Song Hao a thumbs up.
"Don't overthink it, she's just a friend of mine," Song Hao quickly explained, trying to prevent Maggie from making things up.
“Understood! I get it!” Magee laughed.
Tang Yu pouted to the side.
"Come on! I'll treat you two to dinner. It's not easy to run into you, we have to drink until we drop!" Magee said generously, waving his hand.
"No!" Song Hao and Tang Yu said in unison. By this time, they had already filled their throats with all sorts of delicious food and could not swallow anything else. Even the most exquisite delicacies had lost their appeal.
"Haha! You two are telepathically connected! You're a match made in heaven! You must have eaten your fill of street food. No problem, let's go to a teahouse for tea to digest our food," Maggie laughed. He turned and opened the car door behind him, gesturing for the car to go.
Tang Yu found this man to be quite witty, smiled, and happily got into the car with Song Hao.
"Nonsense!" Song Hao nudged Ma Ji as he got into the car.
"Go easy on me, you're strong with your fingers, don't cripple me with one touch," Magee said with a laugh, getting into the driver's seat and driving away.
Inside a luxurious yet elegant teahouse, Song Hao and Ma Ji sipped their gongfu tea and chatted while watching the tea ceremony performed by the waitresses. Tang Yu sat to the side, sipping her tea and listening.
"Wow, Maggie! Wearing designer brands and driving luxury cars, looking all high and mighty, you must have become a big boss, doing quite well! What, you're quitting being a doctor?" Song Hao laughed.
“I changed careers a long time ago. Otherwise, if I were stuck in the hospital with that meager salary, my family would have starved to death countless times. I went into the sea and started a company, but I haven’t really left the pharmaceutical industry; I work in pharmaceuticals,” Magee replied with a smile.
Tang Yu couldn't help but smile when she heard this.
"By the way, how are Liu Tian and Zhang Baolun doing now?" Song Hao asked. Those two were also his roommates back then.
"They jumped into the sea too! They're all doing quite well. Liu Tian's father is now the county magistrate. This kid is daring. Relying on his good father, he's contracted several large construction projects in the county and is doing very well! Zhang Baolun has also opened a trading company dealing in building materials. He and Liu Tian are making a fortune together!" Ma Ji said.
"Sigh! I didn't expect you guys to all abandon medicine and go into business!" Song Hao shook his head and sighed.
"Of the original sixty or seventy people in the class, more than ninety percent have switched to other things. It's because we're not cut out to be doctors, and we can't bear the risks and responsibilities of being doctors. Besides, it's a market economy now, how many doctors can still calm down and focus on their profession? They're all thinking about ways to make money! By the way, how are you doing these days?" Magee asked.
"Me? It's a long story!" Song Hao said with a wry smile.
“You have a very capable grandfather who can get by anywhere. You know, the director of the county health bureau who drove you and your grandfather away back then was dismissed not long after you left. The county also sent people out to look for you and your grandfather to return to Baihe Town to continue practicing medicine, but there was no news, so they gave up,” Ma Ji said.
"Oh! I will still return to Baihe Town to establish a medical clinic in the future." Song Hao nodded in surprise.
"Really!" Magee exclaimed with delight. "Welcome back! Not to mention Baihe Town, there isn't a single good doctor in the whole county. When people get seriously ill, they all run away to other places. Come back with your grandfather, Song Hao. Now that's our territory. We're in charge. No department dares to give us face. Those embarrassing things from before won't happen again. The other day, Liu Tian, Zhang Baolun, and I were drinking together and talking about you. Where did Song Hao go? Why haven't we heard from him for so long? Back in school, everyone thought you were the most promising student."
“You’re all better than me now!” Song Hao said with a wry smile.
"You can't say that. You're several years younger than all of us, and you're following a renowned doctor like Grandpa. You'll definitely be better than all of us in the future. Don't let our seemingly respectable appearances fool you; we're actually quite weak, both mentally and physically. We'll get some nourishment when you come back," Maggie laughed. He noticed Song Hao's somewhat downcast appearance and made a joke to comfort him.
"You're still the same person you were in school, nothing's changed," Song Hao said with a smile.
"Things may change, but our friendship will never change. It's settled, Song Hao, everything you do when you return to Baihe Town will be handled by us. Let's go big, not just a small clinic, but a large-scale hospital. If you have any funding problems, we brothers can support you by pooling our money and investing. Money won't be a problem," Ma Ji assured him, patting his chest.
"What a businessman! Knowing that Song Hao and his grandfather are highly skilled in medicine, they're already trying to profit from them!" Tang Yu thought to herself. At the same time, she also learned that Song Hao and his grandfather had been forced out of Baihe Town, and felt sympathy for Song Hao's difficult past.
"Great! If I encounter any difficulties when I return to Baihe Town, I really need your help," Song Hao replied happily.
“Don’t mention it. You know, Baihe Town has changed a lot now; it’s a major tourist destination in the province. You and your grandfather are going back to your hometown to practice medicine and open a clinic. With your old reputation, I guarantee you’ll make a fortune,” Ma Ji said.
"Yes! I can't forget that place," Song Hao said with emotion.
After saying goodbye to Maggie, Song Hao returned to the hotel and sat in his room, feeling sullen.
When Tang Yu saw this, she assumed that Song Hao was unhappy because he had met his former classmate and was seeing the classmate's success and triumph, while he himself was still unsettled. So she went up to comfort him and said, "That's how businessmen are. Once they get a little momentum, they don't care about anything else. You are different from them. You are going to do great things in the future. It's just that the time is not right yet."
Song Hao shook his head and said, "I'm naturally happy for them to see their success. It's just a pity that almost all of the sixty or seventy people in our class back then have given up medicine and gone into business! It's such a shame!"