C2

For the past month, Bing Xue had been thinking about her future. She was 28 now. In another two months, her contract would be up and she would have to make a decision. She was not satisfied with her tenure in YGH.

However, she had also not found a viable alternative. All other hospitals couldn't hold a candle to YGH. She was also looking at foreign hospitals. Although she didn't want to go abroad, if she was not able to find a suitable hospital, she wanted to have options. She was particularly interested in MeiLi Hospitals.

Even when she had completed her studies this hospital had intrigued her. However, she took the safer route. Since then, 10 months had passed and MLH in Cinea had shown tremendous growth. It was very promising despite being operational for only a year and a half.

The hospital had hired some prominent doctors from abroad. It had a very efficient ER department. Some people even said that their ER department was better than YGH's. Bing Xue also heard that they were currently expanding their department of Cardiothoracic surgery. There were rumors that the owners of MLH wanted to compete with YGH especially in cardiothoracic surgery.

As their surgery department would be expanding, they would hire more staff. For the past month, Xue had been researching MLH very thoroughly. As the expansion of the department was to compete with YGH, the criteria for hiring surgeons were very strict.

However, even after extensive research, she was not able to find the actual owners of MLH. It was one of the great mysteries in Cinea. Such a large-scale and successful venture had no ties with either the Great families or any of the tier 1 families.

The owners were not known to the public. This made Xue even more fascinated.

It was 3 p.m. in the afternoon when Xue woke up from her sleep. She went to the washroom to freshen up. She had to make her rounds at 4.30 p.m. After that, her evening shift would start at 5 p.m. followed by her night shift. Today she had double shifts. This was because she exchanged duties with another doctor as the next day she had to go somewhere.

She went to the hospital canteen to have a meal. The canteen was relatively empty. She bought her food and sat at the farthest table from the entrance by herself.

It was always like this. She was always reserved and distant towards strangers. She didn't make friends easily. When she was a child, she had a happy and cheerful personality. But at the age of 7, her mother died in a car accident. Since then, her personality changed and she had become very cold and reticent. In the hospital, she had no real friends. Most of them were colleagues while the rest of them were competitors.

The other doctors and nurses also kept their distance from Bing Xue. She was brilliant and extremely beautiful. She was very skillful and capable. But she did not have a strong backer.

The Bing family was a tier 1 family of Zijin. And although she was a Bing, she didn't have much influence. Her mother was dead and her relationship with her father was non-existent. Due to this, she didn't have a strong network. Her stepmother suppressed her and her father allowed her to do so. She herself didn't use her family name to network with others. Therefore, the doctors and other staff around her were either intimidated by her or jealous of her. Many of them wanted to suppress her.

She went for her rounds at 4.30 p.m. After her rounds, her shift had started. It was a relatively stress-free shift. At 9 p.m. she again went to the canteen to have her dinner. After her dinner, she went to the ICU to check on some patients. Her double shift ended at 7 a.m. the next morning.

She left the hospital by 7.15 for her apartment. As soon as she reached her apartment, she hit the pillows. She was woken up by a call from her friend Song Jue. She glanced at the wall clock and the time was 1 p.m.

She had decided to meet with Song Jue at 2 p.m. the previous day. She only had an hour to get ready and reach the meetup place. She quickly took a shower and got ready for their meeting.

When she came out of the apartment she had transformed. As she didn't have much time to set her hair, she didn't go for a complex hairstyle. She just left them as it is, however, her long glossy brownish-black hair had been given a curly look. She was wearing cyan-colored oversized shades.

She wore a blue T-shirt with a denim jacket and matching jeans. Since it was not a formal occasion, she just wore a pair of sneakers. She looked very trendy.

They had decided to meet at a café about 3 miles from Bing Xue's apartment. She reached the café at 2.10 p.m. Song Jue was already sitting at a table. She waved at Bing Xue when she spotted her.

It had been a couple of months since they last met. Bing Xue walked towards the table and took her seat.

Song Jue took her hand and said, "Sooo!! how have you these past 2 months?"

Bing Xue smiled and said, "Very good. How about you? Did your boss send you on the crap assignment you were crying about?"

Song Jue exclaimed, "Hohohoho….. I am awesome as always!!! As for that shitty assignment, I got into a fight with my boss. Ultimately he sent someone else…hehehehe@@!!"

As they were talking a waiter approached their table for their order. They gave their order and continued their chat.

The café had recently changed ownership. It was previously owned by Tang Family's Tang Fantian. Initially, it was a restaurant famous for its Westphalian cuisine. However, the new owners had converted it into a café. The café was named Mei's Café. It had a rustic interior with beautiful wooden décor. The ambiance was very homely which made the customers comfortable and at ease.

As they were talking Song Jue suddenly exclaimed, "Ohhh! I suddenly remember, your contract period with YGH is coming to an end. Right!?"

She then looked towards Bing Xue to confirm her query.

Bing Xue nodded and said, "Yupp! Two more months are left."

Jue asked, "And then??"

Xue replied, "Then what? I don't know. I haven't decided yet. To be honest I am confused!!"

Jue asked again, "Confused!!! First, tell me honestly do you enjoy working in YGH? Are you satisfied with your current position?"

When she asked this Bing Xue paused and thought for a minute before replying, "I definitely enjoy the different kinds of operations I perform and the challenges associated with them. I also enjoy working with the latest technology and equipment available in the hospital. However, the main issue is the people. Firstly, there is Yang Ruowei. She is the future owner of the hospital. We don't get along so she will always suppress me. Secondly, I do not have any strong backing. Therefore, it will be very difficult to rise through the ranks in such a prestigious hospital."

"Working in YGH was always a temporary measure. It was to gain some experience and find a foothold for myself."

"Even if I continue working in YGH it will only be for another year or two. I also do not want to go abroad."

"Therefore, there is only one viable option for me currently."

Jue asked, "And what is that?"

Xue asked, "Have you heard of MeiLi Hospitals?"

Jue replied, "Of course I do, madam. I am an investigative journalist. It is my job to know anything and everything which is newsworthy. Of course, it includes trending and successful businesses."

"Not only MeiLi Hospitals but also there is YLM and Zenith. All these enterprises have been set up in the past 6 to 8 years.

Apart from that, they have something else in common."

Xue's curiosity was peaked and she asked, "What else?"

Jue continued, "Nobody knows the true owners of all these enterprises!!! Not just the public even the leaders of large corporates are in the dark. Interesting, isn't it?"

Xue was surprised and asked, "Not even those leaders know! So then, did you try to investigate the identities of the true owners?"

BAAM!

Jue slammed her hand on the table in frustration and said, "OF COURSE I tried! However, I was not able to get anything. I even hired hackers from the darknet to infiltrate the network of these organizations. However, it was a huge waste of time and money."

"I still feel irritated when I think about it. Let's get back to the topic of MeiLi Hospitals. So, you want to work there?"

Xue nodded and said, "Yes, but I am confused."

"I have researched about them. In the past six years, MLH has opened 3 hospitals in Zijin, Cinea, and Westphalia. Two of them are fully operational and the third will be operational in a few months."

"They have a great reputation both in Zijin and Cinea. The hospital in Zijin is even able to compete with YGH in Zijin."

"The hospital in Cinea which I want to join has also grown rapidly and organically. Recently, they have started expanding their cardiothoracic department and are hiring doctors and other staff. However, they have been very selective."

Jue asked, "So what is the issue? All you have told me are good things. Then why are you hesitant??"

As Xue was about to answer her two men walked through the café door. Their entry attracted the attention of not only Xue and Jue but also of every other customer present in the café.