This move of going abroad went smoothly, and the doubts from the West gradually faded away.
It was said that at first, some media contacted Dr. Kenn, hoping that he would declare that Z country had fabricated the results, which would make the attack more forceful. However, Dr. Kenn just said with a gloomy face, “If your reports on foreign countries were a bit more truthful, I wouldn’t have had such a rigid impression for so long and embarrassed myself abroad.”
Fortunately, most of those who mocked him were Z countrymen, and Dr. Kenn couldn’t read Chinese or use social media much, otherwise he would have been angry. Regardless of what this matter looked like on the international stage, the success of this surgery undoubtedly boosted the morale of every Chinese.
In those days, many netizens forwarded the news of the paper’s publication, making it lively as if it were New Year’s.
However, compared with Dr. Kenn and Dr. Albert, Shen Fangyu could be said to be as low-key as possible. The interviews he participated in were arranged by Zheng Qi, and according to his request, nationwide public interviews were only audio without showing his face. Zheng Qi is blocked private, unofficial media interviews.
In fact, Zheng Qi originally wanted to help him with some publicity, but Shen Fangyu refused. So later, even in the official news releases, it was according to Shen Fangyu’s wishes to praise all the medical staff involved in the surgery, without mentioning or specifically praising anyone. The few photo and video materials on the internet mostly came from Shen Fangyu’s presentations at professional conferences, but they were all secretly recorded so the cyber police almost immediately deleted those things and warned those who posted them. With time, the group of people who wanted to hype up the matter heard about the attitude above and all became honest.
The only photo that was widely circulated was the one of Shen Fangyu hanging on the wall in Jihua Hospital.
However, news has its expiration date. At the beginning, some people were interested and went to Jihua Hospital to try to get an appointment with Dr. Shen. But at that time, Dr. Shen was busy taking care of his daughter at home, and his whereabouts were hidden, making it impossible to find him.
After a few months, fewer people discussed this matter online. Without other information or gossip to support it, and without any publicity or rumors to enrich his image, even if the photo was handsome, it was difficult to leave a lasting impression on everyone in the fast-paced internet world. In addition, many rational netizens called for the need to give him his privacy.
Over time, “Dr. Shen Fangyu” gradually became “the handsome Z-country doctor who brought glory to the country” in the mouths of netizens, just like the Z-country captain back then. His title and achievements were louder than his name.
Director Cao had criticized Shen Fangyu a few times, and Zhang Cheng even called him to ask why he was hiding so tightly.
“You have made more news on the outside than the inside now,” Zhang Cheng said. “But how many people are paying attention to outside the network? In China, you are like a person who does not exist. I thought you would at least be promoted as a unique doctor.”
Shen Fangyu did not hide anything from Zhang Cheng, who knew almost everything going on.
People fear fame like pigs fear fattening up. There are always people who like to watch others rise and fall. After fame and fortune come, troubles will follow. Today, everyone was praising him on the internet, but tomorrow, they might be cursing him. Fame involved too much, and he was not alone now; he also has to think about Xiaoxiao and Jiang Xu.
“I published the paper and cooperated with the promotion overseas to let those people know that we in Z-country can also perform this surgery. I am not telling them that I, Shen Fangyu, can do it,” he said. “I am happy and proud to hear the words ‘Z-country doctor’.”
He did not make a living by being popular. Being a small screw like he was now was the safest.
“But…the sacrifice is still too great,” Zhang Cheng said. “After such a big surgery, not only did it only get published in domestic journals, but now not many people even know your name.”
Shen Fangyu hugged his little Xiaoxiao whom Bai Jiao had just fed, “It’s enough that Jiang Xu knows about me. Besides, when it comes to sacrifice, can I sacrifice more than him?”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Cheng sighed and agreed, “That’s true.”
Thanks to Zheng Qi’s help, the two of them actually had a longer vacation than what Shen Fangyu had requested from Director Cao at the time.
When they packed up and were ready to return to their home in the city center, four months had already passed. On the day they were sent home, Zheng Qi appeared again and treated them to a private dinner.
He also expressed the idea that the discussion about this matter had already died down a lot, and it was time for rewards to be given for achievements. Therefore, he asked if they had any needs, and as long as it was reasonable, the state could give some rewards within a certain range.
Shen Fangyu and Jiang Xu glanced at each other and said to Zheng Qi, “We don’t want anything, just one small wish.”
Zheng Qi said, “Just tell me.”
Shen Fangyu swallowed nervously and said, “I want to register my daughter to the household registry.”
In these past few months, Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu had already talked about this issue several times. They speculated that the country should help solve the problem, but Zheng Qi had never mentioned it before.
Normally, babies are registered within three days of birth by the hospital, and then they can use the birth certificate to register their household.
But Xiaoxiao wasn’t born in a regular hospital, so there was no birth certificate. The problem was that without a birth certificate, household registration could not be processed, and Xiaoxiao couldn’t stay undocumented forever.
Now that the child was getting older, Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu were also getting anxious. Unexpectedly, just when they were about to talk to Zheng Qi about this matter, Zheng Qi finally asked them what they would want.
Zheng Qi couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing the couple’s request. “What kind of reward is that? That is something we should have done. It’s just that considering the privacy issues of you and your child, the suggestion is to reduce your child’s age by one year, so that it doesn’t match the year of the surgery shown in the paper and to avoid unnecessary speculation. When your child is one year old, I will help you to register.”
“As for the issue of vaccine age, you can follow the child’s actual age and go to the hospital where you previously vaccinated her. We have a record of it, and they will continue to record your child’s information.”
“However…” he suddenly turned around and said, “This is the first in our country, and there are no appropriate legal provisions. In principle, children cannot be registered with two fathers but after discussion, we believe that the most suitable solution is to obtain a single-parent certificate for the child, register them as a child born out of wedlock, and leave the mother’s column blank.”
“According to the current system, only one of you two can be written in the father’s column on the birth certificate so whoever is written in the father’s column will have the child registered under their household registration. In other words, only one of you can legally be the father of the child.”
“This is a serious problem, and there’s still more than half a year left,” Zheng Qi suggested, “You can consider it carefully.”
“No need to consider,” Shen Fangyu said directly, “Write Jiang Xu.”
“Shen Fangyu!” Jiang Xu called out his name in disapproval.
“The way you convinced me when we were writing our research paper, I’ll use the same argument now,” Shen Fangyu said. “The name on the research paper is under my name, and the child will be registered under your name. It’s for better privacy protection.”
“And since you’re the one who gave birth to the child, just like how the research paper’s authorship is determined by contribution, you have made the greatest contribution,” he said. “So if we can only choose one person, it should be you.”
Zheng Qi, who was fed a lot of dog food, sighed and made a joke, “If you two weren’t a same-sex couple, you could be used as an example in the Civil Affairs Bureau. Even Kong Rong giving way to others cannot compare to how much you two like to yield to each other.”
Jiang Xu: “…”
Shen Fangyu: “Actually, we used to argue a lot.”
How did it change? Maybe it was because of love. Love is most wonderful thing in the world.
Jiang Xu’s cover of working in the countryside was a little longer, so Shen Fangyu had to go back to work first, where President Cao took him away as soon as he returned.
President Cao also didn’t understand how things had turned out this way. At first, it was agreed that the two of them would prepare for the operation together. Then inexplicably, someone from higher up came and said they wanted to send Jiang Xu to the countryside and told him to keep Jiang Xu’s research on the surgery a secret.
Later, someone else came to tell him that Shen Fangyu had to cooperate with the country to go abroad for publicity, and couldn’t come back to the hospital temporarily.
Not only did his two generals in the obstetrics and gynecology department not come back to work, but Shen Fangyu also acted like a stubborn little girl and was reluctant to appear in public in China.
The country did privately praise him for timely reporting the situation and for his behavior in training successors. They also increased the allocation of funds to Jihua Hospital. However, the rewards in private were one thing, and the reputation in public was another.
Although Jihua Hospital was already a top hospital in the country, which hospital president wouldn’t want to have more gold attached to their face? It was all their achievements during their tenure.
He would have understood if it had been Jiang Xu who did the surgery, as he was always low-key, but Shen Fangyu, who usually acted like he could handle anything, became socially anxious when it came to big events. This made President Cao very angry.
So when he heard that the government had released someone, he immediately called Shen Fangyu to urge him to come back to work. After all, one doctor was temporarily unable to return but the other one had to come back quickly. The length of his vacation was too long, and he had never taken such a long vacation before.
When Shen Fangyu returned, the entire department cheered and asked him to treat them. He kept saying to wait a bit longer until Dr. Jiang came back. He even booked a big private room near the hospital and invited all the colleagues and students from the department.
Everyone still had enough sense to divide the two of them into two tables. Jiang Xu’s students were still maliciously speculating that Shen Fangyu had deliberately waited for Jiang Xu to return so he could show off in front of him, and they complained, “What’s there to show off about? Our Teacher Jiang is just as glorious for serving in the remote regions. If he hadn’t gone to the remote regions, who knows who would have performed the surgery?”
After saying this, he even patted Yu Sang, who had been at the forefront of their argument. “Don’t you think so, Senior Brother Yu?”
However, Yu Sang was uncharacteristically quiet this time and when he heard this, he only said, “Don’t argue. It is our responsibility to maintain peace in the department.”
Jiang Xu’s students: “?”
Zhang Cheng gave Yu Sang a meaningful glance, and the latter glared at him, “What are you looking at?”
Zhang Cheng smiled, “Nothing, just that seeing you reminds me of myself back then. I feel particularly good.”
Jiang Xu’s students noticed Zhang Cheng’s presence at this point and asked in confusion, “Dr. Zhang, why did you come to our table?”
Zhang Cheng didn’t answer directly, but instead made a vague prediction, “Would you believe me if I said that Shen Fangyu will come to this table later?”
Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu were almost the last to arrive. When Jiang Xu came, he greeted his colleagues and students, and went straight to the seat that Yu Sang had saved for him.
Shen Fangyu’s students were at another table, and they also gestured for him to come to the seat they had saved for him.
Shen Fangyu smiled and nodded, but didn’t sit down immediately. Instead, he poured a glass of wine, stood in the middle of the room, and said many words of gratitude to everyone.
In fact, his words were quite formal, expressing gratitude for everyone’s understanding during the time he was away and for their support and help in the department. He emphasized that this was not his achievement alone, but rather the honor of the entire Jihua Obstetrics and Gynecology department.
He was so sincere that even Jiang Xu’s students were quite moved by the end. To be honest, they also worried that Shen Fangyu would become arrogant after achieving such great success and no longer value his colleagues. However, Shen Fangyu was clearly more humble than they had imagined. After he returned, he did not put on any airs and was similar to how he used to be.
Even when his students boasted about him, Dr. Shen, who always had a gentle attitude towards students, lost his temper. He told them not to be so arrogant and high profile, and not to always bring up this matter in the department.
At that time, when his paper had just come out and he hadn’t returned yet, some people in the department privately discussed whether Shen Fangyu would directly surpass Director Cui’s position when he came back. But unexpectedly, the first thing Shen Fangyu did when he returned was to thank Director Cui for her guidance and promotion, and it was said that he also brought many gifts.
Even Director Cui had privately expressed her admiration for Shen Fangyu, saying that he knew how to behave better than President Cao, knowing when to speak up and when not to, in order to keep the department peaceful.
However, Shen Fangyu was thinking further than that. He went to great lengths to maintain the relationships within the department, mainly because he was worried that if his relationship with Jiang Xu couldn’t be kept a secret, someone with malicious intent might use this to their advantage.
The principle that having more friends is better than having more enemies is never wrong no matter where you go.
After the applause subsided, Li Sheng called out to him, “Dr. Shen, stop talking and start eating. The food will get cold soon.”
His original intention was to call Shen Fangyu over, but unexpectedly, Shen Fangyu responded with a nod and then walked over to Jiang Xu’s table with a glass of wine in hand.
Li Sheng and the students who were fanning the flames before simultaneously widened their eyes, then they heard a speech that shocked them even more:
“I would also like to thank Dr. Jiang. Dr. Jiang is the one I want to thank most.”
“Jiang Xu helped prepare and finalize this throughout the entire process. I am very grateful for the help and support he has provided me in my paper and life. Although he was unable to participate in the surgery due to being stationed elsewhere, and did not get his name on the paper, I must say that Dr. Jiang’s contribution to the successful publication of this article is absolutely no less than mine.”
“Jiang Xu,” he said. “This drink is for you.”
Jiang Xu obviously did not expect him to say such a thing here. In fact, they were still pretending to have a bad relationship when they entered the door.
He raised his glass and clinked it with Shen Fangyu, adding a subtle warmth to his eyes.
After he came back, he actually heard some discussions about why he didn’t go to do the surgery but he didn’t care much about it. It was obvious that Shen Fangyu listened to it all and planned this whole thing.
“What are you two doing?” Zhong Lan stared at the clinking glasses of the two with shock, “Have you reconciled?”
“Yes,” Shen Fangyu smiled, “I will continue to work with Dr. Jiang with a cooperative attitude. We will learn from each other, and make progress together.”
After speaking, he turned to the student sitting next to Jiang Xu and asked, “May I switch seats with you?”
Dr. Shen’s students, who were abandoned by their own teacher, were dumbfounded, staring at the two teachers who were talking happily, doubting whether their eyes and ears were all malfunctioning.
The discussion about the surgery was discarded, and everyone kept asking how the two had broken the ice.
Shen Fangyu was smoother than anyone else, saying grandly, “I encountered a great bottleneck in the preparation of the surgery and the writing of the paper. Dr. Jiang offered me very important help when he heard about it, regardless of past grudges. We also realized that we are good colleagues and partners, so we decided to put aside our past conflicts.”
Everyone looked enlightened and sighed, “The two doctors have a high level of consciousness, and can put personal grievances aside when it comes to important matters. It is very admirable.”
Perhaps only Yu Sang and Zhang Cheng, who knew the truth, couldn’t bear to hear these words and the black lines on their faces were almost impossible to hide.
“How could Shen Fangyu say such things?” Yu Sang couldn’t help but whisper, “Is his skin as thick as a city wall?”
Zhang Cheng earnestly agreed, “To be honest, although I have supported him for so many years, I think you are right.”
“By the way…” Zhang Cheng tentatively reached out, “Do you know who Shen Fangyu’s patient is?”
“I don’t know. Isn’t it supposed to be absolutely confidential?” Yu Sang looked confused and reminded Zhang Cheng.
“…”
As expected, he was the loneliest among the crowd. Zhan Cheng, who finally thought he had an ally, was heartbroken once again.
