Famous Among Top Surgeons in the 90s

Chapter 33: 【33】Go to the Capital 3
 

Xie Wanying, with two long braids, was wearing a clean white shirt and black pants. Her silhouette was gentle and compliant. If someone said she was just a high school graduate on her way to university, one might agree, yet there was a hint that she had moved past adolescence, adopting a touch of womanliness.

Xie Wanying was aware that she had been reborn, and her psychological age had long surpassed her current stage of life.

When someone’s gaze swept over her, Xie Wanying couldn’t help but look back, first noticing a blue thermos cup in the hands of a middle-aged man. She knew at a glance that he had the hands of a doctor. Why? There was a faint scent of disinfectant that comes from regular handwashing, and his skin was paler than the average person’s.

When the man saw her looking back, he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and took another look at her before moving on.

Watching where the forty-something uncle headed, she saw he went towards the train carriages at the rear, where the hard and soft sleepers were located—spots with ticket prices out of reach for the average folk.

In any era, big city hospital doctors are wealthy and hold high status and identity. Not to mention surgeons, compared to internists and auxiliary department technicians, their money just flows in. Specialties like cardiothoracic surgery sound prestigious just by the name.

In the time it took for her to look away and then back, her mother had already struck up a conversation with the passenger across from them.

“My daughter is going to Guo Xie Medical College,” Sun Rongfang said, her voice brimming with barely concealed pride as she spoke of her daughter’s achievements.

The passenger across, a woman in her forties or fifties, introduced herself as Aunt Fang, and upon hearing Sun Rongfang’s words, she said, “Ah, isn’t that just like the girl we saw earlier?”

“Who?” Sun Rongfang’s interest was piqued at the possibility of meeting her daughter’s future classmate on the road, and she quickly sought to foster a relationship for her daughter.

“She and her parents have tickets for the hard sleeper carriage. They passed by here earlier on their way to the dining car, and you hadn’t boarded yet, so the aisle was blocked. Mother and daughter had no choice but to rest in your seats for a while. My husband and I chatted with her mother and learned they’re heading to the Capital to study medicine,” Aunt Fang explained.

Hard sleeper carriage. Sun Rongfang glanced over towards its location, wondering if she should take her daughter there to start making good connections with her classmates.

Seeing her mother’s expression, Xie Wanying knew her mother’s old habit of networking everywhere was kicking in again.

Social connections are peculiar in China; it’s a society built on relationships. Sun Rongfang had always believed in making friends wherever she went and that others would likely want to make friends as long as the approach was friendly, and nobody would refuse—especially intellectuals, who are usually high-quality, compassionate people. Her mother only finished elementary school and had never experienced the social circles of the highly educated, hence her misunderstanding of intellectuals. Xie Wanying thought about this and felt even more determined to study hard and fulfill her mother’s unachieved dream of education.

Whether a person is good or not has nothing to do with their educational level. Her cousin Zhou Ruomei and class teacher Liu Hui were examples of bad characters.

Thus, Xie Wanying took hold of her mother’s sleeve and said, “No need.”

Sun Rongfang turned to look at her daughter with a questioning gaze.

“Mom, your daughter has the ability to make friends come to her instead of needing her mother to help curry favor,” Xie Wanying reassured her mother.

Sun Rongfang looked surprised, and in that moment, she felt her daughter had grown up.