From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

At the hospital’s committee meeting the next day, Pan Junfeng presented the matter in a written report.

In the small meeting room, the main leaders of the hospital were deep in thought.

Pan Junfeng briefly introduced the situation of the current plot and distributed some photos he had collected on-site for everyone to see.

Vice Dean Tan Yue, who had just returned from a meeting at the provincial level, had an air of arrogance typical of the children of retired cadres from Dongzhou: "This is too much bullying. If the bureau doesn’t handle it, we can go directly to the city leaders in charge. If the city doesn’t handle it, we can still go to the province. I refuse to believe there’s nowhere for us to reason."

Secretary Sun Weimin lit a cigarette, smoking while observing the expressions of others; he wouldn’t speak until a critical moment.

Vice Dean Zhao Hongxia was relatively cautious: "The main issue is that this matter involves the martyrs’ cemetery; I estimate that no matter where we go, our chances of winning aren’t great."

Tan Yue said: "That’s not the way to talk. That land was allocated to us by the state, and they occupied it without a word. This is ignoring national policies and regulations. How can the dead compete with the living for land?" She was a bit reckless with her words.

Dean Yan Huaiyi coughed and said: "Xiao Tan, you... you... don’t get excited, first... first listen to what Comrade Junfeng has to say."

Pan Junfeng said: "The situation is just like this. To be strict, they didn’t occupy our place, it’s just that the road now closely borders our land. According to the road design standards, there will be a fifteen-meter green belt on both sides, which means the green belt occupies our land."

Yan Huaiyi nodded: "How come you only... only discovered this issue now?"

This question left Pan Junfeng speechless, his face flushed. It was indeed an oversight on his part. If it weren’t for Xu Chunliang’s reminder, he wouldn’t have known when he’d discover it.

Secretary Sun Weimin spoke up for Pan Junfeng: "That piece of land hasn’t started construction; it’s just a vast grassland. No one can squat at the land’s edge every day. Since this has happened, let’s think about how to resolve it."

Yan Huaiyi questioned back: "Secretary Sun, Sun... Sun Weimin, what do you think?"

Sun Weimin had long anticipated that as soon as he heard his surname, he’d stutter. Now, he couldn’t tell if Yan Huaiyi was doing it on purpose. He tapped the ashtray and said: "Still, it’s up to Dean Yan to speak, this matter falls under your responsibility."

Several committee members noticed the rising tension between the two. Sun Weimin was clearly shifting the responsibility onto Yan Huaiyi.

Yan Huaiyi said: "Xiao Pan, the task of preparing for the new hospital has always been... been up to you, you should continue."

He increasingly realized that even if he wanted to stay out of it, he couldn’t. If anything happened to the Infectious Disease Hospital, he would be the first to be held responsible.

The discussion circled back to Pan Junfeng. He was long accustomed to this meeting style. He sighed and said: "The urgent task is to mend the fence, so to speak—first we need to enclose our piece of land, assign someone to guard it, and prevent further deterioration of the situation."

Vice Dean Li Chunyan said: "I agree."

Disciplinary Committee Head Yang Qinghong and Chief Accountant Lin Mingming nodded in agreement; the three of them were the closest allies, and they all agreed with anything Li Chunyan approved of.

Yan Huaiyi said: "Then let’s... let’s have a show of hands for a vote."

Everyone raised their hands, and Pan Junfeng’s proposal was unanimously adopted.

Yan Huaiyi said: "Xiao Pan... you... you must immediately start this project. Time is of the essence, enclose our land."

Pan Junfeng said: "I will handle it immediately, but there are still some risks involved. Many local residents have privately enclosed land and cultivated crops. If we build a boundary wall, it will inevitably infringe on their interests, and we may face obstruction."

Tan Yue laughed: "What kind of problem is that? Communicate with the local public security department in advance. This land is ours; why are they planting on it? If anyone dares to resist law enforcement violently, let the local police station handle it."

Everyone nodded in agreement, believing that they had reason on their side, and there was nothing to fear in doing things according to the law.

Pan Junfeng silently sighed, thinking this group of people sitting in offices all day probably underestimated the power of the local residents. But Tan Yue was not unreasonable—they must coordinate with the local police station before construction.

Pan Junfeng continued: "There’s one more thing, there are still several graves on this plot that haven’t been relocated."

This even made Secretary Sun Weimin uncomfortable: "Junfeng, you’ve had this land for so long, why hasn’t the relocation of the graves been completed yet?"

Pan Junfeng couldn’t tell whether to laugh or cry: "After we got the land, we immediately started working on this aspect, but we haven’t been able to contact the families of these graves. Anyway, we haven’t started construction, and it’s inconvenient to forcibly level them right away. We’ve posted notices, but no one’s responded yet."

Yan Huaiyi said: "As soon as construction begins, problems will certainly emerge one after another. Comrade Junfeng, it’s not too late to mend the fold after the sheep are lost. You should hurry and handle it."

Everyone looked at Yan Huaiyi, unable to believe their ears. He had just said that sentence without stumbling over a single word, and it came out so smoothly.

Yan Huaiyi said: "Why... why... are you all looking at me? Secretary Sun... Do you have anything... more... to say?"

Sun Weimin felt a bit frustrated and shook his head.

Yan Huaiyi announced the meeting adjourned.

After the meeting, Pan Junfeng followed Yan Huaiyi to his office. Yan Huaiyi guessed that he must have something to ask of him, as this was the first time since assuming his position.

Pan Junfeng’s attitude was rather modest and sincere because he needed something from Yan Huaiyi, trying to ask him for a person. Pan Junfeng was no fool; he already sensed that the process of acquiring the land wouldn’t go smoothly. Embarrassingly, these issues were noticed by Xu Chunliang first. Pan Junfeng, unknowingly, had started to recognize Xu Chunliang’s abilities. If he could get Xu Chunliang to help, the matter would likely be much easier.

Of course, Pan Junfeng had another consideration. Since Xu Chunliang was Yan Huaiyi’s man, bringing him over would mean dragging Yan Huaiyi into it as well. If anything major happened, the primary responsibility would still fall on Dean Yan.

Yan Huaiyi was very aware of Pan Junfeng’s motives. He politely declined Pan Junfeng’s request for a simple reason: Xu Chunliang was new to the Dongzhou Infectious Disease Hospital’s work and wasn’t familiar with it yet. An office itself was enough to keep him busy, and promoting him too early might attract criticism.

Through recent events, Pan Junfeng found that Yan Huaiyi was not as slow-witted as he appeared. Just because he was slow in speech didn’t mean he was slow in thought.

After sending Pan Junfeng away, Yan Huaiyi immediately called Xu Chunliang over. Xu Chunliang had just gone to the car service division. As a subordinate department of the administrative office, Xu Chunliang had to go and assert his authority. Despite the Infectious Disease Hospital not being large, there were quite a few cars: two Toyota Coasters, one GL8, and five sedans among them. Two Passats were already fourteen years old and about to be scrapped next year, usually parked in the garage.

Of the other three cars, one was an Audi A6, and the other two were Magotan. The former dean got into trouble because of that Audi A6, as he was caught discussing work with the former head of the nursing department inside the car.

Although the current dean is now Yan Huaiyi, he hasn’t even sat in that Audi A6 once, probably considering it unlucky.

The drivers of the car service division all treated Xu Chunliang very politely, as these people admired force the most. Although Xu Chunliang hadn’t been there long, his infamous reputation had already begun to spread, having slapped the former office director Yang Yunfeng away. Now, he occupied the nest and openly named the Director of the Digestive Department, Liang Guangsu, successfully arousing the curiosity among the hospital’s employees. Upon digging deeper, they discovered that this guy was the Xu Chunliang who became a hot topic due to involvement in a gang fight.

Yan Huaiyi conveyed Pan Junfeng’s request to Xu Chunliang. Xu Chunliang had actually expected this and laughed: "He’s worried that this matter is likely to encounter a lot of trouble."

Yan Huaiyi said: "Isn’t he capable? Can’t he handle such a simple matter himself?"

Xu Chunliang said: "I estimate he can’t solve it. The local residents in the mining area are all somewhat resentful, and they’re very unhappy about placing the Infectious Disease Hospital in their vicinity. Conflicts might occur; you need to be mentally prepared."

Yan Huaiyi sighed: "I... I... doubt I’ll have peace in the future." This wasn’t a complaint against Xu Chunliang, considering the responsibility for building the new hospital was handed to Pan Junfeng; if anything went wrong, Dean Yan couldn’t detach himself.

Xu Chunliang said: "Without experiencing storms, how can one see the rainbow?"

Yan Huaiyi said: "Chunliang, I’m still not very... very... aware of that plot of land... should we try to fight for it?"

Xu Chunliang shook his head: "To be honest without dampening your spirits, no one can fight to get it." He knew more than anyone that the restoration and monument building for the Tomb of the Seven Heroes was entirely driven because Elder Qiao had a hand in it. Not just the Health Bureau, even the city wouldn’t dare to oppose them.

Yan Huaiyi said: "Then... then what should we do? Will... will we just lose that seven-acre plot?"

Xu Chunliang laughed: "You might not be able to provoke them, but you can certainly avoid them, right? If we argue with them over this, we’d end up losing miserably. That’s called getting a bloody head; you should know the story about letting him have three feet of wall, right?"

Yan Huaiyi nodded his head; he certainly knew that story, having taken place in his hometown Tongcheng during the Qing Kangxi reign when the Minister of Rites Zhang Ying’s family had a dispute over three feet of land base wall with their neighbors, the Wu family. The family sent him a letter asking him to mediate the dispute. Zhang Ying replied with: "A letter only for a wall, letting him have three feet is no harm. The Great Wall still stands today, but where is Emperor Qin of old?" After receiving the letter, the family immediately conceded three feet. Upon hearing this story, the Wu family felt ashamed and also chose to retreat three feet, thus forming a six-foot alley between the two families, which still exists to this day.

Yan Huaiyi said: "Then should we... should we... just retreat."

Xu Chunliang said: "There’s another saying: ’Never turn back until you’ve hit a brick wall.’ One way or another, Pan Junfeng needs to suffer a little. When he can’t solve it, then we intervene. By then, I’ll have established a foothold, and your prestige will rise a notch."