novelraw Chapter 445 - 185: Remember That Guy From a Few Days Ago? He Was the One Who Saved Everyone Alone
Chapter 445 - 185: Remember That Guy From a Few Days Ago? He Was the One Who Saved Everyone Alone
City First Hospital has two cafeterias: one offers dining services to patients and their families, while the other is not open to the public. The food at both is quite similar.
However, the cafeterias at City First Hospital are not comparable to those at a health center.
They might not be lavishly decorated, but from the outside, they look no smaller than some large restaurants. The only noticeable difference is that large restaurants don’t have those neatly arranged four-person tables.
"The cafeteria’s large pot dishes might not be as tasty as those at the health center, but they do offer stir-fry services here. If you have enough time, you can order a few stir-fried dishes, and they taste no worse than those from outside restaurants. Plus, the ingredients are fresh, which is something you can’t find outside. Sometimes, I’m too lazy to go home for meals, so I just eat here at the hospital."
As Zhou Qihua introduced the place to Lu Xuan, he scanned the code on the table to order food.
"Quite convenient." Seeing Zhou Qihua skillfully scan the code, Lu Xuan guessed that he probably comes here often for stir-fry.
But come to think of it, no matter how good the cafeteria food is, visiting it too often will make even a ten-something yuan fried rice from an outside restaurant taste better.
This is true not just for City First Hospital, but for any cafeteria.
Unless chefs are changed periodically, getting tired of the food is just a matter of time.
The Zhijiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine has several cafeterias offering a wide range of delicacies, much larger and with more variety than City First Hospital’s cafeteria. Yet, even after two to three years, every mealtime still left Lu Xuan pondering what to eat.
After much thought, he’d either order takeaway or settle for a simple rice dish at the cafeteria to satisfy his hunger.
On the other hand, with stir-fry dishes, there’s a lot more variety, and they’re unmatched by large pot dishes.
The same type of stir-fry tastes completely different when it’s made in a big pot versus cooked as a small stir-fry.
"It’s quite convenient, but this stir-fry service happened only after we brought it up with the director. Otherwise, it would just be large pot dishes every day." It seemed Zhou Qihua had finished ordering his food and put down his phone, chuckling as he spoke.
"Before, I was really sick of large pot dishes. Every mealtime, it was a struggle to decide what to eat. Now, if I’m tired of large pot dishes, I can try the stir-fry dishes, switch things up back and forth, and occasionally have noodles or dumplings, which makes eating less of a hassle."
Lu Xuan slightly smiled, "No matter how good the large pot dishes are, over time, they all taste the same unless a new chef comes in. But with this outsourced cafeteria service, it usually lasts three to five years at a minimum. Unless there are real issues, the catering company won’t frequently change chefs."
"Exactly. Changing a chef isn’t as simple as switching one or two people. It’s equivalent to changing an entire team, and it would take a while to adjust. In the meantime, all sorts of problems could arise."
While waiting for the food, Zhou Qihua continued, "I remember a few years ago when we switched catering companies, the first half month was a mess, with either issues with the food or management problems until things started to settle after a month. During that time, the catering company got scolded by the director, and we hospital staff had to endure a lot."
So, replacing chefs isn’t a long-term solution. Even if you do, after about a year or two, you’ll still get tired of the food."
Zhou Qihua shared with Lu Xuan some stories from the cafeteria, and several medical staff at City First Hospital noticed them. Seeing a young man sitting across from Zhou Qihua, their faces filled with curiosity, and many started whispering to each other.
"Is that Director Zhou’s kid?"
"Doesn’t seem like it. I’ve seen Director Zhou’s child when they visited once, and they look completely different. Maybe it’s a student that Director Zhou brought along!"
"I don’t think any of the new interns in the emergency department this year caught Director Zhou’s attention, right?"
"Didn’t they?"
"No."
"And look, the way Director Zhou is talking to him doesn’t seem like a superior-subordinate relationship at all. It feels more like a conversation between equals."
"Equals? Come on, don’t joke around. Director Zhou isn’t just a director, he’s the head of the emergency department with an administrative rank. In the whole Yong City, you can count the people he considers equals on one hand. Saying this young man is on equal footing with Director Zhou, why not just say they’re of the same rank."
"That’s impossible! He looks only in his twenties. A director in their twenties? There’s no way, even worldwide, that someone so young could be a director-level physician."
"Who cares who he is? Let’s eat. It doesn’t look like he’s wearing hospital attire, so maybe he’s not even a doctor."
As they murmured, one young nurse suddenly spoke up, "Director Zheng from cardiology is here. He hardly ever has dinner at the cafeteria, right?"
"Director Zheng is here?"
The group turned to see Zheng Xianjue striding towards them. When Zheng Xianjue reached them, they stood up to greet him, "Hello, Director Zheng."
"Director Zheng, why are you having dinner at the cafeteria tonight?"
"Just grabbing a meal?"
Zheng Xianjue smiled as he greeted them.
"I’m home alone tonight, so I just decided to have a simple meal at the cafeteria." Zheng Xianjue explained and then said.
"I saw you all from a distance, pointing and discussing something. What’s up?"
The nurse who had alerted everyone pointed in the direction of Zhou Qihua and said, "Director Zhou brought a young man to the cafeteria today. He doesn’t look like a doctor from our hospital. We were all curious about who he is but couldn’t guess, so we stopped discussing it."