At 6:15 in the evening, the food tasting event with the theme of tasting natural foods officially began.

An Kexin, An Kemeng, Ling Mengjiao, Yang Leyi, Qin Gang, Lu Kaicheng, Chen Lili, Qi Xingfen, Chen Lan, Yao Siyuan, Yu Momo, along with the Lin family siblings, a total of thirteen people, sat together, savoring the food with great interest.

Everyone praised the table full of food, exaggerating it as if they were tasting Dragon Liver and Phoenix Gall!

Was the taste really that surprisingly good?

Lin Jie felt that this was mainly a five-point psychological factor, and the other five points were because Lu Kaicheng's cooking skills were indeed particularly excellent!

Yu Momo took a bite of the braised eggplant and asked with a blissful expression: "The famous Fu Family went to such great lengths to rent land in a remote area far from Binhai, a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters, and painstakingly grow vegetables to transport here by air."

"The cost of such an eggplant, however you put it, should be over a hundred yuan a pound, right?"

An Kexin chuckled and said, "This small farm of the Fu Family and Fu Family's banquet are quite famous in the small circle of Binhai. Regardless of how much the cost of these dishes is, this is something money can't buy."

"Brother Jie, why did the Fu Family send you these foods?" An Kemeng asked curiously.

Lin Jie did not mention the matter of "complicity."

Elder Fu went to great lengths, yet if the story of the Fu Family's children developing frail bodies after eating spreads, it would make the Fu Family a joke.

"Didn't I participate in a medical research project hosted by your uncle and Vice Director Tao from Donghua Hospital?"

Lin Jie used this reason and continued, "Elder Fu's grand-niece is a diving athlete who won an international gold medal. She joined this medical project because of an arm injury."

"The Fu Family wants us to heal her injury, and this is considered a reward in advance!"

Qi Xingfen took a sip of red wine and said, "I have heard a bit about this project of yours. It is said that Dean Tao provided the research funding out of his own pocket?"

"Advance, it's an advance! Once the project produces results, the hospital will reimburse it!" Lin Jie explained with a smile.

Qi Xingfen smiled knowingly and said, "I thought so. Vice Director Tao is notoriously stingy. How could he suddenly be so generous and come up with millions at once!"

"He dares to put out so much money because he is certain that this project will yield results. Is the research progressing smoothly?"

Lin Jie nodded and said, "It's proceeding according to plan and is relatively smooth."

Qi Xingfen responded with an "Oh," and sighed, "It's a pity. Even if this project's results bring Vice Director Tao great honor, I still don't think he'll sit on the director's position in the end!"

"Why?" Lin Jie asked curiously.

Qi Xingfen analyzed, "The directorship of Donghua Hospital, how to say this, it's not just about having capability. One also needs to know how to handle things well."

"Vice Director Tao's consistent stinginess means that the support he can ultimately garner is likely to be quite limited."

Lin Jie seemed somewhat confused, and since it wasn't his primary concern, he didn't pursue it further.

Yao Siyuan expressed some indignation and said, "The management of Donghua has already formed a tight-knit community of interests with external pharmaceutical and medical device companies."

"Whoever becomes this director, for the average doctor, it's all the same."

Seeing Qin Gang, Yang Leyi, and Lin Miao look puzzled, An Kexin explained with a smile, "Actually, it's mainly a matter of profit distribution."

"Generally, the sales representatives of pharmaceutical companies secretly give a doctor some kickbacks based on how many of the company's drugs the doctor prescribes every month."

"At Donghua Hospital, most of these kickbacks end up in the pockets of the management, so doctors receive relatively little."

Everyone showed a look of sudden realization. Lin Miao angrily said, "Sister Kexin, is a large part of the reason why pharmaceutical costs are so high nowadays because of this?"

An Kexin nodded and said, "It's pretty much like that. For patients, they take whatever medication the doctor prescribes, rarely caring which pharmaceutical company makes it."

"However, there are many types of similar drugs on the market."

"Sales representatives from pharmaceutical companies all offer significant kickbacks to win over the hospital management and the doctors with prescribing power."

"This is just too..."

A furious Lin Miao managed half a sentence before Lin Jie gently stepped on her foot.

She immediately realized that several doctors were sitting around them, and her brother would eventually become a doctor and a beneficiary of this hidden transaction, so she stopped speaking in annoyance.

An Kexin smiled beautifully at Qi Xingfen and asked, "Dr. Qi, headhunting companies are now contacting experts like you everywhere. Those who are proficient in medicine, capable of taking charge, and can lead an entire department."

"Surely, Donghua Hospital has also greatly improved your welfare benefits, haven't they?"

Qi Xingfen smiled modestly and said, "In front of Dr. Lin, I dare not call myself an expert!"

"The hospital has indeed increased salaries and allowances somewhat. But you understand..."

"A lot of the private benefits swallowed by the management are hard to get back, so the actual increase is understandable."

An Kexin, realizing something, agreed and said, "As an old state-owned joint-stock hospital, Donghua Hospital has high recognition among the Binhai citizens and is not worried about the source of patients."

"And it also has abundant reserves of doctors; it can afford to lose some."

She said regretfully, "Unfortunately, our Anlin Hospital is weak in resources and can't compete with those hospitals!"

An Weize and An Kexin did consider using high salaries and benefits to compete with Phoenix Mountain Hospital, Tongren Hospital West Branch, etc., to recruit a few head-level doctors.

The money could indeed be gathered by Anlin Hospital for the time being, but the long-term operational costs had to be considered.

Once high salaries and benefits are set, they can't go down.

Also, rather than worrying about scarcity, worry about inequality. Once these few people's salary benchmarks are set, the entire hospital's salary level will inevitably rise to an unsustainable degree.

Therefore, An Weize and An Kexin's recruitment strategy was to rely on the appeal of housing and residence registration to attract some competent, experienced, and department-leading level doctors from outside the area.

Relying on Lin Jie's personal charm to attract local young doctors like Chen Qiuhua and Yao Siyuan, who are capable, have potential, and can take charge after a few years of training and experience.

This food tasting event, as everyone had work the next day, lasted until a little past nine in the evening, then ended.

In the end, An Kemeng and Ling Mengjiao stayed over for the night.

Qi Xingfen and Chen Lan left the apartment without taking a cab, instead slowly strolling along the sidewalk.

"Chen Lan, I've long been thinking of changing jobs."

"Before the end of the year, I had contacted Kangning Hospital, but after that incident, I declined their offer. Now, I've already signed an agreement with Phoenix Mountain Hospital..."

Qi Xingfen turned and looked at the towering Xiangtai Apartment and said, "If I were ten years younger, my first choice would definitely be Anlin Hospital. Now at 45, I can only do surgery for seven or eight more years at most."

"All I'm thinking about now is earning more money while my body can still handle it."

She stopped walking, looked at Chen Lan, and said, "You have three choices: follow me to Phoenix Mountain Hospital, go to Anlin Hospital, or stay here. I don't recommend staying here; it's a relatively poor choice."

"Give it some serious thought; there's still plenty of time."

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