Chapter Forty-Five: Not Entering Officialdom

  "Xiao Zhi, are you interested in entering official career to temper yourself?" Knowing that Lao Lin's illness had hope, Lin Qiwei's mood was exceptionally good, and he finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind all along.

  If other officials in Jianghuai City saw this, they would be shocked to the point of dropping their eyeballs. A dignified mayor asked if you wanted to be an official, which shows how much he values you, and you should immediately nod like a garlic press.

  "This, let's just forget it. I have no interest in politics. My only goal is to revive traditional Chinese medicine so that the wisdom of our nation won't be lost." Wang Zhi thought for a moment and tactfully declined. To be honest, Wang Zhi had little interest in being an official. What he disliked most was the intrigue and plotting in the official circles. Moreover, once he entered the bureaucracy, he would be subject to various constraints, which would greatly affect his promotion of traditional Chinese medicine. Many things could not be done as he wished."

  "Alright, that's settled then. But if you change your mind one day, feel free to come find me." Lin Qiwu didn't press the issue, saying with a smile. He could tell that Wang Zhi's words were genuine, and if someone else had said something like "I want to promote traditional Chinese medicine" in front of him, Lin Qiwu would have definitely sneered at them. But when Wang Zhi said it, Lin Qiwu felt a strong sense of sincerity. With Wang Zhi's medical skills, he indeed had the qualifications to say such things, and he was still young, with plenty of time ahead of him.

  Actually, after returning from the south, Wang Zhi had considered his future direction. After some deliberation, he already had a general idea of where he was headed. He wouldn't become an official, but he wanted to build strong connections with people. Even as a commoner, he wanted to have the power to rival top-notch big shots. Next, he wouldn't engage in business, but he would maintain good relationships with businessmen in the industry, laying a solid foundation for the future development of traditional Chinese medicine. What he needed to do was to continue studying and researching traditional Chinese medicine, develop more medicines that benefit the masses, create a modern system of traditional Chinese medicine, and then use his connections and influence to spread his achievements far and wide.

  Wang Zhi left Lin Qiwei's house and returned home before 10 o'clock, which was not considered late in this era of vibrant nightlife.

  When Wang Zhi walked into the house, Lin Xueyan and two girls were chatting with Wang Jingyi on one side. Seeing Wang Zhi coming in, Xu Xiaoran excitedly said: "Xiao Zhi, we just discussed it, let's go to Tianyang Mountain together again tomorrow, how about it?"

  "Tomorrow, tomorrow won't do, tomorrow a friend is getting engaged." Wang Zhi said with some bitterness. He had been busy for the past few days and almost forgot about Ah Ze's engagement, which was tomorrow. Now Wang Zhi still hadn't prepared a gift.

  As Azhe's best friend, Wang Zhi was a bit out of line this time.

  "Brother, who's getting engaged? Can I go with you? I've never seen an engagement before!" Wang Jingyi shouted from the side.

  "Your brother Ah Ze is getting engaged, so of course you can come along. But I've been busy lately and haven't even had time to prepare a gift for your brother Ah Ze yet?" Wang Zhi said with a smile.

  "Ah! Azhe is actually getting engaged, didn't he go to join the army?!" Azhe and Wang Zhi were best friends, Jingyi was naturally familiar with Azhe too, and asked in surprise.

  "Haha, he's going to be a soldier, but that guy is really lucky, being liked by the leader's daughter. Now his future is boundless, not only did he get a beautiful wife, but also found a powerful father-in-law." Wang Zhi said with a smile.

  "Haha, you're not bad either, brother! Xiao Ran and Xue Yan are both great girls!" Wang Jingyi teased with a tongue-out expression.

  "Go, no matter big or small." Lin Xueyan's face suddenly turned red, and she gently knocked on Jingyi's head.

  "Should I go get some water?" Xu Xiaoran also felt a bit embarrassed and hastily ran out.

  Wang Zhi also gave Wang Jingyi a somewhat reproachful look, silently scolding this silly girl for being brainless. If there was only one person present, what Jingyi said would naturally make Wang Zhi happy, but with two people here now, wasn't this just bringing up the wrong topic and making things awkward?

  Wang Jingyi also found herself saying something wrong, made a ghost face, and closed her mouth in embarrassment.

  The next day, Wang Zhi got up early, put on a decent suit, polished his leather shoes until they shone, and carefully combed his hair. He had no choice but to dress formally for Ah Ze's engagement ceremony; otherwise, that little brat would not let him off easily.

  Lin Xueyan saw Wang Zhi wearing a suit for the first time and was instantly stunned. Wang Zhi's 1.8-meter height, upright posture, handsome face, and extraordinary temperament made him look even more stunning in his suit, which had a great lethal effect on beauties. The only flaw was that his beard was a bit too long.

  "Brother, you are so handsome! If you shaved your beard, you would be even more handsome." Wang Jingyi exclaimed with delight on the side, she was also dressed up today, like a beautiful butterfly.

  Wang Zhi stood in front of the mirror, stroking his chin whiskers, smiling and nodding in satisfaction with his appearance. As for Wang Jingyi's shouts from the side, he pretended not to hear them.

  "Why don't you two join in on the fun as well?" Wang Zhi asked with a smile after they had dressed themselves up.

  "No, I haven't been to the hospital for several days either. If I don't go today, others will have opinions." Lin Xueyan said with a smile, her special identity and working at the Central Hospital gave her more freedom, and her leaders also took care of her. Although no one urged her in these few days, Lin Xueyan still had to go to work.

  Besides, he and Wang Zhi's friend are not familiar with each other. If it were only her, she might have considered it, but Xu Xiaoran is also there, what would two people going together look like? When Wang Zhi introduces them to others, they're at most just ordinary friends.

  "I'm not going either, I'll go out and look for a job again today, it's been idle for so long, if I don't work, I'll get rusty." Xu Xiaoran also smiled and said, she and Lin Xueyan had the same idea, now that Lin Xueyan wasn't going, she would go instead, otherwise Wang Zhi would look down on her.

  "Well, in that case, we'll be off." Wang Zhi also roughly guessed the thoughts of the two people and naturally didn't dare to investigate further, smiling and greeting them.

  "Here, this is something I bought a while back. Take it and give it to A Ze as a gift." Xu Xiaoran took out a delicate small box from beside her and handed it over to Wang Zhi.

  Wang Zhi took the box and hesitated for a moment, originally intending to refuse. However, seeing Xu Xiaoran's eyes, he accepted it instead. He knew this was the necklace Xu Xiaoran had bought for him some time ago, which was quite valuable. Unexpectedly, she gave it to him today, and he felt deeply moved. A hint of imperceptible shyness flashed across his face as he led Wang Jingyi away.

  Watching Wang Zhi walk away, Lin Xueyan couldn't help but ask: "That's the necklace you liked so much, and you just gave it to him like that?"

  "There's no way, he's too busy to buy a gift, can't let him go empty-handed, I owe it to him from my past life, if you had one, you'd take it out without hesitation, right?" Xu Xiaoran said with some melancholy, discussing this with her competitor was indeed a bit heart-wrenching.

  Lin Xueyan also let out a soft sigh, gathered her things and left. This kind of thing was originally embarrassing to talk about, and saying more would only make it even more awkward. Both were proud girls who had already put aside a lot of face for Wang Zhi.

  "Brother, Xiao Ran's sister is really nice to you, and Xue Yan's sister is also very good. You should consider it carefully." Walking down the stairs, Wang Jingyi also said this to Wang Zhi.

  "Kids know what's going on, don't talk nonsense." Wang Zhi said with feigned annoyance, but he was also somewhat embarrassed in his heart. It seemed that he should make up his mind as soon as possible. If he dragged it out any longer, it wouldn't be good for anyone.

  "I'm already twenty years old, I'm a grown-up, and there are many people in school who pursue me!" Wang Jingyi said with discontent.

  "Alright, I know you're a crowd-pleaser. If you keep nagging, I won't let you go." Wang Zhiran said, unable to bear Jingyi's behavior and threatening her.

  Wang Jingyi saw that her brother was really angry and immediately shut up, no longer speaking.

  The place where Aze held the wedding was a five-star hotel in Jianghuai, Lin Garden Restaurant. It turns out that this Lin Garden Restaurant also has some connection with Old Lin, and it already existed when Old Lin was the mayor of Jianghuai City, at that time it had a lot of support from Old Lin.

  Lin Garden Restaurant is on Lin Garden Road in Jianghuai City. Wang Zhi got out of the community and hailed a car, heading straight to Lin Garden Restaurant.

  PS: This chapter roughly sets the tone for the protagonist's future path. Actually, Xiaoxiao originally wanted to let the protagonist enter the officialdom as well, and everyone can see that there were many foreshadowings in the previous chapters. However, after some consideration, it was decided not to go down that route. Nowadays, there are too many novels about doctors becoming officials, and many of them are written by great authors, so Xiaoxiao felt that her own level is still a bit lacking and can't compete with others. Therefore, the protagonist will not enter officialdom. Xiaoxiao wants to create a true divine doctor who doesn't become an official but has great power, doesn't do business but attracts many merchants like a magnet, and develops mainly through the reputation of traditional Chinese medicine. Hope everyone likes it, and any good suggestions are welcome. Finally, once again calling for collection, recommendation, and reward.