In the afternoon, after returning home from the Affiliated Hospital, Lin Jie saw Zhang Xiaoxiao, Yu Momo, and An Kemeng busy in the kitchen. He couldn't help but ask, "For today's gathering, aren't you inviting a chef to help? Are you planning to do it yourselves for self-sufficiency?"

An Kemeng, who was washing fruits, quickly replied, "Brother Jie, Sister Xiaoxiao said she experienced a few life-and-death separations at a field hospital in the Bamboo Sea of western Sichuan and was deeply touched."

"Life is unpredictable, and for those of us who are alive, we must cherish the life we have now. Whenever we have time, we should gather more with family and friends, so the theme of today's gathering is family and friends."

"Naturally, the food needs to be prepared by ourselves."

Lin Jie let out a sound of acknowledgment and was about to wash his hands to help when Zhang Xiaoxiao stopped him.

"Ah Jie, you just got back from the hospital after surgery, you must be tired. Go rest in the living room. Leave this to us."

An Kemeng also said, "Brother Jie, leave the kitchen to us."

She proudly flaunted, "To be honest, I can now prepare a whole table of dishes by myself."

Lin Jie amusingly asked, "Oh, so you've become that good now?"

"Then tell me, what dishes can you prepare for a whole table?"

An Kemeng snorted, counting on her fingers, and said, "Don't belittle me!"

"I can cook fried eggs, fish porridge, stir-fried hollow vegetables, eggs and tomatoes, vegetable salad, fruit salad, seaweed egg drop soup, plus a few plates of ready-made marinated meats, putting together a table of dishes is no big deal!"

Lin Jie exaggeratedly said, "Impressive, impressive! I didn't expect you, Kemeng, to be able to make enough dishes for a banquet. I admire, truly admire it."

An Kemeng arrogantly turned her head away from Lin Jie, ignoring him.

Yu Momo, who was handling the fish, smiled and said, "Lin Jie, you must tell us well about your experiences during the earthquake when we eat."

"Mengmeng told me some stories. It felt like watching a disaster movie – so thrilling and exciting."

Lin Jie shook his head and said, "Actually, there's not much to tell. Kemeng likes to exaggerate. Don't take her words too seriously."

He remembered something and asked, "Hey, Kemeng, didn't you write our experiences into a novel?"

"How many words have you written? Let us see it first. I can give you some feedback and also see how much you've fictionalized."

An Kemeng snorted, "I've already written over sixty thousand words and I'm almost done. Once I polish the ending and revise it a couple of times, I'll publish it online."

"By then, not only you but everyone will be able to see it."

Lin Jie dismissively said, "Only sixty thousand words? That's too little."

"Novels online typically have hundreds of thousands, even millions, of words. Little Mengmeng, keep working hard. If it becomes a hit, you can become an online writer."

An Kemeng scoffed, took a bite of the washed apple, and mumbled, "In the future, I plan to become a renowned doctor as skilled as you. Writing is just my hobby."

"What I'm writing is a short story, just one story, and sixty thousand words is already long, isn't it?"

Lin Jie uninterestingly acknowledged, then turned to Momo and asked, "Yu Momo, did you ask Cui Shanshan to design a style for you?"

Yu Momo flicked a few strands of hair off her forehead with her wrist and smiled, "So this Shanshan is really your friend. We met at your last celebration banquet and talked about makeup and styling."

"At that time, she gave me a few pointers. I thought her ideas were great, so I asked her to help me design a look for a program I'm attending next week."

Speaking of this, Yu Momo chuckled bitterly, "In my current situation, although invited as a guest, I'm not valued at all. The appearance fee is only a few hundred bucks, barely enough to grease the wheels."

"I need to bring my own clothes, and I have to sneak money to the program's makeup artist for makeup and touch-ups."

"Otherwise, the makeup artist won't be attentive, and although the makeup might look good, it might appear old and unattractive on screen."

Her words made Lin Jie understand a bit about how every industry has its own unspoken rules.

People fight their way up from the bottom, climbing level by level, carrying untold hardships.

As for himself, he was fortunate to gain the medical skills passed down by Shen Lanruo, and in a sense, he started at the peak, skipping the grueling process.

Lin Jie encouraged, "Cui Shanshan said you have the potential to become big. As long as you continue to work hard and persist, you will eventually make it! Keep it up!"

"Thank you!" Yu Momo replied sweetly.

At this time, Lin Jie's phone rang; it was a call from Zhao Fang.

"Zhao Fang, what's up?" Lin Jie went to the living room to answer the call.

Zhao Fang's cautious voice came through the phone, "Teacher, I applied for a sixty thousand research grant, but the hospital's finance department didn't approve it and sent it back."

Lin Jie asked in confusion, "Not approved? Did finance give any explanation?"

"Professor, the sixty thousand units of research funding we applied for were under the pretence of labor fees."

"Finance says that our reported proportion for labor fees has already exceeded twenty percent, and we can no longer use this title to apply for project funding."

Lin Jie frowned.

The million units of research funding approved by the university's Medical College and the Affiliated Hospital were not given directly to Lin Jie.

It was only listed under a separate account in the finance offices of the Medical College and the Hospital in the name of the research group.

Lin Jie would regularly or irregularly go to the finance office to withdraw funds from this project account according to the project's progress.

According to the school's project funding management regulations, the withdrawn funds could only be used for equipment purchase and rental, experimental specimens and consumables, research consulting, travel meals, and other related items associated with the project research.

When applying for project funding, the project leader must provide a situation explanation and the corresponding reimbursement invoices.

The school also has a regulation that allows the project leader to withdraw up to twenty percent of the project funding as labor fees without needing to provide any reimbursement invoices.

This portion of the funds is tacitly acknowledged as the project income of the project leader and can be used at their discretion.

Dean Cheng Xingguang and Dean Yuan Guangxi provided special consideration for Lin Jie by raising this labor fee proportion to forty percent.

Lin Jie, who was not short of money, although he still loved money, did not covet this project labor fee out of professionalism.

He just found it troublesome, unlike some professors, to collect invoices everywhere for project fund reimbursements.

The usual expenses of the project, like the monthly project allowance for students or some expenses difficult to invoice—even those that could be invoiced—were considered too troublesome to reimburse for Lin Jie; he directly used the labor fee method for funding allocation, having Zhang Xiaoxiao or his students go to the finance offices of the Affiliated Hospital or Medical College to apply for funds.

Exceeded only by twenty percent and not even forty percent, yet it got rejected by finance?

Lin Jie suddenly recalled that Chen Shi mentioned that Zhu Junming from the Disciplinary Office aimed to investigate him—could it be his doing?

"Zhao Fang, let me handle this. I'll have Assistant Zhang transfer sixty thousand to your bank account first; it won't delay your research progress."

"Thank you, Professor, I won't let you down."

After hanging up Zhao Fang's call, Lin Jie instructed Zhang Xiaoxiao about the transfer matter, then dialed Cheng Xingguang.

Upon connection, he relayed the recent project fund reimbursement issue, the conflict with Zhu Junming, and other investigations targeting him over the call.

"There's really such a thing?"

Cheng Xingguang was a little surprised, then assured, "Expert Lin, I'll personally verify this matter and definitely provide you with a satisfactory response. You can rest assured and wait for my call!"

Lin Jie only waited for about half an hour before receiving a return call from Cheng Xingguang.

"Expert Lin, I have asked Old Zhu."

Cheng Xingguang explained with clarity, "He said, regarding that last rescue, he absolutely does not hold any opinions or dissatisfaction towards you. The reason he is checking your project funds is due to receiving instructions from higher-ups."

"Higher-ups instructed him to investigate your financial situation at the school and hospital."

"Old Zhu also worries that perhaps someone is looking to cause trouble for you, hence he has strictly instructed finance to carefully scrutinize your fund reimbursements."

Cheng Xingguang further assured, "Expert Lin, I have worked with Old Zhu for nearly ten years, and I have a pretty good grasp of his character. He is quite a principled person, and in this matter, he wouldn't lie."

Lin Jie responded with an "oh."

He recalled An Kexin once mentioned the matter of the "Imperial Physician."

Could this be a background check by some department? Otherwise, why would the Disciplinary Office be looking into me?"

Cheng Xingguang's voice continued, "I've already instructed finance once more; for this project, the labor fee proportion is forty percent."

"This matter is endorsed by me. Expert Lin, feel free to reimburse without worrying about scrutiny."

Ending the call, he said, "Expert Lin, this Saturday, there's the muscle fiber transplant and nerve ending reconstruction seminar hosted by Professor Chen Shi and Dean Tao Taqing. Will you be attending?"

This seminar organized by Chen Shi and Tao Taqing was initially planned for mid to late July.

Later, a disturbance was caused by Ye Peihua who meddled in it, and the major sponsor Han Wenbin saw the potential of making wedding clothes for others, thus withdrawing his promised support funds for the seminar.

Once things settled, the organization was delayed until this Saturday.

Moreover, a seminar meant to be significant was downgraded to resemble a salon-like gathering.

Lin Jie smiled and said, "Dean Cheng, I will attend this seminar and I'm also scheduled to give a speech."

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