21st Century Necromancer

Chapter 170 Apology (1st Update)

Since both were doctors, working late had long since become the norm for Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi.

So when Jounouchi Hiromi had to stay late at work to organize medical records, Chen Yu didn't find it odd. He simply bought two cans of hot drink and stayed by his girlfriend's side, helping her sort through the records.

Theoretically, as a professor, Chen Yu didn't need to be organizing medical records, but helping his own girlfriend was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hiromi, take a break," Chen Yu said as he opened the now somewhat warm drink and handed it to Jounouchi Hiromi, urging her to rest.

Receiving the drink from Chen Yu, Jounouchi Hiromi gave him a smile, then set down her pen to sip the hot beverage and asked Yu, "What would you like to eat later? Should we make dinner at home or eat out?"

"Let's eat out," Chen Yu replied. "It's already so late, cooking at home would be too exhausting for you, Hiromi." Chen Yu still felt a bit heartbroken for his girlfriend. He couldn't do much about work obligations, but in terms of their life at home, he hoped to make things as easy as possible for her.

"Hm, knowing this, I should have agreed to have dinner with Daimon-san," Jounouchi Hiromi said jokingly, pouting a little as she snuggled against Chen Yu, "I envy Daimon-san so much, clocking out at 5 pm sharp every day. Freelance doctors really have it easy! Aside from the job of being a doctor, you don't have to do anything else. I'd love to live like that!"

Upon hearing his girlfriend's words, Chen Yu couldn't help but wrap his arms around her shoulders, as she leaned into his chest, teasing her with a laugh, "If that's the case, Hiromi, why don't you quit and join Daimon-san as a freelance doctor? Haven't you worked as one before?"

"Do you think being a freelance doctor is always as carefree as Daimon-san?" Jounouchi Hiromi scoffed, shaking her head slightly before explaining, "While freelance doctors are indeed a vital supplement to Japan's medical system, they are often looked down upon as mere workers by those within the established medical institutions.

It's not too bad in general hospitals, as they lack doctors with high-level expertise and rely on professors from university hospitals to uphold the hospital's technical strength, which helps validate the skills of freelance doctors.

But within university hospitals themselves, unless you're at Daimon-san's world-class level of medical skill, you're subjected to discrimination. Even so, Daimon-san was often considered just a worker by the professors at the university hospital, and being a female doctor at that, she really didn't get the respect she deserved.

If it hadn't been for my difficult situation, and almost being demoted to Nagoya, I wouldn't have resolutely quit my job to become a freelance doctor. Although, Uncle Jing took good care of me, and working with Daimon-san made life fairly manageable. If it's not necessary, I wouldn't want to go back to that kind of life just to get off work earlier."

Hearing his girlfriend put it that way, Chen Yu could naturally sense the bitterness behind her words.

In Japan, a country that values hierarchy, seniority, and the relationship between superior and subordinate, freelance doctors—being outside the institutional system—are not favored.

Even though this role is a powerful supplement to the entire medical system, it benefits lower-level medical institutions rather than the apex of the medical hierarchy, the university hospitals, where freelance doctors are merely seen as disruptors of the system.

Daimon Michiko appears carefree and at ease, but that's because she possesses world-class surgical skills. With her expertise, if she's unhappy at one hospital, she simply moves to another; but other freelance doctors don't have the confidence to find work anywhere in the world.

While they also possess excellent medical skills, these are merely slightly better than those of average hospital doctors and on par with university hospital doctors at best.

With such skills, finding a job is certainly no problem, and general hospitals are eager to employ such freelance doctors. However, this skill level hasn't reached the point where freelance doctors can live as freely as Daimon Michiko—they still have to comply with the medical system itself.

With this in mind, Chen Yu asked Hiromi Jounouchi, "Hiromi, have you ever published a paper before?"

"I'm just an anesthesiologist turned surgeon, after all. If I could publish a paper, why would I need Mr. Chen Yu's help to be promoted to teaching assistant?" Jounouchi Hiromi said with a helpless shake of her head. This was her weak spot.

Since she wasn't a Doctor of Medicine, although her clinical level was top-notch, clinical practice and research were two different things, let alone writing research into a paper.

"Then let's do as we discussed before. You'll help me write the paper on neural damage repair," Chen Yu decided after thinking it over. "According to the treatment plan I laid out and based on Ichinose Miyako's case, compile the paper and then we will co-author it. With this paper under your belt, getting you a lecturer title will be much easier."

"But..." Hearing Chen Yu say this, Jounouchi Hiromi immediately seemed hesitant. She didn't want to achieve professional advancement through her boyfriend's connections, which was a method she found difficult to accept: "Being at Eastern University Affiliated Hospital, having been promoted to teaching assistant, I've already relied on you, Mr. Chen Yu, too much!

Now, to use your paper and your connections to be promoted to lecturer... I really..."

"Hiromi, I know you don't want to get promoted this way, but if you keep slogging along on your own, how long would it take for you to become a lecturer?" Chen Yu persuasively counseled his girlfriend, trying to alleviate her concerns, "Relying on me a bit isn't something shameful, and besides, aren't you the one who will be compiling the paper? Putting your name on it is what you deserve.

Are you really going to be formal with me?"

"It's not that... It just doesn't feel right to me," Jounouchi Hiromi said. It wasn't about being formal with Chen Yu, but she felt quite uncomfortable with the situation. She had always wanted to advance through her own efforts, yet she found herself having to rely on her boyfriend's connections, which she found awkward.

"Alright, if you really don't want me to do that, then I won't insist. However, you'll still help me with the paper, won't you?" Chen Yu didn't force his girlfriend, and after giving her a smile, he still requested her help with the paper.

"Yes, I understand," Jounouchi Hiromi replied, smiling apologetically at Chen Yu before getting back to work.