Surgery Godfather
Chapter 1075 - 880 We Are All Skiving

Chapter 1075: Chapter 880 We Are All Skiving

The European Spinal Surgery Annual Meeting, Yang Ping did not have time to attend, but he sent Song Zimo and Xu Zhiliang to go and broaden their horizons, to see the world.

Song Zimo was not just attending the conference; he was one of the invited key guests. The topic of their presentation was a keynote theme of the meeting, representing the world’s most advanced spinal surgery technology.

Xu Zhiliang’s role this time was as Song Zimo’s assistant because Xu Zhiliang stuttered and was not eloquent, he didn’t like to be in the spotlight. Originally he didn’t want to attend the conference and just wished to stay at home, but Yang Ping insisted that he should go out and see the world, so he followed Song Zimo to Europe.

This was the first time Song Zimo had appeared at an international conference in an independent capacity. In the past, when he went abroad, he was always accompanying Yang Ping, serving as Yang Ping’s assistant in various settings. This time, Song Zimo himself was the protagonist.

August had made meticulous preparations for the arrival of the eldest senior brother. To showcase the world’s most advanced spinal surgical operations at the meeting, August had prepared many surgeries for Song Zimo to demonstrate, making Song Zimo the absolute star of the meeting.

Besides giving special treatment to the eldest senior brother, August also had to ensure that the reception work for Professor Su was carried out well.

Now, in the office of August at Harald Orthopedics Hospital in Germany.

A cup of tea sat on the desk, the steam wafting gently, as August buried his head searching through the list of attendees for the meeting, finding Professor Su’s name among the densely packed names.

"Markus, this is Professor Su Qingyun from China. Please arrange a VIP seat for the meeting, book a VIP room at the hotel venue for accommodation, and set up a dedicated team to receive Professor Su. I will personally cover all the expenses," August instructed, sighing in relief afterward.

The hotel rooms for the meeting were limited, so they were generally reserved for invited guests, especially high-end rooms like suites, which were even more limited to world-leading top experts. Most doctors’ accommodations were located in other hotels near the venue, and the vast majority of doctors had to take care of their own meals and lodging.

The seating arrangement inside the venue was also carefully considered, with the first few rows reserved for internationally renowned experts. The very first row was for the most respected among the top experts, while ordinary doctors were free to sit anywhere in the back.

Treating Song Zimo with high regard, Markus could understand, but he was baffled as to why so much attention was being given to Professor Su Qingyun, even to the point where August was personally paying for a presidential suite—an accommodation standard exceeding the conference hospitality to host Professor Su, with instructions to equip Professor Su with a dedicated reception team, a luxury treatment that puzzled Markus.

"Why give this Chinese doctor such special treatment?" Markus expressed his confusion.

"He is Professor Yang’s father-in-law," August nodded slightly.

"Father-in-law?"

Markus’s Chinese was pretty good, but it was nowhere close to August’s level. He only knew that there was a famous mountain in China called Mount Tai.

"Father-in-law means a wife’s father. Professor Su is Professor Yang’s wife’s father," August explained.

"Why is a wife’s father referred to as ’Father-in-law’?"

Markus was a stickler for details, having been studying Chinese lately, he liked to get into specifics.

"This --- this? Let me think. In Chinese, the commonly used term for a wife’s father is ’yuefu,’ where ’yue’ means mountain. Hence, it can be inferred that ’yuefu’ figuratively refers to the ’father of mountains.’ And since Mount Tai has a prestigious status among the multitude of mountains in China, deemed as ’father of the mountains,’ by extension, ’yuefu’ could be equated with Mount Tai. I believe the logic should work like this: ’yuefu’ signifies ’father of mountains,’ so ’Father-in-law’ probably represents the ’father of mountains.’ Therefore, a ’yuefu’ is also referred to as ’Father-in-law.’ This is my personal understanding. Currently, there’s no rigorous academic literature supporting this," August analyzed the relationship between ’yuefu’ and ’Father-in-law’ from a logical perspective.

Markus nodded thoughtfully as though August’s Chinese had reached a certain level. On reflection, it seemed to make sense.

Father-in-law = father of mountains; Mount Tai = father of mountains; hence, father-in-law = Mount Tai.

"But when I speculated like this on my last Chinese test, I always liked to write ’niece’ as ’auntie.’ The teacher said it was wrong, ’niece’ is ’niece,’ and ’auntie’ is ’auntie.’ However, I didn’t agree; I thought they meant the same thing. I argued with the teacher and eventually had a dispute. I insisted on my opinion, believing the two terms meant exactly the same. In Chinese, ’ma’ and ’niang’ mean ’mother,’ so ’ma’ and ’niang’ are interchangeable. Therefore, ’niece’ and ’auntie’ have the same meaning," Markus proudly recounted, believing his analysis was as logical as August’s.

"Hmm, Markus, you are very dedicated to your studies, but you overlooked a detail. In Chinese, ’niang’ is younger than ’ma,’ ’niang’ refers to a young woman, a future mother; ’ma’ refers to an older woman, one who is already a mother. So ’niece’ is a young woman, a future mother, while ’auntie’—my goodness, what’s going on? Let me think this through." August realized his logical analysis hit a snag.

"The teacher said that ’auntie’ specifically refers to one’s father’s sister, while ’niece’ is a general term for a young woman. It seems there’s no logical connection between them," Markus had been puzzled by this issue.