80

Chapter 80 - Let Him Take Over The Surgery

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Chapter 80: Let Him Take Over The Surgery

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The investigation results came back promptly, and the patient had no contraindications for surgery.

Just as Chang Yue was about to perform preoperative counseling, Su Yun appeared at the doorstep and signaled her to come out with a wave.

"Yes?" asked Chang Yue impatiently. Strangely enough, Su Yun's charm was impotent here as she was greatly annoyed at him for interrupting her work.

Su Yun was briefly stunned before a sincere smile formed on his face.

Flowers bloomed as if spring had fallen at that moment.

"Since the general surgery department is handling the operation, best if you don't explain the procedures yourself," said Su Yun.

"Huh? Why?"

"What is the main point of your counseling?"

"Laparoscopy, of course," replied Chang Yue whose patience was wearing thin.

"What if laparoscopic surgery fails? They'll then proceed with laparotomy, which means there is a problem in preoperative counseling. Be careful, you might end up becoming a scapegoat again," explained Su Yun, who knew that she had taken the blame in the obstetrics department before.

Chang Yue froze for a moment and immediately realized the point Su Yun was trying to make.

"Then…" She shifted her gaze into the room.

"Chief Zheng, let the general surgery department counsel the patient and family members themselves," Su Yun's words always sounded cynical when he spoke to Zheng Ren.

Zheng Ren was also aware of the trouble, which he failed to consider in the beginning, lurking in the shadows and understood Su Yun's motives instantly.

Instead of being meddlesome, he actually found it necessary to take precautions in this case. Thus, he informed Chief Surgeon Sun about this issue.

Chief Surgeon Sun smiled bitterly and thought, 'Why are these emergency doctors a pain in the *ss?'

"Chief Zheng, I didn't hide anything from you when I brought you to the operating theater in the past," he whispered.

Zheng Ren stared at him with a bewildered expression.

Why did Chief Surgeon Sun even bring up the past? It was true that he had assisted Chief Surgeon Sun in past surgeries despite not being in the same department, but those were rare occasions and definitely involved less than five cases in total.

"If I can't complete the surgery, you must help me." Chief Surgeon Sun had a bad feeling about this case for some inexplicable reason, and his gaze radiated helplessness as if he was trying to say, "Please give a brother a hand."

From Chief Surgeon Sun's skills alone, there was no way he would have said this to Zheng Ren.

However, the fact that Zheng Ren had performed many difficult surgeries, including the parasitic biliary obstruction case, constantly refreshed Chief Surgeon Sun's evaluation of him.

The rise of the younger generation was unstoppable.

Chief Surgeon Sun was mild-tempered and gentle compared to Chief Surgeon Liu of the first general surgery department, which was why he could throw aside his dignity and ask a youngster for help at a critical juncture.

"Oh, that's too polite of you," Zheng Ren quickly wore a polite smile and bowed slightly, a typical gesture noted in a junior, and said, "If you can't do it, neither can I. However, if the need arises, please do let me know."

Chief Surgeon Sun finally smiled in relief.

It was much easier to deal with Zheng Ren than Old Chief Physician Pan, likely due to the fact that Zheng Ren had only been promoted recently and still had the mentality of a junior doctor.

They could not continue the conversation any further as the patient's family and the directors of the hospital were still on the scene.

Soon, Chief Surgeon Sun's subordinate acquired signatures on the preoperative informed consent documents. After that, the group went to the operating theater.

Zheng Ren had no intention of observing the surgery and chose to read his book in the office. Su Yun decided to stay as well, seemingly uninterested in anything, young and beautiful nurses included, apart from his phone.

…

After the anesthesia was administered, Chief Surgeon Sun stood before the operating table and began creating a pneumoperitoneum.

The Veress needle pierced into the peritoneal cavity and 15mmHg of carbon dioxide was insufflated afterward.

Instead of performing a conventional three-incision laparoscopic surgery, Chief Surgeon Sun chose to insert two trocars lateral to the left and right rectus abdominis muscles.

There was a high probability that laparoscopy would fail, which was why he chose these unusual entry points.

Using a dissector, he separated a small part of the tissue and was welcomed by severe intraperitoneal adhesions without any gaps at all, especially in the upper peritoneal cavity.

Profound clinical experience saved him from making a grave mistake.

Chief Surgeon Sun immediately gave up on laparoscopic surgery and decided to perform a laparotomy instead.

He waited for his emotions to stabilize before snapping a picture of the laparoscopic image and left the operating theater to explain the situation to Lin Yuanshan.

Holding the cell phone in his hand, he showed the picture to Lin Yuanshan and pointed out the reason why he could not proceed with laparoscopic surgery.

After being explained to professionally and regrettably as if possessed by a drama queen, Lin Yuanshan finally gave his consent, which made Chief Surgeon Sun sigh in relief. Then, he returned to the operating theater, scrubbed up, changed into a new surgical gown, prepared the necessary instruments and reinitiated the surgery.

Chief Surgeon Sun was average at laparoscopy, at best.

After all, he only started learning laparoscopic surgery at forty-five years old when he was already highly competent at open surgery.

Since he had good knowledge of anatomy, It was actually easier to treat uncomplicated cases with laparoscopy.

However, if an extremely difficult surgical case was encountered, he preferred to proceed with laparotomy due to his proficiency in this domain.

A twenty-centimeter incision was made below the right costal margin and each layer was carefully incised to explore the peritoneal cavity.

Chief Surgeon Sun was dumbfounded the moment the peritoneum was opened.

The situation was worse than expected!

It was a big mess! He could vaguely outline the greater omentum and transverse colon, but as for the gallbladder… it was nowhere to be seen.

He had no choice but to attempt blunt dissection.

However, staring at the clumped up abdominal viscera, he had no idea where to begin the procedure.

It looked like an intertwined flaxen thread ball with its head hidden somewhere inside. If he was merely dealing with inorganic matter, he would cut it straight away without hesitation, but unfortunately, these were abdominal organs in a human body. Once the severely edematous intestines ruptured, it would be immensely troublesome to suture it back.

Blunt separation had to be done slowly and cautiously. Chief Surgeon Liu's attentiveness was not entirely due to the patient's identity; even if this patient was an ordinary elderly man, his attitude toward this surgery would still be the same.

Five minutes had passed and yet he remained clueless.

He still did not have the foggiest notion of how to continue even at the tenth minute. The circulating nurse had wiped the sweat off his forehead twice and the disposable surgical cap had completely drenched in a cold sweat.

At the twentieth minute, a dark green patch appeared on the back of Chief Surgeon Sun's surgical gown, the result of perspiration soaking his green gown.

An unexpected event occurred as he accidentally ruptured an arteriole while lysing the adhesions, which caused fresh blood to spurt from the wound. The ruptured arteriole ligation process was risky and took him five minutes to complete the procedure.

The surgical lighthead was blinding and Chief Surgeon Sun's vision was getting blurry.

Sighing heavily, he spoke to a circulating nurse who had just arrived at the operating theater for assistance, "Call Chief Zheng and ask him to take over the surgery."

Even though Chief Surgeon Sun had spoken to Zheng Ren preoperatively, he would have never let Zheng Ren take over the operation unless absolutely necessary.

Doing so meant that he admitted defeat and that his surgery standard was inferior to Zheng Ren's.

However, he did not have the faintest idea even after bluntly dissecting the adhesions for twenty minutes, so he had no choice but to give up.

Medical safety and dignity, which one was more important? The answer was obvious.

Most importantly, if he tried to preserve his image now, he might lose his life in the end.

About Zheng Ren… Since the man was skillful at blunt dissection during appendectomies, he could be able to solve this problem, but of course, the flawless completion of the previous pancreaticoduodenectomy was still the main reason to request his assistance.

…

In the emergency ward office, Zheng Ren was concentrating on the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery book.

An expressionless Su Yun played with his phone, his fingers flying all across the screen; it was impossible to tell if he was chatting up women or playing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

The department's phone rang, and several nurses swarmed into the room soon after.

"Chief Zheng, the operating theater is requesting your presence."

They fixed their gleaming eyes on Su Yun even though the statement was meant for Zheng Ren.

IndexChapter 81 - The Save

Index

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Chapter 81: The Save

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Yo, here they come." Su Yun seemed to be expecting them.

He immediately turned off his phone and stood ramrod straight in his smoothly-ironed white coat.

Strangely enough, not a trace of femininity was visible on him.

"I guess the surgery is really troublesome. I'm going to check it out," said Zheng Ren.

"Count me in." Su Yun excitedly followed Zheng Ren to the operating theater on the third floor.

Then, the System's flat, robotic female voice rang out in Zheng Ren's ears.

[General Mission: A Colleague Seeking Assistance.

[Task: Help a colleague complete the surgery.

[Reward: 100 skill points and 5000 experience points. Based on the surgery completion rate, which reflects the colleague's admiration, an additional reward will be given.

[Time: 5 hours.]

Huh? A mission?

Saving the surgeon by resolving serious intraoperative difficulties could also trigger a mission assignment? Zheng Ren felt a sense of satisfaction; the surgery would definitely have gone more smoothly had he been the surgeon in charge.

The only pain in his neck was Su Yun, an annoying fly constantly buzzing around him. Many ladies envied him, but he simply disregarded Su Yun as a nuisance.

Zheng Ren had no attraction to men.

He pushed the brat to the back of his mind and digested the mission along the way.

An admiration from a colleague mentioned in the mission: what the hell was that?

No matter what it was, he would find out once the surgery was complete.

After changing into surgical attire, Zheng Ren entered the operating theater and stood behind Chief Surgeon Sun to observe the operating field.

"Little Zheng, scrub up and take over the surgery." An anxious Chief Surgeon Sun skipped all formalities, cutting straight to the point with cold sweat on his brow.

Staring at the bloody mess in the peritoneal cavity, Zheng Ren instantly understood Chief Surgeon Su's issue.

Su Yun glanced at the operative field and shifted his gaze to Zheng Ren, who had a calm demeanor. Surprised, he followed Zheng Ren and performed a surgical scrub as well.

Zheng Ren had no clue about Su Yun's motives, nor was he willing to ask about them. Su Yun's sharp tongue had given him almost the same depth of impression as his unrivaled beauty.

Since he could never win an argument, he may as well shut the hell up.

Zheng Ren finished scrubbing and put on a surgical gown. Just as he was about to stand at the first assistant's position, Chief Surgeon Sun said, "Little Zheng, come here."

Then, he shoved the second assistant next to him aside and occupied that space.

Zheng Ren hesitated for a brief moment and accepted the offer.

Why would they performatively argue over where to stand for ten minutes when the patient had an exposed peritoneal cavity?

Su Yun, who had put on a surgical gown and a pair of sterile gloves, walked toward the first assistant and said coldly, "Are you not going to move out of the way?"

"…"

The first assistant, a chief resident in the second general surgery department, was grumbling internally when Chief Surgeon Sun gave his spot to Zheng Ren, but he had not expected a repeat of such a slight so soon.

Before he could retaliate, though, he met Chief Surgeon Sun's gaze.

He instantly admitted defeat and stepped away from the operating table. After that, he indignantly removed his gloves and occupied the most strategic location to observe the surgery—lateral to the head end of the operating table.

Not everyone knew how to perform surgery, but they sure knew how to find fault with it.

His heart throbbing with resentment, he waited for a slip-up with his eyes wide open.

Xinglin Garden began broadcasting the surgery live as soon as Zheng Ren occupied the surgeon's position.

An increasing number of viewers had taken notice of this anonymous account. Ten thousand viewers in a single broadcast room was massive for Xinglin Garden, but was still small compared to the number of hospitals in China.

Ten seconds later, hundreds of doctors from all over the country entered the broadcast room.

[The god's recent surgeries weren't difficult. I wonder what today's surgery is about.]

[Well, you can ask him in advance. It's just like requesting chapter updates before reading a novel. It's an international practice.]

[My surgery skill has skyrocketed after watching the surgery replays from a few days ago a hundred times.]

As the doctors saw the image on the livestream, the mood instantly stopped being jovial. Most of those with profound experience instantly knew what was going on.

[Finally, the god is going to perform a complicated surgery. I've burst into tears.]

[Is this an intraoperative call-for-help? My sympathy to the initial surgeon-in-charge.]

[Sympathy? At least he has someone else to assist him in surgery. If you encountered such an issue, your best bet would be to close the abdomen straight away and explain your failure to the patient's family. If they are reasonable, everything will be fine, otherwise… I don't even dare think about it.]

[That's true, our hospital had a similar case last year. The family made a banner later declaring that our doctors were unethical and had total disregard for human lives.]

The latter doctor had gone from discussing the disease to complaining about similar cases, as if trying to expel all the bitterness in his heart.

The call-for-help was a common term used in the operating theater.

When an unfamiliar intraoperative difficulty was encountered, the surgeon would call someone with greater expertise, from within or outside the hospital, to handle the operation.

Of course, he could also seek a second opinion from colleagues at a similar skill level.

Outrageous cases of intraoperative calls-for-help had happened before. For example, there had been a complicated case of a congenital heart defect in West China Hospital, and the surgeon had been dumbfounded as soon as the thoracic cavity was exposed. After that, he had sought assistance from a senior cardiothoracic surgeon from a random hospital in Imperial Capital, who then flew to West China Hospital and participated in the surgery.

The senior cardiothoracic surgeon from West China Hospital was one of the best in the country and had almost identical proficiency as that of the professor from Imperial Capital. They exchanged opinions intraoperatively and finally managed to complete the surgery after fourteen hours.

There were many similar tales in every hospital.

Everyone became excited after witnessing this call-for-help in the latest livestream.

[Are those the greater omentum and transverse colon? Why is that mess so huge?]

[You've superb eyesight, my friend. How do you know it is the transverse colon?]

[Damn, look at that sticky mess. F*ck the surgery and just close the abdomen. The way I see it, even the god won't be able to finish this.]

[I'm worried. Those are severe adhesions, and any torsion will cause leakage of intestinal contents into the peritoneal cavity, leading to an infection… The more I think about it, the more afraid I am. If I'm performing this surgery, I'll just close the abdomen straight away.]

As medical personnel, they all understood only too well how complex this operation was.

Distinguishing anatomical structure alone was already difficult.

However, judging by the incision and its distance from the head, they could roughly conclude that this was an upper abdominal surgery involving the gallbladder, pancreas or liver.

If they had encountered such severe adhesions intraoperatively, almost everyone would have come to the same conclusion—abort the mission!

In the operating theater, Zheng Ren observed the situation for a few seconds and extended his right hand.

He wanted a pair of blunt scissors, but his palm was still empty after a few seconds.

Tsk… Xie Yiren was still the best.

"Blunt scissors," instructed Zheng Ren.

"Oh." The scrub nurse was preparing a suture needle and thread for abdominal wound closure. From experience, it was impossible to proceed with the surgery any further.

Surprisingly, Zheng Ren actually requested a pair of blunt scissors. Was he going to give it a try despite Chief Surgeon Sun's failure? How ignorant!

Since it had been asked for, though, she immediately searched for the blunt scissors and placed it onto Zheng Ren's palm.

'That's too much force. She isn't as gentle as Xie Yiren,' Zheng Ren thought.

He cast the idea aside and started bluntly dissecting the adhesions with the scissors.

Apart from the blunt scissors and his hands, he needed nothing else, not even the first and second assistant. Holding the scissors backward, he used the blunt end to make an opening and started bluntly separating adhesive tissue using his fingers.

"Little Zheng, slow down and be gentle." Zheng Ren's movements frightened Chief Surgeon Sun.

This young man was too reckless.

IndexChapter 82 - My Scrub Nurse

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Chapter 82: My Scrub Nurse

"It's alright, I know what I'm doing," replied Zheng Ren.

Chief Surgeon Sun nearly cursed out loud. 'Such reckless moves and you said you know what you're doing? Are you sure you really know what you're capable of?'

However, there was nothing he could do about it. Giving instructions after requesting Zheng Ren's help? There was no way he would do such a shameless act.

Left with no choice, he pulled the retractor as hard as he could so that Zheng Ren could have a larger operative field. At the same time, he thought, 'Please be alright, please be alright…'

That was the most he could do as a second assistant.

Using the blunt end of the scissors, Zheng Ren poked a hole in the severely adhered greater omentum and widened it. It was done so professionally that even Chief Surgeon Sun failed to understand how.

This process was repeated multiple times before he inserted his finger and bluntly tore the adhesive tissue along the plane.

'Is he not afraid of tearing random arterioles and causing blood loss?' Chief Surgeon Sun was just as confused as he was earlier.

Even though such arteriole ruptures and hemorrhaging was not life-threatening, the whole operative field would still be covered in blood… Nothing would be visible if that happened.

The blunt scissors was placed on the surgical drape beside the patient's thigh, which interrupted his train of thoughts.

Zheng Ren extended his hand again, but the familiar sensation of instrument tapping on his palm did not arrive despite waiting for a few moments.

Zheng Ren, who had become regal the moment he took over the surgery, looked askew at the scrub nurse and silently complained about her complete lack of understanding of his next surgical step.

In terms of surgical coordination alone, this nurse and Xie Yiren were worlds apart.

More importantly, the scrub nurse finally realized that he was requesting an instrument and began searching for something in panic.

'What the hell was she doing just now?' Then, Zheng Ren understood something and shifted his gaze to Su Yun.

'Well, his beauty really could bring calamity to the country and its people.' He somewhat believed Su Yun's words now.

In order to speed up the surgery, he decided to let Xie Yiren replace this scrub nurse.

"Thank you for your hard work. My scrub nurse will take over from here," Zheng Ren said flatly. "Yiren, change your clothes."

Xie Yiren, who was acting as a circulating nurse in the operating theater, responded briskly and went to perform a surgical scrub.

The scrub nurse on duty was startled. Did the surgeon just ask for her to be replaced?

Everyone working in the operating theater, especially during a tricky case with with no end in sight, preferred to leave this hell as soon as they could. They had to stand almost stationary for at least four hours, after all. It was exhausting.

However, it seemed like only senior professors in Imperial Capital or Sorcery Capital, who had their own scrub nurses, would make such a demand.

This young surgeon was becoming arrogant after getting promoted to a chief resident in the emergency department. Was he getting full of himself already?

The scrub nurse threw the retractor she just picked up onto the instrument table with a clang.

After venting her anger, she left the table silently, removed her sterile surgical gown and stood in a corner of the operating theater with a cold expression. Despite her rage and strong urge to leave this place… Observing the surgeon at work could still be beneficial in the long run.

Su Yun was slightly puzzled as well. Zheng Ren was a good-natured man, but why did his temperament change the moment he was performing a surgery?

Even though Zheng Ren did not act like certain professors who threw tantrums during surgeries, the way he demanded for scrub nurse substitution was completely intolerable…

Was he experiencing a mid-surgery equivalent of road rage?

After swiftly washing her hands via the standard technique, disinfecting and donning a surgical gown, Xie Yiren approached the instrument table.

A pair of hemostatic forceps was then gently placed in Zheng Ren's palm. After that, she picked up the blunt scissors Zheng Ren put on the surgical drape just now, wiped the blood and fluid that had accumulated on it from adhesiolysis, and situated it on the most easy-to-reach location on the instrument table.

Su Yun was idling at a strategic location to observe the surgery.

Xie Yiren's proficiency answered his initial doubts about Zheng Ren's insistence in substituting the scrub nurse.

Every instrument Zheng Ren wanted—hemostatic forceps and suture size #1 for ligation, scissors for dissection—was promptly given to him in a small hand, sterile surgical glove unable to contain its beauty.

It significantly sped up the surgery, as well.

The efficiency surprised Su Yun. A scrub nurse who could perfectly coordinate with the surgeon was as scarce as hen's teeth, which explained Zheng Ren's initial demand.

In Xinglin Garden, the live broadcast room seemed deserted with only a few comments flying past the screen.

However, the viewer count on the upper right corner of the room had reached 8721.

This room was the only one of its ilk that could achieve such a high viewer count.

[Is the host surgeon really that confident in bluntly dissecting the adhesive tissue? There isn't the slightest sign of hesitation at all!]

[I'm guessing the adhesions around the intestines are the real trouble. This cholecystectomy is already tricky due to the transverse colon alone.]

[I've the exact same feeling, too. The host surgeon's understanding of normal and abnormal anatomical structures is far superior to mine. My patellas have shattered to pieces.]

Around five minutes after Xie Yiren substituted the scrub nurse, most of the sticky mess around the transverse colon on the liver edge had been separated.

The experts in Xinglin Garden admired the host surgeon for his profound anatomical knowledge and bold manipulation. At the same time, they were amazed at how he could cauterize or ligate the arterioles in advance during the procedure.

[What can I say after witnessing such a magnificent operation?]

[Just keep quiet, young man. You can go home and revise these few minutes of blunt dissection twenty times.]

[Twenty times? You must be joking. You won't be able to understand it without watching the replay fifty times and going through ten complicated cases of intestinal adhesions.]

Following the adhesiolysis around the transverse colon, the doctors watching the livestream were greatly dissatisfied.

They were extremely annoyed at the host surgeon's assistants: the first assistant merely looked at the surgery leisurely without any intention to help or even hold the retractor, while the second assistant tried to help twice by offering instruments, but the host surgeon rejected the offers with a tap of their forceps.

The doctors, especially the juniors, were extremely familiar with this scene.

They had wanted to help but failed to understand their surgeon's motives and offered inappropriate instruments. If their surgeon was good-tempered, he would just tap it with the instrument in their hand to indicate that it was wrong.

If the surgeon was irritable, a tongue-lashing would be sure to follow.

The junior doctors lacked the courage to speak up as they empathized with the second assistant in the livestream.

[Poor second assistant, I think they are a young, inexperienced doctor. That's precisely why complicated surgical cases will do more harm than good for young people.]

[True. How can they help the surgeon when they can't even understand what's going on?]

[Let me calculate the psychological damage this second assistant has received thus far.]

Chief Surgeon Sun had no clue that, according to Xinglin Garden, he was an inexperienced surgeon who had just started work in the department.

Even if he did, he had no time to worry about it.

The fact that he had tried to lend a hand but repeatedly picked up the wrong instruments greatly embarrassed him. He was inferior to Xie Yiren in terms of skillful surgical coordination.

After the transverse colon and the greater omentum overlying the gallbladder were freed from adhesions, the anatomical structures instantly became recognizable. The dark, swollen gallbladder, inflated like a balloon, was clearly visible.

IndexChapter 83 - Generous Rewards

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Chapter 83: Generous Rewards

With the gallbladder exposed, the surgery was now half-complete.

Once the anatomical structures were distinguishable, subsequent procedures were plain and simple. To the experts watching, even though some difficulty still remained, everything could at least proceed as planned.

The chief resident of the second general surgery department, who was standing lateral to the patient's head for observation, had an indescribable feeling upon noticing that the surgery had reached this point without any medical errors.

He could not deny feeling envy and hatred as he stared at Zheng Ren, who had been a junior surgeon in the opposite department merely a month ago and honed such amazing skill, presumably due to talent or hard work.

Various thoughts swirled in his mind, but he waved all of them aside.

He had caught wind of the surgery Cen Meng's uncle had undergone the day after the fact.

The news had sent panic coursing through him. Fortunately, the first general surgery department had taken the brunt of the blame and the second general surgery department did not offend… greatly offend anyone during the accusation against the emergency department before.

Otherwise, how would they have faced each other in the future?

He had not expected the day of their confrontation to arrive so soon.

Zheng Ren was at least skillful at his work, but what about Su Yun? The man had forcibly occupied the first assistant's position just for a better view of the operative field without contributing anything.

Thus, he directed his resentment from Zheng Ren to Su Yun.

In Xinglin Garden, the barrages in the live broadcast room started coming to life again following the full exposure of the surgical site.

[666! It's a pity that I can't send rewards to the host surgeon. I strongly suggest Xinglin Garden to implement a reward system.]

[The little beast in my heart is itching for action!]

[The surgery isn't finished yet, so what are you guys anxious about?]

[Is there anything interesting to watch after complete exposure of the surgical field?]

A syringe was placed on the host surgeon's blood-stained sterile glove while comments continued to bombard the broadcast room.

After its surrounding area was confirmed to be well-protected, the gallbladder was pierced by the needle and its contents—a mixture of white pus and dark green bile juice—were aspirated.

This syringe of bile juice would be sent for bacterial culture later.

In suppurative cholecystitis, especially late-onset cases, complications such as postoperative bacterial invasion into the bloodstream leading to bacteremia may arise.

Even though Zheng Ren's manipulation minimized the risk of complications, complete prevention was impossible. Therefore, a bacterial culture with an antimicrobial susceptibility test was necessary to help choose an antibiotic that would be most effective against the specific types of bacteria infecting the patient and reduce postoperative complications.

Xie Yiren placed the syringe of purulent bile into a specimen container before passing a pair of atraumatic forceps to Zheng Ren.

Grasping the dome of the gallbladder with the forceps, the serosa overlying the gallbladder was retrogradely incised to expose the hepatoduodenal ligament and foramen of Winslow. After that, blunt dissection resumed.

Despite the severely edematous gallbladder, the force Zheng Ren used was just enough. He was not causing more damage to the gallbladder and its surrounding tissues, nor was he hesitating and delaying the surgery.

Soon, the cystic duct was located and the cystic artery posterior to the duct was identified. Then, the cystic artery near the gallbladder wall and the cystic duct half a centimeter away from the common bile duct were dissected and ligated. As a result, no hemorrhage was noted in the gallbladder fossa following its removal.

Everything had been smooth-sailing thus far.

Innumerable compliments bombarded Xinglin Garden like free ammunition… Well, it was.

The experts knew the ropes, and they understood that the initial adhesiolysis was the most difficult procedure in this surgery.

When the surgery ended, many viewers replayed the video and focused on the first ten minutes of the operation.

Not only was the thin and brittle bowel unharmed, the host surgeon had performed blunt dissection at light speed.

Countless doctors savored this scene in particular.

In the operating theater, after removing the gallbladder and ensuring that there were no bleeding spots in the gallbladder fossa, Zheng Ren irrigated the peritoneal cavity before suturing the abdominal surgical wound.

Chief Surgeon Sun sighed in relief at the completion of the surgery.

He raised his head and saw Su Yun, arms crossed, absent-mindedly staring at the operative field,and making no attempt to give Zheng Ren a hand.

"Little Su, why don't you leave the operating table and let Zheng Ren and I close the abdomen?"

Su Yun looked up and met Chief Surgeon Sun's gaze.

"Okay." He turned and left immediately.

"…"

Chief Surgeon Sun, the chief resident of the second general surgery department and the scrub nurse who had been forced to step down were dumbfounded.

What a shameless b*stard!

"The surgery was done decently and almost reached half my standard," said Su Yun lightly as he left.

Everyone else was flabbergasted as they once again underestimated this brat's barefaced attitude.

Based on Zheng Ren's understanding of Su Yun, the surgery's perfection should have been contested with the man's beauty.

If that had been the case, Su Yun would have been correct.

Although he was not the most handsome man in the world, Su Yun was at least Grandmaster rank in terms of physical attractiveness.

The world put value on outward appearance. There was nothing Zheng Ren could do about it.

Chief Surgeon Sun felt helpless as well, but the words had left his mouth and he could not renege on his promise. Left with no choice, he left Zheng Ren's side and stood at the first assistant's position to assist with abdominal surgical wound closure.

Leaving the operating theater was not an option as he had asked Zheng Ren to take over the surgery, just like a guest secretary.

Since the surgery had ended perfectly, it would be inexcusable if he abandoned this simple task.

Chief Surgeon Sun was reasonable enough to provide assistance to Zheng Ren personally instead of delegating it to his junior doctors.

There was nothing he could possibly do during adhesiolysis, but he could at least help cut the thread while Zheng Ren sutured the abdominal wound.

Following the successful closure of the abdominal cavity, a pleasant bell rang out in Zheng Ren's ears. "Ding-dong!"

[General Mission: A Colleague Seeking Assistance accomplished. 100 skill points and 5000 experience points obtained.

[Surgical completion rate: 100 percent. Reward… Calculating.]

Zheng Ren hoped that the System would not award him with yet another silver chest that contained only a skill book. The most it could do was upgrade some random skill tree to a higher level. If that was the case, would there any difference between him and an ordinary attending surgeon?

The leaky bucket principle had become invalid in today's hospitals.

Nowadays, large-scale hospitals placed emphasis on branches of specialties and knowledge to the point where various specialty hospitals had emerged worldwide like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

In the last decade of the twentieth century, the healthcare system in Imperial Capital had implemented the concept of specialized treatment services. Thus, all disciplines had been divided and every hospital had claimed a domain since then.

Tongren Hospital, for example, specialized in ophthalmology, and Jishuitan Hospital focused mainly on orthopedics.

On the other hand, general hospitals had met their downfall. Even the general hospital in Imperial Capital on the first ring road[1] had gradually lost its reputation as many people forgot it existed.

Many reputable doctors had gathered there since the establishment of a central healthcare organization following the founding of the modern republic.

The more specific the type of treatment was, the more profitable it became. That was the current trend of the medical world.

The idea of improving all skill trees simultaneously did not exist in Zheng Ren's mind.

[Calculation complete. The surgery completion rate is 100 percent and the host has acquired their colleague's admiration. Three hundred liver surgery experiences obtained.]

Eh? That seemed pretty good.

Zheng Ren had been preparing himself to learn liver surgery, a surgery far more complicated than appendectomy and cholecystectomy. There was no way he could master it without at least a hundred days of intensive training.

Naturally, his goal was something most surgeons could not possibly achieve in their entire lifetimes.

A storm crashed into his mind, just like the day the System had fallen upon him.

Zheng Ren quickly snapped out of it and instantly became aware of the foreign memories that had embedded themselves into his mind.

That was a mega sale! Liver surgery was more advanced than appendectomy and cholecystectomy, so three hundred liver surgeries actually saved Zheng Ren at least two hundred hours of surgery intensive training time.

[1] A ring road (also known as beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The first ring road is situated around a major city.

IndexChapter 84 - What A Boring Girl

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Chapter 84: What A Boring Girl

The patient's surgery had been successfully completed. After he recovered from general anesthesia, the Chu sisters and a doctor from the second general surgery department pushed him back to the emergency ward.

The Chu sisters, who initially had their lips pursed in annoyance, happily escorted the patient this time.

Uncle Lin had ignored the Chu sisters' initial recommendation to consult Zheng Ren for surgical treatment, but the fact that Zheng Ren ultimately performed the surgery made them feel extremely proud.

Zheng Ren and Chief Surgeon Sun went to the locker room afterward.

In a sense, a locker room was like a bathhouse in that people could bare their souls and engage in heart-to-heart conversations.

"Little Zheng, your skills really are amazing," Chief Surgeon Sun complimented while changing out his attire, "Sea City General Hospital seldom invites surgeons from Imperial Capital and Sorcery Capital to perform surgery, but I'm still aware of the highest surgery standards ever achieved in this country. The way you lysed the adhesive tissue around the bowel was very similar to that of Professor Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. If I didn't know you've never furthered your studies anywhere else, I would have definitely believed that he mentored you personally."

"Chief Surgeon Sun, you flatter me," replied Zheng Ren with a smile.

"By the way, you don't have a girlfriend yet, right?" Chief Surgeon Sun was much more open-minded than Chief Surgeon Liu. He knew the younger generation held the power to change the world and everyone would get old eventually.

Senior consultants had been reluctant to perform endoscopy more than a decade ago. When they finally retired, only then did Sea City General Hospital experience a tremendous growth in minimally invasive surgery.

Previous senior consultants had ruled the departments with an iron fist but no longer visited Sea City General Hospital for consultation, which prompted Chief Surgeon Sun to learn from his past mistakes and treat his subordinates, especially talented youngsters, with kindness.

However, he had not expected to encounter such an outstanding young doctor.

Chief Surgeon Sun admired Zheng Ren's proficiency in surgery and wanted to improve their relationship. What did Zheng Ren need the most? He did not have the faintest idea.

However, the easiest and most common method was to introduce potential life partners to a young bachelor.

When Zheng Ren became successful in the future, Chief Surgeon Sun could also boast of his kindness and care toward the young surgeon over drinks after retirement.

Zheng Ren was stunned upon hearing the question and responded with a bitter smile.

"What's wrong?" asked Chief Surgeon Sun.

"I'm still single, but I don't plan on finding a girlfriend or getting married anytime soon," answered Zheng Ren.

"Why?" Chief Surgeon Sun grinned and added, "A flower may blossom again, but a person can't reverse the onset of age. Youngsters nowadays… are like my frivolous son who has countless girlfriends, but you seem to be acting a little too extreme."

"Chief Surgeon Sun, you also know that I've been promoted to chief resident recently." Zheng Ren smiled humorlessly.

Chief Surgeon Sun immediately understood what Zheng Ren was trying to imply.

Being a chief resident meant that he had to stay in the hospital for at least a year.

One could call the hospital a home when he had to work twenty-two hours almost every day. Getting involved in a relationship? Who would want to spend a romantic evening in an environment that smelled like disinfectant?

The doctors often joked that death had occurred in every bed and chair in the hospital.

Romance aside, even if true love was to be found in this place, the relationship would probably deteriorate after going cold for a year.

How many chief residents were cheated during their stay in the hospital? It was an undeniable fact.

That was precisely why Chief Surgeon Sun felt helpless to do anything about it.

Sighing heavily, he said, "The emergency department will hire more staff in the future."

"Well, we'll have to wait and see for the time being. I still don't have a surgical assistant right now," replied Zheng Ren.

"Huh? Wasn't Su Yun transferred to the emergency department? Are you two not getting along well? That can't be. He insisted on the transfer despite Director Fu's firm disagreement," said Chief Surgeon Sun, surprised.

"Su Yun is an ICU doctor. Does he know how to perform surgery?" asked Zheng Ren.

"Oh, he is good. His surgery skills are slightly inferior to mine, but the differences aren't much," Chief Surgeon Sun stared deep into Zheng Ren's eyes and continued, "You know, he was just a medical student who hadn't even started clinical practice when he first came to Sea City General Hospital. Even if there had been many surgeries in Union Medical College Hospital at the time, it would be impossible for him to operate on the patients frequently and personally. He is the kind of talented man who can pick any skill up after one look at it."

'The ability to learn something by eye immediately? That's an aura a protagonist possesses, right?' The thought of that skill falling upon a Nancy boy made Zheng Ren feel slightly depressed.

"How do you know he is good at performing surgery?"

"His ex-girlfriend had appendicitis and he had single-handedly performed her surgery all the way from anesthesia to recovery," Chief Surgeon Sun said, "That brat didn't even let anyone into the operating theater at the time. Everyone initially waited for a good laugh but failed to anticipate her ambulating post-op on day one and being discharged three days later."

Zheng Ren had heard about this incident on the grapevine, but remained doubtful of its credibility. Besides, it was only appendicitis.

"Anyway, it's better for you to get a girlfriend soon. I can see that Old Chief Physician Pan treats you very well, and a chief resident has to work tirelessly in the hospital for one year at most. Find a suitable target first, and then you can spend some quality time with her afterward."

Chief Surgeon Sun changed his attire and went downstairs together with Zheng Ren.

Old Chief Physician Pan, who personally attended garrison duty in the emergency ward, stood up and joined them to check on the postoperative patient.

After regaining consciousness from general anesthesia, the patient mumbled something and fell asleep.

His vital signs were stable, and naturally, Lin Yuanshan was thankful for it.

He also felt slightly embarrassed after finding out that Zheng Ren had completed the surgery in the end.

After leaving the ward, Lin Yuanshan kindly invited everyone that had been involved in the surgery over for dinner.

This was a common practice where family members would treat the surgical team to a meal after a successful operation; it was primarily to express their heartfelt gratitude and strengthen the relationship with the team, easing future consultations.

There was absolutely no need for Lin Yuanshan to establish a social connection with anyone, however, and so his sole intention was to thank the surgical team for their efforts.

Zheng Ren had no choice but to accept the invitation. Old Chief Physician Pan and Chief Surgeon Sun decided to let a deputy senior consultant of the second general surgery department temporarily watch over the emergency department while the group went to the hotel.

The presence of hospital directors and senior consultants from the relevant departments made the atmosphere stressful for Zheng Ren. The dishes appeared exquisite, but to him, they did not emit any rich smells that promised a delightful taste.

In his opinion, the food skewer stall in front of his house had the most delicious food in the world.

The Chu sisters were able to behave naturally and gracefully in this manner of social gathering, enriching the lively atmosphere even further with their words.

A few hours later, all the moguls took their leave after their appetites were sated.

Zheng Ren sat in Xie Yiren's car and as usual, Su Yun tagged alongside him like a shadow. After dropping off Old Chief Physician Pan at his home, he suddenly received a phone call from one of the Chu sisters.

It turned out that they were still hungry and had invited Chang Yue to have supper together.

Young people were usually outgoing and being on-call in the emergency department, which demanded zero alcohol consumption, could not stop them from enjoying a hectic lifestyle.

Since someone was on duty in the emergency department, Zheng Ren made use of this opportunity to enjoy himself like a prisoner being rewarded with free time.

Xie Yiren drove straight to the designated location.

The weather was getting cold. It looked like snow would fall within the next few days.

Food stalls could not operate, but the chilly wind failed to extinguish the insatiable fire that gnawed at their stomachs. If they could not enjoy supper at the roadside, they would move their battlefield indoors.

The Chu sisters had chosen a location—the crayfish restaurant near the hospital.

According to them, the crayfish would soon be gone and they would have to wait until next year for the next batch to arrive.

Soon, all of them gathered in front of the restaurant.

The Chu sisters excitedly took a group photograph of this medical "family".

This was the first group photograph involving Zheng Ren, Su Yun, the Chu sisters, Chang Yue and Xie Yiren.

"You guys are so boring." Su Yun habitually brushed back his wispy bangs while waiting for the crayfish and added, "Those old guys aren't here, so why don't we have some beer? Haven't you guys heard of the phrase 'enjoy life to the fullest'?"

"There might be emergency cases at night." Xie Yiren politely refused the offer.

She failed to detect the provocation in Su Yun's tone. Perhaps, to her naive self, everyone was a good person, and negativity such as contempt or mockery did not exist at all.

The Chu sisters made eye contact before one of them said that she could have a sip.

Zheng Ren ignored Su Yun's taunt and rejected him immediately.

Su Yun then glanced at Chang Yue, who had been silent all along, and asked, "How about you?"

"No," replied Chang Yue coldly.

Some people were unaffected by appearances but would still treat others with courtesy, unlike Chang Yue, who was frank and direct in her approach. This sort of intense boredom made Su Yun feel very uncomfortable.

"Now I know why they had chosen you to be the scapegoat," Su Yun said with a wicked smile, "What a boring girl."

IndexChapter 85 - Drinking With A Foot On The Box

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Chapter 85: Drinking With A Foot On The Box

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Yun's words were vicious. Zheng Ren, who noticed the sorrow in Chang Yue's eyes, suddenly had the urge to stand up for her and rebuke the idiot before him for his arrogance.

However, before he could open fire, Chang Yue put on a warm smile as if her initial sadness had been simply an illusion.

The Chu sisters quickly stood by her side and reprimanded Su Yun.

Su Yun seemed to be accustomed to such situations. His gaze was empty as it flew past the Chu sisters and landed on two other girls sitting a short distance away.

The two had finished eating and were simply chatting while tapping away at their phones. This was common these days and not out of the ordinary.

Otherwise, why would the phrase, "the greatest distance in the world is not between life and death, but the gap between you and I with a phone in your hands," exist?

The girls, who sensed that they were being watched, quickly looked up from their phones and vigilantly scanned the area.

The moment they noticed Su Yun, one of them immediately lowered her head, pretended to see nothing and continued stealing glances at him through her bangs. Meanwhile, the other girl's cheeks flushed red as she summoned up her courage to meet his gaze.

Two seconds later, she admitted defeat.

"Su Yun, right?

"You want to drink, yes?"

The stony-faced Chang Yue sat up straight and stared into Su Yun's eyes.

It was the first time she was radiating this aura, which surprised Zheng Ren, both Chu sisters and Xie Yiren.

"What?" Su Yun withdrew his gaze and smiled disdainfully.

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This slightly sassy expression accentuated his attractiveness.

"Waiter!" Without making any response, Chang Yue waved her hand and called the waiter.

A waiter trotted up to the table and greeted her enthusiastically, "What can I do for you?"

"What beers do you have?" asked Chang Yue.

The waiter rattled off a list of names, but she frowned, obviously dissatisfied.

"Do you have old-fashioned Snow?" questioned Chang Yue.

"Snow" was a general term for beers made more than a decade ago. After a large company had entered the mainland's market and purchased most of its stakes, these cheap beers had almost disappeared and only a few places still stocked them.

Unlike ordinary cartons of a dozen, Snow beers were packed in large plastic boxes of two dozen bottles.

The legendary drinking pose with one foot on a box referred specifically to Snow beers as ordinary cardboard boxes were not practical to put one's weight on, especially while drinking..

"Yes, we do," answered the waiter professionally, despite the wind visibly leaving his sails. Although Snow was cheap, he could not possibly chase his customers out.

"I'll have four boxes for now," said Chang Yue lightly.

Su Yun's expression remained unchanged. It was just four boxes, and he assumed Chang Yue was showing off.

The Chu sisters quickly tried to stop her, but she smiled. "Do you know why I don't drink?"

"Huh?" Chu Yanzhi was puzzled.

"Because my habits scare even myself." The smile on Chang Yue's face was relaxed and pleasant. "Romeo wants to get drunk today; that's nice."

Zheng Ren did not understand why she would say that.

It was completely out of context.

Further attempts to persuade her against it ended up in vain as they were met with a silent smile. The Chu sisters were helpless and Xie Yiren, who was looking forward to her crayfish, seemed to be the only one who had no idea what was going on.

Soon, the crayfish was served alongside the four entire boxes of Snow, stacked like a small hill.

This table was occupied by incredibly good-looking people—with Zheng Ren as the exception—attracting the attention of other diners having their supper in the restaurant, but what caught their eyes the most were the four boxes of beers beside Su Yun and Chang Yue.

The slightly courageous girl who had met Su Yun's gaze just now proceeded to pick up the tab at the counter. Then, she came over and whispered with embarrassment, "I've paid for your bill."

She put a piece of paper, damp with nervous sweat,, in front of Su Yun and fled the scene.

With his rich clinical experience, Zheng Ren guessed that she had a heart rate of over 130 beats per minute.

"You're really a ladies' man." With a bright smile, Chang Yue cracked open a bottle with her teeth and said, "I feel happy in the emergency department. Cheers."

She then proceeded to drink directly from the bottle.

The rate at which the beer disappeared sent a chill down Zheng Ren's spine.

Despite his love for booze, he hardly ever consumed it due to alcohol intolerance, so he particularly admired those who were able to binge-drink but had enough self-control not to.

Such people were legends in the making anywhere.

Chang Yue's manner, assuming she did not get into a fight with Su Yun after getting wasted by the first three bottles, suggested that she was actually a heavy drinker.

Su Yun's smile radiated an evil charm.

After pocketing the note he had just been given, he magically opened the beer bottle with a flick of a finger and gulped it down like Chang Yue.

His moves were ten thousand times more elegant than hers.

Zheng Ren and the Chu sisters were too dumbstruck to speak as empty bottles began piling up one after another, the crayfish no longer of any importance.

The exception was Xie Yiren, who paid them no mind and started gorging on her favourite food.

Occasionally, she would glance at the ongoing drinking contest when pausing to take a sip of water, but lost interest almost immediately and focused on devouring her crayfish instead.

She was a pure-hearted foodie.

An hour later, all four boxes of Snow had been consumed, but neither of them showed the slightest hint of drunkenness or the need to go to the bathroom. They ordered four boxes of beer and the competition continued.

Curious, Zheng Ren thought, 'How did they drink all these beers? It doesn't comply with the law of conservation of mass.'

Historically, a grand secretariat1 of the Ming dynasty was said to have a massive capacity for liquor. Out of curiosity, the emperor invited him for a drink and even prepared an urn of booze for the man to refill his bowl directly.

In the end, the urn had been completely emptied, but the grand secretariat was still as sober as a judge with no signs of abdominal distention.

Zheng Ren had always known that there were many types of strange people in the world, but the fact that he was face-to-face with one right now still unnerved him.

Su Yun, who seemed to eliminate alcohol from his system through perspiration, began to sweat after the third box of Snow. Meanwhile, Chang Yue looked perfectly fine apart from a few hiccups.

The manager of the restaurant approached them alongside the fourth box and politely presented them a large portion of crayfish—on the house—that he had personally prepared.

Su Yun and Chang Yue were uninterested, though, and Xie Yiren was the only one who appreciated it.

Suddenly, Zheng Ren's phone rang.

"Chief Zheng, a patient with an unclear diagnosis is currently causing trouble in the emergency department. Can you come and have a look?" said the emergency doctor on duty.

A doctor's life was that of misery, and a chief resident had the most f*cked-up life of all.

Zheng Ren tried to explain the reason for his departure, but Chang Yue and Su Yun were unperturbed and merely waved their hands as if chasing away an annoying fly.

Thus, Chu Yanzhi stayed behind to watch over the two drunkards in case they were unable to even return home. Chu Yanran, Xie Yiren and Zheng Ren could drive back to the hospital as the three of them were more than enough to handle any surgical emergency.

Zheng Ren took one final glance at the drinking competition before leaving. Empty boxes stacked up to a man's full height beside them, but the two rivals were still gulping down the remaining beers one after another with one foot on a box each.

'They're really drinking with a foot on the box.' The sight was truly enriching in a way.

1…

…

Xie Yiren and Chu Yanran rushed to the operating theater upon their return to the emergency department.

If surgery was required, they could start preoperative preparations as soon as they were informed of such.

Zheng Ren arrived at the department as well and saw two girls standing in the hall. One of them was crying and the other had a pair of smoldering eyes.

This was a common phenomenon in the emergency department and Zheng Ren had gotten used to it.

From the looks of it, the problem was rabble-rousing rather than an uncertain diagnosis. Zheng Ren understood that the emergency department received hundreds of patients daily, and there was only one doctor on duty in each division—internal medicine, general surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology. If they wasted any time handling disputes, actual treatment would be delayed and the backlog of patients would just lead to even more arguments in the end.

Therefore, they would generally pass on these annoying issues to their superiors.

Zheng Ren glanced at the girls, but strangely enough, the System did not provide any details on them, which suggested that they were perfectly healthy. Was this a deliberate medical dispute? It seemed unlikely.

He quickly changed his attire, approached the girls and asked politely, "I'm the chief resident in the emergency department. What can I do for you?"

"You're a superior doctor? I want to lodge a complaint!" the girl howled furiously.

"Please keep your voice down. This is a hospital," Zheng Ren said calmly, "What happened?"

"The doctor in the ECG room harassed my sister!"

A bomb instantly went off in Zheng Ren's ears.

What the f*ck, which pervert did this?!

IndexChapter 86 - A Misunderstanding

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Chapter 86: A Misunderstanding

Zheng Ren calmed down and pondered the situation.

Something did not sound right. Female doctors were generally assigned to night shifts in the ECG room to prevent this sort of bullsh*t from happening.

A woman harassing another woman? It sounded unlikely.

There must be something wrong.

"Please come to my office." Zheng Ren tried to get the situation under control after noticing the gathering crowd of onlookers.

"You want to make things worse?" Frustrated, the girl raised her eyebrows and said coldly, "What kind of attitude is this?! I'm telling you, this ain't over yet!"

"…" Zheng Ren felt helpless.

Scumbags existed everywhere, be they doctors, teachers or… it had nothing to do with professions, and was related only to personal character.

Perhaps he should throw this issue to the medical administration division.

However, he had to understand what had actually happened before doing so.

"Please calm down." Zheng Ren tried to pacify the grumpy girl with a polite smile, but he had inadequate skill points in this category. It would probably be better if Su Yun was the one handling this.

The growing crowd fuelled the girl's courage. Wrapping her arm around the sobbing girl and frantically waving another hand in the air, she said, "We came to the emergency department because my sister has chest tightness. I asked for the result after she had undergone an ECG, but the doctor told me that my sister has a flat chest! Is the consultation and breast size related in any way?! People with small breasts can't visit the doctor? I'm warning you, if you don't give me a proper explanation, I'll definitely unleash hell on you!"

"…" Zheng Ren was left speechless.

"Haha, the doctors in Sea City General Hospital are interesting men. Are they treating the diseases or judging breast sizes?"

"Well, that lady is indeed flat-chested."

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"F*ck, why did you even comment on that? She came here to consult a doctor, they can't deny her just because of her small breasts."

This was indeed ridiculous, but there was nothing Zheng Ren could do about onlookers' comments.

Honestly, it sounded unreasonable no matter how he looked at it. Would the female doctor in the ECG room comment on the patient's breast size? The probability was shockingly low, so what the hell actually happened?

A lightbulb suddenly went off in Zheng Ren's head as he realized the potential reason for all this trouble. He quickly asked, "Can I look at your ECG report?"

"What do you want with it?" The girl stared vigilantly at Zheng Ren and held the ECG report firmly in her hands, as if it was concrete evidence that he sought to destroy.

"…" Zheng Ren was inexperienced at putting his thoughts into words. He really missed Chang Yue, who was still having a drinking contest with Su Yun right now.

Even though Chang Yue was not friendly toward him, she was at least able to waltz through this sort of situation with her strong communication skills.

What a pity… That brat Su Yun was so annoying!

Grudge 100.

"I think this is just a misunderstanding, but I can't confirm my speculations if you don't show me your ECG report," Zheng Ren tried to persuade the girls.

With Zheng Ren's earnest expression, the girl hesitated for a minute before doubtfully giving him the report.

The ECG report findings included a flat T wave in V4 1, with sinus rhythm noted.

Sighing heavily, Zheng Ren dispelled the grievances in his heart and forced his emotions to stabilize before speaking more gently, "Lady, look, it says flat T wave in V4. Normally, patients with hypokalemia or myocardial infarctions will be presented with this ECG finding. The doctor in the ECG room probably meant this instead of… a flat chest."

Everyone on the scene burst into laughter.

This careless girl had only heard the terms "flat" and "chest" and automatically perceived it as having a flat chest.

However, it was not surprising as laypeople generally did not understand medical terminology.

This was just a simple misunderstanding and not a malicious medical dispute.

The tetchy girl froze for a moment and recalled that the doctor in the ECG room seemed to have spoken at length about something that sounded similar to the explanation provided by the chief resident before her.

However, who could understand the details of the matter? That was precisely why she mistakenly assumed that the doctor had been commenting about her breast size.

The girls' faces turned red instantly.

That was stupid. They had been the only ones who were aware of their flat chests, but now everyone on the scene knew about it as well.

Fortunately, they were reasonable. Medical disputes were not exactly common, and most arguments directed against doctors and the hospitals arose due to a lack of free time for detailed explanations and the patients' lack of medical knowledge.

Since a clear explanation had been provided, the girls began to calm down.

The initially crabby girl apologized with a red face.

Zheng Ren quickly waved his hands and said, "It's okay, but I suspect that your sister's condition is caused by fatigue instead of hypokalemia or myocardial infarction."

"Fatigue?"

"For example, staying up late or a stressful working environment will lead to this condition," Zheng Ren patiently explained without expressing any resentment, "Make sure you get adequate rest and don't stay up late in the future. Also, don't use your phone in bed for too long. If there isn't any improvement, you can come to the hospital for a lung CT and a 256-slice CT coronary angiography, but I don't think they're necessary for now. After all, you're still young and are less at risk of any health issues."

The girls politely thanked him and fled the scene in a hurry.

The bigger the mess, the greater the perpetrators' embarrassment once the truth was revealed.

Zheng Ren smiled and watched them slowly vanish into the distance.

"So that's what happened. My sense of justice is in vain."

"F*ck your sense of justice. I think you were just enjoying yourself."

"That doctor is good. He is patient and explains things very thoroughly."

The crowd gradually dissipated. Zheng Ren then explained the dispute management to the doctor on duty in the internal medicine division and did a simple ward round in the observation units before returning to the emergency ward.

It was already past nine o'clock when he expressed his gratitude to the deputy senior consultant of the second general surgery department before seeing him out.

He took out his phone and asked Chu Yanzhi about the drinking contest via WeChat.

She quickly replied with a short video.

In the video, Su Yun was sweating profusely, sticking his black bangs to his forehead. On the other hand, Chang Yue appeared normal, but Zheng Ren could notice a gleam in her eyes; he was unsure if it was simply his imagination. Both of them shared one thing in common, however—they were still sober.

"Watch them. If either of them drinks excessively, call 120 and send them to the hospital immediately," Zheng Ren advised.

Those who did not require gastric lavage after consuming seven to eight boxes of beers were considered heroes.

"Got it, old man," replied Chu Yanzhi.

Old… Old man…

Shaking his head in response, Zheng Ren prepared to wash up and go to sleep.

Before that, he quickly went for a round in the emergency wards. Lin Yuanshan's father was having slight abdominal pain, but his condition remained stable thus far, so he gave some medical advice and prescribed analgesia for the patient.

Upon returning to the on-call room, Zheng Ren stared at the darkness outside the window. Instead of dramatically going down memory lane, he drew the curtain and lay down on his bed.

Heaven only knew when an emergency case would arrive. If he did not seize what free time he had to get some rest, he would deeply regret it when unforeseen circumstances came.

Sure enough, Zheng Ren was woken by a phone call at a quarter past five in the morning.

A dreamless sleep was truly satisfying. Then, he glanced at the phone and saw the caller ID—Chang Yue.

IndexChapter 87 - Unidentified Patient

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Chapter 87: Unidentified Patient

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Chief Zheng, I've called an ambulance, but I don't have enough money to pay for it. You have money, right?" Chang Yue's tone sounded cold as usual.

Zheng Ren yawned irritably as he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

If his sleep was interrupted by an emergency, bad mood notwithstanding, sometimes he would not even have enough time to put on his shoes. However, an early-morning call from Chang Yue, who constantly wore a stony expression on her beautiful face, was indeed very annoying.

Even so, Zheng Ren had always been good-tempered and overcame his irritation.

'Did these guys drink beer the whole night?' The very thought immediately alerted him.

What the f*ck! Did they have a death wish?! They even called an ambulance? Was it possible that they had had acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to excessive alcohol consumption?

"Yes," Zheng Ren asked anxiously, "How are you doing? What happened to Su Yun?"

"I'm fine. In fact, I'm quite energetic and I think I can go back to work straight away. Su Yun had too much drink and fell down, but I think he should be alright," answered Chang Yue.

Zheng Ren was slightly at ease and grumbled internally, 'How could these two annoying idiots drink the entire night?'

"Chief Zheng, I picked up a patient on the way as well. He is a middle-aged man with a rigid abdomen. What do you think?" Chang Yue proceeded to the main reason for her call.

"Send him to the emergency department, I'm heading there now." Zheng Ren immediately put on his shoes and white coat before rushing to the emergency department.

Just as he stepped out of the room, he quickly turned around, took 200 yuan out of his wallet and stuffed it into his pocket.

Mobilization of ambulances came with a cost that was calculated based on distance, and there was no discount even if it belonged to Sea City General Hospital. Besides, asking Old Chief Physician Pan for a favor just to save a few hundred yuan would be extremely humiliating.

The crayfish restaurant was not far away from the hospital, so Zheng Ren and the ambulance reached the emergency department at the same time.

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Two stretcher trolleys were wheeled in afterward. Su Yun, who was relatively composed despite being plastered, was curled up into a ball and mumbling incoherently on one of them.

Chu Yanzhi followed the trolley with a helpless look on her face.

"I tried to stop them, but they refused to listen," she explained as if it was her fault alone.

"Don't worry about it," Zheng Ren comforted her.

Zheng Ren glanced at Su Yun and checked the diagnosis on the System panel—acute alcohol intoxication… How much did this brat drink?

"Send him to the emergency ward. Start an IV infusion of naloxone, 500mL of glucose solution and two units of vitamin C." Zheng Ren gave simple instructions to Chang Yue.

Chang Yue looked stupefied as she led the paramedic and stretcher trolley upstairs via the elevator with Chu Yanzhi following obediently behind them. Even though the two were almost the same age, Chu Yanzhi looked like a child in every aspect compared to Chang Yue.

When they were further away, only then did Zheng Ren realise that Chang Yue was barefoot with her footprints clearly visible on the floor, presumably due to wetness.

'One has acute alcohol intoxication and the other lost her shoes… What the f*ck!' Zheng Ren thought, annoyed.

However, all of these were inconsequential compared to the patient with a board-like, rigid abdomen.

On another stretcher trolley lay a big-boned but emaciated man.

Zheng Ren read the details on the upper right corner of his vision, printed in bloody red just like the victims of acute nitrite poisoning last time.

Acute gangrenous appendicitis complicated with septic shock.

A life-threatening condition!

He quickly pushed the stretcher trolley into the emergency resuscitation room and shouted at the top of his lungs along the way, "Perform a bedside B-scan ultrasonography, monitor his vitals signs and administer oxygen, stat!"

Upon reaching the resuscitation room, two nurses on duty removed the patient's shirt and started placing ECG leads on him.

In the meantime, Zheng Ren examined him and felt warmth radiating from his body.

Oh, thank God…

Pyrexia was a normal finding in septic shock, but once the extremities were cold, a condition clinically described as cold shock, it could be irreversible and death could be inevitable.

Hyperthermia meant that the patient's immune system was still functional and that the patient was not in as much danger.

Heart rate at 130 beats per minute with oxygen saturation at 93 percent only; the patient's abdomen exhibited spastic rigidity like a hardboard.

This was a typical sign of peritonitis, caused by an involuntary tightening of the abdominal muscles due to peritoneal inflammation, hence the board-like hardness.

Common etiologies included hollow organ perforation leading to leakage of its contents into the peritoneal cavity, or hemorrhage secondary to solid organ rupture, all of which would inflame the peritoneum.

A doctor in charge of ultrasonography hurried over with a portable ultrasound machine cart. He swiftly applied the ultrasonic couplant on the patient's belly and asked, "What is his name?"

It was compulsory to acquire the patient's name as a report had to be issued later. This was a standard procedure to prevent patient misidentification that could jeopardize their safety, a medicolegal issue.

"A thirty-five-year-old unidentified man," Zheng Ren estimated the patient's age group through his facial features and reported it tersely.

"Lower abdominal mass noted, suspected causations include appendicular abscess or perforated appendix. Other organs cannot be seen clearly due to huge gaseous disruption. Minimal free intraperitoneal fluid detected in the pelvic cavity. Otherwise, no other abnormalities are visible," the doctor quickly reported the main ultrasonographic findings to Zheng Ren.

This patient had a severe condition and required immediate surgical intervention.

Zheng Ren picked up his phone while instructing staff to escort the patient to the emergency ward. After a brief moment of hesitation, he pressed the "Call" button.

It was inhumane to disturb Old Chief Physician Pan so early in the morning, but he had to treat this incident seriously and report it to his superior.

It would be fine if the patient was all alone, but if the surgery went haywire or the condition was simply too severe to be treated, family members and friends would often immediately emerge out of nowhere and start tearfully howling injustice.

However, that was not important and Zheng Ren had no time for that. His main issue was the absence of informed consent for surgery.

Old Chief Physician Pan promptly answered the phone, his voice serious.

"Little Zheng, what happened?"

Ever since Zheng Ren first arrived at the emergency department, he had rarely disturbed Old Chief Physician Pan's slumber. Thus, such an unexpected phone call distressed the old man; it was a basic instinct every doctor possessed.

"An unidentified man around thirty-five years old is suspected to have acute gangrenous appendicitis complicated with septic shock. There aren't any contact details of his family members," Zheng Ren reported.

"Start preoperative preparations. I'll contact the medical administration division," replied Old Chief Physician Pan without hesitation.

Zheng Ren hung up and trotted upstairs via the fire escape without wasting time waiting for the elevator.

"Start preoperative preparations," Zheng Ren instructed the nurses and called Chu Yanran and Xie Yiren to prepare for surgery.

After the blood test, electrocardiogram, and various investigative results returned, Zheng Ren took a quick glance at them before pushing the patient, with the nasogastric tube and urinary catheter already inserted, to the operating theater on the third floor.

He handed the patient over to the Chu sisters and rushed back to the emergency ward.

Old Chief Physician Pan was already on his way, and the sleepy medical administrative staff on duty was constantly yawning while bringing video recording equipment to the office in the emergency ward.

The medical administrative staff began recording details for legal purposes once Old Chief Physician Pan reached the office.

Zheng Ren explained everything from the patient's history, status and treatment plans to the reason for his inability to acquire informed consent without family members' contact information.

Subsequently, the medical administrative staff gave authorization to Old Chief Physician Pan and the emergency surgery was greenlighted.

This procedure was mandatory for the self-protection of medical personnel.

After the video was complete, the heavy-eyed medical administrative staff took the equipment and returned to his office.

Zheng Ren was slightly embarrassed and said, "Old Chief Physician Pan, I'm sorry for waking you up so early in the morning."

"Seniors are usually sleep-deprived. I was already awake anyway." Old Chief Physician Pan waved his hand and asked, "Proceed with the surgery. Are you confident about it?"

No one had absolute confidence when treating a patient in septic shock.

Unlike circulatory shock caused by nitrite poisoning, there was no corresponding antidote for septic shock secondary to diffuse peritonitis. The only treatment option was surgical removal of the source of infection and aggressive postoperative antibiotic administration to solve the problem.

Full recovery depended on the patient's physical state as well.

That man… Zheng Ren's expression dimmed after recalling his emaciation and shook his head in response.

"Just do your best." Old Chief Physician Pan gently tapped his shoulder and said, "I'll ask hospital management about treatment expenses during office hours."

Zheng Ren nodded and hurried to the operating theater.

Chapter 88 - It's a Pity I Can't Send A Wave of Positive Ene

Index

Book

Chapter 88: It's a Pity I Can't Send A Wave of Positive Energy

"Burn my calories!" Zheng Ren, who had changed his attire, heard a childish yell before he walked into the operating theater.

That must be Chu Yanzhi. She only had calories to burn right now, having not slept all night.

When he entered the operating theater, Xie Yiren had already changed and was counting the instruments in front of the instrument table.

Zheng Ren went to perform a surgical scrub and asked during disinfection, "How much did they drink?"

"Eleven boxes each, and that was all the restaurant had." Chu Yanzhi exaggeratedly extended her arms in an attempt to describe the height of the piled-up boxes, which failed.

"They really had a death wish," Zheng Ren cursed as he disinfected.

"It's thanks to Su Yun." Chu Yanzhi was one of the few people who remained insensitive to Su Yun's charm and immediately put the blame on him. "I tried to persuade them many times, but he insisted on continuing."

Zheng Ren sighed heavily.

He really hoped that Su Yun would learn his lesson this time and stop assuming that all women were lightweight. If he continued, he could end up having incontinence in the future.

The surgical site was disinfected, the surgical drapes applied, surgical gowns worn, and the last layer of surgical drapes reapplied… Zheng Ren stood under the surgical lighthead, fully prepared for the operation.

The scalpel in his hand gleamed.

Instead of the standard incision for ordinary appendectomy or a small incision similar to those made during the crazy night of appendectomies, Zheng Ren made a roughly ten-centimeter incision lateral to the right rectus abdominis muscle.

Since the patient was emaciated, he reached the peritoneum shortly after a simple dissection of subcutaneous and fascial layers.

He frowned: the patient's peritoneum had obviously turned black, which meant that the infection had been going on for at least three days.

Damn, this patient was really tough if he could endure the pain building up from simple appendicitis to acute peritonitis. Barely anyone could withstand the agony of a perforated appendix, to begin with.

Zheng Ren extended his hand and an aspirator with a suction tube attached was gently placed on his palm.

The livestream in Xinglin Garden started at the same time.

It was late at night, so there were only a few hundred viewers watching the livestream.

It was only relatively a small viewer count; normally, at least a few thousand viewers would swarm into the live broadcast room as soon as the anonymous account began livestreaming.

[The peritoneum is black. Is treatment even possible for this sort of severe infection?]

[The god will also handle feces? I thought he was a hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon.]

[Young man, are you new to this livestream? Have you begun worshipping the god for his miraculous overnight performance of forty-nine appendectomies?]

There was no doubt that the aspirator had to be plunged in immediately after opening the peritoneum. The pus, digestive fluid, and food debris residing in the peritoneal cavity had to be removed to prevent leakage that could lead to secondary infection.

[That's strange. Why isn't there any food residue?]

[Oh, yeah… I treated a gastric perforation case a few days ago and even aspirated a few pieces of meat.]

[The host surgeon is really lucky. He made it clear that he wanted to dig out some feces, but the insides looked so clean when the peritoneum was opened.]

Lots of pus and exudate were aspirated, but food residue and excrement were nowhere to be seen.

This sight made Zheng Ren feel uneasy. Even though this made the surgery somewhat easier, it also meant that this patient had fasted for three to five days.

No wonder he was big-boned but appeared physically wasted.

After ensuring that all pus and exudate had been fully aspirated, Zheng Ren put protective measures on the peritoneal membranes and carefully exposed the peritoneal cavity.

A large, black appendix emerged in the operative field.

The base of the appendix had perforated and its surrounding areas had become gangrenous.

Zheng Ren cautiously dissected the tissue around the appendix twice as slowly compared to his previous operations.

The gangrenous tissue was particularly brittle and had adhered to the surrounding organs for a few days. Therefore, any accident during dissection could cause irreversible damage to the surrounding tissue.

Although the tissue looked light-colored and unhealthy, gangrene had at least not taken hold, which meant that there was still hope for recovery.

[This is nerve-racking… That must be the appendicular artery. Arterial blood won't gush out, right?]

[Are you a doctor or not? In a gangrenous setting, the appendicular artery will contract and partially close up. Bleeding won't occur as long as the ligation is secure. However, this is the difficult part as there is severe edema on the non-gangrenous base. If it isn't tightly sutured, the thread will automatically fall off once edema subsides.]

[You can put in two sutures, but it's no easy task and any slight overuse of strength will definitely rupture the artery.]

Soon, the doctors in the live broadcast room started discussing the condition animatedly. Exchanging views could widen their horizons, and they had already discussed the challenges of this surgery before Zheng Ren even had even begun ligating the appendicular artery.

Even though it was basic knowledge, this manner of gangrenous appendicitis was rare to actually see in the medical field.

As development expanded, the medical and health sectors had grown by leaps and bounds each year. There were hospitals all over the country, and even in the absence of Class Three Grade A Hospitals and community hospitals, there were still "barefoot doctors".

Even in the most remote of villages, "barefoot doctors" still knew how to perform simple appendectomies.

Enduring the intense pain of appendicitis, followed by tearing and further complications from septic shock…

Zheng Ren and the doctors in the live broadcast room had never encountered such a case in all of their careers.

What kind of man was this?!

Zheng Ren used a tiny pair of forceps to gradually lyse the adhesions between the gangrenous and normal tissue with extreme caution.

"Wipe my sweat," he instructed.

Chu Yanzhi obediently took a piece of gauze and approached him.

Zheng Ren turned his head aside and allowed her to wipe the sweat that had drenched his sterile surgical cap.

"Do you need an assistant? I've assisted in surgeries in West China Hospital," said Chu Yanran out of the blue.

"No," Zheng Ren refused bluntly.

Pooh! A bachelor who could not get a girlfriend.

How could he possibly start a relationship when he was so direct in his approach?

Zheng Ren did not even take her suggestion into consideration. He was incredibly nervous, not because of inexperience, but due to the need for extremely gentle manipulation that was necessary to prevent large-scale torsion that would greatly impact the patient's postoperative recovery.

Under present circumstances, there was nothing Chu Yanran could do to assist him.

The problem lay in his frank and direct attitude. Sigh… Poor bachelor.

[Ligation! He is ligating the artery now!]

[Shut the f*ck up! Your comment blocked my view.]

[A taper-point needle? My guess was correct. A taper-point needle can easily penetrate the tissue and cause minimal trauma, hence reducing the risk of torsion.]

[Don't bullsh*t me. If you'd been the surgeon in charge, the operative field would be a bloody mess of torn tissue. You'd be in the process of resuscitation.]

[That's right. You might as well cut the diaphragm and perform direct compression on the failing heart.]

Zheng Ren held the needle holder firmly and with a dexterous flick, plunged the suture needle deeply into the tissue under the appendicular artery.

He inched the needle forward while being aware of the texture of the tissue until it reached the edematous area. Then, he applied gentle pressure on his wrist and the needle came out of the other side of the appendicular artery.

After passing the needle holder back to Xie Yiren, he made a complicated surgical knot using both hands.

[My heart is about to pop out of my chest.]

[God, please be careful. It'll tear if you're not careful.]

[I'm not worried at all. He is a god; how can he make such a simple mistake?]

[666! The pressure he applied was just perfect! How did he even acquire such experience?]

[Damn, Xinglin Garden doesn't have a reward system. Otherwise, I definitely would've sent a wave of positive energy to the god.]

After complete ligation of the appendicular artery, Zheng Ren let it rest for a few seconds before reinitiating adhesiolysis between the gangrenous appendix and the peritoneum, the greater omentum, and the surrounding intestines.

IndexChapter 89 - The First Snow of 2***

Index

Book

Chapter 89: The First Snow of 2***

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The whole operative process was intense. Chu Yanzhi had wiped the sweat off Zheng Ren thrice, and the comments in the live broadcast room were petering out.

Most doctors in the live broadcast room had disabled the livechat and were watching the livestream quietly. Only the younger, livelier doctors preferred a relaxed atmosphere and chatted while watching the video.

The more nervous the surgeon was, the greater the need simmer down by talking. Otherwise, the surgery could go out of control.

The atmosphere eased slightly after Zheng Ren completely resected the appendix.

The gangrenous appendix was so brittle, like a thin slab of charcoal, that it could shatter into pieces with the slightest touch.

When the resected appendix was completely removed from the peritoneal cavity in one piece, many doubting doctors finally expressed their reverence.

[It really could be used as a specimen.]

[This surgeon is indeed a legend who never makes mistakes.]

[This manipulation is breathtaking! I've done a few cases of gangrenous appendicitis, but no matter how careful I was, I had to remove it piece by piece. God, please continue to accept my worship.]

The doctors overwhelmed the live broadcast room with comments to express their heartfelt admiration and deepest respect for the surgeon.

Everyone in the operating theater could clearly see the removal of the entire appendix as well as the bloodstain due to adhesiolysis, which was tiny.

The Chu sisters looked at each other with great surprise.

"Intraperitoneal irrigation with gentamicin.

"Continue the irrigation with normal saline.

Read more chapter on vipnovel.com

"Is the antibiotic susceptibility test done? Negative, okay. Give him three vials of ceftriaxone."

Every step was performed quickly and efficiently.

Zheng Ren had broken another record by completing an appendectomy in one hour and thirty-two minutes.

During the crazy night of appendectomies, he had finished ten appendectomies in the same amount of time, anesthesia included.

He could feel a qualitative improvement in his surgery skill the moment the peritoneal cavity was closed.

More difficult surgeries could better enhance a surgeon's standard.

Apart from that, Zheng Ren had performed the surgery alone without any assistance or second opinions.

He had to make choices all by himself.

A wrong decision could have led to severe postoperative complications and even death.

It was stressful, no doubt, but it was good fuel for motivation as well.

Zheng Ren had overcome various difficulties under pressure and thus received an advancement of mastery in surgery once the stress faded.

After closing the peritoneal cavity, he sutured the subcutaneous and skin layers using a reverse cutting needle with size seven suture thread.

The surgery was officially complete. The patient's vital signs were stable and no postoperative complications had occurred thus far.

This patient's physical fitness greatly surprised Zheng Ren. He had undergone two hours of general anesthesia under septic shock and there was not a single hint of complication or cardiac arrest.

He did not look like a vagabond at all. Generally, a homeless person would be more at risk of general anesthetic complications due to prolonged nutritional imbalance and insufficient calorie intake that led to poor physical fitness.

This patient looked emaciated but was actually as strong as a bull.

'I hope his postoperative recovery is drastic as well,' Zheng Ren thought.

The patient was transferred back to the ward afterward. Since he had no companions, Old Chief Physician Pan arranged a nurse to take care of him in the ward for the time being.

It was a human life at stake, after all.

A rich and powerful man was a living soul.

So was an impoverished vagrant.

Every life weighed the same and the doctors would do everything within their power to save them.

After leaving the operating theater, Zheng Ren was astonished to find Chang Yue documenting the unidentified patient's case in the office.

She was exactly the same as before, and no one would have been able to guess that she had actually been drinking the entire night yesterday.

If there was anything different about her… It seemed like her hair was a little damp, as if she had just taken a bath.

Eleven boxes of Snow in one night… 264 bottles in total, equivalent to 171600mL…

Even so, she appeared completely fine without any sign of dizziness.

The handsome guy who had been drinking with her was still receiving an infusion in the on-call room at this very moment.

That was amazing! Zheng Ren gave Chang Yue a thumbs-up.

"Get some rest after writing up this case," said Zheng Ren gently; his emotional quotient increased, which was a rare occasion.

"Not tired," replied Chang Yue with her usual stony expression.

From her rate and tone of speech, this girl was perfectly fine and not the slightest bit tipsy after drinking all those beers.

Zheng Ren bowed down in admiration.

Old Chief Physician Pan rushed into the office after knowing that the surgery had been completed.

"I've explained the treatment expenses to the medical administration division, but it didn't work out. Try to economize so that I can better persuade them next time," said Old Chief Physician Pan helplessly.

"Okay." Zheng Ren nodded.

All hospital expenses were cost-accounted and the social welfare department did not give a damn about this kind of anonymous patient. Therefore, the doctors and nurses of the hospital had to bear all treatment costs for such patients.

Since patients had to be treated, it was necessary to cut expenditure as much as possible. Medical personnel could not possibly stand idly and watch as the patient suffered to death, right?

"Let's go for a ward round," Old Chief Physician Pan then said with a smile. He obviously did not want these trivial matters to depress Zheng Ren.

Upon reaching the postoperative patient's ward, it was found that he had recovered from general anesthesia and had stable vital signs thus far. His rapid drug metabolism made the case for this man's strong vitality.

His body temperature had normalized following the aspiration of purulent exudate.

Based on this, Zheng Ren was very optimistic about his recovery.

They left the ward and went to check on Lin Yuanshan's father again. Lin Yuanshan was absent and a middle-aged woman was currently taking care of the patient.

The elderly man, who had already woken up, remained insensitive to the abdominal pain, possibly due to prolonged exposure to chronic cholecystitis. He had been given analgesia once and had not experienced any pain since.

Since he had to fast for a period of time postoperatively, he began making a fuss when his agonizing thirst was not quenched immediately.

There was nothing they could do to persuade an old man in his childlike temper tantrum. Thus, Zheng Ren and Old Chief Physician Pan decided to secure his limbs to the bed via medical restraints to prevent him from pulling out his own nasogastric tube.

Zheng Ren summoned a nurse, but before he could give further instructions, Chang Yue, with her usual flat expression, appeared at the doorstep.

"Hold that thought. Let me have a chat with the patient first." Chang Yue's expression was stone cold even when speaking to Old Chief Physician Pan.

Old Chief Physician Pan was slightly puzzled, but he was used to maintaining his subordinates' dignity in the presence of patients and their family members.

It was a good habit, but unfortunately, Chang Yue had not picked it up.

Zheng Ren and Old Chief Physician Pan left the ward and returned to the office for a chat.

Old Chief Physician Pan was particularly interested at the drinking contest during supper last night. He had to have been a heavy drinker during his youth as well, but with hypertension and hyperlipidemia making his old age miserable, he had reduced his alcohol intake since.

However, he was clearly interested in youngsters competing to out-drink one another.

When he heard that Chang Yue and Su Yun had consumed eleven boxes of Snow respectively, Old Chief Physician Pan burst out laughing. "Just like my soldiers!"

Zheng Ren was completely dumbstruck.

Those who could drink were considered good soldiers? This was another ten thousand critical damage to Zheng Ren, who was alcohol intolerant.

During the conversation, Chang Yue entered the office and said flatly, "The patient has stabilized."

"Huh?"

Zheng Ren and Old Chief Physician Pan stared at Chang Yue, stupefied.

"What did you say to him?" Old Chief Physician Pan was truly amazed. No wonder she could befriend a murderer on a killing spree through her words alone. That was simply amazing!

"I just spoke to him and calmed his emotions," Chang Yue said calmly. "Old men are like children, which makes coaxing very simple."

"How is Su Yun, is he alright?" asked Old Chief Physician Pan out of concern.

"Don't worry about him. There isn't any need to visit him at all." Zheng Ren shook his head and added, "I just saw the nurses working in shifts to take care of him; they probably squabbled over it before coming to an agreement, too."

Looking after the young master, Su Yun? He would rather read or go for a ward round than waste time on that b*stard.

That idiot was a stark reminder of his bachelorhood. Sighing heavily, he stood up and gazed out of the window.

It had been snowing for some time as the ground was covered in a thick blanket of white. Glittering snowflakes drifted down soundlessly from the pure white sky above, taking their time before resting on the window sill, melting almost instantaneously.

"Eh? It's snowing. I guess it's going to be another busy day." Instead of savoring this magnificent view, Old Chief Physician Pan's first thought was how hectic the emergency department was about to be.

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