The Surgeon's Studio

by Stayrr

“Primum non nocere.” First, do no harm. – Hippocrates Zheng Ren—an ordinary general surgeon in a cruel medical world whose efforts went unnoticed. His struggles are real…until he is blessed with a system and gifted with skills that exceeded even the best surgeons in the world. Alone in the world with no one to depend on, Zheng Ren uses his exceptional gift to challenge the skeptici

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The Surgeon's Studio #Chapter 97: One Should Be Down to Earth in Life - Read The Surgeon's Studio Chapter 97: One Should Be Down to Earth in Life Online - All Page - Novel Next

Chapter 97: One Should Be Down to Earth in Life

[Emergency Mission: Pileup Crash completed. The emergency rescue of two patients was successful.

[Mission Reward: 200 skill points, 30000 experience points, 2 silver chests.

[Mission Duration: 9 hours and 23 minutes, totaling 52620 experience points.]

The cold, unfriendly voice of the System droned on.

The rewards from the emergency missions were uninteresting. Zheng Ren felt that the in-depth missions yielded better rewards.

Of course, the System could simply be a fickle machine that randomly rewarded him.

The two surgeries he did for this mission had been fast-paced but were not high-level procedures—both were third-grade procedures. Zheng Ren looked at the progression bar for the main mission. Nine of ten were done; one more was needed to complete the whole cycle. He would then gain some bonus experience points.

He had been busy the whole day. The time for rewards had come.

Zheng Ren sat down and checked his inventory.

His general surgery skill had gone from 3154 to 3161 points. The gain was due to the recent surgery and the book he read. He still had 1739 unused skill points.

His heart pumped faster as he neared the rank of Master in the general surgery skill tree.

The Expert rank had granted him so many skills that decided the outcome of difficult surgeries. He wondered what a Master rank would give him.

From the Master rank in interventional surgery bestowed upon him by the System, he knew there was a fundamental difference between the ranks.

During the placenta abruption case, Zheng Ren was just at Expert. Using incompatible instruments and materials, he had managed to complete the surgery without incident.

He was a Master when he performed the pelvic fracture arterial embolization surgery. Each superselective embolization of the external iliac arterial branches went smoothly as if the guide wire was a living thing that had found its own way to the damaged vessels.

It felt like the guide wire moved with his will.

Zheng Ren was eager to find out how a being Master rank in general surgery would feel.

General surgery was the start of his career and the first skill that he had invested in. Hence, he had a soft spot for the field.

It was only 100 skill points and one mission away. A smile graced his face.

Looking at his steadily growing skill tree, Zheng Ren thought he could see his future. The vast knowledge that he would gain from the Master rank spurred him forward.

Skill tree... That was weird. The highest skill tree Zheng Ren had was in interventional surgery, an area that had been strongly recommended by the System, followed by the general surgery skill tree.

His skills in other areas were too low to be counted, but there was one small sprout that had broken ground and risen to eye level.

This...

It was the cardiovascular surgery skill tree.

Zheng Ren realized that interventional radiology was applied in neurology, angiology and cardiology throughout the world. Angiology was probably one of the areas that heavily utilized it as iIt was useful in procedures like coronary bypass and stenting.

The boost in interventional surgery likely brought up his interventional cardiology skill and filled his cardiovascular surgery skill tree.

No; Zheng Ren checked the details again. The System had given him the Master rank and upgraded all the skill branches in the interventional surgery skill tree. He was now a Master in all types of interventional surgery, ranging from neurosurgery, peripheral vascular surgery, cardiovascular surgery and more.

It seemed that an emergency coronary bypass surgery might fall under the emergency department's jurisdiction one day.

He chased away the thought.

If a normal surgeon's stress level while operating was an eight out of ten, then a cardiovascular surgeon's stress level would be at ten.

He remembered an encounter many years back when he was still a houseman. He was resting with his mentor in the on-call room on a quiet night when they heard a shriek. Zheng Ren's drowsiness instantly vanished and he saw his mentor run outside without his shoes.

His mentor had managed to rescue the patient but hurt his foot in the process. The floor was smeared with his blood.

A cardiac arrest... The thought of it drained the energy from most doctors.

Most emergency rescues had a window of minutes before their success rate plummeted, but cardiovascular emergencies had seconds.

Even if Zheng Ren could perform such surgeries, he would need a specialized nurse to assist with the machines.

He thought about establishing a green channel for patients with chest pains, but it was a faraway dream. He would leave that to Old Chief Physician Pan. In the meantime, he should focus on leveling up his general surgery to the Master rank.

One step at a time.

Do not bite off more than you can chew.

Zheng Ren carefully put his special lead vest aside. Then, he went to look at the three shiny silver chests.

The two chests were from the latest mission while the other was from a previous one. He did not even bother opening it.

Zheng Ren was averse to the System's gimmicky, luck-dependent reward.

He was from a lower-class family that was struggling. A year ago, he had treated an old patient.

The patient was a mentally disturbed and skinny man who was only 50 years old but looked 70.

Through their conversations, Zheng Ren found out that the patient had once been a big shot in the financial world.

When the first shopping mall popped up in the center of Sea City in the late eighties, this man had the foresight to monopolize the city's shopping mall industry.

Back then, it was all about the money... It was an opportunity and he grabbed it.

He took three years to amass three million yuan worth of assets, which was equivalent to a few billion yuan now. Basically, he was the richest man in the city.

However, good things never last and in the early nineties, he developed an interest in slot machines.

Within a year, he had managed to burn through all his assets.

He quit at one point and got back into business, but the addiction returned.

The cycle repeated itself multiple times over ten years. In the end, he was destitute and ended up operating a minimart opposite the hospital, living the average life.

His wife was many years younger than him. Zheng Ren could tell she was a no-nonsense lady.

They had a normal relationship. Zheng Ren wondered why a smart, capable lady would stay with a man who lacked the strength to resist slot machines.

He never knew what became of them.

It had been a long time since Zheng Ren last saw the patient. The minimart had also disappeared following the rise of shopping malls.

All in all, it was not a happy story.

Zheng Ren had heard of pay-to-play in many online games these days. People paid to open treasure chests in hopes of rare items that would make their characters stronger.

He had never paid any mind to his luck, of whether he was a European King or an African Chieftain.

After all, one should be down to earth in life.

The silver chests were nothing compared to the skill points he earned through surgery.

He took one look at his skill trees and exited the System, satisfied. He did not look back at the chests.

Back in the changing room, he put on his usual scrubs and heard a voice from the operating room.

"The riders are no longer delivering. So, what are we eating?"

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Chapter 98: The Kind-Hearted Ones are Tender

The snow outside was not too heavy, but the ground was frozen solid. It was too hazardous for riders to be delivering meals. It was going to be a hungry day for all homebodies.

Xie Yiren let out a whine from the operating room. Her mood instantly worsened as her hopes for good food were dashed.

Zheng Ren chuckled. Luckily, he was not a food connoisseur. He was not hungry and planned to swing by the cafeteria for a simple dinner when he had the time.

He left the operating room and headed to the emergency department ward on the second floor. As he entered the office, he saw Chang Yue standing before the window, watching the snow fall.

He had wanted her to follow him on his rounds but she appeared to be occupied. Zheng Ren decided that he could spare a few minutes.

Women had more appreciation for romance and Chang Yue was not an exception.

He went to his table and was about to sit when he noticed Chang Yue's face.

The corner of her eye seemed a bit damp.

"Chang Yue, what's wrong?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Nothing." She turned around to face him and the dampness was gone. Chang Yue had the usual expression that he was familiar with.

"If there's something wrong, you can talk about it. Help might come from where you least expect it," Zheng Ren said casually. He was already seated at his table with the medical book, Sciences of Hepatopancreatobilliary, open.

It was an informal inquiry. It would be awkward to not converse when they were face-to-face.

Chang Yue's resolve wavered, and she sat across Zheng Ren with a grave expression.

Hmm... Was she going to complain about Su Yun? From what he knew, Chang Yue was the one who made Su Yun pass out drunk, not the other way around.

Zheng Ren wondered.

"Let me tell you something, Chief Zheng. See if you can solve it," Chang Yue said.

Zheng Ren tasted a mild bitterness in his throat. This was not going to be a happy thing.

"The patient with gangrenous appendicitis; I've gone through his medical records. He never said much about his past but I deduced that he was once in the army," Chang Yue said.

Zheng Ren's eyes left the pages of his book. He listened attentively.

"He doesn't have much money. He was working as a laborer in the construction industry, moving ceramic tiles and all that. The site elevator was not working and he had to lug those tiles up 16 floors. When it came to payment, the owner claimed some of the tiles were broken and wanted him to pay for it. A few rounds of back-and-forth later, the owner suddenly fell to the ground and claimed that he hit him," Chang Yue said in a quiet voice that trembled.

The world was a cruel place. From the man's build, his army background was more than likely. Before sickness took him, he had to have been a fearsome one. Zheng Ren let out a sigh.

If the man wanted to, Zheng Ren believed he could have seriously injured the owner with a single punch.

"In the end, he did not get paid and had to compensate the owner," Chang Yue continued, "He spent some time homeless and that was when he felt the pain in his abdomen. He fainted and was brought to the hospital by Yanzhi."

'So that was the story,' Zheng Ren thought.

The man had a remarkable body. They had noted his speedy recovery during postsurgical monitoring and his body did not show the usual signs of heating up.

The latter cases usually indicated that the patient had a very weak immune system or extremely fast recovery.

"Right, has he passed gas and started eating?" Zheng Ren asked.

He had been so caught up with emergency surgeries that he had left Chang Yue with all postoperative follow-ups.

"The patient passed gas four hours after the surgery completion. We gave him 1000ml of Dextrose 10. At noon, I ordered him a bowl of porridge with pickled vegetables."

Zheng Ren smiled at that. Truly, the kind-hearted ones were tender.

"What did you want to ask me?"

Chang Yue was embarrassed as she said, "He seems like a good guy. I don't know many people, so I wondered if Chief Zheng could help get him a job?"

Chang Yue was a saint.

In the medical field, one was used to witnessing life and death. A soft heart would not survive.

This was the responsibility of the Welfare Department, not the hospital. The hospital already subsidized fees for the poor. It was also common to feed patients who could not afford to buy themselves a meal.

However, Zheng Ren did not find Chang Yue's request unreasonable.

The guy was undoubtedly strong and hardy.

Faced with such an injustice, even Zheng Ren could understand the man's anger.

However, the man had not lashed out at the owner, but was rather punished for the whole ordeal.

The financial loss had resulted in a delay in his diagnosis, causing the illness to worsen and developing into gangrenous appendicitis.

He was a good man.

Zheng Ren tapped his fingers on the table and thought about who he should approach for such a favor.

A person popped into his mind and he pulled out his phone.

"Brother Six, it's me, Zheng Ren.

"Yes, yes. There's this guy that I think would be of use to you. He's quite strong. You think you can get him a job?

"Nothing much. Solid pay, food, and shelter. Just temporary.

"Thank you. If he gives you any trouble, you can just fire him. Pay no mind to me."

The conversation ended and Zheng Ren put down his phone. He said with a smile, "Done."

Chang Yue was surprised.

The problem that had seemed insurmountable to Chang Yue was solved with a phone call by Zheng Ren.

She had little respect for leadership... However, now, she might make an exception for Chief Zheng.

He seemed all right.

"What's the job?"

"Should be security, I'm not too clear. We'll still need the patient's agreement," Zheng Ren replied.

Chang Yue's mood immediately brightened and a smile appeared. The sun rays reflected off her black-rimmed glasses.

"I'll connect with the patient. Thank you, Chief Zheng," Chang Yue stood up and thanked him sincerely.

"It's alright. Go on and pass the news to the patient." Zheng Ren suddenly remembered that he had a long list of things to do, from writing up the report for the pelvic fracture case, surgery journaling, and so on. A headache was developing.

Paperwork was the bane of his existence.

He was truly grateful to have Chang Yue. If he had to do all of the paperwork for the patients he saw, he would probably not have been able to have helped as many people as he had.

Watching Chang Yue walk away with a spring to her step, Zheng Ren smiled and switched on his computer.

His phone rang with a notification from the WeChat group. It was Xie Yiren asking about lunch.

There were limited choices in the hospital cafeteria and Xie Yiren avoided them at all costs.

She was adamant that the food served in the cafeteria was slop.

Zheng Ren disagreed with her. Although the cafeteria was not outstanding, the portions could fill a grown man and it cost one yuan per meal for hospital employees.

He scrolled through the chat history. Xie Yiren and the Chu sisters' messages filled his screen even though he was sure they were in the same room.

What had technology done to humans? Zheng Ren sighed and shook his head.

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Chapter 99: A Grandmaster of Communication

Zheng Ren ignored the women bombarding the WeChat group with questions about dinner and focused on the open book before him.

Another 100 skill points and he would be a Master. It would be a much better reward than dinner.

Soon, the WeChat group fell silent.

A few minutes later, Chu Yanran, Chu Yanzhi and Xie Yiren walked into the room in their day clothes, searching for Zheng Ren and Chang Yue.

"Chief Zheng, we have decided it's your treat tonight. We'll get some takeaway for you when we return," Chu Yanzhi informed Zheng Ren.

Zheng Ren was speechless. "Why is it my turn again?"

"O great doctor, don't be cheap." Chu Yanzhi smiled brightly. "Look at his face! I told you he would have a heart attack if we asked him to pay for it."

"..."

"She's pulling your leg. We'll have dinner together and bring back some for you," Chu Yanran told Zheng Ren as she tugged her sister's arm.

Zheng Ren relaxed after hearing Chu Yanran's explanation.

"What great doctor? I'm just a measly hospital worker," he clarified.

"We gotta get Su Yun. He's in the ICU. He says the patient is more or less stable. Can you go check on him and pick him up for dinner? Get changed and we can leave soon," Chu Yanzhi said.

When did Chu Yanzhi develop respect for her seniors?

Zheng Ren pondered it for a while. He had wanted to check on the patient in an hour but now was fine as well.

He put on his white coat and went to the ICU with the four women in tow.

It was an odd combination. All four women with different personalities chatted away behind him, turning heads as they passed.

There was an indoor corridor connecting the emergency department and the inpatient wards, used to avoid having to wheel the patient through cold weather. That would be inconceivable.

The ICU was on the sixteenth floor of the First Inpatient Block. There were four elevators, one specifically for the transport of patients and three others that all went to specific floors.

A few minutes later, the elevator to the fifteenth floor opened. A few others got into the elevator without hesitation and they followed suit.

Although the elevator did not reach the sixteenth floor, Zheng Ren did not mind taking the stairs up another flight. Who knew how long they had to wait for the next one.

Ding dong~ The elevator reached the fifteenth floor. The elevator voice sounded very much like the System and Zheng Ren was momentarily startled.

They got off the elevator and went up the fire escape.

Suddenly, Chang Yue slowed down in front of him. She turned to one side and her ponytail swept across the air.

Oh? Zheng Ren had a bad feeling about this.

He was not wrong. Chang Yue's gaze was fixed on a silhouette on the fifteenth floor window ledge. The cold wind gently caressed black locks of hair as snow danced in the air. It was truly forlorn.

Chang Yue said nothing to the others and stalked forward like a cat., approaching the person by the window.

Xie Yiren was oblivious to the situation. As she opened her mouth to speak, Zheng Ren tugged her back and placed a hand over her mouth. Xie Yiren was about to struggle when he said, "Quiet."

She hesitated, then froze.

"Look there," Zheng Ren whispered in a low voice as he released her. He pointed at the silhouette and backtracked a few steps to press himself flat against the fire exit.

Xie Yiren, Chu Yanran and Chu Yanzhi followed him. They moved quietly, afraid to startle the figure.

The person was suicidal... Zheng Ren felt panic rise in him.

Every year, the hospital had several suicides. Once, a patient diagnosed with cancer came in for a checkup, then leapt from the top floor of the building. The family was on the first floor and taped the whole incident. In the end, they tried to extort the hospital for a few hundred thousand yuan.

The hospital administration then was hard-headed and fought the family for three years in court. Eventually, the family lost interest in pursuing the lawsuit.

That was the exception. Many patients lost their will to live after learning they had cancer and took their lives.

However... Cancer was not a death sentence. As medical practitioners, they had to present the brightest prospects possible to patients.

There was no one else there. The illumination of the corridor lights was in stark contrast to the lonely darkness outside.

They huddled in the unlit corner as Chang Yue approached the figure. When she was a few feet away, she coughed softly.

This was the critical point. The consequences were dire if the person reacted badly and jumped.

The figure was not startled. Things had not escalated yet.

When it was clear that her approach was not interpreted as being hostile, Chang Yue slowly inched forward.

Throughout the process, Chang Yue was incredibly calm and collected. She reached the window ledge and sat down with her knees curled up. Her movements were relaxed as if she was simply enjoying a warm afternoon sun on a winter day from the inside of the building.

Zheng Ren was thoroughly impressed by this junior doctor.

How was she going to start the conversation?

They were meters away from the two and could only see Chang Yue's lips moving silently.

"What is Sister Yue doing?" Xie Yiren asked under her breath.

"Persuading the patient to not jump," Zheng Ren replied in an equally hushed voice. He was worried that any sudden movement might undo Chang Yue's efforts. "Watch but don't speak."

A few minutes later, Chang Yue cocked her head to show them a gesture, fingers to her lips as if smoking a cigarette.

Zheng Ren picked up her cue and got out his packet of Ziyuns. He pushed a lighter into the half-empty pack and slid it across the floor to her.

With a surgeon's accuracy, the cigarette pack skidded silently across the floor and stopped right before Chang Yue.

She picked up the packet and lit a cigarette, then passed it to the sitting figure.

When they accepted the cigarette, Zheng Ren exhaled in relief.

Chang Yue was visibly making some headway with the woman. Zheng Ren saluted her. She was truly a capable person, one who had once managed to lower the defenses of a murderous cheater and convince him to go to jail for his actions.

Amazing!

In terms of patient communication, Zheng Ren felt that his abilities were merely acceptable.

Compared to other surgeons, he would consider himself above average, though not by much.

However, Chang Yue was in a totally different league altogether. His communication skills were puny compared to hers.

Zheng Ren was not a good liar and definitely would not be able to hold a casual conversation with murderers, let alone convince them to turn themselves in.

This current situation was another display of Chang Yue's capabilities.

On this dark, wintry night, snow piled up outside as lights flickered to life in buildings. A life was on the line.

Their bleak outlook was slowly altered with Chang Yue's ministrations. She had an easygoing and friendly smile on her face as she talked to the woman. The night seemed a little less dark.

Chang Yue was normally average-looking but now beamed with genuine compassion that made her face glow. It was a likable disposition.

Soon, a peal of laughter echoed from outside and everyone in the corner was relieved. Things appeared to be handled.

Occasionally, a patient or visitor would walk by and give Chang Yue and the woman outside an odd glance.

A few minutes later, Chang Yue helped the woman into the building. Their chatter resumed as if they were long-lost childhood friends.

Zheng Ren felt nothing but admiration for her.

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Chapter 100: A Moment Where Strangers Turn to Friends

The woman was in her mid-thirties but looked younger than that. However, she had thinning hair.

Zheng Ren assumed it to be the side effects of chemotherapy.

There was a light-hearted smile on her face as she walked over with Chang Yue.

"Hey, why are you guys hiding like rats?" Chang Yue asked with a laugh.

Zheng Ren gave them a dumb smile and stayed mum. He did not know the details and decided to play it safe.

"Let's get Su Yun and go to dinner," Chang Yue said as she returned the cigarettes to Zheng Ren. "This chief resident of ours is just embarrassing. Leaving a half-packet on the floor like that."

"You..." Zheng Ren opened his mouth, then promptly closed it.

He reigned in his emotions and berated himself for being hot-headed. Nevertheless, he was worried about the woman tagging along. What if the woman did something drastic after dinner and some drinks? Would they be safe?

Chang Yue had a bright smile on her face.

"A minor misdemeanor. Come on, I'm starving after that little breeze."

"Okay, let's get Su Yun." Zheng Ren played along with her antics. He was not going to doubt her now.

Zheng Ren usually took a light year to build relationships with strangers until they were friends. Chang Yue managed it in a blink of an eye.

That was the difference between them.

Only Zheng Ren was in his white coat, so he went in to get Su Yun.

The man was a slowpoke. Perhaps he should add Su Yun in the WeChat group for convenience's sake.

Zheng Ren had qualms with the dashing Su Yun even though the man was only doing his job checking up on patients post-surgery. He could pick up surgical skills just from a visual demonstration, after all.

In the ICU, Zheng Ren saw Su Yun seated between two hospital beds, monitoring patients' vital signs.

Zheng Ren greeted the ICU nurses and approached Su Yun. "How's everything?"

In the top right corner of his vision, the System notified him that both patients were stable and the symptoms of hemorrhagic shock had reversed.

They were still connected to ventilators to aid breathing. It took some burden off their heavily-injured bodies. Zheng Ren expected the tubes would be removed tomorrow.

"They're stable now," Su Yun said. He brushed dark curls from his forehead.

"You don't need to monitor them overnight."

"The ICU has on-call doctors. I'm an emergency department doctor, so I'll monitor them for only two hours post-surgery," Su Yun said stoically. The line alone chilled the ICU.

A few people were staring daggers at Zheng Ren.

He shuddered involuntarily.

"Let's go." Su Yun stood up and dusted his coat. Without a glance back, he headed straight for the ICU exit.

Zheng Ren felt imaginary daggers cut into his skin and quickly ran after Su Yun. He wanted to get out of this bloody ICU.

As they changed their outfits, Su Yun asked, "Why were you looking for me?"

"Ah, didn't Chu Yanran tell you that we're all having dinner together? I was going to check up on the patients, so they sent me to get you."

The word 'dinner' made Su Yun's expression change. His facial muscles twitched as he tried to fight his emotions. It was comical to Zheng Ren.

"I'll tell them to hold back on the drinking. Rest assured." Zheng Ren patted Su Yun's shoulder with false concern.

"..."

They exited the ICU and found their four companions chattering animatedly with the woman from before at the lobby.

Su Yun was taken aback by the stranger.

Zheng Ren ignored Su Yun's surprise and clapped his hands together. "The pretty boy is here, so let's go."

"What do you want to eat?" Xie Yiren asked him.

"You guys go ahead, and no need to get takeaway for me. The roads are slippery, so be careful. I'll just grab a bite at the cafeteria," Zheng Ren said.

"Oh, come on! We need to bring Miss Yun back here anyways. It won't be any trouble, any trouble at all," Xie Yiren insisted as she deemed good food to be the best thing in the world. She was not about to let Zheng Ren pass up this opportunity.

How troublesome. Zheng Ren had few opinions on food. He could go without eating were it not for his own hunger and need for sustenance.

In the end, the women ignored Zheng Ren and carried on their conversation in the elevator. Zheng Ren got off on the second floor while they went down to the basement parking lot.

As the elevator door closed, Zheng Ren put an arm to stop it. "Whose car are you guys taking? Does it have snow tires on?"

"We're taking mine," Xie Yiren piped up. "Volvos are the safest car out there and I never took off my snow tires."

Zheng Ren went silent and allowed the elevator door to close.

He was not dumb enough to ask Xie Yiren if snow tires in summer would use up more gas. The woman owned a few properties in the central business district, so gas money was the least of her concerns.

Zheng Ren walked back to the emergency department alone.

The wind howled as snowfall continued. The lonely sound of his footsteps echoed in the hospital corridor.

If his life was a horror movie, this would be the part where something jumped out.

His path back to the emergency department was quiet, unlike the earlier journey to the ICU.

The chattering women and Su Yun were out for dinner along with Miss Yun, who worried Zheng Ren.

He hoped Chang Yue's words were enough and that the woman was in a stable mental state.

Back in the emergency department, Zheng Ren made his routine rounds to check on patients.

The patient with gangrenous appendicitis was already awake and was taking small sips of his porridge.

Based on the severity of his appendicitis, it was not recommended to start eating too early. However, relying on glucose infusions alone would lead to slower recovery. Hence, Zheng Ren had decided that as long as the patient had passed gas, he was allowed to eat actual food.

He spoke with the man and found out the porridge was from this afternoon. Before Chang Yue left for dinner, she had heated it up for the patient. Zheng Ren was pleased with her quality of her care.

It was just a bowl of porridge, after all.

'Chang Yue... is really a good person," Zheng Ren thought.

He returned to the office. The room was silent as he entered. The on-call nurses were not familiar with Zheng Ren, so they minded their own business.

Zheng Ren was not Su Yun, so he garnered little interest from them.

He was fine with that. Picking up the Sciences of Hepatopancreatobiliary book, he started reading.

Zheng Ren once believed in the saying, "hard work pays off".

Now, with the System, Zheng Ren had no right to say it. To the real world, his skills would seem like magic.

Despite that, reading was a habit of his for many years, so Zheng Ren still kept to it.

The emergency department was uncharacteristically silent. The strong winds likely deterred people from leaving their homes.

The peaceful night was a welcome one after a busy day.

At 9:00 pm, Su Yun came in with a box of food. A night shift nurse followed him.

The nurses had no interest in Zheng Ren, but Su Yun was another case altogether.

As the night grew, Zheng Ren became the third wheel.

He could feel the pointed glare from the young nurse and shook his head at this superficial world. How was an average-looking man to survive?

Zheng Ren ate his dinner with Su Yun's voice regaling the story of Miss Yun as accompaniment.

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Chapter 101: The Human Realm, Unworthy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The woman's name was Zheng Yunxia and she was twenty-eight years of age this year. She had once been a kindergarten teacher in Sea City.

During a clinical checkup half a year ago, she had discovered a space-occupying liver lesion, and after a detailed analysis had been carried out in Sea City General Hospital, it was determined to be liver cancer requiring surgery.

Zheng Yunxia was from a small farming village and was not wealthy. She would often allocate 500 yuan of her meager pay to her family and would also be obligated to hand some money over to her own brother for him to buy lottery tickets every month.

Any normal patient from Sea City would not choose to have their surgery done thereafter finding out they had liver cancer.

This was especially since Imperial City was not far and had higher medical standards. Hence, most people would travel to Imperial City for treatment; as long as they could be admitted there, most people would not mind the extra cost.

However, Zheng Yunxia could barely afford her surgical fees in Sea City, and the money she had used to pay for her treatment were savings she had scraped up over a very long period of time.

After being informed of her current ailment, her husband disappeared without a trace for two whole days. He did not even come by to sign her pre-operations acknowledgment form.

Zheng Yunxia had been on the brink of a breakdown after being relentlessly rushed by the doctor.

Two days later, her husband finally showed up. Unfortunately, when he did, it was with neither compassion nor support but a divorce agreement.

The impact of this single action had greatly broken her.

However, she persevered and fought on. Her post-op recovery was slow, but she began working again before she had even fully recovered.

Due to her cancer, she was no longer able to work as a kindergarten teacher.

The principal's excuse was that if any of the parents found out their children were in contact with someone with liver cancer, they would undoubtedly cause a huge argument.

Hence, she was only able to work jobs within her abilities.

However, fate was not through with her series of unfortunate events. There was no compromise or poetic justice. Life was tragic for her.

During a routine checkup a few months later, her doctor reluctantly informed her that her cancer had recurred.

This news was earth-shattering and absolutely devastated her. She was no longer fit for surgery and her only option was chemotherapy in the oncology department.

There was no localized drug available for liver cancer and her only choice was chemotherapy similar to that used for gastrointestinal cancer.

The effects were...limited. However, she was out of options.

Even though the treatment was the most basic and possessed the highest rate of side effects, Zheng Yunxia was only able to afford a single treatment and was forced to roam the city with a cancer-stricken body after that.

She scraped by for every single meal and would save up the rest in order to afford a cheaper brand of Capecitabine. She knew that Capecitabine was used to treat gastrointestinal cancer and would have no effects on liver cancer.

However, she had no other options left.

This was a manic state of survival; the desperation to cling to life.

Zheng Yunxia was in no way able to afford targeted drug therapy, and Chinese herbal medicines were either too expensive or did not inspire confidence.

Based on her own judgement, traditional Chinese doctors were only able to judge an illness based on one's appearance, body condition, body odor and heartbeat. Hence, what kind of life-saving herbal concoction could such a doctor prescribe when they could not even label which godd*mn artery was which?

This time, she was completely penniless and had absolutely no other alternatives.

Her gradually declining health and her increasingly exhausted body would no longer allow her to work more jobs. She was no longer able to afford Capecitabine, having to switch from an imported brand known as Xeloda to a locally-made variant.

To add insult to injury, her family kept demanding money from her. Her brother had gotten himself a new girlfriend and had demanded twelve thousand yuan as a betrothal gift.

The last phone call she had was moments ago. Zheng Yunxia's mother had told her that raising her had been an absolute waste and that she was useless.

After she hung up, she forced a smile for her oncologist who had been taking care of her all this time before leaving. When she arrived at the hallway, she opened a window and proceeded to sit on the ledge.

She was ready to enjoy the final moments of her life. The sky was dark and the winds were strong. The snowflakes that grazed against her face slightly stung her.

Oh the human realm, how unworthy.

These were the events recounted by Su Yun.

Zheng Ren only ate in silence as he listened without any intention of interrupting.

The nurse who was listening by their side was tearing up, and although situations like these were common in a hospital, every situation would invoke different reactions in people.

"How's crowdfunding going?" the nurse asked while wiping away her tears.

It was the first thing that came to her mind.

"That's pretty much useless," Su Yun replied with tightly-squinted eyes while staring at Zheng Ren, "The thing with liver cancer is that there aren't any effective treatments for it, and even with molecularly-targeted therapy, the effective treatment rate is less than ten percent."

"What can be done now?" the nurse needled, concerned. For an issue of this magnitude, though, there was little she could do.

After Zheng Ren and the trio were done eating, they proceeded to clean up after themselves.

"Chief Zheng, you seemed like you were holding back something. Is there something you would like to say?" Su Yun noticed Zheng Ren appeared to have something on his mind.

"This is the only thing I hate about you. If you have something to say, then go ahead and spit it out. If you had to fart, just release it at full volume. Don't leave your statements hanging. Hearing your statements is like a godd*mn chapter cliffhanger from any novel I read. These annoying cliffhangers are always agonizing and when the next chapter arrives, it doesn't have anything interesting, either," Zheng Ren replied.

"Oh, please," Su Yun grunted.

"Have you done an interventional embolization on a hepatocellular carcinoma before?" Zheng Ren asked casually while packing away his lunchbox.

"I have seen it done before. When Instructor Pan was carrying out the embolization procedure, I was his assistant."

"So just by observing alone, you've managed to master it?" Zheng Ren sardonically.

"Of course." Su Yun seemed to have completely missed the sarcasm, running his fingers through his hair and presented himself stoically.

This simple action and reply completely charmed the nurse accompanying them as her eyes glimmered with brightly-lit sparks of pure admiration.

After they had cleaned up, Zheng Ren returned to his office and proceeded to cuddle up against the Sciences of Hepatopancreatobiliary book, ready to take a nap in the on call room.

"Hey, whether you could pull it off or not, you have to at least say something." Su Yun was face-to-face with Zheng Ren, but since being described as 'beyond awful', Su Yun proceeded to interrogate the latter bluntly.

He was truly an uninteresting person.

"I will try. Not a single person would be confident operating on late-stage cancer," Zheng Ren replied, meeting Su Yun's stare and adding, "Only under a high-intensity MRI scan can we determine how far the cancer had progressed. After that, comes the problem of medical fees."

"Between me, the Chu sisters or that robotic nurse, none of us are in desperate need of money," Su Yun replied passionately.

"If you want to solve the problem and need a lot of money, you'd need to start a huge crowdfunding campaign." Zheng Ren's statement was cold. "We're only able to save those who can afford it."

Su Yun replied with a smile. He understood the hidden meaning behind that statement.

Anyone who had been working in that hospital anywhere between three to five years understood that principle.

There were people who were forcibly discharged early due to their inability to afford their bills. These people were not extremely rich and did not have access to an insane amount of money; a year of unpaid bills would amount to tens of thousands of yuan. In certain rare cases, it would even reach a few hundred million. Who would be able to casually pay such a ridiculous amount of money?

"It's time to showcase a new method, then." Su Yun seemed optimistic as he continued where Zheng Ren left off.

"Yes, indeed. However, the only problem is that I'm not medically qualified to perform interventional therapy. I am only able to manage emergency treatment and if the patient were to pursue legal action, I can kiss my medical license goodbye."

That nurse felt like she was listening to an incomprehensible lecture. She could not understand what the two were talking about.

Besides the constant consumption of targeted drugs for late-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, the best, most effective treatment option would be interventional therapy.

Such treatment would be able to accurately determine the cancer mass in the liver and then administer the chemotherapy drug, known as lipiodol, to embolize the main nutrient-carrying blood vessels. This would ultimately achieve the main goal of treating the cancerous mass growth.

Alternatively, a laser could be used to 'disintegrate' the mass.

As for the total medical fees required, not a single person in Sea City had ever undergone hepatocellular carcinoma interventional embolization. Hence, this could be considered pioneering a new field.

Since it was a new field, the hospital could be willing to charge a lower fee.

Thus, Su Yun followed Zheng Ren back to the on-call room; the nurse behind Zheng Ren sent chills down his spine when he noticed her sinister and hate-filled gaze.

"What are you following me for?"

"I am your assistant surgical officer. Today is unpredictable and if there were any emergencies at night, I worry I would be unable to return in short notice, so I will be staying here for the night," Su Yun replied confidently.

"I don't need an assistant for my surgeries," Zheng Ren lamented.

"Alright, next time I will make sure to prepare the pre-surgery sheets earlier and the postoperative suturing can be left to me. I will not let you down."

"..."

Chapter 102: Huge Eyes

It was late night and Zheng Ren was about to drift away into dreamland. However, soft whispers could be heard from the bed in front of him.

"How in the world did you practice your surgeries, Chief Zheng? From the way you look, you don't seem to be blessed with talent at all, but somehow your surgical skills are in fact impeccably impressive. Could I possibly have been wrong?"

"..." Zheng Ren cursed internally.

He had decided to ignore Su Yun by pretending to be asleep.

"So not attending a university meant you had absolutely no experience speaking to anyone all night?" Su Yun was still talking to himself.

"I say, you were completely blackout drunk last night after an entire night of binge drinking. Don't you want to at least get some sleep?" Zheng Ren could no longer hold back as he brutally ripped at Su Yun's emotional wounds.

"What's a little booze gonna do, anyway? I was unprepared then, so next time I'll show that little nuisance what a truly strong alpha male is capable of."

As expected, Su Yun was not the slightest bit bothered by Zheng Ren's verbal assault and continued to brag as usual.

However, Zheng Ren was content as he knew a person like Su Yun was shameless beyond imagination.

"Chief Zheng, how exactly did you hone your surgical skills?"

"I'd be able to master it after watching it done once. I never had the chance to practice back then," Zheng Ren replied, brushing him off.

"Who would've known you and I are literally the same, the only difference being the way you look. You look way too bland. If you had made the effort to actually focus entirely on your studies, I'd be forced to endure endless annoyance," Su Yun teased.

Zheng Ren was once again speechless. Su Yun was known for his silver tongue, but it seemed that every single statement escaping his mouth would end the conversation with a huge, tight slap across his face.

After a brief moment of silence, Su Yun spoke again: "I really envy you. Every man wishes nothing more than to be free, free to fly across the sky with nothing holding them back. Unfortunately for me, though, I am fated to sink under an ocean."

"An ocean?" Zheng Ren was puzzled by his statement.

"An ocean of women. If it wasn't for my unbreakable will resisting their temptations, I would've been long dead in that vast, bottomless sea."

Zheng Ren was no longer interested in speaking to such a pretentious man. He proceeded to cover his entire head with his blanket with both his ears tightly muzzled, allowing him to clear his mind and fall asleep quicker.

A full night of absolute silence went by.

The snow had stopped and the next day was greeted with clear skies. It was another lovely day full of life.

Since the roads were unusually slippery, everyone was similarly late to work due to heavy traffic.

However, since people were now more aware, no fatal or serious road accidents occurred, barring some minor scrapes and bumps.

During the start of the morning shift, Old Chief Physician Pan grew impatient and decided not to wait for anyone else as there were only a few people present. Hence, he brought along only Zheng Ren and Su Yun to routine room inspection.

The patients were stable post-surgery and judging from their current condition, if they followed through with treatment, they could be discharged and allowed to return home.

The patients under intensive care were all fine, so Old Chief Physician Pan led the duo to the gynecology department to check on the patient who had placental abruption.

They had assessed that patient before and had been told that she had stopped bleeding yesterday. If she were to start bleeding again after a day or two, she would have had to undergo medically induced labor.

The surgery had been a success, though, and she was now taking a nap.

The patient's family was extremely grateful, as they had been completely terrified by the pre-operations briefing given by Chief Surgeon Su. They were all ecstatic to learn that the patient was safe and their hopes for another child were also preserved.

Old Chief Physician Pan had a brief conversation with Chief Surgeon Su at the hallway before bringing Zheng Ren and Su Yun to the ICU to check on the status of a patient's extubation.

After surgery of a pelvic fracture with bladder rupture that had also been extubated, a patient would be transferred over to the orthopedics department for the next step of their treatment. This was done in order to transfer the patients who had gone through splenectomy and liver restoration surgery back into the emergency ward.

As they were about to leave, a wave of severe vomiting could be heard from down the hallway.

"Doctor! Doctor!" A patient's family member yelled while frantically running out into the hallway.

"This is a hospital, please lower your voice," Chief Surgeon Su said while pacing swiftly toward the medical ward.

Zheng Ren felt that the vomit sounded odd. It was too violent. It sounded nothing like morning sickness due to a pregnancy, but rather as if the patient would puke their entire stomach out.

He glanced over to Old Chief Physician Pan; as their eyes met, there was an unspoken endorsement and he followed Chief Surgeon Su into the ward.

The patient looked inhumanly pale with both hands shaking uncontrollably. Extremely nauseous, she was lying on her side, rocking back and forth and desperately trying to vomit but to no avail. Not even her gastric juices could be expelled.

It seemed like she had nothing left to hurl.

"Doctor, if there is really nothing you can do... just terminate her pregnancy." From the emotional man's tear-filled eyes, he was most likely the patient's husband. His fists were clenched tightly.

Between the pregnant woman and her husband, it was obvious from their reactions that they were both absolutely determined to have a child. If they had never intended to do so, they would not have persisted this long.

"I...I still really want to keep it, no." The pregnant lady managed a full sentence before once again violently vomiting.

Those words alone seemed to exhaust most of her strength; she was vomiting way too violently. In her current state, her body was curled like a giant shrimp and were it not for her baby bump, her head would have undoubtedly touched her feet.

Zheng Ren frowned at this sight as he recalled first looking upon her face earlier: seeing her huge eyes, full of life and spirit.

However, the problem was...

He glanced up toward the upper right corner of the System's display.

As he expected, the patient's diagnosis was similar to his initial judgement.

Zheng Ren proceeded to gently tug the edges of Chief Surgeon Su's sleeves. He whispered to her, "Can I have a word with you, Chief Surgeon Su?"

"Sure." Chief Surgeon Su was slightly displeased.

Since they were still undergoing room inspection and were currently dealing with a complicated patient, what could Zheng Ren, an emergency care doctor have in mind that could not be said later?

She simply glared at him.

"It's about the patient's condition. I have an unconventional thought in mind." His voice was low enough for only the both of them to hear.

Su Yun simply stood behind Zheng Ren. He seemed to be thinking about something as he stared at the patient.

Chief Surgeon Su frowned and said, "Little Li, you can discuss this with the patient's family. If they have no objections, the termination of her pregnancy can be approved."

Some women had severe nausea during their pregnancy that did not ease up by the twelfth week. Instead, it would only grow increasingly severe throughout their entire pregnancy and leave them no choice but to terminate it

This was the same condition this patient was currently suffering.

It was the third time during the entire course of her pregnancy having symptoms of severe nausea. She was not new to this, and the severity of her extreme nausea required her to terminate her pregnancy.

Chief Surgeon Su turned around and left the room while Zheng Ren followed behind her.

The instant they left the room, she did not look back but instead went straight for her office.

"Speak now. What do you have in mind?" Chief Surgeon Su looked displeased.

Had it not been for Zheng Ren's previous idea of an interventional embolization to save a patient suffering placental abruption, thus displaying his praiseworthy level of clinical knowledge, would a Class Three Grade A hospital chief surgeon even listen to a single emergency care resident's advice?

What a joke that would be.

"Chief Surgeon Su, I think we should check the patient's thyroid function."

"Hmm?"

"I think the patient's thyroid function might have some sort of underlying problem. She might be suffering from Graves' Disease," Zheng Ren explained patiently. Chief Surgeon Su's bad mood did not stifle his argument.

It was not life-threatening, but the agony it caused was worse than being suffocated to death.

This was a living hell of absolute hopelessness and despair.

The sooner she was treated, the sooner this problem would be taken care of.

Zheng Ren never knew how to say things...in a polite manner.

"Graves' disease occurs in one in twenty thousand cases." Chief Surgeon Su contemplated in silence.

Such a rare disease was not a common conclusion to come to, since there were tens of thousands of patients with nausea during pregnancy, each with too many possible causes to list. It would be impractical to test every single patient.

There were plenty of doctors who ordered unnecessary tests and charged without reason. If these tests were carried out in order to eliminate every single possibility for the patient's nausea, they would be sued beyond imagination.

Chief Surgeon Su grunted as she said, "Explain your reasoning."

"The patient's eyes were huge."

"Good lord..." Su Yun immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter behind them.

Huge eyes; what kind of reason was this?

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Chapter 103: Dwindling Manpower In The Emergency Care Department

Abnormalities to one's thyroid function would result in bulging eyeballs.

However, the pregnant woman earlier simply had a huge pair of eyes with double eyelids. They were far from what a person's eyes would look like if they suffered abnormal thyroid function.

"Are you being serious right now?" Chief Surgeon Su began to sound impatient.

She had actually considered the possibility of a rare disease; if the patient's eyes had actually been protruding, a thyroid function test would have been done long ago.

However, the patient had not shown any symptoms, and this man had the audacity to be so certain of his judgement. Had it not been for his huge contribution a few days ago, Chief Surgeon Su would have brutally kicked him out of her office.

At this moment, Old Chief Physician Pan walked in. Upon noticing the tense mood building up in the office, he began to ask for what exactly had happened.

When he understood it to be a disagreement over the patient's diagnosis, he waved his hands and said, "The patient is getting an abortion soon, is getting a thyroid function test too much to ask? Chief Surgeon Su, we'll be taking our leave now; there is still another patient waiting to be transferred over to the ICU."

After he was finished, he left Chief Surgeon Su's office with Zheng Ren in tow, and as usual, Su Yun followed closely behind Zheng Ren like a ghost.

"Chief Physician Pan..." Zheng Ren hesitated.

"Don't worry, be a little stronger, alright? From your display of confidence, they will go through with the test." Old Chief Physician Pan cracked a subtle, sly smile on his face.

This was the confidence of an experienced man. A single statement was enough to completely shatter any doubt or hesitation; saying anything more would be excessive.

Thus, Zheng Ren simply followed Old Chief Physician Pan to the ICU. On their way there, Zheng Ren felt nothing but pure admiration toward the single gesture earlier. The more he thought about it, the more he respected the man.

He was only a junior doctor and all he did was to offer the Chief Surgeon advice, nothing more. It would be a complete joke to expect a senior chief surgeon to take anything he said seriously.

The patient who had undergone liver restoration surgery and splenectomy yesterday was in the ICU, being prepped for extubation as he was now stable with a very mild fever.

It would not be an issue because as long as he was stable, the patient would be allowed to transfer out of the ICU.

Liver restoration and splenectomy were viewed as simple general surgeries, like appendectomies. This was merely a minor ailment.

The only problem was ICU Chief Qian bearing an extremely bitter look on his face when he noticed Su Yun.

Still, it was merely a stare of resentment and not one of betrayal.

However, when he looked at ICU Chief Qian, Zheng Ren could somehow feel... a significant, menacing aura directed at him.

Zheng Ren wanted to explain to ICU Chief Qian that he, too, never wanted Su Yun to shadow him like a ghost.

'You assumed I accepted that willfully?'

However, ICU Chief Qian could not read his mind.

Su Yun seemed completely oblivious to ICU Chief Qian's glare as he casually tailed Zheng Ren, his bangs swaying back and forth.

After a single inspection, the trio returned to the intensive care ward at the same time as the nurses. Chang Yue was busy typing her progress notes for the day at a computer.

Upon noticing Zheng Ren and Old Chief Physician Pan's return, Chang Yue cracked her usual smile, which was different to that she had whenever she was in a patient's ward.

As he felt his heart strings tighten, Zheng Ren knew for a fact that it was impossible that her smile was directed at him. He wondered what exactly this little moth was planning.

As he recalled everything Su Yun had told him, he assumed that being a persuasive speaker, Chang Yue was responsible for convincing Old Chief Physician Pan to demonstrate the surgical method of interventional embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

However, before Chang Yue could speak, Old Chief Physician Pan revealed a piece of hard, red paper that resembled a wedding invitation card.

"Zheng Ren, this is for you, just prepare for it later." Old Chief Physician Pan gave Chang Yue a gentle nod before handing the card to Zheng Ren.

"This is..."

After accepting it, he realized it was not an invitation; written on that paper was 'National Preachers of Emergency Care Tour. Sea City Stop'.

"Emergency care doctors are dwindling and there are plenty of hospitals below the second grade that have closed their emergency care departments." Old Chief Physician Pan continued, "Hence, the emergency care lecture pioneered by the old Cui Group has been implemented into a tour with a series of talks. This was spearheaded by a man famous around the country in order to teach everything about emergency care."

Zheng Ren shook his head in response.

Could the main reason for the lack of manpower in emergency care be due to the lack of promotions?

No.

It was because of low wages and hazardous environments. There were emergency treatments almost every day, causing fluctuating adrenaline levels that were extremely straining and detrimental to a person's overall health.

The low wages were also another factor. A single appendectomy cost two hundred and thirty four yuan even seventeen years ago. Zheng Ren could not be bothered to think about the pay stagnation that had happened since then.

In other words, how could two thousand yuan be reasonable? An extremely minor general surgery such as simple appendectomy would require two surgeons and at least one anesthesiologist, scrub nurse and circulating nurse respectively.

A total of five people working tirelessly for an hour for a meager two hundred and thirty four yuan.

There was a woman who had arrived in the middle of the night with her dog. A heated argument occurred after she was told that her dog was not allowed in a hospital.

The veterinary hospital near Sea City General Hospital had hung up their emergency contact number for later hours... Since this was an emergency, the starting fee would be around two hundred yuan. If a dog had eaten a sock by accident, surgical removal of the sock would cost at least five thousand yuan.

Hence, there was a time when Zheng Ren considered being a veterinarian.

However, after much deeper thought and knowing how much he had struggled to study all those years, simply ending up a veterinarian would be dissatisfying to him.

This was especially since there was now a wave of interest nationwide that reeled in plenty of professionals from everywhere between the northern and southern coasts.

The existence of medical personnel with much higher pay made Zheng Ren envious and bitter.

About half a year ago, a private hospital from another city offered Zheng Ren an annual salary of three hundred thousand yuan after tax. However, after contemplating it for a long time knowing he was merely a junior doctor, he decided to turn the offer down.

It was never about the wages, but his personal safety and wellbeing.

Within days of his arrival to the emergency care department, he had nearly been beaten twice. Luck had come to his aid later, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would be forced to endure abuse.

If he came across a "professional" who knew how to inflict pain without causing permanent harm, it would still hurt, but it would be manageable; were he to encounter an amateur, though... crippling injuries were to be expected.

The pediatrics department were significantly worse, as being a pediatric nurse was known to have the highest career risk in the entire medical field!

The pediatric emergency care department in Sea City General Hospital was currently half-crippled. There was a rumor that another pediatrician was transferred over but resigned immediately and headed straight for the southern coast.

In that moment, a wave of concerns flooded Zheng Ren's mind as he pondered them all. Holding onto that invitation in his hands tightly, he felt its red color somehow assault his eyes.

Upon noticing Zheng Ren was completely lost in thought, Old Chief Physician Pan said, "Learning how to socialize isn't that bad."

"Alright." Zheng Ren was like a patient who had just received a business card, taking it with a single glance. Since this was two months away, he proceeded to toss the invitation onto one of his shelves and would likely forget about it in a few minutes.

Chang Yue frowned as her oversized double eyelids twitched slightly; she was even more adorable than a cartoon character.

The old chief said, "I will take the wheel outside, take care of the patients here, alright?"

After that, he left with both of his hands on the back of his head.

Upon noticing this, Chang Yue chased after him.

However, after a moment, she returned with a strange look on her face.

"Hey, what on Earth are you planning?" Su Yun asked after noticing her troubled expression.

"I asked Old Chief Physician Pan about something earlier," Chang Yue replied after contemplating her answer.

"About what?" Zheng Ren and Su Yun needled at the same time.

Both of them were exceptionally smart, the only difference being that one of them was indescribably, life-threateningly handsome, while the other was average-looking.

"Oh, you know, Sister Yun's surgery." Chang Yue was clearly troubled by it as her voice lowered. She continued, "Chief Physician Pan said he would think about it. Tell me, guys, what is there to think about?"

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Chapter 104: Delayed Onset Postoperative Hemorrhage A Month Later

Thus, the emergency care department progressively became busier as the days went by.

Within the span of a week, Zheng Ren managed to perform sixteen appendectomies and seven acute cholecystitis surgeries. On top of that, he also saved a patient from a knife wound that required a splenectomy.

Emergency care was like this every day: overwhelmingly busy.

Due to Old Chief Physician Pan's hard work at the right time, manpower had increased in the department.

The entire first general surgery department was greatly reshuffled after Chief Surgeon Liu fully recovered and was discharged.

Cen Meng had resigned and taken a job in Harbin Medical University Affiliated Second Hospital. Zheng Ren's friend Yang Lei, who had been his source of information within the first general surgery department, had taken the initiative to apply for a transfer over to the emergency care department.

However, with just one additional doctor, the entire nursing staff had inadvertently grown a lot livelier.

The entire nursing department seemed extremely chaotic of late.

There were ten or more applications to transfer to the emergency care department.

Zheng Ren knew this was all thanks to Su Yun. The man was like a walking, breathing citrus fruit... a mistake for any woman to consume.

However, this had successfully gotten the emergency care department back on track.

As a sad and bitter chief resident, Zheng Ren's job only became more arduous as more patients were admitted.

Fortunately, every procedure was successful and completed perfectly. No postoperative side effects occurred or he would not have been able to even take a decent nap.

The weather was becoming gradually colder, but as cloudy as the sky was, it did not snow. This caused everyone to slightly be on edge.

However, it did not bother Zheng Ren as the dull and quiet System had been especially inactive lately, with no new assignments given to him. Hence, he simply relied on five of his mainline tasks, gaining fifty skill points and five thousand experience points in total.

His general surgery skill had increased from 3161 to 3185 points. His data storage skill had accumulated to a total of 1789 points, in addition to his total of 88626 experience points. In addition, he had gained three silver chests.

Zheng Ren felt that with his current progress, with enough surgery and plenty of reading, he would be able to improve his skill in general surgery to a Master rank in a month's time.

Managing everything major and minor in the whole ward fell on Chang Yue and Yang Lei's shoulders. It was thanks to the both of them that everything was in order.

All Zheng Ren had to do every day was perform surgery and read a few books. Doing so was enough to satisfy him. He enjoyed calming days like these; however, the only problem was Su Yun still shadowing his every step like a ghost. This had earned him plenty of hate-filled stares.

Still, he had gradually gotten used to it as Zheng Ren knew he was not gay and could not care less what others might think of him.

Today, Zheng Ren was busy reading the huge, thick Sciences of Hepatopancreatobiliary book; the moment he reached the very last page, the emergency care department received a phone call, requesting they assist in a consultation in the urology department.

Zheng Ren was unwilling to go the instant he heard what department it was.

His reluctance was not due to it being in urology, which involved the lower half of the human body, but rather his lack of experience in it, as his only brush with it had been during his internship for a whole month several years ago. He severely lacked the knowledge needed for that field.

There were two theory books available, but although these books were written by specialists, they would never exceed the standards of the chief surgeon of the urology department. Since he was never able to truly learn or gain any professional experience in the field, it was inconsequential if Zheng Ren decided to go or not.

However, since it was a medical or possibly even an emergency consultation, he would be required there in five minutes.

Left without a choice, Zheng Ren proceeded to close his book and rushed to the urology department.

"So what kind of patient do you think it'll be?" As usual, Su Yun followed closely beside Zheng Ren, gleefully chuckling as he spoke.

"I'm not God." Zheng Ren's replies to Su Yun had become simple and brutally blunt. Not even Zheng Ren himself had realized the sudden change in attitude.

"Way to insult my IQ now." Su Yun sighed as he continued, "You're not even well-versed in the field of urology; the only reason they sought you out for consultation and gave you full liberty to carry out the surgery is nothing more than your credibility in interventional embolization."

That alone was obvious to Zheng Ren; however, he was unable to bear looking at Su Yun's superbly handsome, smug face. There was an eighty percent chance of him turning back while this man walked alongside him. He would undoubtedly be the hideous wingman if any group of girls were with them.

Unfortunately for him, Su Yun was like stubborn caramel candy. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get rid of him.

Thus, their entire walk toward the urology department continued in silence.

The assistant director of admission, known as Chen, was standing by the hallway. He was anxiously glancing at the clock on his phone while staring at the door.

As Zheng Ren's silhouette appeared, his expression turned to relief.

"Chief Zheng, there is a patient that requires your attention," Assistant Director Chen frantically called out.

"Which patient?"

"A male patient in his youth with a confirmed diagnosis of a left renal carcinoma. He had undergone a surgery to remove the tumor from his kidney twenty-nine days ago in Imperial City General Hospital. The patient had his upper pole renal segment removed from his left kidney. Hematuria has persisted for five hours since this morning. Hemostatic drugs have proven ineffective. It was speculated that his upper pole renal segment is currently bleeding." Assistant Director Chen explained the patient"s medical history in great detail.

His explanation of the patient's history was clear as day with no contradictions.

Due to the patient's young age, his left kidney could still be preserved.

However, human kidneys were known to be quite fragile anatomically. Any sutures or ligation made could not guarantee that the kidney would not bleed post-surgery.

If such tools were used on any other organ, full recovery was common within twenty-nine days. However, the human kidney...was different. This sudden, severe bleeding could be caused by a rupture in any of its blood vessels.

"The patient's family has provided us with the surgeon's contact number, and two different methods for this patient were proposed: an interventional embolization that could stop the bleeding, or surgery without interventional embolization, which only means completely removing the patient's left kidney." Assistant Director Chen let out a huge sigh after the long explanation.

Zheng Ren gauged that stopping the bleed with interventional embolization was not too difficult.

"Can you do it, Chief Zheng? You are also aware of the current state of our hospital, and I heard that you had performed two emergency procedures to stop bleeding before, which is why I wanted to try asking for you," the assistant director frantically pleaded after noticing Zheng Ren contemplating something in silence for a brief moment.

His words were tinged with extreme caution.

However, since this involved a patient's kidney, one could not blame him for being extremely frantic and on edge.

"I'll take a look at the patient." Zheng Ren never made promises hastily. He simply offered to check on the patient for a better assessment.

When they arrived at the intensive care unit, the System's diagnosis was simple. The patient was losing blood solely due to the removal of a segment from the patient's left kidney; based on this, all this patient seemed to need was an interventional embolization to stop the bleeding.

"Has the patient had enough time to fast?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Ye, he has," Assistant Director Chen answered confidently.

"Have the patient's family come to me for a preoperative briefing. You can wheel the patient into the intensive care interventional operating theatre. Prep 10 U of blood and some plasma from the blood bank."

A spark of hope was lit in the extremely anxious hearts of the patient's family, who had been standing on the sidelines, listening in on the conversation.

"I'll have the family members directly related to the patient sign here," Zheng Ren said casually.

A young woman in her twenties, presumably the patient's girlfriend, along with two older people who were not yet in their sixties followed Zheng Ren to the ICU.

Zheng Ren proceeded to explain the situation to the patient's family in a straightforward and concise manner, since they had already been forewarned about possible post-surgery complications before the operation in Imperial City General Hospital, especially regarding postoperative hemorrhaging, which was serious enough to warrant repetition.

On that, they were nearly as informed as doctors were, with even some understanding of the development of the disease and no further need for a more detailed explanation.

When they had decided on removing a segment of the kidney, they had prepared themselves mentally for postoperative hemorrhaging.

However, they had not expected it to take so long to occur.

After his short explanation, he handed everything over to Chang Yue. It was now her turn to give a pre-surgery briefing, especially regarding the possibility of necrosis due to ectopic embolization which would require the complete removal of the patient's kidney.

While the briefing was being carried out, Zheng Ren and Su Yun changed into the proper attire in the surgery room.

After that, Zheng Ren prepared to gather all the tools he would require for the surgery.

At that moment, he heard Su Yun's voice go, "All instruments have been prepared. Chief Zheng, you may begin surgery immediately."

"Huh?"

Chapter 105: A Flawless Junior Doctor

"Hmm?"

"As an inexperienced junior doctor, one has to perform everything flawlessly," Su Yun said, gently running his fingers across his bangs before putting on his sterile face shield. "I have informed the others in the groupchat, they should be ready for the surgery right now."

"How did you do it?" Zheng Ren was speechless.

"Are you asking me how I knew which tools and machines they would require for this surgery?" The hair that was moments ago covering his forehead was now neatly tucked behind his face shield. However, out of habit, Su Yun began to toy with it again. "I had made a table, which now hangs outside the interventional operating theater, listing which apparatus and machine each procedure requires. Basically, different as they may be, each procedure has their similarities. Hence, all I had to do was make some minor adjustments. Chief Zheng, will you be using the gelatin sponge for embolization or the spring-loaded one?"

Since surgical nurses were unfamiliar with interventional embolization, it was about time a leading nurse was assigned to the interventional embolization control room.

Good lord... this was the first time in Zheng Ren's life he felt this way.

It was not at the level of joy, but rather relief.

"The gelatin sponge, then."

"Hey, is anyone in now?" Su Yun yelled.

The patient was not yet in the surgical theater and the hallways were empty. A shouted response echoed down the empty hallway.

"What do you need?" Based on the voice, it was most likely Chu Yanzhi.

"The gelatin sponge."

"Alright."

Zheng Ren was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of powerlessness.

What kind of situation was this? There was absolutely no need for him to prepare anything for this surgery. Was that not a luxury solely enjoyed by instructing professors?

"The patient is currently in transit, current blood pressure at 60/40 mmhG. Stay here and watch for the patient, then let me know what kind of machines are to be used. I will be heading out to scrub now," Su Yun said softly after making a phone call.

There were hints of flirtatious intent in that gentle voice.

The feeling was... oddly peculiar.

The patient arrived swiftly and the blood bag in his pressure transfusion set was almost empty.

After the transfer was made, Zheng Ren placed the patient onto the surgical bed with the help of the urologist. Su Yun had already changed into his lead apron and sterile surgical gown and was disinfecting his gloves.

Zheng Ren also changed; he put on his special lead vest, then got himself scrubbed thoroughly before putting on his surgical gown.

As he stood in front of the operating table, he realized that disinfection and the placement of sterile surgical sheets had already been done. Su Yun was holding the introducer sheath and to his surprise, even artery cannulation, the very first step, was complete.

Zheng Ren sighed as he lamented how fast everything was being performed.

This brat was truly incredible; could someone with such impressive photographic memory truly exist in the world? Zheng Ren was unsure, since even he required continuous practice and revision with his System. It was only through constant exercise that he could improve his skills.

This man however, mastered everything with a single glance.

In the live broadcast room of Xinglin Garden, several hundred doctors were already sending messages of support within the first minute of the livestream.

During the day, there were fewer people online, with viewer counts rising at around 8 or 9 in the evening.

With a daily schedule of routine room inspections, surgeries and writing patient reports, anyone caught watching livestreams on their phones would be scolded into oblivion by their superiors.

[Hmm? Finally, I've been waiting for another interventional embolization.]

[We'll see what it is. Tsk, it looks like postoperative hemorrhaging after kidney removal.]

[None of you understand my pain in the urology department. Removing a segment of a kidney is and will always be marginally more difficult than spleen restoration surgery. A spleen can be removed at a whim, but the kidney cannot. Tears are streaming down my face now. I'll come back in ten minutes after I'm done crying about it.]

Several bold comments flooded the screen as the viewers were currently unfocused, and the host surgeon could be seen positioning the micro guide wire. The stream picked up as superselective catheterization began.

[Why do I feel like the standards of the surgical assistants have been greatly improved?]

[Good god! There is no limit to his skill, is there? I'm so envious right now.]

[You are unworthy of being a surgeon if your observation skills are so poor.

[Can't you see there's another pair of hands at the bottom right corner of the stream? The surgeon has found themselves an assistant.]

[Why would this surgeon even need to go through the trouble of finding an assistant? A single call would attract at least a few thousand people.]

[However, with an assistant now, the rate of surgery is marginally faster. It's almost as if they are flying.]

The stream view shifted to the patient, displaying a view of his blood vessels and the micro guide wire within them.

The wire arrived at the edge of the aorta branch. As the viewers watched, the micro guide wire advanced once more and swiftly reached the renal artery.

It then entered the renal artery, allowing for radiography to begin.

The wound at the edge of the kidney was clearly visible. Under the contrast medium, it looked like a cloud of lethal fireworks exploding out of the kidney.

Superselective catheterization continued as it entered the renal artery through to its branching vessels.

[Partial nephrectomy can only be performed in top-of-the-line hospitals in huge cities. If any backwater hospital performed this procedure, the moment the kidney began to bleed, they would resort to removing the entire organ to minimize injury.]

[Come on now, the modern era of medicine is different and combines several fields. Private hospitals are only capable of performing minor surgeries. Their focus lies mainly on ophthalmology and anorectalogy. Any post-surgery side effects would be referred to general hospitals.]

[You're going off topic; minor hospitals are not capable of performing these procedures and our hospitals do not have an interventional embolization department.]

[Report: our hospital had a pelvic fracture patient yesterday with some inflammation in the peritoneum leading to hemorrhagic shock, hence my immediate suggestion of performing interventional embolization. The patient has since been transferred to a hospital that performs this procedure, and according to what I was told, the surgery was completed and the patient is now fine and still alive.]

[Pfft... that person sure is lucky. Had this happened a month prior, that patient would've died in your hospital.]

As the stream viewers were conversing with each other, the gelatin sponge was swiftly embolized in a single attempt. The entire swift, smooth action was visible on-air. After three whole minutes, another radiograph was taken and the lethal, morbidly beautiful firework of blood had disappeared completely.

The entire duration of the surgery, including the three-minute wait, was five minutes and twelve seconds.

Thus, the stream ended. However, the doctors were speaking to each other in the comments.

[If our urology department wanted to perform a partial nephrectomy, someone has to master interventional embolization.]

[Stop joking now, alright, it's bold of you to assume anyone would be brave enough to perform this procedure even if they had mastered it. Without a radiography license, if any unfortunate accidents were to occur, you might as well say goodbye to your medical license. If you're brave enough to perform such a risky procedure, the patient's family would also be bold enough to cause a scene. Let me tell you, young man, if you want to solve such an issue, you'll have to have at least one million yuan lying around.]

[There's way too few radiographers out there, and fewer still would have clinical knowledge. What should we do about this?]

[What should you do? Tuberculosis was a terminal illness a hundred and fifty years ago. Time will solve everything.]

[I really, really want to study under you now, which hospital do you work in, my lord?]

[I believe there is a rumor that this signal was broadcast from Montreal General Hospital]

[...]

...

The surgery had been completed extremely quickly. Zheng Ren felt a wave of relief wash over him.

Having an assistant felt amazing!

Although Su Yun was still rough at the edges, having him was still better than performing the entire procedure alone.

As the surgery concluded, they removed their gloves, recorded the surgery and began editing the video recording of the procedure in order to hand it over to the patient's family.

The urologist had literally wheeled the stretcher out of the operating theater moments ago and had just managed to reassure the family for a few minutes.

The moment he returned, the surgery was complete.

Assistant Director Chen grabbed Zheng Ren's arm as the latter edited the video of the procedure. He said, "Chief Zheng, you're wasting your talent in our hospital."

"It's fine," Zheng Ren replied, chuckling.

"Your standards in specialized fields notwithstanding, your skill at interventional embolization alone would easily net you an annual salary of over a few hundred thousand yuan, even after tax deductions. You'd only make four thousand yuan a month in our hospital."

"I'm not a lead surgeon yet, I'm just a chief resident. It's actually three thousand eight hundred yuan," Zheng Ren corrected.

That was the gross total inclusive of tax, which was dwarfed by the sum of a few hundred thousand yuan after tax.

"You're joking, Assistant Director Chen," Zheng Ren said as he edited the video, "Who would want a lead surgeon to write a patient's report after performing a surgery, right?"

"Yes, you have a point. Just take care of the patient's report first; the assistant chief surgeon will take over after that. Haih, what would we do if a similar patient were to be in our hospital?"

The single statement by Assistant Director Chen instantly silenced the entire room.

It was an impossible debacle to solve.

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Chapter 106: Crossed Hands Maneuver

Shenzhen City, a city open to all.

The phrase, "everyone is welcome to Shenzhen City", was deeply ingrained in the hearts of all of its people. Following the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, Shenzhen City received another boost to its already rapid development.

People of all creeds and origins swarmed into Shenzhen City from all over the country, and to sustain this influx, hospitals with multiple specialties were established. In addition, there was a massive influx of medical professionals into the city due to the shockingly high wages on offer.

...

...

Shenzhen Economic Development Zone People's Hospital was a large, newly-constructed Class Three Grade A general hospital. Its bright, spacious corridors coupled with clean wards were eye candy.

However, what attracted visitors most was the presence of metaphorical demons of the medical field from Mainland China, which the People's Hospital had hired for a king's ransom.

One of them was Wu Haishi, a retired senior consultant in interventional radiology, who had been re-employed in the People's Hospital.

The elderly man, who was already sixty-four years old, was one of the first few people in China to study interventional radiology and was an eminent authority in the domain.

He had a smaller workload due to fewer consultations in the newly established People's Hospital and the standardization of various treatment programs, which were still in progress.

Old Wu adhered to the style of the older generation—being down to earth and hardworking. Even in Shenzhen City, without fail, he insisted on exchanging views and theoretical knowledge with his fellow colleagues every day.

After the morning ward round, Old Wu sat in his office, put on his spectacles with presbyopia lenses and began preparing materials for his next lecture. He also added footage of digital subtraction angiography so that junior doctors could better understand the process and potential difficulties of surgery.

"Knock-knock-knock!" Someone was at the door.

"Please come in."

"Master," greeted a man in his thirties who entered and stood in place ceremoniously.

He was Mu Tao, a thirty-eight-year-old closed-door student[1] of Old Wu. He had taken a successive undergraduate-graduate program before furthering his studies as a doctoral student under Old Wu's guidance. When Old Wu had been re-employed to Shenzhen Economic Development Zone People's Hospital, he had followed suit and moved to the rapidly changing city.

Despite his advancing age, Old Wu's hearing was flawless. Still reviewing his materials, he nodded. "Yes?"

"Recently, there has been an anonymous account in Xinglin Garden that broadcasts its surgery live. Its host surgeon has just finished a renal artery embolization for post-partial nephrectomy hemorrhaging today, and I thought it was very interesting..."

"Oh? Let me see it. Footage for this type of surgery is quite rare." Old Wu immediately raised his gaze and pushed his spectacles up, interested.

Mu Tao quickly took out his phone and transmitted the video to an LCD television in Old Wu's office via Bluetooth.

In the video, the host surgeon was performing a femoral artery cannulation.

His maneuvering was proficient and effective, and every step was done accurately without haste. In a blink of an eye, the introducer sheath successfully entered the femoral artery.

In Old Wu's opinion, it was only to be expected for the host surgeon to be adept at artery cannulation, which was why he had no criticism to give the beautiful maneuver.

When the micro-guidewire was in place, the imaging system was activated and the operative field was adjusted upward.

"Eh?" mumbled Old Wu this time.

Mu Tao quickly paused the video, perking his ears attentively.

He had followed Old Wu for more than a decade. Without the need for words, he knew Old Wu had discovered something.

That "something" was most likely related to the host surgeon's precision in blind manipulation of the micro-guidewire. In the video, the micro-guidewire made contact perfectly at the end of the renal artery, which saved a lot of time for subsequent superselective catheterization.

"The crossed-hands maneuver?" said Old Wu as he pointed at the host surgeon's hands on the screen.

Mu Ta froze for a moment. From his perspective, the host surgeon's surgery had multiple highlights, but the pair of hands that would soon disappear from the screen had definitely not been one of them.

What the hell was the crossed-hands maneuver?

Old Wu stood up with a smile, walked to the large screen and pointed at the host surgeon's crossed hands wrapped in sterile gloves. "This is an operative habit only used by the older generations who first learned interventional radiology.

"Look, the left hand is securing the guidewire on the right and the right hand is inserting the catheter on the left.

"Here, you can clearly see the assistant's hands, but the host surgeon still habitually uses the crossed-hands maneuver to perform the surgery. Do you know why?"

Mu Tao was perplexed after hearing Old Wu's question.

Were he honest with himself, he considered the maneuver flawed or at least unnecessary as it largely made the assistant's role obsolete during the surgery.

"I don't know," answered Mu Tao truthfully.

"When it all began, the few surgeons who were interested in interventional radiology had difficulty hiring assistants. Therefore, they had to set the guidewire and insert the catheter all by themselves, and thus developed the crossed-hands maneuver where their more nimble right hand would manipulate the catheter while their left secured the guidewire.

"However, you youngsters don't have to learn that technique now."

Old Wu felt a little emotional and nostalgic. He missed the old days, where he would perform surgery patiently and meticulously under a large amount of radiation.

Now, every procedure—contrast agent injection, superselective catheterization and insertion of absorbable gelatin sponge—was done smoothly and successfully without pause.

Following the embolization, the host surgeon waited for a few moments before performing another imaging test to ensure the complete absence of the previously massive hemorrhage from the renal artery. With that, the surgery video ended.

"That was good," said Old Wu softly.

"Their maneuvering was very fast.

"Every act of superselective catheterization was successful, meaning the host surgeon is incredibly precise. Let me try to guess who they could be." Old Wu sat in his chair, closed his eyes and began meditating.

Mu Tao waited patiently without a sound.

A few minutes later, Old Wu shook his head and said, "Those who used the crossed-hands maneuver have basically retired from the clinical field. Even when invited to attend surgeries, they will guide the surgeon rather than perform it personally. This host surgeon is meticulous, with stable hands and superb eyesight, so I suppose they are a young man."

Surgeons and boxers shared a common trait—experience and physical fitness never occurred together.

The peak period for surgeons was when they were between forty to fifty years old. This was when they had both significant amounts of experience and were still in a good physical form—not yet assailed by blurry vision or trembling hands.

The heights of surgical proficiency would be reached within this age group.

However, this did not account for wunderkinds.

For example, in the last decade of the twentieth century, a cardiothoracic surgeon reached the pinnacle of his career in his thirties. Unfortunately, he was excluded from Fuwai Hospital in Imperial Capital due to his lack of sociability. Thus, he returned to his hometown in the northeast and established a specialty hospital for cardiovascular disease.

In just a few years, the hospital became the best hospital in the country.

There were many incredible stories surrounding this legend. A few years later, he became a secretary in a medical department at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

After his retirement, he suffered tachyarrhythmia and required surgical intervention.

However, he trusted only himself as he was the best cardiothoracic surgeon in the country, and therefore other surgeons' skills and experience were simply inferior to his...

Thus, he laid on the operating table with a screen suspended above his head.

Looking directly at the screen, he guided a doctoral student through his own operation.

Ventricular fibrillation had occurred intraoperatively. After successful resuscitation, he continued guiding the doctoral student through the surgery.

In the end, the surgery had been successful!

Of course, it was merely an anecdote, but the main point was that he was indeed a demon who had reached the pinnacle of his career at thirty-five years old.

Mu Tao felt ashamed of his inferiority, but did his master mean that... the host surgeon in Xinglin Garden was of the same mold?

"Perhaps one of my old friends taught him, who knows?" Old Wu smiled and continued, "Pay attention to this live broadcast room. By the way, save this video to a USB flash drive and inform everyone that we have a training session this afternoon."

[1] Usually refers to the master's favorite student who trains separately from normal classes and has the luxury of learning the master's secret techniques.

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Chapter 107: Corporate Outreach

They were in the emergency interventional radiology suite in Sea City General Hospital.

"Zheng Ren, save me a copy of the angiographic footage," said Su Yun as he took off his lead apron; the patient, whose puncture wound had stopped bleeding, was being transferred to a stretcher trolley. A urological surgeon would take over the patient from here.

"Sure," answered Zheng Ren without questioning the man's motives.

Su Yun, who was not in a rush to change his attire, quietly stood behind Zheng Ren and watched him edit the surgery video and save every important clip.

Approximately ten minutes later, Zheng Ren completed his work and passed a printed image to Deputy Chief Shen of the urology surgery department.

It was simply a typical imaging film. Despite his lack of knowledge in interventional radiology, Deputy Chief Shen could still explain the procedures behind the surgery and potential postoperative effects based on the film to the patient's family members.

"There might be blood clots in the bladdermdash;" Zheng Ren nagged.

Deputy Chief Shen interrupted him with a smile. "Chief Zheng, we can handle these things. Thank you for the trouble this time. Let's go out for a meal together someday."

"I'm a chief resident, I can't."

"You're only the chief resident for one year, and we still have a long way ahead of us." Deputy Chief Shen smiled and left the interventional radiology suite with the film.

Zheng Ren stretched lazily. It was always relaxing and comfortable after an emergency rescue.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

"Zheng Ren, come to my office," said Old Chief Physician Pan bluntly.

"Okay," Zheng Ren replied and quickly stood up as if Old Chief Physician Pan was standing before him in person.

The corners of Su Yun's lips twitched slightly, as if fighting the urge to laugh.

They changed out of surgical attire and hurried to Old Chief Physician Pan's office on the first floor of the emergency building.

After knocking and entering, they saw a young man in a suit and leather shoes sitting across from and chatting with Old Chief Physician Pan.

"Zheng Ren, this is Manager Feng, a sales manager from China Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery," Old Chief Physician Pan said upon noticing Zheng Ren.

Manager Feng, who still looked baby-faced in his twenties, immediately stood up, extended both hands and greeted them politely with a slight nod, "Hello, my name is Feng Xuhui, but you can just call me Little Feng."

"Hello, Manager Feng. I'm Zheng Ren, Old Chief Physician Pan's 'soldier'."

"You must be Chief Zheng. I was just listening to Old Chief Physician Pan's praise for you, but I didn't expect you to be so young." Manager Feng began eyeing him up.

"Let's not stand on ceremony here. Please have a seat and we can speak." Old Chief Physician Pan waved his hand and continued, "Little Zheng, didn't Chang Yue mention that a patient required our help a few days ago? Manager Feng is currently working in Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery, a newly-established company specialising in minimally-invasive surgical supplies, and he is here to promote the technology his company develops."

'Oh, so that's what it is.' Zheng Ren began to understand the situation.

Medical device companies had vested interests in advertising their products, just like shopping malls.

However, medical equipment production required extremely high technical standards, which were why there were relatively few major medical device companies worldwide. In China, however, there had been a recent boom in large-scale imitations; companies were on the rise such as Tianjing Microinvasive Surgery and now, Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery.

"I have to thank Manager Feng first of all." Zheng Ren smiled and said, "Domestic medical device companies can further reduce the cost of patient treatment, which is good news all around."

"Chief Zheng, that's too polite of you." Manager Feng looked like a fresh graduate based on his nervousness when speaking.

From this, Zheng Ren concluded that Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery did not place a high value on Sea City's market.

For potential large-scale business opportunities, the company would always send the smarter, more competent salespeople instead of fresh graduates to handle the product sales to relevant hospitals.

However, it would be inappropriate to criticise someone for simply being part of an outreach program, would it not?

"Just talk to Manager Feng if you need anything," said Old Chief Physician Pan with a smile.

Manager Feng finally regained his composure and recalled the purpose of his visit.

"Chief Physician Pan, Chief Zheng, the company is providing a large contribution." Manager Feng smiled and added, "Due to the underdeveloped state of interventional radiology in Sea City, Professor Pei Yingjie from a hepatobiliary hospital in Sorcery Capital will personally visit to promote and handle the surgery."

"Huh?" Zheng Ren was momentarily stunned. This was unforeseen; he had expected to receive free products in exchange for performing the surgery.

"Professor Pei Yingjie is a well-reputed expert in the country and one of the editors of the Interventional Radiology journal." Manager Feng began reciting Professor Pei Yingjie's biography in a disjointed manner, almost like a student presenting a case.

Zheng Ren smiled and pretended to attentively listen to Manager Feng's introduction.

A professor from Sorcery Capital would be proficient in this domain, especially for what was merely a tier-three surgery, so the news that the professor was personally taking over the field did not perturb Zheng Ren.

As long as Zheng Yunxia's tumor remained under control, whoever handled the surgery in the end made no difference.

Five minutes later, the nervous Manager Feng finished describing Professor Pei Yingjie's personal biography from memory, calming his nerves almost instantaneously.

His hands were no longer trembling, as well.

"When will Professor Pei arrive?" asked Old Chief Physician Pan.

"If all preoperative preparations are complete, he will arrive the next day," answered Manager Feng.

"Okay," Zheng Ren stood and cheerfully shook Manager Feng's hand again. "I'll proceed with preoperative preparations now. Manager Feng, please give me your contact number and I'll let you know as soon as everything is ready."

Amazed at Zheng Ren's unexpected enthusiasm, Manager Feng quickly took out his phone and they exchanged phone numbers and WeChat IDs.

Upon leaving Old Chief Physician Pan's office, Su Yun sighed and said, "Our hospital is still small."

"This is good enough. He wouldn't even have bothered to come had we just been a township hospital." Zheng Ren remained unconcerned and quickly walked to the emergency ward.

"You're chief resident 24365, so what's the rush?"

24365 was a hospital joke referring to chief residents having to stay in the hospital twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

Come to think of it, who would be in such a hurry in the comfort of their own home?

"I need to go back to my room to revise," replied Zheng Ren coldly as he walked up the fire escape without looking back.

"No wonder you're single. Nerds like you are the worst batch of students in schoolhellip; Well, you're not exactly a nerd, since you're very good at surgery."

Zheng Ren could not be bothered to entertain the brat. Upon returning to his office, he saw Chang Yue documenting a case and said, "Admit Zheng Yunxia to the hospital and check if she has any contraindications for surgery. Professor Pei from a hepatobiliary hospital in Sorcery Capital will personally handle the case."

"Yeah!" Chang Yu was visibly delighted, which was an unusual occasion, and asked, "Is it free?"

"Yes, thanks to Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery," replied Zheng Ren. He proceeded to sit at his table and reopen the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery book.

On the other hand, Su Yun once again sat behind him and started tapping away on his phone.

From it, Zheng Ren thought he could hear a thirty-second alert for encroaching enemies. Meanwhile, Chang Yue was on her phone contacting Yunxia to get her to the hospital.

On his device, Su Yun was actually replaying the video recording of Zheng Ren's interventional radiology surgery earlier.

He held the phone in his left hand and constantly twisted his right as if simulating each motion.

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Chapter 108: Preoperative Double Contrast-Enhanced Imaging

Chang Yue explained every detail, including immediate fasting to hasten testing and hospital admission fees, to Zheng Yunxia in two minutes.

'This girl looks cold but is actually enthusiastic. How good it would be if she could treat me the same way she usually treats patients.' Zheng Ren was daydreaming as he read a book.

Passion and mindfulness were, beyond doubt, the most essential qualities a good clinician needed to have.

hellip;

hellip;

An hour later, Zheng Yunxia appeared in the emergency ward.

As expected, she had a sallow complexion, a typical symptom of liver disease.

From her sparse and messy hair, she had to have trimmed it herself at home. Men's haircuts cost anywhere between fifteen to twenty yuan, which could be saved up for better food once in a while.

The collar and cuffs on her plain-looking clothes were worn, but very clean.

Zheng Yunxia was calm, showing no sign of joy or, from before, dejection. She looked more like a visiting family member than a patient about to be admitted for surgery.

"Little Chang, here I am," greeted Zheng Yunxia as she entered the office, standing by the desk.

"Miss Yun, hold on, I'll handle your admission process." Chang Yue launched the patient management system and began filling the entry for her.

"Little Su, you're here too." Zheng Yunxia scanned the area and spotted Su Yun on his phone behind Zheng Ren, whom she completely ignored.

Su Yun's right thumb, index finger and middle finger were twisted together in a strange manner.

"Hi." He raised his head and smiled before continuing his simulation.

"Chief Zheng, give me the manager's phone number," said Chang Yue as Zheng Yunxia left to pay the bill after completing her registration.

Zheng Ren slipped out his phone and sent Manager Feng's phone number to Chang Yue via WeChat.

"What are you going to do?"

"I want to confirm details such as the types of imaging the professor wants to see before surgery." Chang Yue seemed reckless at times, but was actually a meticulous person.

Zheng Yunxia had undergone contrast-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) half a month ago, which Chang Yue could assume was more than enough to proceed with the surgery, but she had to ask regardless, just in case.

Manager Feng was unavailable, but another greenhorn picked up, promising to look into her inquiry.

Soon, Manager Feng returned her call.

"Hello, Doctor Chang. The professor says a double contrast-enhanced image is needed."

The so-called double contrast-enhanced image referred to contrast-enhanced NMRI and a contrast-enhanced 64-slice CT scan with image reconstruction.

These were completely different imaging processes but required intravenous injections of contrast agents, which meant the patient had to wait five to seven days between them. Moreover, due to their relatively high cost, hospitals in small cities rarely performed double contrast-enhanced imaging as preoperative tests.

Only professors in Imperial Capital and Sorcery Capital were accustomed to double contrast-enhanced imaging films.

"The patient underwent a contrast-enhanced NMRI of the liver ten days ago, so for the 64-slicehellip; Can we skip it? I mean if it isn't really necessaryhellip;" Chang Yue insisted.

Zheng Ren and Su Yun heard the conversation clearly after she put it on loudspeaker, presumably unable to argue further.

"Doctor Chang, this was Professor Pei's request." Manager Feng did not have the courage to make the call on his own.

"The patient's financial conditionhellip;" Chang Yue went silent immediately.

After all, Manager Feng was not the surgeon, so negotiation was impossible at this stage.

"Alright, Manager Feng. We'll contact you again after all tests are complete," replied Chang Yue before hanging up.

"Zheng Ren, is it really necessary?" she asked.

"Of course," Before Zheng Ren could answer the question, Su Yun spoke up while brushing his black bangs aside, "In the arterial phase of NMRI, by checking for abnormal blood supplies in the liver, we can detect the presence of dysplastic lesions that cannot be seen in a normal CT scan; as for the 64-slice CT scan of the liverhellip; Hehe."

He smirked.

"Why the hell are you even leaving us hanging? Spit it out already." Whenever Chang Yue faced Su Yun, her aura intensified and the eleven boxes of Snow began radiating immense pressure, like a mountain.

"..." Su Yun was perplexed as this was the first time he had met such a woman.

"We can check lipiodol deposition within the tumor cells in a liver CT scan, but that's all I know about it," replied Zheng Ren.

"Isn't that a bit complicated?" Chang Yue frowned.

"Interventional radiology isn't just a simple diagnostic test; it has therapeutic effects on hepatocellular carcinoma as well," Su Yun said, "I've a mentor who is particularly skilled in this domainmdash;one of the top five surgeons in this country."

Zheng Ren locked onto the word Su Yun usedmdash;mentor.

Su Yun must have great respect for his mentor. Strangely enough, for a man with zero self-awareness, he was actually capable of reverence for someone other than himself.

Such critique felt undeserved, however, as Su Yun had performed as a surgical assistant beautifully and flawlessly in recent surgeries.

The trio were still having a "constructive" discussion on the theory of the contrast-enhanced 64-slice CT scan when Zheng Yunxia returned to the office.

After listening for a few moments, she understood the issue at hand.

"Little Chang, Little Su, Chief Zheng, thank you for your kindness." A languid but determined smile formed on Zheng Yunxia's face. "I've caused you enough trouble already. Since this is the professor's request, I'll gladly do it."

Chang Yue remained silent.

"It should cost me 1680 yuan. I've done it before. Don't worry, I'll pay the other 1000 yuan later," Zheng Yunxia said, trying to appease Chang Yue.

"In that case, you would have to undergo the test as soon as possible, but there are lots of patients on the waiting list, so you might have to wait a week," said Chang Yue, embarrassed.

"Chief Zheng, don't you have anything to say?" asked Su Yun.

"I don't know anyone in the CT department." Zheng Ren felt helpless as well.

"What a poor bachelor, his nose buried only in books. Well, I guess I've to do it now. CT roomhellip; Overtimehellip; CT roomhellip;" Su Yun mumbled. It was unclear if he was searching for a contact number in WeChat or his phone.

"Hello, is this Sister Zhao? I'm Little Su." A few seconds in and Su Yun had located a number that had been buried for god only knew how long.

"Haha, I live a busy life in the ICU. You also know that I've to watch the ventilators every day; I can't get a good night's rest either, unlike you guys who have the luxury of getting off work on time and even free medical checkups. That's a good life.

"Yes, yes, I was in the wrong. I'll treat you to dinner someday and you can choose any place you like.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, but can you work overtime tonight? Okay, what time shall we visit?

"Alright, sure."

Zheng Ren daydreamed a cheesy romance as Su Yun chatted and finally hung up.

"It's settled. We'll depart at half-past seven in the evening." The black hair on his forehead danced along with the beautiful smile on his face.

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Chapter 109: A Drunk Rogue

Emergency response was a daily routine in the emergency department, and Zheng Yunxia was merely an interlude, an unplanned issue that had to be dealt with.

Two patients with serious abdominal issues—acute appendicitis and acute cholecystitis respectively—arrived during the day. Due to inadequate preoperative fasting in the former patient, Zheng Ren had decided to perform cholecystectomy first and proceed with appendectomy later.

Three surgeries in one day was normal in his day-to-day life.

There was no major surgery, such as those involving hemorrhagic shock, which greatly satisfied Zheng Ren. As for the surgical treatment and follow-up for the patient in the urology surgery department? That was the urological surgeon's problem and none of his concern.

The day went on peacefully. Instead of getting off work, Chang Yue waited until half-past seven and brought Zheng Yunxia to the CT room along with Xie Yiren and the Chu sisters.

Of course, the most important person—Su Yun—tagged along as well.

The waiting list for scanning was very long, and so controversy was inevitable if medical personnel helped friends or family members skip the queue. Therefore, the hospital had implemented firm regulations to prohibit this practice.

However, medical personnel could use personal connections to request a scan only after working hours and if the radiologist was willing to work overtime.

And Su Yun was the kind of person capable of convincing others to work themselves to death.

Zheng Ren also followed them to the CT room as he had nothing to do in the emergency ward. It was also a short distance away, allowing him to return quickly if he was needed urgently.

It was still crowded in the CT room despite it being night.

There were patients with minor injuries who had been involved in traffic collisions or fistfights.

A woman in her forties was making a phone call when the group reached the CT room.

Upon their arrival, she made a hand gesture, signaling them to bring Zheng Yunxia to the CT unit.

Xie Yiren had already inserted a cannula into Zheng Yunxia for contrast agent administration. Soon, the other woman finished her phone call and began installing a pressure injector.

"Su Yun, you're so snobbish. Is it really necessary to hide from me for a year and a half?" the woman nagged during the process.

Su Yun put on a smile and said, "How could you say that? I'm really busy, Sister Zhao."

"How many times have I asked you out for a meal? I've repeatedly invited you over since my lover's intracranial hemorrhage was treated and he was discharged from the ICU, but you turned down my offer every single time." Despite the nagging, there was a hint of enthusiasm in Sister Zhao's chatter.

After listening to the story, Zheng Ren felt slightly ashamed at his initial speculations. From their conversation, it seemed like Su Yun had successfully rescued Sister Zhao's lover in the ICU, allowing him to be discharged afterward.

'This guy has some skill,' he thought.

"I'm now working in the emergency department, which is even busier, but... Don't worry, Sister Zhao, I'll definitely invite you for a meal in a few days. How is your lover right now?"

"Thanks to you, he is doing fine, and the rehabilitation is almost complete. He just has some slight numbness in his left hand, but that isn't really an issue."

After the contrast agent was placed into the pressure injector, Xie Yiren connected it proficiently to Zheng Yunxia and left the CT unit with the others.

The machine began to run, emitting a high-frequency humming which did not cause any actual damage to the body, but was loud enough to induce slight discomfort in Zheng Ren.

He took a deep breath upon exiting the unit and felt better instantly.

A loud voice echoed from across the hall.

Quarrels were common and considered trivial in a hospital. Arguments between patients and their family members, disagreements between two parties, wars of words between family members and medical personnel... What had Zheng Ren not encountered in his practice?

Therefore, the argument failed to pique his curiosity.

However, even Zheng Ren could vaguely make out the terms "beating" and "police officer" in the increasingly loud din.

Since he had nothing to do at the moment, he decided to take a look at the commotion.

The strong smell of alcohol lingered in the hall over hundreds of square meters, and a man with rosy cheeks was rolling across the floor, shouting that the police officer had hit him.

An innocent-looking, young traffic officer stood nearby, helpless and frozen in place.

The traffic officer's timidity fuelled the brazenness of the drunkard, who yelled loudly, "That police officer hit me!"

Zheng Ren shook his head, having already guessed the truth.

The drunkard had probably been arrested for drunk driving and was required to draw blood samples as evidence, but why would he here for a CT scan? Presumably, he had also claimed dizziness due to being struck, leading to the farce before Zheng Ren.

"He looks fine," Zheng Ren said to himself, walking over.

It was not loud, unlike that of a negotiator trying to be heard in order to break up a fight.

However, his words were clearly audible to both the officer and the man on the floor.

"Doctor, look..." The young traffic officer, caught in a difficult situation, immediately reached out like a drowning man clutching at straws upon seeing Zheng Ren approach in a white coat.

"Those who are capable of stirring up a ruckus are usually fine, so don't worry about him," Zheng Ren said softly, "The moment they go quiet, that's when it starts to become concerning."

"He can be tested for evidence of health issues, right?" asked the anxious traffic officer.

"Not necessarily. There is a chance that he might have delayed traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage," answered Zheng Ren.

"But... I didn't even touch him." The traffic officer was almost in tears.

"I'm not a police officer, so I can't do anything about it." Zheng Ren added, "Admit him to the hospital if his condition is serious, but judging by his current situation, he should be alright."

Zheng Ren noticed that the stooge had gradually stopped rolling about after stealing a glance at him, finally quieting down.

This frightened the young traffic officer.

His career would be over if someone died under his watch.

Such a fate would have been justified had he actually assaulted the man, but... he was being falsely accused.

The System panel clearly stated that the man was merely suffering alcohol intoxication with no signs or symptoms of intracranial hemorrhaging.

"Lend me a hand. Let's proceed with a CT scan first and admit him to the ward later," said Zheng Ren seriously.

Dazed and confused, the young traffic officer subconsciously obeyed Zheng Ren's commands.

They carried the inebriated rogue to the bed in the CT unit for a cranial CT scan and left the room, closing the lead door behind them. Then, Zheng Ren said, "You must be frightened."

"Huh?" The young traffic officer was startled.

"Get used to it. You can call your superior to ask them to handle the situation for you," said Zheng Ren with a smile.

"I..." Red-faced, the young officer clenched his fists tightly, trying but failing to vent the resentment in his heart.

Police officers, a career just as miserable as that of doctors, were infinitely glorified but would still be dumbfounded when meeting unreasonable ruffians. Sighing heavily, Zheng Ren decided to help this young traffic officer.

"You don't have the courage to do so? In that case, find a senior police officer whom you're on good terms with to take it from here and leave the rest to me," said Zheng Ren with a smile.

"You are..."

"I'm Zheng Ren, a chief resident in the emergency department," Zheng Ren said before going to the operator console room. "I'm going to take a look at the scan results."

The CT scan had been completed. After ensuring that there were no signs of intracranial hemorrhage noted in the films, he entered the CT unit and said, "The patient's condition is very serious. I'll request a stretcher trolley."

The young traffic officer was stunned... Which sentence was the truth?

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Chapter 110: A Means Between Light And Darkness

Zheng Ren took out his cell phone and called the emergency department.

Soon, a paramedic rushed over with a stretcher trolley, almost out of breath.

Zheng Ren leaned closer to the paramedic and said softly, "Everything is fine."

"A troublemaker?" guessed the paramedic, an experienced man, as he scanned the area.

"Yes." After the brief conversation, they quickly transferred the rogue to the stretcher trolley and hurried to the emergency department.

Upon arrival at the emergency department, Zheng Ren pushed the stretcher trolley directly into an empty treatment room instead of the observation unit, closed the door and said, "The patient has lost consciousness. It's a serious condition and we're in big trouble now."

The young traffic officer's face was chalk-white.

Due to a lack of experience, he could not grasp the meaning behind Zheng Ren's words.

"Prepare for resuscitation!" yelled Zheng Ren furiously while repeatedly blinking his eyes, trying to give the traffic officer a hint.

After that, he left the room, looked for the night shift nurse and gave her a few instructions in a low voice.

The nurse smiled with a gleam in her eyes. "Chief Zheng, you look so honest, how did you even come up with such an evil plan?"

"A troublemaker has been drunk driving, isn't that enough?" replied Zheng Ren with a grin.

Drunken driving and brawls were the most annoying issues ever encountered in hospitals.

Zheng Ren had no issue with alcohol, but when people started losing control of themselves after getting drunk, it could inadvertently lead to tragedy.

For example, a student due for a college entrance examination the next day had been struck by a drunk driver during a walk and was reduced to a vegetative state. In another case, a husband had taken his pregnant wife for a stroll, but a drunk driver had brought all of them to heaven...

Thus, Zheng Ren hated such people the most.

He was a good man, but not a doormat. He had his own judgment, and at certain breaking points, he would break the rules and furtively seek revenge.

Just like now.

After collecting the right medication, the nurse went to the treatment room and started injecting them into the drunk rogue's veins.

Then, she hung up a bottle of solution and maximized the infusion rate.

"He should be fine if he regains consciousness. Otherwise, we'll have to resuscitate him." It was pure nonsense, but Zheng Ren maintained his serious tone.

The young traffic officer was completely drenched in a cold sweat as if a war was raging within his mind. His imagination was going wild with the fear of getting suspended for this incident.

"He... He should be... be fine, right?" the officer stuttered in fright.

Zheng Ren patted his shoulder to signify that everything was fine.

However, the young traffic officer still could not understand Zheng Ren's actions. His mind had gone blank from the start.

"Doctor, please make sure he is alright," he said pitifully, "I didn't even touch him."

"It depends on the effects of the drug." Zheng Ren's expression remained at ease despite his solemn tone. "Drugs with special effects have been administered. If the patient wakes up, everything will be fine. Otherwise, I'll have to admit him to the hospital."

After that, Zheng Ren turned around and left without looking at the drunk ruffian, who was pretending to be unconscious.

Sitting on a hard, red plastic bench at the door, he explained his current situation in the group chat and inquired about the CT result.

Zheng Yunxia had finished a contrast-enhanced CT scan, and everyone was discussing where they would have dinner at the moment.

Zheng Ren was speechless; everyone always left him behind when going out for a meal. Even though he disliked eating out and hectic environments, he could not help but feel that the whole world had abandoned him.

It was deeply depressing.

Xie Yiren seemed to detect Zheng Ren's dejection from the other side of the phone and volunteered to bring food for him.

Chang Yue mentioned in the group chat that she had gone for another ward round and all patients were stable, and so he could take his time returning to the emergency department.

The group chat became silent afterward.

'They must have gone for dinner.' Zheng Ren helplessly turned off the phone.

'Well, they might as well go. Youngsters prefer a lively environment anyway,' he thought, reverting to an old-fashioned mindset for a moment.

Approximately five minutes later, the door of the treatment room was suddenly flung open and a man, smelling strongly of alcohol and stumbling unsteadily, ran out like a scalded cat.

In the background, the young traffic officer stared dumbfoundedly at the scene before him.

He was confused out of his mind. The ruffian had just revealed that he had been pretending to be dead the whole time, but had thrown off his guise without a care in the world. What the hell was going on?

Had the doctor administered a drug that could trigger the patient's conscience?

Instinctively, the traffic officer followed the man.

"The washroom is on the left!" shouted Zheng Ren as a reminder.

"..." The officer staggered.

A few minutes later, the rogue returned dejectedly, dropping all pretenses; there was no point in continuing the charade now that the cat was out of the bag.

An older traffic officer had arrived on the scene in the meantime. After inquiring about the situation, he scolded the drunken man for his idiocy before instructing the younger officer to deal with subsequent procedures such as blood sample collection. Justice was served in the end.

"Brother, thank you so much for everything," said the senior traffic officer. He spoke in a slightly imposing manner, but Zheng Ren liked it.

"Don't worry about it. It's my job anyway."

"Care for a smoke?"

"Let's go."

They were instantly greeted by an icy breeze upon stepping out of the building. Wrapping his white coat tightly around himself, Zheng Ren accepted a cigarette from the senior officer and took a deep drag.

It was not easy being a doctor or a police officer.

If either one of them started making complaints about the job, their list would be long enough to reach the end of the world.

They chatted casually and exchanged contact numbers. After realizing that Zheng Ren was dressed lightly, the senior traffic officer stubbed out his cigarette and threw it into an ashtray on the dustbin before bidding farewell to Zheng Ren.

Zheng Ren took this opportunity to take a walk around the emergency department. The weather was getting colder, and the general surgery division thus enjoyed this leisure time relatively free of drunken brawls in the middle of the night. However, the internal medicine division had its hands full due to the rapid rise in intracranial hemorrhages and myocardial infarctions.

Places as cold as alpine regions were certainly unsuitable for human habitation, but patients in the southern coastal regions would find their ailments easier to deal with.

Zheng Ren returned to the emergency ward after finishing his ward round.

He greeted the night shift nurses, the only ones left in the nurses' station, before returning to his office and continuing his book.

Half an hour later, he received a call from the senior traffic officer.

He thanked Zheng Ren again on the phone. Had Zheng Ren not risked his neck by violating several rules of the hospital, their issue would have been extremely troublesome to deal with.

Zheng Ren chatted politely for a while before hanging up.

Earlier, he had ordered an intravenous injection of furosemide and a bottle of mannitol for the ruffian.

These drugs were standard treatment for intracranial hemorrhage, but when administered together, diuresis was further intensified which drastically increased urine output.

This resulted in an extremely full bladder.

However, Zheng Ren had also encountered a shameless b*stard who would rather hold his urine and risk incontinence.

After repeated examination to confirm that he was physically alright, urinary catheterization had been performed for the b*stard every one to two hours.

Few people could pretend to be comatose while enduring the agonizing pain of urinary retention just to save some money.

It was good that everything was settled. Zheng Ren shook his head and threw the incident to the back of his mind.

This interlude was merely a small part of his daily life in the emergency department, which ultimately became insignificant overall.

The real issues lay in various peculiar rescue operations that rapidly increased his adrenaline level and instantly broke the high-energy phosphate bonds in all his adenosine triphosphate.

It was a peaceful night. Two hours later, Zheng Ren went for another ward round before the patients went to sleep and made some necessary arrangements before finishing his Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery book.

Incidentally, Su Yun returned to the emergency ward at this time, having eaten his fill.

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Chapter 111: A Sorrowful Past

Su Yun, lunchbox in hand, smiled at Zheng Ren's diligence. "You were indeed born to be a chief resident."

"I've nothing to do at home, anyway. Besides, it's better to be ready for emergency cases and potential emergency surgery in the hospital." Zheng Ren stood, accepted the lunchbox and walked to the on-call room.

"What's your purpose in life?" Su Yun was obviously trying to mock him.

"Perform surgery, earn money, raise a family and make ends meet. Are there any other purposes in life?"

"That's so austere."

"It's essential."

Zheng Ren opened the lunch box, still warm to the touch, in the on-call room and saw his main dish—stir-fried chili pork with white rice.

"Stir-fried chili pork from Denver House. This is a secret family recipe that has been passed down over the generations, but I think it tasted alright." Su Yun sat down on the other side of the table and introduced the food to Zheng Ren.

If he was a server in a restaurant, he would undoubtedly be the worst. There was a complete absence of enthusiasm and it carried across.

Zheng Ren took a bite. It tasted just fine.

The food was not unpalatable, and he was not a picky eater, so anything would be fine as long as his stomach was filled.

The fact that Zheng Ren devoured the food without savoring its taste fueled Su Yun's urge to criticize him out of discomfort.

However, before he could do so, Zheng Ren suddenly asked, "How about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why did you leave Union Medical College Hospital?" asked Zheng Ren.

An eerie silence dominated the on-call room, punctuated only by Zheng Ren's chewing.

"I guessed there had to be a story." Zheng Ren, wiping his mouth after finishing his food, cleaned up the table and asked, "I heard that you had been accepted as a doctoral student in Union Medical College Hospital, so why didn't you continue your studies?"

"Does it have anything to do with you?" Su Yun raised his head and shot back. His sharp gaze penetrated his black bangs as if trying to pierce Zheng Ren's heart.

"You're my assistant, and I think something is bothering you. If we don't sort it out, I worry that you might become lost in the throes of passion and commit a crime."

Needless to say, Zheng Ren's awful joke only made the situation even more awkward, so Su Yun merely responded with a disdainful gaze.

Zheng Ren did not seem like he was looking for an answer. Perhaps he was merely asking out of boredom, or he just wanted the nancy boy to shut up and stop criticizing him.

Since Su Yun chose to remain silent, Zheng Ren started making his bed and brushing his teeth.

Su Yun was still quiet when he was done.

"Goodnight," said Zheng Ren, turning off the lights when Su Yun made no attempt to respond.

After a long time in the dark, Su Yun sighed softly.

The sound was full of helplessness and sorrow.

'What an emotional guy,' Zheng Ren thought after hearing him through a semi-conscious state.

"I had an unfortunate encounter that year." Su Yun's voice was cold and hardly discernible, making it echo around the room.

The sudden statement startled Zheng Ren and he jolted awake.

"A patient with an indifferent family had come to Union Medical College Hospital for consultation, and it was a fairly new encounter for us at the time."

Patients from overseas generally visited Union Medical College Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the country, for treatment, hence the rarity of such an occasion.

Zheng Ren had encountered countless family members who were indifferent and unsupportive towards patients, so it did not surprise him.

"The surgery had been scheduled, but no one signed the preoperative informed consent documents for some reason." Su Yun seemed to be trying to recall a memory that he had tried but failed to bury in the dusty recesses of his mind.

"That day, I noticed that the family was acting strangely. Sometimes, being observant is not a good thing. If you were in my shoes, none of these would have happened."

"..." Zheng Ren was speechless; he had not expected Su Yun to insult him even on his way down the memory lane. Perhaps in Su Yun's eyes, he had no other value apart from his expertise in surgery.

"I noticed one family member had added something to the infusion bottle, so I immediately contacted my teacher. He arrived shortly, sealed off the flow and found evidence of tampering, but the worst was yet to come. As we were resuscitating the patient, that family member struck my teacher's head with a chair.

"I was dazed at that time. I never knew such people existed.

"Blood gushed out of the exposed wound on my teacher's head, and its metallic scent filled the entire ward. The ward was no longer a place of rescue; it had become a nightmarish hell."

Like a devil crawling out of an abyss, Su Yun struggled and mourned silently. Negative emotions—anger, reluctance, helplessness—filled the entire room, causing its temperature to drop by several degrees.

After a long while, Zheng Ren asked, "What happened after that?"

"The resuscitation was successful and the patient was discharged from the hospital, but my teacher suffered side effects of intracranial hemorrhage and has been unable to perform surgery since."

"The man who had struck him—"

"That's absolutely pointless," answered Su Yun coldly. Zheng Ren could imagine him brushing his black bangs aside and feel the contempt at the corners of his lips.

"Despite saving countless lives, he became crippled in the end." Su Yun sighed heavily again and added, "We live in an unjust world."

"Is that why you came back?" asked Zheng Ren.

"Yes," Su Yun said, "I didn't want to perform surgery anymore. In fact, I didn't want to involve myself with saving human lives any longer. Had it not been for you, I would have resigned and started a pet medical center."

"I'm sorry for you, then." Zheng Ren tried to make a joke to alleviate the dark, gloomy atmosphere in the on-call room.

"It's okay." Su Yun accepted his 'condolences' and asked, "I'm curious. How did you get so proficient in surgery at your age? More importantly, who taught you interventional radiology?"

"It's just talent."

"Pooh!" Su Yun replied scornfully, "you have greater innate talent than I do? I don't believe it. You're just a hard worker who became an expert after repeated practice. Are you bullsh*tting me?"

Zheng Ren was taken by surprise. Despite his narcissism and complete ignorance of the matter, Su Yun was closer than anyone to the truth.

His suspicion was technically right. Zheng Ren's competency in surgery was due to countless days of intensive training in the System.

"Curing disease and saving lives? I'm not that noble, and my teacher's hemiplegic state haunts me whenever I think about it." Su Yun smiled and said, "Let's go to sleep. I think I'll dream about my teacher and that dreadful hell tonight. How nice, here come those nightmares again."

'This man's view of the world...' Zheng Ren had no response. How traumatised was this man to be able to speak so dejectedly?

'The mist has dissipated and I've awakened from a dream, finally seeing the truth after an eternal silence,' Zheng Ren's mind suddenly recalled, but he could not remember where he had seen this phrase from or its author's identity.

Was it true or false? Zheng Ren preferred not to overthink it. It was better to remain ignorant in life, anyway.

The temperature in the room gradually normalized following Su Yun's silence, and he eventually fell asleep.

He woke up naturally the next morning, a rarity in the department as an emergency doctor would require extreme luck to sleep without disturbance three to five times a year.

As he got up, he saw Su Yun sitting on the bed with his back against the wall, absent-mindedly staring at the blue sky outside the window.

Had this man gone mad?

"You—" Just when Zheng Ren initiated a conversation, Su Yun snapped out of his thoughts and said with a wicked smile, "I'll push for the contrast-enhanced CT result and strive to get things done today."

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Chapter 112: A Spoiled Child

The rest of the morning was uneventful.

In the afternoon, Zheng Ren received a call about a patient in the emergency department that required his attention.

He rushed to the emergency department. The patient awaiting him for consultation was a middle-aged woman with a provisional diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

The System confirmed the diagnosis.

There was nothing left to do but to admit her to the ward. Whether she would undergo emergency surgery tonight, or do so tomorrow to ensure sufficient fasting, her medical history had to be taken before any decision could be made.

Zheng Ren instructed a nurse to bring in a wheelchair to send the patient to the emergency ward.

The patient was curled up on the bed, unescorted, in the general surgery consultation room. She seemed pitiful, having to seek surgical treatment alone.

Zheng Ren assisted the nurse by gently transferring the patient to the wheelchair and pushing her out of the consultation room.

Even though Su Yun was tagging along throughout the process, he watched them coldly without lending a hand.

Zheng Ren had no desire to understand Su Yun's personality and why he was indifferent to certain patients.

The brat's psychological trauma was untreatable via surgery, so there was nothing he could or would bother to do to remove the old scar.

"Little Heng, Little Heng..." exclaimed the middle-aged woman repeatedly in the wheelchair, the agony in her soft voice clearly detectable.

'That must be her son's name,' Zheng Ren guessed.

Sea City had gradually declined, with a popular saying going, "Investment does not go beyond Shanhaiguan Pass". Youngsters with the capability to do so preferred to move to the South nowadays.

After all, there were higher salaries and more business opportunities for a better future there.

This middle-aged woman's son was probably working, which would explain why she was alone despite having acute appendicitis.

"Where are you guys taking my mom?" Before Zheng Ren rounded the corner with the wheelchair, he heard a voice coming from behind him.

Huh? Zheng Ren froze immediately.

The patient's family was actually here? Was he Little Heng? Why did he not respond when his name had been called out repeatedly?

A pale-looking young man in his twenties approached them with his gaze fixed on his phone. The only time he raised his head was to check where he was going, which was done very briefly as he quickly refocused on his phone, fingers continuously flying across the screen.

"..." Zheng Ren could feel something huge and heavy, like a big stone, pressing on his chest. 'Wow, this kid is really immersed in his phone.'

"Who are you?" asked Zheng Ren.

A few seconds later, the young man replied, "I'm her son."

No eye contact.

Was he playing games? Zheng Ren was aware of currently popular mobile games such as Honor of Kings and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, but he had never tried any of them.

During his free time, he would revise or refill his batteries by reading web fiction for a while, but playing games to pass the time never crossed his mind.

"Your mother has acute appendicitis and requires surgery," Zheng Ren explained as he continued on his way to the emergency ward.

This was merely a habit of his. After all, returning to the ward in silence with the patient's family was extremely awkward.

"Okay," replied the young man casually. His eyes were still glued to the phone, and it was unclear if he had heard whatever Zheng Ren had just said.

"When was her last meal and drink?" questioned Zheng Ren.

There was silence for at least ten seconds; the man seemed to realize that Zheng Ren had asked a question only upon reaching the elevator. "What did you say just now?"

"..." Zheng Ren grumbled internally.

He had encountered various kinds of f*cked up patients and family members. Although this was not an endangered or protected species, it was also a rarity.

"When was your mother's last meal and drink?" Zheng Ren repeated.

"How am I supposed to know? Ask her yourself." The young man hesitated upon seeing the elevator and asked, "I'm going to take the stairs. Which floor are we going to?"

"The second floor." Zheng Ren's expression was cold and flat.

"Wait for me at the elevator on the second floor," said the young man as he walked directly to the staircase while staring unblinkingly at his phone.

"Doctor, I took medicine and a sip of water at twelve o'clock, and that was basically it," answered the middle-aged woman in the wheelchair, enduring intense abdominal pain.

Zheng Ren responded with a stern expression, causing the atmosphere in the elevator to become inexplicably unpleasant.

The middle-aged female patient seemed to detect Zheng Ren's emotions and explained, "Little Heng is a good kid, but he is still young, so please forgive him for his slight immaturity."

Slight... immaturity? Was she being serious?

Zheng Ren could detect infinite love in the patient's tone.

However, as a doctor, this was not a part of his job and his only responsibility was to treat disease.

Even police officers could not handle this type of issue, so what could a doctor possibly do?

The young man was still nowhere to be seen when they reached the second floor. Zheng Ren stopped and announced, "Since the patient has fasted for long enough, inform Xie Yiren and Little Chu to prepare for surgery."

Su Yun, like a shadow trailing Zheng Ren, acknowledged his instructions.

"You'll undergo surgery soon. It's just a minor operation, so don't worry too much about it," said Zheng Ren.

"My appendix will be removed, right? When can I get off the bed after surgery?" asked the patient.

"You can walk to the bathroom in about a day, but be careful not to reopen the wound; we'll remove the suture in five to seven days."

"That's too long. What is Little Heng going to eat if I can't cook?" Despite her agony, the woman was still worried about that young man, who presumably was still on his way up the stairs.

"..."

Zheng Ren was an orphan. Even though the teachers and aunties in the kindergarten had treated him kindly, they did not spoil him as much as this patient excessively loved her son.

She would undergo surgery soon and yet her only concern was that she could not cook for her beloved son?

This...

"You can just order food online, it's the same anyway."

"No can do. Outside food is usually cooked in gutter oil. Toxicity aside, it's not delicious either. Little Heng can't tolerate that kind of food," the middle-aged woman said guiltily, "It's all my fault. Why have I fallen sick?"

Zheng Ren once again remained silent. They were not on the same page and there was no way he could understand the thoughts on her mind.

The two doctors and patient stood in the corridor and waited for nearly a minute before the patient's son slowly emerged from the stairway with the phone still in his hands.

The colorful lights of the phone reflected brightly off his facial features, at the same time accentuating the darkness where the light failed to touch. What a gruesome sight!

Zheng Ren kept quiet and pushed the wheelchair to the emergency ward.

'I think Chang Yue might have trouble communicating with this kind of person,' he conjectured.

After arranging a bed for the patient, he pushed her directly to the treatment room for preoperative skin preparations.

She was going for surgery soon, so it was better not to cause her any unnecessary disturbances.

Su Yun went to the operating theater straight away to prepare for surgery.

The preoperative preparations for acute appendicitis was relatively easy. After documenting the patient's medical history and instructing Chang Yue to put the case in writing, Zheng Ren printed out a set of preoperative informed consent documents and hospital admission forms and started looking for the patient's son.

Earlier, he had taken way too long to complete his mother's admission process.

However, the patient's son was gone when Zheng Ren arrived at the treatment room, and he could see the patient's agony as she curled up in the wheelchair in a posture that was uncomfortable to watch.

The desolation was indescribable.

Chapter 113: Where Are Your Manners

Zheng Ren was numb from disappointment.

After the nurses checked her vital signs and completed their laborious preparation, Zheng Ren went to look for the patient's son.

As silence was the norm in the wards, he could not shout out for the young man. If he raised his voice, some old grandfather could suffer

a heart attack.

He suspected the man might not even hear him if he shouted.

When Su Yun came down and found Zheng Ren and Chang Yue only halfway done with the informed consent documents, he brought the middle-aged woman into the operating room.

Zheng Ren spent ten minutes searching for the patient's son. He found him in the fire escape.

The man was seated on the steps, focused on his game.

Zheng Ren dragged the man, who was visibly annoyed, back inside.

He sat him down in the office and activated a video recorder to begin informing him about the appendectomy.

Zheng Ren explained every line and item, from anesthesia risk to assisted ventilation, in detail.

The patient's son kept playing his game. Zheng Ren was not sure if he was listening to the many risks that came with surgery.

Zheng Ren did his duty, suppressing the urge to slap the man. He continued his explanation.

It took fifteen minutes for Zheng Ren to finish explaining the simple appendectomy.

This was the most difficult informed consent procedure that he had ever encountered.

To complete the procedure, Zheng Ren needed the man to sign the document. As the man's attention was mostly on his phone, Zheng Ren insisted he write a clause at the bottom of the page. With exasperation in his eyes, the man wrote as Zheng Ren instructed, 'I have been informed of the risks accompanying the appendectomy and agree to the procedure.'

He had been on his phone for too long. There were many characters that he had forgotten how to write.

Zheng Ren had to ask him to follow the printed characters on the document. For some, he had to write them out on a blank piece of paper so that the young man could copy them down.

The whole ordeal was more draining than performing a surgery.

Once consent was given, Zheng Ren called the operating room to begin preparations. He carefully placed the documents in his office drawer and locked it before leaving.

He headed straight to the changing room, changing into scrubs at record speed.

The surgical lamp was blinding but Zheng Ren found it reassuring. Its familiar light was more welcoming than the bastard he had faced minutes ago.

Su Yun stood by his side in the assistant's position. The lower right quadrant of the abdomen was covered in a piece of white, sterile covering.

Xie Yiren had her hands on the surgical tray. Only one of the Chu sisters was present but he was not sure if it was Chu Yanran or Chu Yanzhi.

The three were casually talking about Miss Yun's surgery in the operating room.

When Su Yun saw him, he greeted Zheng Ren with a mocking remark, "Hey! What took you so long to get consent? Did you swallow your bedside manners?" The man was in a much better mood than yesterday night.

"..."

"No wonder you eat so little."

Zheng Ren shook his head and proceeded to wash his hands.

"You don't have to operate," Su Yun said.

"Huh?"

"Take a look. If there's no issue, I'll perform the removal." Su Yun removed the covering to reveal the surgical site.

The abdomen had been cut open cleanly. The ligament and appendicular artery were visible under the surgical light.

Su Yun had done the initial work and waited for Zheng Ren to arrive.

The guy was capable.

Zheng Ren studied the site. "Go ahead, then. I won't scrub in," he replied.

He stood aside and observed Su Yun like a mentor.

Zheng Ren assessed Su Yun's methodology. He was using an advanced technique and his ability was only slightly below Zheng Ren's.

This assessment was reaffirmed by the clean laparotomy Su Yun performed prior.

A swollen appendix was tossed into the surgical tray and Su Yun began closing up the abdomen. The surgery proceeded swiftly with cooperation between Su Yun and Xie Yiren.

"Good," Zheng Ren commented.

"Not as good as you, but close. As a perfectionist, I have to admit that," Su Yun said as he stitched up the subcutaneous tissue.

Zheng Ren ignored the competitiveness in Su Yun's words. The surgery had gone well without interference and that was a win.

"When will Miss Yun's scan be ready?" Xie Yiren handed over the sterile dressing, then started to pack away the instruments.

"I'll follow up with them later." Su Yun applied the dressing expertly and announced the surgery to be complete.

They lifted the patient onto a trolley stretcher and prepared to return her. Su Yun put on his white coat and left alongside Zheng Ren.

Beyond the operating room, the patient's son was seated with his knees up on the red plastic chair. The man was so engrossed in his phone that he did not notice the door open.

He was totally cut off from the world.

Zheng Ren spoke up in an icy tone, "Come look at your mother."

His words fell on deaf ears as the patient's son continued to play with his phone.

"Hey!" Zheng Ren raised his voice.

The corridor outside the operating room was empty and his voice bounced off the walls, echoing off into the distance.

"Xiao Heng..." The patient's head lolled to one side in search of her precious son. Her body was positioned awkwardly as it was still under the effects of continuous epidural anesthesia.

"Don't move too much. You might tear the stitches," Zheng Ren warned.

Behind him, Su Yun spoke up: "Chief Zheng, you go ahead and send the patient back. I'm gonna go change."

Without waiting for Zheng Ren's reply, he turned his back to the deplorable scene and went back into the operating room.

'What a nimble escape,' Zheng Ren thought. A few seconds too slow and now he was stuck alone with the abhorrent young man.

There was nothing that could be done. Zheng Ren called the young man a few more times, volume rising a notch with each call. Suddenly, the young man looked up and shouted back, "Why are you yelling? Where are your manners?"

Zheng Ren was speechless at the young man's outburst.

Manners? Did he even know what manners were?

Zheng Ren did not take kindly to being lectured by a bastard like him.

Nevertheless, he kept his mouth shut. Even with Su Yun's cutthroat remarks, Zheng Ren was never this outspoken.

The young man looked at his phone and an angry expression flashed across his face. Perhaps in his few seconds of inattention, his character had been killed?

He was furious. He gritted his teeth as he contained his anger at the great injustice.

"Come help me push the stretcher," Zheng Ren implored tiredly.

The young man shot him a hateful glare but switched the phone off. With one hand at the foot of the stretcher, he tugged it along as Zheng Ren pushed.

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Chapter 114: A Fond Mother Spoils The Child

It took twelve minutes to travel from the operating room on the third floor to the emergency department ward on the second floor.

The patient was lifted onto the hospital bed. Zheng Ren breathed a sigh of relief.

The sky was already dark. Two to three hours for an appendectomy that he did not perform. It dissatisfied him somewhat.

Chang Yue was typing up the first-time admission record, the ward round record, the post-surgery record and other paperwork.

"Be wary of the patient's family," Zheng Ren warned Chang Yue.

Whether she heeded his warning would be another matter.

After the surgery, Su Yun headed for the CT room to follow up on the 64-slice CT scan.

Before the end of their shift, Old Chief Physician Pan took Zheng Ren, Chang Yue and Yang Lei for a ward round.

In most of the rooms, the patient's family welcomed them with smiles and laughter, complimenting the surgical skill that speeded up their patients' recovery. When they got to the room of the patient with acute appendicitis, they were greeted with a sight of her adult son taking up half the hospital bed. The patient was still recovering from anesthesia.

Old Chief Physician Pan's face was grim. "Get up, you."

He was a man who had been through war and witnessed countless deaths. The murderous aura currently radiating from the old man surprised Zheng Ren.

The patient's son was startled from his nap and was about to throw a tantrum when he saw Old Chief Physician Pan's expression.

Instead, he said nothing and curled up against his mother's side like a baby quail.

"Doctor, the child is just tired. He didn't get enough sleep last night," the middle-aged woman said as she fought her pain. She shifted her body and tried miserably to shield the young man.

Each movement brought a stab of pain to her incision site.

Old Chief Physician Pan coughed lightly. It was not his place to criticize the patient's parenting, so he began routine questioning.

Chang Yue stood behind him and wrote up the conversation.

"No major movement for a day. You can start eating after passing gas," Old Chief Physician Pan advised in the end. He turned to leave the room.

He was clearly in a bad mood, apparent from the look on his face.

That was the patient's son, not his. So, just like Zheng Ren before, Old Chief Physician Pan could only ball up his anger and keep it within himself.

The other patients in the room were stable. Old Chief Physician Pan had confidence in Zheng Ren's and Chang Yue's work ethics, so he only sat in briefly before leaving for the office.

An hour later, Su Yun returned with the 64-slice CT scan.

Zheng Yue placed the scan on the film viewer and used his phone to capture the image.

He studied the scan in detail and made sure his phone camera had captured it clearly. Then, he sent the photos to Chang Yue for her negotiations with Manager Feng from China Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery.

Chang Yue was not in the office. She was probably speaking with one of the patients.

Zheng Ren went to look for her to discuss Miss Yun's surgery.

...

...

It was another quiet night. As the weather got colder, fewer roadside stalls were open. There was less drunken fighting and even if there were, thicker clothing led to fewer injuries.

The drop in cases of emergency surgeries was a blessing to Zheng Ren's sleep schedule.

It was morning when Zheng Ren was woken by shouts from a patient's room.

A shiver crawled up his spine and he quickly rushed out.

Following the sounds, Zheng Ren managed to locate the source.

Before he could enter the room, the young man from before barged out furiously, nearly colliding into him.

Zheng Ren frowned. 'What's this young man up to again?'

He moved aside and allowed the man to stomp past before entering the patient's room.

The middle-aged woman who was recovering from her appendectomy had her head under the covers. From its shuddering, Zheng Ren gathered that she was crying.

The patients who shared the room, as well as their families, had looks of disapproval.

Zheng Ren asked, "What happened?"

Two of the patients who had more or less recovered remained silent. They had snuck off last night and therefore did not know the full story.

However, they were also shocked at the turn of the events.

One of the other patient's family members spoke up: "Her son wanted her to prepare a meal for him. I told him his mother was still recovering from her surgery and he should just order delivery. He got mad and slapped her."

"..."

Barbaric.

Zheng Ren sighed. He felt helpless. Some words of consolation would be nice, but it would be difficult to do so without being judgemental. After all, it was her parenting that led to this.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Zheng Ren decided to leave this conundrum to his junior, Chang Yue. Perhaps the fearless resident doctor could find a solution to this.

Zheng Ren went to the office and ran into her just clocking in. He gave her a summary of the patients' status and asked about the discussion with Manager Feng.

Manager Feng had been very cooperative. He had passed on the CT scan images to the professor in Sorcery Capital and they would have a verdict on the case after the professor's morning rounds.

Zheng Ren was eager to work with the professor. He wondered how being the Master rank in interventional surgery would compare against the world's best.

He had an inkling that the difference could be translated into the skill point difference between a Master and Grandmaster.

Nevertheless, he wanted to witness it with his own eyes.

As he was finishing up his paperwork, Chang Yue came into the office with an odd look on her face.

This was the first time Zheng Ren had seen this expression on her. He asked out of curiosity, "What's wrong?"

"A doting mother spoils the child."

That was pretty telling.

"She tried calling her son but all her calls were rejected. Then, he blocked her number."

There was nothing they could do about the situation, so he changed the topic to the Sorcery Capital professor.

Maybe Chang Yue could compose the patient, if she had the patience.

What could anyone say about an adult in his twenties acting like a wild animal?

Zheng Ren failed to hold back a sigh. He sat back down and started reading.

Chang Yue took a moment to manage her emotions. Then, with her spirits recovered, she trudged out into the hospital ward to get acquainted with patients and their families.

During lunch break, the wards were less hectic.

Some of the patients who lived near the hospital had covertly returned home after morning checks were complete.

Although insurance companies did not allow patients to leave the hospital, doctors could not force them to stay, either.

If they did so, it would be considered unlawful detention and could become a huge problem if a hard-headed family sued them for it.

In the hospital, they had the triple, double and single suites. Single rooms were limited, while triple rooms were usually cramped with three patients and their families making the air stuffy and uncomfortable. Therefore, doctors usually turned a blind eye to patients leaving their rooms as long as they signed liability disclaimers beforehand.

The rooms were thus filled with the three patients who had their surgeries only a day ago and could not walk yet.

These patients had undergone laparotomies. Patients who underwent laparoscopic splenectomy could usually go home in twenty-four hours post-surgery.

The muted hospital ward was preferable to Zheng Ren. He liked it more than the chaos of the first general surgery department.

After noon, Zheng Ren's phone beeped. It was a WeChat message from Manager Feng of China Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery.

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Chapter 115: One Tree Does Not Make A Forest

"Good day, Chief Zheng. This is Feng Xuhui speaking," the voice buzzed from the phone.

Zheng Ren could hear his youth cracking through.

"What did Professor Pei say?"

"He is up for it. I have already booked the flight for tomorrow. He should reach Sea City at 1.30 pm," Manager Feng said cheerfully.

"Good. Thank you for your help." Zheng Ren was relieved.

All was going well. Zheng Ren had worried the Sorcery Capital professor's schedule was full. A delay of one or two weeks could see changes in Miss Yun's liver tumor.

Hepatocellular carcinoma was one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths.

Zheng Ren shared the good news in the WeChat group.

Once that was done, he took his book and went to the on-call room to rest.

He was up too early and his body bemoaned the injustice. The lack of surgeries had made his body lethargic, so he decided to rest in case of emergencies coming in at night.

Zheng Ren found Su Yun sound asleep in the on-call room.

He laid down and entered the System.

It was time to check on his skills and missions.

As the morning surgery had been done by Su Yun, Zheng Ren doubted the System would mark it as one of his own. When he scrolled through the details, he saw a new mission had appeared without any announcement.

[Continuous Side Mission: One Tree Does Not A Forest Make

Surgeries are not meant for a single surgeon. Even the best surgeons need to rest. Therefore, it is time to develop an assistant surgeon.

Mission Details: Assistant completes ten surgeries.

Mission Reward: Master ranked 3D Reconstruction of CT Scans skill book.

Mission Duration: One week.]

The mission completion bar had one point in it from this morning's appendectomy.

One tree does not a forest make...if only Zheng Ren could pick another assistant. Although Su Yun was well-equipped to accomplish such a mission easily, Zheng Ren was still not fond of him.

He was somewhat curious about the mission reward, though. This was the first time the System had offered a book for a specific skill branch. Zheng Ren had not thought of a use for 3D CT scan reconstruction, but an additional skill was never a bad thing.

It was peaceful inside the System. The lake was crystal clear and the traces of blood on the lifelike fox statue had disappeared. Its eyes gleamed as if it was alive and Zheng Ren could feel its gaze.

Without distortion and stench of blood in the air, Zheng Ren felt at peace in the System.

He browsed through the System Shop. A look at his remaining experience points made him close the Shop menu.

It had been a few days without any missions, so this continuous side mission was better than nothing, although he was still more interested in getting his general surgery skills to Master rank.

With a slight taste of disappointment, Zheng Ren left the System.

He took an hour-long nap before being woken by a phone call. There was a case of acute appendicitis that needed his consultation.

Zheng Ren quickly rolled off the bed and put on his shoes. Su Yun was already awake, his eyes bright and aware.

'He really does look like a protagonist,' Zheng Ren thought.

The two went to the emergency department. After the consultation, they decided surgery was necessary. The patient was brought to Chang Yue and Yang Lei for registration and preoperative preparations.

With the ongoing side mission on hand, Zheng Ren decided to step aside and go in as the assistant, yielding the patient to Su Yun.

Su Yun took the opportunity given. Be it a laparotomy or laparoscopy, he displayed remarkable surgical skill and a profound knowledge of anatomy.

He was definitely more than a pretty face.

There were more patients today. They had two more cases of acute appendicitis and another of acute cholecystitis from noon to night.

For the laparoscopic cholecystectomy, Su Yun let Zheng Ren take the lead. He was required to observe the surgery once before he could replicate it.

Zheng Ren did not care who the lead surgeon was, as long as they were an adequate assistant. Su Yun handled all three acute appendicitis cases, one of which required a laparoscopic procedure. The side mission completion bar was now at six points. A few more appendectomies and he would accomplish the mission.

This was a great day, with emergency patients all throughout it. The last surgery ended at midnight and the emergency department was calm again.

Xie Yiren went home, adamant to not stay in the hospital. Zheng Ren worried for her safety but could never persuade her to stay, so he gave up trying.

The Chu sisters had arranged their work schedule to take turns with the night shift. As Zheng Ren could not tell them apart, he could only guess whose turn it was today.

After a silent night, the group were well-rested as they prepared to receive the fly-in surgeon from Sorcery Capital, Professor Pei.

Zheng Ren was on call in the emergency department, so he left it to Chang Yue to liaise with Feng Xuhui.

She kept them updated on the journey. Manager Feng was already at the airport an hour early. There were no delays to the flight and things were moving as planned.

At 1:45 pm, Manager Feng picked up Professor Pei and headed to the hospital.

They had asked Professor Pei if he would like to make any preparations, and the man requested to meet the patient before the surgery started.

Zheng Ren was glad. Many fly-in surgeons lived a fast-paced life and did not bother meeting the patient.

A short talk with the patient would make a surgeon more cautious during the surgery. Zheng Ren considered the gesture admirable.

Manager Feng's messages kept coming in, keeping them updated of their journey from the airport to the city center.

Zheng Ren thought Manager Feng was too nervous; perhaps it was the first big project of his career.

Careful execution was important. Recklessness could cause everything to fall apart.

At 2:40 pm, Manager Feng sent them another message, stating that they were in sight of the hospital.

"The professor is arriving." Zheng Ren patted down his clothes. He had not put on a shirt and tie for the occasion but did change into a new white coat.

"With your appearance, dressing up would just elicit the opposite response," Su Yun said without batting an eye. Maybe he thought being truthful outweighed tact.

Zheng Ren was already immune to his insults.

Silently, they waited. Ten minutes passed and all was still quiet.

There was no update from Manager Feng.

Chang Yue was getting anxious but Zheng Ren considered that perhaps they were having trouble locating a parking spot around the hospital.

Another five minutes went by and there was still no sign of them.

Zheng Ren sat down and dialed Feng Xuhui's number.

"Manager Feng? Is everything okay?"

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Chapter 116: Minor Accident

Chang Yue looked anxious. Her eyes searched Zheng Ren's for answers.

Su Yun finally asked out loud, "What's wrong?"

"They had an accident at the hospital entrance. Professor Pei is being sent to the emergency department," Zheng Ren said as he rushed downstairs.

Change Yue made to follow, but Zheng Ren ordered her away.

In the emergency room, Zheng Ren saw Manager Feng standing at the door of Chief Physician Pan's office, a look of despair on his face.

He sped up to reach Manager Feng. "How's the professor?"

"A three-wheeled motorcycle collided with the car. Professor Pei's left knee was injured when the emergency brake kicked in. His knee hit the front seat."

Their prudent planning had fallen apart right outside the hospital.

"Where is he now?"

"In the emergency rescue room," Old Chief Physician Pan said.

Zheng Ren immediately rushed in and saw an old man with graying hair on the hospital bed.

The top right corner of his vision brought up his diagnosis: the soft tissue around his left knee joint was injured and the cruciate ligaments were damaged. Zheng Ren had mixed feelings about this.

The injury was not severe, but with his ligaments damaged, the professor needed two to three days of rest before he could even walk properly.

It was not life-threatening or chronic, but today's surgery would have to be delayed.

Old Chief Physician Pan greeted Professor Pei and asked about his injury.

"Nothing serious." Professor Pei's body was fit for his age. He waved his hand and continued, "Just some minor trauma to the soft tissue and cruciate ligaments. Nothing major, really."

"Let's do a scan to make sure," Old Chief Physician Pan said, concerned.

Professor Pei tried to decline the offer but Old Chief Physician Pan insisted. Zheng Ren ended up wheeling the professor to the NMRI room.

The results confirmed the diagnosis made by the System and Professor Pei. It was not a serious injury.

Professor Pei was frustrated. He sighed and asked, "What happens now with the surgery?"

Zheng Ren had been mulling this issue. He thought for a moment and asked, "Professor Pei, if you don't mind, could you guide us through the surgery?"

A guided surgery involved the professor giving step-by-step guidance while junior doctors did the legwork.

"Have you done the procedure before?" Professor Pei asked curiously.

He was under the impression that Sea City General Hospital had state-of-the-art facilities but no interventional surgery experts.

This was why China Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery targeted Sea City for their debut.

"I've done a few cases. Uterine and renal artery embolizations; mainly surgeries to control bleeding," Zheng Ren answered truthfully.

"That's good enough." Professor Pei nodded in approval. "If there's any difficulty, I will step up. My body may not be young anymore, so I can't stand on one leg for too long. Thank you for helping."

"No, thank you for even coming," Zheng Ren said to the old man. He had the utmost respect for the medical practitioner. The old man had strong ethics alongside his superb surgical skill.

Professor Pei was fidgety. Perhaps it was true that every surgeon had minor obsessive compulsive disorder; as long as there was surgery to be done, they would be restless.

At Professor Pei's request, Zheng Ren wheeled him to the emergency ward.

"Ding dong~!" the System chimed.

Oh? A mission?

[Continuous Mission—Doctors with Parental Heart 2: Hope Amidst Despair

Mission Details: Complete the liver cancer tumor embolization.

Mission Reward: 100 skill points and 1000 experience points.

Mission Duration: 4 hours.]

Chang Yue was anxiously waiting for news. When she saw Zheng Ren approaching with a wheelchair, her heart fell.

Professor Pei introduced himself to Zheng Yunxia and they discussed her case. Then, he asked for her CT scans and spent a few minutes analyzing them in an office. FInally, he was satisfied.

The preoperative preparations were complete and Chang Yue brought Zheng Yunxia up to the operating room on the third floor.

They took a while to reach the room as it was Chang Yue's first time transporting a patient there. Normally, Su Yun or Zheng Ren would do the honors.

Professor Pei looked around the interventional suite in the operating room and was very impressed.

Meanwhile, Zheng Ren and Su Yun got down to business.

No one spoke at that point. The only difference in this surgery was its difficulty and the professor's guidance.

Su Yun started disinfection and placed the surgical drapes over the patient. Zheng Ren changed into the System's special lead vest, scrubbed in and started femoral artery cannulation.

...

...

The System was humming, but unlike before, the livestream on Xinglin Garden did not begin.

After a moment, the humming disappeared and the System was silent.

There was no livestream this time.

...

Through the thick lead-glass window, Professor Pei watched the two surgeons busying themselves in the operating room. "Where did Little Zheng learn interventional surgery?"

Old Chief Physician Pan, standing beside Professor Pei, answered the sensitive question. "He must have learned it in his past. I'm not too sure, either, but I watched his past two surgeries and saw nothing amiss."

He was glad that Zheng Ren was not in the room.

If Zheng Ren gave an honest answer, that he once watched it performed during his housemanship, the professor could become angry.

The boy was a good person, but at times, he was too honest.

Old Chief Physician Pan liked that Zheng Ren was good at surgery. Hence, his flaws were balanced out.

"I see. Let's see how it goes then." Professor Pei could only comment as much.

An emergency embolization was not the same as embolization for a liver cancer tumor.

During emergency embolizations, the target blood vessel was usually bigger and easier to access, but for a liver cancer tumor, the embolization of 4th-grade arteries was needed to ensure high efficacy of treatment.

However, the boy only needed to know the basics. Professor Pei would scrub in when it was time for arterial superselective catheterization.

As the two old men talked shop, the vascular sheath had already been inserted and the guide wire was slowly entering the femoral artery.

"The pair seem very accustomed to the surgery. Steady hands," Professor Pei said, nodding with approval.

Femoral artery catheterization was a medium-difficulty procedure, but Zheng Ren succeeded on his first attempt. Although the patient did not suffer hypovolemia, it was rare to see a non-specialized doctor in a small city like Sea City perform the procedure with such proficiency.

Old Chief Physician Pan smiled but said nothing. Zheng Ren had always been successful on the first attempt.

However, he did have a few worries as Zheng Ren had never done liver cancer tumor embolization before. Who knew what could go wrong?

The guide wire was in place and Su Yun switched on the imaging system.

In the control room, the live image of the surgery appeared on the 40-inch screen. Professor Pei watched it attentively.

The room was dead silent. The procedure required an administration of chemotherapy drugs into the liver, so Xie Yiren was there to pass them the concoction. This form of targeted delivery minimized side effects.

The Chu sisters, Chang Yue, and Feng Xuhui had nothing to do but remain in the room. No one spoke, afraid to interrupt Professor Pei's thought process.

In the operating room, under X-ray radiation, Zheng Ren slowly maneuvered the thin silhouette of the guide wire into the target vessel.

"Commendable superselection skills," Professor Pei lauded.

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Chapter 117: Major Accident

"He's experienced." The professor's praise made Old Chief Physician Pan incredibly happy.

He shielded Zheng Ren from people's anger but showed humility at the professor's compliments.

Zheng Ren was like his own son. The boy was very talented and deserving.

"The superselection was well-done," Professor Pei said a few minutes later, impressed.

The guide wire moved from the hepatic to the branching artery. The path got narrower as Zheng Ren maneuvered deeper into the network of vessels, each branch requiring him to enter a new vessel. The process was extremely difficult.

Manager Feng's face was tense as he watched the surgery.

This was the first challenge in his field and he had used a lot of resources to bring Professor Pei from Sorcery Capital to ensure the surgery was flawless.

As luck would have it, they had gotten into an accident right outside the hospital gates and now, Professor Pei was not fit to perform surgery.

Although Professor Pei had not suffered any major injuries, Manager Feng expected the surgery to be called off, leaving him to pack his bags and leave Sea City with nothing to show for it.

'A roaring start that ends with a whimper,' Manager Feng had thought as he despaired about his career.

An unexpected blessing had come in the form of a young chief resident from the emergency department.

Manager Feng's worries had been quelled by Professor Pei's assent to a guided surgery.

Five minutes passed and the superselection was done. The guide wire was maneuvered through the femoral artery and into the 4th-grade vessel that was 1cm away from the tumor.

The guide catheter made its entrance, followed by the guide wire, which was established for the catheter—a thick and flexible tube—to follow its path to the tumor.

Zheng Ren's technique was delicate, accurate and flawless in execution.

Professor Pei watched the screen, rapt. Although he said nothing, his look of admiration was evident.

He expected this level of performance from himself, but did not expect to find another surgeon with similar skills in this small city. Clearly, there was hidden talent to be uncovered.

When the catheter reached the tumor site, Su Yun switched off the imaging system. He waved to the control room while his other hand held onto the guide wire and catheter.

Xie Yiren took the cue and went through the heavy lead door. It was time for drug administration.

The chemotherapy drugs had to be prepared on the spot as there was the possibility of a prolonged or failed superselection.

Hepatocellular carcinoma was unlike other forms of cancer with first-line and second-line chemotherapy. For many years, surgical excision of the tumor was the only effective treatment.

In the last decade, the rise of interventional radiology-assisted techniques and the development of targeted medicine such as sorafenib gave hepatocellular carcinoma patients a better chance.

Through clinical studies, doctors realized a combination of chemotherapy drugs and the embolization of the artery supplying nutrients to the tumor produced the best results.

Chemotherapy drugs were known as 'poisons' as their efficacy lay in their cytotoxicity. During surgery, the drug would be delivered to the tumor before the artery was embolized, effectively steeping the tumor in poison. After the artery was embolized, there would be no more nutrients supplied to the tumor.

It was a successful two-pronged strategy.

Xie Yiren was quick with her hands. The drugs were prepared and loaded into the pressure injector. She gave Zheng Ren an encouraging fist pump before closing the heavy lead door behind her.

After the drugs were administered, Zheng Ren performed the iodized oil embolization of the artery.

Once the process was complete, he started up the imaging system.

This step was akin to the saline rinse of normal surgeries. It allowed the surgeon to check for mistakes.

Professor Pei was in a relaxed mood. Jovially, he said, "I had thought that I would need to step up to perform the superselection, but your subordinate managed it admirably."

"Oh, you're being too kind," Old Chief Physician Pan said with a wide smile.

The image was transmitted to the control room screen.

The smile on Professor Pei's face froze as it gazed upon it.

Zheng Yunxia had only one tumor, but it was 8cm big. It was half the height of her liver.

In the image, the bottom half of the tumor was not visible, indicating a successful embolization.

However...

The top half of the tumor was still there.

"Tsk..." Professor Pei's expression darkened.

"Professor Pei, this is..." Old Chief Physician Pan had read up on interventional-radiology assisted surgery earlier, but his 60-year-old brain no longer retained information well. Without any practical knowledge, he could not make out what the situation was.

"The image differs from the CT scans taken prior to the surgery." Professor Pei walked up to the screen and pointed. "The lower half of the tumor is being sustained by the hepatic artery branch but the upper half must be getting nutrients from another artery."

"Which artery could it be?" Old Chief Physician Pan asked.

"I'm not sure. It could be any vessel since tumors can stimulate angiogenesis." Professor Pei shook his head. "The worst case scenario would be a branch from the spinal artery. If that's the case, the embolization procedure has a high risk of causing paralysis."

The room was silent.

Everyone but Xie Yiren looked worried. She, however, seemed to have utmost confidence in Zheng Ren's abilities.

In her opinion, no procedure was out of Zheng Ren's reach.

"Of course, the difficulty lies in locating the blood vessel that supplies nutrients. You need a little bit of luck for that." Professor Pei shook his head.

Soon, Zheng Ren appeared in the control room in his surgical scrubs.

"Professor Pei, what do you think?" Zheng Ren asked.

"If you don't have confidence in it, end the surgery," Professor Pei said grimly as he looked straight into Zheng Ren's lead glasses. "Although it will not be a total success, this surgery would inhibit the lower half of the tumor and extend the patient's life expectancy by three to six months."

Zheng Ren remained silent.

"The other choice would be to find the artery that supplies blood to the top half of the tumor, but it's not going to be easy."

The Chu sisters and Xie Yiren did not want a slipshod surgery. In their few days of knowing Zheng Yunxia, they had all become good friends. They had a personal stake in this, apart from their professional background.

However!

The surgeon would have to endure prolonged radiation exposure.

Although there was protective gear, it was only helpful against short-term exposure. Prolonged exposure to X-rays would make even Iron Man queasy.

A twelve-hour surgery was vastly different from a twelve-hour interventional surgery.

One was exhausting, but the other could lead to the death of the surgeon.

The room was once again silent.

Should they encourage Zheng Ren to try his best?

Should they ask Zheng Ren to forfeit?

They were all caught in a bind.

"Let me try," Zheng Ren answered with a determined nod.

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Chapter 118: Life And Death Are Fated

"Just try your best and don't be too hard on yourself," said Old Chief Physician Pan after a few moments of hesitation.

However, before he could finish, Zheng Ren had already returned to the interventional radiology suite, closing the lead door behind him and giving the crowd a smile with crinkled eyes.

It was a genuine smile of trustworthiness rather than bravado.

The surgery resumed.

Zheng Ren reinitiated superselective catheterization. Since the hepatic artery had been superselected, his next target would be the renal artery.

His manipulation remained proficient and stable.

Once the micro-guidewire entered the designated artery, he inserted the microcatheter and obtained an angiographic image. Unfortunately, the renal artery was not the culprit.

The process of elimination was their only option.

After excluding the hepatic artery and the renal artery, Zheng Ren began superselecting the superior mesenteric artery.

Fifteen minutes later, the results were once again disappointing.

Professor Pei and Old Chief Physician Pan's expressions gradually darkened. One hour had passed and Zheng Ren had spent most of this time exposed to radiation.

'We should give up now,' Old Chief Physician Pan thought.

He could make neither head nor tail of interventional radiology, but if Professor Pei from Sorcery Capital could not find fault with Zheng Ren, then this was simply destined.

Not all diseases could be treated.

Intraoperative findings being completely different from preoperative test results in a seemingly simple surgery was a common occurrence in the medical field.

After all, the truth was hidden underneath skin; it was impossible for tests alone to always be consistent with a direct view.

'If someone must take responsibility in this case, let me be the bad guy.'

Old Chief Physician Pan made up his mind and pressed a button on the intercom.

"Zheng Ren, time's up," he said with a heavy heart.

If possible, no one would give up on saving the patient.

However, things did not go their way.

On the battlefield, how many comrades could have been rescued if blood had been transfused in time? How many could have avoided amputation had a sterile operating theater been available?

It was a great idea, but impractical.

It was impossible even for the United States with its tremendous war machine.

There was only so much a man could do.

This...

This was fate!

Old Chief Physician Pan's words momentarily stunned both Zheng Ren and Su Yun, but instead of giving up on the surgery and leaving the interventional radiology suite, they started exchanging views.

Professor Pei sighed heavily. He had witnessed the same situation countless times and had given up on at least a hundred surgeries in his lifetime.

Who could hold the surgeon responsible when even he could not locate the crucial artery? Besides, even a surgeon would collapse after prolonged radiation exposure, what more the patient?

A few minutes later, the duo in the suite started arguing; even outside observers could detect their hostility through the thick lead door and radiation-shielded glass.

Old Chief Physician Pan immediately stood, opened the lead door and entered the suite.

"What are you guys doing?!" His imperious aura burst out instantly.

"I'm going to try again," Zheng Ren said calmly, "Su Yun has been exposed to radiation for more than an hour. He should leave now."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Had it not been for the fact that Su Yun was wearing a pair of sterile gloves, he would have brushed his bangs aside to express contempt for Zheng Ren.

"I'm the surgeon, so I've the right to make the decision," replied Zheng Ren.

"Do you seriously think—"

"That's enough!" Old Chief Physician Pan interrupted their argument. Shifting his gaze between the bickering duo and taking note of Zheng Ren's determination, he said, "Try again. Su Yun, come with me."

Su Yun could quarrel with and humiliate Zheng Ren with his harsh tongue, but there was absolutely nothing he could say to Old Chief Physician Pan.

Exasperated, he ripped off his sterile surgical gown and tossed it into the biohazard waste bin. Then, like a dejected deserter, he followed Old Chief Physician Pan out of the interventional radiology suite.

His head lowered, the black hair on his forehead danced weakly as the heavy lead door closed.

He removed his lead apron and casually threw it to a corner of the operator's console room.

The lead apron weighed a few kilograms and made a loud bang upon contact, venting the dissatisfaction in his heart.

Old Chief Physician Pan ignored Su Yun's childish behavior, expecting such an attitude of youth.

Besides, the surgery was still ongoing. Even if he was going to reprimand the man, he would do so in private after this was over.

The surgery resumed following the calming of the small storm.

Zheng Ren's movements became slower and more cautious in Su Yun's absence.

Using the crossed-hands maneuver this time, he restarted superselective catheterization.

"Chief Physician Pan, your doctor is good," said Professor Pei, whose eyes were glued to the screen.

Old Chief Physician Pan smiled bitterly. The better the surgeon, the more awkward he was in such a situation.

Chang Yue noticed the dark green patch on the back of Su Yun's surgical attire. Performing surgery in an outfit weighing a few kilograms required both physical and mental strength.

She turned around and left the room before returning with a bottle of water in her hand.

"Thank you," said Su Yun, who averted his gaze from the feed from the interventional radiology suite as he accepted the water.

Chang Yue wanted to console him, but words failed to leave her quivering lips.

In the suite, Zheng Ren had superselected the hepatic, renal and superior mesenteric arteries, and was currently superselecting the radiculomedullary artery.

It was still incorrect!

Instead of ending the surgery as promised, Zheng Ren began superselection of the next artery.

Old Chief Physician Pan could not help himself. He pressed the intercom button and said sternly, "Zheng Ren, I order you to end the surgery now!"

On the operation table lay Zheng Yunxia, fully aware of everything that had happened as she had been given only local anesthesia via the femoral artery at the base of her thigh.

Upon hearing Old Chief Physician Pan's words, she suddenly said, "Doctor Zheng, let's end this now.

"Life and death are fated, and I know I'm doomed. Thank you all so much for your help, I really appreciate it."

Zheng Ren's hand froze for a few seconds before he put down the micro-guidewire and microcatheter, saying softly, "Don't move."

Then, he left the suite.

"Chief Physician Pan, artery superselection is almost complete," Zheng Ren said firmly, "If we give up now, everything we've done will be for nothing."

"It has been two hours! Something must have gone wrong somewhere! Who can give me an explanation?!" Enraged, Old Chief Physician Pan was roaring like a fierce lion.

"Doctor Zheng, just do your best and finish the surgery." Even though Professor Pei was not in the position to order anyone around, he could still give advice.

Zheng Ren shook his head without hesitation and replied, "Chief Physician Pan, let me try again."

"That's what you said just now!"

"I'm the surgeon now and I understand the current situation better than anyone," Zheng Ren said determinedly. "There aren't many arteries left for me to rule out now. What I can think of at the moment are the short gastric artery and aorta, so it'll be over soon. Am I right, Professor Pei?"

Professor Pei contemplated it for a while in his wheelchair.

There was pin-drop silence in the operator's console room.

"Rule out the intercostal arteries as well." Professor Pei was very careful with his words.

Zheng Ren nodded in response and turned to look at Old Chief Physician Pan.

Old Chief Physician Pan met his gaze for five seconds.

"Three times. I'll give you three attempts at superselection," he decided.

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Chapter 119: Be My Doctoral Student

Unusual arteries were usually thinner and more complicated, so it was particularly difficult to superselect the designated artery on the first attempt.

Arteries such as the hepatic, uterine and renal arteries were considered straight highways compared to the next artery Zheng Ren was going to superselect.

The radiculomedullary artery had a very complicated network. Zheng Ren carefully worked out the dosage of the contrast medium and parsimoniously made every injection after precise analysis and calculation.

He was worried about excessive contrast medium administration, which could force the end of the surgery.

Prolonged radiation exposure, which was constantly on Old Chief Physician Pan's mind, did not concern him in the slightest.

The System's reward, the lead apron with radioactive energy conversion properties, was extremely powerful. Rather than become more tired, the longer Zheng Ren stood in the interventional radiology suite, the more energetic he felt; even his manipulation became increasingly accurate.

Professor Pei, who was attentively watching Zheng Ren attempt to superselect the radiculomedullary artery from the operator's console room, sighed in amazement when it was successful.

Old Chief Physician Pan was afraid that Zheng Ren had reached his physical limit and immediately asked, "Professor Pei, what's wrong?"

"Chief Physician Pan, your chief resident is truly amazing!"

"Huh?"

"The radiculomedullary artery has a very distinctive anatomical structure and varies hugely between each individual. I wouldn't even have touched it had I been the surgeon in charge."

He paused momentarily and excitedly pointed to the screen.

"Had I been in his position, my body definitely would've given out. Therefore, my maneuvering would be erratic and imprecise. However, from Chief Zheng's manipulation, it's as if his physical state is actually improving as time goes by."

Old Chief Physician Pan was flabbergasted.

The man was actually getting more energetic despite performing the surgery in a lead apron that weighed a few kilograms for three hours? Was that a joke?

Even ancient generals could only fight at peak performance for a limited time in full body armor.

Was Zheng Ren possessed by the spirit of Zhao Zilong of Changshan, who charged seven times through the ranks of his enemies during the Battle of Changban?

Despite the successful superselection of the radiculomedullary artery, the angiography revealed that it was not the one feeding the tumor.

Everyone in the operator's console room simultaneously felt disappointment and relief.

If that artery had been the culprit, the surgery could not proceed any further.

Zheng Ren had superselected a few possible arteries, but none of them had been responsible for supplying the tumor according to the angiography.

Short gastric... Intercostal... None of them were responsible for feeding the tumor.

Like finding a needle in a haystack, Zheng Ren had no choice but to keep trying.

Most arteries had been excluded...

Zheng Ren started searching for an answer from within his Master-rank interventional radiology recollections.

Could it be the phrenic artery? It was highly unlikely, but he had to try despite the low possibility.

Just when Zheng Ren was about to superselect the phrenic artery, a bell suddenly rang out in his ears.

[Doctors with Parental Heart 2: Countdown initiated.]

[Ten...]

[Nine...]

Zheng Ren was briefly stunned as he had completely forgotten the mission at hand.

[Five...]

[Four...]

If he ended the surgery now, he would be able to receive the rewards—skill and experience points—that he desperately needed.

However, after a brief moment of hesitation, he ignored the System's cold, monotonous robotic female voice and stubbornly began superselection of the phrenic artery.

The mission?

F*ck that fickle-minded *sshole!

An unfinished task was not a big deal.

The System's robotic female voice vanished into thin air as soon as the countdown was complete. Zheng Ren did not give a damn about it and directed his entire attention towards superselecting the phrenic artery.

The micro-guidewire successfully entered the artery...

Commencing microcatheter insertion...

Using the pressure injector, Zheng Ren began injecting the desired dosage of contrast medium with extreme caution and precision.

One second after the administration of contrast medium, the upper half of the liver tumor, like a shy woman, gradually appeared on the screen in the operator's console room.

"Woah!" Chu Yanzhi immediately jumped up in excitement.

Chu Yanran slowly exhaled and leaned against the wall. Once her overly-tensed up nerves relaxed, energy drained from her body and her legs turned to jelly.

Clenching his fists tightly, Old Chief Physician Pan triumphantly waved his right arm as if had just watched his soldiers gloriously charge through heavy suppressive fire and take down an enemy command center.

On the other hand, Professor Pei reclined into his wheelchair and narrowed his eyes.

The subsequent steps were no longer difficult as everything would be done according to standard procedure.

This young man...

He wanted this talented man!

The surgery ended ten minutes later.

Zheng Ren used a piece of sterile gauze to compress the puncture site on the patient's femoral artery.

Su Yun entered the interventional radiology suite, placed his hand on the gauze and silently shouldered Zheng Ren aside, avoiding any direct eye contact.

'He is pissed.' Zheng Ren wanted to say something, but fought the urge to do so due to his inexperience in such matters.

He tore off his surgical gown and threw it into the biohazard waste bin before leaving the interventional radiology suite.

Upon noticing the darkness outside the window, Zheng Ren thought, 'Time really flies.'

A bottle of water emerged before him. It was from Xie Yiren.

Zheng Ren smiled awkwardly to express his gratitude.

"Chief Zheng, thank you." Chang Yue conveyed her sincere appreciation in a straightforward, simple manner.

"Don't mention it." Zheng Ren accepted the bottle of purified water and gulped it down.

"Little Zheng, come here." Professor Pei smiled and waved his hand.

Zheng Ren approached him.

"You must have studied somewhere to acquire such skills," Professor Pei inquired, "Perhaps a tutor specifically trained you in this field."

Zheng Ren kept quiet and smiled.

Professor Pei was merely showing his heartfelt admiration without looking for an answer.

"There'll be a national interventional radiology annual conference in the near future; would you be interested?" Professor Pei said.

"It depends. To be honest, I... I'm actually a general surgeon," answered Zheng Ren.

"Huh?"

"I'm licensed to practice general surgery," Zheng Ren explained, "Due to my recent transfer to the emergency department, I'm qualified to perform related emergency surgery as well."

Professor Pei noticed Zheng Ren's anxiety and smiled. "That's not what I asked, so why are you so nervous? You're obviously talented and have a high level of competency and patience."

Zheng Ren responded to Professor Pei's compliments with another slightly embarrassed smile

Old Chief Physician Pan asked out of concern, "Are you tired? Do you want to take a break?"

"I'm not tired," answered Zheng Ren, who was standing upright. Old Chief Physician Pan gave him a gentle punch on the chest as he was standing at just the right angle.

This was an old habit in the army as a form of commendation, but no one did this in a hospital, especially when Zheng Ren had just been performing surgery for almost four hours while wearing a lead apron that weighed a few kilograms.

Old Chief Physician Pan immediately became embarrassed upon realizing his mistake.

Like King Kong climbing the Empire State Building, Zheng Ren quickly beat his chest with his own fist, producing several loud thumps to indicate that he was absolutely fine.

"Little Zheng, what's your educational background?" asked Professor Pei.

"Undergraduate."

"I've a slot for a successive master-doctoral program next year. Are you interested in becoming my doctoral student? There won't be any examinations. You just have to come in and I'll personally handle your registration."

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Chapter 120: Perfect Ending

Employee poaching in Old Chief Physician Pan's presence?

That was awkward.

However, Professor Pei thought nothing of it as he merely had a pure love for talented students.

Once young men like Zheng Ren with skills comparable to himself were placed on another high-level platform, they would be flooded with infinite opportunity for development; as the saying went, "the immense sea allows fish to leap at liberty, while the vast sky lets birds freely fly."

Even those who fell would not fall as far.

Zheng Ren quickly grinned and said, "Thank you so much, Professor Pei, but I'm really busy and have lots of work to do, so I don't think I'll be furthering my studies anytime soon."

His answer slightly relieved Old Chief Physician Pan.

Professor Pei smiled and stopped pushing the subject. Adults had to choose their own paths, and accept the consequences of missing a golden opportunity.

The surgery's success instantly lifted the gloomy atmosphere. Just when Zheng Ren was about to wheel Professor Pei out of the room, Chang Yue squeezed past him and took over the wheelchair.

"Just tag along and have a good rest later," she said to Zheng Ren in an unusually pleasant tone.

Zheng Ren had a feeling that his rank had become higher following the completion of this surgery. Even though the mission had ended in failure, it was not a big deal.

What could make a surgeon happier apart from a flawless operation?

The group left the operator's console room, leaving one of the Chu sisters to help Su Yun transfer the patient back to the ward and Xie Yiren to handle postoperative procedures.

The door opened to the deserted and empty hall of the third floor of the emergency building, which was chilly despite being brightly lit.

There, they saw a figure pacing anxiously in the hallway.

Zheng Ren, who was alcohol-intolerant, could detect a strong scent of booze from the man even from three to five meters away.

It was dinnertime, so why was he reeking of drink already?

How much had he consumed if he had been binge-drinking since afternoon, leaving such a strong residue?

Due to having frequently encountered patients involved in traffic collisions caused by drunk driving, Zheng Ren was rather prejudiced against drunkards.

When the door finally opened, the man quickly stood, bowed so deeply that his head almost hit the floor, and asked humbly, "May I ask which one of you is the manager of Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery?"

Feng Xuhui instantly recognized him.

He hurried forward and asked, "Yes?"

"My name is Li Huai. Whatever happened just now was an accident, so please forgive me. I beg you, please think of me as a fart and let me go." The man repeatedly bowed, beyond subservient, as if he was merely an insignificant speck of dust.

"My lover has a malignant tumor and I desperately need money for consultation. Please, I beg you."

Feng Xuhui's expression darkened as this was the culprit who had driven a tri-wheeled motorcycle into Professor Pei earlier this afternoon. However, he was reluctant to say anything further due to Li Huai's financial difficulties and humility.

Financial compensation was obviously not a viable option, not that it would be significant to someone like Professor Pei. Besides, Li Huai could end up divorced and his lover too poverty-stricken for consultation, an undesirable outcome for all involved.

Therefore, Manager Feng decided to give him some advice and forgive him.

However, Chang Yue, who was pushing Professor Pei out of the interventional radiology suite, immediately froze and stared unblinkingly at Li Huai for a few seconds before a question squeezed past her gritted teeth. "Li Huai? Are you thirty years old?"

"Huh." The question startled Li Huai, but he promptly smiled and answered, "Yes, you have great observation."

"Your birthday falls on the second of November?" asked Chang Yue with a penetrating glare.

"..." Li Huai was dumbfounded.

Accurately guessed a man's age was possible, but how did she know his birthday? Was it possible that she had thoroughly investigated him after the accident?

This very thought sent a chill down Li Huai's spine and he forgot to answer her question.

"Your ex-wife is Zheng Yunxia?" She ignored his silence and drilled harder.

It was him!

Zheng Ren had been confused when Chang Yue, a kind and gentle soul, started interrogating the pathetic tri-wheeled motorcyclist, but now he understood everything perfectly.

Anyone, even the slowest of mind, would know that something was definitely wrong.

"Zheng Yunxia?" Professor Pei asked, "Isn't she the patient from earlier?"

"Yes, Professor Pei." Chang Yue stopped inquiring further, averted her gaze and pushed the wheelchair to the elevator. "Your current wife also has a malignant tumor? How unfortunate."

Chang Yue explained Zheng Yunxia's situation to Professor Pei along the way.

Li Huai remained behind, desolate.

Even though drunk driving a tri-wheeled motorcycle was a felony, it was not a conventional motor vehicle, which meant there was still room to bargain.

Li Huai had spent a considerable amount of effort persuading his current brother-in-law to release him on bail through various connections.

However, legal processes such as civil damage compensation were obligatory, and if the victim raised an objection, the drunk driving offense alone would be enough to send him to a detention center for at least half a month.

Since when had Zheng Yunxia developed such a good relationship with these doctors? Staring blankly at the departing group, Li Huai tried to summon his courage and plead for mercy, but he immediately changed his mind after recalling Chang Yue's piercing gaze.

Why would he approach them and get humiliated again when his lie had just been exposed?

However, if he chose not to go...

Forsaken and regretful, he was caught in a dilemma, but that remorse soon changed to shame and rage. That f*cking b*tch, she had developed such a good relationship with doctors and kept it a secret from him!

...

...

When Zheng Yunxia returned to the emergency ward, Professor Pei insisted on checking on her in order to be able to finally relax.

Nausea and vomiting were common side effects of chemotherapy, so Zheng Yunxia was advised to tilt her head to the side to prevent aspiration pneumonia.

The surgery had been successful and its outcome satisfying. Since Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery had acquired the best materials for publication possible, Feng Xuhui was insightful enough to promise Chang Yue that justice would be served.

Everyone was greatly satisfied.

Traditionally, they had to bring the professor from Sorcery Capital to a meal and see him off after the surgery was over. That way, it would be easier to contact him in the future as a social connection had been established.

Old Chief Physician Pan asked Zheng Ren to rest in the emergency department out of worry that he was bone-tired. Yang Lei was instructed to stay back as well to manage any urgent situation that could arise while Zheng Ren had a break in the meantime.

The night was getting late, and the wind mercilessly rammed falling snowflakes into the window.

Zheng Ren and Yang Lei chatted in the office.

They had both gotten along well during their time in the first general surgery department.

Yang Lei's parents were laid-off workers in Sea City of average affordability, but he was very enthusiastic and always invited Zheng Ren to his house for dinner after work.

He did not have innate talent, but was a hard worker who constantly devoted himself to work wholeheartedly and without complaint. However, his efforts had gone unnoticed as if he was invisible.

Despite the intense pressure of the moment, Yang Lei had been Zheng Ren's informant for a major event that had happened some time ago.

Even though Zheng Ren had not mentioned it again, this kindness would forever be well-remembered.

Yang Lei was deeply impressed by Zheng Ren's abilities and envious of his proficiency in surgery as well. However, he completely understood that a person's success was due to innate talent, personal effort and fate.

Outside raged a swirling storm of screaming white, but it was warm and cozy inside the office, as if spring had fallen. Zheng Ren was lazily sitting at his desk and chatting leisurely with his good friend in an office; it was likely the most comfortable moment of his entire life.

It would be even better if they were not in the hospital, being constantly on edge for potential emergency cases.

Yang Lei had ordered food online. As they waited for it to arrive, an alarm rang out in both the nurses' station and one of the wards.

There was a thirty-percent chance that the alarm in the nurses' station meant an emergency consultation.

What about the ward, though? Everything had been fine during the ward round just now.

Zheng Ren stood up, wondering what was going on.

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Chapter 121: Heavy Postpartum Hemorrhage

Yang Lei darted to the ward, and Zheng Ren saw the son of the middle-aged female patient, who had undergone an appendectomy yesterday, storming out of the ward as if the whole world had upset him.

Perhaps it was not a major issue at all. However, a nurse then yelled, "Chief Zheng, there is an emergency in the obstetrics department!"

"Yang Lei, will you be fine here?" asked Zheng Ren.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it. Off you go," said Yang Lei after glancing at the situation upon reaching the ward entrance.

The obstetrics and gynecology department had recently become greedy. Initially, they rarely had any contact with the emergency department, so they had no choice but to brace for trouble encountered in their own department.

Once they had witnessed the true power of interventional radiology and realized that it could easily achieve great wonders unattainable by surgery alone, they began diverting all sorts of problems to the emergency department.

The chief resident on duty was almost in tears when Zheng Ren arrived at the obstetrics department. "Chief Zheng, please take a look at the patient."

"Don't panic, what's wrong?" asked Zheng Ren.

"Twenty minutes ago, a patient with postpartum hemorrhaging after a caesarean section was transferred from Laohugang. After I finished her registration and examined her, all her family members had disappeared," said the obstetrics chief resident in terror.

This was actually more common in the emergency department than in the obstetrics department.

Before the abolishment of the one-child policy, every family would treat a primigravida with the utmost care, which was why the possibility of a critically-ill pregnant woman being abandoned in the hospital had never occurred to the obstetrics chief resident.

However, based on years of experience in the medical field, she could tell that she had unknowingly walked a tightrope, and any mismanagement would lead to her inevitable demise.

Zheng Ren asked, "Where is the patient?"

The obstetrics chief resident immediately brought Zheng Ren to the treatment room.

A thick metallic scent assailed his nostrils before he even reached the door.

Zheng Ren's heart sank immediately. If he could smell the blood from here, how serious was the patient's condition?

Quickening his pace, he entered the treatment room and saw an ashen-faced woman lying on a heavily-bloodstained stretcher trolley.

"The patient was transferred to the obstetrics ward twenty minutes ago and was diagnosed with postpartum hemorrhage. Her blood pressure at the time was 50/30mmHg and heart rate was at 132 beats per minute. During physical examination, we removed the vaginal packing and noticed that the vagina—" The obstetrics chief resident, already in distress, was mechanically blurting out medical history as if Zheng Ren was her superior.

Zheng Ren presumed she had many negative outcomes on her mind at the moment.

"Your judgment," said Zheng Ren.

"This is her second parity. We suspect the heavy postpartum hemorrhage was caused by an unligated uterine artery," concluded the obstetrics chief resident neatly.

She was already agitated. How was she going to acquire signatures on the informed consent documents when the patient's family had gone missing? Not every clinician knew how to handle this type of situation.

Anonymities were regularly seen in the emergency and general surgery departments, and was thus not considered a serious issue, but in the obstetrics department... This was actually her first time encountering an unidentified patient.

"Prepare for surgery." Zheng Ren quickly made up his mind as he knew that time was not on their side. "There are a few things that require your immediate attention. First, send blood samples to the blood transfusion department and ask them to speed up blood compatibility tests. We need ten units of red blood cells and 1000mL of plasma, and another set with the same amount as backup."

The obstetrics chief resident nodded vigorously.

Dazed and confused, all she could do was to obey commands.

"Secondly, call the medical administration division and tell them you've received an unidentified patient and failed to obtain informed consent for the operation. I'll perform the surgery and you'll handle these processes. Make sure the medical administration division is present on the scene, do you copy?!"

"Got it." The obstetrics chief resident continued to nod.

"Third, find an obstetrics superior to take it from here," Zheng Ren finally said.

Everything began to run smoothly as long as someone was in control of the situation. As the patient was being wheeled to the emergency operating theater, Zheng Ren called the interventional radiology suite to prepare the necessary surgical equipment.

Since this was a new project that had only been recently launched, the nurses on duty tonight were unfamiliar with it and could only perform basic tasks.

Zheng Ren had few complaints as the learning process required time. Besides, was it not the wrong time to do so?

When the stretcher trolley reached the emergency interventional radiology suite, an obstetrics junior doctor and a nurse from the suite began transferring the patient onto the bed.

They did so in a pool of crimson fluid. It was a bloody scene.

Without wasting any time on observation, Zheng Ren quickly opened up the storage room, searched for the required surgical supplies and passed them to the nurse. Then, he put on his lead apron, scrubbed up and applied the surgical drapes on the operative site.

'Many hands make light work.' Zheng Ren sighed.

Perhaps it would have been better if Su Yun was here.

It was easy to become extravagant if one had been frugal before, but the reverse was difficult. Once Zheng Ren had experienced the benefits of being a hands-off boss, he had grown unaccustomed to performing everything personally.

When preparations were complete, a bell rang out in Zheng Ren's ears.

The fickle-minded System had appeared just in time to assign him a mission.

[Emergency Mission: Distortion of Human Nature or Loss of Moral Values

[Task: Save a patient with heavy postpartum hemorrhage.

[Reward: Passive ability—Luck 2.

[Time: 2 hours.]

Zheng Ren was taken by surprise in the middle of preparation.

The fickle-minded System had taken the unprecedented step of offering a passive attribute, and this time, it was the Luck stat.

Even though he had never played online games, he had read many novels involving them. Thus, he knew Luck was a godlike ability, unparalleled compared to all other attributes.

Why would the System award him Luck? That was strange.

Zheng Ren picked up an introducer sheath and an angiographic needle after applying the surgical drapes. The surgery officially began.

At the same time, it was broadcast live through the account in Xinglin Garde, which had gone silent for two days.

[Wow, the god hasn't appeared for a long time.]

[Another emergency case; are there that many emergency surgeries in Canada? I'm starting to doubt that capitalism is the root of all evil. This host surgeon is on hand no matter what time it is.]

[I think something is wrong here. I just returned from studying abroad, and the situation seems to be different from what I've learned so far. However, it's difficult to explain right now.]

Just like readers requesting chapter updates before the release of one, everyone leisurely gave their opinions before the surgery had even started.

Zheng Ren, who had acquired the Master rank in interventional radiology, could feel that his maneuvering had become more proficient, presumably due to the six to seven rapid main artery superselections during Zheng Yunxia's surgery giving him a qualitative upgrade under pressure.

As the comments passed, the micro-guidewire was already in place. Zheng Ren then turned on the imaging system and began inserting the microcatheter.

[Postpartum hemorrhage, a diagnosis that gives me a headache.]

[There is a wall next to you, so go ahead and bang your head against it. You'll feel better afterward.]

[Honestly, it isn't really difficult. The only reason you feel that this case is tricky is that your hospital doesn't have interventional radiology, leaving hysterectomy as your only option. In that case, communicating it to family members will require extreme skill. My heartfelt gratitude to all my colleagues working in the interventional radiology department. Salute.]

[Ninety percent of hospitals don't have interventional radiology, alright?! Be careful, your boastful statement might bring you misfortune.]

Four to five comments floated past the screen, and in that time, the microcatheter was already in position. Then, Zheng Ren started creating angiographic images.

The patient had a malformed uterine artery with a branch running across the uterus, the reason for her heavy postpartum hemorrhage.

Perhaps the surgeons at the township hospital in Laohugang had failed to notice this mutated blood vessel.

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Chapter 122: The First Phase of Distortion of Human Nature: Completed

Not every surgeon in Sea City General Hospital would have noticed this type of blood vessel, and any intraoperative mismanagement would undoubtedly have disastrous consequences.

Therefore, it was necessary to check for any actively bleeding sites after surgery.

For example, had this patient's condition been detected sooner, she could have undergone another surgery to stop the bleeding, but under the current circumstances, the risks were extremely high.

"Chief Zheng, please wait a moment. We're delivering the blood bags now," said the obstetrics chief resident through the intercom.

The lead door opened as soon as Zheng Ren turned off the imaging system. The obstetrics chief resident and an obstetrics nurse working overtime in the emergency department rushed into the suite with the blood bags.

The bags, which had been thawed using their own body temperatures, were placed on the pressurized infusion device and their contents injected into the patient's veins.

With that done, the obstetrics chief resident darted out again.

"What about preoperative informed consent?" asked Zheng Ren.

"The staff in the medical administration division just arrived. I'll handle it right away." Her figure disappeared, leaving only a trailing response.

Following the closure of the lead door, the surgery resumed.

When the culprit was located, subsequent procedures were plain and simple.

The microcatheter was inserted, the absorbable gelatin sponge injected for embolization and angiography once again performed. After ensuring that the "smoke" had disappeared, the surgery was declared successful.

In Xinglin Garden, every doctor was learning something new after successive observations of massive hemorrhages being treated with interventional radiology.

[Interventional radiology is really useful for the emergency treatment of hemorrhaging.]

[Using surgery to treat internal medicine cases and replacing conventional surgery with minimally-invasive surgery will become norms in the future. If the issues with radiation exposure are minimized further, interventional radiology is bound to be the shining star in the coming era.

[It's not that easy. I think only future technology will be capable of enhancing it.]

[Bullsh*t. The da Vinci Surgical System has gone online, go and check it out. I really hope a company will emerge out of nowhere and start to mass-produce awesome robots to replace interventional radiology, just like unmanned aerial vehicles.]

The doctors' conversations were getting increasingly professional and all over the place as they began to discuss gene therapy and nanotechnology.

The surgery had been completed, and it had been a piece of cake, in Zheng Ren's opinion.

Following the successful embolization of the bleeding artery and the infusion of fresh frozen red blood cells from the pressurized infusion device, the patient's blood pressure gradually increased.

Unless something unforeseen happened, the patient would most likely survive.

Zheng Ren shifted his gaze to the System panel, which trumpeted a 100-percent completion rate in its upper right corner.

This was the true power of the Master rank in interventional radiology. Furthermore, after superselecting multiple arteries during Zheng Yunxia's surgery, Zheng Ren had a feeling that he had definitely advanced past that rank.

He should probably enter the System and check his current mission reward after returning to the emergency ward.

It was a shame that the other mission, Doctors With Parental Heart, had failed due to a missed deadline; either that, or the System had not notified him about its success.

What a pity.

However, had Zheng Ren been given a second chance, he would have still continued to search for the correct artery rather than casually ending the surgery.

"Ding-dong!" There was the mission completion jingle again.

[The first phase of the Emergency Mission: Distortion of Human Nature or Loss of Moral Values accomplished.

[Task: Saving a patient with heavy postpartum hemorrhage completed. Reward... Calculating... Passive ability—Luck 2 obtained. The remaining time has been converted to 5640 experience points.]

Zheng Ren frowned.

Since when had the mission become another continuous one? Also, the fickle-minded System had also taken a few seconds to calculate the mission's rewards.

He could even feel his brain starting to heat up. Was it due to excessive CPU usage?

'I'll need to visit the System when everything is settled.' Zheng Ren forced himself to calm down and savored the benefits Luck 2 brought him.

However, nothing was happening thus far.

The puncture wound was compressed for fifteen minutes before a pressure bandage was applied. After that, Zheng Ren, a nurse from the suite and a doctor on duty from the obstetrics department transferred the patient to a stretcher trolley.

The operating table was completely covered in blood.

Postoperative procedures would be time-consuming as cleaning, arrangement and disinfection alone would take at least an hour.

An ECG monitor attached to the patient after she was sent back to the ward revealed that her systolic pressure was exceeding 90mmHg, which was a promising sign.

A successful emergency rescue was indeed satisfying.

"Chief Zheng, thank you," said the exhausted obstetrics chief resident, finally at ease after seeing that the patient's vital signs had stabilized.

"You're welcome." Zheng Ren smiled and asked, "Has preoperative informed consent been completed?"

"It's done," the obstetrics chief resident answered, "We asked the emergency department to send us a copy because we didn't have a template."

"Use vaginal packing for hemostasis and continue blood transfusion, but take precautions against potential DIC. She should regain consciousness soon. By the way, let the medical administration division be the guarantor and handle the treatment cost," said Zheng Ren, who was honest enough to share his experience handling unidentified patients with her.

Lots of mistakes would arise from inexperience when managing this sort of situation.

Zheng Ren had gradually gained his knowledge in the general surgery department.

"Thank you."

Upon leaving the ward, Zheng Ren thought he noticed a familiar figure, who disappeared in the blink of an eye.

For Zheng Ren, who had late-stage face blindness cancer, identifying someone from behind was significantly more difficult than performing a pancreaticoduodenectomy.

The obstetrics chief resident saw him off all the way from the obstetrics ward to the elevator.

...

...

In the emergency ward, Zheng Ren saw Yang Lei sitting alone absent-mindedly in the office. There was an unopened lunch box beside him while his own food was already finished.

This was normal in hospitals as medical personnel's schedules were unpredictable. Therefore, they would have meals together if conditions permitted. Otherwise, they would simply have to seize every available opportunity to take a bite.

Heaven only knew when the next emergency case would arrive.

"What's wrong? Have you had too much food?" Zheng Ren joked.

"Zheng Ren, the patient on bed 6-12 has a f*cktard in her family," Yang Lei said, "That young man slapped her, but she just knelt on the bed and apologized to him that night, and then that son of a b*tch went out again! The patient requested to be discharged afterward. I've checked her wound, so a discharge should be fine."

"Okay," said Zheng Ren.

"Best if you don't get married. If your wife bears a child—"

Zheng Ren interrupted him. "Let me tell you this: don't persuade me not to get married when you're married and have children in the future. If possible, pass your children to me and I'll raise them in the hospital. Maybe they'll become the best professors in the country, right?"

Both of them stopped talking about the patient on bed 6-12, the middle-aged woman who had undergone an appendectomy.

This type of case was frequently encountered, but what could they possibly do despite their anger? Such cases were none of their concern, and a hasty intervention could be deadly. The other patients' family members could form a temporary alliance and rain hell on the nosy parker for half an hour.

It was more than enough for a doctor to perform their job well.

Was it not inappropriate to command a dog to catch a mouse? Thus, it was wiser to not meddle in other people's business.

Zheng Ren asked Yang Lei to return home after chatting for a while and went for a ward round.

Zheng Yunxia stared at the ceiling, bored, as if immersed in her own thoughts.

Among their small group, Zheng Ren was the only one not closely acquainted with Zheng Yunxia. Apart from his standard medical inquiry, he had no desire to stay to chat and returned to the on-call room.

Lying on the bed and listening to the cold wind screaming outside the window, Zheng Ren stared at the lone star glistening amongst the black marble; he started to get a little emotional.

When was the last time he gazed upon the stars?

He always returned home from work late at night, and yet spared no time to enjoy the night view. That was a part of life. It was better to be busy than bored.

Zheng Ren then dived into the System.

Before he could scan his surroundings, a bell resonated in the mysterious space like music to his ears.

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Chapter 123: Red Packets From The Fickle-Minded

[The hidden mission, Social Warmth, has been triggered. Mission accomplished.

[Reward 1—The second phase of Doctors with Parental Heart is complete. This reward will be calculated independently.

[Reward 2—200 points to related interventional radiology skills and 20000 experience points obtained.]

Zheng Ren was slightly confused. Was the fickle-minded System giving out red packets?

Judging by the descriptions provided, the System must have decided to reward him at the last minute after he had chosen to give up the previous mission and flawlessly finish Zheng Yunxia's surgery.

Since when had the fickle System become so kind?

Moreover, 200 points would be added to every related interventional radiology skill. That was awesome.

Previously, all his interventional radiology skills—cardiovascular, neurosurgery, endovascular and visceral—had been upgraded to the Master rank. Even though 200 points were basically a drop in the ocean compared to the 5000 required for further advancement, he had still obtained a total of 800 skill points from this mission.

The System was indeed generous.

The second phase of Doctors with Parental Heart had turned from grey to a completed state in the System panel. Zheng Ren then received its rewards—10 skill points and 1000 experience points; unfortunately, there was no additional bonus due to the missed deadline.

As for the main mission, since he had performed two interventional radiology-assisted surgeries as well as a tier-three surgery, he had been awarded a 44=8 completion rate, which meant that he had completed another cycle of the mission.

10 skill points and 1000 experience points were just a miniscule part of his current "wealth".

The fact that Zheng Ren had accumulated 3162 points in his general surgery skill tree exhilarated him as the Master rank was achievable if he threw all of his saved-up 1849 points into it.

However, after hesitating for a while, he decided to give up his dream of acquiring the Master rank in general surgery.

After all, the emergency department was a f*cked-up place. God only knew when a difficult situation beyond his capabilities would arise and demand he resolve it with a life at stake.

He had enough skill books to increase one skill to Graduate rank. If he could save up 4000 points...One subspecialty would be instantly upgraded to the Master rank...

Zheng Ren started daydreaming.

Greed was a normal trait in all human beings.

That was only part of it, though. More importantly, Zheng Ren reasoned that the addition of skill points had to be coupled with surgical practice before he could proficiently perform operations using highly advanced techniques, just like how interventional radiological treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma had given him plenty of insight into interventional radiology.

Staring regretfully at the general surgery skill tree, Zheng Ren decided to study hard and gain as many skill points as he could.

It was better to save up the points for now as his current Expert rank was more than enough to deal with existing emergency cases.

It had been a while since he had last converted experience points to surgery intensive training time. However, with 111260 points sitting in his inventory, he could only exchange them for slightly below 31 hours.

Zheng Ren felt that the System had been more generous during his intensive training for appendectomy as its time had been calculated in days.

Even so, there was no way he would willingly go through that again.

Unlike the current peace and quiet, he had been threatened with elimination, and the System had been unstable and on the verge of collapse. Thus, he was very happy for this continued tranquility despite the reduced rewards from the unpredictable System.

He was quite conservative with his resources, anyway.

Content, Zheng Ren quietly sat beside the pond in the mysterious world and enjoyed this quiet moment, a luxury he rarely had.

Zheng Ren stared blankly at the pond and completely emptied his mind, savoring the calm and escape from his hectic medical life.

The pond had grown to twice its size without his knowledge, and the water was crystal-clear, resembling a large, beautifully carved gem. The thatched cottage opposite him was still the same with its unlatched wooden door, but the door would not budge at all after numerous attempts at pushing it.

The little fox statue at the door was getting increasingly realistic, and he would not have been surprised if the statue came alive.

Silence reigned in the mysterious world. When Zheng Ren met the fox's gaze, he was overcome with déjà vu rather than fear or other negative emotions.

When, where or why they had met remained a mystery to him.

Nor was he willing to think about it. It was better not to let these trivial matters disturb such a quiet and warm moment.

A smile gradually formed on Zheng Ren's face as he stared into the little fox statue's eyes.

He was truly having a good time.

...

...

Not knowing how much time had passed, Zheng Ren suddenly detected a presence in the on-call room. He quickly summoned himself back to reality and opened his eyes.

The person who had returned was Su Yun. Zheng Ren, who was in a good mood, greeted him enthusiastically, "Done with dinner?"

"Yes." Su Yun was still reluctant to speak to Zheng Ren. "Professor Pei wanted you to replace him as a fly-in, fly-out surgeon in case he can't attend surgeries, and Old Chief Physician Pan promised you to him after a couple of drinks."

A fly-in, fly-out surgeon?

It never occured to Zheng Ren that he would have taken such a title one day.

Come to think of it, he had already achieved the Master rank in interventional radiology, so it was within reason that he would be a fly-in, fly-out surgeon once in a while.

"Bullsh*t," Su Yun said angrily, "Professor Pei doesn't understand the situation, but what about Old Chief Physician Pan? What is the scope of practice registered on your medical license? A fly-in, fly-out surgeon? Any registered hospital will require a copy of your license, so are you going to perform interventional radiology as a general surgeon?"

Zheng Ren thought about it and realized that Su Yun's words made sense.

However, that was just a minor and insignificant detail.

He truly had no desire to fly around as well. There was a lot on his plate already; was that not enough? Although he could secure a large income by being a fly-in, fly-out surgeon, why would he, a chief resident, even need so much money for?

He was just a bachelor who had no courage to find a girlfriend.

"Where are they?" Zheng Ren changed the topic.

"Chu Yanran, Chu Yanzhi and Xie Yiren returned home together because Xie Yiren's house is nearer and more convenient for them if there are any emergency cases tonight."

"How convenient?" Zheng Ren could not grasp the scope of the matter. Xie Yiren had once mentioned that she had a house nearby with its own garage.

However, poverty had limited his imagination, and he was unable to form a picture that was even close to the actual situation.

"Somewhere near the hospital within a five-minute walking distance," answered Su Yun bluntly as he changed out of his clothes, took out a clean sheet from a cabinet and put it on the bed.

Sea City General Hospital was located in the city center, and every area reachable with a five-minute walk was a high-end community area.

A five-minute walk was equivalent to a one- to two-minute drive. She could drive directly from her house to the hospital's underground parking lot, take the elevator to the operating theater, and still arrive at the same time as he did with the patient.

'Tut-tut... It's nice to be wealthy,' Zheng Ren thought.

"By the way, I performed another interventional radiological treatment for postpartum hemorrhaging while you were out having a meal. Take a look at the patient when you're free," said Zheng Ren, recalling it.

"Got it," replied Su Yun plainly, unsurprised.

The night went on uneventfully. There was no drunk driving, drunken brawl, drug overdose or hemorrhaging. The world had seemed to quiet down.

How good it would be if there was no disease in the world.

Zheng Ren had a dream where everyone was prosperous and lived a healthy life, which greatly satisfied him.

However, it was just a dream.

At half-past three in the morning, Zheng Ren was awoken by a phone call. "Chief Zheng, something has happened!"

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Chapter 124: The Uncrowned King

From the other end of the phone came the obstetrics chief resident's voice, filled with anxiety and... despair?

Zheng Ren froze for a moment and said, "Wait for me. I'll arrive shortly."

"What's wrong?" asked Su Yun, who had been woken by the noise as well.

"I don't know. Let's find out." Zheng Ren put on a white coat and darted out of the room.

Su Yun quietly followed him like a ghost.

Upon reaching the obstetrics department, Zheng Ren heard chaos as soon as the elevator doors slid open.

His heart sank immediately as his intuition told him that this was a medical dispute.

Such disputes could still occur no matter how cautious medical personnel were.

As the saying went, "Play with fire, you get burned".

Zheng Ren became distressed. His blood pressure skyrocketed and his heart rate accelerated.

"Who gave you permission to perform surgery? Did you obtain the familys' consent?!"

"The hospital is getting fanatical about profit! The surgery alone cost more than 7000 yuan, are you guys robbing us?"

"This doctor looks respectable, but she turns out to be a f*cking bloodsucker too."

Zheng Ren instantly knew what was going on after listening to the cursing and noise.

Onlookers gave him a hostile glare as he weaved his way through the sparse crowd.

"Ding-dong!" The System notified him of a new mission.

[Emergency Mission: The Second Phase of Distortion of Human Nature or Loss of Moral Values.

[Task: Survive the twisted sense of human nature with the light in your heart unstained by darkness.

[Reward: Passive ability—Luck 2.

[Time: 24 hours.]

Huh... There really was a second phase in the Distortion of Human Nature or Loss of Moral Values mission.

"Chief Zheng, you're here!" The crowd had cornered the lonely and helpless obstetrics chief resident, whose heart swelled with relief as soon as she saw Zheng Ren. Then, she leaned against the wall and slumped onto the ground, hugging her knees tightly as she let out a wail.

"What happened?" asked Zheng Ren.

"They're the unidentified woman's family members. Someone came asking for her about an hour after her surgery. I thought they had been preparing money to pay for treatment, so I told them the truth, but I didn't expect these people to come..."

The obstetrics chief resident had lost her usual competency and composure while explaining the situation.

It was a messy statement, but Zheng Ren immediately understood the situation.

This was an organized medical dispute, and the troublemakers were probably licensed as well.

The air in front of the crowd congealed and twisted under the pale, white incandescent light, casting ghostlike shadows that danced with every movement.

This was not the human realm. This was hell.

Zheng Ren stood in front of the obstetrics chief resident and managed to force a smile, trying but failing to come up with words that could ease the situation.

Even Chang Yue, who had her negotiation and communication skills maxed out, would not be able to persuade these troublemakers.

Meanwhile, Su Yun, who had been trailing behind him, was nowhere to be seen.

That brat had a spider-sense! However, it was good judgment as there was absolutely no point in the both of them getting tortured.

"Hey, who are you?" A middle-aged thug with half a tattoo exposed on his neck approached Zheng Ren and grinned, revealing two rows of yellow teeth in his mouth.

"I'm the surgeon who performed the operation. Please let me know if you have any questions." Zheng Ren could feel the tumultuous thudding of his heartbeat. The warm and sunny world in his dream had long shattered into pieces and vanished into thin air.

"You're brave," said the yellow-toothed, tattooed man as he took out a pack of cigarettes. Another man behind him quickly lit the cigarette with a lighter which had an indiscernible image on it.

Zheng Ren wanted to say that smoking was prohibited in the hospital, but... would it make any difference?

"We'll take the woman away," the yellow-toothed, tattooed man said, "We didn't really want surgery because it was only a small issue, but you guys actually spent almost ten thousand yuan on treatment. Brother, do you think that's reasonable?"

"The blood transfusion alone cost around 3000 yuan, and we've tried to minimize the fee as much as possible." Zheng Ren helplessly tried to defend himself.

Suddenly, there was a commotion behind the crowd.

A glimmer of hope emerged in Zheng Ren's heart. Had Su Yun returned with security guards? Even though the guards lived a miserable life and lacked the courage to confront trouble at crucial moments, their numbers could potentially counter the troublemakers' bluster and make them think twice.

A man in a suit and leather shoes walked over.

Zheng Ren was unsure what brand of hair wax the man was using as his hair remained shiny even in the darkest hour of the morning. That, coupled with his smoothly-ironed suit on his ramrod-straight figure, was awe-inspiring and had a commanding presence.

"Reporter Wei, over here." The one leading the way was not Su Yun but another tattooed man.

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

Nowadays, reporters were uncrowned kings who ruled over the public opinion.

One time, a reporter had used tea as a urine sample for investigation and was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. The incident was then published, causing an uproar in the press.

How could laypeople understand the complexity of the medical world? Using only a pen, an expert writer could easily manipulate the public's emotions and misdirect their thoughts, inevitably leading to a wild outburst.

Basically, no one read through the article completely, and the only terms that caught their eyes were 'tea', 'urine sample' and 'infection'.

Tea contained bacteria, so what other diagnosis could there have been?

Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, the doctor's license was revoked. The absurd incident not only had a disastrous impact on the hospital's reputation, but was also a prelude to an era of medical disputes...

Meanwhile, the reporter had been promoted and buried in wealth following the increased popularity of his news.

Zheng Ren was stunned. If the troublemakers had been a bunch of thugs, the matter could have been settled in exchange for bruises and wounds on his body. However, the reporter's presence indicated that someone had secretly planned this, and the punishment would not be as easy as mere beatings...

In the worst possible scenario, his medical license would...

Zheng Ren dared not to think about it and asked, "And you are?"

"My name is Wei Feng, a reporter from Sea City Metropolis Daily." The smell of hair wax assailed Zheng Ren's nostrils as Wei Feng approached him.

"..." Zheng Ren sighed internally and remained silent.

"I received a call stating that something was going on here. That's why I came," said Wei Feng plainly, but his expression was solemn as if he were an honorable judge and Zheng Ren a despicable criminal with an unpardonable crime.

"Tell me about the situation." Wei Feng seemed to be quite satisfied with Zheng Ren as the latter seemed like an experienced and reserved doctor, but it also meant that Wei Feng would be forced to come up with more strategies to get what he wanted. However, it would simply be time-consuming and not difficult.

Performance, sales and his glorious exposé of the dark side of society going onto his resume... These things put a smile on his face.

"The situation is very simple." Zheng Ren thought about it and gave a brief narration of the situation very slowly, choosing his words very carefully.

"Do you mean to say that you performed the surgery without family members' consent?" With a notepad and a pen in his hands, Wei Feng quickly jotted down points.

"The family members weren't there! We were unable to locate them during the resuscitation!" The obstetrics chief resident helplessly denied Wei Feng's claim as she could vaguely detect a tinge of malice in his words.

"Okay, got it." Wei Feng made no attempt to record this statement. He then flipped his pen upside down and rhythmically tapped the notepad.

"As for the title, how about Unethical Surgeon Performs Surgery By Force, or maybe Poverty-Stricken Critically-Ill Pregnant Woman's Family Ruined Due To Expensive Treatment?" Wei Feng mumbled while staring at both Zheng Ren and the obstetrics chief resident. The tapping noise, like a drum of doom, seemed to amplify in Zheng Ren's ears.

"You can't do that!" A steady stream of salty tears flowed down the obstetrics chief resident's cheeks.

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Chapter 125: Let Me Handle It

"Can't I?" Wei Feng smirked.

"Reporter Wei, doctors are getting unethical nowadays, and this hospital is charging such an unreasonably high price for simple treatment. Poor people like us can't take it anymore." Despite his attempt to look like a farmer, the exposed tattoo on the yellow-toothed, inked man's body clearly stated otherwise.

"Let's go somewhere quiet for me to record your story." Wei Feng smiled and added, "After all, I've to listen to both sides to ensure that my report is unbiased and fair."

Zheng Ren stared coldly at Reporter Wei, who was declaring black to be white.

As a doctor, curing disease and saving lives were his fields of expertise, not debates or wars of words.

As Wei Feng pocketed his notepad and left, Zheng Ren felt an encroaching darkness stretch out and threaten to engulf his future.

The use of tea as a urine sample was many years ago, and most people did not have the faintest idea what had happened at the time, but its repercussions had ripples to this day.

A few years ago, a woman's anus had been sutured during episiotomy repair after childbirth. The incident had been reported by a large newspaper and its effects had been catastrophic. Even though it was confirmed to be fake news, the reporter did not apologize for his mistake and worse, the medical staff involved had been the ones to bear the consequences in the end.

This had induced panic in the nationwide medical field, especially the emergency and pediatrics departments, and many large hospitals had thus stopped their pediatrics departments from operating at night.

The troublemakers responsible for distorting the truth would never assume all this to be their doing. Perhaps a few of them did, but who among them cared, anyway?

Just like today, once it was determined that the doctors were guilty of dereliction of duty for performing surgery on a patient who did not need it and charged a high price afterward...

Zheng Ren desperately wanted to drag them by their collars and let them have a good look at the pools of dark red blood splattered all over the stretcher trolley in the resuscitation room and the operating table in the interventional radiology suite.

Surgery was 'not required'?

The woman would have died in ten to twenty minutes if she had been left unattended.

However, who gave a damn about the

The family merely wanted their medical expenses waived and a high compensation from the hospital.

The reporter only cared about fame and promotions.

The people willing to treat disease under radiation and risk their lives to save another were merely an insignificant speck of dust in their eyes.

Watching Wei Feng slowly vanish into the distance, Zheng Ren's pupils contracted and everything turned to black and white.

Reporter Wei had clearly expressed his views in front of him.

It was difficult to sell news of doctors successfully treating illnesses and saving lives in today's world, but indiscriminately performing surgery with sky-high medical charges? That was breaking news.

What would the man choose? Zheng Ren could guess even if he were to count off his fingers.

"Ding!" The elevator rang, and at the same time, a dozen burly brutes emerged from the fire escape.

Huh? They looked familiar, and Zheng Ren... seemed to recognize the leader of the group...

He was Little Six, the one with whom he had had supper at a food skewer stall last time.

Behind the crowd stood a listless figure: Su Yun.

"What do you want?" His path was blocked by a group of beefy ruffians, Reporter Wei lost his earlier sense of superiority and instantly became nervous.

"What, is this your house?" asked Little Six as he gazed at the man contemptuously.

"..." Little Six's aggression alongside the dozen brutes in black suits behind him had an absolutely overwhelming aura that left Reporter Wei speechless.

The many men who looked out of place among the patient's family members quickly backed off in terror as soon as they saw Little Six. They looked as if they wanted the earth to open up and swallow them whole.

Reporter Wei gave them a hateful glare and left the scene in a hurry.

"Brother Zheng, are you alright?" Little Six asked out of concern, approaching Zheng Ren.

"I am now," replied Zheng Ren with a bitter smile.

In order to not make matters worse, Little Six summoned the yellow-toothed, tattooed man to the fire escape and asked about the situation.

Soon, the professional troublemakers had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a few family members who had been blinded by greed.

"Brother Zheng, this is a difficult issue to deal with," said Little Six, embarrassed.

"Let us talk in my office." Zheng Ren preferred not to discuss this matter in front of the troublemakers.

Little Six put a few men on guard duty in the obstetrics department to prevent the patient's family members from harming medical staff. Then, he followed Zheng Ren to the office in the emergency department.

Su Yun trailed behind them with his head lowered and his footsteps light, as if he was sleepwalking.

"Brother Zheng, honestly, this is troublesome," said Little Six as soon as he entered the office and closed the door.

"How troublesome?" Zheng Ren was also aware of the magnitude of their situation, and he wanted to hear Little Six's judgement.

"The troublemakers alone don't pose any threat," Little Six said, "However, I hadn't expected them to have connections with the newspapers or even invite a reporter to the scene."

Zheng Ren sighed heavily.

"Had this happened a few years ago, you'd not need to pay them much mind. Just shoot them a glare, give them a red packet, and everything would be settled, but now..." Little Six looked helpless.

Zheng Ren recalled the slogan—crime prevention is everyone's responsibility!—that Little Six had shown him the day he had accepted Bu Li's invitation for dinner.

However, calling the police would be pointless in this case.

After noticing Zheng Ren's dejected, sunken expression, Little Six immediately added, "I'll visit the newspaper office tomorrow and see if I can find anyone to talk this over with."

Zheng Ren thought about it and smiled.

Little Six was taken by surprise. What happened to Doctor Zheng? Had he lost his mind due to tremendous stress?

"I used to hate socializing. How dull it is to share nonsense with a bunch of boring people and pretend to be best friends for life..." Zheng Ren continued to smile and said, "Let me handle it this time."

Little Six lowered his gaze in response. He had intended to propose an option to Zheng Ren.

There was an easier method to settle this issue—seeking help from either Miss Bu or Elder San, both of whom had high social statuses. The medical staff was in the right this time, but even in an unreasonable situation, they still held the power to turn the tides.

"In that case, we have no choice but to wait. I'll make a phone call as soon as the sun rises." Zheng Ren stretched himself lazily.

Even though it was already past five o'clock in the morning, the winter sky was still as dark as coal outside the window.

Like a black hole, consuming all light.

Before taking his leave, Little Six repeatedly advised Zheng Ren to call him without hesitation in case of trouble.

Zheng Ren returned to the on-call room after seeing Little Six out. Laying on the bed with his hands underneath his head, he stared at the inky darkness outside, waiting for dawn to come.

That was all he could do right now.

Fortunately, it was just a small local newspaper instead of a large firm. Not everything was lost yet.

"I left Imperial Capital because of this." Su Yun brushed his black bangs aside. "We'll always meet this type of people in the medical field. Hey, I think you're doomed this time, so let us establish a pet medical center together."

Zheng Ren ignored Su Yun, who was just blathering.

"How did you find him?" asked Zheng Ren absent-mindedly.

"Xie Yiren has his phone number. She gave it to me a few days ago and told me to call it if trouble arose," Su Yun said lazily, "I didn't expect a blockhead like you to also have good social connections."

"This isn't actually a problematic issue. I think Chief Physician Pan can easily settle it."

"You can't always trouble an old comrade either."

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Chapter 126: Zombies in Doomsday?

The sky gradually brightened.

Sea City General Hospital welcomed another hectic day as usual. The sadness, anxiety, exasperation and helplessness of the previous night had been nothing but an interlude. No one remembered it except the few who had been involved directly.

After Old Chief Physician Pan arrived at his office, Zheng Ren approached him and recounted the events of last night.

Old Chief Physician Pan had acclimatized to social change after being demobilized for more than thirty years. Apart from the fire that still burned within him, his attitude was not much different from that of an ordinary senior consultant.

Zheng Ren's report made him think for a long time.

He failed to come up with a better solution, and so the only option was to take it one step at a time.

There were no problems with the method Zheng Ren had chosen. Old Chief Physician Pan was worldly enough to understand that it was effective, but should only be used as a last resort.

Perturbed, Old Chief Physician Pan also gave Elder San a phone call.

He cut straight to the point when the call connected.

Since Zheng Ren had called Elder San an hour ago, it would be hypocritical for Old Chief Physician Pan to start the conversation politely. Moreover, from his seemingly close relationship with Elder San, there was no need for formalities in the first place.

A hearty laughter could be heard from the other end. Elder San was an elegant man with a soft voice, so Zheng Ren had no clue about the ongoing conversation between him and Old Chief Physician Pan.

After chatting for a while, Old Chief Physician Pan hung up with a smile.

"It's done." Old Chief Physician Pan smiled. "The young man wants a promotion in a small newspaper office. Elder San already had a discussion with related personnel."

"Okay." Zheng Ren nodded, stupefied.

"Besides, we have evidence, so they can't cause trouble anymore. Don't worry." Old Chief Physician Pan comforted Zheng Ren.

Zheng Ren did not care about evidence. Would it be useful in solving medical disputes?

He remained unhappy even though the damage was minimized.

The Snake and The Farmer, a story originated from Fables of Aesop, was a constant reminder that such a situation would always exist in the world, and sometimes, like a mirror, he had a feeling that the farmer was basically a reflection of himself.

Goodwill let Zheng Ren choose not to be the snake.

However, he was reluctant to be the farmer as well.

A blacklist system to boycott unreasonable troublemakers so that they could not consult a doctor under the normal healthcare insurance system had been advocated in the medical field for a long time.

However, that was merely a wishful thinking among doctors whose hearts were consumed by indignation. Zheng Ren guaranteed that once this system was officially implemented, the medical world would be instantly submerged in the public's saliva.

It was enough for him, an ordinary surgeon, to perform his job well, and as for other issues... There was nothing he could do about them.

After seeing Zheng Ren's slightly gloomy mood, Old Chief Physician Pan tapped his shoulder and smiled. "You really can't hide your emotions. Relax, this is just a small issue."

Zheng Ren responded with a bitter smile.

"Let's go for a ward round." Old Chief Physician Pan knew that any consolation would be ineffective at this moment. It was better to maintain a regular work schedule and allow time to heal the wound in Zheng Ren's heart.

They took the doctors on duty and began the ward round. The patients' conditions in the emergency observation unit were relatively mild, and at least one-third of them were victims waiting for compensation from other parties or had been involved in fistfights and traffic collisions.

Judging by their conditions, they should have been discharged long ago.

However, various malingering cases were encountered daily, and they would not voluntarily leave the hospital before receiving their compensation.

Naturally, the doctors were unwilling to attract grievances and would choose to let them be.

On the bright side, possible complications such as delayed traumatic intracranial hemorrhage could be prevented.

Averagely, two to three patients would suffer from delayed traumatic intracranial hemorrhage in the observation unit each year.

There were lots of patients in the observation unit now, but most of them merely suffered from minor diseases.

Old Chief Physician Pan and Zheng Ren quickly examined around twenty to thirty patients who had been admitted for observation.

Just when they were about to go to the emergency wards, several people darted over in the corridor of the emergency department.

"Doctor, doctor!" shouted a young man anxiously at the front of the group.

On his back lay a woman, whose arms were stiff with her fingers curled and locked into a claw-like posture as if she was holding onto something.

Zheng Ren's heart sank immediately as the patient's condition seemed very serious.

"This way!" He quickly led the family member, who was carrying the patient, into the resuscitation room.

It took a great deal of time for the family member to transfer the patient from his back to the bed.

The patient had a weird posture where there was a backward arching of the spine, just like a bow, due to persistent spasm of the back musculature, a condition clinically described as opisthotonus.

She had generalized muscle spasm, which caused her hands to gently wave before her as if trying to grasp something. That coupled with the constant humming from her mouth made her look especially gruesome and horrifying.

"Ah..." The nurse in charge, a newbie less than twenty years old, was frightened by the patient's condition.

In her viewpoint, the patient's posture was very similar to horror films such as Resident Evil, World War Z and The Walking Dead.

This was a zombie...

If the nurse was bitten by her, would she become a walking dead?

Was it possible that...

This was the end of the world?

Petrified, the nurse accidentally dropped the mercury sphygmomanometer on the floor with a loud bang, causing it to break and the mercury to spill all across the floor.

The family member was also dazed. Was this really a terminal illness?

Since the doctor in the township health center could not diagnose her as well.

Even though they had suspected that this was probably an incurable disease, there was a glimmer of hope that Sea City General Hospital would be more experienced to diagnose and treat this condition.

However,

The junior nurse was scared as soon as she witnessed the patient's condition.

The young man was startled, and his eyes were full of sorrow.

Another woman in her fifties, who followed them into the room and saw this scene, slumped down onto the ground and began to wail.

The loud bang when the mercury sphygmomanometer fell onto the ground aggravated the patient's muscle spasm.

Saliva started flowing out of the patient's mouth and the humming intensified when the woman began crying.

Zheng Ren quickly stood between the nurse and the patient and said seriously, "You, tidy up the area and find your superior to check her blood pressure. Remember, all mercury must be found."

Then, he gave the family members a solemn gaze and said, "All unrelated members, please leave the room now, the patient cannot be disturbed by loud noise!"

The young man, who had carried the patient into the room just now, had tears of fear welling up in his eyes. After a few seconds of hesitation, he asked softly, "Doctor, can you save her?"

"I can't guarantee," Zheng Ren replied seriously, "But there is still a chance. You'll stay here and the rest will leave. Now!"

Now!

Immediately!

Pronto!

This was not a funeral home, and definitely not a time for mourning yet!

Zheng Ren failed to notice that he had developed a tough attitude, an imposing manner that was increasingly similar to Old Chief Physician Pan.

Old Chief Physician Pan frowned and said, "This is tetanus, and the mortality rate can go as high as fifty percent. One family member will stay and the rest will leave the room."

A fifty-percent chance of survival.

Otherwise, death ensued.

The young man was bewildered upon hearing his words.

Even so, his judgment remained unaffected. At least the doctors in Sea City General Hospital mentioned that there was still hope for survival.

He quickly pushed others out of the room, regaining its usual silence.

"Zheng Ren, have you treated this disease?" asked Old Chief Physician Pan curiously when he noticed Zheng Ren's calm demeanor.

Even Old Chief Physician Pan had not encountered Clostridium tetani infection for decades. How was this man able to keep his composure?

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Chapter 127: Xinglin Master Who Can Revive The Dying

In the upper right corner of Zheng Ren's vision floated the System panel, which revealed the patient's details in bloody red.

Clostridium tetani infection. The diagnosis was confirmed.

This was... a tricky case.

Zheng Ren had been involved in the medical field for almost ten years, housemanship included, but he had never seen or even heard of tetanus before this.

According to standard medical procedure, every trauma patient would be given an intramuscular injection of tetanus toxoid, but this was his first time witnessing an actual case of acute Clostridium tetani infection.

Zheng Ren vaguely remembered that there was a short explanation about the treatment for tetanus in an inconspicuous corner of the surgery book.

Even so... He was reluctant to take over the case due to inexperience.

"Chief Physician Pan, have you treated tetanus before?" asked Zheng Ren.

Old Chief Physician Pan shook his head and said, "I'm going to make a phone call and request for a multidisciplinary consultation. Relevant departments will handle this case afterward."

Then, he began to make necessary arrangements for a multidisciplinary consultation.

The family member's confidence slowly faded away after listening to their conversation. He helplessly stood at the head end of the bed and stared at his zombie-like mother before shifting his gaze to Zheng Ren, who wore a solemn expression. His quivering lips parted ways, but words failed to slip out of his throat.

A senior nurse quietly walked into the room and tried her best to maintain her composure as she measured the patient's blood pressure and other vital signs.

Her vital signs were normal just like any ordinary human being.

Zheng Ren was also aware that the most dangerous part, in this case, was not hemorrhagic shock or other ordinary life-threatening scenarios.

The most terrible part

This disease was,

Generalized muscle spasms.

Especially when the patient's respiratory system was affected,

She would instantly lose her ability to breathe.

Soon...

Death would occur...

A few minutes later, senior consultants and deputy senior consultants of relevant departments arrived one after another.

Even these clinically experienced senior consultants and professors agreed that this was a tricky case.

None of them was willing to handle the treatment of such a rare disease.

This was a responsibility for ownself and the patient.

The diagnosis was evident, and no one gave words of refutation.

However, none of them had seen or had any experience in this case, so when it came to treatment plans, everyone shook their head, sighed and left the area.

"Do you know how to treat this case?" Old Chief Physician Pan had no choice but to ask Zheng Ren.

"It's written in the book. I can give it a try," answered Zheng Ren.

"Send the patient to the emergency ward, and let me know if you need anything else," Old Chief Physician Pan finally made up his mind and said, "I'll personally counsel the patient's family members."

Zheng Ren immediately called Su Yun and asked him to prepare a single room with thickened curtains in a quiet location.

Su Yun was competent enough to perform his task straight away without inquiring about the reason behind the cumbersome requirements.

Zheng Ren received a call in less than ten minutes stating that the room was fully prepared.

Before escorting the patient, he stacked up several pieces of sterile gauze, like a thick towel, and applied them onto her eyes to prevent bright light from discomforting the eyes.

Old Chief Physician Pan cleared the path in advance by doing everything he could to lower the volume of surrounding sound along the way.

An elevator had been waiting for them, thanks to a family member standing by in front of it beforehand. That way, the stretcher trolley could head directly to the emergency ward without wasting time waiting for the elevator.

The patient was successfully transferred from the resuscitation room to the emergency ward within three minutes.

"The patient is infected with Clostridium tetani. Prepare an intravenous infusion of 500mL of normal saline and 3000u of tetanus toxoid, given once per day. Do a skin test before starting the infusion." Zheng Ren gave a few instructions.

Chang Yue was taken aback. Intravenous infusion of tetanus toxoid? This was the first time she heard about this technique as it was usually injected via the subcutaneous or intramuscular route.

However, her good clinical skills made her decide to obey the command.

"500mL of normal saline plus 8 million units of penicillin for infusion, once per day," Zheng Ren stared at the patient and continued.

Chang Yue meticulously recorded every instruction he mentioned.

"Su Yun, contact ICU and request for a ventilator. Also, prepare a sterile pack of tracheostomy equipment, we might need it when necessary."

Su Yun nodded in response.

He would not waste time on nonsense in an emergency rescue.

"The curtains must be closed and the patient's eyes must be covered with a towel at all times. Try not to talk in the room and limit all noises outside the ward."

Patients suffering from tetanus had an increased sensitivity to light and sound. Therefore, any light or auditory stimulation could precipitate spasms and generalized convulsions, resulting in an uncontrollable condition.

"Use a bed fixation strap to secure all the patient's limbs, but be careful not to cause any harm or induce ischemia in the extremities.

"Let one family member stay in the room and stand by for twenty-four hours."

Those were all he could think of at the moment. Zheng Ren then left the room after all instructions were softly delivered.

He felt that he had done whatever he could in the treatment of this rare disease, and the rest... depended solely on fate.

Accurate diagnosis and proper treatment plans were only part of the therapy.

After spending a considerable amount of time in the medical field, all doctors and nurses would begin to believe in fate.

Fate was indeed very important.

Some patients appeared to be on the brink of death, but somehow could fully recover like a cockroach.

On the other hand, Some patients looked perfectly fine and could even perform the hospital discharge process in person, but they collapsed as soon as they left the hospital.

These rare occasions were not unprecedented in the world.

Zheng Ren could only do everything within his power to treat the patient with such a rare disease, but no one could guarantee the result.

When the others left the room and began their busy tasks, Zheng Ren quietly stood in front of the bed and observed the patient's condition in the dark.

The muscle spasms visibly reduced following the removal of light and auditory sources.

'Luck is on our side if she doesn't end up with respiratory arrest,' Zheng Ren thought.

A nurse hung the bottle of tetanus toxoid after it had been fully prepared. However, she was having difficulty cannulating the vein in this pitch-black room.

Zheng Ren took over the cannula and brushed his finger over the back of the patient's hand, trying to locate a vein. Then, he blindly plunged the needle through the skin into the vessel and noticed a flashback of blood.

He had no idea whether it was due to his psychological imagination or the drug effect, but the patient's generalized muscle spasms seemingly reduced following the drug infusion.

Half an hour later, the patient's condition became stable.

Su Yun pushed a ventilator over with a white sterile package on it, and Zheng Ren instantly knew that the tracheostomy equipment was finally delivered.

Even if the patient developed acute respiratory failure, she could still be rescued.

Zheng Ren sighed in relief upon realizing that the most dangerous moment had passed.

After leaving the ward, he returned to the office and saw Chang Yue counseling the family members regarding the patient's condition.

She looked serious when explaining the situation to the family members in detail, which was unflawed after listening to her for a while. Then, he returned to his desk and turned on the computer, trying to come up with a contingency plan to prepare for any unforeseen events that may arise in the patient's condition.

The phone suddenly rang, emitting a loud noise.

"Reduce the ringtone volume of every nearby phone," said Zheng Ren after locating an omission.

"Chief Zheng, Chief Zheng, look outside the window," said a doctor on duty in the emergency department on the other end of the phone.

Huh? What was there to see outside?

Zheng Ren stood up and walked to the window.

There were lots of people surrounding a man outside the Sea City General Hospital emergency building.

The man in the middle was holding a big, red silk banner, seemingly with lots of words written on it, high up in the air, unlike ordinary silk banners that usually stated Xinglin Master Who Can Revive The Dying.

What the hell was this?

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Chapter 128: Who Cares!

"What is he holding?" asked Zheng Ren.

"A silk banner embroidered with words related to the successful rescue operation of the patient with heavy postpartum hemorrhage last night. That man... should be her family member."

Uh... Zheng Ren looked closely at the commotion. Generally, silk banners would be directly delivered to the department to be hung up or buried in a random corner of the room.

If the silk banner was meant to express sincere gratitude, it should be hung on a visible location so that everyone could read it.

However, the man standing in front of the Sea City General Hospital emergency building was holding the silk banner up with both hands...

Was that not exhausting?

Zheng Ren vaguely noticed the shaky arms and bruises on the disheartened man's face.

A short distance away stood a few familiar figures who constantly appeared in the man's field of vision on purpose.

There were a few noticeable but mild injuries on them as well.

Zheng Ren smirked when he recalled the nightmarish hell last night. Then, he returned to his seat and began to make a resuscitation plan.

He had no desire to deal with those scumbags at all.

"Yo? You look calm," said Su Yun, taking a quick glance at the scene before he sat behind Zheng Ren and played on his phone.

"What do you want me to do? Rush down there and join in the fun?"

"I thought you'll excitedly call the person who helped you and thank him with trembling hands," Su Yun remembered something and stood up abruptly, adding, "I'm going to take photos of it and post them on Weibo and my social media."

"What

"What if it's useful? It's better to take the initiative and gain the upper hand first."

Su Yun had no desire to explain his intention to the blockhead in detail and leisurely walked out of the office in the emergency ward.

When the elevator reached the lobby on the first floor, the doors slid open to approximate a hundred people watching the hustle and bustle outside the building.

The Chinese really loved a busy environment just like how the ancient ones used to say.

Su Yun slowly walked out of the emergency building with a cell phone in his hand.

The man in the middle hid his face behind the silk banner, probably due to embarrassment or something else, so Su Yun was unable to identify which troublemaker, who had created a mess in the obstetric department earlier today, was assigned to this task.

The silk banner was densely embroidered with many words to clearly summarize the event last night. However, the part where the family members had abandoned the patient with heavy postpartum hemorrhage and subsequently returned to raise a medical dispute was left out. Instead, it was replaced with a deception where they had gone to gather money and the surgeon had been competent and kind enough to save the patient in time.

The words were embroidered rather than written on the silk banner.

No one knew to whom this hard work was meant for.

Su Yun's lips curled up into a sneer. What sort of darkness loomed beneath the bright and beautiful world? Nobody knew.

Just like these onlookers. Perhaps they would feel touched by that fool Zheng Ren, but who knew what had actually happened in between?

However, it was good enough for everything to go back to its original track.

Zheng Ren was worthy enough to receive a silk banner or a letter of gratitude.

Su Yun used his phone to snap photos of this "precious" scene from different angles.

The yellow-toothed, tattooed man was squatting and smoking at a nearby location with bruises visibly noted on the corners of his eyes and lips.

There was an indescribable joy in Su Yun's heart after stealing a peek at him.

It seemed like the person who helped Zheng Ren had good control of his own actions. These professional troublemakers had been beaten, but the injuries were not serious enough for them to seek medical treatment.

Potential trouble to the hospital was avoided and the problematic issue was successfully solved. The man indeed had an extremely good sense of propriety.

Su Yun held a high regard for that man.

The joy in his smile intensified after understanding the situation perfectly. Then, he selected a photo with the best view that he had just taken and uploaded it to his social media and Weibo.

...

...

A newspaper office in Sea City.

Wei Feng had been busy creating a draft throughout the night.

Ever since his graduation from the Communication University of China, he had applied for countless jobs but all of them had been rejected. Left with no choice, he had returned to his hometown in Sea City with a disheartened mood.

It was very difficult for an undergraduate to find a stable job in an established newspaper firm.

He had been unemployed for more than half a year. Then, through his distant relative's social connections, he had paid a king's ransom before he was finally accepted to work as a reporter in the current newspaper office.

The hardship he had endured along the way fueled his inner desire to fight for a better future.

He must become successful. That was his obligation!

During the internship period, all tasks that had been assigned to him were trivial issues such as sharing positive energy with the public and so on.

Wei Feng felt nothing but contempt at such tasks.

After studying various classical cases, he had concluded that if he wanted to become famous overnight and cause a great sensation, he must first understand the people's minds.

Indignation would consume the outsiders' hearts in every "classic" case.

From the perspective of a college student who had been professionally trained, he clearly understood the twists and turns behind those cases.

Those involved in national civil services, law enforcement, medical field and education system could easily spark a public outrage.

On his desk lay yesterday's newspaper with a shocking headline—Elderly Loses 2000 Yuan A Month By Selling Tea Eggs Outside University!

This news only stated that someone had paid only a penny using QR code payment when purchasing tea eggs. The reporter who had written this news did not... perhaps deliberately twisted the story by highlighting the university entrance where the incident had occurred in bold.

Hence, the first thought that occurred to every reader's mind was that the students nowadays were ill-mannered to scam a tea egg seller by paying less on purpose.

Wei Feng had read through the online version of this news, and as expected, many people indignantly reprimanded the college students for their poor attitudes.

However, the truth had nothing to do with college students taking advantage of an elderly tea egg seller.

In fact, it was a guy from an urban village near the university who had used the old seller's blurry vision under the cover of the night to his advantage.

The college students still had good manners in today's world.

If truth be told, the young college students were far better than most adults in society.

They abided by the rules, and yet they were frequently slung with mud.

This time, it was the same as well.

After seeing the headline, Wei Feng had guessed how things would turn out in the end. He presumed that the university authorities would provide clarification today, but the damage had been dealt and the college students had become the scapegoat, and as for the rest of it, who cared anyway?!

The draft he had prepared overnight was cleverly typed into a suspenseful story with multiple parts. He was convinced that its publication would definitely raise an uproar in the society.

The sales growth of the newspaper office's flagship—Sea City Life News—would increase tremendously because of this article.

Wei Feng, the creator of the news, would surely welcome the first pinnacle in his career.

The email had been sent to the lead editor. He glanced at the time and figured that his article should have been reviewed at this moment.

He once again happily read through his article. Lots of interesting twists had been included to completely control the readers' minds, and the words could guide them using their cognitive inertia and inadvertently misdirect their focus toward the designated goal.

Wei Feng also had plans for the subsequent part of the draft. He was merely waiting for the first part to raise a public howl of protest so that he could make minor adjustments according to the readers' emotional fluctuations.

This article was definitely better than the story about a tea egg seller outside the university and could lead to a greater debate on the internet.

Controversy was equivalent to popularity, which also meant that he would gain lots of attention in a short period of time.

'Just you wait! Those who rejected me, I'll make your jaws drop, and I won't bat an eye on you even when you plead for my return!'

This delightful thought emerged in Wei Feng's mind as if he had been awarded The Pulitzer Prize and had become a prominent member of the media.

"There are a million possibilities in an instant[1]..." Wei Feng's phone suddenly rang. It was from the lead editor.

'She must have thought that the draft is very well done.' Wei Feng smiled and accepted the call.

[1] ] A lyric from the song A Million Possibilities by Christine Welch.

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