The Surgeon's Studio c1-799

by Black Ursa Prime

Name-dropping…

  Many of them, including the flight attendants, had encountered similar incidents in the past.

  However, most of them were drunken boasts.

  No one could have foreseen that on the plane,

  That unremarkable, young doctor,

  Could demand an air ambulance by simply name-dropping.

  Was that even possible?

  "He's influential. Any idea what his background is?"

  "I saw an invitation letter for scientific research when he was retrieving his medical license."

  "Wow, I'll be sure to get his contact information when I see him next time."

  "You just want the contact information of the assistant beside Doctor Zheng, right?"

  The flight attendants chatted happily.

  …

  …

  Zheng Ren disembarked and bid goodbye to Xia Hua after they exchanged contact information.

  Su Yun trailed behind Zheng Ren silently. When there were only two of them, he said calmly, "You're bold."

  "How so?"

  "You diagnosed a type I aortic dissection from a glance at the patient?" asked Su Yun, raising his head with a visible gleam in his eyes.

  The fickle-minded System had given the diagnosis, but Zheng Ren casually made up a response anyway. "Yes, the symptoms and his pulse gave it away."

  Cui Heming's medical history and symptoms were consistent with the disease as well.

  The types—I, II or III—merely signified the severity of the disease. In any case, it was safer to perform emergency surgery in Imperial Capital than to return to Sea City.

  Su Yun did not argue with Zheng Ren like a contrarian.

  The man's confidence brought him to a halt before he silently followed after Zheng Ren.

  It was amazing. However, a general surgeon would brag about their skills in the operating theater, right? Why did he even develop this "feeling" outside the operating theater?

  …

  …

  Feng Xuhui was holding up a large sign, waiting for Zheng Ren and Su Yun at the arrival hall.

  Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery had placed a high value on this scientific research, and Manager Feng had also been lucky enough to meet Zheng Ren on his first sales pitch.

  Thus, he had meticulously prepared Zheng Ren's accommodation in Imperial Capital and arrived at the airport an hour early to welcome him.

  When he saw Zheng Ren walking out of the arrival gate from afar, he shook the sign in his hand, trying to get Zheng Ren's attention.

  However… The truth was always unexpected.

  Zheng Ren went directly from the arrival gate into the crowd without a look at the waving sign.

  Meanwhile, his extraordinarily beautiful assistant followed him with a lowered head as if contemplating life.

  Feng Xuhui was left speechless.

  What just happened? Why was Chief Zheng ignoring him?

  Oh yeah! He must have thought that no one would welcome his arrival as he was merely a junior doctor.

  "Chief Zheng, Chief Zheng!" Feng Xuhui called out as he caught up with them, smiling.

  Zheng Ren turned around and looked slightly… confused.

  "Manager Feng from Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery," whispered the beautiful assistant… male assistant beside Zheng Ren.

  'You broke my heart, Chief Zheng!'

  The smile on Feng Xuhui's face froze a little.

  Zheng Ren extended his hand and greeted him warmly, "Hello, Manager Feng."

  "Don't mind him, he has late-stage face blindness cancer," Su Yun explained.

  Feng Xuhui smiled awkwardly. "Chief Zheng, I've arranged transportation to send you to the hotel."

  "Oh, there's no need for that," replied Zheng Ren as he released his grip and smiled.

  "Don't be so polite. You're in Imperial Capital, and as a friend, how could I not welcome your arrival? Please forgive my poor hospitality," said Feng Xu Hui enthusiastically and courteously, unbothered by Zheng Ren's face blindness cancer.

  "Professor Pei has said that he is waiting for me in the parking lot." Zheng Ren waved his phone.

  "Professor… Pei?" Feng Xuhui was dumbfounded.

  "Yes, there was a problem on the plane just now, but fortunately, Professor Pei provided his assistance. I'm actually surprised that he had personally come to the airport as well," said Zheng Ren while confirming the location of the parking lot.

  "..." Feng Xuhui was almost in tears. Why was flattery so difficult nowadays?

  Chapter 176 - Stay In The Guest House

  No matter how unexpected the circ.u.mstances were, Feng Xuhui still fulfilled his duty as a professional manager.

  Under his guidance, Zheng Ren and Su Yun successfully located Professor Pei's car.

  It was an inconspicuous Hongqi designed between ten to twenty years ago.

  Upon spotting Zheng Ren from afar, Professor Pei got out of the car and greeted him, "Little Zheng, over here."

  "Professor Pei, that's too polite of you." Zheng Ren quickened his pace, a sign of respect for his elderly comrade.

  "You really gave me a troublesome issue to deal with." Professor Pei smiled in mock outrage.

  Zheng Ren responded with an embarrassed smile.

  He had met Professor Pei by chance through nothing but professional ties. When he had asked the control tower to contact the professor in a desperate gambit, he was betting on the benevolence of a senior doctor with decades of medical experience.

  Sure enough, he had won.

  It had been thanks to Professor Pei's kindness and his… the System's accurate diagnosis.

  "Doctors encounter all kinds of accidents all the time, and we should remain unaffected by common practices in current society and help those in need." Professor Pei tapped Zheng Ren's shoulder and smiled earnestly. "How absurd is it that patients can't be treated outside one's place of practice?!

  "Little Zheng, I'm very satisfied with you."

  Professor Pei was referring to a case from a few years ago where an obstetrician had conducted a delivery on a train, but had been prosecuted by the family after its success, the reason being that a medical practitioner's place of practice did not include a train or the whereabouts of the train at that time.

  In the end, the issue ended in compensation and the revocation of the doctor's medical license.

  From that moment on, most doctors and nurses turned a deaf ear when there was a broadcast on the train looking for medical personnel.

  That was how far social behavior had degraded.

  Obviously, Professor Pei was unsupportive of this approach.

  How could a doctor leave a patient unattended?

  This was how he validated Zheng Ren's good deed.

  "It's my job," replied Zheng Ren with a smile.

  "Professor Pei, do you think Chief Zheng should go to the hotel or the hospital first?" Feng Xuhui said. He had been waiting quietly the whole time. "I've booked a hotel room for him."

  "He'll stay in the hospital guest house." Professor Pei waved his hand and entered the car, signaling for Zheng Ren to sit in the back. Meanwhile, Su Yun helped the chauffeur load their luggage into the trunk before getting into the passenger seat.

  Feng Xuhui was nearly in tears.

  In order to make the young doctor with great potential feel at home, he had even paid the booking fee for a room in a five-star hotel.

  However, he had failed to expect…

  A guest house…

  It was a term so historic that those born after the year 2000 had never heard it before, and the name itself carried a distinctive rustic weight that could take one back thirty years.

  Poor Chief Zheng. He had to stay in a guest house instead of a five-star hotel.

  However, there was no way he would visibly express that thought.

  Feng Xuhui put on a professional smile and watched as the black Hongqi left the area before getting into his car and following it.

  In the Hongqi, Zheng Ren sat upright and chatted w
ith Professor Pei.

  "Little Zheng, I hadn't expected your diagnosing skill to be so good," Professor Pei said with a smile, "Not everyone can diagnose an aortic dissection, let alone the specific severity."

  "I've seen two similar cases and read literature about it," replied Zheng Ren politely.

  "How sure are you?" asked Professor Pei, curious.

  "Eighty percent?" replied Zheng Ren after a few moments of hesitation. There was no way he would express his absolute confidence even though the diagnosis provided by the System had to be correct.

  If Zheng Ren put himself in another's shoes, he would never have believed that anyone could accurately diagnose type I aortic dissection based solely on their own experience, on a plane, and without any diagnostic equipment.

  "You're confident." Professor Pei gently tapped on his knees, as if deep in thought. After a while, he said, "The reason I believed your judgment was because I've seen your skill at surgery."

  Su Yun's ears twitched, obviously focused on the conversation between Professor Pei and Zheng Ren even though he was on his phone in the passenger's seat.

  Zheng Ren nodded.

  "It's good that you're confident. You know, I asked for a huge favor by deploying the air ambulance. If the diagnosis was wrong, those old men are going to laugh at me."

  In a sense, medical practitioners were almost the same as tech nerds with one notable difference—a tech nerd only had to face a computer, but medical staff had to deal with all sorts of people.

  Even so, they showed reverence for anyone with greater skill.

  Those who could provide an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment plan were undoubtedly worthy of worship by countless people.

  On the other hand, idiots who were full of themselves but could not properly diagnose a condition would be denigrated.

  As for those who did not value skill… They went to hospital management.

  Professor Pei had expressed his thoughts very clearly. Zheng Ren thought about it and asked, "How's the patient now?"

  "His blood pressure is well-controlled, and he is undergoing a 64-slice CT scan now," replied Professor Pei.

  …

  …

  At the same time, in a CT room of a random hospital,

  A white-haired, senior professor was attentively observing the image on the screen and ignoring the subtle noise of the machine in front of him.

  A doctor in his thirties hung up his phone, entered the room and said softly, "Master, the patient has safely arrived at the ward."

  "Begin preoperative preparations," the old professor said calmly, still staring at the screen.

  "The diagnosis is confirmed?" The young doctor was astonished. Only the ordinary spiral CT films were displayed on the screen as 3D reconstruction of the 64-slice CT scan was still running in the system software.

  "It should be type I aortic dissection. The tear has been effectively controlled, thanks to its timely diagnosis and treatment," the old professor said. He then pointed at a section of the film, adding, "You can see some subtle changes here."

  The young doctor frowned as the old professor's words went against his knowledge of medicine.

  "When will your senior finish surgery?" asked the old professor.

  "There are three elective cases today. He's on the second surgery as we speak."

  "Tell him to postpone the elective cases," the old professor said, "Finish this emergency case first, and I'll guide the operation when preoperative preparations are complete."

  "Is it an elephant trunk surgery?" The young doctor was excited; he was very interested in the largest operation in cardiothoracic surgery.

  "Yes."

  At that moment, the 3D image of the CT scan finished being constructed and its films began displaying on the screen.

  There was a tear on the aorta five centimeters away from the heart.

  The tear was approximately three to four centimeters long, which was not a serious condition and still within a controllable range.

  "Old Pei really guessed it correctly," the old professor mumbled.

  Chapter 177 - Boss Zheng?

  The Hongqi dived into a sea of cars in Imperial Capital and headed slowly to its destination.

  Around an hour later, they arrived at a hospital located between West Fourth Ring Road and West Fifth Ring Road.

  Instead of using the front entrance, the car drove directly to a row of old buildings in the northwest corner through the back door.

  Although it was early winter, the vines still grew strong and added a tinge of greenish-yellow amongst a vast blanket of white.

  "You'll stay here. It's not far from the institute, so it'll be more convenient for you," Professor Pei kindly said after the Hongqi parked in front of a small building.

  Feng Xuhui followed the Hongqi to the front of the building. When he entered through the back door, he instantly became excited.

  This was not a guest house. It was a realm where all legends with amazing hidden talents stayed. Countless memories started flowing into his mind.

  One year, someone had treated a disease here. In another, a doctor enrolled in a healthcare department had lived here as well.

  Although it was not as luxurious as a five-star hotel, Feng Xuhui would have still chosen this place without the slightest hesitation.

  As Feng Xuhui followed the Hongqi closer to the inconspicuous building, his eyes became increasingly brighter, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened as well.

  He indeed had the aura of a protagonist to have actually met a rising star in Sea City, a god-forsaken place, on his first sale.

  No one else had the luck as he did!

  'I must seize this opportunity,' Feng Xuhui decided.

  The check-in at the guest house not only required an identity card, but also a letter of introduction, which was an antiquated item.

  Fortunately, Professor Pei had prepared such a letter for Zheng Ren. Once the tedious check-in procedures were complete, Professor Pei bid goodbye and said that he would wait for Zheng Ren at the institute the next morning.

  It was no secret that the hospital had a national-level base for experiments, also known as a research institute. Zheng Ren expected that the research project would be conducted there.

  After Professor Pei left, Feng Xuhui took Zheng Ren and Su Yun's luggage and went upstairs, unwilling to release his grip.

  Zheng Ren was helpless. Why would he even need help when he was a perfectly healthy man?

  "Get used to it," Su Yun said with his head lowered, seemingly reading Zheng Ren's thoughts, "Your ability gave you the right to stay here, and that alone was enough for Manager Feng to realize your value."

  "Okay." Zheng Ren did not care what Manager Feng thought of him, nor was he curious about the uniqueness of this place. He casually acknowledged and followed Feng Xuhui up the stairs.

  The architecture of the two-story building was sturdy and simple, and the design of the former Soviet Union was easily recognizable at first glance.

  Despite its great antiquity, it was very clean and refreshing.

  After sending both gentlemen upstairs, Feng Xuhui invited them to dinner but was politely rejected by Zheng Ren. Left with no choice, he repeatedly told Zheng Ren to call him if something happened.

  Zheng Ren, who was used to living in peace and quiet, found it difficult to adapt to Manager Feng's enthusiasm, but he acknowledged the kind offer regardless and saw the man off.

  He unpacked his luggage and went for a shower before unpacking an anatomy book of the urinary system for revision.

  Then, a voice came out of the next room when he was only a few pages in.

  Had Su Yun courted the young girl at the front desk when they had first arrived at Imperial Capital?

  If something went wrong under his watch, he would have to suffer the shame of troubling Professor Pei. Thus, with no envy in his heart, he opened the door to investigate.

  His speculation was wrong. A few men in their thirties sto
od at the doorstep, and one of them was in a white coat with a red stethoscope hanging around his neck.

  Su Yun merely stood at the door and spoke to them without inviting them into the house.

  What was going on?

  Upon noticing Zheng Ren, Su Yun pointed at him and said, "He is my new boss. Talk to him if you need anything, and don't bother me."

  "Hey, Su Yun, I haven't seen you in years, and you're still acting like a dog with rapid mood swings." The doctor with the stethoscope looked annoyed. "You said you wanted to return to practice medicine or establish a pet medical center if you were unhappy, and yet in less than two years, here you are. Who are you trying to impress now?"

  "Let's go out for dinner. I haven't seen you in a long time; you b*stard, you still haven't changed a bit," said another man in a hoodie.

  "You arrogant brat, you found a new boss in Sea City? Many professors in Imperial Capital wanted to recruit you, but you turned all of them down. Pooh! Come on, let's go out together."

  Su Yun remained quiet. His black bangs flowed across his forehead.

  Zheng Ren assumed that they were Su Yun's friends. He was unsure of how they had caught wind of Su Yun's trip to Imperial Capital and visited him so soon.

  That was strange. The sharp-tongued nancy boy actually had friends.

  Zheng Ren was still unaware of his own limitations as he simultaneously failed to observe that a blockhead like him had also gained new friends, and perhaps… maybe… a girlfriend, soon.

  "Boss, are you going?" asked Su Yun.

  The moment Su Yun spoke, Zheng Ren seemed to notice a sneer at the corners of his lips.

  That was a strange expression, and Zheng Ren was unable to comprehend its meaning. Besides, why had the nancy boy addressed him as "boss"?

  Normally, medical postgraduate students referred to their lecturers as "boss", but of course, teachers or masters were acceptable titles as well, depending on the lecturers' preferences.

  However, Su Yun's so-called "boss" appeared younger than himself, perhaps only in his twenties.

  The b*stard's nonsense was getting outrageous.

  "Hey, can you just come with us? If you keep rejecting us any further, I'll show you no mercy with my Pegasus Meteor Fist." Red Stethoscope playfully punched Su Yun's c.h.e.s.t.