"Let me introduce myself. I'm Bao Yunming, chief consultant of the thoracic surgery department." He bowed deeply to Zheng Ren. "On behalf of all my colleagues in my department, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your assistance."
Zheng Ren quickly stood, trying but failing to come up with an appropriate response.
"Please, sit down. I brought police officers to record your statement here in order to prevent any delay in your treatment," said Chief Bao politely to Zheng Ren.
The police officers were also courteous enough to shake hands with Zheng Ren first before asking both Zheng Ren and Su Yun about their recollections of the event.
The entire process—including taking their statement and fingerprints—was plain and simple. After everything was complete, the officers bowed solemnly to Zheng Ren before leaving in silence.
Zheng Ren refused Chief Bao's kind offer to arrange a deluxe single room for him.
Was it really necessary for his minor injury? What a joke. Besides, Chief Bao was just being polite; he could not possibly take the man seriously.
"Doctor Zheng, rest well and let me know if you need anything," said Chief Bao before leaving the room.
Zheng Ren felt lucky to have Chief Bao alongside him for the police interview session, just as Old Chief Physician Pan had been there with him in Sea City last time.
This manner of interpersonal communication was not his strong suit. After courteously bidding goodbye to Chief Bao, he continued to receive his drug infusion.
After a long while, Su Yun said slowly, "Any emotionally intelligent person would have gone on to establish a friendship with him. You…"
Zheng Ren mentally filled in the blanks with sarcasm and mockery.
However, what else could he have done when he had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation?
Zheng Ren smiled. Upon seeing that the infusion was about to finish, he instructed Su Yun to call the nurse so that she could remove the equipment.
"Twice per day. Don't forget to come at night too," said the nurse.
"Uh…" Zheng Ren hesitated.
"You're so close to death, I can't catch up with you anymore," Su Yun said leisurely, "Pyrexia from wound infection and microorganisms will spread from the infected tissue to the apex of the lung, causing pneumonia, lung abscesses and empyema. The pericardium—"
"Stop!" Zheng Ren quickly interrupted him and smiled bitterly. "I'll come for the infusion at night, alright?"
"No one will stop you if death is what you wish for."
"..." Zheng Ren grumbled. 'It's just a minor injury, but he described it as if I will die without the drug infusion.'
Since his coat had been damaged, he put on a white coat that Su Yun had borrowed and would change to a sweater or something else when he returned home later. It was enough to keep him warm right now.
Upon leaving the thoracic surgery department, Zheng Ren saw Feng Xuhui running toward them, looking panicked.
"Manager Feng, what are you doing here?" asked Zheng Ren, puzzled.
"..." Feng Xuhui stood for a few moments, catching his breath. Then, he said guiltily, "I'm so sorry, Chief Zheng. I should have come with you to the clinic this morning. Who would have foreseen such an accident happening here?"
"Oh." Zheng Ren was not expecting the man's answer. He smiled and said, "It's not your problem either."
"Your problems are my problems." Feng Xuhui was upset.
After settling Zheng Ren and Su Yun's breakfast early in the morning, he had sent them to the clinic and left afterward.
Two hours later, breaking news overwhelmed his feeds.
The major incident had spread like wildfire across social media and Weibo like a deadly, contagious virus.
Feng Xuhui had begun to ask about the situation only after reading the news, and little did he know that it had something to do with Zheng Ren!
He had tried to text Zheng Ren on WeChat, not knowing how badly injured he was, but there had been no reply since then.
Feng Xuhui had been petrified.
How could he have known that Zheng Ren was simply too exhausted to check his phone? Even when the nurse had unlocked his phone that one time, the man had paid no attention to it and merely browsed the messages in the group chat without checking what Feng Xuhui had sent.
What if Chief Zheng had had a major accident and the scientific research came to an end...
What if Chief Zheng decided to direct his anger toward Feng Xuhui…
Feng Xuhui quickly used his social connections, no matter their strength, to search for Zheng Ren's whereabouts. After a few setbacks, he had finally found out that Zheng Ren was receiving an infusion in the thoracic surgery department.
He had run all the way to the department and, fortunately, met Zheng Ren at the entrance.
The fact that Zheng Ren did not mind at all slightly soothed his nerves.
'I mustn't make any more mistakes,' Feng Xuhui repeatedly reminded himself.
"Chief Zheng, where are you going?" he asked.
"Home, to rest," answered Su Yun.
"To the conference," replied Zheng Ren.
Their words had come out in unison, and they looked at each other.
"Still courting death?" said Su Yun coldly.
"We should attend the conference while we're here," replied Zheng Ren.
"Cheh."
Feng Xuhui was frozen to the spot. What should he do? As a newbie in the business field, resolving the dispute between Zheng Ren and Su Yun would be like nailing jelly to a wall.
"I'm fine. It's just a minor injury, anyway, I can't possibly laze around, right?" Zheng Ren tapped Su Yun's shoulder to indicate that he was fine.
Su Yun merely lowered his head and ignored him.
Zheng Ren did not pay him much heed, either, as it was best when Su Yun shut up. Otherwise, the sharp-tongued nancy boy would always come up with various ways to verbally assault him.
Su Yun wore a dark expression along the way. When his patience finally reached its limit, he said, "Boss Zheng, don't you want to call home and report your wellbeing?"
"Huh?" Zheng Ren was stunned.
Reporting one's safety to one's family… was an unfamiliar experience to an orphan.
However, on second thought, Zheng Ren realized his mistake.
He took out his phone and wrote, "I'm fine, don't worry" in the group chat. He then noticed Old Chief Physician Pan's text on WeChat and quickly called the old man.
He informed Old Chief Physician Pan that everything was alright and that his minor external trauma had been dealt with. The old man repeatedly advised him to return in case of any discomfort, as there was no place like home.
A warmth arose in Zheng Ren's heart.
After hanging up, Zheng Ren hesitated for a few seconds. His mind started to wander elsewhere.
"You have to make that call sooner or later, so why are you even hesitating?" Su Yun, like a parasite in Zheng Ren's stomach, keenly knew the reason behind his indecision.
'That's true.' Zheng Ren was instantly relieved.
He dialed a number, and listened for the ringtone.
Chapter 190 - A Gathering of Surgical Titans
"It's me." Zheng Ren's voice suddenly caught in his throat as soon as the call was accepted.
Su Yun smirked.
"Yes, I'm fine. It's just a minor injury.
"Alright, I'll pay more attention.
"Okay, I'll return at the earliest opportunity. Don't worry."
Zheng Ren hung up after the brief conversation.
Su Yun approached Zheng Ren and asked, "First time falling in love?"
"..." Zheng Ren was somewhat stupefied.
Was this falling in love? He had absolutely no idea; all he had felt was the confusion of a bumbling child the moment the call had gone through.
"Be brave and shameless. You have to pester a woman in order to win her heart," Su Yun advised him.
"Was that your experience?"
"No, I don
't need it at all." Su Yun brushed the black bangs on his forehead aside, looking handsome as usual.
Zheng Ren ignored the brat and quickened his pace.
"We should head downstairs," said Su Yun.
Zheng Ren could feel the heat radiating from his ears. Even though the nancy boy was really annoying at times, his advice to steel oneself in a relationship had actually turned out to be right.
They had initially planned to fill their stomachs outside first, but Zheng Ren was shivering in the freezing cold as he merely had a white coat on, which was a strange sight.
Left with no choice, they returned to the guest house. Since Zheng Ren had only brought normal clothes and no extra sweaters to keep himself warm, Su Yun once again mocked him ruthlessly before lending one of his sweaters to the blockhead.
Manager Feng Xuhui was meticulous enough to have ordered food delivered to them. Zheng Ren gladly accepted the offer since he had to attend the conference in the afternoon.
It had been a long time since he had last attended an academic conference. How would they conduct such a meeting in Imperial Capital? Would they finish the entire session quickly in a straightforward manner, or would the professors constantly give lectures and end the seminar only after eight or nine o'clock?
"How is your shoulder?" asked Su Yun after Zheng Ren changed his clothes.
The words of concern somehow felt like a jibe as soon as it escaped the brat's mouth.
How did Su Yun even have so many friends in Imperial Capital? That was what piqued his interest the most.
"It's fine," answered Zheng Ren.
"Are you sure you want to attend the conference? It will be impossible for you to wear a lead apron and perform surgery in your current state. You know what, let me apply for leave with Professor Pei. Who would force you to perform surgery after what you've gone through just now?"
"I have no place to go, anyway, since it's freezing cold outside," Zheng Ren said seriously, "Besides, we've come all the way here. There's no harm in listening to the conference."
Su Yun stared at Zheng Ren like he would an idiot. However, the blockhead's gaze was crystal clear, failing to understand the unspoken implications. Sighing heavily, he clearly explained himself.
"Little Yiren bought you clothes before your departure, shouldn't you take a walk and buy something she may like before you return home?"
Zheng Ren was startled. This… This was something he had not experienced before in his life.
"I can't be bothered with you anymore." Su Yun blew the black bangs framing his forehead.
Zheng Ren thought about it and realized that Su Yun's words made sense.
In that case, he had to take some time to shop for souvenirs that Xie Yiren and the gang would like, but today was certainly not the day for that. There was a conference waiting for him.
Feng Xuhui, who had overheard their conversation, turned around and jotted down this important point in the memo of his cell phone.
'Chief Zheng is a talented idiot. He'll be easy to deal with,' Feng Xuhui encouraged himself.
Twenty minutes later, the food that he had ordered arrived.
He went downstairs to retrieve it and trotted back to the room.
Feng Xuhui then placed the food on the table. Just as he wondered whether to join them, Zheng Ren said, "Manager Feng, let's have lunch together."
"Okay." Feng Xuhui was already hungry after working all morning.
However, he did not expect the men to devour the food in less than five minutes; an astonishing speed.
It was one of the basic skills of a doctor, especially in a hectic department where one had to gobble up their food and fill their stomach as fast as possible. God only knew when a critically ill patient would arrive at the hospital, requiring a resuscitation of up to seven or eight hours at times.
Slow eaters would starve when that happened.
This was a human survival instinct.
After lunch, Su Yun brought Zheng Ren directly to the research institute.
The brightly lit and spacious centre was situated in a newly-constructed high-rise in the back lot.
This was obviously not only an institute for surgery, but for pharmacology, pathology and other avenues of research.
Su Yun was particularly familiar with this area, possibly due to experience or by asking ahead. Zheng Ren merely followed the man all the way to a medium-sized conference room on the third floor, unbothered by the questions in his mind as it was pointless to waste his brain cells on such a minor issue.
There were already seven to eight people sitting in the third floor conference room, waiting for the meeting to begin.
From the looks of it, someone would be speaking about the research's progress later so that the new surgical titans could understand the procedures of such a bizarre surgery.
The so-called surgical titans referred to young men specifically mentored by professors in surgery, in the footsteps of a well-reputed hand surgery professor who had raised a group of "surgical titans" after the development of microsurgical reattachment of amputated limbs around eighteen years ago.
It was more difficult for one who was over fifty years old to perform microsurgery than it was for those working in the general surgery department.
After all, one's vision would begin to blur at an advanced age, and they would have trouble reading newspapers, let alone performing microsurgery.
Previously, there had been many young men, some even unlicensed, involved in the field due to leniency of medical regulation.
However, such cases no longer existed in the modern world.
The professors of the institute could only get their own postgraduate or doctoral students to finalize the clinical work of the research project.
Zheng Ren rejected Su Yun's idea to sit in the front row and randomly selected an empty seat in a back corner. Then, he stared at the screen in the front while recalling the anatomy of the prostate.
"Are you really that solitary?" Su Yun smiled faintly and sat beside Zheng Ren. "These people are going to be demons in interventional radiology in the future. In fact, one of them will surely become the best interventional radiologist in the country."
"Okay, got it," said Zheng Ren plainly.
"You're putting Old Chief Physician Pan's kindness to waste. Don't tell me you're seriously thinking that you can personally perform this surgery." Su Yun's expression grew colder following Zheng Ren's indifference.
"I don't mind at all. It's good enough for me to observe the surgery."
"Tut-tut." Su Yun sneered and remained silent.
Around ten minutes later, seven to eight old professors entered the room and sat down. A wide-browed, middle-aged man then went onstage, turned on the computer and brought up a Powerpoint that had been prepared in advance.
"Greetings, everyone. I'm Li Haitao, the secretary of this project," he introduced himself after launching the slideshow. "The important work is done by professors and the powerful, talented young generation on the scene. I simply run errands around here."
The humility in his tone won the favor of much of the room.
"Now, let me go over the recent results of research gathered by the professors." Without further ado, Li Haitao began the presentation with the anatomy of the prostate.
Even though he had simply described himself as an errand secretary, he was likely a clinician as well. His explanation was detailed and accurate to the point that Zheng Ren, who had the memories of three thousand prostate anatomical dissections, could not find fault in his words.
'There really are many talented people in Imperial Capital,' Zheng Ren thought.
Chapter 191 - Two-Faced
Li Haotao first briefly explained the anatomical structure before proceeding to angiographic images of the prostate.
It was valuable information.
Barely anyone got to perform an angiography of an organ and save its images if the patient did not undergo that organ's specific surgery.
However
, the research institute actually owned such records. Zheng Ren watched the slideshow attentively and assumed the information came from the private repositories of multiple professors.
They were actually angiographic images of bladder and renal tumors, but some of the contrast agent had entered the prostate or its surrounding tissue, so they had saved these images to provide a theoretical basis for this research project.
Li Haitao merely stated facts without the domineering tone of a lecturer, which eased the atmosphere.
He pointed at an angiographic image and smiled. "This is where the difficulty in our work lies. The prostate has a very thin blood supply network, and the surgeon has to be proficient at inserting an ordinary micro-guidewire into those vessels."
Dead silence reigned in the room.
The participants were either demons or rising stars in interventional radiology, and so understood what Li Haitao was trying to imply.
It took Li Haitao two full hours to finish presenting the research results.
"The next part is up to you now." Li Haitao smiled and said, "There is only one patient, currently in the urology department, volunteering for the experimental surgery. He is an elderly man with many comorbidities, so the risks of surgery are significantly higher. After counseling with his family members, they insisted on undergoing the experimental surgery.
"The case has been sent to everyone's mailbox. Please understand it in detail once you return."
Mailbox… Zheng Ren immediately opened the mailbox in his phone.
An email had been sent to him two hours ago containing a detailed medical record.
Zheng Ren smiled bitterly after scanning through the case.
The patient was geriatric with all manner of comorbidities; truly troublesome to deal with.
It was no surprise that he wanted to undergo interventional radiology as the risk of sudden cardiac death was high during surgical removal of the hyperplastic prostate.
Although interventional radiology was considered a minimally invasive surgery, it only minimized the risk of sudden cardiac death rather than completely preventing it.
'Damn, what a tricky case.' Zheng Ren frowned.
The patient's medical record had been sent to everyone's mailbox. After reading it, they suddenly realized something—who would perform the surgery when there was only one patient?
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