Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ordinary junior doctors did not get to talk with chief physicians very often.
It was even harder to request the chief physicians of anything.
Even for Ling Ran, an unreasonable request may be rejected.
However, Zuo Cidian was no ordinary doctor.
He easily found a suitable way to get his request accepted.
“Chief Physician Tao, everyone said that your speech is really good. We really wish you will come to these on-the-spot lectures more often.” Zuo Cidian took a box filled with four big pork trotters and put them on Chief Physician Tao’s table. He said with a smile, “Young Lu deliberately selected a batch of big pork trotters and then boiled them with firsthand stew. Because of it, it retained its original taste. You can bring them back to your family for a taste.”
Chief Physician Tao laughed. “Young Lu sure is considerate. Old Zuo, you too. Okay, then. I’ll take it.”
“Oh, come now. With your identity, you can buy a whole van of pork trotters with just one freelance surgery. As long as you give good speeches, everyone feels that they’ve learned something from you. You know, junior doctors nowadays are so different from before. When they listen to the speeches from senior doctors, not only do they want to listen to a speech chock full of important points, they also want it to be detailed, interesting, and full of feeling.” Zuo Cidian smiled. He indirectly complimented Chief Physician Tao.
Chief Physician Tao was about to enter retirement. Surgeons at this period of time were like mafia bosses lying on hospital beds; they were most humane and vulnerable at that point.
Chief Physician Tao glanced at Zuo Cidian, who was as respectful as usual, and felt incredibly satisfied. He even wanted to pat Zuo Cidian’s head.
“Chief Physician Tao, if you are free over the next few days, you can stop by Ma Yanlin’s surgeries to give some advice.” Zhu Cidian noticed that Chief Physician Tao became more amiable, so he took the opportunity to make a request.
“Huh… Another one? Junior doctors would be tired of listening to me.” Chief Physician Tao hesitated.
“How would they? Well… they may be tired of listening to the chief physician’s speeches, but if you’re the one giving the lecture, they will be reluctant to see it end.” Even though Zuo Cidian’s words were not very flattering, his skin was definitely thick.
He was like a hard-working royal coachman. Although he was not as skillful as his other gifted colleagues, he could still achieve his goal as long as he kept his momentum.
Because, in truth, unlike what ordinary people thought, most people who were targets of flattery would not actually have many demands when the time came for them to be flattered.
Chief Physician Tao had not expected Zuo Cidian to flatter him up to the high heavens.
Surgeons could not avoid flattering someone at some point of time in their career. To be honest, everyone was rather lax in polishing their skills in flattery. Almost all of them relied on their talent to put food on their table. Few surgeons would really work hard to learn this skill…
“Alright, which of Ma Yanlin’s surgery is suitable for me to comment?” Chief Physician Tao was persuaded by Zuo Cidian.
Of course, for him, this was not a big deal.
But for Ma Yanlin, he needed to pay a little attention.
Regardless of how meaningless a surgery was for a chief physician to watch a surgery and even comment on it, he had to be more energetic in order to keep up his appearance.
At four in the morning, Ma Yanlin reached the hospital. He brought a large package of seaweed shrimp skin, sprinkled them on tofu pudding, and made a large bowl of kimchi. After he was full, he took two interns, a houseman, and invited another anesthetist to go to the ward. The hospital had in-service training doctors, who were doing surgeries on weekdays so he still had enough manpower. However, Ma Yanlin could not order in-service training doctors to work at this time. After all, they were licensed doctors, which meant that they were protected by the law.
Normally, doctors of Ling Ran’s treatment group would not start working until five o’clock.
*Knock, knock*
“Hello, we are here for ward rounds.” Ma Yanlin went straight into the targeted room.
“Huh?” After a long time, a puzzled sound rose from the ward.
“I’m Doctor Ma. I informed your family yesterday that I would come for the ward round earlier today.” Ma Yanlin knocked on the door twice and stood quietly outside.
This was a familiar scene for doctors of Ling Ran’s treatment group.
Patients were mostly new to getting up this early, and the patients’ families were usually the same. Therefore, no matter how accustomed the doctors of Ling Ran’s treatment group were to getting up early, or how many surgeries they had performed in the morning, new patients and their families would always ask the same questions.
“Doctor Ma?” The patient’s family member opened the room door with a sleepy look. Once he found that it was indeed Ma Yanlin, his eyes were filled with puzzlement. “I thought you meant six or seven in the morning when you mentioned earlier ward rounds…”
“We are the most efficient in the morning. We plan to perform the surgery on your father at nine in the morning, which is the best time. It’s, in fact, considered the golden hour. Therefore, we also need to request sufficient preparations from all of you. We need to take a blood test. If there is no problem, we will have your father get anesthetized on time.”
“It’s true that if you are the only patient, we can do this ward round later on, but we can’t. There are many patients we need to check during the ward round as well.”
“Let’s do the examination first. The main reason you came to the hospital is to have treatment, right?”
Ma Yanlin was skillful in dealing with the problems of patients’ families. In that, he was quite calm when facing this scene.
“How do you feel?” Ma Yanlin headed toward the patient who woke up. He looked at the form hanging at the edge of the bed as he asked him.
The old man in bed hummed a couple of times and said, “Of course I am sleepy, it’s four in the morning.”
Ma Yanlin smiled at the angry old man and said, “Do you still insist on having an open surgery? How is the discussion between you and your family?”
“I will have an open heart surgery, that’s my final say.” The patient was in his early fifties, and his son, who accompanied him, was twenty years old. He was very ignorant and had no idea what to do.
“Did no other family member come with you?” Ma Yanlin continued asking.
“No, it’s just a broken hamstring. I don’t see the need to tell the whole world about it.” The patient waved his hand, sat up straight, and said, “I’ll sign whatever that needs to be signed and get the surgery done.”
Ma Yanlin smiled and said, “It’s good to do minimally invasive surgery at your age. Our open surgery is mainly for athletes, sports enthusiasts, or anyone who’s extremely sporty…”
He had several alternative patients. Although the condition of the patient in front of him was more suitable for open surgery, he must make things clear.
The patient looked at Ma Yanlin and glanced at the people who followed him. He pursed his lips and said, “If you’re going to ask the same question, I will give the same answer. I need to dance once I go back. Don’t underestimate the amount of exercise involved in dancing. People with poor Achilles tendons can’t dance…”
Ma Yanlin reminded him, “Open surgery for the Achilles tendon can be regarded as major surgery. Our incision is about four inches long. If it’s just for dancing, is it necessary?”
The anesthetist also reminded him, “Minimally invasive surgery requires only regional anesthesia. Open Achilles tendon surgery must require general anesthesia, and the surgery is expected to last for four hours.”
He gave a slightly longer explanation about the surgery time, but he did not scare the patient. Instead, he scared the patient’s son.
“Dad, why don’t you just go for minimally invasive surgery? It’s almost the same anyway.” The patient’s son was scared out of his wits.
The patient asked his son without bothering to conceal his emotions, “Almost? By that, you mean I’ll just end up with a normal tendon. Are you willing to stay by my bedside for the rest of your life, just like the past few days?”
His son paused for a while, “Aren’t you just fine like this?”
“What about the next time? I am in my fifties already, my body will get weaker and weaker in the future. If I don’t get a stepmother for you while I can still dance, do you intend to take leave every single day in the future?” When the patient said that, he looked at the doctors again and said, “There’s no need to say anything else. I want my Achilles tendon in its best condition. I have practiced dancing for so many years, and I won’t have all my efforts destroyed by one tendon.”
