Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Department Director Xu is heading for surgery.”
“Old Xu is leaving.”
“Xu is dying.”
All kinds of rumors would spread out at Donghuang Regional Hospital, and the assistant lecturers stood at attention, eyes sharp and wary.
If Xu Jinyi really could not make it, the battle to fight for the position of department director of the General Surgery Department would start very soon.
Many subordinates working under this dominant department director had been waiting for this day.
Suffering for long in a department might sound very exaggerated, but this dissatisfaction was definitely not an overnight occurrence.
Positions in hospitals were not like government organizations. Most of the department directors worked in their positions for their entire life. No big change would be made unless they made any major mistakes.
Once a department director took his position, his subordinates would be tortured by him until he stepped down. For the chief physicians and associate chief physicians who could not be promoted to the post, it was impossible for them to regain the freedom they previously had. These people would not be as obedient as the newcomers, and none of them would be content with remaining subservient as well as being a new figure’s lackey.
If they could not get to that position, they would ask the department to be split. If they did not split up, they would go to another hospital. The power succession in the hospital department was always like a great purge.
“I heard that it is liver cancer.”
“Liver cancer means that he’s definitely dead.”
“Maybe he can still come back to work for a few days in a week?”
“It’s hard to say. I don’t think so. He only has so much time left, shouldn’t he go back and spend the remainder of his days happily?”
The doctors were discussing with one another, and their tones were more pessimistic than not.
The doctors had seen too much when saving the patients’ lives, so they were always pessimistic about it. Although they had seen more miracles than a normal person, much more could be said about the tragedies.
“The department director is in his fifties, he won’t be getting up anytime soon. If he receives another surgery, how many days does he need to rest before chemotherapy? Even if he makes it, it’ll be impossible for him to work.”
“Who knows, he might take targeted therapy.”
“Targeted therapy for liver cancer is not very reliable yet.”
“If it is PD-1, maybe he can last for some time.”
“In short, he still needs to rest for a period of time, right?”
In the afternoon, more discussions between the attending physicians and resident doctors could be heard.
After all, not only did they need to fight for the position of assistant lecturer, the attending physicians and resident doctors needed to choose their teams as well. Of course, some people had already chosen their teams, but since there were very few winners in this, the others would eventually be forced to choose sides.
Only housemen and interns could stay away from this, especially those who came for standardized training. Housemen who had not signed a contract with the hospital could only be considered as high-ranking labor force. Naturally, they did not need to participate in the department competition that fought for power and benefits.
“Hey, go and pay Department Director Xu a visit first.” Someone stood up and suggested.
“It is a must to pay him a visit. Do you think today is suitable?”
The person who made the suggestion put up a show and said, “Department Director Xu will be sent to Anderson Cancer Center later.”
“Huh? Does that mean he’s going to retire because of his illness?”
“Who knows?”
The discussion went on, but no conclusion was attained. When they clocked off work, they went out in pairs. Most of them met again at the second affiliated hospital. Some looked at each other and smiled.
In the ward of the second affiliated hospital was Xu Jinyi, who lay on the hospital bed and in the middle of fluid transfusion while chatting with his relatives who came from afar.
He was still in good spirits. In fact, he looked better than when he was at the hospital. But sympathetic smiles could be seen on the faces of the people who surrounded the hospital bed.
“Department director.” The doctors from Donghuang Regional Hospital walked into the room slowly.
“Oh, Young Li, Young Wang, you’re both here.” Xu Jinyi nodded gently and greeted them one by one. He looked very cordial.
“Sigh, how could this happen to you?” Young Li sighed. Then, he held Xu Jingyi’s hand and sat down.
Xu Jinyi smiled faintly. “Please take a seat. All of you clocked off work, right? You need to remember to have someone remain on shift duty.”
“The housemen volunteered to take over for a day. They wanted to show you their support too.” Young Wang tried to be polite and spewed nonsense.
Xu Jinyi nodded. “How kind of them. All of you should focus on your work and stop overthinking it. I’m just going through a surgery and a few chemotherapy sessions. I will be back in a few months.”
‘Would you be able to come back?’ It was the question on everyone’s minds. The side effects of all kinds of surgeries and chemotherapy sessions appeared in everyone’s mind.
None of the medical treatments were truly safe. Although the percentage of the deaths caused by penicillin and deafness caused by gentamicin was low, there were still many cases reported. The doctors would even remember those failed examples clearly.
“Did you ask Department Director Li Yuan to operate on you?” another doctor asked.
Xu Jinyi was Li Yuan’s disciple, and that was not news to Donghuang Regional Hospital. Since he stayed at the second affiliated hospital, many people would easily assume that the chief surgeon was Li Yuan.
Against their expectations, Xu Jinyi shook his head. “I asked Doctor Ling to operate on me.”
“Which Doctor Ling?” Some doctors had guessed it, but they could not believe it.
“Ling Ran,” Xu Jinyi replied in a straightforward manner.
“Why?” Now, the group of doctors could not understand his reasoning. With Xu Jinyi’s status, it might be difficult if he wanted to do other things, but if he used his own survival as an excuse to ask other doctors to operate on him, none of the doctors in the country would reject his request.
Also, for doctors, if they were requested to go over by another doctor to perform surgery, that was something of great honor, because the patient did not just pay for the freelance surgery, he or she also entrusted the doctor with their life.
From what everyone understood, Xu Jinyi was either looking for the best surgeon in the country or someone he believed the most to do the hepatectomy for him. Ling Ran… did not fit into either of these conditions.
Xu Jinyi chuckled. He was not interested in explaining to these weak doctors about the issues of him being particular or not particular. Even when he was well, he could not be bothered to explain things to the young doctors, and what was more, he was running out of time now. These weak doctors were unworthy of his time.
“If there is nothing else, please go back first. I will take a few days’ leave. At that time, Associate Hospital Director Luo will temporarily take over the department. Do cooperate with one another,” Xu Jinyi dropped the bomb.
It was obvious that he was not letting go of his power.
The few young doctors had various thoughts in their minds when they went out of the room. The frequent changes had surpassed what they could predict.
“Ling Ran is performing surgery at the second affiliated hospital, do you want to take a look?” A young attending physician with an old look, sparse hair, deep eyebags, dark eyes, and slanted lips came over excitedly and reported the situation.
“Let’s go and watch.”
“Of course we have to watch.”
The doctors from Donghuang Regional Hospital said nothing and ran toward the operating theater.
When they reached, the young attending physician with slanted lips asked another colleague to come over. Then, everyone entered the operating theater.
The hospitals in the current era had the most interns and housemen compared to the other eras. The nurses in charge could hardly identify any of them. So, the nurse gave the scrubs to anyone with white coats.
They dressed accordingly and tidied up a bit before they glanced at the surgery schedule. Then, they ran to Operating Theater 3, where Ling Ran was.
There were already two people inside the operating theater watching the surgery.
The doctors from Donghuang Regional Hospital silently moved forward. They heard the two people who came earlier whispering.
“So impressive.”
“He actually managed to save those vessels?”
“This suture is really good… Old Bai, if anything happens to me, you must invite this person over.”
“Sure, which day again?”
