Chapter 745: Gigantic Mansion
Tian Guozheng’s gigantic mansion was situated beside a lake. The gentle slopes of a mountain range sat a mile or two behind the mansion. Surrounded by water and the mountains, the mansion looked like a very comfortable place to stay in.
The mansion was pretty huge too. It comprised a main building as well as three small buildings and could house almost a hundred people. If the mansion was used to house a party, up to ten thousand guests could be invited.
After all, the mansion was surrounded by ranches, stables, breweries, and other facilities. Ten thousand people could easily fit into these buildings combined with the mansion itself.
Lu Junjie who was wearing a hunting suit only regained his senses after he got out of the Jeep. He said as he looked at Ling Ran with a hostile gaze, “Doctor Ling, since you’re here, do make sure to have fun. You probably never had a chance to visit this kind of farm when you’re in China, right?”
Ling Ran nodded and asked, “Do you own a farm like this one in China?”
Lu Junjie froze for a moment and said, “I can own one if I want to.”
“He’s bluffing,” Tian Qi said and waved at the butler who was walking toward them. “I want to sleep on the third floor. Do make sure to give the third son of the Lu family a room that is far away from mine.”
“Roger.” The butler was Chinese. Even though he was old, he seemed capable. He also had an amicable countenance. He immediately agreed to Tian Qi’s request.
Lu Junjie’s face immediately fell, but he had no way to refute. Just like what Tian Qi said, he was merely the third son of the Lu family.
“Where’s my uncle?” Tian Qi asked the butler.
“He’s waiting for you guys inside.” The butler smiled. “Mister Guo Zheng asked me to prepare a scrumptious banquet so that you guys can have a good time. All the beef is flown in from 250 miles away, and they taste amazing.”
Ling Ran waited for a pause in the butler’s speech and asked, “Does Mister Tian Guozheng plan to receive surgery at home? Does his home have all the necessary equipment?”
“There’s a hospital called Guozheng Charity Hospital in the town nearby, and it’s sponsored by Mister Guozheng. You can operate on him there. If there’s a need, you can also order new equipment.” The butler continued a little proudly, “Cuba Town did not even use to have a clinic. All the rich people there took helicopters to big cities to seek treatment, and it was hard for the locals to find medical help. Ever since Mister Guozheng pumped in money to establish this hospital, all the people residing within a radius of a few hundred miles of Cuba Town have easy access to medical services.”
“The people in Brazil are having such a hard time?” Ma Yanlin was incredibly shocked when he heard this.
The butler nodded with a smile and said, “Usually, there are only three hundred to four hundred people residing in Cuba Town. Only when there is a festival would the figure go up to two or three thousand people. It’s kind of like villages in China. Moreover, the houses here are far apart from each other, and everyone has a car. Before the establishment of Guozheng Charity Hospital, there was only a pharmacy in Cuba Town.”
“Things are a lot worse there compared to many of the villages in China,” Ma Yanlin commented and asked out of curiosity, “Is Guozheng Charity Hospital large?”
“It is! They have thirty medical staff members as well as two operating theaters now. The hospital is also equipped with state of the art facilities such as an MRI machine…” The butler sounded like he was counting his family heirlooms.
As Ma Yanlin listened to the butler, he suddenly felt like laughing. He could not but say to Yu Yuan, “Why does it sound like he’s talking about Bazhaixiang hospital branch. Of course, there will never be an MRI machine in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch. They can’t even afford a CT machine.”
Yu Yuan twisted her lips. “There’s only two or three doctors and an X-ray machine in Bazhaixiang hospital branch. And the most common surgery there are debridement and corn removal instead of appendectomy and cholecystectomy.”
“But they have two operating theaters too, right? I reckon that the Bazhaixiang hospital branch may have more patients compared to Guozheng Charity Hospital.” As Ma Yanlin looked around the grandiose mansion of the Tian family, he felt like comparing things.
Yu Yuan looked at Ma Yanlin with sympathy. “I guess this is what happens when you’ve spent most of your career working under Doctor Ling.”
Puzzled, Ma Yanlin lowered his head and looked at the top of Yu Yuan’s head. He asked, “What do you mean?”
“Do you think that it’s proper to judge a hospital based on the number of operating theaters and the number of patients it has?” Yu Yuan shook her head. “It’s impossible for village hospitals and town hospitals to keep their operating theaters going all day long. It would be considered an achievement for them to carry out two surgeries in the same operating theater within a day. It isn’t so easy to carry out consecutive surgeries in the same operating theater.”
“Doesn’t this mean that they’ll need a few more operating theaters?” Ma Yanlin asked.
“I was talking about hospitals like Bazhaixiang hospital branch instead of proper hospitals. Moreover, since Guozheng Charity Hospital has thirty medical staff members, they should be able to keep their two operating theaters going all day long.” Yu Yuan shook her head and warned Ma Yanlin, “Don’t cause Doctor Ling trouble. There are quite a lot of people who know Mandarin here, including the doctors.”
Ma Yanlin traced her gaze, and he made eye contact with the three doctors who came here with the man in the hunting suit.
Ma Yanlin straightened his body. Like a muscular man in a bathhouse staring down a couple of scrawny men, he stared fiercely at the doctors.
The three doctors, who were either chief physicians or associate chief physicians, were no match to Ma Yanlin.
“You guys can get some rest first. Mister Guozheng had arranged a welcome dinner and party for you guys at night. After tonight, you guys can perform a physical examination and draw up a treatment plan for Mister Guozheng…” The butler enunciated each word clearly. He knew that it was the right time to speak, as he did not want there to be an argument between Ma Yanlin and the three doctors.
The doctors who came here with the man in the hunting suit were unfazed. Even though they had to travel quite far for this freelance surgery, they were used to the tasks involved. They did not see the need to worry.
Ling Ran, though, furrowed his eyebrows a little. “I had a good rest on my way here.”
“You can head to the banquet hall first. We’ll arrange for a few servers to attend to you.” The butler smiled.
“Can’t I start treating Mister Tian Guozheng right away?” Ling Ran intended to save time.
“I’m sorry, you can’t.” The butler insisted.
Tian Qi immediately understood the meaning behind the butler’s words. She said with furrowed eyebrows, “Ling Ran can’t treat him right away? Does this mean that he called other doctors over too?”
The butler flashed a smile and said, “You have to put yourself in Mister Guozheng’s shoes too. He had been very hesitant about what to do about his knee injury. He only decided to receive surgery because the pain is no longer bearable. Hence, he would like to hear a few experts out. Mister Jin Chengzai who owns Jinyuan Property happened to hear about Mister Guozheng’s condition, and he had invited a doctor over too. Mister Guozheng wanted to say no, but Mister Jin Chengzai insisted. The doctor is already on his way here, and he will arrive tomorrow.”
“Patients have the right to choose the doctors they want.” Ling Ran, though, seemed pretty nonchalant about it.
He had been flying around Changxi Province and carrying out freelance surgeries for more than a year, and things did not always go his way. Not everyone believed in him and supported him.
Most of his patients’ family members did not know much about hepatectomy. It might even be the first time one of their family members was admitted into the hospital and required surgery. Moreover, freelance surgery was something that was relatively new. Hence, more often than not, patients’ family members would have their doubts when they see Ling Ran.
Ling Ran had always kept his cool when this happened. After all, patients or their family members made the decision to hire a freelance surgeon for a reason. Having some time and space was beneficial to them as it helped them to make the right choices.
And what was considered the right choices to patients were not always choices that made the most medical sense. Whenever this happened, doctors had no choice but to let them be.
“Come on, let’s go and have some beef.” Ling Ran was unperturbed as he waved and said.
When Tian Qi saw that what the butler had just said did not affect Ling Ran’s mood, she immediately became happy. She quickly followed Ling Ran to the banquet hall.
The Lu family’s third son, who was standing beside the butler, widened his eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something.
“Excuse me, Mister Round.” Ma Yanlin walked past Lu Junjie.
Lu Junjie froze for a moment. He only realized that Ma Yanlin was referring to the incident earlier when Tian Qi said that he had round shoulders. He became so furious that his whole body was trembling.
“You guys better do well!” Lu Junjie said through gritted teeth as he turned to look at the three doctors behind him.
The three doctors glanced at one another and quietly left. They only came over with Lu Junjie because the Lu family was rich and held a lot of power. Why would they engage in such an idiotic conversation with Lu Junjie?”
Even though the three of them had walked quite a distance away, their voices could still be heard from afar.
“He’s Ling Ran from Yun Hua Hospital.”
“Yeah, the doctor who operated on Liu Weichen.”
“I heard that he’s focusing on hepatectomy right now. Why is he here to perform a knee surgery?”
“Don’t you know how highly Academician Zhu thinks of him? He would be able to make a living out of performing knee surgeries if he wanted to.”
“We really got f*cked over this time.”
“It takes a fight for people to get to know each other well. We’ll know him better after we have a few drinks with him later.”
