Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“I heard that Doctor Ling took in a patient with liver cancer?” After Zhang Anmin was done seeing patients for the day, he read about the news in the Ling Treatment Group and rushed over excitedly.
It was harder to perform hepatectomy for patients with liver cancer compared to hepatolithiasis, and such surgery was also more highly looked upon.
A small part of why He Yuanzheng was still able to enjoy job stability in Yun Hua Hospital was due to Ling Ran allowing him to operate on all the patients with liver cancer. China was a country with plenty of patients suffering from liver cancer, and because of this, He Yuanzheng was able to ensure a steady source of patients for himself.
Zhang Anmin naturally desired to operate on patients with liver cancer, but beggars could not be choosers. As a surgeon who was born and bred in the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, hepatectomy was the pinnacle among all the surgeries Zhang Anmin had ever seen. And the hardest part of hepatectomy was either the removal of large tumors or the removal of malignant tumors.
It was not easy to look for large tumors during a hepatectomy. This was especially true nowadays, as people rarely waited until their benign tumors were gigantic to receive surgeries. Even if there were such cases, those patients would seek for top doctors from Beijing or Shanghai. For a doctor of Zhang Anmin’s standing, hepatectomy was the pinnacle among all the surgeries he had access to.
It only took one glance for Zuo Cidian to know what Zhang Anmin was thinking about. Actually, he could guess Zhang Anmin’s thoughts even before he saw him in person. He nodded and said, “It was an elderly patient. Doctor Ling relented and agreed to treat him. This is what happens when you give consultation to patients.”
Zhang Anmin could not help but feel a little disappointed. “I thought that Doctor Ling is ready to start taking in patients with liver cancer.”
Zuo Cidian laughed. “You think that Doctor Ling would start taking in patients with liver cancer the moment you get promoted to associate chief physician? Such a coincidence doesn’t exist in this world. You’re not the protagonist of this story, after all.”
Zhan Anmin blushed a little. “I’m kind of thinking about it.”
“Stop thinking about it, then.”
“You’re right.” Zhang Anmin was as obedient as a domesticated cat.
Even though Zhang Anmin said this, he could not stop thinking about it.
He was an associate chief physician now, and whenever Ling Ran was doing major surgeries involving the liver, he would definitely receive priority when it came to his choice of an assistant.
The more Zhang Anmin thought about it, the surer he was. He earnestly ran over the information discussed during the preoperative consultation in his head. He then meticulously studied the patient’s medical record. He even closed his eyes and thought carefully about the steps involved in the surgery.
Zhang Anmin thought about it all afternoon, and the following day, he was still thinking about the same thing.
There were many operative routes when it came to operating on patients with liver cancer. Since Zhang Anmin did not know Ling Ran’s choice yet, he could only make speculations and figure things out by himself.
Zhang Anmin often did the same in the past.
Things were different back then compared to how he was working alongside a few other resident doctors under Ling Ran right now. When he first became a resident doctor, the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery of Yun Hua Hospital was still led by an elderly department director. The elderly department director was old and frail, and he got involved mostly in administrative matters instead of skill-related matters. All the associate chief physicians working under him were at the prime of their lives and were strong and energetic. All of them were busy launching projects and performing surgeries. They were lying in wait for the day their elderly department director left the hospital as they were vying for his position. Hence, none of them had the time to train a new resident doctor.
At that time, to obtain more opportunities, Zhang Anmin was meticulous when it came to preoperative preparations so that he could learn more things and show more of his worth during surgeries.
“Doctor Zhang, we’ll be heading to the operating theater.”
Mornings were when most of the surgeries happened. Ma Yanlin greeted Zhang Anmin before he left as a show of respect to the newly promoted associate chief physician.
Zhang Anmin hummed in acknowledgment. His head was lowered, and he looked like he was working hard as usual.
The office became increasingly quieter.
Ever since the Emergency Medical Center of the hospital was established, the members of the Ling Treatment Group enjoyed a comfortable space in the office. Even though Zhang Anmin was actually working under the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, he was given a seat in the office of the Ling Treatment Group too. Zhang Anmin had put his wife’s photograph on the table, and the seat looked perfect.
Aside from this, as everyone was spending plenty of time in the Operating Area, the office had fewer people inside. The spacious office made Zhang Anmin feel even more comfortable.
Hence, Zhang Anmin could focus on thinking about the surgery.
As Ling Ran did not summon him today, he had no tasks at hand and had the time to think about this.
Zhang Anmin was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly got confused. ‘Huh? why am I not summoned today?”
Zhang Anmin immediately rose and tidied his office desk in a haphazard manner. He then whipped up his phone and tapped on the WeChat icon.
The Ling Treatment Group’s WeChat group was full of information about preoperative preparations, and the schedule was also there.
Zhang Anmin’s mind went blank for a moment. He then slapped his head forcefully and charged toward the Operating Area.
He stood at the doorway and looked at the surgery schedule. He saw that Ling Ran had booked two operating theaters and that radical surgery for liver cancer was going on in one of them.
Zhang Anmin let out a frustrated sigh. He immediately changed into scrubs and rushed to the operating theater.
*Shick.*
He stepped open the door of the operating theater and saw that Ling Ran was operating on a patient in the bluish-green operating theater with his head lowered.
From where Zhang Anmin was standing at the doorway, he could see how straight Ling Ran’s back was. Aside from his hands, Ling Ran did not move an inch, and he looked like a handsome statue.
At the same time, Ling Ran was continuously extending his hand to ask for various instruments. His arm movements and firm gaze made him look so handsome that it put Zhang Anmin in a daze.
“Has the surgery for liver cancer begun?” Zhang Anmin inquired timidly.
Ma Yanlin, who was the assistant, shot Zhang Anmin a dumbfounded look and said, “Yes, it happens to be my turn…”
“Was it scheduled alongside the other surgeries two days ago?” Zhang Anmin widened his eyes and asked.
“Of course,” Ma Yanlin answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Zhang Anmin sighed internally. Even though it was reasonable, it was out of his expectation.
From what he thought, since Ling Ran had not operated on patients with liver cancer for a while, now that he had suddenly taken on a case, he would definitely make it a point to make special arrangements. Unexpectedly, Ling Ran lined it up alongside other surgeries…
Of course, this was a normal thing to do. Compared to other types of hepatectomy, there was actually nothing too special about surgery for liver cancer. This was especially true from a medical perspective.
“Doctor Ma, you’re really lucky.” Zhang Anmin pretended to be nonchalant as he gazed at the patient’s exposed abdominal cavity. He was so envious that he almost drooled.
Ma Yanlin chucked a few times. He was indeed being nonchalant about it. “It just happens to be my turn.”
He was only the second assistant and was doing nothing but operating the retractor. Hence, even though he was participating in the hepatectomy, he did not feel like it was anything special.
Yu Yuan slowly raised her head and asked, “Doctor Zhang, isn’t today your rest day?”
“Huh? Why are you… No, is it my rest day today?” Zhang Anmin’s mind was in a mess. He suddenly realized that according to the Ling Treatment Group’s internal schedule, it was indeed his rest day today.
However, ever since Zhang Anmin became an associate chief physician, he had no intention to rest at all.
Even freelance surgeries were no longer interesting to him.
“I’ll help out.” Zhang Anmin thought of something and turned to wash his hands.
No one in the operating theater objected. They carried on with the surgery.
After Zhang Anmin was done washing his hands, Ma Yanlin immediately stood aside and let Zhang Anmin take his place. Nowadays, he had to carry out many surgeries every day, and hepatectomy was something that was far beyond his reach anyway.
Ling Ran raised his head to glance at Zhang Anmin and said, “You can be the first assistant.”
There was immediately a surge of warmth in Zhang Anmin’s chest. ‘Doctor Ling is still…”
“There are metastases, and we’ll have to remove all of them. So, we need to hurry out,” Ling Ran ordered and cut off Zhang Anmin’s fantasy.
At that very moment, Zhang Anmin suddenly remembered the way the patient and his family members looked in the ward. He immediately felt a pang of fear due to the possibility of messing up and focused on the surgery.
