Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At the ward of the General Surgery Department, Dean Wu Senior lay on his bed, his eyes shut tight.
With his status, he could stay at the inpatient ward for senior cadres or the special ward, but Dean Wu Senior was very stubborn and insisted on staying in a normal room.
But the results were mostly the same. The General Surgery Department arranged a double room for him. After the patient on the other bed was discharged, no other patients were sent into the room. The family members could even sleep inside to accompany the patient, and it was just as convenient, it only lacked a small parlor, a fridge, and a microwave.
Dean Wu Senior could hardly calm down his emotions. He already mentioned to the people who knew him not to bother him twice, but his family members and other people just kept coming and going, and where there was someone else in the room, he could not rest. But since it was useless for him to persuade them, he could only let it slide and quietly think about his own troubles.
His liver cancer was in the early stage, and he did not feel anything. As he was eighty years old now, the frequent examinations and subsequent admission into the hospital over the past few days as well as the visitations by the guests were enough to exhaust him.
Even Dean Wu Senior’s granddaughter was a bit tired.
She was resting on the chair beside the bed while holding on her grandfather’s thin and dry hand with one of her hands. Then, she heard the sounds of leather shoes against the floor from the corridor.
“Someone’s coming.” His eldest granddaughter sighed and stood up. She worked at Yun Hua Junior High School and was now the Dean of Academic Studies. However, when it came to dealing with guests, she found this much more tiring than criticizing students.
Dean Wu Senior opened his eyes gently. His heart was already not that good, waking him abruptly from a deep sleep would be rough.
*Knock, knock, knock*
The ward door was knocked gently thrice, and the nurse on duty came in.
“Madam Wu, Dean Wu Junior and the other specialists are here,” the nurse mumbled, but she could still be understood.
Madam Wu immediately stood up, because she still had hope that her grandfather’s disease can be cured.
After a few seconds, Dean Wu Junior entered, nodded at his daughter, looked at the condition in the room, turned around, and said, “Dad, I invited a specialist who specializes in handling early stage liver cancer among old people. You’ll never guess who that person is.”
“No matter who it was, I won’t let them check on me.” Dean Wu Senior sounded very harsh. He was someone who focused on effectiveness. He did not believe in supernatural beings or reincarnation. He lived a frugal life, and he wanted to invest all resources into producing something and learning if he could. Yet he did not want to have someone treat his disease.
Dean Wu Senior looked at his son in determination and said, “You don’t have to convince me and even lie to me. I know more medical experts in the country than you. Who else can you invite over? You don’t have to do so as well. My body is already in this stage, and how can I die in peace knowing I made someone carry the weight of failing to save a senior doctor? It’ll also be awkward for you to see him again in the future, right?”
Dean Wu Senior had said these words before, but it was not as serious as this moment. Dean Wu Junior’s nose burned, and his tears almost flowed out.
“Grandfather, you should stop overthinking.” Madam Wu was almost in her forties, and she could no longer retain her calm expression as well.
Dean Wu Senior shook his head gently. “When one becomes older, his flesh will deteriorate. Only the mind remains functioning…”
“Father.” Dean Wu Junior did not let his father continue and pretended to be cheerful. He said, “The specialist I invited today is quite different. I think you will like him.”
He coughed, and Ling Ran came in after Zuo Cidian.
Both Dean Wu Senior and his granddaughter instantly looked excited.
“Ling Ran, it’s you.” Dean Wu Senior managed to call out Ling Ran’s name in an instant. Although he had left the frontlines of Yun Hua University, he treated the campus as his home. Each year, he would attend all kinds of activities and give lectures once or twice. Therefore, he was still quite familiar with those legendary students at Yun Hua University.
This was especially so for students like Ling Ran, who was handsome and a top scorer. He was definitely someone that Dean Wu Senior would remember.
However, Dean Wu Senior never thought that today’s specialist was Ling Ran.
“Ling Ran is now the number one hepatectomy specialist at Yun Hua Hospital.” Dean Wu Junior chuckled and made introductions to his father.
Dean Wu Senior first frowned and said, “Don’t boast about him too much! Ling Ran is still young, why should he fight for number one?”
“He did not have to fight for it.” Dean Wu Junior knew that he might be able to convince his father when he heard his words. He smiled sincerely and said to Ling Ran and the others, “My father is not as energetic as he used to, and he is now putting less attention to the affairs in the hospital.”
Ling Ran’s reputation only circulated within the medical field, and for old staff like Dean Wu Senior, who had retired even from the second string, this information had not reached him yet.
Dean Wu Junior was in a good mood. He immediately made the bed recline when he saw that his father wanted to sit up, and he said, “Father, I’m not lying. Doctor Ling’s skills in hepatectomy is now top in the country. If Changxi Province wants to hire a hepatectomy specialist, their first option will definitely be Doctor Ling.”
“That’s because he is young.” Dean Wu Senior refused to believe that.
Dean Wu Junior smiled and said, “Let me put this in another way, I won’t admit it after I leave this door. But now, I know that Ling Ran is charging 10,000 RMB for every freelance surgery, right?”
Freelance surgeons were still considered as an act in the gray area. The junior doctors could say everything about it fearlessly during their chat because they were not qualified for freelance surgeries yet. But when the senior doctors talked about this, they will need to be wary.
Yes, regardless of whether they admitted to it or not, freelance surgeons were now the reality, and the price among freelance surgeons was the greater embodiment of reality.
A doctor who charged 3,000 RMB per surgery was at a totally different level from a doctor who charged 5,000 RMB, and there was an even larger difference between doctors who charged for 6,000 RMB and 10,000 RMB per surgery.
Dean Wu Senior may have left the frontlines, but he still understood what was going on.
In places like Changxi Province, 10,000 RMB per surgery meant that the surgeon was among the top surgeons. Maybe there were some doctors who charged an extra 2,000 to 3,000 RMB, and surgeries that cost around 15,000 RMB to 20,000 RMB will only happen once in a while.
The relationship between money and life was a topic that the entire medical system did not want to talk about. However, the power contained within money was undeniable, because it was necessary in procuring services that kept a person alive.
Dean Wu Senior looked at Ling Ran with great effort, smiled, and asked, “Ling Ran, you just graduated two to three years ago, right? It’s not easy to perform surgeries in other hospitals, huh?”
“The surgery environment of other hospitals is truly not comparable with Yun Hua Hospital. But when most of the doctors cooperate with me, they can still reach the standard.” Ling Ran gave his comments calmly, yet what he said was not the same as mentioned by Dean Wu Senior.
Dean Wu Senior had met Ling Ran not just once, and he could not help but smile and said, “I didn’t expect this… Okay, then Doctor Ling, please take a look at my disease.”
Just like what the Dean Wu Junior planned, as a young doctor who graduated from Yun Hua University, Ling Ran’s appearance gave Dean Wu Senior too many reasons to persist on his treatment and not just give up on treatment.
“Then, I will do a physical examination for you first.” Ling Ran did not say much and went straight to work.
Dean Wu Senior struggled to look at the way he handled matters, and he kept nodding. “Good. Well done. During our time, we didn’t have as many devices and instruments, we needed to depend on physical examination…”
“Please stop talking.” Ling Ran looked at Dean Wu Senior with a serious expression.
Dean Wu Senior was interrupted. He was stunned, and he immediately laughed out loudly in the next moment.
“No laughing as well.” Ling Ran pressed on Dean Wu Senior’s stomach and gave an order.
Dean Wu Senior laughed even more loudly.
