Yang Lei, wearing a surgical gown, was asking the scrub nurse for a pair of Rampley sponge forceps and a kidney dish containing gauze and iodophor for surgical site disinfection.
On the operating table, the woman’s words stunned both of them.
“Okay, auntie.” Without any hesitation, Zheng Ren turned around to perform a surgical scrub and said, “I’ll just use ordinary cephalosporin, is that alright?”
“Sure,” replied the woman, obviously satisfied.
“…” Yang Lei froze for a brief moment. The scrub nurse, who had her back to the patient and was counting the surgical instruments, nearly burst into laughter and contaminated the sterile instrument table.
The surgery ended successfully. Even though there was no deliberate pursuit of speed, the whole procedure had been done dexterously to the point that the newly-allocated scrub nurse had to recount the surgical instruments without taking a break.
She felt like she had been counting the instruments throughout the entire surgery…
After stepping away from the operating table, Zheng Ren informed Chang Yue about the patient’s bizarre request.
Chang Yue understood him and immediately located the patient’s family for counseling and to explain the patient’s situation and the intraoperative conditions.
The family member in the counseling session was the patient’s son, who had no idea how to react upon hearing Chang Yue’s words.
He truly had no clue where the elderly woman had heard such theories about “health”.
It was good to know that she had no special conditions. After communicating with the family member and acquiring his signature, Chang Yue provided a few medical orders and prescribed antibiotics for the patient.
According to the severity of the disease, the patient would receive postoperative antibiotics for three to seven days after their appendectomy. Despite the absolute confidence in his own surgery, Zheng Ren did not dare allow self-recovery and strictly adhered to protocol—antibiotic injectiond for at least three days.
This was the safest method.
The thought of the weeping beauty—Xie Yiren—was constantly torturing Zheng Ren’s heart, making him uncomfortable.
“Yang Lei, keep an eye on the wards. I’ll go to the ICU first before heading out. Call me if anything happens.” Zheng Ren soon made up his mind; he wanted to comfort Xie Yiren.
“Okay, don’t worry.” Although Yang Lei was invisible to patients, he was truly a reliable man.
Zheng Ren arrived at the ICU and saw Su Yun keeping an eye on the patient with around ten pieces of paper in his hands.
The details on the System panel were more optimistic now as the surgery had been completed in time and the patient had received appropriate postoperative management. Although she had not gotten out of danger from hemorrhagic shock yet, she was at least not in a critical state now.
“Are you busy at home?” asked Su Yun softly, staring at the numbers on the paper.
Some doctors were used to addressing their department as ‘home’. Zheng Ren was actually surprised that Su Yun, who had wanted to establish a pet medical center, had acquired this habit as well.
“I just performed an appendectomy, and the patient’s condition has stabilized. Everything is fine at the moment.”
“Everything here looks good, too.” Black bangs danced in front of Su Yun’s forehead. “All signs and symptoms of hemorrhagic shock have been alleviated, so I think she can be extubated in one to two days.”
“That’s good.” Zheng Ren nodded.
Even though the fickle-minded System was much more reliable than Su Yun, who did not want to hear good news?
“Apply for leave and visit Xie Yiren,” said Su Yun all of a sudden.
A chill instantly went down Zheng Ren’s spine. How had Su Yun known about his intention to check on Little Yiren?
Like a thief who had been caught red-handed, Zheng Ren panicked.
“Bring her out for a meal and that foodie should be fine.” Su Yun raised his head and added seriously, “She is your scrub nurse, so you should take a day off for her.”
‘I must have misunderstood him. That sharp-tongued nancy boy is just casually advising me,’ Zheng Ren repeated to himself internally, clutching at straws.
“Okay, I’ll check on her,” said Zheng Ren lightly.
He scanned through Miao Xiaohua’s investigation reports again to get a basic grasp of her current recovery status before leaving the ICU.
Su Yun stared at Zheng Ren’s back and curled his lips into a smile.
“Little Hua, get well soon,” Su Yun whispered to Miao Xiaohua lying on the hospital bed in a stable condition, “Chief Zheng, the doctor who has saved you, is a dumb*ss. If possible, lend him a hand in the future.”
…
…
After leaving the ICU, Zheng Ren explained the situation to Miao Xiaohua’s parents before he quickly returned to the emergency ward and changed his clothes.
Seeing that he was alone in the on-call room, he took out his phone, hesitated for a few seconds and finally called Chu Yanzhi.
“Chief Zheng, is there a major rescue operation?” asked Chu Yanzhi quickly, surprised to receive Zheng Ren’s phone call.
“No,” Zheng Ren immediately said, “Are you with Yiren?”
“She’s asleep, and I’m on my phone. Why?” Chu Yanzhi suddenly giggled. “Are you feeling uneasy performing surgery without your scrub nurse?”
“…” Zheng Ren was instantly drenched in sweat. He had never been teased in this way before and was momentarily stunned, unable to come up with an appropriate response.
The silence continued for a few seconds before a chuckle was heard from the other end of the phone.
Embarrassed, Zheng Ren quickly explained his intention and immediately hung up after acquiring Xie Yiren’s home address.
‘It really is difficult to chat with women.’ Embarrassment started gnawing at his heart.
Zheng Ren shook his head, astonished to find that everyone seemingly knew his plan before he even did anything. In terms of surgery and saving lives, he was undoubtedly an expert, but when it came to getting along well with women, he had to summon all his courage just to take the first step.
He put on his coat and hurried out of the emergency building.
The weather was still warm when he had been transferred to the emergency department as a chief resident.
Surgery and ward rounds had been his daily routine in the wards since then.
Although Zheng Ren did not consider his life boring and dull, he felt that his attire was clearly too thin as soon as he stepped out of the inpatient department.
‘Damn, it’s cold.’ Zheng Ren looked up at the sky, the light of day slowly draining away even though it was only four o’clock in the evening. The night rolled over, bringing with it the threat of a blizzard with the icy cold breeze whipping him like a knife scratching his face.
It was indeed a freezing night.
Wrapping his clothes tightly around himself, he looked in the direction of the address provided by Chu Yanzhi and walked against the wind to Xie Yiren’s house.
Xie Yiren had once claimed that her house was five minutes on foot to the hospital, which was now proven true and based on a woman’s walking speed as well.
Behind Sea City General Hospital was some greenery with several ponds, and next to it was the most expensive residential area within the city center.
There were a few small villas visible near the pond upon entering the community area. Glancing at their unit numbers, Zheng Ren located Xie Yiren’s house.
It was a three-story detached villa with two garages, and the lawn in front of the house was green despite the harsh winter.
‘What type of grass is this?’ Zheng Ren thought. It was extremely rare to see a touch of green amidst a world of white.
He rang the doorbell, and Chu Yanzhi’s voice soon came from the intercom.
The door opened to an entryway dozens of square meters wide. Chu Yanzhi poked her head out of the second floor and said, “Change your shoes and come up. We’ll go for dinner at six.”
Zheng Ren, who had completely lost his sense of superiority in the operating theater, carefully removed his shoes out of fear that he could accidentally stain the soft, thick carpet.
“Chief Zheng has applied for leave to visit you.
“Hey, the sun has risen!
“Yiren, emergency surgery!”
A loud thump came as if something heavy had been dropped onto the floor.
