“About twenty days ago, the girl suddenly experienced excruciating pain during a meal and was admitted to a hospital in my hometown,” Fang Lin said, “She has undergone various tests, but the results have been disappointing.”
“Fortunately, Boss Zheng was here,” said another man with a smile.
“No, Brother Fang’s boss also wanted to perform a tissue biopsy, right?” replied Zheng Ren.
“Had I been the one to handle this case, I would certainly not perform a tissue biopsy due to its high risk.” Fang Lin recalled the patient’s imaging films and said truthfully, “First of all, the PET-CT result confirmed the diagnosis. Secondly, we might not be able to stop the hemorrhaging as the tumor has a rich vascular supply. Boss Zheng, how confident would you be that intraoperative accidents would not happen if you were the one performing the surgery?”
“I can’t,” Zheng Ren said frankly, “I’m just a general surgeon working as chief resident in the emergency department.”
‘And I don’t have the extra skill points to learn cardiothoracic surgery, either,’ he thought.
“…” Everyone except Su Yun looked at him, surprised.
Chief resident in the emergency department of a third-tier city? How low-level was that? Out of the millions of doctors in the county, he was merely at the first step of his career and many times inferior to the doctoral students in the top hospitals of Imperial and Sorcery Capital.
Those were not even the main problem. Most importantly, he was simply a general surgeon.
What the f*ck…
The huge difference in skill made the atmosphere gloomy again.
Zheng Ren had steamrolled everyone with his powerful abilities.
“Let’s not talk about this any further.” Su Yun helped himself to a glass of Laphroaig and savored the unique taste of iodine before asking with a smile, “Do any of you know the progression of the scientific research?”
Fang Lin and the rest were caught in a trance. After a while, a young doctoral student sitting near the door answered, “My boss was asked to formulate subsequent plans a few days ago, but there hasn’t been a breakthrough. The current difficulties lie with the lack of major blood supplies, and the capillary network is too dense for complete embolization. Also, the materials used have to be strictly monitored due to the small diameters of the vessels, and the surgeon has to be skilled in this domain.”
“The big bosses’ imaginations have gone wild. I’m not optimistic about this research project.” Fang Lin clinked glasses with Su Yun.
It was a bold and generous move, but Fang Lin merely took a sip instead of chugging it down.
“I heard that Biosensors International is developing thinner guidewires and catheters, and that they’re doing research in Sorcery Capital now.”
“Huh? Why?” Zheng Ren was puzzled.
Prostate artery embolization was bound to be unpopular, especially with the usage of newly developed micro-guidewires and microcatheters, as they also meant sky-high medical charges. Ordinary citizens were unable to bear such costs and it was thus difficult for developers to earn profit as well.
“There are too many reasons.” Fang Lin smiled. “We normally remove the hyperplastic prostate instead of performing interventional radiology. The only patients who require such a tedious treatment are geriatrics with blood clotting disorders or heart disease. If they have cardiac arrest intraoperatively due to pain, we would be in serious trouble.”
Zheng Ren understood immediately.
Even though Fang Lin did not provide a detailed explanation, Zheng Ren was still able to make sense of what he was trying to say.
“I heard that the institute has gathered many medical experts. It was originally unintentional, but it’s too late for the big bosses to go back now.”
Zheng Ren suddenly noticed that everyone had their eyes fixed on him.
Their gazes contained various complex emotions such as pity…
Did they think he was a scapegoat?
Zheng Ren did not think so. He was simply too inferior to take such massive blame.
Everyone chatted leisurely afterward—they went over every piece of gossip in the hospital, from which doctors had performed what operations, to a deputy chief consultant of a department who had resigned after being unable to obtain a promotion and gone on to work as a chief consultant in a competing hospital.
Zheng Ren continued devouring the cherry-shaped foie gras in silence with Xie Yiren fully occupying his mind. Would she try to move on after savoring such delicious food?
That foodie.
The thought of Xie Yiren put a warm smile on Zheng Ren’s face.
“Hey, what’s with the ambiguous smile? Who are you thinking about?” Su Yun stood with everyone, who was ready to leave after the drinking session was over. After all, some of them had to perform surgery tomorrow, and even if they had been scheduled to work in the outpatient department, they would still have to deal with over a hundred patients a day, a task as exhausting as performing surgery.
“Oh.” Seeing that everyone was about to leave, Zheng Ren stood up and put on his coat.
Xie Yiren had purchased this soft and comfortable coat made of an unknown fabric for him. What should he buy as a souvenir for her before going back home?
Zheng Ren’s mind once again wandered elsewhere.
Fang Lin was no longer stingy and distressed when it was time to pay the bill. He quickened his pace to the front desk and took out his phone to make payment.
“Sir, someone has paid for your meal,” said the front desk manager politely.
“Huh?” Fang Lin was taken by surprise.
‘Su Yun must have paid for everything.’
This very thought annoyed Fang Lin greatly.
“Hey, you, why are you considering yourself an outsider?” Fang Lin turned around, scolding Su Yun.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yun, who seemed fine despite having downed an entire bottle of Laphroaig, trailed Zheng Ren like a shadow
“When did you pay the bill? Why wasn’t I informed?” Fang Lin said, “What’s wrong with you, picking up the check when this dinner is meant to welcome you… and Boss Zheng?”
Su Yun shrugged and brushed his black bangs on his forehead aside without providing any explanation. However, Zheng Ren could feel the infinite contempt radiating from his eyes.
Then, a familiar figure appeared at the front desk, and it took Zheng Ren two seconds to recognize the man.
“Chief Zheng, I’ve paid for your meal.” Feng Xuhui smiled professionally.
“You didn’t have to do that,” replied Zheng Ren.
This was the first time Zheng Ren had had his bill paid by someone else. More importantly, Feng Xuhui had been waiting at the front desk alone the whole time just to notify him of this at the end of their meal.
Su Yun smiled. “Thank you so much.”
“This is…” asked Fang Lin. He could guess Feng Xuhui’s occupation, but had no idea which company he was working for.
Generally, only moguls and VIPs could enjoy the benefits of having someone waiting outside the hall to pick up the tab.
Moreover, these were usually done at the direct behest of their own bosses. Otherwise, what salesperson would be willing to wait three to five hours and spend thousands of yuan just to ask for a favor?
However, from Zheng Ren and Su Yun’s expressions, this salesperson must have come all the way here to pick up the check independently.
The doctoral students knew the meaning behind this: as the saying went, “there is no such thing as a free lunch”, especially when a meal in Da Dong cost seven to eight thousand yuan.
A gift always came with a price.
Fang Lin stole a peek at Zheng Ren. If he gladly accepted the offer, it meant that the other party’s request was too huge and this meal was simply inadequate to make up for the trouble caused.
Even as the group exchanged gazes in silence, Su Yun could still clearly read their thoughts.
He said impatiently, “Thank you, Manager Feng. Let’s go back to sleep.”
