"Ling Ran, come, take a look at the medical records and take your pick."
Ever since Huo Congjun spread the news that they were using the M-Tang technique to suture ruptured flexor tendons, he had been steadily receiving news from all parties.
The news came from hospitals of various regions, pharmaceutical sales representatives, his former colleagues, subordinates, and comrades-in-arms.
When launching a new surgical method or writing a research paper, all doctors had special requirements concerning the patients they wanted. This was the time when their ranks and connections became very important.
Huo Congjun had already started to spread the news half a month or so ago, and he now received a considerable amount of feedback. There were already seven cases on his table. Five of them belonged to patients who were injured in recent days, while the other two belonged to patients with old wounds that had not healed.
Ling Ran pushed the medical records of the two patients with old wounds aside, and after he looked at the remaining five cases, he said, "I'll take all of them. Do arrange for them to come here as soon as possible."
Huo Congjun froze for a moment before a snigger escaped his lips. "You don't have to worry about there being no patients. Choose the patient you want to treat today, and choose the patients you want to treat on other days. I don't know the M-Tang technique well, but primary wound closure should be more favorable to the patients, correct?"
He was speaking in a tone that one used when discussing something. It was due to Ling Ran's truly good performance.
The patient he sutured the day before had started to perform passive hand movements after a mere twenty-four hours and managed to reach the desired result for all indices. This gave Wang Haiyang, the chief physician of the Hand Surgery Department, a shock.
All three surgeries performed by Ling Ran using the M-Tang technique were successful, and the patients were recovering well. Even though the first patient, Ma Wenhua could not yet be discharged due to the many wounds on his body, his hand, which was treated using the M-Tang technique, had reached the sixth week standard of recovery. This allowed rehabilitation to be carried out at home.
Whether one looked at it from the hospital's perspective or the doctor's perspective, such results pretty much guaranteed the beginnings of a successful recovery.
It was also why Ling Ran made his own judgment. Now that he had completely grasped the Master Level M-Tang Technique and received a mission, there was no reason for him to leave things up to fate.
Hence, the conclusion he made was completely different from the conclusion Huo Congjun made. "I don't intend to amass patients. I hope that you can arrange for me to treat all five of them today."
Huo Congjun started to laugh when he heard that. He only came to his senses a few seconds later when he remembered that Ling Ran did not seem to be the kind of person who liked to make jokes.
"It's impossible for me to arrange for you to treat all five of them today. Why don't you treat one patient a day? It'd be better if you only take more patients after you've become more skilled in the M-Tang technique." Before the surgery two days ago, Huo Congjun only wanted to arrange for Ling Ran to perform one surgery every two or three days. He only allowed more at that moment because of Ling Ran's prior performance the day before.
The hospital was a very cold and utilitarian place. It was easier for skilled and talented doctors to obtain opportunities. Other people also put up with them more easily.
Ling Ran insisted. "I can carry out the surgeries continuously."
If Ling Ran could only complete ten surgeries every ten days, he would only obtain three bottles of Energy Serum per month at most. It would be a waste of mission.
Huo Congjun did not understand Ling Ran's insistence. He suddenly had an epiphany and said, "If you need money, I can think of ways for you…"
Ling Ran would get 500 RMB from each surgery, and five surgeries would amount to 2,500 RMB. Huo Congjun thought that Ling Ran was beguiled by money.
How could it be so easy to earn 2,500 RMB a day?
"I don't need money." Ling Ran's tone was certain.
"You aren't doing this for the sake of earning surgery fees?" Huo Congjun stared into Ling Ran's eyes.
"No," Ling Ran answered again.
He stayed in the hospital all the time. He did not have to worry about what to wear as he could just wear his large white coat and he could shower in the operating theater's shower room. He also frequently received food and fruits from generous nurses. The only thing he needed to spend money on was reciprocating the gifts of others. Why would money be of any use to him?
Huo Congjun spoke earnestly with good intentions, "The most important thing for you to do right now is hone your skills. Don't think about making money. Don't think about other things as well."
Ling Ran did not understand. He asked, "Doesn't the honing of skills depend on the number of surgeries I perform?"
Huo Congjun's mouth was agape. What he truly wanted to do was ask Ling Ran to watch some surgical recordings or read some medical books. However, both of them were currently working as doctors, and it was unacceptable to his sense of justice to tell such a lie.
"Choose two patients then. You'll have priority over one of them. If you're in good condition after the first surgery, I'll let you treat the second patient after you get enough rest. Otherwise, I'll transfer the patient to the Hand Surgery Department." Huo Congjun's strategy was very simple—pick two patients to be transferred to Yun Hua Hospital. The patient who was more suitable to be treated using the M-Tang technique would be given to Ling Ran. Depending on the situation, the other patient could be transferred to the Hand Surgery Department's chief physician, Wang Haiyang, or the treatment group under him.
Ling Ran thought about it and agreed.
Surgeries performed using the M-Tang technique were Level 3 surgeries, after all. The time taken for each surgery varied depending on the condition of the patient. It was quite a good choice to give performing two surgeries a day a try first.
After Ling Ran chose the patients he wanted, Huo Congjun would give Wang Haiyang a call beforehand to explain things. In all honesty, in Huo Congjun's opinion, they only needed to send the second patient straight to Wang Haiyang when the time came to prevent unnecessary troubles.
Ling Ran leafed through the cases. He earnestly chose two of the cases and passed them to Huo Congjun.
Doctors were not omnipotent, and it was the same case for the M-Tang technique. Ling Ran's best bet right then was to choose patients who were the most suitable to be treated using the M-Tang technique.
When Huo Congjun saw the cases Ling Ran chose, he could not help but nod slightly. If one were to let Huo Congjun pick the patients, he would have also chosen the same ones. Both patients were workmen below the age of thirty. One of them had a torn laceration, while the other had a cut laceration. Their wounds were located in typical positions. They were also young and strong, thus they would be able to recover well. Hence, a satisfactory curative effect could be achieved more easily.
Once he chose the patients he wanted, Ling Ran left with the medical records. He then read the information while he thought about the details of the surgery plan he would be following.
At the same time, after receiving calls from Yun Hua Hospital, ambulances from hospitals in two different regions started traveling towards Yun Hua Hospital.
Two hours later.
Ling Ran showed up in the operating theater.
Huo Congjun, who was wearing brand new scrubs, arrived an hour late. Since Ling Ran's performance was stable, and he always kept up to the standard, Huo Congjun dared to let go and let Ling Ran take control.
Su Jiafu, the anesthetist waited so long for Huo Congjun that he was almost beside himself with anxiety. When he saw Huo Congjun, he quickly dragged a round chair over with his leg in an obsequious manner. He specially asked for the round chair from a circulating nurse.
Huo Congjun glanced at Su Jiafu in bewilderment. He did not sit down.
He had just finished a two-hour meeting. His waist and legs were hurting. Why would he want to sit down?
After spacing out for a while, Su Jiafu fiddled with the surgical instruments as he kept watch over two round chairs by himself. He glanced at the door of the operating theater every now and then because he was afraid that the circulating nurse would enter and see the empty chair.
"I'm done." Ling Ran cut off the suture with a pair of surgical scissors. He then raised his head to look at Huo Congjun and asked, "Is the second patient here yet?"
"Yes, but…" A little hesitant, Huo Congjun lowered his head and started to check the first patient's suture.
Thirty minutes later.
Ling Ran entered another operating theater. He raised the scalpel.
This patient's condition was slightly more complicated, and the surgery took Ling Ran almost two hours.
Even so, when Ling Ran completed both surgeries, it was only the start of the afternoon shift.
Ling Ran went back to the office and stared quietly at Huo Congjun.
One minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
Three minutes passed...
Huo Congjun's blood ran cold from Ling Ran's stare. He felt like an old white rabbit [1] who was being targeted by an extremely beautiful hunting dog with smooth fur, a strong body, and lively eyes.
"Take a break if you're really bored. I'll get you three patients with ruptured flexor tendons tomorrow," Huo Congjun said, feeling amazed.
Translator's Note:
Old white rabbit: A useless employee who has been in the hospital for a long time.