The Surgeon’s Studio

Zheng Ren described the whole emergency process to Miao Xiaohua’s parents, then comforted them with words of reassurance. Finally, he led them to the entrance of the ICU.

Once they knew that their daughter was in stable condition and the necessary care was being provided, they felt the weight lift from their shoulders.

Zheng Ren went back to the emergency department and was greeted by Chang Yue, “Chief Zheng, it seems your communication skills have improved.”

“Really?” Zheng Ren was befuddled by her comment.

Chang Yue was not the type of employee who would curry favor. However, his communication skills… were never a thing worth pointing out. He was above average at best.

Seeing the confusion on Zheng Ren’s face, Chang Yue laughed. She explained, “The parents were incredibly worried but when you entered the room, I could tell they calmed down even before you started explaining the situation.”

“Really?”

“Just a gut feeling. I couldn’t show you any evidence.” Chang Yue turned around and continued busying herself with patient records and surgery reports.

Although the patient had been admitted into the ICU, the paperwork had to be done by the emergency department.

With her back facing Zheng Ren, she started to question him about the incident while making notes on the patient’s history.

Zheng Ren was tired. The surgical emergency had been a critical one and Xie Yiren’s cries of anguish had leadened his body and soul.

He managed to complete the surgical journal before leaving for the on-call room to get some well-deserved rest.

However, his plans were foiled. The adrenaline from the surgery and his ascension to the general surgery Master rank made him restless.

Right: he recalled the gold chest given to him by the System. He ought to have a look inside.

He still had three silver chests that were unopened.

Since he could not fall asleep, he might as well entertain himself.

In the System, Zheng Ren saw a golden treasure chest floating off the ground. Below it were three silver chests.

‘Open,’ Zheng Ren ordered in his mind.

There was no fanfare or ritual of luck.

Zheng Ren was dull like that.

A skill book appeared before him. His skill points and experience points jumped up by several figures.

His eyes skimmed through the skill book and found that it was worth the experience of 3000 prostate anatomical dissections.

Zheng Ren swore under his breath.

3000 cases!

The best the System had given him was only worth the experience of 300 cardiac surgeries. Although an anatomical dissection was a far cry from an actual surgery, the amount of experience awarded was significant.

It would have been better if it was related to gastroenterology.

Zheng Ren was a tad disappointed but the System must have had a reason. He suspected it had to do with the new procedure in Imperial Capital.

He tapped on the skill book and he was blessed with the experience of having performed 3000 prostate anatomical dissections.

His mind was filled with medical knowledge regarding the prostate. He was sure his experience and knowledge surpassed that of the urology department chief in Sea City General Hospital.

After all, the department chief was unlikely to receive a prostate case every day.

It was not as useful as Zheng Ren had initially thought. He lamented the System’s choice of reward.

He then had a look at his skill trees and saw that his skill points had increased from 271 to 455 points. His experience was now at 113200 points.

Impressive.

As Zheng Ren sat down in hopes to rest his tired body, his phone in the real world rang.

Such was a chief resident’s life. Zheng Ren gathered his strength and exited the System.

The number was from the emergency department.

He answered the call. There was a patient with acute appendicitis waiting to be admitted.

Patient’s admissions into the hospital were automatic, but there were times where his evaluation was needed.

The on-call doctor’s experience was paramount when it came to filtering hospital admissions.

While some doctors were experienced, they habitually got the specialists to make the final call.

Zheng Ren got up from his bed and put on his white coat, heading to the emergency department to have a look.

The patient was a slightly overweight fifty-year-old woman. Zheng Ren did not foresee many complications.

From the patient’s history, Zheng Ren came to a conclusion that the patient suffered from classical acute appendicitis.

If she began fasting, the surgery could proceed in the afternoon.

A thorough check later, Zheng Ren brought the woman to the emergency wards. A thirty-year-old man who Zheng Ren guessed was her son accompanied her.

A hospital bed was arranged for the patient. An admission ticket was issued and Zheng Ren passed follow-up duties to Chang Yue.

He was immensely grateful to have such a reliable and hardworking resident doctor on his team.

Zheng Ren managed to get three hours of rest. Before his next surgery began, he made his way to the ICU.

Miao Xiaohua’s condition had stabilized. Her urine output was improving, indicating the severe blood loss had not impacted kidney function.

Su Yun sat absent-mindedly on the folding chair. There were six pieces of A4 papers in his hand, all filled with numbers.

He was rearranging the order of the fluids that sat on the trolley cart beside him.

Miao Xiaohua’s vital signs were stable. She slept peacefully under the lull of the sedative. Zheng Ren walked away with a lighter heart.

He informed Miao Xiaohua’s parents of her condition, then contacted Yang Lei to transport the middle-aged patient to the operating room for her appendectomy.

Zheng Ren changed into the appropriate clothing as anesthesia was in progress.

The middle-aged woman lay on her side on the operating table. Chu Yanran was having a chat with her.

Seeing Zheng Ren enter the operating room, the middle-aged woman recognized him as the lead surgeon. She gave him a warm greeting.

“Dr. Zheng, I’m going to be okay, right?” The woman was jittery still.

“Don’t worry. It’s a minor issue,” Zheng Ren replied.

“Will I recover? I have a friend who had an appendectomy wound that would not heal, and she’s skinnier than me. They did the redressing for a whole month,” the woman anxiously.

“That is due to fat liquefaction. We want to avoid that at all costs but if there’s too much adipose tissue in the abdomen, there’s no choice,” Zheng Ren said calmly.

“Please do your best then, doctor.” The woman asked, “How many appendectomies have you done?”

Zheng Ren thought for a moment. The woman was probably worried that this was his first appendectomy. He smiled and said reassuringly, “A few hundred. I am an experienced surgeon, don’t worry. We just need your cooperation with the procedure.”

The woman appeared to be deep in thought.

The anesthesia was almost complete when the patient lay back down. Zheng Ren stood up and went to wash his hands.

“Dr. Zheng,” the patient called out after a moment of hesitation.

“Yes? What’s the problem?” Zheng Ren was curious.

“I… I’m a vegan. Is it possible to use antibiotics that don’t kill germs?”