The Surgeon’s Studio

From the other end of the phone came the obstetrics chief resident’s voice, filled with anxiety and… despair?

Zheng Ren froze for a moment and said, “Wait for me. I’ll arrive shortly.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Su Yun, who had been woken by the noise as well.

“I don’t know. Let’s find out.” Zheng Ren put on a white coat and darted out of the room.

Su Yun quietly followed him like a ghost.

Upon reaching the obstetrics department, Zheng Ren heard chaos as soon as the elevator doors slid open.

His heart sank immediately as his intuition told him that this was a medical dispute.

Such disputes could still occur no matter how cautious medical personnel were.

As the saying went, “Play with fire, you get burned”.

Zheng Ren became distressed. His blood pressure skyrocketed and his heart rate accelerated.

“Who gave you permission to perform surgery? Did you obtain the familys’ consent?!”

“The hospital is getting fanatical about profit! The surgery alone cost more than 7000 yuan, are you guys robbing us?”

“This doctor looks respectable, but she turns out to be a f*cking bloodsucker too.”

Zheng Ren instantly knew what was going on after listening to the cursing and noise.

Onlookers gave him a hostile glare as he weaved his way through the sparse crowd.

“Ding-dong!” The System notified him of a new mission.

[Emergency Mission: The Second Phase of Distortion of Human Nature or Loss of Moral Values.

[Task: Survive the twisted sense of human nature with the light in your heart unstained by darkness.

[Reward: Passive ability—Luck +2.

[Time: 24 hours.]

Huh… There really was a second phase in the Distortion of Human Nature or Loss of Moral Values mission.

“Chief Zheng, you’re here!” The crowd had cornered the lonely and helpless obstetrics chief resident, whose heart swelled with relief as soon as she saw Zheng Ren. Then, she leaned against the wall and slumped onto the ground, hugging her knees tightly as she let out a wail.

“What happened?” asked Zheng Ren.

“They’re the unidentified woman’s family members. Someone came asking for her about an hour after her surgery. I thought they had been preparing money to pay for treatment, so I told them the truth, but I didn’t expect these people to come…”

The obstetrics chief resident had lost her usual competency and composure while explaining the situation.

It was a messy statement, but Zheng Ren immediately understood the situation.

This was an organized medical dispute, and the troublemakers were probably licensed as well.

The air in front of the crowd congealed and twisted under the pale, white incandescent light, casting ghostlike shadows that danced with every movement.

This was not the human realm. This was hell.

Zheng Ren stood in front of the obstetrics chief resident and managed to force a smile, trying but failing to come up with words that could ease the situation.

Even Chang Yue, who had her negotiation and communication skills maxed out, would not be able to persuade these troublemakers.

Meanwhile, Su Yun, who had been trailing behind him, was nowhere to be seen.

That brat had a spider-sense! However, it was good judgment as there was absolutely no point in the both of them getting tortured.

“Hey, who are you?” A middle-aged thug with half a tattoo exposed on his neck approached Zheng Ren and grinned, revealing two rows of yellow teeth in his mouth.

“I’m the surgeon who performed the operation. Please let me know if you have any questions.” Zheng Ren could feel the tumultuous thudding of his heartbeat. The warm and sunny world in his dream had long shattered into pieces and vanished into thin air.

“You’re brave,” said the yellow-toothed, tattooed man as he took out a pack of cigarettes. Another man behind him quickly lit the cigarette with a lighter which had an indiscernible image on it.

Zheng Ren wanted to say that smoking was prohibited in the hospital, but… would it make any difference?

“We’ll take the woman away,” the yellow-toothed, tattooed man said, “We didn’t really want surgery because it was only a small issue, but you guys actually spent almost ten thousand yuan on treatment. Brother, do you think that’s reasonable?”

“The blood transfusion alone cost around 3000 yuan, and we’ve tried to minimize the fee as much as possible.” Zheng Ren helplessly tried to defend himself.

Suddenly, there was a commotion behind the crowd.

A glimmer of hope emerged in Zheng Ren’s heart. Had Su Yun returned with security guards? Even though the guards lived a miserable life and lacked the courage to confront trouble at crucial moments, their numbers could potentially counter the troublemakers’ bluster and make them think twice.

A man in a suit and leather shoes walked over.

Zheng Ren was unsure what brand of hair wax the man was using as his hair remained shiny even in the darkest hour of the morning. That, coupled with his smoothly-ironed suit on his ramrod-straight figure, was awe-inspiring and had a commanding presence.

“Reporter Wei, over here.” The one leading the way was not Su Yun but another tattooed man.

A bomb instantly went off in Zheng Ren’s head.

Nowadays, reporters were uncrowned kings who ruled over the public opinion.

One time, a reporter had used tea as a urine sample for investigation and was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. The incident was then published, causing an uproar in the press.

How could laypeople understand the complexity of the medical world? Using only a pen, an expert writer could easily manipulate the public’s emotions and misdirect their thoughts, inevitably leading to a wild outburst.

Basically, no one read through the article completely, and the only terms that caught their eyes were ‘tea’, ‘urine sample’ and ‘infection’.

Tea contained bacteria, so what other diagnosis could there have been?

Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, the doctor’s license was revoked. The absurd incident not only had a disastrous impact on the hospital’s reputation, but was also a prelude to an era of medical disputes…

Meanwhile, the reporter had been promoted and buried in wealth following the increased popularity of his news.

Zheng Ren was stunned. If the troublemakers had been a bunch of thugs, the matter could have been settled in exchange for bruises and wounds on his body. However, the reporter’s presence indicated that someone had secretly planned this, and the punishment would not be as easy as mere beatings…

In the worst possible scenario, his medical license would…

Zheng Ren dared not to think about it and asked, “And you are?”

“My name is Wei Feng, a reporter from Sea City Metropolis Daily.” The smell of hair wax assailed Zheng Ren’s nostrils as Wei Feng approached him.

“…” Zheng Ren sighed internally and remained silent.

“I received a call stating that something was going on here. That’s why I came,” said Wei Feng plainly, but his expression was solemn as if he were an honorable judge and Zheng Ren a despicable criminal with an unpardonable crime.

“Tell me about the situation.” Wei Feng seemed to be quite satisfied with Zheng Ren as the latter seemed like an experienced and reserved doctor, but it also meant that Wei Feng would be forced to come up with more strategies to get what he wanted. However, it would simply be time-consuming and not difficult.

Performance, sales and his glorious exposé of the dark side of society going onto his resume… These things put a smile on his face.

“The situation is very simple.” Zheng Ren thought about it and gave a brief narration of the situation very slowly, choosing his words very carefully.

“Do you mean to say that you performed the surgery without family members’ consent?” With a notepad and a pen in his hands, Wei Feng quickly jotted down points.

“The family members weren’t there! We were unable to locate them during the resuscitation!” The obstetrics chief resident helplessly denied Wei Feng’s claim as she could vaguely detect a tinge of malice in his words.

“Okay, got it.” Wei Feng made no attempt to record this statement. He then flipped his pen upside down and rhythmically tapped the notepad.

“As for the title, how about Unethical Surgeon Performs Surgery By Force, or maybe Poverty-Stricken Critically-Ill Pregnant Woman’s Family Ruined Due To Expensive Treatment?” Wei Feng mumbled while staring at both Zheng Ren and the obstetrics chief resident. The tapping noise, like a drum of doom, seemed to amplify in Zheng Ren’s ears.

“You can’t do that!” A steady stream of salty tears flowed down the obstetrics chief resident’s cheeks.