The Surgeon’s Studio

In the fiber-optic choledochoscope view emerged a tiny forceps-like instrument. Even though there were thousands of doctors watching the livestream, none of them could identify this device.

[Forceps? That’s so small. How does the host surgeon plan to operate with it?]

[I’m completely confused. I’m going to watch the video replay a hundred times after the surgery is over.]

[Shut the f*ck up and watch the surgery!]

A few comments expressing their surprise were soon suppressed. This may be a new surgical technique and was likely more advanced than endoscopic transrectal appendectomy.

Perhaps this was the first appearance of a new surgical procedure.

Silence hung in the air as numerous pairs of eyes stared at the operative field, where delicate forceps grasped a white thread, only a few microns thick, with deadly hawk-like accuracy.

It was done without touching the mucosal layer of the common bile duct, which stunned the audience.

However, none of them spoke because the most crucial step was coming soon.

The parasites had tough filariform extremities that allowed firm adherence to the common bile duct. Since their fine hairs had embedded themselves into the mucosal layer of the duct, forceful removal would result in irreversible damage to the layer.

Severe injury would result in postoperative complications such as bacteremia or toxemia.

Thousands of eyes stared unblinkingly at the live broadcast with curiosity and anxiety tormenting their hearts.

However, to everyone’s surprise, there was a slight twitch in the forceps and the parasite was pulled off.

What of the injury to the mucosal layer of the common bile duct that they had feared? It did not even exist!

[What the f*ck, what did I just see?]

[Is the host surgeon also working as an animal trainer? Did they raise those parasites?]

[Please respect the host surgeon. They may be the teacher of your teacher’s teacher. If you don’t want to embarrass yourself after their identity is disclosed, don’t use derogatory words. Thank you, my name is Lei Feng.]

The viewers were going crazy in the live broadcast room.

The preconceived nodus had been thrown out the window as the parasite was removed without any difficulty.

The forceps retracted and then extended again, presumably for parasite removal from the body.

The repetitive, mundane procedure and the host surgeon’s precision were like that of a machine. Aside from the surgeon’s accurate manipulation, the parasites were unusually obedient as they relaxed all their hair immediately after being clamped, allowing for smooth extraction. It was why the mucosal layer of the common bile duct remained unharmed thus far.

[Who can tell me what the hell the surgeon is doing?]

[Is he an alien?]

[Impossible. That’s just ordinary equipment made of nickel-titanium alloy, judging from the familiar metallic luster.]

[Then why didn’t the parasites adhere to the wall? Does the nickel-titanium alloy possess any property that intimidates them?]

[Oh my God. Host surgeon, please accept my worship.]

Parasite removal with forceps was a delicate task, and there were hundreds of parasites residing in the common bile duct, so complete removal was not easy either. No matter how fast or precise Zheng Ren’s movements were, it still took him fifteen seconds to remove a single parasite.

In Xinglin Garden, a few experienced doctors with profound knowledge about equipment gradually noticed something peculiar with the procedure.

[I’m not sure if it’s just my imagination, but the parasites seem to be spasming after the host surgeon grasped them with the forceps.]

[I noticed it too. The twitch was mild but that should be the key here.]

[I’m a postgraduate student who studies parasites, and I’ve been working on a related topic recently. I suspect that there is some mild bioelectric stimulation that caused the parasites to spasm.]

The doctors in Xinglin Garden had gotten closer to the truth in less than half an hour.

Xinglin Garden was indeed a professional website!

[That’s awesome! Is this a new surgical technique?]

[The-Surgeon’s-Name Biliary Parasitosis Removal, how does that name sound?]

[If you have enough data and your English level is up to par, write an article and publish it in The Lancet.]

The Lancet was a magazine published by the Elsevier Publishing Company in collaboration with Reed Elsevier Group since 1823.

The journal had founded that year by Thomas Wakley, an English surgeon who named it after the surgical scalpel called a lancet, as well as after the architectural term “lancet window”, which was a window with a sharp, pointed arch to indicate the “light of wisdom” or “to let in light”.

The Lancet was the top journal for surgery, similar to other magazines for science and nature.

Regarding the impact factor… The Lancet had achieved up to 33.6.

This concept could be difficult to understand, so to simplify comparisons, the impact factor of ordinary medical journals was between 0 to 0.1.

Medical journals in China had an impact factor between 1.0 to 5.0.

Thus, the fact that The Lancet had achieved an impact factor of 33.6 was truly impressive.

Article publishing in The Lancet, though?

It was a tempting idea as whoever managed to do so would have access to national research funds, a humongous supply of resources, academic status…

However, these had nothing to do with the viewers in Xinglin Garden.

After regaining their composure, everyone immediately realized that the host surgeon must have studied this kind of equipment for god only knew how many years and publicized it only after it had become fully operational.

Anyone who could devote their life to the continual performance of a single task deserved the utmost respect.

Birds of a feather flock together, especially in the medical field. The better one’s medical standard, the higher their societal status. That was beyond question.

The host surgeon was highly skilled and could still devote their life to experiments… Could it be that they were a demon in the Chinese Academy of Sciences? Perhaps… Perhaps they were an expert from a foreign country?

Today’s surgery was indeed enjoyable.

Even if they were not the researcher or surgeon behind it, viewers could still boast that they had witnessed the historical first appearance of a technique over drinks in the future.

After coming up with a publicly acceptable explanation, the live broadcast room was instantly bombarded with innumerable comments.

No one could read the overwhelming comments. This time, the livestream was barraged with words like bullets flying across the screen.

It was not for complaining, but rather how they expressed their heartfelt respect to the elderly researcher.

Zheng Ren had no clue that he had inadvertently become an old researcher or an expert foreign professor.

He was focusing his attention on removing the parasites and placing them in a kidney dish beside him.

Xie Yiren’s exposed skin was chalky-white. No matter how courageous a lady was, she would still be afraid of such squishy worms.

It was not just one worm; Zheng Ren had already removed more than a hundred parasites from the patient’s bile duct.

Chu Yanzhi had been hiding behind the ventilator for a long time and failed to come up with more childish retorts due to a lack of courage. No matter how many calories she burned, it would not be enough to relieve her intense perturbation.

Chu Yanran’s face was ashen-grey as well, but she was much calmer than her younger sister. She dared not observe Zheng Ren’s surgery and merely forced herself to focus on the boring numbers on the ventilator and monitors.

It took Zheng Ren more than an hour to remove all parasites—more than three hundred of them—residing in the bile duct.

Zheng Ren grumbled internally about the System while removing the parasites. ‘No wonder it gave me such a long completion time. I thought it was going to give me a bonus, but I didn’t expect to see so many parasites!’