The Surgeon’s Studio

Zhou Wenxiang walked in with two others, phone in hand.

They were Chief Xia from gastroenterology and Chief Sun from the second general surgery department.

When Chief Sun saw Zheng Ren, he nodded his head politely without the haughtiness of a department chief.

Chief Xia from gastroenterology was a middle-aged woman in her fifties. She was a little over five feet, with a tiny stature, short hair, and a thin, long face. She gave off the air of a capable, experienced woman.

“Chiefs, my mother felt a pain in her abdomen after this morning’s breakfast…” Zhou Wenxiang repeated the whole situation to them.

As they spoke, they passed by Zheng Ren. Chief Xia ignored his presence and went straight to check on the patient.

Chu Yanran felt embarrassed. This was the second time she had asked Zheng Ren for help, only for the patient to seek out other directors and department chiefs, ignoring Zheng Ren outright.

It was happening again!

Between the Chu sisters, Chu Yanran was more reserved than Chu Yanzhi, but it was when the good-natured lost their temper that things were truly serious.

Zheng Ren felt something off upon seeing Chu Yanran’s expression and dragged her away by her lab coat like a baby chick.

“What are you doing?” She glared at him.

Zheng Ren released his grip and chuckled, saying softly, “It’s fine.”

Chu Yanran frowned and stomped her feet. “I’m not going to bother anymore.”

He laughed.

“Oh, you’re flirting with Chu Yanran behind Xie Yiren’s back. I’ll be keeping tabs on you,” Su Yun said coldly, standing behind them.

Zheng Ren was startled, breaking into a cold sweat even though he knew that Su Yun was joking.

“Cut it out!” Chu Yanran kicked Su Yun in the shin. “Chief Zheng, I trust your diagnosis.”

Su Yun nodded, his fringe swaying as he spoke. “I’m not sure why, but I also believe him even though the diagnosis seems a little far-fetched.”

After being kicked by Chu Yanran, he turned serious. “The patient has pain in her upper right abdomen. It’s understandable to assume acute cholecystitis, but what made you diagnose a gallbladder torsion, Boss Zheng?”

“The abdominal ultrasound shows a gallbladder distension but no gallstones. You can see thickening of the segmental gallbladder wall by 8 mm, indicating the possibility of segmental adenomyomatosis.” Zheng Ren pointed at the B-scan and said, “This was a routine checkup, but when we arrived earlier, it was at the oblique scanning plane and I saw that the compartments within the gallbladder had no visible thickening of its walls.”

“Wow, what great eyesight you have.” Su Yun was staring at the B-scan, but being untrained in the field, there was little point to it.

He was mentally exhausted after following Zheng Ren for so long.

While he had yet to brush up on interventional and general surgeries, this guy had already moved on to f*cking B-scan oblique ultrasound scanning… Clinicians could possibly read CT and MRI scans, but few knew the operating principles of the diagnostic examination of B-scan ultrasonography.

Most physicians only looked at the reports attached to B-scans.

Since B-scan ultrasonography required further specialization, doctors capable of sonography were very popular. There were always long queues for ultrasounds every single day.

As they were talking, Chief Xia had already started to examine the patient.

She was professional in her physical examinations and also very experienced in making diagnoses off interviewing patients. At a glance, she was clearly a seasoned doctor with plenty of clinical experience.

Following the physical examination, she looked at the B-scan report.

“Obviously acute cholecystitis. You can choose the conservative treatment or opt for surgery. It all depends on what you want,” Chief Xia said confidently. “What do you think, Chief Sun?”

“Me?” Chief Sun laughed and waved it off. “Little Zheng, what’s your opinion on this?”

This… Zheng Ren did not know what Chief Sun was doing.

The man had probably gotten used to slacking, and was thus unwilling to take a firm stance in front of others.

“I think the patient might have acute gangrenous cholecystitis, which requires immediate surgery,” Zheng Ren explained honestly.

“How did you see that?” There was a hint of reprimand in Chief Xia’s tone; she was not discussing the condition with him, but rather questioning him condescendingly.

Department chiefs had their own stature during clinical examinations, like grassland wolf pack alphas, and no one was allowed to challenge their authority.

The pups from their own pack notwithstanding, everyone else’s was forbidden to as well!

As Zheng Ren was the chief resident of the emergency department, Chief Xia was going soft on him. A chief resident or young doctor who dared to defy their own department chief would be asking for trouble.

Old Chief Physician Pan’s treatment of Zheng Ren was the exception, not the rule.

That was in itself partly due to Zheng Ren’s proficiency in the Whipple procedure during the livestream.

Would Old Pan have clashed so violently with his peers to poach Zheng Ren otherwise? He had even acquiesced to Zheng Ren’s requests and retreated to a more supporting role since.

“I saw something similar during the B-scan oblique ultrasound scanning,” Zheng Ren explained, his tone free of frustration.

Chief Xia’s face dropped. She stared at Zheng Ren sternly but did not argue.

Over ten seconds of silent rumination later, she said, “Go and get the test results.”

The clinical doctor beside her obeyed and obtained the patient’s details before turning around and running to the emergency department laboratory.

Chief Xia had both hands in the pockets of her lab coat and a red stethoscope hanging around her shoulders. The color of the stethoscope reminded Zheng Ren of Fang Lin.

He wondered if Fang Lin had recovered. When Zheng Ren was about to leave Imperial Capital, Fang Lin had not expressed his gratitude, promising only to visit Sea City once discharged.

Those words had been troubling.

Zheng Ren had no idea where to show a visitor around. Despite being born and raised in Sea City, he had been busy fighting to survive his entire life, spending all his time working to earn a living and sparing none for leisure.

When he had been studying Chengdu University, he had had no chance to visit the Wuhou Shrine, only going to the Wide and Narrow Alley when he was forced to by his classmates. Even standard tourist spots were not his cup of tea, let alone other attractions such as Dujiangyan City and Mount Emei.

If Fang Lin really did come all the way from Imperial Capital, Zheng Ren would be in trouble. He could not just spend all that time eating and drinking in Sea City, and even if he did, Zheng Ren had no idea what to introduce him to. Would he end up offering Fang Lin a shift in the emergency department?

Zheng Ren was willing to do so, but it was simply not hospitable.

Chu Yanran and Su Yun were surprised by Zheng Ren’s silence and rare troubled expression.

What had happened to Chief Zheng? Had he crumbled under Chief Xia’s authority? Impossible; Zheng Ren was very straightforward and unafraid of anyone in general.

Was he doubting his own diagnosis?

Soon, Chief Xia’s clinical doctor returned, test report in hand.

Chief Xia took it and glanced at it briefly before saying coldly, “C-reactive protein levels in the blood are normal, white blood cell count is 7.5, neutrophil levels within range. Clinical laboratory testing does not support acute gangrenous cholecystitis.”