The Surgeon's Studio

Zheng Ren and Su Yun’s closure of the abdomen was swift and methodical like the rest of the surgery.

When the patient woke from anesthesia, she was already in the second general surgery ward. A trip to the ICU was not required.

Director Xiao’s compliment was muted. “Zheng Ren, that was a good show of skill.”

Zheng Ren smiled at him.

Professor Rudolph Wagner sent the video he had taken to his friend in Berlin, then greeted Zheng Ren excitedly. “Zheng, you’re finally free.”

“Your Mandarin is incredible.” Zheng Ren was impressed by the professor’s mastery of the language.

“Come, let us have a meal to celebrate the successful surgeries,” the office director behind Director Xiao said.

Old Chief Physician Pan and Department Chief Kong were familiar with such events.

After hours of waiting, it would be odd not to arrange for a meal together. They could talk business over food.

Professor Rudolph Wagner was unaccustomed to the culture, but was willing to attend as long as Zheng Ren was present. He would put up with anything for the chance to win a Nobel Prize.

As the patient was wheeled out, Director Xiao’s phone rang. A moment later, the office director left to make the arrangements for the patient to be transferred to the special demands ward.

Zheng Ren was unaware of what was happening, blissfully ignorant of anything unrelated to treating patients.

Once everyone had changed, they headed to the Small Stove Canteen.

Six years ago, the hospital canteen’s food had rivalled that of the best restaurants in Sea City. Sadly, its quality had deteriorated over the years.

Although there was a drop in standards and dining space, the hospital maintained the canteen to cater to the fly-in surgeons who occasionally visited.

The office director was busy making all manner of arrangements when his phone rang.

He answered the call, frustrated.

Seconds later, his face dropped in shock.

His subordinate had discovered some documentary being aired on Sea City News Network. It featured Sea City General Hospital, but its focus was the emergency department chief resident, Zheng Ren.

This…

The office director was speechless.

Under normal circumstances, the media would require some form of payment in return for advertising the hospital.

However, the hospital had not requested this. Had Sea City News Network and Sea City Metropolis Daily worked together to produce a documentary on a nameless chief resident?

Did the hospital administration mean nothing to them?

Or the law, even?

This was absurd!

The anger in him dwindled just as quickly as it erupted. He considered the situation before him and realized the decision was not his to make.

He was not a fool. There were lines he could cross and lines to avoid.

Aftering ordering his subordinate to send over the documentary, he waited for the crowd to thin before approaching Director Xiao to explain the issue.

Director Xiao was also surprised. He could not understand why all this had happened, and the whole situation smelled fishy to him.

However, there was nothing he could do but pretend ignorance

The office director also provided Director Xiao some background information on Department Chief Kong and Professor Rudolph Wagner.

After reviewing their profiles, the surprise in Director Xiao only grew.

One was a department chief from the nation’s top Class Three Grade A Hospital.

Visiting Imperial Capital alone was one thing, being able to even meet someone of that stature was another.

On the other hand, Professor Rudolph Wagner was a world-class professor in interventional radiology-assisted surgery. Director Xiao would have never met the man were it not for Zheng Ren.

He struggled to comprehend the arrival of two distinguished surgeons in his small hospital.

The bill for today was going to be sky-high. Director Xiao forced a pained smile.

There was a similar expression on Zheng Ren’s face as well.

In one day, he had performed an emergency rescue surgery, a minor surgical procedure and assisted in another surgery. He was not terribly tired but wanted nothing more than to just rest and read some books in the emergency department.

The fatigue truly hit him when he realized that he had to stay seated at the dinner table and listen to the director’s small talk.

He knew there was no way to excuse himself as Department Chief Kong and Professor Rudolph Wagner were here for him in particular.

When they had arrived at the Small Stove Canteen, Department Chief Kong turned down Director Xiao’s offer to sit with him and stuck close to Zheng Ren. Professor Rudolph Wagner pretended to not understand Director Xiao’s words and did the same.

Needless to say, Director Xiao’s pride was crushed.

Was the hospital’s director incomparable to a mere chief resident?

He knew the answer to that was yes.

However, this was a small matter. The office director had arranged for others to fill in the seats and the awkwardness was soon resolved.

“Boss Zheng…”

“Chief Kong, please stop embarrassing me. Little Zheng, just call me Little Zheng,” Zheng Ren objected.

Department Chief Kong laughed and continued, “Can we formalize the arrangements for the research? I will need you in Imperial Capital once a month. Each visit will involve 10 to 20 surgeries which can be split between two days. What do you say?”

“That suits me well, but earlier notice would be appreciated as I will need to apply for leave,” Zheng Ren replied.

Department Chief Kong glanced at Professor Rudolph Wagner. The German was listening in on their conversation. “Professor Rudolph, Zheng Ren is fairly busy these days. If there’s anything you need from him, just be forthright.”

Professor Rudolph Wagner gladly took over. “Zheng, I watched your surgery. It was perfect.”

“Professor, you exaggerate,” Zheng Ren said with a smile.

“Not at all. By my eyes, yours are the hands of God!” the professor said, eyes wide.

The smile on Zheng Ren’s face remained as he waited for the Professor’s follow-up.

“I wish to invite you to Germany for a collaboration. If all goes well, I am ready to start a lab in both our names with the aim of furthering research into prostate interventional embolization surgery. What do you say?”

Director Xiao’s ears perked up like a rabbit’s, trying to catch what the two mighty surgeons were discussing with the chief resident.

Flying to Imperial Capital to perform surgery…

A collaboration in Germany…

Director Xiao’s eyes were red.

His experience with fly-in surgeons from Imperial Capital and Sorcery Capital were not the best. Some surgeons were temperamental and hard to please.

Yet now, Zheng Ren was going to Imperial Capital as a fly-in surgeon for research purposes… Were he not witnessing the discussion with his own eyes and ears, Director Xiao would never have believed it.

The invite from the foreign professor, Rudolph Wagner, was even more ludicrous.

Director Xiao had also been overseas for intellectual exchange and career development, but the trips were in truth sponsored by equipment manufacturers with their own agendas.

Learning and networking? Others discussed their technical skill while he could only talk politics.

It was not just him; even the department chiefs in Sea City General Hospital were of the same ilk.

Director Xiao could see the hunger in Professor Rudolph Wagner’s eyes. The invitation was a lifelong dream for many professors and department chiefs.

The director truly resembled a rabbit with bloodshot eyes and raised ears.