The Surgeon's Studio

Zheng Ren sent off Chief Xia and returned to the operating room.

Xie Yiren was cleaning up and sterilizing the operating room. After every surgery, there was plenty of work waiting for nurses.

Su Yun smirked when he saw her shoo Zheng Ren away when the latter offered help. What a lucky buffoon.

After being chased off by Xie Yiren, Zheng Ren returned to the emergency ward with Su Yun.

Since they had been away for a while, the first thing they did was to perform ward rounds. Zheng Ren had to ensure his patients’ conditions were under control especially with so many surgeries yesterday.

As expected, all the patients who received surgery for appendicitis were not in the ward except for the one who had undergone open surgery.

However, the two patients who had gotten laparoscopic cholecystectomies… were not present in the ward as well.

The advancement of minimally invasive surgeries reduced post-laparoscopy pain, leading patients to underestimate their condition. It was simply impossible to make them stay in the hospital for further monitoring.

Zheng Ren’s hands were tied. If the patient got into an accident on the way home, it would complicate the situation even further.

Such a thing had happened before and no doctor had any power over it.

If they forbade the patients from being discharged… there would be a surge in medical complaints, specifically regarding the patient’s right to self-discharge.

It was an unsolvable issue.

All they could do was close their eyes.

Zheng Ren sighed and decided to call the patients’ families to follow up about their conditions. If he suspected something was wrong, he would request that the patient returned to the hospital.

At the last ward, he was greeted by a smile as he opened the door.

“Ah, Dr. Zheng, you’re here,” a girl said cheerfully.

This patient had stood out. Zheng Ren remembered the girl being the fiancée of the young man who had been stabbed—the responsible girl.

“So, how’s your fiancé?” Zheng Ren asked.

The hospital bed was raised into a semirecumbent position, its occupant still fasting with a nasogastric tube in his nose.

He looked much better, a blissful expression on his face.

“He’s doing well today. We talked a lot,” the girl said, “He said that he felt like some ghost had tried to drag him away yesterday. He was terrified.”

She laughed heartily.

“Who said that?” the boy said in embarrassment, his face flushing red.

Zheng Ren simply grinned and did not speak.

“Do you feel any different after dying once?” Su Yun asked.

The boy’s expression became serious, as if being reminded of something, and he sighed. “You might be right, doctor.”

Silence filled the ward. The boy lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

After some time, he looked up.

“I dreamt that I died and Little Fang committed suicide. My old mother who had raised me cried her eyes out and also passed away. My entire family was destroyed.” The boy’s eyes reddened. Even though he had regained consciousness, the dream still chilled his bones.

Had he not been using a urinary catheter then, he would have probably wet himself on the operating table.

Zheng Ren remained expressionless. The corners of Su Yun’s mouth curled slightly.

“What about the future?”

“I messed up. I know I was wrong.” The boy raised his head, slightly ashamed, but his tone filled with determination. “I want to give Little Fang a good life and take care of my mother. None of my so-called ‘friends’ offered to help me when I was in danger.”

Zheng Ren smiled.

From his condition, the kid would be fine.

There was nothing much to worry about as it was just a lesion in the colon, requiring only a suture to patch it up. As for the possibility of abdominal infections… for someone of his health, such an issue was unlikely.

That was it, then. Zheng Ren consoled the patient before leaving the ward with Su Yun.

“Did we treat his blindness?” Su Yun asked, laughing.

“Maybe. Who knows? It all depends on how he decides to live his life from now onwards. We did what we could,” Zheng Ren said softly.

“Don’t say that, boss. Fraudulence, threatening the patient and lying about his condition were atrocious acts that could result in the suspension of one’s medical license. Please don’t involve me in this. My shoulders are too frail to carry this burden,” Su Yun joked.

Zheng Ren did not humor him. The man could never be serious in a formal conversation.

They strolled to the office as Zheng Ren contemplated doing some reading before bed.

It had been very busy yesterday; perhaps it would be more relaxed tonight.

All emergency consultations were complete. It was rare for him to slow down.

When they went into the office, Zheng Ren saw Professor Rudolf Wagner sitting inside with a solemn expression.

“Professor? Why are you here?” he asked in surprise.

Su Yun was silent.

Professor Rudolf Wagner was a world-renowned professor in interventional surgery. Why did it seem like Zheng Ren gave him no thought at all? He had completely forgotten about the professor immediately after leaving the operating room.

Truly one of a kind, he was.

“Zheng, I would like to sincerely extend my invitation to you once more. If you agree, I guarantee that we’ll be able to establish a research lab for prostate interventional surgery.” Professor Rudolf Wagner stood, his golden locks swaying in the air. “You don’t have to worry about funding and patients. We can also discuss the issues of research team leadership further.”

Su Yun was struck dumb.

From experience, he knew the importance of authority in a research project.

Most professors and experts did not understand their own research projects but were able to acquire funding, which was the main driving factor of one. Therefore, the first author in the published journal would usually be the one who obtained the funding.

However, Professor Rudolf Wagner was willing to bear all of that responsibility just to get Zheng Ren to go to Heidelberg University?

When had Zheng Ren become so valuable?

Chuckling, Zheng Ren said, “Professor, I’m really sorry. I’m very busy and can’t leave. If it interests you, perhaps you can discuss this with Chief Kong.”

Professor Rudolf Wagner’s eyes lit up when he heard those words.

The fellow had just brought up a great idea.

A collaboration between top medical institutions would certainly give him a leg up when applying for funding from foundations.

“It’s late, professor,” Zheng Ren said, “You should head back and rest. Thanks for helping out yesterday.”

Professor Rudolf Wagner looked into his eyes and said sincerely, “Zheng, if you can’t go to Heidelberg, I’m willing to stay here for a period of time.”

“You can help out in the day, then. It’s quite busy then and you would be able to utilize your full potential,” Zheng Ren responded perfunctorily.

In reality, he simply did not want to work during the same shift as Professor Rudolf Wagner. His luck was just so… terrible.

The Night Shift God had to have some deep hatred towards him. If the professor continued to stay for another night, Zheng Ren was afraid that it would be another sleepless one.

Professor Rudolf Wagner was finally persuaded to leave.

Zheng Ren exhaled in relief as he watched the professor climb into a car.

“Let’s just take a look at the emergency department and then return to rest,” Su Yun said.

He nodded.