The Surgeon's Studio

“I figured it out with Professor Rudolf Wagner,” Zheng Ren said.

Chief Sun was stunned, then he was extremely displeased.

He felt as if something was pressing on his chest.

Even though he did not know how to perform TIPS surgery, he knew its basic principles.

TIPS surgery was one of the most difficult surgeries to date. In certain ways, it could be more challenging than the Whipple procedure.

How arrogant of Little Zheng to claim that he learned it by himself. Who would believe this nonsense?

Chief Sun shook his head and sighed internally.

There was no point in him pestering him further if he was so full of himself.

Chief Sun was so frustrated that he wanted to turn around and leave. Why should he be humiliated by a naive child?

At this moment, Zheng Ren was entirely focused on the surgery. He decided the route of entry from the information he gathered by physical examination and imaging. He then mentally ran through the procedure to think of possible precautions and mitigation measures for any unexpected incidents.

He did not notice the changes in Chief Sun.

When they arrived at the operating room, Chief Sun was silent, as was Zheng Ren. The atmosphere was a little awkward.

After changing, Zheng Ren left the changing room first. Chief Sun found a quiet corner and lit a cigarette to smoke. Then, he took out his phone and made a call.

“Old Xia, I asked Zheng Ren about the TIPS surgery, but he said he figured it out with the professor.” Chief Sun poured his frustrations to Chief Xia, with whom he was more familiar.

Chief Xia was the one who told him that Zheng Ren could do TIPS surgery. Initially, Chief Sun asked her to contact the professor in Imperial Capital, but she referred him to Zheng Ren instead.

In fact, Chief Xia actually meant that he should ask Zheng Ren to perform the surgery.

However, Chief Sun misinterpreted that Zheng Ren was able to perform TIPS surgery because he had relations in Imperial Capital.

It was a misunderstanding.

Chief Xia was stunned when she heard him.

“Old Sun, didn’t you ask me to refer you to a professor who could perform TIPS surgery?” Chief Xia asked.

“Yeah, you suggested Zheng Ren’s mentor, so I came to look for him.” Chief Sun felt slightly dejected.

“Who said anything about his mentor!” Chief Xia had a hot temper, the volume at the other end of the phone call increased by at least ten decibels. “I told you that Little Zheng is quite good at TIPS surgery!”

Chief Sun still could not understand what Chief Xia was insinuating. He just stared at the cloud of smoke billowing from the cigarette in hand.

Even though Chief Xia made it very clear, he…

After a few seconds, an irritated voice came from the other end.

“Old Sun, are you in your right mind? What nonsense are you talking about? Wasn’t I clear?”

“Old Xia, we’re talking about TIPS surgery here. Are we on the same page?” The cigarette bud burnt his fingers and the pain brought Chief Sun back to his senses. He threw away the cigarette bud and explained what he thought she told him.

“I am talking about TIPS surgery here,” Chief Xia asked, “My classmate, Old Zhang, is the supervisory director of Secondary Hospital. Once he saw Little Zheng perform TIPS surgery during his last visit, he immediately invited him over.”

While Chief Xia was explaining, she paused momentarily and asked, “Old Sun, don’t tell me that you asked Little Zheng to help you contact the professor from Imperial Capital?”

“…” Chief Sun had no idea what his mistake was.

“You… nevermind,” Chief Xia knew that her speculation was true when there was no response from him. She continued, “Just let Little Zheng do it. Stop wasting your time. Don’t come and blame me if the other postgraduate researchers experiment on your friend.”

Chief Xia hung up right after that.

Chief Sun gripped his phone with mixed feelings and stared off in a daze.

He had been introduced to Zheng Ren when he started working in this hospital. He was just a normal general surgeon, hardworking and reliable, but that was all. There was nothing exceptional about his surgical skills.

However, he rose to fame just after a demonstration surgery.

Could he perform TIPS by himself? From what Chief Xia said, her intent was already very obvious even though she did not exactly mention it—Zheng Ren’s TIPS surgery skills were much better than the professors in Imperial Capital.

… Was that even possible?

Chief Sun had no doubts about Zheng Ren’s general surgical skills. He could perform the Whipple procedure alone; a simple surgery like this would not be a problem.

Nonetheless, was he able to surpass other experts in their own field?

At such a young age?

Chief Sun was lost in his thoughts. When he thought of asking Director Zhang about this, he realized that he had already been sitting in the changing room for half an hour.

‘Ugh… The surgery would have started by now.’ He quickly rushed over.

Chief Sun put on a scrub cap and mask before entering the operating room.

Under the shadowless lamp, the silhouette of Zheng Ren’s back seemed larger.

No one was speaking at the operating table. There was not even a single request for surgical tools.

‘Was there a problem?’ Chief Sun thought subconsciously.

He stuck his head out to check and, to his surprise, the surgery was almost over. Zheng Ren was suturing the muscle layer. After each suture, Su Yun followed up with a knot and cut the excess suture in a fluid motion.

“Little Zheng, you’re done?” Chief Sun asked.

“Yeah, the fecalith had hair in it. Do you want to take a look?” Zheng Ren replied.

The surgery went smoothly. They saw a bulge in the intestine after opening the abdominal cavity.

After dissecting the intestinal wall, they removed the fecalith and checked the remaining intestines for other blockages. Then, they proceeded to close and rinse, and the surgery was completed.

Intestinal obstruction might be slightly more challenging if the patient was elderly due to the risk of intestinal adhesion. Otherwise, a typical intestinal obstruction was just as simple as an appendectomy for Zheng Ren.

Chief Sun quickly put on a pair of gloves and opened the yellow plastic bag containing the pathological specimen.

The smell of fecal matter permeated the room.

“Chief Sun, can you do that outside, please?” Chu Yanran could not take it. She had already voiced her objection against intestine surgery. She would have Chu Yanzhi take over the anesthesia for any intestine surgery in the future.

Chief Sun forced a laugh. He did not reprimand Chu Yanran, even though she was still a resident-in-training.

He was afraid of her boss, not to mention that Su Yun was still at the operating table. He had no intention of getting mocked by that mean guy.

Unless he could rebut him, he would never be able to beat that guy.

He carried the yellow bag to the corridor of the operating room and opened it near a vent.

In the bag, there were massive clumps of fecalith with hair in it.

It…it really was Rapunzel Syndrome? Chief Sun quickly closed the bag while he tried to memorize the name of this syndrome. The odor was indeed very pungent; no wonder Chu Yanran was so upset.

It did not matter if he had never heard of this syndrome before. He could always go back and study it.

If not, he could always search Baidu.

Even though they always advised patients not to seek medical advice on Baidu, Chief Sun had no other choice in this situation.