Zheng Ren had no idea that the largest medical expert website in the country had crashed due to the surgery he had just performed.
He left the endoscopy unit operating theater in good spirits.
Cen Meng, who was not allowed to enter the conference room due to lower rank, was standing in the corridor, obviously anxious and irritated.
He was startled when Zheng Ren exited the endoscopy unit.
In his imagination, Zheng Ren had been struggling and could not possibly have finished the surgery so soon as this was the first time anyone used such an advanced, unfamiliar surgical technique in Sea City General Hospital.
He had assumed that he knew Zheng Ren well and was aware of the limited surgical choices he could perform with his low standards, but that had not been the case recently.
Something must have gone wrong in the surgery. There was no other explanation for it!
That realization made Cen Meng's heart jump.
His gloomy mood brightened up instantly as he approached Zheng Ren with a warm smile on his face.
"Chief Zheng, do you lack any surgical instrument or require an assistant? I wanted to slot in a doctor from the endoscopic unit for you but the patient's side disagreed with my suggestion." Cen Meng tried to express his "kindness" and hope at the same time.
How he wished that Zheng Ren had messed up the surgery.
"The surgery is finished, so here I am," replied Zheng Ren with a smile.
"Fi… Finished?" Cen Meng was dumbstruck.
Even though Cen Meng had more or less expected this result, he was still devastated that Zheng Ren had so quickly completed a surgery that he had not seen or even heard of.
Zheng Ren walked past Cen Meng, whose expression was blank and eyes as dull as stones, and gave him a gentle tap on his shoulder before going into the conference room. "What else could it have been?"
Zhou Jinxi's agent, who still had a phone in her hands, gave Zheng Ren an astonished look when he entered the room.
"Doctor Zheng, how was the surgery?" asked the agent carefully, fearing the worst from Zheng Ren.
"Everything went well. The resected appendix is in the operating theater. You can take a look at it before sending it to the pathology lab." Zheng Ren walked toward Old Chief Physician Pan, met his gaze briefly, and sat down.
The director and deputy director of the hospital concealed their amazement well. Meanwhile, the chief of the medical administration division started instructing medical staff to transfer Zhou Jinxi back to the ward and gave Zheng Ren a penetrating stare before leaving the room.
Old Chief Physician Pan asked Zheng Ren softly while everyone went to check on the patient, "How was the surgery?"
"Good. There won't be any problem at all," answered Zheng Ren clearly as he understood what Old Chief Physician Pan had in mind.
A sly smile formed on Old Chief Physician Pan's honest face. "Take some rest. After this is over, I'll take everything we deserve."
Zheng Ren nodded in response.
"I appreciate your hard work," said Old Chief Physician Pan before he stood up and left the room.
Hard work? It was just a nine-minute surgery.
Ding dong! A bell rang in Zheng Ren's ears and the System's robotic female voice emerged at the same time.
[Sudden Mission: The Soldier Dies For His Comrades accomplished. 30 skill points and 300 experience points obtained.]
Well, that was stingy… He had purchased an instrument for 3200 experience points for a reward of only 300 points.
[Time used: 1:12:36. Extra 13644 experience points obtained.]
Zheng Ren was startled by the new reward as he grumbled internally. Calculating it was not required as it was obviously the unused time to completion from that allocated by the System.
One second for one experience point; that was awesome!
The exhilarated Zheng Ren felt that there was a bright future ahead of him.
Suddenly, he recalled that the endoclip he had purchased in the System's Shop was still in the operating theater.
His hair stood on end instantly.
He took off like a scalded cat; that treasure cost him 3200 experience points! There was no way he would throw his item away even though more than ten thousand experience points had emerged out of nowhere and went into his experience pool.
The stretcher trolley was wheeled out of the operating theater. Zhou Jinxi had awakened from the general anesthesia and her vital signs were stable. Meanwhile, her agent was staring at the resected appendix in the kidney dish in Old Chief Physician Pan's hands.
Although none of them knew about the surgical process, Old Chief Physician Pan was able to explain how the appendix was edematous, where the sign of perforation in the appendix was, what would have happened if surgical treatment was not performed in time, and so on.
Chief Surgeon Liu from the first general surgery department and Chief Surgeon Sun from the second general surgery department were standing at one side with dark expressions. Chief Surgeon Liu's complexion was chalk-white, as if his cadaver-like face had been smeared with hydrated lime powder.
The terrified agent was listening to Old Chief Physician Pan's explanation while mumbling about how lucky she was to have had the surgery done on time.
The stretcher trolley had already left the endoscopic unit when Old Chief Physician Pan finished explaining the patient's condition. The whole corridor was quiet with only a few people still lingering in the area.
The agent walked toward Zheng Ren with a polite smile, bowed slightly, shook his hand enthusiastically and asked, "Doctor Zheng, when do you think Little Zhou will recover?"
"She can get out of bed tonight and walk with care in two days. There shouldn't be any delay to her recovery and she can attend the contest in three days, but her diet needs to be taken care of. Liquid meals only for the next few days and no high-intensity exercises allowed."
The final three days later would not be affected!
This was precisely what the agent wanted to hear from Zheng Ren. Dark gray clouds drifted away instantly and allowed the sunlight to fill her world with joy.
She took out a business card and handed it to Zheng Ren. "Doctor Zheng, your surgery skill is unparalleled. This is my name card. Give me a phone call when you visit Sorcery Capital in the future. Don't consider yourself as an outsider."
"That's kind of you." Zheng Ren accepted the business card and put it away.
Her fingernails were too red and her lipstick too seductive. Those were definitely not Zheng Ren's preference.
There were only four people—Zheng Ren, Old Chief Physician Pan and the two chief surgeons of the general surgery department—left in the empty hallway after the agent took her leave.
Old Chief Physician Pan grinned victoriously but made no attempt at being a gracious winner.
He stood in front of Chief Surgeon Liu and pointed his index finger. "The emergency department will handle every emergency general surgical case in the future. They are no longer under your responsibility."
Total dominion with no room for bargain.
It was a notice, not a discussion.
The chief surgeons lowered their heads, unwilling to meet Old Chief Physician Pan's vile attitude.
However, that was just the beginning…
Another finger was extended as Old Chief Physician Pan said slowly, "Since the general surgery department doesn't need to handle emergency surgical cases anymore, I'll apply for reallocation of medical staff from the general surgery department to the emergency department to solve the overstaffing issue."
A fundamental solution! It was ruthless!
Old Chief Physician Pan's demand threatened the core of the general surgery department.
The chief surgeons raised their heads instantly and Chief Surgeon Sun pleaded, "Old Chief Physician Pan, I didn't offend you. Please allow some discussion on this matter."
Chief Surgeon Liu stared at Old Chief Physician Pan with trembling hands. He knew that retreat was not an option because there was an abyss right behind him.
"I disagree," Chief Surgeon Liu rejected his request directly.
"You disagree?" Old Chief Physician Pan raised his eyebrows and radiated a murderous aura. "Have you no sense of shame?"
Have…
You…
No sense of shame…
Simple, rough, and direct.
"You want to hold on to resources when you can't perform surgery well? Let me ask you this: have you no sense of shame?!"
"..."
The chief surgeons of the general surgery department were shocked. Were they getting scolded? How many years had it been since anyone scolded them?
"You tried to put a spoke in my wheel by sending every patient with acute appendicitis from the surrounding rural areas to us. Fine, I won't deny them because we can perform appendectomies well and aren't afraid of your tricks. However, you want to take up resources when you can't even do your job properly? You're ruining Sea City General Hospital's reputation!" reprimanded Old Chief Physician Pan coldly.
Zheng Ren, who had just retrieved his instrument from the endoscopy unit, was confused. What the hell just happened?
"Do you think you're a veterinarian?" Old Chief Physician Pan continued scolding Chief Surgeon Liu like he was punishing his own grandchild. "How dare you say you're the Sea City Supreme Scalpel? Poor moral standard! Unsatisfactory diagnostic ability! Terrible surgery skill! What the hell makes you think that you're worthy of the title of Sea City Supreme Scalpel?!"
"Shameless b*stard!" Old Chief Physician Pan's angry roar echoed in the corridor.
Blood started surging toward Chief Surgeon Liu's brain as he stared at the backs of both Old Chief Physician Pan and Zheng Ren leaving the hallway, with a change in color perception as if he had gone colorblind. He was still dazed by the scolding he had just received, which had sent him back to his junior doctor days. The chief physician was scolding him, and he was feeling anxious…
His chest started becoming heavy and there was a blurriness in his vision that painted everything in black and white. He tried desperately to press his chest with his hand but could not move at all.
The muscles around his lips started contracting. He experienced a sharp pain at the precordium as if he had been stabbed in the middle of the chest, with the knife twisting and damaging every structure around the wound.
His consciousness began to fade away, and Old Chief Physician Pan's voice echoed in his ears—shameless b*stard!
The last of his consciousness flew away and Liu Tianxing crumpled to the floor with a loud bang like a puppet suddenly released of their strings.
Chief Surgeon Sun snapped out of his thoughts, flipped Chief Surgeon Liu over quickly, and concluded that the man was having an acute myocardial infarction.
"Help!" shouted Chief Surgeon Sun bitterly while resuscitating him.