"When did you order the coffee?" At 1:20 PM, Fang Ziye returned after excusing himself for a moment, bringing back two cups of Luckin Coffee, much to Yuan Weihong's surprise.
"Master, don't you like this flavor? Shall we switch?" Fang Ziye pushed his coffee towards Yuan.
Yuan Weihong squinted his eyes, poking the lid open with a straw while joking, "Your extravagance will make my pocket money run short."
Fang Ziye chuckled and said, "Master, how about I treat you often from now on?"
Recently, the financial support from home had increased significantly, with the monthly food allowance rising to 2,000 yuan. Naturally, Fang Ziye could afford to be a bit more generous.
"Are you trying to become my superior?" Yuan Weihong deliberately looked at the back of Fang Ziye's head, not finding any signs of rebellion.
Fang Ziye immediately deflated.
However, the benefit of this cup of coffee was that Fang Ziye saw ten outpatient cases and ten follow-up patients that afternoon.
As a result, even though each case was small, Fang Ziye's Knowledge Points suddenly broke through to level 18. Adding the 2 Knowledge Points from yesterday, he was now just a fraction away from upgrading his Debridement Surgery Skill.
After the outpatient clinic ended.
Yuan Weihong politely asked, "Are you free to have dinner together later?"
The correct answer would always be "yes," as helping his master show off deserved giving the master a chance to perform.
But Fang Ziye declined for now.
"Master, Junior Sister Luo has given me a lot of guidance recently, which, along with your secret manual, has been mutually illuminating. I feel I've gained quite a bit and want to digest it properly. How about you save this opportunity and treat me and Junior Brother to a bigger meal next time?" Fang Ziye said, twisting his white coat with both hands, keeping them still.
Yuan Weihong had specifically asked Fang Ziye if he was free, showing consideration for whether Fang Ziye was in a 'special period.' Otherwise, why would a teacher need to ask if you're available when inviting you to dinner?
Hearing this, Yuan Weihong's expression changed dramatically: "You?"
49.9/50!
Fang Ziye, looking at the progress of his Debridement Surgery Skill, grinned mischievously and suggested, "Master, why don't you go have dinner first? When you come back from dinner, Junior Brother and I will come together to give you a Mid-Autumn Festival gift?"
Just 0.1 Knowledge Points away.
Spending an hour or two in the training room would do it; Fang Ziye could have pushed through, but he held back.
Yuan Weihong immediately revved up his electric scooter and said, "I'll go back and change my vehicle first. After you put away your white coat, go to the training room and wait for me."
"Make sure you wait for me!"
It had been less than fifteen days since the Teacher's Day gift, and now Fang Ziye's professional skills were about to have another breakthrough.
This time, as a teacher, Yuan Weihong felt it absolutely necessary to accompany and witness his student's growth firsthand.
Fang Ziye nodded, "Alright, Master."
Fang Ziye didn't find Yuan Weihong's behavior particularly surprising.
Getting a chance to study in the training room was rare in the entire orthopedics department, with only one or two people achieving it in a year or two.
In the entire general surgery department, only a handful of people could break through each year.
Surgery was the most hands-on specialty, and operational skills were the one thing that couldn't be faked. How could Yuan Weihong not take it seriously?
After putting away his white coat, Fang Ziye first lingered in the ward for a while, but unfortunately gained nothing. So he could only dutifully return to the training room, buying sixteen yuan worth of soft tofu downstairs in the skills training room to practice with.
When Yuan Weihong arrived, it was already close to 8 PM. As the evening wore on, people in the training room had gradually gone home, and there weren't many left.
But Yuan Weihong saw that his two students were still diligently practicing there.
Among them, Jie Han was still practicing incision techniques by cutting tofu.
Fang Ziye, on the other hand, was carefully thinning a quarter block of tofu, creating a continuous stroke of the character "师" (shī, meaning "teacher"), with the radical replaced by its traditional form, as it would be difficult to form otherwise.
Carving three-dimensional characters required exquisite control of the surgical knife. By the time Yuan Weihong arrived, half of the "师" character had taken shape, but the radical part currently only had an outline and hadn't been hollowed out yet.
Fang Ziye took a careful breath, using the surgical knife to slowly fix the outer frame of the "口" (kǒu) radical, then gradually carved, scooping out the tofu inside the outer frame bit by bit.
This simulated special lesions and fixed lesion boundaries, requiring very strict debridement range, distance, and shape, combined with clinical practice.
Fang Ziye looked up at his teacher. Yuan Weihong pulled his mask up and walked closer with his hands behind his back: "Each of you continue with your own practice, don't get distracted."
"The first principle on the operating table is that the surgery comes first, and the chief surgeon is paramount."
Fang Ziye continued to concentrate intently.
About ten minutes later, Fang Ziye let out a slight sigh.
Looking at the "师" character he had carved, it was like taking 90 steps out of 100 – the final touch fell short. The character hadn't collapsed, but it was slightly crooked. If judged solely on forming a recognizable character, it could be considered successful.
However, in debridement surgery, carelessness was unacceptable, especially when dealing with lesions adhered to nerves – a hair's breadth of difference could lead to disastrous consequences.
Nevertheless, after completing this carving, the Knowledge Points gained through practice suddenly increased by 0.1!
It perfectly filled the last gap.
"Master, I'll try once more," Fang Ziye said, straightening up.
"Mm! Take your time." Yuan Weihong knew that Fang Ziye had truly reached a critical point now, on the verge of a breakthrough. If he couldn't fully grasp the principle of character carving in debridement surgery, it would be difficult to break through, but he was close.
This time, Fang Ziye chose a different character, the simplified "节" (jié, meaning "node" or "festival").
Sculpting the outer shape was no longer a challenge for Fang Ziye; his operations were as smooth as flowing water.
After quickly forming the outline, what remained was to hollow out and polish the strokes of the character.
This time, Yuan Weihong saw that Fang Ziye seemed to have suddenly broken through some barrier. His operations were a bit smoother than before, especially when carving the hollow structures. His control of details was more refined, showing signs of seasoned skill.
Although surprised, Yuan Weihong didn't interrupt.
Twenty minutes later, Fang Ziye was left with only the "艹" (cao) radical at the top of the simplified "节" character.
This time, Fang Ziye was confident in his continuous strokes. After decisively carving the bottom line of the outer frame, he began removing the middle part without any hesitation.
Point by point, stroke by stroke, bit by bit.
Finally, at 8:51 PM, Fang Ziye produced a "节" character that looked quite stylish, or at least fairly normal.
It wasn't calligraphy, just a standard character.
Even so, both Yuan Weihong and Junior Brother Jie Han, who had stopped his own practice to watch Fang Ziye, let out sighs of relief.
Jie Han even lightly pounded the table with his fist, expressing his excitement and exhilaration, saying in a low voice, "Senior Brother, you're too awesome."
At this moment, Yuan Weihong's mood became even more relaxed, and he quickly said, "Are you sure it's just 'too'? Not 'as awesome as the sun'?"[1]
Hearing this, both Jie Han and Fang Ziye suddenly turned their heads, their expressions twisted.
Master, shouldn't this be a time for us three master and disciples to be genuinely happy? Why suddenly make such a corny joke?
Yuan Weihong turned around, humming, "Seeming like a mandarin duck and butterfly, in an era when it shouldn't be."
"But who can escape the sorrow of the human world!"
"Flower world, mandarin ducks and butterflies."[2]
Yuan's singing was accompanied by dancing and gesturing, with duck-like steps, his movements alternating between contraction and pause, as if he was about to leave the training room to conquer the whole world.
His delight was evident.
However, Yuan Weihong's showing off didn't last ten seconds. As he was leaving the room, possibly with his eyes squinted, his dancing and gesturing caused him to bump into someone, hitting their abdomen with a thud.
His movements stopped abruptly, and he opened his eyes.
A cold voice reached his ears, coming from Deng Yong: "Little Honghong, you seem to be in a good mood."
Yuan Weihong froze for a moment, then immediately stood at attention, quickly putting on an apologetic smile: "Professor Deng, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Come with me for a moment..."
Yuan Weihong followed dejectedly behind Professor Deng, who had turned around, like a child. After all, he had just hit his superior, and quite solidly at that...
"Junior Brother, we still shouldn't get too carried away," Fang Ziye learned from his master's teaching by example.
Translation Notes:
[1] This is a play on words. In Chinese, "太" (tài) means "too," while "太阳" (tàiyáng) means "sun."
[2] These lines are from a popular Chinese song "Flower World" (花花世界) by Eason Chan.