Zheng Ren thought for a moment. The woman was probably worried that this was his first appendectomy. He smiled and said reassuringly, "A few hundred. I am an experienced surgeon, don't worry. We just need your cooperation with the procedure."
The woman appeared to be deep in thought.
The anesthesia was almost complete when the patient lay back down. Zheng Ren stood up and went to wash his hands.
"Dr. Zheng," the patient called out after a moment of hesitation.
"Yes? What's the problem?" Zheng Ren was curious.
"I… I'm a vegan. Is it possible to use antibiotics that don't kill germs?"
Chapter 169 - The Beginning of Love
Yang Lei, wearing a surgical gown, was asking the scrub nurse for a pair of Rampley sponge forceps and a kidney dish containing gauze and iodophor for surgical site disinfection.
On the operating table, the woman's words stunned both of them.
"Okay, auntie." Without any hesitation, Zheng Ren turned around to perform a surgical scrub and said, "I'll just use ordinary cephalosporin, is that alright?"
"Sure," replied the woman, obviously satisfied.
"..." Yang Lei froze for a brief moment. The scrub nurse, who had her back to the patient and was counting the surgical instruments, nearly burst into laughter and contaminated the sterile instrument table.
The surgery ended successfully. Even though there was no deliberate pursuit of speed, the whole procedure had been done dexterously to the point that the newly-allocated scrub nurse had to recount the surgical instruments without taking a break.
She felt like she had been counting the instruments throughout the entire surgery…
After stepping away from the operating table, Zheng Ren informed Chang Yue about the patient's bizarre request.
Chang Yue understood him and immediately located the patient's family for counseling and to explain the patient's situation and the intraoperative conditions.
The family member in the counseling session was the patient's son, who had no idea how to react upon hearing Chang Yue's words.
He truly had no clue where the elderly woman had heard such theories about "health".
It was good to know that she had no special conditions. After communicating with the family member and acquiring his signature, Chang Yue provided a few medical orders and prescribed antibiotics for the patient.
According to the severity of the disease, the patient would receive postoperative antibiotics for three to seven days after their appendectomy. Despite the absolute confidence in his own surgery, Zheng Ren did not dare allow self-recovery and strictly adhered to protocol—antibiotic injectiond for at least three days.
This was the safest method.
The thought of the weeping beauty—Xie Yiren—was constantly torturing Zheng Ren's heart, making him uncomfortable.
"Yang Lei, keep an eye on the wards. I'll go to the ICU first before heading out. Call me if anything happens." Zheng Ren soon made up his mind; he wanted to comfort Xie Yiren.
"Okay, don't worry." Although Yang Lei was invisible to patients, he was truly a reliable man.
Zheng Ren arrived at the ICU and saw Su Yun keeping an eye on the patient with around ten pieces of paper in his hands.
The details on the System panel were more optimistic now as the surgery had been completed in time and the patient had received appropriate postoperative management. Although she had not gotten out of danger from hemorrhagic shock yet, she was at least not in a critical state now.
"Are you busy at home?" asked Su Yun softly, staring at the numbers on the paper.
Some doctors were used to addressing their department as 'home'. Zheng Ren was actually surprised that Su Yun, who had wanted to establish a pet medical center, had acquired this habit as well.
"I just performed an appendectomy, and the patient's condition has stabilized. Everything is fine at the moment."
"Everything here looks good, too." Black bangs danced in front of Su Yun's forehead. "All signs and symptoms of hemorrhagic shock have been alleviated, so I think she can be extubated in one to two days."
"That's good." Zheng Ren nodded.
Even though the fickle-minded System was much more reliable than Su Yun, who did not want to hear good news?
"Apply for leave and visit Xie Yiren," said Su Yun all of a sudden.
A chill instantly went down Zheng Ren's spine. How had Su Yun known about his intention to check on Little Yiren?
Like a thief who had been caught red-handed, Zheng Ren panicked.
"Bring her out for a meal and that foodie should be fine." Su Yun raised his head and added seriously, "She is your scrub nurse, so you should take a day off for her."
'I must have misunderstood him. That sharp-tongued nancy boy is just casually advising me,' Zheng Ren repeated to himself internally, clutching at straws.
"Okay, I'll check on her," said Zheng Ren lightly.
He scanned through Miao Xiaohua's investigation reports again to get a basic grasp of her current recovery status before leaving the ICU.
Su Yun stared at Zheng Ren's back and curled his lips into a smile.
"Little Hua, get well soon," Su Yun whispered to Miao Xiaohua lying on the hospital bed in a stable condition, "Chief Zheng, the doctor who has saved you, is a dumb*ss. If possible, lend him a hand in the future."
…
…
After leaving the ICU, Zheng Ren explained the situation to Miao Xiaohua's parents before he quickly returned to the emergency ward and changed his clothes.
Seeing that he was alone in the on-call room, he took out his phone, hesitated for a few seconds and finally called Chu Yanzhi.
"Chief Zheng, is there a major rescue operation?" asked Chu Yanzhi quickly, surprised to receive Zheng Ren's phone call.
"No," Zheng Ren immediately said, "Are you with Yiren?"
"She's asleep, and I'm on my phone. Why?" Chu Yanzhi suddenly giggled. "Are you feeling uneasy performing surgery without your scrub nurse?"
"..." Zheng Ren was instantly drenched in sweat. He had never been teased in this way before and was momentarily stunned, unable to come up with an appropriate response.
The silence continued for a few seconds before a chuckle was heard from the other end of the phone.
Embarrassed, Zheng Ren quickly explained his intention and immediately hung up after acquiring Xie Yiren's home address.
'It really is difficult to chat with women.' Embarrassment started gnawing at his heart.
Zheng Ren shook his head, astonished to find that everyone seemingly knew his plan before he even did anything. In terms of surgery and saving lives, he was undoubtedly an expert, but when it came to getting along well with women, he had to summon all his courage just to take the first step.
He put on his coat and hurried out of the emergency building.
The weather was still warm when he had been transferred to the emergency department as a chief resident.
Surgery and ward rounds had been his daily routine in the wards since then.
Although Zheng Ren did not consider his life boring and dull, he felt that his attire was clearly too thin as soon as he stepped out of the inpatient department.
'Damn, it's cold.' Zheng Ren looked up at the sky, the light of day slowly draining away even though it was only four o'clock in the evening. The night rolled over, bringing with it the threat of a blizzard with the icy cold breeze whipping him like a knife scratching his face.
It was indeed a freezing night.
Wrapping his clothes tightly around himself, he looked in the direction of the address provided by Chu Yanzhi and walked against the wind to Xie Yiren's house.
Xie Yiren had once claimed that her house was five minutes on foot to the hospital, which was now proven true and based on a woman's walking speed as well.
Behind Sea City General Hospital was some greenery with several ponds, and next to it was the most expensive residential area within the city center.
There
were a few small villas visible near the pond upon entering the community area. Glancing at their unit numbers, Zheng Ren located Xie Yiren's house.
It was a three-story detached villa with two garages, and the lawn in front of the house was green despite the harsh winter.
'What type of grass is this?' Zheng Ren thought. It was extremely rare to see a touch of green amidst a world of white.
He rang the doorbell, and Chu Yanzhi's voice soon came from the intercom.
The door opened to an entryway dozens of square meters wide. Chu Yanzhi poked her head out of the second floor and said, "Change your shoes and come up. We'll go for dinner at six."
Zheng Ren, who had completely lost his sense of superiority in the operating theater, carefully removed his shoes out of fear that he could accidentally stain the soft, thick carpet.
"Chief Zheng has applied for leave to visit you.
"Hey, the sun has risen!
"Yiren, emergency surgery!"
A loud thump came as if something heavy had been dropped onto the floor.
Chapter 170 - Hug
Zheng Ren hurried upstairs and saw Xie Yiren in the master bedroom on the second floor, sitting on the ground and holding her head in confusion.
The loud thump had startled Chu Yanzhi, but after noticing that Xie Yiren was alright, she immediately burst into laughter.
"It's true!" said Chu Yanzhi.
"Huh?"
Zheng Ren and Xie Yiren were puzzled.
"There was once a joke about a medical practitioner who had become comatose for a long time, and when there was a resuscitation going on, the staff shouted "prepare for resuscitation" and they immediately opened their eyes," said Chu Yanzhi while laughing out loud.
Zheng Ren had heard of that story, but did not find it funny at all.
His heart rate had gone up to 100 beats per minute when Chu Yanzhi shouted about an emergency surgery.
Even though he knew it was just a joke, his knee-jerk response to emergency resuscitation and surgery had been deeply rooted in his soul.
Vocational habits were considered a type of disease that had to be treated as well.
"Huh? Chief Zheng, why are you here?" Xie Yiren asked, still slightly disoriented and massaging her head after waking up and seeing Zheng Ren running up the stairs.
"I… I'm here to check on you," replied Zheng Ren.
"How is Little Hua?" Xie Yiren's worry for her best friend soon brushed the remainders of her fatigue away as she sat on the floor.
As if reporting a case to Old Chief Physician Pan, Zheng Ren seriously explained everything about Miao Xiaohua's condition in the ICU to her treatment plan to Xie Yiren.
Chu Yanzhi laughed like a blooming flower.
Xie Yiren sighed in relief after knowing that Miao Xiaohua would most likely be safe. She climbed up from the floor onto the bed, hugged a pillow with a cartoon print on it and asked for the details again.
"Hey, you haven't eaten for a day. What do you want for dinner?" Chu Yanzhi asked, interrupting the 'case discussion'.
"I…" Xie Yiren seemed afraid and, after some hesitation, asked, "Nothing will happen, right?"
"What could happen?" Chu Yanzhi was bewildered.
"Just like Little Hua…" Xie Yiren was obviously traumatized.
Zheng Ren smiled bitterly and explained the situation to Xie Yiren.
Once a foodie who loved to enjoy life and delicious food was mentally traumatized, it would impact her future significantly and negatively.
Xie Yiren was aware of the truth, but words coming from others' mouths were usually more convincing.
Especially Zheng Ren, who was an omnipotent man in Xie Yiren's heart. After listening to his explanation, she instantly felt much better.
Of course, his omnipotence was limited only to the medical field.
His incisive mind and calm demeanor, especially in the operating theater, was reassuring.
"Xiao Jun Gan Hotpot has just recently opened, why don't we give it a try?" Chu Yanzhi suggested.
Xie Yiren, whose mind was a blur, agreed to Chu Yanzhi's proposal. As long as Xie Yiren was happy, Zheng Ren had no objection as well since he was uninterested in food.
Chu Yanzhi planted herself in the driver's seat of Xie Yiren's red Volvo XC60 without letting her take the wheel.
"Ha!" shouted Chu Yanzhi childishly, diluting Xie Yiren's dejection with her cheerful mood.
A good car engine had a greater backward force. Zheng Ren clung onto the grab handle as the vehicle accelerated and thought, 'Chu Yanzhi's driving technique is scary!'
Zheng Ren wanted her to slow down, but fought the urge to do so after noticing her great p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.
They were not in an operating theater, so the probability of Chu Yanzhi listening to his advice was less than ten percent. More importantly, his words would most likely fuel her rebellious attitude, and she would probably slam on the accelerator even further.
However, he had failed to anticipate that Chu Yanzhi was actually an experienced driver.
Despite her fast acceleration, the car did not exceed the speed limit, and there was no emergency braking along the way. Around ten minutes later, they arrived at the restaurant.
Even though it was already dinner time, there were only three to five occupied tables in the restaurant.
Xiao Jun Gan Hotpot, a popular restaurant in Sichuan, was somehow unappealing in the northeast. This had something to do with the smaller population, especially youngsters, in the south.
In addition, elderly people usually cared about health and seldom consumed such spicy food.
Zheng Ren was busy assisting Chu Yanzhi with orders. Seeing the mountain of food skewers on the table, he was caught in a trance. Could the three of them finish all these?
A hint of sadness still tinged Xie Yiren's expression. Even delicious food could not overcome her dejection.
Even so, indulging in food could still alleviate it to some extent.
The atmosphere gradually became more lively following the conversion of the food mountain into a stack of bamboo skewer sticks.
Chu Yanzhi regaled Zheng Ren and Xie Yiren about the drinking competition where the contestants—Chang Yue and Su Yun—had drunk eleven boxes of Snow respectively.
Zheng Ren had once imagined the situation, but after Chu Yanzhi shed more light on the incident, described onlookers' surprise and told them the owner of the crayfish restaurant had even given them a VIP card, something money could not buy, he finally realized that that night had become legend.
However, Zheng Ren did not envy becoming a legend through binge-drinking.
He had been worrying about his phone ringing throughout dinner, but fortunately, it seemed exceptionally peaceful tonight as Yang Lei did not call him to return for emergency surgery.
It was almost nine o'clock when the women finally had their fill. In the presence of delicious food and Zheng Ren's constant, professional consolation, Xie Yiren's mood was obviously improved.
The cold breeze and snow mercilessly slammed into his face as soon as he stepped out of the restaurant.
It was painful.
Zheng Ren subconsciously wrapped his clothes more tightly around himself to keep warm.
"Huh? Chief Zheng, why are you still wearing a thin coat?" Chu Yanzhi was surprised.
"I haven't returned home ever since I've been promoted to chief resident, so I don't have a change of clothes yet. Besides, there isn't enough time for me to return home since I only have a few hours," said Zheng Ren.
"Tut-tut, you live a tough life. There isn't anything else that piques your interest apart from surgery, is there?"
"Who said so? I read novels in my free time, too." Zheng Ren tried to defend himself, but his words were so unconvincing that they seemed to blow away with the cold wind.
"Don't tell me you're going to wear this type of outfit when you visit Imperial Capital in a few days. Let me tell you this: you don't need a suit with leather shoes, but you have to be nicel
y dressed as a sign of respect to the professors," Chu Yanzhi nagged as she started the car.
'Looks like I've to buy a new set of clothes in my free time,' Zheng Ren thought.
Before the women returned home, they first dropped Zheng Ren off at Sea City General Hospital.
Zheng Ren suddenly developed a lack of motivation to work as the emergency building got closer.
Although the food just now tasted almost the same, his mood during the meal was calm and comfortable.
When the vehicle stopped at the entrance of the emergency building, Zheng Ren got out of the car and waved goodbye.
He developed an inexplicable reluctance to leave when the Volvo XC60 started up again.
The car suddenly came to a halt, and Xie Yiren in a red down jacket got down and ran toward him, giving him a big hug before he could react.
Her soft, thin hair danced with the wind and gently c.a.r.e.s.sed Zheng Ren's cheek. It itched a little.
"Thank you, Chief Zheng," Xie Yiren whispered into his ear.
Hers was a soul-stirring voice.
Zheng Ren was rooted to the spot. He tried to come up with a response, but his thoughts were seemingly frozen by the cold weather as he savored the light fragrance lingering in his nostrils.
After an eternity, or perhaps only a brief moment had passed, Xie Yiren turned around and darted back to her car, waving goodbye with her arm high in the air.
Even as the Volvo XC60's beautifully curved, streamlined body slowly vanished from Zheng Ren's vision, he still stood petrified in front of the emergency building, unable to move.
Chapter 171 - In Serious Trouble
After a long while, Zheng Ren regained his composure and brought his hands to his mouth, trying to warm himself by exhaling onto them.
He returned to the emergency ward and instructed Yang Lei to return home before going for a ward round. When he ensured the patients' conditions were stable and warmth was finally returning to his body, he changed his clothes and went to bed.
Three uneventful days passed in the blink of an eye.
Xie Yiren bought a new suit for Zheng Ren. He had no idea what brand it was, but it suited him perfectly.
The Surgeon's Studio c1-799 Page 87
