The two other reporters had also put aside their initial misgivings about Zheng Ren, alternating between checking on Tang Xiu's notes and telling the two doctors about the emergency rescue that Zheng Ren had performed in Sea City.
Mass nitrite poisoning on such a massive scale was very rare and the story had been embellished over time, gaining an apocryphal nature of its own. Their eyes as wide as saucers, the two doctors from Imperial Capital downed two shots of alcohol in one motion.
Soon, Tang Xiu's thoughts began to take shape.
She was thrilled by it all. It would be the perfect interview, the pinnacle of her career.
She felt elated.
When she raised her head to look at the two doctors, they were both a little tipsy; even though they had already strayed from the original interview subject, it was obvious that they could not proceed in their current state.
Also, she still needed to brainstorm her ideas with her two subordinates.
If all went according to plan, it would be huge. They could not rush it and waste such a rich resource.
Tang Xiu asked for a few more details, including the possibility of an interview with the doctors involved.
In the end, they exchanged contacts with the two doctors and arranged for an interview tomorrow.
After sending the doctors home, the photojournalist asked, "Editor Tang, are you onto something?"
"Yes, I'm thinking of filming a promotional video with a positive message. If done well, it could end up being the main theme of our city's latest social media outreach."
The other two reporters were fully aware of what that meant and nodded eagerly.
…
…
Zheng Ren's eyes were half-shut as he pinched the Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery micro guide wire between his fingers, perceiving its minuscule differences in rigidity and texture.
The replica from the System was exactly the same as the real deal. There was little to no disparity between them.
After attaining Prime level, Zheng Ren had discovered that he was more discerning towards surgical supplies. In order to ensure the success of the surgery, he did not want to miss out on any aspect that could improve the procedure, no matter how trivial.
Feng Xuhui, along with Chairman Ma and the others, wasted no time commencing with the c.u.mbersome procedure of procuring surgical tools. In the afternoon, Zheng Ren had a simple lunch and returned to his hostel, where he continued to manipulate the wire alone.
While toying the micro guide wire in his hand, Zheng Ren mentally outlined the 3D-image reconstruction of the 64-slice CT scan of his upcoming patient, picturing the route of entry, degree of insertion and the exact moments to be radiographed… he replayed the entire process in his mind over and over again.
Zheng Ren calmly imagined the surgical process, trying to optimise it even further.
The micro-guidewire felt smoother and more flexible the longer he held it in his hand.
If Su Yun was present, there would be no shortage of mockery to be had.
Some people had the habit of toying with butterscotch amber pendants, while some preferred play beads. Zheng Ren's choice of plaything was truly one of a kind.
…
…
Despite feeling drained, Department Chief Kong was still busy working.
They had had to expedite the purchase due to their last-minute decision to use Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery's products, but that was not even his main concern. What truly troubled him was his upcoming discussion with Li Haitao regarding the prostate interventional embolization livestream tomorrow.
Even though Zheng Ren had demonstrated exemplary skill, it was still insufficient for a department chief from Imperial Capital to risk his entire career supporting a livestream surgery.
He would never have allowed it if not for the paper that would be published in The Lancet, the patient from Sorcery Capital who had suffered unexpected postoperative complications, and Zheng Ren's outstanding performance during the hepatocellular carcinoma nodule surgery.
When the news of Zheng Ren's livestream spread nationwide via the internet, it triggered an uproar in the interventional surgery community.
The chief's office in Shenzhen Economic Development Zone People's Hospital, despite being brightly lit, was stifling.
Wu Haishi sat on his chair frowning, buried deep in thought.
"Teacher, I don't understand." Mu Tao finally broke his silence, long after they had received the news that some doctor had insisted on performing and livestreaming the surgery.
Old Wu shook his head and spoke after a few minutes. "I heard that Chief Kong is collaborating with Dr. Zheng in researching the differential diagnosis on nodule formation induced by hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic cirrhosis. He has two projects going on concurrently. Chief Kong is getting too impatient."
"My guess is that Chief Kong saw an opportunity when he heard that Professor Rudolf Wagner's patient had started showing postoperative complications," Mu Tao said.
"It's possible. Even though the prostate interventional embolization looked ordinary, it was as difficult as the TIPS procedure. The entire profession revolves around trying to figure that out. Professor Rudolf Wagner's patient having postoperative symptoms doesn't mean anything." Old Wu's voice trailed away as if he had fallen asleep.
Mu Tao dared not disturb him. His teacher's energy was deteriorating with age. There had been a lot going on recently, and the German professor's success in prostate interventional embolization had an especially great impact on Old Wu.
They had flown back to Shenzhen overnight. Mu Tao accompanied his teacher all the way, worried that Old Wu might suffer a heart attack. He did not want to take the risk and carry that regret for his entire lifetime.
Old Wu was not as fragile as he thought, though. Upon their return, the man resumed his routine ward rounds and guided surgeries but was nonetheless stunned upon hearing the news from Imperial Capital that the prostate interventional embolization would proceed tomorrow.
He could not figure out what had given Department Chief Kong and Zheng Ren the confidence to challenge the greatest living interventional surgeon, Professor Rudolf Wagner, who already had the support of substantial financial resources and a personal production line.
It was understandable for Zheng Ren to be young and brash. However, Department Chief Kong was already in his twilight years; why would he play along with Zheng Ren's recklessness?
In the hepatobiliary hospital of Sorcery Capital, Professor Pei Yingjie was also baffled upon hearing the news.
He had also left Imperial Capital overnight. Being slightly younger than Old Wu, he was still actively performing surgery and maintained his pristine surgical skill.
In Pei Yingjie's opinion, there was no point staying in Imperial Capital.
The reason for that was obvious to those with a certain level of understanding and skill.
Professor Rudolf Wagner of Germany's Heidelberg University was truly a force to be reckoned with, but despite recognizing the man's skill, Professor Pei Yingjie did not think himself necessarily inferior.
The straw that broke the camel's back was the personal production line sponsored by Biosensors International.
It was a battle of capital, not competency.
Such a method could never be adopted by anyone else due to its exuberant cost, and that above all else made Professor Pei Yingjie furious.
He stood before his office window and silently stared at the concrete forest that was the international metropolis of Sorcery Capital, wallowing in his own sorrow.
Behind him, Jin Yaowu was a turmoil of emotion.
The success of Professor Rudolf Wagner's surgery meant that there was no further need for Zheng Ren's.
From a certain point of view, could he have been vindicated?
Jin Yaowu thought otherwise.
He was not pleased that he had lost to Zheng Ren, but he still had a chance to turn the situation around. However, he was no match f
or Professor Rudolf Wagner. Now, that young upstart had publicly challenged a pioneer in the field! Who had given him the confidence to do that?
"Haih." Despite his best efforts, Professor Pei Yingjie could not figure out how Zheng Ren was going to surpass the surgery in Sorcery Capital.
The issue lay not with technique, but with… the tools!
Skill was required to compensate for the inadequacy of physical resources.
This was…
This was impossible.
Chapter 248 - Passive Ability (Part 2 of 5)
Back in his hostel , Zheng Ren quietly sat in place and fondled the micro guide wire like an old monk in meditation.
The wire moved gently between his thumb and forefinger like a living thing.
Zheng Ren was unaware of how much time had passed. He was entirely focused on how to perfect any possible flaws.
"Ding dong~"
There was a chime: the long-awaited notification for a mission from the System had finally rung!
He glanced at the upper right corner of the System panel and saw the details of his quest.
[Mission: The First Stage of The Great Beginning 2
[Task: Complete the prostate interventional embolization surgery.
[Reward:
[1. Passive ability—Luck points +4
[2. Passive ability—Unlimited Charm, double effect
[3. Passive ability—Integration. Include joint diagnosis across different specializations, equipped with multiple skills during treatment.
[Time: 7 days.]
Zheng Ren had been curious about the System's potential rewards for completing tomorrow's prostate interventional embolization.
However, he had not expected to receive three passive abilities in a single mission…
After saving the patient with postpartum hemorrhage on the same day of his medical dispute, Zheng Ren had been awarded +2 luck points. If he managed to complete this upcoming mission, he would have +6 points.
He had no idea what they were for.
However, if he were to guess, they had probably played a part in successfully resolving his medical dispute. Otherwise, why had the dispute failed to destroy his career like it did with so many doctors nationwide every year?
The Unlimited Charm passive ability had also been rather useful.
When he had tried to save Cui Heming on the plane, Zheng Ren was certain that his mediocre appearance and eloquence were not how he had managed to persuade the patient with Type I aortic dissection to calm down and ingest oral blood pressure medication despite severe pain.
It had to be the effect of Unlimited Charm.
The description of this particular passive ability had also stated that he could gain respect and recognition from others for every completed surgery, which in turn added value to the charm points. The charm points were related to his reliability and determination.
Did the effects stack with each other?
Did it mean that the more surgeries he performed, the more persuasive he became? Was he going to be Zheng, the silver-tongued?
When he reached the last passive ability, he laughed dryly.
Had he received this ability earlier, differential diagnosis of the hepatocellular carcinoma nodules would have been much easier. However, it was better than no ability at all. If he could complete the prostate interventional embolization, the System's rewards would not be too bad.
The System had its own unlimited charm, it seemed. Zheng Ren seldom doubted it these days.
The rays of sunset seeped through from outside, illuminating the area in a golden-red glow.
…
…
The next morning, Zheng Ren woke up very early. He sent his usual morning greetings to Xie Yiren, then went to wash up and ate the breakfast that Feng Xuhui had brought over.
Su Yun clearly had had a rough night, with his eyes ringed by dark circles and his hair disheveled.
Zheng Ren reckoned that the man was most likely too stressed.
It was probably due to his own competitiveness. Zheng Ren just smiled without saying a word.
Su Yun did not make any sarcastic remarks upon seeing Zheng Ren's nonchalance. He ate breakfast in silence, his mind somewhere else, not even noticing the mung bean juice beside him.
After breakfast, Feng Xuhui quickly cleaned up and all three of them headed to the interventional radiology department.
It was just 7.30 a.m., but every doctor from the department had arrived, including two doctors who were supposed to be on holiday.
No one wanted to miss the chance to be present at the livestreamed prostate interventional embolization.
Department Chief Kong glanced at Zheng Ren but did not ask him the usual confidence-related questions.
The arrow had been nocked. It was time for the shot to be fired.
Since he had already decided to go ahead with this, more questions would just add to the pressure on Zheng Ren's shoulders.
Department Chief Kong smiled bitterly upon seeing a haggard-looking Su Yun with sunken eyes standing behind Zheng Ren.
These two had been through a lot.
Were he the one to perform the livestreamed surgery, he would not have gotten any sleep for anywhere between three to five nights prior.
They finished preoperative assessments as per standard protocol.
The patient was sent into the operating theater at 8 a.m.
At 8.10 a.m., the patient was lying on the table of the interventional operating theater. Su Yun started sterilizing their equipment while Zheng Ren stood in front of the radiographic film viewer to perform a final check on the 3D-image reconstruction of the 64-slice CT scan.
He had run through the film in his head countless times and could point out every detail on it.
Nevertheless, he did it once more.
There would be no mistakes. Everything would proceed smoothly as planned.
At 8.15 a.m., Su Yun finished cleaning the area and started femoral artery cannulation.
Zheng Ren approached the table at 8.18 a.m. and began prostate interventional embolization.
There were dozens of doctors cramped in the operating console room. Not all of them were in-house doctors; even department chiefs from other hospitals had come over for this occasion.
There were insufficient seats and some professors had to stand.
The PhD and Master students from Imperial General managed to squeeze inside, but the fellows had it the worst, being only able to stand in the corridor and on the tips of the toes, trying all manner of positions in order to catch a glimpse of the surgery through the leaded glass.
Once the surgery commenced, the crowd outside dispersed.
They decided to watch the livestream as not a thing could be seen from the corridor.
The live surgery broadcasting room had been set up on the hospital's official website. In this era of modern technology, even the most rigid hospital management had started adopting the latest marketing strategies.
The broadcasting room had only one basic function: to watch the live surgery. There were no other common bells and whistles, such as a chat room or a bullet screen.
It was completely stripped down.
Department Chief Kong sat upright in his chair, his back straight as if he was in military uniform.
His gaze was focused on Zheng Ren and Su Yun through the leaded glass.
He was no longer feeling anxious or nervous; his heart remained steady as he quietly observed the surgery.
After the micro guide wire went in, the radiographer was switched on to monitor its position.
"Hmm? This is an incredible technique," the chief from another hospital commented upon seeing the micro guide wire positioned at the bifurcate separating the internal and external iliac arteries. This was also the starting point of superselective catheterization and radiography.
Despite the gulf in rank and standards, he still knew a good technique when he saw one.
Such amazing young men, he thought, sighin
g.
Department Chief Kong did not utter a single word. He sat completely still, observing the rapid movements of the micro guide wire through imaging. The wire was quick but neither elaborate nor showy; the priority lay in finishing the surgery steadily.
This was not the difficult part of the procedure. Everyone in the room, including the fellows outside, was capable of performing it.
It was the minutiae that reflected one's finesse.
The micro guide wire continued moving forward, followed immediately after by superselective catheterization. Even though the procedure was not lightning-fast, its consistency was astonishing.
"Chief Kong, was this young doctor the same guy who was selected within the first few days?" someone asked.
Chapter 249 - Is the Surgery Complete? Not Yet (Part 3 of 5)
"Yes," Department Chief Kong said, nodding.
"His technique is quite impressive! Old Liu from Ram City had been singing praises of a young doctor and I was wondering who it could be. Judging from this surgery, he was not exaggerating."
Department Chief Kong said nothing. After an in-depth study of prostate anatomy, he had a better understanding of how the surgery was progressing.
They were still in the simple, early stages of the procedure. Without top quality micro guide wires and guide catheters, could Zheng Ren still pull off this operation?
Department Chief Kong had his doubts.
The difficulty lay in the superselection of the quaternary arterial branches from the superior and inferior vesical arteries, followed by the handling of the capillary networks.
The micro guide wire was expertly maneuvered into the superior vesical artery within a matter of minutes.
Superselection continued and the guide wire entered an artery branching from the superior vesical artery.
At this point, Zheng Ren stopped advancing. It was clear the guide wire had reached its limit.
This branch…
Department Chief Kong sighed. This was more or less where Professor Rudolph Wagner got to as well.
This was where it ended, but Zheng Ren was not to blame. It was the fault of Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery's products.
If this was the case, why had Zheng Ren wanted a live recording of the surgery?
The Surgeon's Studio c1-799 Page 121
