Chapter 779: Taking Over

Chapter 779: Chapter 779: Taking Over

Ren Hongbo was incredibly embarrassed and felt humiliated.

He didn’t dare stay in the hallway for another second. Tail tucked between his legs, he scurried away as if fleeing for his life.

Everyone present understood that Ren Hongbo had brought this entirely upon himself today.

If he hadn’t insisted on putting on airs and lecturing people, he wouldn’t have lost so much face in public. He even ended up being made an example of by Zeng Yunjun, who directly confiscated his patient.

In the medical system, news traveled fast.

Before the morning shift was even over, the entire Emergency Department—and likely half the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine—would probably know that Ren Hongbo from the Orthopedics Department had offended Li Xu. They would know that the head of the Emergency Department had publicly humiliated him and that Li Xu had forcefully snatched his patient away.

For a veteran doctor like Ren Hongbo, who valued his pride above all else, this was an absolute disgrace. He would never be able to hold his head high in his department again.

"Let’s go. We’ll go check on that patient again."

Ignoring the stares of the bystanders, Li Xu turned and walked toward the observation room.

When Ren Hongbo was in a fit of rage earlier, he had surely said something nasty to the patient and his family, or issued some messy medical orders. Li Xu needed to personally reassure them and clearly explain the new treatment plan.

Actually, forcibly taking over this critically ill patient with a complex condition wasn’t a bad thing. It would completely prevent Ren Hongbo from playing dirty tricks behind the scenes to compete with Li Xu or save face, which could affect or delay the patient’s recovery.

For a doctor, holding a patient’s life in their own hands was the only way to feel truly at ease.

Inside the observation room, the diabetic foot patient saw Li Xu enter.

"Dr. Li, I’m sorry." His face immediately filled with embarrassment and apology. He explained like a child who had done something wrong, "We were keeping track of the time, really. We just wanted to bask in the sun a little longer because the warmth on my foot felt really comfortable. I didn’t expect Director Ren to do his rounds so early today..."

Although Li Xu had previously only advised him to go outside and get more sun without prescribing any specific medication, the patient saw this as an act of kindness and genuine concern for his condition.

When Ren Hongbo was throwing a tantrum in the hallway with a livid expression, the patient and his family hadn’t been able to clearly hear what he was yelling from inside the room. However, they had clearly sensed the tense atmosphere. They were nervously wondering if they had dragged this kind-hearted young doctor into trouble.

"It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong," Li Xu said, waving his hand slightly to signal him to lie down comfortably.

Gao Jingyun, who had followed right behind Li Xu, was in a great mood.

He couldn’t help but smile as he said to the patient and his family, "Sir, we just bumped into Director Zeng. He personally gave the order that from today onward, you are Dean Li’s exclusive patient. Dean Li will be in full charge of your treatment. You don’t need to pay any attention to Director Ren anymore, nor do you have to endure his bad temper."

"Ah..."

The patient’s mouth fell slightly open. He clearly hadn’t processed the news and couldn’t quite believe his ears. But immediately after, instead of feeling happy, a strong wave of regret surged in his heart.

"How could this happen? Doesn’t this mean Director Ren has been completely offended?" the patient thought, groaning inwardly.

Gao Jingyun had been beaming with joy when he delivered the news because he genuinely found the whole situation extremely satisfying.

Ren Hongbo had a notoriously bad temper. He would often reprimand the junior doctors under him at the drop of a hat and order them around arrogantly. Naturally, none of the younger doctors liked him, and they were all eager to see him knocked down a peg.

However, in the eyes of the patient and his family, this was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.

According to the simple common sense of ordinary folks, seeing a doctor meant finding an older, white-haired expert to ensure reliability.

Even though Ren Hongbo had a foul temper, he was still an associate chief physician in his forties who looked incredibly experienced. On the other hand, although the Doctor Li Xu standing before them was addressed as "Dean," he looked to be only in his twenties—more than a decade younger than Ren Hongbo.

Being so young, even if he were a dean, he was most likely just an administrative leader who got the position through connections, right? How high could his medical skills possibly be?

Since the patient and his family had been hiding in the observation room the entire time and hadn’t gone out to watch the commotion in the hallway, they naturally had no idea about the specifics of the clash outside.

They subconsciously assumed that Ren Hongbo must have gotten angry and gone on strike after seeing them running around disobediently. Thus, he had washed his hands of them and carelessly kicked them over to a young administrative vice-dean like a football.

It was akin to an angry parent telling a disobedient child, "Do whatever you want from now on; I’m not dealing with you anymore."

In a hospital setting, being "abandoned" by one’s attending expert was absolutely not a good sign.

Although Gao Jingyun could be rather oblivious at times, he finally realized what was happening when he saw the patient and his family wearing expressions that looked worse than if they had been crying, complete with evasive gazes.

If he were in the patient’s shoes, he would probably be overthinking things too, feeling as though the sky had just fallen.

"Um... Sir, I forgot to mention something." Gao Jingyun quickly dropped his smile and formally reintroduced Li Xu to the patient and his family. "This Dean Li Xu isn’t the kind of leader who only knows how to attend meetings. He’s a top-tier Divine Physician with exceptionally brilliant medical skills. Our Director Zeng specifically invited him over from the expert department.

"Director Zeng recognized Dean Li’s skill level earlier, which is why he made a special exception to transfer you under Dean Li’s care. This is a blessing that others couldn’t get even if they begged."

Originally, Gao Jingyun could have described Li Xu’s track record in a much more exaggerated manner, such as his bare-handed bone setting or acupuncture anesthesia. However, he was ultimately just a lowly chief resident.

Even though Ren Hongbo had stormed off in a huff, he was still the deputy director of the Orthopedic Trauma Department. They were bound to run into each other at work eventually. A big shot like Li Xu wasn’t afraid of Ren Hongbo making things difficult for him, but Gao Jingyun certainly was. Therefore, he could only offer a few vague words of praise, not daring to make it too obvious that he was elevating one person by stepping on another.

"No, no, Dr. Gao. We absolutely didn’t mean it like that." The patient’s wife was a shrewd woman. She quickly grabbed her husband and put on an apologetic smile to explain. "We just feel a little unaccustomed to suddenly changing doctors. Dean Li is so young and promising. Having him treat us is truly our blessing."

Regardless of what they were actually thinking, they couldn’t possibly say right to Li Xu’s face, "We don’t have faith in you. We think you’re too young," could they? Wouldn’t that mean offending their only lifeline?

"It’s fine, I understand your concerns." Li Xu smiled nonchalantly, his tone gentle. "Sir, I’ll repeat what I advised you earlier: go outside and bask in the sun more. Your wound can only grow new flesh by drawing on natural Yang Qi. Of course, now that it’s autumn, the mornings and evenings are chilly and windy, so don’t go out during those times to prevent the cold from seeping into your bones. It’s best to soak in the sun for an hour or so right at noon."