Chapter 181 - 165: A Fierce Dragon Crosses the River: Zhang Heng’s Debut

Chapter 181: Chapter 165: A Fierce Dragon Crosses the River: Zhang Heng’s Debut

"Within half a year, I’ll be able to train an experienced and formidable project team."

Zhang Heng directly laid out the project’s potential and value, as well as his determination to lead the team and break new ground.

At a major institution like the Jin Province Tumor Hospital, Zhang Heng was indeed at the forefront in Jin Province when it came to the diagnosis, treatment, and overall understanding of HBV-related primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Therefore, despite it being his first day, and despite his relative lack of seniority and youth, Zhang Heng remained assertive, projecting an image that was both composed and unabashedly sharp.

After he finished speaking, Zhang Heng looked toward Huo Yun, his gaze calm and steady.

"Director Huo, you invited me to the Research Center. I believe we all want to achieve results."

"Directors, there’s no need to be hasty. I will now be performing three surgeries. You can invite all the relevant physicians to come and observe."

"After the surgeries, you can tell them about my research project and my plan to form a team. Anyone interested can volunteer themselves to you, or you three can recommend suitable candidates to me."

Associate Director Zhang Heng was direct, straightforward, and incredibly bold.

Zhang Heng had come to the City First Hospital Research Center with one purpose: to run projects, publish papers, and win awards. He had given himself a very tight deadline and needed to produce results as quickly as possible.

So he wasn’t about to be secretive, much less bide his time and hide his capabilities until the opportune moment.

He, Zhang Heng, was going to bring a storm of his own making to the City First Hospital Research Center.

As Zhang Heng laid his cards on the table, Guo Guoguo, who stood beside him, had a brilliant sparkle in her eyes.

’I definitely followed the right person,’ she thought. ’With my clinical talent, I could have easily stayed at the Jin Province Tumor Hospital. I was willing to follow Zhang Heng to a small hospital in a place like Fan City because I was ready to bet big.’

Director Cai, Director Mao, and Huo Yun all took the project proposal from Zhang Heng and gave it a cursory glance.

After reading it, they were all rather stunned. Zhang Heng’s proposed project truly had profound clinical significance.

In the field of HBV-related primary hepatocellular carcinoma, even a small breakthrough would be an incredible achievement!

The significance of this was on a completely different level compared to Wu Ting’s previous work on improving procedures for cholecystitis and appendicitis.

Wu Ting’s projects and achievements had merely shortened recovery times and improved outcomes for existing surgical techniques.

But Zhang Heng’s work could directly increase the five-year patient survival rate! This was a matter of life and death—truly saving lives.

After finishing, Cai Qi and Director Mao found themselves admiring Zhang Heng’s lofty ambitions, and they envied Director Huo for recruiting such a talent.

"Director Zhang, we’ll be waiting for your surgical demonstration. We will arrange for the relevant doctors in our departments to observe and learn."

"After the surgeries are over, we’ll introduce your plan for a project team. We’ll encourage them to volunteer, and we will also screen candidates before submitting a final list to you."

Of course, Cai Qi and Director Mao weren’t about to miss such a golden opportunity.

This was a project guaranteed to win awards—an excellent opportunity for both the Hepatobiliary Surgery and Infectious Diseases departments.

The three directors were also quite impressed with Zhang Heng’s boldness and capability.

On his very first day reporting to City First Hospital, he had arrived with his own research project and patients who had sought him out specifically for surgery. With a single demonstration, he was set to win everyone over with his sheer skill.

Even Huo Yun was pleasantly surprised. All the effort he had put into recruiting Zhang Heng had clearly not been in vain. The man had drive, boldness, and ability.

In comparison, his own subordinate, Qin Donglai, was leagues behind. Jiang Ming was also less mature than Zhang Heng, and Wu Ting was still just a piece of raw jade.

Then again, Wu Ting’s new project was about to launch as well. There was bound to be a scramble for personnel between him and Zhang Heng down the line.

In terms of value and significance, Wu Ting’s project on the early prediction of HBV-related primary hepatocellular carcinoma was by no means inferior.

After the brief meeting concluded, Zhang Heng went to prepare for his surgeries.

Zhang Heng’s move had another, deeper purpose: by forging ties with doctors from the Hepatobiliary Surgery and Infectious Diseases departments, it would be much easier to collaborate with them in the future.

After all, he was new here and didn’t know anyone, so he had to be proactive in building relationships.

In truth, he didn’t necessarily hold the doctors at City First Hospital in high regard, but in order to establish himself, he was willing to put in the extra effort to teach and mentor them.

’I just hope these young physicians at City First Hospital don’t disappoint me too much.’

He was used to working with the elite doctors at the Jin Province Tumor Hospital. This was a definite downgrade, and it would take some getting used to.

After Cai Qi and Director Mao had left, Zhang Heng and Guo Guoguo stayed behind to speak privately with Director Huo.

"Director Huo, before I came to the City First Hospital Research Center, I’d heard about Dr. Wu Ting from your center. How come I didn’t see him today? I was actually hoping to specifically invite Dr. Wu to participate in my surgeries."

Zhang Heng had done his homework on City First Hospital, so of course, he hadn’t overlooked Wu Ting of the Research Center.

In his eyes, Wu Ting was undeniably a genius, just a bit too young. He appreciated and admired Wu Ting’s achievements, but whether it was improving surgical techniques, securing youth grants, or publishing in top-tier journals—these were all things he had already moved past.

He had secured funding for a far more challenging General Program from the National Natural Science Foundation. Moreover, the field he was now delving into was at the very frontier of research on HBV-related primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

The difficulty of such surgeries was incomparable to minor, level-one or level-two procedures like an appendectomy.

Therefore, in his mind, Zhang Heng simply viewed Wu Ting as a talented junior, a decent potential collaborator.

He had originally planned to use today’s demonstration—and the new surgical technique he was introducing to City First Hospital—to win Wu Ting over. Of all the doctors there, Wu Ting was the one he had his eye on the most.

If he could get Guo Guoguo and Wu Ting to be his trusted lieutenants, then he could spend more of his time at the Research Center focusing on high-level theory and framework development.

An old fox like Huo Yun knew exactly what Zhang Heng was thinking, but he didn’t call him on it, explaining casually:

"Dr. Wu is currently doing his graduate studies at Jinggang University Medical College, and he frequently goes to Jinggang University Affiliated First Hospital for training and collaboration. He just happens to be away today. There’s no rush, Director Zhang. You two will have plenty of opportunities to get to know one another later. Dr. Wu also has a new project launching soon."

With these noncommittal words, Huo Yun subtly conveyed a basic idea: Zhang Heng and Wu Ting were equals—and competitors.

Zhang Heng chuckled, not taking it too seriously. In his judgment, Wu Ting’s project was just the minor dabbling of a young doctor. So what if he was studying in Haijin Port? He still had the limited perspective and mindset of a student who hadn’t even graduated.

"Then we’ll wait for Dr. Wu to return."

Zhang Heng led Guo Guoguo out of the conference room to start preparing for today’s three surgeries.

Soon, Zhang Heng’s first surgery officially began.

Zhang Heng was the lead surgeon, with Guo Guoguo as his first assistant. Huo Yun had also arranged for Song Qi to assist.

Since many doctors were observing, everyone gathered in the observation room to watch the procedure on a large screen.