Great Doctor Ling Ran

Hashimoto Shiro continued chatting. He seemed modest on the surface, but he was plagued by doubt.

Because Ling Ran said almost nothing, that doubt in Hashimoto Shiro’s heart started growing exponentially like mold.

It was natural that he would have his doubts. Ling Ran was practically the embodiment of a perfect celebrity doctor.

He had excellent medical skills, was handsome, and tall. He had a beautiful smile and dazzling eyes. His skin was flawless, too.

From what Hashimoto Shiro knew, celebrity doctors who appeared every year—especially handsome ones like Ling Ran—were mostly fake.

Even so, they were still sprouting up without end in all parts of the world. Why was that so? Because the benefits were too alluring.

Celebrity doctors had an infinite amount of influence.

Insurance companies in the United States sent patients to India for treatment to save costs. The average waiting time for patients in the United Kingdom’s Emergency Departments was thirteen hours, and that was after public healthcare came into existence. The university hospitals in Japan were renowned for being corrupt. Even so, those countries were still the world’s benchmark when it came to medical treatment. There was no other explanation. Those countries had plenty of celebrity doctors. Hence, when a person wanted to buy health with money, he would first think of Mayo Clinic. Those with heart problems would go to Cleveland Clinic, those diagnosed with cancer would go to the Anderson Cancer Center, and those with old-age diseases would go to the Ray Hopkins Senior Center.

What should a hospital in China do if they wanted to mold a celebrity doctor?

Hashimoto Shiro was certain that it would be impossible to only rely on the doctor’s medical skills. How good could the medical skills of a Chinese doctor be?

But if the doctor looked more like a popstar with some acceptable levels of medical skills, he could pass off as a regional level celebrity doctor. The exposure on various media would at least significantly improve Yun Hua Hospital’s reputation, making it a top hospital in the region.

Hashimoto Shiro went so far as to feel that even Pan Hua could not be trusted.

Hashimoto Shiro began to wonder whether Pan Hua was trying to use Hashimoto himself to publicize Yun Hua Hospital and Doctor Ling Ran. He was an associate professor of Keio University Hospital’s Orthopaedics Department, and might one day become a professor—which was equivalent to department directors in Chinese hospitals—in a few years.

Hashimoto Shiro reckoned that it was highly possible for Pan Hua’s actions throughout the past few months and his invitation to just be part of an act. Pan Hua’s request for Hashimoto Shiro to come over to help him and win over some benefits for him while he pretended to be angry later on was just a farce. All of this was so that Hashimoto Shiro could chance upon Yun Hua Hospital’s young celebrity doctor, be pleasantly surprised, and subsequently publicize Ling Ran on their behalf.

Hashimoto Shiro sneered to himself. ‘Am I such a superficial person?’

At the same time, he somehow admired Pan Hua. ‘It’s possible that this man had already started strategizing this for a few years.

‘It’s possible that our patients today are paid actors hired by Pan Hua.’

The more Hashimoto Shiro thought about it, the more convinced he became. He even thought about how Pan Hua could falsify the patient’s records and details, hence creating the false impression of a speedy recovery.

“If I have the chance, I really want to see Doctor Ling perform surgery using the M-Tang technique with my own eyes.”

Even though Hashimoto Shiro laughed out loud and seemed to give other people the impression that he was very hearty and open-minded, he raised yet another request.

It was both very complicated yet straightforward when it came to gauging a doctor’s skills. In the end, you would still have to watch that doctor perform a surgery to know for sure.

Hashimoto Shiro firmly believed that a celebrity doctor with ordinary looks who achieved fame, courtesy of excellent medical skills would become handsome whenever they stood in front of operating tables.

Those good looking men who were easily distracted by the many women fawning over them would be too distracted to improve their medical skills. They became celebrity doctors courtesy of the world’s cheap beauty standards. Their idiocracy would be exposed when they stood in front of operating tables, and they would become ugly.

Hashimoto Shiro raised his head a little and craned his neck. This way, his double chin would seem less obvious.

Pan Hua could kind of guess what Hashimoto Shiro was thinking.

Of course, he could only guess a small part of it.

Pan Hua had traveled quite a few times to Japan for in-service training. He often came into contact with Hashimoto Shiro and knew that Hashimoto Shiro tended to be sullen, skeptical, driven by envy, was ugly, had bad skin, loved to show off, had a wicked sense of humor, and had the tendency to bully his colleagues and even patients. If it were not for the fact that Hashimoto Shiro’s skills were right up there and that he was a notoriously hard-working person, Pan Hua would not even want to entertain him.

At that moment, Pan Hua had no choice but to entertain Hashimoto Shiro.

To clear Hashimoto Shiro’s doubts, the moment the interpreter stopped speaking, Pan Hua immediately said, “Can you arrange for Mister Hashimoto to watch a coming operation? Doctor Ling Ran can perform a surgery now, right?”

Huo Congjun turned cold, even though he had returned from the conference happily. He was about to continue using up the fire he had not finished spending arguing with all the doctors when Department Director Jin Xi quickly coughed and said, “There are many opportunities for Doctor Hashimoto to watch surgeries performed by Ling Ran. We will notify you when we find a good time.”

He intended to ease things up for a more private discussion with Huo Congjun.

Pan Hua said, “I heard that Doctor Ling operates on a few patients a day. How is it impossible to find time? Doctor Hashimoto is on quite a tight schedule. If you could finalize the time of the surgery as soon as possible, it will be easier for us to arrange the subsequent surgeries. Mister Hashimoto still has to go to the provincial hospital and the 278 Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army after this.

The 278 Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army was a cadre sanatorium which invited all sorts of specialists over every year, and it was where Pan Hua built his reputation. As an orthopedic specialist from Keio University Hospital, Hashimoto Shiro was often welcomed there. Pan Hua only needed to make a call, and the other party would be prepared to even sponsor their round-trip expenses.

“I would be extremely grateful if you could arrange for me to watch a surgery performed by Ling Ran soon.” Hashimoto Shiro bowed again, and was so polite that the elderly doctors did not know what to do. It was too easy for other people to forget that he was being overbearing before this.

Hashimoto Shiro was, after all, Keio University’s associate professor. He was considered one of the senior doctors from the Japanese hospitals who Yun Hua Hospital came into contact quite often. Department Director Jin felt that it would be quite a waste to offend Hashimoto Shiro over this small matter.

Jin Xi could not help but look at Huo Congjun. He made a pointed attempt to catch his eye.

However, Huo Congjun—who was over fifty years old—did not have a pair of expressive eyes. He could only make his eyes slightly wider. The other party did not understand Mandarin, and scolding Hashimoto Shiro through the interpreter took all the fun out of it. Besides, how was the interpreter supposed to translate him clicking his tongue?

Jin Xi sighed. He simply went beside Huo Congjun and whispered into his ear, “Do you really we think we can turn down any of his requests at this juncture?”

Even though the whole thing was initiated by Pan Hua from the Hand Surgery Department, this whole thing had been born of the Emergency Department snatching patients who needed to be treated using the M-Tang technique. This was equivalent to them seizing the Hand Surgery Department’s patients. Jin Xi played no part in this matter, and the Emergency Department was the one in the wrong instead.

A lot of ideas appeared in Huo Congjun’s mind, but he dismissed them one by one. Even though he could very easily refuse Hashimoto Shiro’s request, it would not be the best solution.

Huo Congjun turned and glanced at Ling Ran. This was obviously an opportunity for Ling Ran.

Hashimoto Shiro did not get one thing wrong: that it was highly possible for Yun Hua Hospital to produce a celebrity doctor with the aid of Hashimoto Shiro ‘s presence.

The only thing Huo Congjun was worried about was Ling Ran actually slipping up, as unlikely as that was.

Surgeries involving the suturing of tendons under the view of microscopes required extreme precision, and different people had different anatomical structures. Hence, there was always a possibility of a mistake. Huo Congjun was especially worried about Ling Ran’s youth and inexperience. Would Ling Ran be able to handle massive pressure with ease like an experienced doctor? Would Ling Ran be able to remain graceful and unfazed when scrutinized by hundreds of people?