The Surgeon’s Studio

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, sighing.

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.