The Surgeon’s Studio

Chapter 254: The Hands of God (Part 3 of 5)

Due to his late-stage face blindness, Zheng Ren was used to greeting people despite not knowing them.

As the stranger had offered a handshake, he forced a smile and accepted it.

The lunch session had taken a greater toll on his energy than any surgery ever could.

“Boss Zheng, nice to meet you. My name is Li Xiaochen and I’m the executive deputy director of the private Straits Hospital, mainly in human resources and talent scouting,” the stranger said cheerfully.

Straits Hospital? What was going on?

Zheng Ren was confused.

“Firstly, congratulations on the successful surgery today. I watched the live recording,” Li Xiaochen said with a smile, starting off with flattery as was the custom.

“Oh, thank you,” Zheng Ren said.

“Here is my name card. We are an American-owned hospital and have the best facilities to offer. Our interventional suite uses the Siemens double C arm L3476—the world’s most advanced model. Would you be interested in having a look?” Li Xiaochen’s congeniality seemed unshakeable.

The man was responsible for poaching medical talent from all over the country and knew how to charm his prey.

First and foremost was remuneration. True bigshots raked in millions annually while department chiefs and deputies earned between three to five hundred thousand yuan. In addition to benefits such as accommodation, spousal support and so on, there were many carrots he could dangle.

Secondly, doctors were also interested in the facilities on offer at their potential workplace. A high-end machine coupled with a highly-skilled surgeon could achieve wonders in the operating theater.

Who could resist such a temptation?

With these two aces up his sleeve, Li Xiaochen’s poaching seldom failed.

Straits Hospital was an American-owned business and hence not included in the country’s insurance policy. All of their patients paid their own way through.

It was out of reach of anyone who was not obscenely wealthy.

With how exorbitant its fees were, the hospital managed to afford both attractive salaries and top-tier facilities, which drew talent like flies to honey.

However, Imperial Capital professors were difficult to poach if they were not approaching retirement.

Li Xiaochen had been in town discussing job opportunities with a general surgery professor when news of Zheng Ren reached him.

The surgery livestream had been a big deal in the interventional surgery circle, but made few ripples outside of it.

Information was crucial to someone in Li Xiaochen’s position. Being even one step ahead was sometimes the difference between success and failure.

He had watched the live recording and consulted an American expert, who only had one thing to say: the masterpiece of a surgery could only have been done by the hands of God!

How could Li Xiaochen pass up such an opportunity?

The surgeon was still young, which suggested unlimited potential in the future.

After some research into Zheng Ren’s background, he had rushed over to Imperial Capital General to wait for his quarry.

Without even looking at the name card, Zheng Ren took it and slid it into his pocket. He smiled at the stranger and said, “Thank you. It was nice meeting you.”

Huh… The automated response clearly meant, ‘I don’t know you and I don’t intend to contact you.’

Li Xiaochen was confused. Had he been unclear with his offer?

“Boss Zheng, we are a…” Li Xiaochen began, but Zheng Ren was already entering the building. The young doctor waved and uttered a soft goodbye.

The word barely reached Li Xiaochen’s ears and the man was gone.

What… What the hell! It was truly exasperating.

This was not his first rodeo. He had successfully enticed many highly-skilled doctors, even those ostracized or neglected in both Imperial and Sorcery Capital, to his hospital.

He had even gotten old professors to come out of retirement, so proficient was he at his job. Failure was not something he was used to.

Yet… Perhaps he worded his pitch wrongly out of haste.

Still, he was not about to give up. Straightening his suit, he reasserted his charm and put on his most winsome demeanor.

His appearance was tidy, his mood under control and his course set.

To make it to the top, one had to have perseverance above all.

Being given the cold shoulder by such a young upstart stung at Li Xiaochen’s ego, and if not for the fact that this man had the “hands of God”, he would have left by now/

There had to have been some manner of reception. There had to be.

He checked with the receptionist and bribed his way to Zheng Ren’s front door.

Li Xiaochen took a deep breath and put on a charismatic smile before knocking.

“Come in,” Zheng Ren’s voice came from inside.

Li Xiaochen opened the door and found Zheng Ren on a chair, fiddling with a micro-guide wire.

What a gem!

His eyes lit up.

No wonder the young man had ignored him completely. His entire being was solely focused on honing his skills. The surgery had ended, but the young doctor was still experimenting with the guide wire’s flexibility instead of resting.

Like in Wuxia legends, Zheng Ren seemed to be trying to become one with the wire.

Was anyone else deserving of the hands of God?

Great minds often came with a touch of madness.

Not surprising, not surprising at all.

“Boss Zheng, sorry for interrupting.” Li Xiaochen approached with his hands up, as if proclaiming his harmlessness, and stopped a few steps away from Zheng Ren before bowing. “I believe I was unclear earlier. If you could give me three minutes of your time, I would like to introduce our hospital to you.”

“What’s your name?” Zheng Ren had completely forgotten.

Li Xiaochen was unfamiliar with Zheng Ren’s affliction and thought one elevator trip had erased his existence from the young doctor’s mind.

Was he being insulted? The veins on Li Xiaochen’s forehead throbbed dangerously.

It was their first meeting and he was going through all the right motions. Why would the doctor want to humiliate him?

He was probably overthinking.

It had to be…

Li Xiaochen quelled the embers in his heart and put on a brighter smile. “Boss Zheng, there must be too many things on your mind. We just met downstairs. I’m Li Xiaochen, the executive deputy director of Straits Hospital. I’m in charge of talent scouting.”

“Oh, Mr. Li, nice to meet you. Please, have a seat.” Zheng Ren was tired from the day’s ordeals but rose from his chair to greet his guest.

“Dr. Zheng, your surgery today was very impressive. My colleague from America commented that your hands are truly blessed by a higher power.”

Li Xiaochen figured the actual quote came off as too ostentatious. It would not benefit him to place Zheng Ren on too high a pedestal on the outset.

“Oh, that is a hyperbole,” Zheng Ren replied. He had no interest in any of the higher powers.

“It is the truth.” Li Xiaochen accepted the recently-vacated seat and glanced around, noticing his name card in the bin under the study table.

His eye twitched involuntarily but he reigned in his emotions.

“From my understanding, you are a chief resident in Sea City General Hospital’s emergency department. This information was given to me by a headhunting firm. Please be assured that I mean you no harm,” Li Xiaochen said with a warm smile.

“Okay. Yes, that’s correct.” There was an imperceptible smile on Zheng Ren’s face but nothing more. He still had the micro-guide wire in his hand.

Li Xiaochen decided to get to the point and used his trump card. “Your current monthly salary is around 4000 yuan. In my opinion, your skill has far surpassed that measly number and you deserve much higher compensation.”

“It’s alright,” Zheng Ren replied with disinterest.

“If you are willing to come over to Straits Hospital and take up a position in our interventional surgery department, I can promise an annual salary of at least 1.5 million yuan. We believe this salary package is what you deserve.” Li Xiaochen smiled and scanned Zheng Ren’s face for any change.

He was confident the young doctor would succumb to his temptations.