Chapter 396: A Call from the Academician

“I’ll contact Jilin University Seventh Hospital. I’m heading to your location now. If you need anything else later, just call me directly!”

Pei Army spoke rapidly. Jiang Man could even faintly hear the sound of hurried, heavy footsteps on the other end of the line.

“Yes, sir.”

Jiang Man replied respectfully.

After the call ended, she handed the phone back to Qi Guowei with both hands.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Qi Guowei asked Jiang Man again.

“Not at the moment.”

Jiang Man shook her head.

“In that case, Dean Jiang, you and your team should continue discussing the surgical plan.”

“We’ll be nearby. Feel free to contact us anytime if you need anything else.”

After speaking with Jiang Man, Qi Guowei proactively led his people to the sides of the corridor, giving the medical team space to avoid putting them under pressure.

Jiang Man took a deep breath, nodded at Qi Guowei and the others, then returned to her hospital’s group of general surgery specialists.

“It’s highly likely Cai Zhenming’s team from the Seventh Hospital will be brought over. We’ll let them handle the cardiothoracic surgery; that should give us a higher chance of success.”

Jiang Man relayed the outcome of her conversation with Qi Guowei to the group. Just as she was about to say more, her phone vibrated again. The caller ID showed an unknown number.

“Hello, who is this?”

Jiang Man answered the call without much hesitation.

“May I speak to Dean Jiang Man from Jilin University Ninth Hospital?”

A slightly aged voice came from the other end. “This is Chen Qiweng, Head of Jilin University’s Bethune Medical Department.”

Hearing the caller’s identity, Jiang Man’s expression unconsciously turned respectful. She quickly replied, “Minister Chen, this is Jiang Man.”

“Dean Jiang, has your hospital admitted a critically injured patient named Gu Heng?”

Chen Qiweng got straight to the point.

“Yes.”

“I’m right outside his emergency room at this very moment.”

“We are currently in an urgent meeting to discuss his surgical plan.”

Jiang Man suddenly felt like she had overlooked something. After the middle-aged police officer had revealed the identities of Qi Guowei and Tang Jinghui, her attention had been focused entirely on them.

Now that she thought about it, the middle-aged man and woman who had arrived with Qi Guowei and Tang Jinghui also carried themselves with an air that suggested they were no ordinary people. Even if their status wasn’t on par with Qi Guowei and Tang Jinghui, it likely wasn’t far off.

“Dean Jiang, would it be convenient to tell me about his condition?”

Chen Qiweng asked again.

Hearing this, Jiang Man didn’t dare delay. She quickly repeated the details of Gu Heng’s injuries that she had just told Qi Guowei and Tang Jinghui.

As a medical doctor who had worked in the healthcare system for decades after graduation, Jiang Man was all too aware of the lofty status Chen Qiweng held in the world of medical academia.

One had to understand that the predecessor of Jilin University’s Bethune Medical Department was the renowned Bethune Medical University.

Before Bethune Medical University was merged into Jisheng University, it was the absolute pinnacle among medical schools in the north. Its standing was in a league of its own, ranking among the top three in all of China.

Even if Jilin University’s Bethune Medical Department no longer held its former glory, it remained a behemoth in the field of medical academia.

A single department, yet it oversaw eight colleges and four Grade-A Class-Three affiliated hospitals.

It had 13 national-level research institutions!

And 194 provincial and ministerial-level research institutions!

As for Chen Qiweng himself, he was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering!

A true titan of the medical world!

Even though Jiang Man was the dean of a provincial Grade-A Class-Three hospital, even Pei Army—who was in charge of the entire province’s healthcare and had just spoken to her on the phone—would have to politely address Chen Qiweng as Elder Chen.

“Beck’s triad for cardiac tamponade, and you’ll need to perform a thoracotomy soon, is that right?”

After hearing Jiang Man’s description, Chen Qiweng had a clear grasp of Gu Heng’s situation. “Do you have a lead surgeon selected?”

“Cai Zhenming from Jilin University Seventh Hospital.”

While Jiang Man was reporting Gu Heng’s condition to Chen Qiweng, Qi Jiaseng had come over and given her a confirmation: Pei Army had already contacted Cai Zhenming’s team at Jilin University Seventh Hospital, and they were currently on their way.

“Ah, Xiaocai.”

“His cardiothoracic surgery is indeed excellent. There shouldn’t be a problem with him as the lead surgeon.”

Chen Qiweng clearly knew of Cai Zhenming. “Since you already have a lead surgeon, the best I can do from my end is offer some surgical strategies.”

“Send me Gu Heng’s detailed injury report and medical scans later. I’ll assemble professors from our department’s clinical and cardiothoracic fields for a joint video consultation with your team. Let’s strive to create a plan with the highest success rate and best surgical outcome.”

Jiang Man, of course, would not refuse.

If the general surgery specialists at her hospital were on the front lines of clinical practice, then the general surgery professors at Jilin University’s Bethune Medical Department were on the front lines of academia.

The former had first-rate practical skills, but their perspectives and approaches were inevitably somewhat rigid.

The latter had weaker practical skills, but their perspectives and approaches were at the international cutting edge.

Combining their strengths to make up for weaknesses—it was a true collaboration of powerhouses.

“It’s settled then.”

“We’ll have the video consultation shortly.”

After finalizing the arrangements with Jiang Man, Chen Qiweng quickly ended the call.

“That was Academician Chen from Jilin University’s Bethune Medical Department?”

Dai Zhen asked tentatively, seeing Jiang Man lower her phone.

“Yes.”

Jiang Man nodded.

Hearing this, everyone was secretly astounded.

This major traffic accident was truly turning into an earth-shattering event.

Today, the emergency center at the Ninth Hospital was “unusually lively,” to say the least.

Many ordinary patients with minor aches and pains, who had already finished their treatment and received their prescriptions, weren’t in any hurry to leave. Instead, they all stood to the side, watching the commotion.

Every few minutes, another group of people would rush in from outside—either a uniform sea of white coats, a uniform sea of executive jackets, or a uniform sea of white-shirted police officers.

As for Emergency Room 1 at the end of the hall, they used to be able to see inside from a distance, but now the hospital had drawn a curtain, blocking the view.

Just a moment ago, a bold young man had crept closer, wanting to peek through the curtain to see what was going on. But when he pulled it aside, he was met with the sight of four stern-faced police officers staring daggers at him. One officer’s right hand even subconsciously moved toward his waist.

The young man nearly died of fright at the sight.

Luckily, he was just curious and had no other intentions. Otherwise, he would’ve been face-down on the ground by now, a proud new owner of a pair of limited-edition, rose-gold “bangles.”

“Who on earth got hurt? I feel like if a few more groups show up, that hallway won’t be able to fit anyone else!”

“I’ve really seen it all now. I’m over thirty, and I’ve never seen so many white-shirted officers in the same place in real life. I was going to take a video, but a couple of them glanced my way, and I instinctively put my phone down. My mind just went completely blank!”

“The badge number of the lead white-shirted officer starts with a 1, ends with a 1, and is all zeroes in the middle. Don’t you know what that means? Not just anyone can wear that number. Only *that person* is qualified to wear it!”

“And that group in the executive jackets just now… I was on the phone at the entrance to the emergency center, and I heard the hospital administrators who greeted them call the middle-aged man in the lead ‘Director-General’!”

“Holy crap. No wonder the two videos I posted on TikTok a dozen minutes ago got banned in the blink of an eye, even though there was nothing prohibited in them. I was just wondering what happened. Looks like some mysterious forces are at work!”

“Look, look, more people are coming! Holy cow, they’re all in Land Rovers worth millions! No doubt they’re all heading for that emergency room too!”

The crowd buzzed with discussion, their eyes taking it all in, their hearts filled with envy.

In that moment, the very concept of power and influence was made vividly and tangibly manifest before everyone’s eyes.