Chapter 208: Genius Girl Xie Yuan’an!
“Brother Lu, a patient with a tendon injury is here. Professor Tong isn’t in today, and I’m still writing the medical record. Brother Zhang asked you to take a look,” Tian Zhuang knocked on the doctor’s lounge door.
“Okay, got it!” Lu Cheng stood up. “Have you seen him?”
“Yes, I have, Brother Lu. It’s a Grade B3 extensor tendon injury in the lower limb, specifically an injury at the transition of the quadriceps tendon to the superior pole of the patella. It’s best to use the weave suturing method.” Tian Zhuang realized Lu Cheng might be testing him and answered honestly.
“Mm, tendon injuries in this location are relatively rare, so you can learn about it later,” Lu Cheng replied.
Tian Zhuang asked subtly, “Brother Lu, I heard from some of the older brothers that you have a shortcut for tendon suturing?”
Lu Cheng thought for a moment before saying, “Tian Zhuang, I don’t think you can handle this; it’s very easy to cause a medical dispute.”
“You should just stick to learning the classic suturing techniques!”
“If you’re not good at communicating with patients, you won’t be able to avoid trouble if something goes wrong.”
Unlike Tian Zhuang, Zhang Tiesheng, and Zeng Huanqi, Lu Cheng had no intention of teaching him anything new.
Tian Zhuang asked, “Why not?”
Lu Cheng explained, “This is something new. It needs to be clearly explained to the patient.”
“I’ll tell you more about it later. I need to go see the patient now.”
Lu Cheng walked out the door.
After stepping outside, Lu Cheng realized the injured person was his high school classmate.
This was the first time Lu Cheng had encountered a patient who was actually his classmate since he started working at Long County People’s Hospital a few years ago.
Most of the time, his classmates would bring their family members to see him.
“Zhao Gao, what happened to you? Didn’t I tell you not to come to my workplace to chat?” Upon recognizing him, Lu Cheng directly used the nickname he used in high school.
Zhao Gao wasn’t his real name, but Lu Cheng had forgotten his real name, only knowing him as ‘Zhao Gao’.
“Brother Lu… Right, I heard you were here too.”
“I’m working on a construction site now. A coworker stepped awkwardly and got scraped… If it’s you, I feel relieved…” Zhao Zhaixing replied, his expression calm.
Lu Cheng had excellent grades in high school. In most people’s eyes, if Lu Cheng became a doctor, he would surely learn more than the average person and be relatively more reliable.
If it were a classmate who had attended a junior college, or a second or third-tier university and got into the county hospital through connections, Zhao Zhaixing would find an excuse to avoid them.
“Alright, come with me to the operating room. I’ll examine you. Your situation might require surgery.”
“Does your construction site have work injury insurance?” Lu Cheng asked in advance.
“Yes, we do!” Zhao Zhaixing replied.
…
About an hour and a half later, Lu Cheng finished the surgery. However, this time, Zhao Zhaixing was not alone in leaving the operating room; Lu Cheng accompanied him all the way from the operating room to the ward.
After Zhao Zhaixing was transferred to the ward, Lu Cheng said, “Sister-in-law, Zhao Ge’s current condition is nothing special. His lower limb must be kept in a passive position, and don’t engage in aggressive functional exercises in the early stages.”
“I will explain the later functional rehabilitation plan in detail.”
“Zhao Zhaixing, you need to remember this too.”
Zhao Zhaixing’s wife was an ordinary-looking girl, now a mother of one. She was of average height and had an honest personality. “Thank you, Doctor Lu.”
Zhao Zhaixing said, “It’s more affectionate to call him Brother Lu. Xiao Hua, Brother Lu was always one of the top students in our class.”
“His skills are also exceptionally good. When I was in the operating room just now, everyone was saying that. I guess this is fate. Next time someone needs a connection, they can find Brother Lu.”
Lu Cheng smiled and said, “Brother Zhao, didn’t we say at our reunion that if you needed me, you should treat me to a drink, not meet me here like this?”
“Lying here, you might as well treat me to a cup of coffee.”
Zhao Zhaixing, slightly chagrined, chuckled, “Actually, I didn’t want this, Brother Lu.”
“Will I end up with a limp?” Zhao Zhaixing asked the question that concerned him most.
“If you exercise well, you definitely won’t. If you’re afraid of pain and don’t move, you’re very likely to develop joint stiffness.”
Lu Cheng added, “Of course, don’t overthink it. Just treat it like a superficial wound.”
“It’s already like this, right?”
Zhao Zhaixing sighed, “That’s true. Sigh, you guys are so lucky. Working within the system, you have a steady income, and your monthly salary is very high…”
“My parents used to ask me to study medicine, and I was very resistant. Now I regret it a little.”
His wife chuckled, “Could your grades have gotten you into a good university? If you went to a mediocre school, you wouldn’t be here.”
“You might have ended up in a small clinic.”
Zhao Zhaixing said, “A small clinic would have been fine too. Opening my own clinic, I could have earned just as much, if not more, than working in a hospital.”
If you’re not in the industry, you can’t see the whole picture.
While a small clinic might be good, all the responsibility falls on you. If nothing goes wrong, it’s fine, but if something does happen, the trouble can be significant.
…
After chatting for a while longer, Lu Cheng returned to write medical orders and surgical records.
At that moment, Xie Yuan’an sent a message: “Lu Cheng, my scores are out. The scoring mechanism for the national competition is different from the provincial one, still a maximum of one hundred points!~”
“My score is 99.8, currently ranking first.”
Xie Yuan’an sent another photo, showing the second-place score in the Parenchymal Organ Suturing track at only 90.6 points.
The gap between first and second place was a significant lead.
“Mm, congratulations!~” Lu Cheng quickly offered a polite remark.
Xie Yuan’an: “…”
“How come I feel like you’re being sarcastic?”
Lu Cheng replied, “I’m being sincere. After all, it’s temporary first place in the national competition, but it’s still first place.”
Xie Yuan’an thought for a moment before replying, “That’s true.”
“However, you should know that if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even have qualified for the national competition!!”
“Alright, I need to go to the Tendon Suturing track to wait for my competition.”
After Xie Yuan’an ended the conversation, he suddenly added, “A colleague of mine sent me a message saying the results of the Nerve Suturing track competition are very strange.”
“Even the organizers are having some trouble now.”
Lu Cheng: “Why???”
“In the first round, someone from our hospital participated, and the examiner gave them a score of 99.”
“The maximum is only 100. Then in the second round, Hu Yi participated. It wasn’t easy to assign a score, and I don’t know if they will break the 100-point maximum.”
After Xie Yuan’an finished explaining, he said, “I really need to go join the queue now. Let’s not chat anymore.”
Lu Cheng said, “Then go ahead.”
Lu Cheng thought to himself, did I ask you to chase after scores? You wanted to gossip, didn’t you? And after gossiping, you have to share the gossip, right?
It was only 11:20 AM when Zhao Zhaixing’s wife found Lu Cheng, saying they had already ordered lunch and asked Lu Cheng not to order anything, so they could eat together later.
Lu Cheng couldn’t refuse, so he agreed, but still explained, “Sister-in-law, this isn’t exactly following the rules.”
“But since you and Brother Zhao have already ordered, I’ll take it back to my office to eat later. If other patients see this and imitate it, it will have a bad influence.”
“It’s not good to start something like this.”
It’s like receiving brocade banners; generally, after receiving one, you’ll soon receive a second.
It’s when patients in the same ward see you giving one that they feel embarrassed not to give one, or worry that you might not treat them well, so they follow suit.
It’s the same principle for giving fruit and other things.
“That’s fine. You’re within the system, so you need to pay attention to appearances. Also, I heard your president turned himself in,” Tian Xiaohua gossiped casually.
President Peng voluntarily reporting his issues to the inspection team was no longer a secret; it had become a foregone conclusion.
Walls have ears, and in a small county town with no major news, this was big news.
“We, the little guys, don’t understand the affairs of leaders. All we can and need to do is do our own jobs well,” Lu Cheng replied with a smile.
“Brother Lu, you go ahead and be busy. I’ll bring you your food later.”
“The patient in Bed 4 just mentioned that Brother Lu could operate on Zhao Zhaixing, which is quite fortunate.”
“If you weren’t on duty, you wouldn’t have been able to come, right?”
“Is your director still targeting you like that?” Tian Xiaohua asked again.
This was the label Du Qiang had created at the hospital. Not only did colleagues know he was targeting Lu Cheng, but even patients knew that Lu Cheng and Du Qiang were at odds.
“Leadership assignment!~” Lu Cheng didn’t criticize Du Qiang for anything; he was well aware of Du Qiang’s intentions.
…
Rongcheng, Sichuan Province!
The National Microsurgery Skills Competition was proceeding in an orderly fashion, with various tracks being hotly contested.
This was the first national microsurgery skills competition, so it was quite popular, with representatives from all walks of life participating.
This included, but was not limited to, recommended spots from top hospitals and strong contenders from different tracks of the provincial competitions.
Initially, both the spectators and the participants felt that the competition was proceeding normally.
However, as the competition progressed, people slowly began to notice anomalies and irregularities.
Because the results from different tracks were all eerily strange!
Tendon Suturing Track:
【First Place, 034, Average Score: 99.7】
【Second Place: 062, Average Score: 95.2】
【Third Place: 088, Average Score: 94.9】
【Fourth Place: 014, Average Score: 94.7】
…
Parenchymal Organ Suturing Track:
【First Place: 025, Average Score: 99.8】
【Second Place: 042, Average Score: 96.8】
【Third Place: 078, Average Score: 96.2】
【Fourth Place: 111, Average Score: 96.0】
Nerve Suturing Track:
【First Place: 037, Average Score: 99.8】
【Second Place: 074, Average Score: 99.7】
【Third Place: 102, Average Score: 99.7】
【Fourth Place: 026, Average Score: 99.0】
Vascular Suturing Track:
【First Place: 024, Average Score: 99.9】
【Second Place: 035, Average Score: 99.8】
【Third Place: 156, Average Score: 99.8】
【Fourth Place: 085, Average Score: 98.1】
This is a national microsurgery competition. If a score close to perfect appeared in just one track, it could be attributed to a prodigy or a new suturing technique developed and kept secret by a teaching hospital.
After all, many top teaching hospitals have that capability.
But now, in all four tracks, the first-place scores are all close to perfect.
With limited spots per province, the identities of Xie Yuan’an and others were quickly identified.
Xie Yuan’an, first place in the Tendon Suturing and Parenchymal Organ Suturing tracks, with suturing results far ahead of other participants.
Han Yun Shen and Hu Yi from Xiangya Hospital, both ranking in the top three in the Nerve Suturing and Vascular Suturing tracks, with scores infinitely close to 100!
Isn’t that strange?
If Xiangya Hospital, due to its original techniques, securing the top three in two tracks could be considered internal consolidation.
Then Xie Yuan’an taking first place in two tracks herself makes people think a lot.
Since it’s a good technique pioneered by your Xiehe Hospital, why did only one person bring it to compete?
What is Xiehe Hospital trying to do?
And setting these questions aside, what is the significance of this national competition? Is it just a duet between two hospitals?
There’s no such thing as second place in a competition; people only remember the first place.
Unless it’s like the Vascular and Nerve Suturing tracks, where it’s almost a tie for first place, then it will be deeply remembered!
After finishing his competition and seeing his results, Xie Yuan’an didn’t linger at the venue and went out with his “friends” to have fun.
The award ceremony is on Sunday. Although the national competition is also a salon-style event where people can spar and rack up scores, Xie Yuan’an doesn’t want to score anymore.
Once Xie Yuan’an disappeared, the other participants from Xiehe Hospital were in an awkward position.
It wasn’t just the Hand Surgery participants who were awkward; participants from General Surgery and Microsurgery were also embarrassed.
“Does Xiehe Hospital always play like this? You don’t even include your own hospital members?”
“Isn’t this Xie Yuan’an from your Xiehe Hospital? How did she suture? You don’t know? Why don’t you know?”
“As colleagues from the same institution, you don’t share original suturing techniques? Is there some inside story?”
“…”
After being asked a few questions, Zhong Junyun, who had planned to visit the competition venue, directly retreated into the conference hall and never came out again.
Skills competitions are for young doctors; for mature professors like them, the main stage is academic conferences.
Academic conferences aim to exchange what each hospital has been doing recently and do not pay particular attention to the competition results.
In the professors’ view, the young physicians’ skills competition is a minor affair, intended to gauge the depth of young physicians in each hospital.
Of course, Professor Zhong Junyun would occasionally be asked a few more questions by friends in the conference hall, and receive a few congratulatory remarks.
Regardless, Xie Yuan’an represented Xiehe Hospital’s Hand Surgery and won an award.
To outsiders, Xie Yuan’an appeared to be Professor Zhong Junyun’s secret weapon.
A truly secret weapon, the kind that isn’t shared.
People can understand; why should you publicize a technique you developed yourself? If you have the ability, go develop it yourself!
As a distinguished professor, Zhong Junyun, can’t he let his aspiring juniors gain fame with techniques he pioneered?
It’s definitely possible.
“Mmm hmm mmm hmm, yes yes yes, correct correct correct…” Zhong Junyun defaulted to agreement.
At this point, the more you explain, the more you are concealing.
At his age, he wouldn’t do something so foolish and invite trouble upon himself.
Of course, Zhong Junyun knew the inside story.
Because the current competition results were exactly as Lu Cheng had said!
This included Xiangya Hospital occupying the top three spots in two tracks and sweeping the first prizes, as well as Xie Yuan’an’s first-place finishes in two tracks, far surpassing others.
Although there would be two other first prizes, everyone knew that the gap between these first prizes was quite substantial!
All of this was as Lu Cheng had predicted.
Zhong Junyun glanced at Xie Xiao. Xie Xiao had been in the conference hall the entire time, diligently listening to her peers’ “conference sharing,” as if she had never heard such a brilliant report in her forty-odd years of life.
And she was even taking notes!
Zhong Junyun couldn’t fault Xie Xiao. Xie Xiao had never kicked someone when they were down; all of this was certainly not Xie Xiao’s doing to embarrass Xiehe Hospital and create trouble for him.
Xie Xiao was not that kind of person.
It was Lu Cheng!
The reason Lu Cheng assigned Xie Yuan’an was because Xie Xiao and Xie Yuan’an had recommended him.
Originally, Xiehe Hospital could have perfectly accepted all this honor, but due to some of his own misinterpretations, things had gone awry.
Moreover, Zhong Junyun knew better than to believe that the old-timers in his hospital’s General Surgery department would resent Lu Cheng for this.
Instead, they would watch him with amusement, because he had loosened the circle around Lu Cheng.
The current Lu Cheng had decided not to stay in Hand Surgery and was instead discussing cooperation with General Surgery and discussing employment with the Director of the Emergency Department.
A talent who has already found a home is still a talent. An undetermined talent is the best talent.
This is the operational philosophy of top-tier organizations.
People can compete healthily, but the most fundamental principle is still survival of the fittest.
This National Microsurgery Skills Competition was organized by the Sichuan Provincial Medical Association, with Huaxi Hospital leading.
In response to some doubts, the organizer’s judges provided the most official reply:
“As reviewed by a panel of experts consisting of Deputy Director Committee Members and Standing Committee Members of the National Microsurgery Association.”
“The competition scores of all participants across all tracks are authentic and valid, with no backstage manipulation.”
“The scores given by the judging panel are well-founded and based on actual performance!”
With that, by the end of the first day’s results, Xie Yuan’an’s scores appeared particularly distinctive.
No ties!
First place in two tracks, even more dazzling than the relative ties for first place in the other two tracks!
Similarly, in the competition arena, a narrative began to spread among the young physicians.
It was said that Xiehe Hospital had a talented young female surgeon in Hand Surgery, rumored to be Professor Xie Xiao’s beloved daughter.
Of course, there were also rumors that Xiangya Hospital had meticulously planned for a long time, accumulating strength, and finally developed original vascular and nerve suturing techniques a year ago, using this competition as an opportunity for a surprise attack.
Catching other institutions off guard.
In the real field of Hand Surgery, no one cares about a first prize in a young physician competition.
But the energy contained within scores close to perfect was a game-changer.
This time, Xiehe Hospital and Xiangya Hospital had won big.
“Originality is king.”
“Dimensional strike is the core!”
“Huh? The fourth-place score in the Nerve Suturing track was revised.”
“It was originally 99, and it was lowered to 98.2! Does this reduction even have meaning?”
“…”
