Chapter 93: Prime Bureau And Finger Replantation!
“Yes, a little to the left, then about two centimeters up, push down diagonally with force, uh-huh, right, that’s the spot. This is the origin of the trapezius muscle. Slide down and loosen along the direction of the levator scapulae muscle. Yes, yes, yes, that’s it…” In one of the private rooms of the Sanlian Building, Tong Yuan’an was meticulously instructing the young female technician on the massage points.
The older female technician, who looked to be around thirty, listened, continued massaging, and blinked her eyes, asking, “Boss, what do you do for a living?”
Chen Song tilted his head and said, “This gentleman here is a Professor from the Hand Surgery department at Xiangya Hospital. When it comes to muscle rehabilitation and loosening techniques, you can trust his word.”
“In their hospital, he leads the team for functional rehabilitation and muscle and ligament loosening after corrective surgery for deformities.”
Tong Yuan’an looked at the ceiling and said, “The levator scapulae is a muscle connecting the cervical vertebrae to the scapula. It originates from the posterior tubercles of the transverse processes of the first to fourth cervical vertebrae and inserts into the medial border of the scapula. Its primary function is to elevate the scapula, and it works synergistically during lateral flexion or rotation of the neck. Prolonged poor posture or overuse can lead to strain in this muscle, causing neck and shoulder pain.”
“Most people who feel fatigued and have neck and shoulder pain will find that massaging the origin and insertion points of this tendon yields very good results.”
“If it’s the hand…”
Chen Song tilted his head and cursed, “Xiao Tong, stop rambling. I’m here to get a massage and relax, not to listen to you lecture.”
“If you’re willing to do it yourself, give me a massage. You can even use a PPT to teach if you want.”
Lu Cheng, lying down, turned his head and said, “Teacher Chen, Teacher Tong, how about I do it?”
“Get lost!” Chen Song tilted his head and cursed.
“Maybe when you take us to a hot spring, but if you’re the one giving the massage, why are we here?”
“Lie down. Didn’t you say you were taking us out of the province tonight to eat Feng County’s specialty beef?” Chen Song said.
That evening, both Chen Song and Tong Yuan’an overslept.
After waking up, they didn’t answer calls from the Orthopedics or Emergency departments. Instead, they called Lu Cheng and asked him to prepare to settle the bill—
They had gotten drunk at noon and wanted to relax.
What could Lu Cheng do? He could only report the situation truthfully to Director Lin Qianlong and then scurried over to pay the bill.
It was indeed Professor Chen Song who paid the bill at noon. The Maozi liquor that Lu Cheng served… four bottles were consumed at once, wiping out a month’s performance bonus!
However, Lu Cheng felt it was a sure win.
Three bottles of liquor brought down three people, and Lu Cheng handled two situations solo…
Lu Cheng asked with a smile, “Teacher Tong, Director Lin said he’s treating you to karaoke, aren’t you going?”
In KTVs, while there are undoubtedly innocent options, things can also get less innocent; those who understand, understand.
“No, we’re good with just eating and drinking!”
Tong Yuan’an tilted his head back to reveal his barely visible collarbone, his throat tight, “Mainly because I feel like there are too many options here, but not enough of the ones we might want.”
Once you cross the line into certain activities, the first time inevitably leads to a second, and it can become leverage that can be used against you.
Tong Yuan’an and Chen Song weren’t fools!
Going to the countryside is one thing, but it’s not about sacrificing oneself. Otherwise, if someone later asks for a few advanced training spots, will you give them or not?
Besides, Tong Yuan’an and Chen Song were no longer young, both nearing forty. They were long past the age of indulging in worldly pleasures.
Their thirties, before getting married, were the wildest years for partying.
“Teacher Tong, there might not be the kind of options you’re thinking of,” Lu Cheng replied.
A technician suddenly said, “Boss, we have bathing facilities here, would you like…?”
“No, no, no!” Tong Yuan’an and Chen Song shook their heads vigorously, their tones decisive.
“We just want to wash our feet…”
Even if they wanted to bathe, they wouldn’t do it with Lu Cheng. That was an unshakeable rule.
Otherwise, if they were ever caught, how could they still be role models?
…
It was eleven at night, the sky was dark, a light breeze blew, and fallen leaves occasionally swirled and drifted.
Lu Cheng sat on a yellow plastic chair in front of a barbecue stall and called out, “Boss, bring two more plates of raw beef. And three bottles of milk.”
“Xiao Lu, what form are you filling out?” Chen Song asked Lu Cheng curiously.
Lu Cheng looked up, “Oh, it’s a registration form for a training class. I didn’t think I’d get accepted, but I actually did.”
“I’ll register for now and see if I need to pay to attend. The tuition is twenty-five thousand…”
Chen Song looked at Tong Yuan’an and said, “It’s people like you who create trouble and make money…”
“Our department hasn’t offered any classes recently…” Tong Yuan’an rolled his eyes. Tong Yuan’an also glanced at the header of the form Lu Cheng was filling out—
Huazhong University of Science and Technology affiliated Xiehe Hospital. This reminded him of a call he had received earlier, so he didn’t say anything more…
Chen Song picked up a piece of raw beef with his chopsticks and dipped it in mustard soy sauce, “This is my third time eating raw beef in Feng County. The texture is still so good. I wonder if there are any parasites.”
Tong Yuan’an continued to roll his eyes, “It’s got shit in it. As long as the taste is good, you’ll eat it, so why care about that?”
He then looked at Lu Cheng and said, “Do you know what your Teacher Chen’s most impressive achievement is?”
“Tong Yuan’an!” Chen Song exclaimed, agitated.
“Once, his sister-in-law got angry because we invited him out for crayfish one night, and Chen Song actually showed up.”
“I suspect his pants were already… mmmph, mmmph.” Tong Yuan’an was silenced mid-sentence.
Chen Song fiercely pinched Tong Yuan’an’s side, “Are you kidding with anyone, regardless of who’s around?”
“Don’t you have any idea what you should and shouldn’t say? Did your brain get kicked by a donkey today?”
Tong Yuan’an telling this story in front of a peer, Chen Song could tolerate it. But Lu Cheng was a student; he needed to be a role model.
Besides, in this world, only gourmet food cannot be let down.
As for women, where are those matters not present?
Moreover, the unspoken prerequisite that day, unknown to everyone, was that Chen Song’s wife was in her ‘special period’ at that time. Chen Song was thirty-four and had been active for five consecutive days. Forget eating crayfish!
He would have to sneak away even to “eat egg fried rice”!
Tong Yuan’an defended himself, “I called you a foodie, and I was teaching Lu Cheng how to control your stomach. So what? Is it not okay for someone to please you at just the right moment?”
“If you want to say I, Chen Song, am a foodie, just say it directly without all these elaborations. Otherwise, my eggs…” This time, it was Tong Yuan’an who covered Chen Song’s mouth.
To prevent Lu Cheng from becoming suspicious, Tong Yuan’an turned his head and called out, “Boss, two servings of egg fried rice here.”
These two were truly a pair of clowns, and their friendship truly made Lu Cheng envious.
Both were nearing forty, both associate professors on the verge of becoming professors. Alone, they were aloof figures.
But together, they were like two spirited youths.
Lu Cheng just observed, not delving deeper. “Teacher Tong, according to what you said earlier, my suturing skills are now at a stage where I can start to specialize in limb replantation without having to excessively hone my basic skills?”
“Yes, more or less, but you still need to be careful with the technique.”
“With suturing skills at your level, limb and finger replantation are not a problem if handled properly. However, you need to pay attention to the key points and assess nerve and vascular damage.”
“And it requires a long period of practice, at least achieving an immediate vascular patency rate of over ninety-five percent.”
“Yes, that’s a very high standard, but as you’ve probably seen, our Microsurgery Competition requires a hundred percent vascular patency rate,” said Tong Yuan’an.
Of course, to be cautious, Tong Yuan’an added, “It’s close to a hundred percent, about ninety-nine percent patency rate. There’s no perfect hundred percent.”
“The practice process is also layered. First, you can use dead material, like pig hindquarters or forequarters, for initial limb replantation.”
“Then, you can use live rabbits, severing and reattaching them. While it’s a bit cruel, for the advancement of human health, we can only trouble these little rabbits…”
“Speaking of rabbits, the ‘one rabbit two ways’ dish in Xiang City is very good. Unfortunately, it’s too far,” Tong Yuan’an said, looking at Chen Song.
Chen Song’s knowledge of gourmet food far surpassed Tong Yuan’an’s. “Yes, the rabbit in Xiang City, and church chicken, are both very good with rice.”
Lu Cheng listened and kept it in mind.
If there was something he wanted to eat, even if it was a bit far, it wasn’t impossible to arrange…
