Path of Medicine With a System

What was bliss? What was truly precious? Only by experiencing loss would one understand. Still, little Wang Congcong had only felt extreme pain when he lost his right hand. He was too young to realize the consequences of losing his hand.

His parents, who had ashen expressions, had felt more pain than anyone else. They were accompanied by Wang Congcong’s grandparents who felt endless regret. Why had animals been able to pass on their genes for millions of years already? That would be due to the instinct to protect their young.

Wang Congcong’s family had collapsed when his hand was cut off. If it hadn’t been for Zhang Fan and his hand and foot surgery hospital today, then the best result possible for this family would’ve been falling apart. Yes, that was already the best result.

The worst possible result would be unimaginable. Perhaps something even more tragic would happen. Saving just one life would be something wonderful, not to mention saving an entire family.

Now that the surgery was over, Zhang Fan, Li Liang, Song Bing, the anesthesiologist, and the operating room nurse all escorted little Wang Congcong out as if they were his bodyguards!

All of them were smiling. Although their bodies were sore from standing up for several hours, they were all standing up really straight and proud right now. The doctors were feeling incredibly happy right now. This was the feeling of having achieved something.

When a doctor acted like Superman and saved the patient when the patient and their family were in despair, the doctor would truly feel wonderful afterwards. If the feeling of happiness from achieving something could be ranked, doctors’ feeling of happiness from saving patients could probably be ranked in the top three.

That was the charisma of the doctor profession. Things were tense and stimulating in this job. Doctors would see more blood and shattered body parts than anyone else, along with scenes that would cause a rise in adrenaline.

A doctor would then use the skills that they had learned over the past decade or even several decades in order to save those who were on the verge of death. This was quite exciting to even imagine. However, the learning process to reach such a level of medical skill was far too harsh. It was like slowly committing suicide!

“Congcong! My Congcong!” Parents would forever care about their children. When Wang Congcong exited the operating room, his parents were so excited and anxious that words wouldn’t do the scene justice.

Wang Congcong’s family all saw that he was wearing a cast and that his right hand had been reattached to his arm. His mother cried endlessly at the sight. She was a combination of happy, excited, and relieved. Wang Congcong’s grandparents’ hands trembled as tears flowed from their eyes when they saw how his hand was still slightly pale. They wanted to go up and hug him, but they were still feeling guilty about what had happened to him. The grandparents could only hesitantly stand by the side with tears dripping down as they looked at him! This incident was probably something that the family would never forget in their lives.

Wang Congcong’s father and uncle were doing slightly better. They hurriedly said to the doctors, “Thank you for your hard work! Words can’t express our gratitude! If the child’s hand… It’s truly unimaginable!” Everyone then escorted little Wang Congcong to his patient room.

Batu had originally finished his work shift for today already. When he learned of the successful surgery on the child, he didn’t come to the hospital, as he knew that wouldn’t do anything. Instead, he went to go visit a government leader.

Some time later, Wang Congcong’s patient room became filled with reporters and cameramen!

“Dear audience, this is the only hospital in all of Chasu City that’s capable of performing limb replantation surgery. This afternoon, a child who’s only four years old…”

Batu had directly used every single connection that he possibly could! Having reporters come report on something on live television couldn’t possibly be done with money alone. Batu had tried his hardest for Zhang Fan’s hospital’s sake. This was all because he felt that Zhang Fan had been a true friend to him!

Wang Congcong seemed like a young animal that had left his mother’s side for too long as he curled up in his mother’s embrace and grabbed his mother’s clothing tightly with his left hand. He snuggled up against his mother’s chest! Although his right hand was in a cast, it was now impossible to tell from the skin color that his right hand had previously been sliced off.

Chen Qifa was incredibly happy as he stood in front of the reporters’ cameras and kept explaining what had happened. Basically, he went on and on about how dangerous the young child’s situation had looked, how hard all the doctors at Zhang Fan’s hospital had worked, and how amazing everyone’s skills were.

Originally, Zhang Fan should have been the one to do this as he was the leader of the hospital, but he didn’t want to appear in front of the cameras. It was inconvenient for Batu to appear on camera as he was an ex-convict, so surgical director Chen Qifa was the only one who could represent Zhang Fan’s hospital.

Chen Qifa had never been on television before. He was really, really excited. His words sounded rather strangely forceful when he first faced the cameras. However, he had a strong heart as a doctor, so he spoke more and more smoothly as time went on, and he wouldn’t stop!

After the surgery was finished, Zhang Fan informed Li Liang and the other doctors about the postoperative care procedures, and then secretly left to go home. He had already done everything that he could! He seemed really cool as he left without taking any credit!

Zhang Fan was also feeling really happy right now. He was a normal person. He was just a young man in his early 20s. He felt like he had accomplished something wonderful! He unhurriedly walked home while humming a random song. That was how happy he was. His happiness couldn’t be described by words.

“Are you home?” Zhang Fan called Shao Hua.

“Yeah. Are you working overtime today? There’s food waiting for you at home. Are you almost here? If you’re almost here, I’ll go heat it up for you so that you can eat as soon as you get home.” Shao Hua was currently studying accounting. She was already really accustomed to how Zhang Fan was never able to return home at a set time for dinner.

“Food? I’m on my way right now. I miss you!” Zhang Fan suddenly exclaimed.

“Oh! Haha, I miss you as well! Hurry home!”

Zhang Fan rarely showed much emotion like this. Although Shao Hua didn’t know why Zhang Fan was in such a good mood, she was quite satisfied that he still remembered her while being so happy. Shao Hua was such an excellent and rare lover!

Zhang Fan’s home was a safe haven where he could go and relieve his fatigue. He started walking swiftly towards his home.

Back in Wang Congcong’s patient room, everyone, even his aunt-in-law, had bright smiles. After the live interview finished, Chen Qifa informed Wang Congcong’s parents that his right hand would mostly be unaffected, and that the right hand’s functionality would be restored to almost completely normal as the child grew up. This meant that his future life wouldn’t be affected.

Chen Qifa’s words truly reassured the boy’s family. They felt as if a dark cloud above them had suddenly transformed into a bright sky. They didn’t mind the 20,000 yuan medical fee at all, even though it would give them a bit of financial hardship. They simply wanted Wang Congcong to be able to grow up healthily without any disability. That was all they wanted, which wasn’t much.

Zhang Fan’s shadow elongated as he walked under the sunset on the street which had plenty of flower fragrance and bird song. The world seemed so wonderful to him right now. He hoped that this would last forever!

Zhang Fan’s rheumatology patients were slowly discharged. The fatty hotel manager from Kuake City was now in much better condition after medical treatment. He would have to manage his gout by himself by losing weight and watching what he ate. Gout was quite easy to deal with if a patient could simply do that. However, actually being able to lose weight and watch what one ate was quite difficult for countless people!

Wang Yan was also discharged. Zhang Fan had performed a splenectomy for her right after her blood platelets increased slightly. Wang Yan then adamantly insisted on immediately getting divorced. She didn’t even ask for anything at all in the divorce. Wang Yan recovered quite swiftly due to her lover Teacher Li’s excellent care for her. She finally got to taste what a sweet life was like after bitter hardship!

Humans were truly strange creatures. Now that Wang Yan had experienced being on the brink of death, she valued her life far more than before. She now felt like she was the most fortunate woman in the world. Her life was filled with honey-like sweetness now!

After all of Zhang Fan’s rheumatology patients were discharged, that also concluded his rotation in the rheumatology department. Originally, there were still many more departments that he could be rotated into, but Superintendent Ouyang was no longer willing to let Zhang Fan continue to be a rotation doctor. Zhang Fan went to the hospital administration department to receive his next rotation assignment, only to be told that he should report to the superintendent’s office.

In Chasu City Hospital, there was a joke among all the doctors that the hospital secretary’s office door was like a city gate that anyone could enter or exit, and that the hospital secretary was just a friendly greeter! People were indeed quite mean to others. The hospital secretary was weak and useless. Anyone could trample on him. So what if he was actually one of the highest-ranking leaders of the hospital?

Chasu City Hospital’s hospital secretary, who was an older man, was far too pitiful because Superintendent Ouyang was far too powerful. All personnel of Chasu City Hospital viewed Superintendent Ouyang as a terrifying existence!

Superintendent Ouyang had excellent professional knowledge. She was more skilled at internal medicine than most of the internal medicine directors. It would be impossible to even try and fool her regarding medical knowledge.

She viewed incidents as they were rather than only treating incidents based on who was involved. Despite corruption being common, Superintendent Ouyang was actually a relatively fair leader. This helped to make everyone respect her authority.

She had a really sharp tongue that could really pierce the heart. She wouldn’t help anyone to save face.

She was protective of her own staff, really overprotective. She would act like a mother wolf whenever she faced outsiders while protecting her employees. She was a respectable yet also scary old lady superintendent. Everyone in the hospital was both afraid of and respectful to her.

Of course, Zhang Fan was the same.

“Enter!” Superintendent Ouyang announced when he knocked on her door. She would always put on her eyeglasses and focus directly on whoever entered her office.

“Superintendent, you were looking for me?” Zhang Fan greeted her with a smile as he closed the office door. He was wondering what he had done to displease her recently. He closed the office door so that nobody would hear anything when she scolded him! He was already experienced in this! Zhang Fan was now someone who cared about face!

“You’ve finished your rotation?” Superintendent Ouyang put down the document in her hand. She also took off her eyeglasses and sat up straight while staring at Zhang Fan with a sharp expression.

Zhang Fan trembled on the inside. He felt like he hadn’t done anything! He was really confused. Superintendent Ouyang seemed like she was about to scold him!

“Yeah! I finished my rotation.”

“I heard that you’ve recently taken a liking to being an ally of justice?”

“No?” Zhang Fan was even more confused by this question.

“What no? You almost attacked a patient’s family member in the rheumatology department! You’re still denying it? Do you still want to wear your white doctor’s coat!? What’s your job? Are you a policeman!? Are you a barbarian!?” Superintendent Ouyang even slammed her table!

She was truly angry. Maybe some people would think that she was being too harsh, but this was actually no small matter at all. If the rheumatology department head nurse hadn’t stopped Zhang Fan from attacking Wang Yan’s husband back then…

Even if Zhang Fan hadn’t hit the other man very hard, the moment that Zhang Fan had attacked him, then Zhang Fan’s career would’ve truly been in danger. If the other party had insisted on suing him, then Zhang Fan would likely have been permanently banned from ever being a doctor again and lose his medical license.

“Superintendent, please don’t be angry. I’ll never act like that again.” Zhang Fan hurriedly admitted that he was at fault. He immediately went to go pick up the documents that Superintendent Ouyang had knocked off her table when she slammed it.

“Angry? No, my heart is in pain! Do you know that because of your moment of passion, you could have regreted things for the rest of your life if you had started an incident? What do you think our hospital’s security guards and the police station next door are for? Are they mere decorations?”

“It’s not that, I just didn’t remember them in the heat of the moment!”

“You didn’t remember? Your not remembering them might have resulted in someone successfully kicking you out of this profession, do you understand? Just how did you learn medical law which is necessary for the medical license exam? Just how did you get more than 500 points on the medical license exam? Did you cheat?”

Superintendent Ouyang was forever someone who could hurt you where it hurt the most. When you made a mistake, she would be capable of using your greatest strength against you as a weapon!

Zhang Fan lowered his head without saying anything. What could he even say? He had been rendered speechless by her scolding. Her words really hurt. Although her words hurt, they also showed sincere care for him.

Zhang Fan was incredibly moved that the superintendent of a Class A hospital cared so much about a low-ranking doctor like himself.

“Do you remember now?”

“Superintendent, I remember! I’ll never forget it again in my life!” Zhang Fan said as he hurriedly raised his head.

“It’s good that you remember. I’m just afraid that you’ll immediately forget again after leaving my office! You need to realize that you’re a doctor. Your job is to save lives. Your greatest responsibility is to treat and save people. You’re not an auntie on some local neighborhood committee. Although you were feeling a sense of justice in that heated moment, and you showed that you were a man, you have an even greater responsibility and justice waiting for you to accomplish. Think about what’s right and wrong by yourself!”

“Yes!” Zhang Fan nodded in agreement. He was currently just like an obedient middle schooler who was receiving a lecture! He no longer seemed like the almighty doctor that others addressed as director even though he was only a resident doctor!

“Have a seat!” Superintendent Ouyang told him.

Zhang Fan carefully sat down on the guest sofa. Superintendent Ouyang brought over some teacups. As she sat down, Zhang Fan hurriedly added more water to her teacup. This wasn’t because he was particularly perceptive. Being able to perceive what others wanted was a basic required skill for resident doctors at a Class A hospital. If a resident doctor wanted a teaching doctor to truly teach them everything that the teaching doctor knew, then the resident doctor would first have to suck up to the teaching doctor.

Otherwise, why should the teaching doctor teach you their skills for free? They had spent so much effort to obtain their own skills. Resident doctors were as common and valuable as dogs. It wasn’t like you were the only one!

Chinese hospital and many other Chinese workplaces worked on a double regulation system where job position and job title were two different concepts that would both affect one’s salary. Oftentimes, perhaps one’s job position would be enough to suppress everything, but at hospitals, the job position and job title were definitely capable of competing with each other.

Higher-ranking doctors, lower-ranking doctors, veteran doctors, and doctors who had worked for only a few years. The ranking system was quite clear.

“You should pour yourself a cup of water as well. You’ve been working at Chasu City Hospital for a little over a year now, which isn’t a short time. You’ve rotated through many departments already. It’s about time that you be permanently assigned to a department.”

“I still haven’t finished rotating through every department! Neurovascular surgery department, nephrology department, emergency department—”

Superintendent Ouyang interrupted him. “Hey! You seem like you’re not in a hurry at all. All other rotation doctors want more than anything to be permanently assigned to a department, yet you only care about how many departments you still haven’t been rotated into yet. You don’t want to be permanently assigned to a department?” she asked Zhang Fan while looking directly at him and sipping her tea.

“No, of course not. It’s all because I’m listening to what you said! More rotations will help to solidify my foundations!” Actually, Zhang Fan just wanted to grind as many different types of experience for his System as possible. If he was permanently assigned to one department, then he would likely be unable to grind other types of experience anymore.

“Yes, I suppose that you’re the only one among the rotation doctors who understands my intentions. The ones who still need to work hard don’t want to work hard, while the one whose foundations are already incredibly solid is still dissatisfied. This is the difference between you and other rotation doctors. Regardless, it’s time for you to finish rotations. More rotations won’t be meaningful for you anymore. I’ve asked many department directors about you already. Not a single one is dissatisfied with you. Would you be interested in internal medicine? For instance, the cardiology department?”

Cardiology Director Ren Li had especially discussed the matter of Zhang Fan’s permanent department assignation with Superintendent Ouyang before. Since Director Ren and Superintendent Ouyang were both from cardiology, they felt that Zhang Fan was potentially an excellent doctor of internal medicine, and that his talents would be wasted in surgery. Although Zhang Fan had made many accomplishments in surgery already, to doctors of internal medicine, they would forever view surgeons as nothing more than handymen!

Zhang Fan felt his hair standing up on ends when he heard this. Although he knew that internal medicine was really important, he truly loved surgery more. He felt that patients who had major bleeding, severely shattered bones, or a tumor which required excision were all far more appealing and could make him feel more accomplished!

“Superintendent, um, this…” Zhang Fan started stuttering!

“Sigh! No need for you to say more. I can tell that you’re obviously reluctant. Alright then, I won’t force you. You can join a surgery department then. Let’s go with the department that you were originally hired for, the orthopedic department. Take a few days off to rest and then go report to the orthopedic department!” Superintendent Ouyang was slightly disappointed. She had hoped that Zhang Fan would join an internal medicine department as she was from internal medicine as well!

“Superintendent, I would still like to rotate into the hematology department before I finish rotations,” Zhang Fan requested rather awkwardly.

“Hmm? Alright, you can rotate to the hematology department then.” Superintendent Ouyang then stood up as Zhang Fan made her exit. She told him, “Remember, always think before you act! A doctor shouldn’t be hot-blooded!”

“Yes! Superintendent, I’m leaving now.”

“Go ahead!”