Great Doctor Ling Ran

“The air in Yun Hua… is really something.”

After a few months, Department Associate Director Pan Hua who had finally completed his in-service training drew a mouthful of the city’s thin haze. This sent his whole being shaking in pleasure.

“It is very special indeed.”

Hayato Ueda, the medical doctor from Keio University, mumbled through a mouth face mask, and he even coughed twice in an affectatious manner.

Department Associate Director Pan laughed loudly and said, “Don’t believe what you hear from the news about Chinese air pollution. Since Yun Hua City is located by the sea, the sea breeze is constantly blowing into the city, so the air quality is not that bad.”

“Really? Then I don’t need to wear a mouth face mask?” There was a hint of arrogance in Hayato Ueda’s voice, and it was born from his pride of coming from a developed country, his haughtiness of coming from Keio University, his spirit of being a student, and his meekness towards Yun Hua, since this was his first time in this place.

“Of course, you don’t need to wear a mouth face mask,” said Department Associate Director Pan.

“Oh, okay. I’m really sorry,” Hayato Ueda bowed slightly and said, “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“It’s okay. It won’t actually make a difference whether you put on the mouth face mask or not, but if you stay in the operating theater from day to night, you’ll have to wear one constantly. Otherwise, you will still be exposed to Yun Hua City’s air, as you will be in Yun Hua City for a long time.”

Hayato Ueda blinked in surprise and quietly put on his mouth face mask again. He said, “Then, I’d rather stay in the operating theater. My respiratory system has not yet adapted to the local air…”

Department Associate Director Pan laughed boisterously. “Rest assured, as long as you can bear the workload, you can use Yun Hua’s operating theaters, day in and day out. Our hospital is not like the ones in Japan. We can’t afford to shut down our operating theaters at night.”

“Our hospitals only shut down unoccupied operating theaters.”

“In China, no operating theaters will go unoccupied. Hmm… perhaps hospitals below tertiary grade A will, but who knows? After all, there’s no difference in whether they do perform surgeries or not.”

There was an indescribable haughtiness in Department Associate Director Pan’s tone.

Before his in-service training, he was already looking down on those small-scaled hospitals when he was still in China. Now, having undergone in-service training in Japan, his standards had rose ever more. Even so, he never regarded tertiary grade A hospitals too highly either.

It made sense once you thought about it. Keio University was rather well-known in Asia; it was even among the top in the world. But what about Yun Hua Hospital? It was simply well known within Changxi Province. Although the Hand Surgery Department in Yun Hua Hospital—their elite department—was an outstanding department in the country, it was nothing compared to the superior hospitals in the capital. Now that Xiangya Hospital of Central South University’s rank was only an empty title and Peking Union Medical College Hospital became an unmatched existence, Peking Union served as the last wall before Death could reach his patients, and these walls made by Peking Union were very solid indeed.

Therefore, Department Associate Director Pan’s target was the capital.

But before that, he intended to establish his own footing in Yun Hua Hospital.

‘Even when I’m gone, I still want my legacy to remain.’

“Let’s go to the hospital,” Department Associate Director Pan’s gaze was focused, and he turned to Hayato Ueda. “No matter what we say, at the end of the day, the doctors’ battlefield is at the operating theater.”

“Surgeons, you mean.”

“Who cares about kind of doctors I’m talking about,” Chief Physician said magnanimously. His tone was almost like a Japanese drama protagonist.

“When we were in Keio, we encountered many kinds of difficult diseases that are either hard to diagnose or difficult to treat. Every, single, day. The time we spent on surgeries every day was over six hours. The fruits of such training should be presented to my colleagues now.”

Department Associate Director Pan had a lot to say in mind, but he did not put them in words. Compared to actions, words were nothing, at most, they were tools for cowards to use.

Hayato Ueda was inspired by him and followed Department Associate Director Pan.

Although Hayato Ueda had completed his medical PhD, he wanted to have the opportunity of receiving a large volume of surgeries in Japan, but it was rather difficult to be able to have that sort of privilege in Japan.

Hence, in exchange for the in-service training he received, Department Associate Director Pan Hua, who had participated in many surgeries in Japan, had brought Hayato Ueda with him back to Yun Hua Hospital.

Hayato Ueda would spend two or three years of his precious life here to perform as many surgeries as possible and hit the target he needed to become a chief surgeon. Then, when he returned to Japan, he could immediately be a chief surgeon.

The Hand Surgery Department sent a car to receive Department Associate Director Pan and Hayato Ueda, and the department also organized a brief welcoming ceremony in the office for both of them.

The current Department Associate Director Pan felt that he had become even better than the version of himself who came back to China around a month ago while he was still receiving his in-service training, and so he was not really bothered with these formalities.

“Doctor Hayato, I’ll show you around Yun Hua Hospital.” Department Associate Director Pan wished to repay him for his hospitality in Japan. To Department Associate Director Pan, the Yun Hua Hospital that he left a few months ago would still be the same as he remembered. Nothing would have changed in it.

As for the wicked goblins in the Emergency Department? They were no longer in Department Associate Director Pan’s mind.

If he were to describe himself using the words of Japanese Manga right now, then he, Pan Hua, had already become the embodiment of the M-Tang technique.

All his enemies were just prizes of war that he had deposited in the Emergency Department.

“Young Tie, you will follow Department Associate Director Pan,”

Department Director Jin Xi deliberately instructed him.

Young Tie was the primary attending physician in Pan Hua’s treatment group. He had been trained by Pan Hua himself. Without hesitation, he nodded and stood in front of Pan Hua, but he refrained from speaking his mind.

Pan Hua did not take much notice. In truth, he was now fully committed to building his career, he could no longer take other things into consideration.

“Our Hand Surgery Department’s operating theater is in accordance to the other first class operating theaters in Asia. Besides that, Yun Hua Hospital has a floor of operating theaters that is shared among the departments…

“Although our wards are somewhat crammed, the number of patients we receive tells you just how reputable our hospital is…

“The rehabilitation room is the most important component in the Hand Surgery Department. Professor Hayato, you seem to have a certain amount of research done on rehabilitation, right…”

Pan Hua was walking and introducing the facilities and departments to Hayato Ueda along the way.

Hayato Ueda was also filled with much excitement as he observed the hospital that he was to work in for the next few years.

“There are more people in the rehabilitation room today,” Pan pointed out.

Young Tie clenched his teeth and said, “These are all patients from the Emergency Department.”

“Oh? Ling Ran did these surgeries?” Pan Hua’s tone was far more lighthearted than what young Tie had expected.

“Yes, he has been racking up on his volume lately.”

“Quantity is nothing against quality,” Pan Hua chuckled.

“Let’s not look at his patients. I know that his M-Tang technique is not bad, but there is nothing special about that. An intern who knows how to perform complicated surgeries is still just an intern.”

Young Tie did not know how to continue, so he could only force himself to say yes.

“We’ll rest for two days, and we’ll start performing surgeries,” Pan Hua said very confidently. At that moment, if he could write some words on his forehead, he would definitely write the word “diligent” on it.

Young Tie nodded and said, “Okay.”

“How many surgeries does Ling Ran now perform everyday?” Pan Hua waved his hands while he spoke, and he said with a smile, “I remember that he used to have a record of performing five surgeries a day.”

“Yes, but now he is performing many more surgeries.”

“Many more?” Pan Hua laughed boisterously. “I remember that you said that the Emergency Department is now starting to perform nerve anastomosis. He’ll die of exhaustion if he performs flexor tendon suturing and nerve anastomosis altogether. How many surgeries is he performing now?

“Eight.”

“Huh?”

“Ling Ran performs eight surgeries per day on average. At most, he can perform up to ten surgeries…” young Tie muttered hesitantly.

When Hayato Ueda heard Pan Hua’s simple translation, he was also shocked. “Doesn’t he go home?”

“Most of the time, he will be in the operating theater,” young Tie said.

“The workload in a Chinese operating theater is actually that heavy?” Hayato Ueda was stunned upon hearing this. His confidence seemed to have shattered into a million pieces.