Great Doctor Ling Ran

Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin sat in the office to catch up on writing the patients’ medical records. When they saw Yu Yuan running around, they felt much envy.

Things were still better for Lu Wenbin. He was already a resident doctor, after all, and had completed his clinical rotation. He had also been in the Emergency Department for quite a while now, and had participated in the treatment of every common disease.

Meanwhile, the moment Ma Yanlin arrived at the Emergency Department, he was chosen to become Ling Ran’s assistant. He was still filled with curiosity when it came to the other types of surgery performed in the Emergency Department.

Because of this, Ma Yanlin was rather antsy. After completing another medical record by using the copy-and-paste method before he edited its contents, he mumbled to himself, “I wonder what surgery Yu Yuan and the others are carrying out today.”

“They went to the operating theater the moment they arrived at the hospital. It’s probably some emergency surgery.” Lu Wenbin stared at the computer screen in rapt attention.

Over the past few days, Ling Ran had carried out fifty finger replantation surgeries, and more than ten M-Tang technique surgeries. Each surgery required a medical record of over ten thousand words, and Lu Wenbin and Ma Yalin had to write them. Moreover, they also had other documents—such as follow-up documents—to fill up for these surgeries. Although this was not much, it was quite complicated.

Ma Yanlin was wistful. “If you think about it, sometimes emergency surgeries are pretty cool, too.”

“You’re from the Hand Surgery Department. In the future, you’ll get to do emergency surgeries every day.” Lu Wenbin chuckled a few times. Most hand surgeries were pretty urgent. At the very least, they were elective surgeries, which meant that they had to be carried out within twenty-four hours.

The moment Lu Wenbin said that, Ma Yanlin became dejected. His rotation in the Emergency Department was almost over, and he would have to return to the Hand Surgery Department. However, compared to being Ling Ran’s assistant, the Hand Surgery Department’s system was stricter. Once he became a resident doctor who just completed his clinical rotation, he would probably have to start working hard from the bottom-most position.

When Lu Wenbin saw Ma Yanlin’s expression, he felt rather ashamed, and quickly chuckled a few times. When he saw that there were only a few people in the office, he said in an extremely low voice, “You’ll be able to utilize the experience you gained here when you’re back in the Hand Surgery Department. It’ll also work out if you intend to stay in the Emergency Department. What are you worried about?”

“It’s not as simple as that.” Ma Yanlin sighed.

“If you don’t know what to do, you can ask Doctor Ling for advice,” Lu Wenbin suggested in a whisper.

Ma Yanlin’s eyes brightened. He intentionally said, “Doctor Ling is still an intern himself.”

“No one sees him as an intern anymore.” Lu Wenbin pursed his lips and continued speaking after he had checked that no one was paying any attention to the two of them, “You’ve been Doctor Ling’s assistant for so long, and he’s definitely used to having you around. Talk to him about it, and maybe you guys will come out with a solution. Forget about everything else and think about this, what sort of conditions will a hospital have to offer if they wanted to hire a doctor who knows how to perform limb replantations for their Hand Surgery Department? They will definitely be okay with the idea of the doctor bringing along his own assistant.”

“True.” Ma Yanlin felt a lot more at ease and started to quietly contemplate what Lu Wenbin had just said.

Not long after that, Yu Yuan returned to the office with a smile on her face.

Theirs and Ling Ran’s seat were in the corner of the large office, and each of them had a space large enough to fit a computer.

Yu Yuan did not turn on her computer after returning to her seat. She just placed the small bottle that she always carried with her inside her drawer. She pondered for a while before she took out her lunch box from the drawer. She then took out the small bottle again and put it behind a potted plant.

Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin watched her curiously, and mulled over it internally.

After Yu Yuan greeted them and left the office, Ma Yanlin glanced at Lu Wenbin and asked, “What do you reckon she’s keeping inside that bottle?”

“I think that the bottle looks like the wish-making bottle from Meteor Garden[1],” Lu Wenbin said as he recollected.

Ma Yanlin had a bewildered expression on his face. “What?”

“Those small bottles used to keep wishing stars…” Lu Wenbin’s voice became softer. He continued, “I have not seen one, but a lot of them were sold outside school gates.”

Ma Yanlin tried hard to hold back his laughter, and said, “Let’s bring it here and take a look at it, shall we? Since she left it on the table, she probably doesn’t mind us looking at it.”

“We just have to move the potted plant aside and not touch the bottle.” As Lu Wenbin spoke, he inched closer towards Yu Yuan’s table together with Ma Yanlin.

They were indeed curious about what Yu Yuan had actually done when she assisted Ling Ran in a surgery alone, to such an extent that she was actually allowed to bring something back.

Every doctor had done things when they were medical students that they would like to forget now. Eighteen-year-old teenage boys might have stolen a piece of bone from cadavers, or a canine from an experiment to use as a keychain. They might have also stolen two preserved penises and stitched them together, forming a heart… to use as a keychain…

They did not know Yu Yuan very well. They shifted the potted plant beside the computer as they mulled over what it could possibly be.

The small bottle, which was the length of a thumb, could be seen easily under the sunlight. The bottle was transparent, and its contents were clearly seen.

“Old Lu, do the folded stars or whatever you mentioned earlier look like this?” Ma Yanlin inquired in a low voice.

Lu Wenbin’s expression was already dark. “How is that possible?”

“Why does this look like… Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yes.” Lu Wenbin’s face had turned sallow.

Ma Yanlin contemplated for a moment. “So, Yu Yuan’s hobby is… to collect shit?”

Lu Wenbin also said contemplatively, “It might be a little more tasteful to call them feces.”

“Doesn’t sound any better,” Ma Yanlin replied in a drawl.

Both of them fell silent again for a few seconds. They quietly shifted the potted plant back to its original position. They even, with great care, erased all traces that the potted plant had been moved before.

“Let’s just pretend that we never saw it,” Lu Wenbin said.

“Even though we saw it, there isn’t anything we can comment about anyway.” Ma Yanlin paused for a moment, and said, “Speaking of which, aren’t there some Chinese medicine practitioners who use feces for medicinal purposes?”

“They stopped doing that a long time ago.”

“Makes sense, because people nowadays don’t consume the same food people in the past did. Their shit would definitely be different, too, and would produce different effects.

…..

After operating on the patient, whom they thought had appendicitis but was really intestinal obstruction, both Ling Ran and Doctor Zhou were uninterested in carrying out more emergency surgeries.

This was especially true for Doctor Zhou. He felt more or less embarrassed when he thought about how he misdiagnosed the patient.

To be frank, there was always a certain probability of misdiagnosis when it came to acute abdominal pain. And, strictly speaking, he did not totally misdiagnose the patient. He corrected his judgment after seeing the films. This was a very normal situation for doctors.

What made Doctor Zhou a little vexed was mainly the fact the he made a fool of himself in front of the young doctors.

“Do you want to eat red swamp crayfish in Boss Shao’s shop? Ever since the news came out about the patient you operated on using the M-Tang technique who could still peel shrimp after his surgery, Boss Shao printed an enlarged version of it and hung it in his shop. A lot of young couples go there to take photographs now, and the guys would peel shrimp on the girls’ behalf.” Doctor Zhou decided to make up for his disappointment by eating red swamp crayfish.

Ling Ran thought about it before he shook his head and said, “I plan to stay here to write my research paper.”

“You still have to eat, right?”

“I’ll just have instant noodles.”

“What’s so nice about instant noodles?” After trying to persuade Ling Ran to go with him, he gave up when he saw how persistent Ling Ran was, and said, “Forget about it. I’ll just pretend that I’m saving up money, and eat instant noodles together with you.”

“Aren’t you going home at night?”

“I’m on shift tonight.” Doctor Zhou flashed a slight smile.

“How do you find the time to eat red swamp crayfish when you’re on shift?”

“Being on shift doesn’t mean that you’re locked in prison, you know?” Doctor Zhou looked at Ling Ran with an expression that said Ling Ran would not understand what he meant, before he continued, “We can also order takeout…”

“I feel like eating instant noodles today.” Ling Ran’s reply showed a hint of wilfulness.

Doctor Zhou nodded in understanding. “I have not eaten instant noodles for a long time. It’s nice to eat unhealthy food once in a while.”

“Then, I’ll eat later. I’ll go and write my things first.” Ling Ran went back to the office. Without caring about anything else, he turned on his laptop to write his research paper.

He had basically finished writing his two research papers, and just needed to edit and rewrite some parts. In contrast, Yu Yuan and Su Jiafu needed to discuss with him the details of the research papers they were writing, and took up quite some time.

Ling Ran did not plan to go home and rest today. Since he had just obtained twenty Energy Serums, he planned to consume a bottle and finish his research papers.

After they had finished filling up half of the medical records, Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin left in a hurry. Yu Yuan also left in a rush. Her satisfied smile could be seen even from the back of her head.

Doctor Zhou looked at the medical record of the patient he misdiagnosed for a while. He then looked at a few other cases. When he saw that it was almost time for dinner, he said, “I’ll go boil the instant noodles first.” He then went to the vending machine and bought instant noodles in plastic bowls, and two braised eggs.

He filled his bowl of instant noodles with boiled water and placed it on his office table. He then passed the other bowl of noodles and the braised eggs to Ling Ran. He then said, “I didn’t buy sausages because I think they aren’t healthy.”

Ling Ran nodded and said, “Then, I’ll go and cook my noodles. Where are your noodles?”

“I’ve already boiled them.”

Ling Ran was not a person who liked to talk much; he took his bowl of instant noodles and left.

After Doctor Zhou returned to his seat, he smelled the aroma of Lao Tan pickled cabbage[2], and the more he thought about things, the more he felt that something was not right.

‘Why didn’t Ling Ran boil his instant noodles in the office? Why did Ling Ran use the term “cook” for instant noodles? What is the meaning behind all this?’

Five minutes later, Ling Ran had not returned yet.

Ten minutes later, Ling Ran had not returned yet.

Twenty minutes later, after Doctor Zhou finished eating his instant noodles and threw away the disposable bowl and chopsticks, he saw Ling Ran come back to the office, holding an enamel pan which was larger than a human head.

There was an illustration of Harry Potter on the pan’s surface—a fireball which gave off a warm vibe.

When Ling Ran took off the cover of the pan, Doctor Zhou was greeted with an aromatic smell. Doctor Zhou could not help but go over to take a look. When he saw the contents in the enamel pan, he was immediately stunned.

“What is…” Doctor Zhou pointed at a spot in the pan with his trembling hand.

Ling Ran looked at where Doctor Zhou’s finger pointed and answered, “These are prawns.”

“How about this?”

“Luncheon meat.”

“This?”

“Cabbage? Lettuce? Chinese cabbage?” Ling Ran furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you trying to ask?”

Doctor Zhou asked in a quivering voice, “Is this even instant noodles anymore?”

“Of course.” Ling Ran pulled out a noodle strand from the space between an egg, fishballs, corn, seaweed, and a piece of fish tofu. He said, “It’s curly.”

‘Straight ones are noodles, and curly ones are instant noodles…’ Doctor Zhou had to rack his brain to understand what Ling Ran just said.

When he lowered his head again, Ling Ran had already eaten all the shredded chicken in the pot by dipping them in cheese. Ling Ran then slid his chopsticks under the noodles and took out some brussel sprouts and beef slices…

*Bang!*

Doctor Zhou left the office in anger.