Great Doctor Ling Ran

The plump, fierce, and fleshy Elder Mei lay on the hospital bed. He looked serene and was covered with a long staple Egyptian cotton blanket brought by his daughter. He looked like a royal mummy being auctioned. Only the sagging flesh on his face was still as thick as ever, and it also made him look as fierce as ever. His stomach was still as big as ever, too.

Mei Tiangui always looked noble in front of others, and when he stood in front of his old father, he looked like a small kitten sitting at the feet of the Pharaoh’s throne.

The others were even more nervous. Only Elder Mei’s dumb little grandson babbled imcomprehensibly while he waved his plump hands, which looked like lotuses. It prevented the room from being filled with an awkward silence.

“In conclusion, delaying the surgery would be a better solution for the patient. Waiting for a little while more would be better for the patient’s prognosis.” Zuo Cidian could feel the beads of sweat forming in his armpits. He used to like giving speeches in meetings, but when he stood in front of the Mei family, Zuo Cidian found himself stuttering while enduring the stares from the Mei family’s iconic triangle eyes on their fierce and fleshy faces.

Mei Tiangui lowered his head and waited for Zuo Cidian to finish his speech. He shook his head subconsciously.

“According to current indications, you may drink a small amount of water and detox drinks up to two hours before surgery. You can eat a bit of digestible solid food six hours before surgery.” Doctor Jin, who was standing next to Mei Tiangui, said laboriously, “The operation time can be delayed within suitable limitations, but wouldn’t delaying it for twelve hours be a little too long?”

Professor Huang was Elder Mei’s doctor, and Doctor Jin was Mei Tiangui’s. He was even trusted by Mei Tiangui. The words he spoke at that moment was mainly to relieve the Mei family, especially the old man’s awkwardness. He was pretty much already very considerate.

In comparison, Ling Ran’s face was somewhat stiff, cold, carefree, suave, handsome, graceful, refined and elegant, refreshing and otherworldly, majestic and heroic, like bones that had been polished with a knife, and like jade that was wrought by chisel and stone…

Ling Ran said, “The patient ate solid food two hours before surgery.”

“Even so… there’s no need to delay for twelve hours…” Doctor Jin whispered, “It’ll be enough if you just delay it for six hours, or a maximum of eight hours.”

Right then, Elder Mei looked at Doctor Jin coldly and made the latter shudder violently.

Doctor Jin nervously added, “The time is too long. The patient will grow hungrier, and it won’t be conducive for postoperative recovery. Six hours is the limit. The current guidelines all recommend shortening the fasting time…”

“The patient is plump.” Ling Ran’s tone was rigid but warm, sonorous, pure, elegant, steady, and attractive. His words were spoken with clear articulation; they were melodious, and rhythmic. His voice was like gold, soothing to listen to, clear, and pleasant to the ears. It was just as Lu Xun said, “A sound like the whistling spring water in the mountains is soothing enough to be put into words.”

Elder Mei straightened his fat neck, and he glared at Ling Ran in a threatening manner, just like how he would usually look at other people!

“Plump… If he’s plump, you can just delay the surgery for a short while…” Doctor Jin felt a little diffident. The guide did indicate a reduction of fasting time, but that was only for people who were not fat. Doctor Jin racked his brains and said, “Elder Mei actually only ate a little amount of food. If you think about it, he was asked to lose weight in the first half of the month. He also fasted for a long period of time before the surgery. Even a normal person wouldn’t have been able to handle it. You’re now extending the fasting time even further, is it necessary to extend the duration for so long?”

“Yes,” Ling Ran said, “the patient is plump.”

“Enough! Your opinion has been expressed very clearly!” Elder Mei slammed the edge of the bed angrily and wanted to sit up, but he fell down with a tumble instead because his stomach was too big.

His eldest daughter hurried forward and whispered, “Dad, let me help you up.”

“I don’t want to get up!” Elder Mei’s shouted aggressively. “Let me just starve to death!”

Ling Ran corrected him, “Twelve hours of fasting will not kill you.”

“I’ve been hungry since yesterday.”

“Normal individuals will have no problems even if they starve for three days,” Ling Ran said.

“I have more experience than you when it comes to knowing how long a person needs to starve before dying!” Elder Mei grabbed his eldest daughter’s hand and sat up all of a sudden. The sagging flesh on his face was all scrunched up together. “We had to repair the canals and build a dam while we were hungry, but we still had to make sure that we could keep on working. What’s with you? Now that there’s no shortage of food to eat, and I’m no longer running out of clothes to wear, what’s wrong with me eating and drinking a little?”

His eyes were a bit red, but his gaze was still so fierce. He looked like a bear who had just woken up from hibernation.

The eldest daughter grabbed her father’s hand and whispered, “Dad, Doctor Ling isn’t trying to stop you from eating. This is so that he can have a smooth surgery later, and he’s also doing this in consideration of your safety.”

Mei Tiangui also stood out and helped Ling Ran by putting in a few good words for him.

The operation would be performed soon. Right then, no one felt that it was a good idea to scold the chief surgeon.

Elder Mei panted loudly. His rage gradually went away, and his tone became a little better. He said, “Fine. Even if I can’t eat, at least let me drink something.”

“You can drink cola. Carbonated drinks can be drunk three hours before the surgery,” Ling Ran said. “Let’s limit the total to ten ounces.”

Elder Mei’s eyes lit up, but he pouted and said, “Don’t lie to me. Young Jin just said that I can drink two hours before the surgery.”

Ling Ran sighed, and he looked like he was about to give some earnest advice. As he opened his mouth and was about to say something, he was interrupted by Elder Mei.

“I know, I’m plump!” Elder Mei lay flat on the bed out of spite.

…..

Mei Tiangui smoked one cigarette after another at the end of the corridor leading to the operating theaters.

He was almost done smoking a pack of Chunghwa cigarettes when he saw Ling Ran wearing a scrub and entering the operating theater while whispering to a few doctors next to him.

“Doctor Ling, a word with you?” Mei Tiangui crushed the Chunghwa cigarette case, which only had one cigarette left in it.

Ling Ran stood opposite Mei Tiangui, bowed his head, and looked at him quietly.

Mei Tiangui looked at Ling Ran’s face and suddenly felt very pressured.

Mei Tiangui snorted as if he was thinking about something. He placed his hands behind his back, took a few steps to the side, and turned to look at Ling Ran before he said, “Doctor Ling, you’ve performed three operations today, right?”

“Yes.” Ling Ran wore a slight smile. “All three are hepatolithiasis.”

Mei Tiangui nodded slowly. Not only did he know about the three operations that day, but he also knew that dozens of Ling Ran’s similar prior operations had been incredibly successful.

Even if Mei Tiangui did not understand medicine, he understood that while it was easy to promote a surgeon’s successful handling of an operation, it was hard for a surgeon to succeed in every surgery case.

Therefore, although he felt that it may not be the best for Ling Ran to operate on his father after doing three operations before that, if Ling Ran believed that there was no problem, Mei Tiangui had nothing else to say too.

“Doctor Ling, please do your absolute best for my father’s surgery.” Mei Tiangui could only beg with words at that point.

“Okay.” Ling Ran nodded. He looked at Mei Tiangui again before he turned around and said, “We’re going to perform the surgery now.”

“Wait a minute, Doctor Ling, um… is there anything I can do?” Mei Tiangui felt antsy for not being able to help.

“You can just wait,” Ling Ran said.

Mei Tiangui shook his head. “Doctor Ling, we agreed to three things earlier. I mentioned three things, and you did all of them. You requested three things as well, but I couldn’t even fulfil one…”

“Yep.”

“I’ve been feeling uneasy about it the whole time, so I was wondering if there’s something else I can do…” Mei Tiangui said as he looked at Ling Ran. “Please don’t feel like it’s a burden. I-I just want to express my gratitude and regret. I hope that you’ll be happy, and everything will go smoothly…”

“I know.” As Ling Ran listened to Mei Tiangui stuttering, countless similar scenes came to his mind. He did not allow Mei Tiangui to continue feeling awkward, and he waved his hand before he said, “You can ask my team members. If they’re happy, then I’m happy.”

After finishing that sentence, Ling Ran left as Mei Tiangui wore a dumbfounded expression. His team members who were feeling ecstatic went to wash their hands.