Great Doctor Ling Ran

Ling Ran could hear someone sweeping the floor of the courtyard at seven in the morning.

Since Ling Ran no longer felt like going back to sleep, he rolled over and rose. He took a shower and put on a relatively new pair of underwear. He then put on his pyjamas, exited his room and looked down the balcony. ‘Is Dong Sheng here?’

At the courtyard, a sturdy figure with his back straightened was sweeping the floor. As it turned out, the figure was Miao Tansheng, the clinic’s part-time doctor.

When he heard the noises ringing out from the first floor, Miao Tansheng who had his back against the window swept the floor even more earnestly. His hawk-like eyes darted around the courtyard, and he was sweeping the floor so meticulously that it was as if he wanted to sweep away the ghost of the dried leaves from years ago.

Ling Ran raised an eyebrow in surprise before turning and returning to his room. Since Dong Sheng was not here, he had no intention of bothering about what was going on around him.

If Ling Ran were in the mood to socialize, he would have gone to the hospital as both Feng Zhixiang and his student were still there.

Ling Ran only made the decision to stay at home and rest because way too many people wanted to talk to him.

At the same time, the other doctors of his treatment group got to enjoy a break.

Miao Tansheng did not hear any noise coming out of the second floor again after earnestly sweeping the floor for a long while. He turned and saw that the balcony was empty.

‘You aren’t even going to greet me even though I, a surgeon, am sweeping the courtyard for you guys?’ Miao Tansheng felt more and more indignant as he thought about this, and he threw the broom on the floor.

*Crack.*

Ling Ran opened the door as he spoke to someone on the phone. “Yes, it’s inside Lower Grove. Lower Grove Clinic, there are lights on the door. Yes, I did order some tofu pudding, thanks.”

Miao Tansheng picked up the broom again and looked at the doorway Ling Ran was standing at. He said with a smile, “Doctor Ling, there’s no need to order takeout. I don’t mind making breakfast. I can go out and buy you food too.”

“Have you changed jobs and became a pharmaceutical sales representative?” Ling Ran seemed a little astonished.

Most doctor who worked in clinics would not butter up to their bosses, let alone the family members of their bosses.

Even though Doctor Xiong who worked full-time at Lower Groove Clinic always talked to Ling Jiezhou about getting a pay rise, he would never buy food for his boss just to get a 5 RMB pay rise.

Doctor Miao was smiling so brightly that his face was shining. “I do know quite a few pharmaceutical sales representatives. If you’re interested in meeting some, I can introduce…”

Ling Ran merely stared at Doctor Miao without saying a thing.

Doctor Miao froze for a moment and chuckled. “Look at me, why am I so clueless? Why would you even need me to introduce pharmaceutical sales representatives to you? It’s so nice to work in large hospitals as you can meet as many pharmaceutical sales representatives as you want to. Back in the days when I was still working in a hospital…”

“What’s the point of knowing so many pharmaceutical sales representatives?” Ling Ran did not agree with Doctor Miao’s line of thought at all. He cut Doctor Miao off before he could talk about his past.

Doctor Miao had no choice but to swallow his words, but he continued smiling. “I wanted to say that the more people you know, the more opportunities you get. But you’re right, you don’t even need that many opportunities.”

“Doctor Miao, I don’t like to engage in small talk.” Right now, to Ling Ran, Miao Tansheng was equivalent to his middle-aged neighbours.

“I’ll tell you the truth…” Miao Tansheng muttered. He then raised his head to look at Ling Ran and said carefully, “Doctor Ling, I have been practising the intradermal suture technique and the buried heavy reinforcing suture technique you taught me, and lately, I felt that I have improved quite a bit. I would like you to take a look at it. I know that I’m not a full-time doctor in this clinic. I have thought about this, and decided that when I’m skilled enough in cosmetic suture, I’ll work for at least three more years in Lower Groove Clinic…”

“Well said!” Ling Jiezhou, who was on the first floor, started clapping. He looked like he wanted to fly downstairs as he yelled loudly, “Three years is too short. You should at least work here for five more years!”

Miao Tansheng flashed a wan smile. “Boss Ling, I didn’t say that I’m only going to work here for three more years. I meant that I’ll first master the skill before working here for another three years. At that time, if we’re both happy with each other, I’ll continue working here.”

“You won’t ask for a pay rise within the three years?” Ling Jiezhou changed the topic.

Miao Tansheng chuckled as he looked at Ling Jiezhou and said, “I’ve always been paid on a commission basis.”

Ling Jiezhou wiped his half-shut eyes with his hand and nodded a little. “Of course you’ll get your commission, but not when you’re learning from Ling Ran. Ling Ran, how long would Doctor Miao take to learn what he needs to?”

“It depends on his progress, and it might take anywhere from a few months to a few years.” Ling Ran mastered skills courtesy of the system, and as Miao Tansheng was not backed up by a system, he could only take time to learn a skill.

Miao Tansheng knew what he was doing, though. He knew that he would become much better at cosmetic suture if he were to learn it from Ling Ran compared to most doctors.

Ling Jiezhou smiled and said, “Then, we’ll begin the three year count after you master the skill. By the way, Old Miao, since Ling Ran is going to be teaching you the cosmetic suture technique, wouldn’t you be considered his apprentice?”

Miao Tansheng turned and shouted at Ling Ran, “Teacher!”

He had seen a lot of the world, and did not mind dropping his ego for a greater cause.

Ling Jiezhou, though, felt a little uncomfortable about it. ‘Wouldn’t Ling Ran be at a disadvantage by having such an old apprentice?”

“Have you gotten a patient?” Ling Ran changed the topic.

“Yes. There’s a patient whose wounds tore. I asked her to come over at about eight in the morning.” Miao Tansheng had been working away from the hospital for many years, and had made a little bit of a name for himself. Hence, every now and then, there would be clients seeking him out for treatment.

Of course, things were different for surgeons compared to internists who had a lot of regular patients. For example, while they might have many regulars, a person can only receive circumcision once in his lifetime. The same applied to double eyelid surgery. Truth be told, even worldly doctors like Miao Tansheng did not like to see the same patients again and again.

There were many ways to make money, and one of the reasons doctors remained dedicated to their careers was the sense of achievement that came with it.

Miao Tansheng needed a sense of achievement too.

Ever since he quit the government hospital he was working in, he needed even more sense of achievement.

This was why even though he merely carries out cosmetic suture on minorly injured patients, Miao Tansheng strived to do his job well.

The patient arrived arrived at Lower Groove Clinic at 7:40 a.m..

Shet was a bulky woman with a round face, and she was taking selfies as she walked into the clinic. After she entered the treatment room, she said without even raising her head, “Wait a moment, let me upload these photographs.”

She then held her phone with her injured left hand as she navigated it with her injured right hand. Even though some of her blood got on the phone screen, she merely wiped it with the bandage on her palm.

Miao Tansheng smiled patiently as he said, “Sister Dong, your wounds are bleeding. Why don’t you let me stitch them up first?”

“Sure. Go ahead and stitch up the wounds on my left hand first. I’ll take a picture while you’re at it.” Sister Dong extended her left hand fashionably as she held her phone with her right hand and took another selfies. She took a look at the selfies she took and decided that she was not satisfied with it. She then set all the options of the beauty retouch feature of her phone camera to 100% before taking another one.

By then, Miao Tansheng had removed the bandage on her left hand.

“You’re quite badly injured. What happened?” Miao Tansheng asked.

“My husband caused it.” Sister Dong pursed her lips.

“Domestic violence?” Ling Jiezhou who was about to leave immediately stop in his tracks when he heard that.

Sister Dong could not help but put down her phone and looked at Ling Jiezhou with furrowed eyebrows. “Don’t sprout nonsense. I only hit him lightly a few times, and had at most sustained superficial wounds. How is this domestic violence?”

Ling Jiezhou froze when he heard this.

Miao Tansheng coughed a few times and said, “Um, Boss Ling, Sister Dong and her husband hit each other all the time.”

“I win most of the time.” Sister Dong raised her head proudly. She then placed her phone on the table and started scrolling through her news feed.

A petite woman with a V-shaped face could be seen on her news feed posing and showing off her bloody wounds. There were nine photos in total, and they were arranged into the form of a sudoku box. Because the phone was very near those around the table, all of them could see her caption: Do not to get conceited because of victory or disheartened in case of defeat. Even though my hand is injured and covered with blood, I shall not weep or yell!

“Do you want cosmetic suture?” Miao Tansheng inspected the wounds and continued, “It probably wouldn’t be that effective, though. Your wounds tore. Sigh, they were healing well after I sutured them before this.”

“I had no choice. My husband snatched my melon seeds. How could I not fight back?” Sister Dong extended her hand as she spoke. “Just do your best and try not to let the wounds leave a scar.”

Miao Tansheng could not help but look at Ling Ran.

“Sure,” Ling Ran answered without the slightest hesitation as he inspected the wounds. He possessed Master Level Appositional Suturing Technique, Master Level Intradermal Suture Technique, and Master Level Buried Subcuticular Heavy Reinforcing Suture. With all these skills, it was not a problem for him at all to suture this kind of wounds without leaving scars.

Sister Dong raised her head abruptly and said, “This doctor has a really nice voice… Wow, you’re so handsome!”

Miao Tansheng pretended not to hear that. He went and retrieved some local anesthetics. He then filled a syringe with it and aimed the needle at Sister Dong’s palm. “I’m going to administer local anesthetics now. It might be a little painful.”

“It won’t be painful.” Sister Dong fixed her gaze on Ling Ran, and she did not even bother to look at her phone anymore. “Your clinic shouldn’t even waste money on anesthetics, because none of your patients would feel any pain!”