Great Doctor Ling Ran

Lu Wenbin wore a pair of magnifying glasses while he used the forceps to remove the hair on the pig’s feet one by one.

It was a learning method that Ling Ran suggested to him. Lu Wenbin also felt that it made sense.

Lu Wenbin had never even used any magnifying glasses before this, let alone perform an operation with his own hands. Regardless of whether it was wearing the magnifying glasses to remove pig hair or plucking the hair from a patient’s skin, it was all the same for him.

In Yun Hua Hospital, only the Hand Surgery Department provided training for the use of microscopes in surgery for resident doctors. The standard of Lu Wenbin’s stitching skill was only ordinary. He did not get any chance to practice during his housemanship. Even though he was only removing pig hair at the moment, he was meticulously attentive to his task.

After removing the hair of three pig feet, Lu Wenbin then took them over to the kitchen in the dorm not far from the hospital and stewed them. There were many bachelors in the hospital. The dorm did not only provide a library, but it also provided a kitchen and laundry room. And because of that, doctors who had less time to rest and low annual income could survive, even though barely.

“There are still some leftovers of the seasonings I bought earlier on. I’ve added cooking wine, soy sauce, onion, ginger, pepper, chili, aniseed[1], bay leaves[2], cao guo[3]…” Lu Wenbin panted after he ran back. He spoke of his contribution, “It’ll be ready to be served after it’s stewed for about two hours. By then, each of us will have one pig trotter. It’s perfect.”

“When I listen to you, it really sounds delicious.” Wang Jia touched her stomach for a bit. She felt a little hungry now.

Lu Wenbin looked at Ling Ran and asked, “Doctor Ling, is it alright if we do this?”

“Sure.” Ling Ran’s head remained low as he continued to play with the tendons.

Lu Wenbin was greatly encouraged. He smiled and said, “The taste shouldn’t be bad. The pig feet that you picked are good too. The meat’s thick and there are lots of collagens in them. I’ve cut them up a little to make it more convenient for the spices to soak in…”

The young nurse’s eyes sparkled, and she said, “Doctor Ling knows how to pick pig feet… Every time I follow my grandma to the marketplace, she’d be the one to pick the pig feet.”

Ling Ran lifted his head for a moment as he exercised his neck. Then, he said, “I had to pick the ones with thick and big flexor tendons so that they can be used as experimental materials.”

It was an answer that never occurred to both Wang Jia and Lu Wenbin. The atmosphere in the room instantly turned a little quiet.

Lu Wenbin obediently put on the magnifying glasses, and stood on the spot as Ling Ran’s assistant, observing Ling Ran’s operation.

Ling Ran was repeating the process of performing the M-Tang technique step by step. Truth be told, Lu Wenbin was a little confused watching the process.

However, Lu Wenbin had at least come to know what Ling Ran was doing after Ling Ran repeated the process many times.

Lu Wenbin was not capable of distinguishing the purpose of certain steps in the procedure, but he was able to know what certain parts of the operation were about. Lu Wenbin also knew when it was time to use the skin retractor to retract the skin and when to step aside, allowing Ling Ran to step in.

“Pull the thread for me.” Ling Ran finally gave him a command in yet another operation.

Lu Wenbin was stunned for a few seconds before he joyfully took a suturing thread into his hands, practically holding it as if it was something precious.

One pig foot after another…

In a situation where he did not need to consider sterilization before the operation and also the patient’s postoperative recovery, Ling Ran only carried out a few important steps in the operation and swiftly used up the white pig feet.

*Beep, beep…*

*Beep, beep, beep…*

Lu Wenbin’s phone began to ring softly.

“Umm… the pig trotters are ready,” Lu Wenbin said softly.

The moment he said that, Wang Jia instantly felt hunger take over her system. She said, “Go get it quickly. We’ll fill our stomachs before we continue the operation.”

Lu Wenbin cast a glance at Ling Ran and asked, “Doctor Ling, shall I go get the pig trotters first?”

Ling Ran nodded and said, “Bring these with you as well.”

Lu Wenbin then fixed his eyes on the pile of pig feet, which they stitched up earlier.

“Pig trotters will still taste good even when they’re cold,” Wang Jia could not agree more with Ling Ran’s suggestion.

So, Lu Wenbin gathered them all up laboriously and went back to the hostel in a hurry.

…..

Ten o’clock at night.

The patient showed up at the Emergency Department much later than the estimated time of arrival. The people who came along with the patient were his parents, his wife, and his two brothers.

The security guard of the Emergency Department behaved like he was up against a great enemy. But in the end, he obediently allowed the people to enter.

Huo Congjun seemed slightly exhausted. He did not give Ling Ran too many pieces of advice after he met him. Anything he wanted to say could wait until after they entered the operating theater.

Lu Wenbin was nervous and excited.

He had entered the operating theater nearly hundreds of times, but most of the time, he was in there for Level 1 or Level 2 surgeries. He rarely got to join in on major operations that involved complicated techniques like the M-Tang technique.

If it had not been for Ling Ran’s status, which made everyone embarrassed to work with him, the first assistant would have been an attending physician or a chief resident who was familiar with the operation. The chief residents were resident doctors who were about to be promoted to attending physicians. They usually had to endure training of high-intensity. They had to stay in the hospital 24/7 so that their medical skills could improve greatly, and they were significantly better than other ordinary resident doctors.

In comparison, Lu Wenbin was just a resident doctor with the lowest qualification. But if that had not been the case, he would not have been sent to Ling Ran’s side.

Lu Wenbin put on the surgical scrub mechanically, washed his hands clean mechanically, and went to the operating theater mechanically.

The lights in Operating Theater 1 were all switched on. The brightness of the room was much higher than the brightness in the old storeroom. For some reason, it caused Lu Wenbin to be have more confidence in himself.

Lu Wenbin took the opportunity to ask a question before the circulating nurse, anesthetist and patient arrived, “Doctor Ling, the operation is about to begin. Do you have any other advice for me?”

Ling Ran gave it some thought and said, “Don’t throw away the stew.”

The confidence that Lu Wenbin built up at the beginning shattered into pieces with a loud crack.

…..

“Are you ready for this?”

Department Director Huo walked into the operating theater with his hands up. He also had a surgical mask as well as a cap over his face and head respectively.

Lu Wenbin, Wang Jia and the others straightened their backs subconsciously.

Department Director Huo smiled and asked Ling Ran, “Have you looked through the patient’s details? What’s your assessment of him?”

“Standard flexor tendon injury in Zone II. There should be a higher rate of success,” Ling Ran said.

“It’s a good thing that you’re confident,” Department Director Huo said. “It’s all right for us to talk about success rates among ourselves, but never talk about this sort of stuff in front of the patient’s family.”

Since he knew that Ling Ran was new, Department Director Huo immediately provided an explanation, “Patients will never consider themselves to be among one of those who may not recover successfully, especially not among those who are among the low percentage of people who might not recover successfully in an operation with a high chance of success. They’ll only say that their operation had a high probability of success, and you’re the one who failed. Ah, let’s not talk about that now. During the operation, let’s just wish for the chances of success to be high. Give ourselves a good start, haha…”

In Ling Ran’s eyes, Department Director Huo was the most nervous among the few people in the operating theater. While he spoke, his logic and reasoning were clearly not the same as usual.

The draping and sterilization were confirmed to be perfect once again.

Before Huo Congjun even picked up the scalpel, he said, “Ling Ran, you’re the chief surgeon for this operation.”

“All right.” Ling Ran did not say anything else. He just turned the patient’s finger around gently and took a look at it. Then he picked up a pen and gently drew out a polygonal chain [4].

The base of the patient’s thumb and index finger was punctured by an iron rod, causing the flexor tendon of the thumb to rupture.

The point of rupture could not be seen from the position of the wound. Therefore, it was necessary to cut another opening.

Huo Congjun only watched on without saying anything.

He was a military doctor with a background in general surgery. He had done some research in open wounds, even though his attention was directed more towards burns in the present. He also had some experience in tendon sutures, but he had never tried suturing flexor tendons on fingers.

Once Ling Ran had a successful operation under his belt, Huo Congjun would less likely make unnecessary comments.

Ling Ran picked up the scalpel and took a deep breath. Then he slowly performed the incision.

In comparison to the Master Level Appositional Suturing Technique, Ling Ran’s skills in using the blade was still that of a novice. He only managed to hone this skill recently when he performed debridement and sutures.

However, compared to the skills required for using the surgery knife during debridement, the requirement for this surgery was way higher.

Ling Ran cut open the patient’s skin layer by layer. He used approximately four to five minutes to get it done. His performance was much weaker than the average standard for surgeons.

Su Jiafu, the anesthetist had a strange expression as he cast Ling Ran a few looks. However, he did not dare say a word.

Huo Congjun remained silent as well.

“The patient’s hand is open.” Ling Ran was also soaked in his own sweat.

At the same time, the system’s voice echoed in his mind.

[Newbie Mission: Heal the patient]

[Mission Details: Suture the patient’s flexor tendon]

[Mission Reward: Incision (Fiddle Bow Hold [5] Specialist)]

[Time Limit: 10 days]

Translator’s Notes:

1. Aniseed: The seed of the anise, used in cooking and herbal medicine. (Source: Wikipedia)

2. Bay leaves: Is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. (Source: Wikipedia)

3. Cao Guo: A ginger-like plant known as ‘Amomum tsao-ko’. It grows at high altitudes in Yunnan, as well as the northern highlands of Vietnam. Both wild and cultivated plants are used medicinally. (Source: Wikipedia)

4. Polygonal Chain: A connected series of line segments. (Source: Wikipedia)

5. Fiddle Bow Hold: There is not actually a proper term for this grip. You just hold the knife like you would hold a bow.