Chapter 5

Really?

Really!

Wow, the hospital must offer great compensation then, right?

Yang Ping made a gesture signifying money!

“Vulgar!” the young man sneered in his mind.

Meanwhile, a young doctor playing the role of an assistant handed out a piece of paper to each candidate–an interview sheet with the scoring items for the practical test.

“Position applied for: Emergency Department Resident Physician.” There must be a mistake, I am an orthopedic physician – why has it suddenly changed to an emergency department resident? Yang Ping thought about raising his hand but decided to wait until after the test to address it.

Song Zimo said, “There’s a practice knot-tying module in front of each of you, which has been prepared with a bundle of thread. First, pull out a single thread and place it on the peg. When I say start, everyone start tying knots by hand. When I say stop, stop.” Quite a nice voice, baritone, really.

“Don’t underestimate knot tying, this is a fundamental skill in surgery. If you can’t even tie a knot efficiently, how can you perform other operations? A passing mark is 60 square knots in 1 minute, which is equivalent to 120 positive and negative knots. Our Senior Brother Song can tie 143 square knots in a minute, or 286 positive and negative knots, which remains the record in our hospital,” the assistant added flatteringly by Song Zimo’s side.

Song Zimo paced up and down between the rows, looking cold yet confident. His white gown was unbuttoned, revealing both his sides. With hands in his trouser pockets, he definitely looked cool.

The assistant just finished speaking.

Wow– the place burst into amazement!

143 square knots in a minute! We have to train hard just to reach 60 square knots, 80 knots is already an expert level. It’s probably impossible for those with underdeveloped motor skills, no matter how much they train. Over 100 square knots and you’re reaching the realm of the unbeatable lone ranger, but 143 knots–

“Alright, everyone calm down, we’re not expecting you to reach this high. It’s impossible! If you can tie 60 knots within 1 minute, that’s already considered passable. Remember, the module will do an automatic count, but we will also be watching. Any noticeably substandard knots will be discounted,” the assistant was knocking on the podium.

“Ding dong! Newbie task number 2: Challenge the surgery skill master. Achieving success will earn you the third experience pack.”

This could trigger a task? But any chance to gain points is a good thing, I would still have to take the interview regardless of the task.

“Is everyone ready? If you’re not ready, raise your hand!” the assistant said.

No one raised their hand.

“Start!”

Yang Ping’s fingers moved rapidly. The knots appeared neatly one after another. Once a strip had been transformed into a line of beautiful knots, he switched to another strip and continued.

Stop! Exactly one minute had passed.

“59! 61, 35, 47, 16, 81– not bad.”

“I previously claimed first prize in a knot-tying competition during surgical class.”

“That was close! I just made the cut!” The man next to Yang Ping turned to look at him.

“Damn, 241! Is this guy even human?” The loud exclamation drew glances from around the room.

The assistant stopped by Yang Ping, the counter on the module displayed: 241 square knots, or 482 positive and negative single knots. A square knot required two single knots, one positive and one negative.

Are my eyes playing tricks on me? The assistant picked up the module for a closer inspection, then put it back down.

Waved over to Song Zimo, and even Director Han, having noticed that something was amiss, came over as well.

241 knots, impossible! Song Zimo picked up the module, checked it, and announced, “The counter is faulty, let’s switch a module.”

Song Zimo set up a new module, pulled out a thread himself, hung it on the peg, then took out his phone and set up a timer, “The module was faulty, go again.”

Yang Ping pulled another thread himself, hung it on another peg. There were several pegs on the module.

“Start.”

Those nimble hands moved in unison, so fast that one could barely see it. Stop!

240 square knots, almost exactly the same count – superbly steady. Two threads, the knots densely packed, each one immaculately crafted – like machine precision.

“Sorry, I was a bit nervous, which affected my performance. I fell short!” Yang Ping rubbed his hands together.

This round, Song Zimo was hit with a pang of insult as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water in his face, shattering his proud ego.

The assistant took a look at Yang Ping’s form, “Oh, you’re applying for the position in the emergency department. My bad, no wonder I thought there was an extra one.”

Song Zimo asked, “Do you practice knot tying every day? For how long?”

“Who would waste their time practicing this every day? Just learned it when I was in school.” Yang Ping replied nonchalantly.

This kid is almost twice as fast as me in knot-tying.

Maybe this guy is just good at knot tying, that’s all. Song Zimo consoled himself.

Old Han looked at the form, then at Yang Ping. He did this so often that Yang Ping felt a bit embarrassed. Man to man, why are you staring so intently?

“Director, he’s here for the position in the emergency department. The human resources department probably got the notification mixed up,” the assistant mentioned the problem again.

“It’s ok, since he’s already here, let him take the full test,” Director Han made the decision.

The next item was stopping bleeding. Again, a module was utilized. It was a rough and uneven board covered with a layer of soft material. This material had several small points, some concealed while others exposed.

There were a total of 100 points on the board. As soon as a red light came on at a point, the candidate had to immediately use a hemostat to clip it. Once it was clamped, the light would go out, and a point would be scored. 60 points was the passing mark.

“Start!”

Some people were so flustered that they dropped their hemostats, only to pick them up and continue the task. While others started off well, they couldn’t keep up the pace towards the end.

Stop! As soon as all 100 points lit up, the examination was over.

“Dude! Are you messing around?” The person next to him gaped, mouth big enough to stuff an apple into.

Full marks!

Director Han was standing behind Yang Ping the whole time, observing the whole process without uttering a word. Full marks! He was getting more and more interested in this young man.

“Full marks!” Song Zimo took a glance at the scoreboard on the module. There was no longer room for doubt this time, and they couldn’t make him redo it again either, as that would come off as petty. Despite this, he was quite upset inside.

“The third and final task, everyone pay attention. It is a training round consisting of incision, separation, and suturing.”

Everyone received another module, which had a layer of simulation material on it, mimicking human skin, fascia, and muscle.

This hospital was certainly well-equipped, considering it had helicopters. These modules must be quite expensive too.

Yang Ping took a pair of forceps in his left hand and a pair of tissue scissors in his right. Both his hands moved together seamlessly, the scissors seemed to possess a soul of their own, moving between the layers, cutting and separating them one after another.

“Switch hands!” Director Han ordered.

Yang Ping swapped the instruments between his hands. His actions were just as composed and smooth as before, as if his left hand was as skilled as his right hand, without a hint of awkwardness or clumsiness.

This ability to swap instruments between hands must be the result of deliberate training and would have required a considerable amount of effort. Having done this in his youth, Director Han was well aware of this.

Director Han took the paper from Yang Ping’s hand, looked at it, then crossed out the applied position with his pen.

He changed it to “Orthopedics Resident Doctor.”

I was a fully qualified doctor, and you’ve reduced me down to a resident doctor.

But Yang Ping accepted it. This was a lot better than before, so he decided to keep quiet.

He was afraid that the director might change his mind if he said anything.