Chapter 54

Coming out of the operating room, it’s already past eleven at night.

As the door of the operating room opens, Professor Zhang’s wife immediately comes up to him, holding his hand, “The surgery was so quick, it didn’t hurt, did it?”

“They’re afraid of my scolding, so they had to rush.” Professor Zhang joked.

His wife holds his hand the whole time, walking along with the gurney.

“Our sons called to ask about you, be sure to call back when you’re in the ward. They won’t rest easy until they hear your voice.”

The elderly lady was once a heavyweight in ultrasound technology in our country. At eighty years old, she keeps herself clean and tidy, even wearing light makeup.

“No calls, those two disobedient rascals.” Professor Zhang scolded.

Both of Professor Zhang’s sons didn’t want to be doctors. The older son graduated from Renmin University, studied finance, started working in a bank after graduation, and then went into politics. The younger son studied pharmacy and went to the United Kingdom for further studies. He now works in AstraZeneca’s research center.

As per Professor Zhang’s instructions, he was taken straight to radiology to have X-rays and a 3D CT reconstruction.

After finishing, they returned to the ward. Dean Xia and his staff hadn’t left work yet and were waiting at the elevator entrance of the ward.

As the elevator doors opened, and Prof Zhang’s gurney came out, Dean Xia immediately stepped forward to help push the gurney, with several other deputy deans also lending a hand.

“Oh, Professor Zhang, the surgery went smoothly. You should rest easy, get a good night’s sleep, and I will call a meeting with the entire hospital tomorrow. I will call in traditional Chinese medicine and rehabilitation departments, they will take good care of your recovery.”

The director of the office and Dean Sun were carrying a large fruit basket and followed the gurney toward Professor Zhang’s private ward.

“You guys are busy, stop hovering around me, you never listen.” Professor Zhang was a bit annoyed.

“You usually devote yourself to the hospital, now that you have a fracture, isn’t it only right that we hover around you?” Dean Xia is an eloquent speaker. He helped push the gurney all the way to the ward, and even helped transfer the patient to the bed.

The head nurse Yao Ling’s male nursing aide had already been waiting in the ward.

“When can he eat something?” Yao Ling pulled up the blanket, tucked Professor Zhang in, and asked the anesthetist, Liang Fatty.

Liang Fatty said, “He should lie flat for six hours, as for eating, he can tilt his head to take liquid food through a straw right now.”

It was not a general anesthesia, so he didn’t have to fast for that long.

Despite having intravenous fluids protecting his stomach, he was still quite hungry.

Walkers, crutches, and canes were ready in the ward, with their height adjusted according to Professor Zhang’s stature.

“Professor Zhang, we won’t disturb your rest anymore. We’ll leave now. Teacher Li, you should also not tire yourself too much. Go back and rest early, there’s a nursing aide here.”

After doing their part to reassure Professor Zhang, Dean Xia and others excused themselves. Dean Xia was undoubtedly very busy, entangled in all sorts of problems like medical insurance cost control and zero markup on drugs.

It was getting late, and after finishing the surgery, Professor Zhang needed to rest.

Everyone else also dispersed, and the caregiver accompanied the elderly lady home.

Before leaving, the elderly lady repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Yang Ping, making him feel somewhat embarrassed.

Yang Ping returned to the doctor’s on-call room, checked Professor Zhang’s medical orders: gastric support, intravenous fluids, and prevention of deep vein thrombosis, ensuring nothing was missed.

Song Zimo was looking at the postoperative X-rays and CT reconstruction on the electronic screen.

The head nurse came over and said, “Professor Zhang arranged for me to order late-night snacks for you all. I’ve already ordered from Seaside People’s Restaurant. It will be delivered soon, you can have it and then go home.”

Seaside People’s Restaurant was a high-end, well-known seafood restaurant nearby.

Before she had finished speaking, a nurse said that the people delivering the late-night snacks were already arranging the dishes in the resting room and were asking them to come over immediately.

Everyone immediately rushed over, Little Five and Zhang Lin got stuck at the door, pushing and pulling.

Wow, big hairy crabs, such a big one.

“Why are you grabbing, there’s freshly put out plates for everyone, there’s so many. Where are your fellow students?” The head nurse slapped Zhang Lin’s hand.

The resting room that was usually used for meals had small square tables, each with four chairs.

The tables were packed full of food, dozens of huge hairy crabs, large bowls of shrimp and crab roe porridge, and some other snacks.

They started eating. nobody even bothered with gloves, just ready to grab the legs of the hairy crabs.

Old man Zhang really knows how to spend money, usually, he still wears his shirt even when the collar is worn out.”

“That’s called a state of mind, which we cannot learn.”

“Yes, our values are not the same.”

Everyone was busy eating and talking, Zhang Lin had only eaten one, whereas Little Five had already gobbled down three.

Zhang Lin looked at him and said, “You gobble too fast.”

Little Five didn’t stop, “If it weren’t for my mom and dad’s coercion and temptation, I would be a leading figure in the e-sports world by now. Back in the day, playing World of Warcraft and CS, I was dominating everyone, undefeated.”

Having eaten and drunk their fill, Little Five and Zhang Lin decided not to go back, but to sleep in the department. Song Zimo said he wouldn’t go back either. Only Yang Ping went back home.

—-

Early the next day, Yang Ping rushed to work, passing by the convenience store on the first floor of the surgical building.

A familiar figure caught Yang Ping’s attention, and he quietly walked over.

Isn’t this Professor Zhang?

Professor Zhang was leaning on a crutch, receiving a packet of peony brand cigarettes from old aunty at the kiosk.

The nurse aide didn’t help him, but closely watched, ready to lend a hand at any moment.

Turning his head, Professor Zhang saw Yang Ping and wasn’t surprised in the slightest: “Couldn’t resist, I had to come down to buy a pack of cigarettes.”

It was as if there was no bone fracture or surgery yesterday.

“Let’s go, up together.” He said.

Without any assistance, leaning on his crutch, one step at a time, Professor Zhang walked out of the kiosk smoothly and stably towards the elevator.

Yang Ping and the nurse aide escorted him on both sides.

The kiosk old aunty, being knowledgeable around, knew that Professor Zhang had a hip fracture yesterday: After all, she was the one who put together the fruit basket from the hospital’s office.

Did she get it wrong, he came down himself to buy cigarettes with a crutch?

This scene is somewhat eerie, it would have been even more frightening at night.

The aunty was confused, and for the sake of clarity, she followed them out, staring at Professor Zhang’s leg for a while as if through a magnifying glass. After looking at other people, she asked,”Is this, Professor Zhang Zongshun?”

Among those in the store, he is the one who buys the most Peony brand cigarettes. This has really left her befuddled.

A standardized training student from the Orthopedics arriving for his shift saw this sight and was startled, covering his mouth with his hand.

He saw the surgery with his own eyes last night: an intertrochanteric comminuted fracture with a subtrochanteric fracture.

Damn, he’s walking down on his own, it isn’t an illusion right? He rubs his eyes.

Suddenly having a eureka moment, he quickly takes out his mobile phone, records a video and posts it in the group.

“Professor Zhang, Professor Zhang!” Someone chased behind him shouting just as professor Zhang reached the elevator.

Who is it? Professor Zhang glanced sidelong.

“Professor Zhang, I am your patient from Shanxi, the tibial osteomyelitis one.”

The guy Hermes, with chronic tibial osteomyelitis, is currently hospitalized waiting for his surgery, staying in the VIP ward.

He was taken out for a stroll by his fashionable wife this morning, and just happened to run into Professor Zhang.

“Professor Zhang, wasn’t there a fracture here? After hearing, I wanted to come and see you, but was afraid to disturb you, so I didn’t dare come. Aren’t you okay? Who is spreading these rumours!” Hermes touched his hip.

Professor Zhang said:”There was a fracture, and I underwent surgery last night. This morning, I got a craving for a cigarette and so came down to buy a pack.”

With a dismissive sentence, he prepares to go back to his ward via the elevator.

He smacks his head as he sits in the wheelchair, “No way, the medical technology in this hospital is that good?”

He is aware of such fractures, his dad also had one two years ago. After the surgery, he couldn’t step on the ground for more than a month. And for several months later, he was still not walking stably.

He came down to buy cigarettes just after the surgery.

Has the technology advanced this much? It seems his knowledge is really lacking.

Looking at his own leg, it’s too late. If he had come here earlier, he might be running about now.

The standardized training student has a knack for social media. With just one video, without adding a single word, the group exploded.

“Who posted this, looks so alike.”

“Must be Elder man Zhang’s brother, who came to visit him.”

“It’s Elder man Zhang, look at the tape on the glasses.”

“That tape, that’s Elder Man Zhang.”

“Damn!”

“He had surgery yesterday, today he’s walking on the ground, doesn’t even need a walker, completely weight-bearing.”

“I just saw him on the first floor, came down to buy cigarettes.”

Another video is thrown out from a different angle.

Not exclusive, not exclusive, it’s not me who first posted it, copycat. The standardized training student curses in his heart.

This group is filled with standardized training students, who usually vent frustration about how the hospital exploits and crunches them in the group.

“Didn’t understand the surgery yesterday, who can explain?”

“Asked in the wrong group.”

“Whoever can come and say a few words, I’ll help him write one month’s worth of medical records.”

In the circle, such a reward is indeed substantial.