135 Unfair Competition

"How did he eat?" asked Chu Yanran, surprised.

"Just a decent amount of food. I heard the dishes in that restaurant are delicious, and it even has unlimited oysters and American lobsters."

"American lobsters are smaller in size. Australian spiny lobsters are much better."

"They're almost the same. When my father hunted antelopes in Africa last time, we had seafood there and it tasted so good. The lobsters were quite big, too," Xie Yiren said seriously, "But I still prefer hotpot, especially the hotpot restaurants in Chengdu."

'This is love.' Zheng Ren could see the gleam in Xie Yiren's eyes.

She would get so excited when talking about food.

Zheng Ren sat nearby quietly and savored the peaceful moment as everyone chatted and laughed during their meal.

It was nice that they could all enjoy a meal together with a lively atmosphere.

Xie Yiren was slow and attentive in devouring her food. However, not only was adequate sleep a luxury for medical staff in the emergency department, it was also difficult for them to leisurely enjoy their meals.

An emergency case arrived before she could finish hers.

A patient clutching his stomach was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and sent to the ward.

Zheng Ren signalled for them to take their time with their food before heading out to examine the patient and confirm his diagnosis.

Chang Yue wiped her mouth with tissue, put on her white coat, took a notepad out of her pocket and went along with Zheng Ren.

Su Yun quietly trailed behind Chang Yue with his head lowered.

Before Zheng Ren could examine the patient, another patient in a wheelchair was pushed into the ward.

Generally, if doctors on duty encountered difficulties during consultation, Zheng Ren would have to go down and personally diagnose those cases. However, if the diagnoses were definitive, the patients would be directly transferred to the ward.

These two suffered from acute uncomplicated appendicitis and required surgery.

Coincidentally, both of them had been fasting after having only a simple breakfast in the morning due to abdominal pain.

They would undergo surgery soon as they had fasted long enough.

Both patients' family members quickly went to settle the admission process.

Perhaps neither of them would be in such a hurry if there had been only one patient awaiting surgery, but with two acute abdominal cases vying for attention, whoever underwent surgery first was a big deal to patients and their families.

Needless to say, everyone wanted to be the priority, especially the latter patient who had arrived a minute too late as he lost time waiting for the elevator.

If he was second on the list, he would have to endure the agonizing pain for at least another hour.

Anxious, both patients' families quickly completed the admission process, trying to outrace each other.

They paid no attention to Chang Yue's preoperative counseling and signed the preoperative informed consent documents without the slightest hesitation.

A few family members even attempted to give a red packet to Zheng Ren in an empty room, but he smiled and rejected their offers.

What a joke. He would not even dare accept a red packet for a successful surgery with minimal risks, let alone one given preoperatively.

This was a tricky issue as both patients' families were glaring fiercely at each other and hoping to undergo the surgery first.

Smoldering embers of fury could be vaguely detected in their words.

"Let's go together." Zheng Ren made the final decision.

Su Yun and Yang Lei would operate on a patient and he would handle the other case. He had witnessed Su Yun's skill and knew the man's standard had definitely reached that of a lead professor. Moreover, with the help of Yang Lei, a senior general surgeon, the surgery should end well.

If Zheng Ren was fast enough in his own operation, he could assist them if any problems arose.

The decision had been made. The multiple-choice question needed not to be answered anymore.

Adults never did multiple-choice questions, anyway. They wanted everything.

The Chu sisters and Xie Yiren had gone to the operating theater for surgery preparations. Fortunately, there were adequate staff during the day, so the nurses did not complain when two surgeries were carried out simultaneously.

Su Yun's eyes shone brightly with excitement when he heard Zheng Ren's decision.

In terms of physical attractiveness, Su Yun considered himself unrivaled in the whole world; the same applied to surgery as well.

He would surely be the best general surgeon if given time to practice.

He would be truly unsurpassable.

Su Yun, who had assisted Zheng Ren in past surgeries, was aware of his surgical standard and firmly believed that he would reach the same height in the future.

Given such a chance now, he may as well give it a try.

Despite his apathy when becoming a doctor, he had always been naturally competitive. His enthusiasm fell only when he confirmed that he was in a class of his own.

Otherwise, he would not have insisted on a transfer to the emergency department.

Zheng Ren and Su Yun wheeled the patients into the operating theater after preoperative preparations—preoperative skin preparation and intravenous cannulation—were complete.

The Chu sisters went their separate ways to anesthetize both patients. As usual, Xie Yiren assisted Zheng Ren in surgery, while another scrub nurse was assigned to Su Yun and Yang Lei.

Zheng Ren chose to operate on the older patient as it would be slightly more difficult.

Geriatric patients usually had thicker, calcified iliolumbar ligaments, and so continuous epidural anesthesia needed longer to take effect.

After performing a surgical scrub, Su Yun passed Zheng Ren's operating theater and instantly became downhearted upon noticing that anesthesia was still ongoing.

Even if he won, this was still an unfair competition.

Yang Lei took the initiative to scrub up first before he began to disinfect and drape the surgical site.

He had performed the same procedure numerous times in the first general surgery department. After all, the most a junior doctor could do during surgery was assist the chief surgeon by disinfecting the surgical site or pulling the retractor.

How much one could learn from it depended solely on their own understanding.

That was why he particularly admired Zheng Ren, a man who could soar into the sky once an opportunity was presented, which was a rarity in today's world.

As for Su Yun… Yang Lei had heard through the grapevine that he was skilled at surgery, but for some unknown reason, had gone to work in the ICU instead of the general surgery department when he had first arrived in Sea City General Hospital.

After Yang Lei applied the last surgical drape on the surgical site, Su Yun immediately stood at the chief surgeon's position and began disinfecting the site one last time.

Yang Lei was unconcerned about what his current role was. After all, this was merely an appendectomy, a surgery that he had done numerous times and was fed up with.

Even so, he still acted cautiously and meticulously as it was his first surgery with Su Yun.

Since Zheng Ren had let them work together, he had to check every detail and make sure the surgery was uneventful.

Soon, he began to appreciate Su Yun's surgical skill.

The skin was incised up to the capillary network above the subcutaneous layer in one go, no further. That was amazing!

Nothing more, nothing less. The end result was just perfect.

He then bluntly dissected the tissue without using electrocauterization for hemostasis.

Damn, this guy was good!

Yang Lei could admit that he had limited talent, but instead of being consumed with jealousy, he would only feel envious of those born with great talent.

Blunt dissection was complete, the peritoneal cavity exposed… Yang Lei soon found out that he had to be very alert to perfectly perform his tasks as a first surgical assistant.

Su Yun's maneuvering was simply too fast and accurate, and he could not afford to be distracted for even a split second.

After the peritoneum was well-shielded and the appendix fully exposed, the appendicular artery was then separated, clamped and transected. Everything was done according to procedure in surgery textbooks.

The inflamed appendix was removed and thrown into a specimen container.

Before the surgery had begun, Yang Lei, a general surgeon, had nursed some grievances about Su Yun's role as a chief surgeon.

However, it had been revealed that Su Yun was indeed very good at performing surgery.

Yang Lei was dazed and confused. Were savants really that powerful, capable of steamrolling every opponent with ease?

Following peritoneal cavity irrigation with warm normal saline, Yang Lei immediately aspirated the contents using an aspirator with a suction tube.

Su Yun began closing the peritoneal cavity after ensuring the absence of active bleeding spots.

"That was fast. There isn't any active bleeding, right?" A voice came from behind Su Yun.

Yang Lei raised his head and saw Zheng Ren.

"Yes. There aren't any, I've checked. Blood loss is minimal… with a visual estimation of 3mL," answered Yang Lei.

"Good," Zheng Ren praised.

"Your anesthesiologist is rather slow." Yang Lei chatted leisurely with Zheng Ren as he pulled the retractor for better exposure of the surgical field.

That was how it was in the operating theater. Major accidents could happen if none of them uttered a single word.

"Huh? Chu Yanran was quick at administering anesthesia, and I've already completed my surgery."

Already…

Completed…

Yang Lei was unsure if he was having an illusion, but Su Yun looked stunned for a very brief moment.

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