Chapter 10 (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“I’m not a professor. I’m just a doctor in Sea City General Hospital. Lie facedown, please, there are just a few more sutures left. By the way, your wound is contaminated again, so I’ll need to disinfect it later,” said Zheng Ren bluntly.
When the iodophor-soaked cotton was applied to the wound this time, the patient merely hissed in pain without shrieking as if he was about to die in agony.
“Doctor Zheng, right? I thought you were a j.a.panese professor.”
“Why is that?”
“I heard through the grapevine that the professor that Mr. Bu invited was one of the best in the world, but I didn’t expect you to be so young.”
Zheng Ren continued his task without responding. The reverse cutting needle poked out of the patient’s skin with a gentle flick of his wrist, and the suture thread was then tied into a surgical knot.
The knot looked awful due to his trembling hands as he filled with consternation. Sighing heavily, he cut the thread and resutured the last layer.
“Even if I misidentified you, Elder San wouldn’t make the same mistake,” said the patient, who was either a talkative man or merely trying to alleviate his anxiety through conversation. “Although I’m just a n.o.body, I actually do recognize the big names of Sea City, but I honestly didn’t expect Elder San to be acquainted with you. It seems I’ve made the right choice by coming to Sea City General Hospital after all.”
Zheng Ren had no intention of continuing the conversation. In any case, he had no idea what to say in the first place as he was inexperienced in such small talk.
The needle reached the end of the wound at last. Once he confirmed the wound edges were aligned and everted, he said, “I’m done. You can leave now.”
Meanwhile, Zheng Ren brought the surgical tray to the basin, turned the tap on with his elbow and started rinsing the surgical instruments.
Once the blood had dried, it would be extremely difficult to clean it off completely.
Thus, the central sterile services department declared that every surgical instrument had to be rinsed thoroughly before it was autoclaved.
“Doctor… Doctor Zheng, can I leave together with you?” asked the patient who stood behind Zheng Ren with an ashen-grey face.
Zheng Ren had no clue what sort of danger the patient might face upon leaving the hospital, so after giving it some thought, he asked, “Do you want to call the police?”
“Of course not. It doesn’t really matter, anyway, since I’ve to endure this sooner or later,” replied the patient with a grin.
“Alright, then.” Zheng Ren, who had no desire to understand the rules of this society, made the promise directly without interrogating the patient further.
Something changed in the mysterious world within Zheng Ren’s mind while he was in the middle of cleaning. The frame started editing itself, changing the images constantly in a flash and creating numerous after-images along the way.
Subsequently, the mirage transformed into a computer monitor, which connected to the internet automatically and entered a website called Xinglin Garden without hesitation.
There were no tedious steps to go through—account registration or member login—which made the System far more powerful than the site administrator.
This website was specifically created for doctors to communicate with each other, with its members composed mainly of specialists or experienced senior doctors.
Rumors claimed that many of the finest specialists from each department within the country were frequent viewers of Xinglin Garden. However, they had a habit of browsing this website without commenting or posting anything, just like alligators lurking in deep water.
The video of Zheng Ren’s wound closure procedure was uploaded to this website.
The new video received dozens of views instantly, as there were many doctors browsing the website during lunch hour.
“Who uploaded a normal wound closure procedure?”
“Simple condition and ordinary technique. I suggest using a running subcuticular suture technique with an absorbable catgut suture. You can get more viewers that way.”
“The video quality is superb but the surgery itself doesn’t have any highlights. Bad review.”
The video, which received only a few comments, was dropped from the homepage after a few minutes like a stone falling into the abyss.
The comments on it transformed into a few dimly glowing specks and flew into the fox statue in front of the thatched cottage.
There was a sudden quantum fluctuation in the mysterious world within Zheng Ren’s mind. All the energies within that s.p.a.ce twisted and whirled violently like a raging, furious storm, as if some majestic presence in that world had been enraged.
“Huh?” Zheng Ren suddenly experienced a glacial feeling erupting from within his soul as he rinsed the surgical instruments.
He threw his work aside and dived into the mysterious world immediately out of worry that there could be something wrong with the System.
Before he could take a good look at his surroundings, a translucent screen emerged before him with words popping up rapidly. His anxiety was justified. Something was definitely wrong with the System.