9 People start referring to Zhang Fan as Doctor (1/2)
The difficulty about performing surgery on Superintendent Batu's nephew came from the fact that the patient's femur had shattered rather severely, leading to unstable vital signs and medical shock. Chen Qifa didn't dare to accept the responsibility for a risky surgery like this. Doing a good job would be considered only natural, but he would be in great trouble if the superintendent's nephew accidentally died on the operating table.
Superintendent Batu's family was immensely powerful in Kuake City. He had friends and relatives in the police, the court, and the prosecutor's office. While Chen Qifa was rather cowardly and sometimes easily held a grudge, he was still fundamentally a good person who wouldn't commit a crime. In the operating room, Chen Qifa voluntarily did all of the preparation work for the surgery so that Zhang Fan could spend more time studying the CT scan.
Previously, Vice Director Shi Lei had used his higher position to act somewhat high and mighty towards Zhang Fan. But after the surgery was half finished, and Shi Lei saw that there seemed to be no problems, he started chatting. ”Doctor Zhang, are you getting used to life in Kuake City yet? People here often eat beef or goat meat. How about I invite you to a meal of barbecued pork cooked by my wife at home? We can have a good drink together.” Part of the reason why Shi Lei was able to become the vice director over Tu Xun, who had a higher-level medical certification, was because Shi Lei was more socially adept.
Zhang Fan was rather surprised to hear the vice director addressing him as ”Doctor Zhang” instead of by name for the first time. ”How could Vice Director Shi address me 'doctor'? You're really making my face red. It would be too troublesome to have your wife cook for someone like me,” Zhang Fan hurriedly insisted.
”It's no trouble at all. My wife loves to cook. I'm more worried that she won't do a good job. You're really so polite, Dr. Zhang. You must have been an excellent student at your school. I also studied at my provincial college. However, I feel like even the doctorate students there weren't as skilled as you, Doctor Zhang. It's quite wonderful that you've decided to come to our hospital.”
”My teachers were daring enough to allow me to try things on my own while I was previously interning. I had more chances than others to practice, that's all. How could I possibly compare to doctorate students?” Shi Lei's praise made Zhang Fan's face heat up so much that he was almost too embarrassed to even speak.
”Doctor Zhang, do you have a girlfriend? I noticed that the other six intern doctors arrived as three couples in romantic relationships already. You were the only one who came alone.” Anesthesia department director Ma Lihua also started teasing Zhang Fan as she also saw that the surgery was going successfully. This was all because Zhang Fan seemed so fun to tease.
”Sister Ma, I'm still single, but I'm not in a hurry.” This was one of Zhang Fan's greatest heartaches. Back in his second year of college, he had also experienced a bout of youthful passion, and asked a girl working on the student council together with him to be his girlfriend.
But right after he confessed his love, that girl asked, ”Do you even have enough money to rent a love hotel room?” Ever since that experience, Zhang Fan had given up on the idea of finding a girlfriend. Although that girl had been rather blunt, what she said was the truth—he really was too poor to find a girlfriend.
”How about I introduce a nice girl to you? I have a younger cousin who just managed to get a job in the courthouse this year. She's really beautiful. How about it? Would you like to get to know her?”
”You should first ask if our little Doctor Zhang is willing to give up eating pork, since he's not a Uighur Muslim like you, haha…”
Shi Lei responded with such a joke before Zhang Fan could even answer, causing everyone in the operating room to laugh loudly. Ma Lihua thought about it and agreed as well, so she also chuckled.
The head nurse in the operating room saw that everyone seemed to be quite spirited and laughing, which meant that the surgery had to be going greatly. She secretly exited the operating room.
Superintendent Batu was waiting outside the operating room together with his older brother, sister-in-law, and many other relatives. All of the other department directors were also waiting together with Batu. Nobody was really talking, and Superintendent Batu appeared especially anxious as he paced back and forth. He was obviously in a bad mood, and nobody dared to step on a landmine. Everyone else stood a distance away from him.
”You've all worked hard!” Superintendent Batu felt greatly relieved at seeing such a big smile coming from the head nurse. He figured that there was no way she would dare to smile like that if the surgery wasn't going well.
”The surgery has been a great success. Doctor Zhang and the others are almost finished. They're now sewing the surgical sutures. I was worried that you would all be worried, so I came out first.”
”Okay, good, good! Thank you all so much.” Batu's older brother vigorously shook the head nurse's hands. He was happy to the point of almost crying. His wife was so delighted to hear the news about her son's successful surgery that she had just about collapsed. She was now clutching onto the head nurse's leg and bawling like a baby.
Death would come for everyone, no matter if you were rich or poor. Their family had already prepared for the worst, even inviting a monk for the final rites. But now, the head nurse had come out to tell them that everything would be alright.
The head nurse awkwardly looked at Superintendent Batu in a silent plea to save her, so Batu intervened. ”Alright, Brother, Sister-in-law, please be a little quieter. The surgery still isn't completely finished. As the family, we shouldn't disturb the doctors hard at work inside.”
With that, Batu's brother and sister-in-law calmed down.
”Of course, of course! Everyone, let's be quiet. Little Wang, hurry and grab some smokes and wine from the car. We need to give the doctors and nurses a thank-you gift for troubling them so much today.” Batu's older brother was the head of the local Bureau of Education. He had the habit of keeping cigarettes and wine in his car to send out as gifts to important personages.