Chapter Thirteen: Buddha, Please Accept This Fiend

The Surgical Department II rose to fame after a single battle, not only increasing its surgical volume significantly compared to previous years but also earning praise from the county party committee and government. Batu believed that to gain renown, one had to excel in surgery. The two newly recruited college graduates were immediately assigned to Surgical Department II. Both were locals from the frontier region: one, Li Liang, hailed from the neighboring county town, a chubby young man. His father was a minor civil servant who had pulled many strings to get the underachieving Li Liang into Quark County Hospital. Though his father had spent most of his life in government service without ever reaching a high rank, he was still well-connected. Before Li Liang left, his father advised, “Whether you studied well or not is in the past. The workplace is very different from school, especially in a technical department like yours. Once you enter the ward, stick close to the technical experts. Our family doesn’t depend on your salary anyway, so make every effort to build good relationships with those top technicians. Even if they can’t help you get a government post, in a hospital where lives are at stake, they can help you smooth things over when it counts.”

The other was Yang Chengming, from the city. He intended to take a more circuitous route to success—first securing a position in the county hospital, then hoping to transfer to the city hospital later. Having already worked in a city hospital for six months, he had come to Quark County solely for the permanent post, so he looked down on the county hospital a bit.

The dormitory had two bedrooms, one large and one small. The smaller one was assigned to Zhang Fan; the larger housed four female students—Wang Sha and three newcomers. Chen Lulu from the pharmacy department was of average looks but came from Quark County, with a relative who was a top official in some government agency. She could have stayed at home but found her mother too nagging, so she moved into the hospital’s rented accommodation. The hospital’s pharmacy department merely sold drugs without any clinical pharmaceutical research. Through connections, she had joined the hospital office. “Zhang Fan must be related to the director, right? He has a single room to himself, and all the doctors in the department are cozying up to him. The director must be very close to him—maybe even his brother-in-law?” She seemed to have uncovered a secret and clung to Wang Sha, while the others grew curious. If he really was the director’s brother-in-law, they’d have to cultivate good relations with him.

“That’s unlikely. He came here from Su Province with us, and he’s Han Chinese. The director’s wife is Mongolian,” Wang Sha was reluctant to reveal just how impressive Zhang Fan really was. “I won’t tell you. You’ll have to guess.” This was purely a woman’s perverse curiosity.

After the morning meeting, Yang Chengming immediately sensed a wave of underhandedness. “Teacher Zhang, have you eaten? I bought some steamed buns on my way to the hospital today—meat-filled and still warm.” Chen Qifa handed a few buns to Zhang Fan. After the buns came the cigarettes left over from the previous meal. The director had given them to Chen Qifa, who distributed them among a few of the ‘brothers.’ Both Zhang Fan and Chen Qifa received packets, but the two newcomers were excluded entirely.

“What’s his background? A whole single room to himself, and all the doctors in the department are trying to get close to him. The head of the department was already half-drunk this early in the morning. Ah, this is the level of the county hospital,” someone muttered. Yang Chengming paid it no mind; after all, he was planning to leave soon and didn’t need to make waves. At crucial moments, he would show off what he’d learned in the city to keep these folks in check, so they wouldn’t dump all the work on him. He still had exams to study for. His thoughts were naïve—after all, a county hospital had nearly two hundred staff. Whether a fresh graduate or a stationed city doctor, they still had to be polite and couldn’t act arrogantly; who knew if a real expert might suddenly appear and teach him a lesson.

The chubby Li Liang was single and new, so he acted like a newcomer, carrying his thermos to fetch water. Tu Xun was on outpatient duty; the incoming department chief was Shi Lei, who had nothing to do with him. Tu Xun preferred to avoid duty whenever possible and chose outpatient work over department tasks. Early in the morning, a patient came in with a fractured forearm. Too lazy to apply a cast, the case was sent directly to the department.

“It’s just a cast application. You relax and smoke; I’ll do the casting,” Chen Qifa said, lacking a medical license and feeling awkward ordering around the new college students.

“I’ll do it. I often applied casts at the city hospital. Our director said I’m good at it,” Yang Chengming said, either out of naivety or deliberate showmanship, drawing surprised glances from everyone. Shi Lei chuckled; indeed, it was strange. With Zhang Fan here, could another prodigy have appeared? “Alright, since you’ve worked in the city, go ahead. Let old Chen take a break.” After Yang Chengming left, Shi Lei whispered to Chen Qifa, “Should we test him?”

“No need. He’s just a fool. Don’t be intimidated. Look at Zhang Fan. When he first arrived, he liked to jump in and do things, but he was humble, calling others ‘teacher’ and ‘senior.’ This guy hasn’t even done much yet but is already raising a big banner. Trust me, he’s definitely a fool,” Chen Qifa remarked. One of the old doctors was starting to regard the university students with some respect, thanks to Zhang Fan.

“Radial head subluxation—a common injury in children after violent pulling. Maybe you should go to the ring reduction,” old Chen began to mock Yang Chengming. Though he was half a head shorter than Zhang Fan, before Zhang Fan’s arrival, he was the expert in Orthopedics II. Without a license but with a temper to match. “Having Zhang Fan around is already suffocating me. If you’re also good, I might as well transfer to the emergency department.”

“Well, I haven’t learned that yet,” Yang Chengming said, as the child wailed bitterly and the parents anxiously asked questions. Seeing Chen Qifa’s lethargic expression, Yang clenched his teeth and said with a scowl, “Doctor Chen, I haven’t learned this yet.”

“Your city hospital didn’t teach you this?”

“I just haven’t mastered it.”

“Then study hard in the future. Don’t aim too high; people need to be humble.” As he spoke, the child screamed sharply. A “click” sound followed, and old Chen clapped his hands. “Done, all set. I tell you parents, can’t you be more attentive? Such a tiny arm—how can you pull so hard?” After scolding Yang Chengming, he also reprimanded the parents. Yang’s face flushed deeply; he didn’t know how he had managed to leave the doctor’s office in front of the patient’s family.

On a cold day, the portly manager of the H County Hotel slipped going down the stairs, landing on both knees with a cracking sound—the patella was fractured. Weighing over two hundred pounds, this injury was life-threatening. The ambulance brought him to the county hospital. Four nurses and an emergency doctor couldn’t lift him. They had to call in two burly security guards to finally take X-rays and run tests. “No way around it. The patella is shattered into several pieces. It needs a patella claw,” Zhang Fan said, looking at the images.

“Show-off. Everyone knows it needs a patella claw,” Yang Chengming sneered, unable to stand Zhang Fan’s confident air. It was natural for the exceptional to invite envy; Zhang Fan stood out like a crane among chickens among the new students.

“How confident are you?” The hotel manager’s wife was dressed far more elegantly than most locals.

“No big deal. It’s a minor operation,” Zhang Fan replied. Ideally, surgeries on both patellae should be done simultaneously, but no one else in the department was available. Zhang Fan would operate on one leg, old Chen on the other, but there were no assistants. They had no choice but to do them one by one.

“Wait, he’s the lead surgeon? You must be kidding.” On the operating table, Yang Chengming stared at Zhang Fan standing in the lead position, stunned for a long moment.

“What are you staring at? Go wash your hands,” old Chen snapped as he began sterilizing. Seeing Yang daydream, he barked.

“Incision, clear hematoma, remove bone fragments, fix the bone, apply patella claw,” Zhang Fan’s movements grew more skilled by the minute, occasionally offering tips to old Chen. “The patella is fixed, but be sure to feel the inner surface for smoothness, or there will be complications later.”

Old Chen nodded and worked quickly. Yang Chengming wanted to practice suturing but never got the chance—Zhang Fan handled everything alone from start to finish. “Good heavens, is this a fresh graduate? A prodigy! Buddha, please take him away!” Yang now understood why the older doctors treated Zhang Fan with such deference—this young man was extraordinary. “I’d better hit the books hard. With this prodigy around, I don’t stand a chance.”