The Surgeon's Studio

Chapter 246: Interview (Part 5 of 5)

Zheng Ren refused Tang Xiu’s offer politely. “I have a live surgery tomorrow. Please excuse me, Editor Tang, but I need to rest.”

Tang Xiu was still stunned as she watched Zheng Ren leave.

One of the photojournalists carrying a camera fumed, “Who does he think he’s trying to fool? Livestreaming a surgery? He’s just a nobody from Sea City. Did he think he’d become a bigshot after coming over to Imperial Capital?”

Tang Xiu frowned and raised her hand to silence him.

A surgery livestream? Here, in Imperial Capital? With a doctor from Sea City invited over to perform it? It had all the makings of a great story!

She would have hit the jackpot if all of these were true.

Tang Xiu immediately asked, “Do any of you know the doctors here?”

One of the reporters raised his hand. “My high school classmate is working as a doctor in the internal medicine department.”

“Contact him right now. We’ll meet him right away,” Tang Xiu ordered without hesitation, unbothered by Zheng Ren’s rejection.

However, the reporter was still smarting from Zheng Ren’s attitude. “What for, Editor Tang?”

“Dumb*ss!” Tang Xiu smacked them both on the back of their heads. “I’m well aware of Dr. Zheng’s medical skill. My father’s blood pressure was undetectable during the ambulance trip to the hospital, but after Dr. Zheng’s emergency surgery, he was transferred out of the ICU on the second day post-surgery.”

“I know, Editor Tang, and we’ve already expressed our gratitude, but it was he who snobbishly dismissed us,” the photojournalist complained.

“That’s not the point.” Tang Xiu thought for a while before continuing, “I meant that there may be a possibility that he was invited over to Imperial Capital to perform a surgery.”

“Editor Tang, I mean no offense, but you’re being illogical right now. He’s from Sea City. Do you really think such a thing is possible?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask around. Otherwise, it would reflect poorly on us to return empty-handed after coming all the way here.” The professional that she was, Tang Xiu easily convinced her two temporary subordinates to lend her their support.

After contacting the reporter’s classmate, the three of them hurried over to the respiratory ward three blocks away.

It was the middle of the day and the doctors in the internal medicine department were at their busiest. Knowing that it was not a convenient time to bother him, the three of them waited patiently in the corridor.

Tang Xiu took this time to trace Zheng Ren’s footsteps over the last few days from her contacts in the Imperial Capital.

It was rather difficult to collect the information she needed as most of her contacts were not from the medical field.

Tang Xiu quickly reached a dead-end. She had no leads at all. The photojournalist was also frustrated but since Tang Xiu was his superior, he had no choice but to endure the chilly winds of Imperial Capital while chain-smoking.

Only after the end of day shift did the doctor from Sea City walk out with an exhausted and apologetic expression.

Barely pulling himself together, he joked, “Old friend, did you guys come to Imperial Capital for an interview? Would you even think of me if you were not on a business trip?”

“We heard that there was a Sea City doctor who participated in the rescue of the assault victim, and came over trying to find a few leads. As you know, such positive messages get better reception from the public,” the doctor’s classmate explained heartily.

“Oh, give me a minute. Let’s talk this over dinner. My treat.”

They had found the right guy.

It was obvious that this doctor was very interested in Tang Xiu’s story. He hurried off to change into his casual wear.

The sky was already dark outside. They went to a nearby restaurant, asked for a private room, and discussed the matter over their meal.

“I was also very curious; since when had Sea City gained such talent?” the doctor said after sitting down, “That morning, I was accompanying my boss to the outpatient department and was met with the most shocking and grisly scene.”

Tang Xiu and the others looked at each other in confusion. Grisly? What could be so grisly for a doctor?

“I had put on my lab coat before heading to the outpatient department. On the way there, I heard someone clearing the way for a stretcher trolley.”

The doctor’s words flowed without pause as if a switch had been turned on. “With one look, I knew it was an emergency, but you get used to seeing such things after a while in the hospital.”

The others laughed graciously; they were social veterans, well-versed in maintaining fine control over the pace of conversation and overall mood of a table.

“When I passed by the stretcher trolley, I was stunned. There was blood dripping down the trolley and leaving a crimson trail, but the truly astonishing thing was that there was a man kneeling on the stretcher and stopping the bleeding with his bare hands!”

“What do you mean by that?” Tang Xiu asked.

“The knife had punctured Dr. Fang’s diaphragm, lungs, and liver... let me put it this way; with an injury like that, a person would go into shock after one minute of heavy hemorrhaging and bleed out in five. Had it not been for Mr. Zheng’s decisiveness, Dr. Fang would not have made it for sure.”

Tang Xiu pictured Zheng Ren kneeling on the stretcher trolley, reminding her vividly of the day of her father’s hepatic hemangioma rupture.

She shuddered at the thought.

Not out of fear, but excitement.

The doctor did not notice and continued, “I saw very clearly that blood was dripping down Mr. Zheng’s shoulder. He was probably wounded, too. I approached to take his place but he kicked me in the chest. It’s still hurting, by the way.”

“Such violent behavior?” the classmate exclaimed.

“Haih, it was not violence. I panicked when I saw a doctor lying on the stretcher trolley with a man in civilian clothing kneeling on top of him. My first instinct was to go up and help. Even though I’m a PhD graduate, I’ve only read about manual hemostasis in books; I don’t know the exact position of the common hepatic artery, nor would I know how much strength to exert on the wound,” the doctor said.

Tang Xiu probed further. “What happened afterward?”

“I heard that alongside severe blood loss, Dr. Fang also had tension pneumothorax. You guys can look that up online, I won’t go into detail about it. They said that Senior Chief Zheng used a syringe needle in one hand to relieve the pleural cavity pressure while stopping the bleeding with the other. Only then did they manage to send Dr. Fang into the operating theater alive.”

“That’s amazing...” Despite not understanding most of what was just said, Tang Xiu’s eyes were alight with anticipation.

“Speaking of which, we met Dr. Zheng earlier this afternoon and mentioned having a livestreamed surgery tomorrow? Do you know anything about that?” the doctor’s classmate asked.

“I’m not really sure. Our daily schedule is jam-packed, as you can expect, plus we still have to do our own research and maintain our KPI. Some of us don’t even have time to look for a partner.”

“Why?”

“We have no time to spare. Where did you guys meet Senior Chief Zheng?”

“The interventional radiology department.”

“Let me call and ask them. Hold on for a minute.” The doctor took out his phone and flipped through his contacts.

His own interest piqued from discussing this ‘gossip’, he invited his friend from the interventional department over for dinner as well.

Soon enough, Tang Xiu and her team were enraptured.