The Surgeon's Studio

Chapter 247: A Legend to be Told Over Drinks and Written in Books (Part 1 of 5)

Dr. Zheng had come to Imperial Capital and was involved in emergency rescue for the knife attack?

He had managed to restore the vision of someone who had been blinded by hyaluronic acid deposition?

He had outdone top interventional surgeons from all across the entire nation?

And tomorrow, he was going to attempt to surpass a surgery that a German professor had performed in Sorcery Capital?

In the minds of the news team, each soundbite transformed into another sharp, eye-catching headline.

Every story was newsworthy; relinquishing even one of them would be something they would regret for the rest of their lives.

The food was forgotten, left to be absent-mindedly picked at.

The two doctors were unaware of Tang Xiu’s and her team’s expressions as they continued to enthusiastically chat for almost two hours, mostly about gossip surrounding Zheng Ren after his arrival in Imperial Capital. Some of it was truth, some of it speculation.

Such stories would become legends to be brought up over drinks in a few years.

The more they spoke, the more excited Tang Xiu became. Suddenly, an absurd but bold idea popped into her mind.

She took out a pen and paper to make notes while the two doctors continued chatting.

To her, typing on a laptop lacked soul.

She wrote down her scattered thoughts on the blank paper, her pen flying across it.

The two other reporters had also put aside their initial misgivings about Zheng Ren, alternating between checking on Tang Xiu’s notes and telling the two doctors about the emergency rescue that Zheng Ren had performed in Sea City.

Mass nitrite poisoning on such a massive scale was very rare and the story had been embellished over time, gaining an apocryphal nature of its own. Their eyes as wide as saucers, the two doctors from Imperial Capital downed two shots of alcohol in one motion.

Soon, Tang Xiu’s thoughts began to take shape.

She was thrilled by it all. It would be the perfect interview, the pinnacle of her career.

She felt elated.

When she raised her head to look at the two doctors, they were both a little tipsy; even though they had already strayed from the original interview subject, it was obvious that they could not proceed in their current state.

Also, she still needed to brainstorm her ideas with her two subordinates.

If all went according to plan, it would be huge. They could not rush it and waste such a rich resource.

Tang Xiu asked for a few more details, including the possibility of an interview with the doctors involved.

In the end, they exchanged contacts with the two doctors and arranged for an interview tomorrow.

After sending the doctors home, the photojournalist asked, “Editor Tang, are you onto something?”

“Yes, I’m thinking of filming a promotional video with a positive message. If done well, it could end up being the main theme of our city’s latest social media outreach.”

The other two reporters were fully aware of what that meant and nodded eagerly.

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Zheng Ren’s eyes were half-shut as he pinched the Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery micro guide wire between his fingers, perceiving its minuscule differences in rigidity and texture.

The replica from the System was exactly the same as the real deal. There was little to no disparity between them.

After attaining Prime level, Zheng Ren had discovered that he was more discerning towards surgical supplies. In order to ensure the success of the surgery, he did not want to miss out on any aspect that could improve the procedure, no matter how trivial.

Feng Xuhui, along with Chairman Ma and the others, wasted no time commencing with the cumbersome procedure of procuring surgical tools. In the afternoon, Zheng Ren had a simple lunch and returned to his hostel, where he continued to manipulate the wire alone.

While toying the micro guide wire in his hand, Zheng Ren mentally outlined the 3D-image reconstruction of the 64-slice CT scan of his upcoming patient, picturing the route of entry, degree of insertion and the exact moments to be radiographed... he replayed the entire process in his mind over and over again.

Zheng Ren calmly imagined the surgical process, trying to optimise it even further.

The micro-guidewire felt smoother and more flexible the longer he held it in his hand.

If Su Yun was present, there would be no shortage of mockery to be had.

Some people had the habit of toying with butterscotch amber pendants, while some preferred play beads. Zheng Ren’s choice of plaything was truly one of a kind.

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...

Despite feeling drained, Department Chief Kong was still busy working.

They had had to expedite the purchase due to their last-minute decision to use Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery’s products, but that was not even his main concern. What truly troubled him was his upcoming discussion with Li Haitao regarding the prostate interventional embolization livestream tomorrow.

Even though Zheng Ren had demonstrated exemplary skill, it was still insufficient for a department chief from Imperial Capital to risk his entire career supporting a livestream surgery.

He would never have allowed it if not for the paper that would be published in The Lancet, the patient from Sorcery Capital who had suffered unexpected postoperative complications, and Zheng Ren’s outstanding performance during the hepatocellular carcinoma nodule surgery.

When the news of Zheng Ren’s livestream spread nationwide via the internet, it triggered an uproar in the interventional surgery community.

The chief’s office in Shenzhen Economic Development Zone People’s Hospital, despite being brightly lit, was stifling.

Wu Haishi sat on his chair frowning, buried deep in thought.

“Teacher, I don’t understand.” Mu Tao finally broke his silence, long after they had received the news that some doctor had insisted on performing and livestreaming the surgery.

Old Wu shook his head and spoke after a few minutes. “I heard that Chief Kong is collaborating with Dr. Zheng in researching the differential diagnosis on nodule formation induced by hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic cirrhosis. He has two projects going on concurrently. Chief Kong is getting too impatient.”

“My guess is that Chief Kong saw an opportunity when he heard that Professor Rudolf Wagner’s patient had started showing postoperative complications,” Mu Tao said.

“It’s possible. Even though the prostate interventional embolization looked ordinary, it was as difficult as the TIPS procedure. The entire profession revolves around trying to figure that out. Professor Rudolf Wagner’s patient having postoperative symptoms doesn’t mean anything.” Old Wu’s voice trailed away as if he had fallen asleep.

Mu Tao dared not disturb him. His teacher’s energy was deteriorating with age. There had been a lot going on recently, and the German professor’s success in prostate interventional embolization had an especially great impact on Old Wu.

They had flown back to Shenzhen overnight. Mu Tao accompanied his teacher all the way, worried that Old Wu might suffer a heart attack. He did not want to take the risk and carry that regret for his entire lifetime.

Old Wu was not as fragile as he thought, though. Upon their return, the man resumed his routine ward rounds and guided surgeries but was nonetheless stunned upon hearing the news from Imperial Capital that the prostate interventional embolization would proceed tomorrow.

He could not figure out what had given Department Chief Kong and Zheng Ren the confidence to challenge the greatest living interventional surgeon, Professor Rudolf Wagner, who already had the support of substantial financial resources and a personal production line.

It was understandable for Zheng Ren to be young and brash. However, Department Chief Kong was already in his twilight years; why would he play along with Zheng Ren’s recklessness?

In the hepatobiliary hospital of Sorcery Capital, Professor Pei Yingjie was also baffled upon hearing the news.

He had also left Imperial Capital overnight. Being slightly younger than Old Wu, he was still actively performing surgery and maintained his pristine surgical skill.

In Pei Yingjie’s opinion, there was no point staying in Imperial Capital.

The reason for that was obvious to those with a certain level of understanding and skill.

Professor Rudolf Wagner of Germany’s Heidelberg University was truly a force to be reckoned with, but despite recognizing the man’s skill, Professor Pei Yingjie did not think himself necessarily inferior.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the personal production line sponsored by Biosensors International.

It was a battle of capital, not competency.

Such a method could never be adopted by anyone else due to its exuberant cost, and that above all else made Professor Pei Yingjie furious.

He stood before his office window and silently stared at the concrete forest that was the international metropolis of Sorcery Capital, wallowing in his own sorrow.

Behind him, Jin Yaowu was a turmoil of emotion.

The success of Professor Rudolf Wagner’s surgery meant that there was no further need for Zheng Ren’s.

From a certain point of view, could he have been vindicated?

Jin Yaowu thought otherwise.

He was not pleased that he had lost to Zheng Ren, but he still had a chance to turn the situation around. However, he was no match for Professor Rudolf Wagner. Now, that young upstart had publicly challenged a pioneer in the field! Who had given him the confidence to do that?

“Haih.” Despite his best efforts, Professor Pei Yingjie could not figure out how Zheng Ren was going to surpass the surgery in Sorcery Capital.

The issue lay not with technique, but with... the tools!

Skill was required to compensate for the inadequacy of physical resources.

This was...

This was impossible.