System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

Peng Haibo was returning from eating out. He had planned to watch a movie with his wife, but felt uneasy after receiving a call from Lin Qianlong.

He said, ”Honey, you choose the movie time. I’ll call Tayama. If things keep going like this, our department will have problems!”~”

”Okay, I’ll ask our son if he wants to go.” Peng Haibo’s wife was very considerate.

She couldn’t help with the professional matters between Peng Haibo and Peng Kun, so she chose not to complicate things.

Peng Haibo walked to the window sill, looking at the marks on the glass shattered by droplets of fine rain, and spoke cautiously, ”Tayama, Director Lin Qianlong from Emergency just called, saying they’re doing fracture reduction and joint dislocation, what’s going on?”

Tayama said, ”Director Peng, here’s what happened: a fracture case came in today. I was doing an emergency debridement, so I called the Emergency Department and asked them to issue a hospital admission slip for orthopedic inpatient care.”

”The person on duty in Emergency today is Tian Zhuang, who didn’t understand the orthopedic admission criteria, so he asked Lu Cheng to take a look.”

”After Lu Cheng examined the patient, he found it was a Mason Type II radial head fracture and said surgery wasn’t needed, so he put the patient in a forearm sling and sent them away.”

”I spoke about this with Peng Kun, and he checked the books, which suggest Mason Type II fractures don’t require surgical treatment.”

”Brother Hua was displeased and said if Lu Cheng wants to do it, let him do it... He’s an adult too...”

”Director Peng, I was really in the operating room at the time!~” Tayama replied seriously.

Peng Haibo’s brow furrowed immediately: ”Why is Lu Cheng letting our fracture patient go from Emergency?”

”I don’t know either? Maybe knowing too much makes decision-making harder.” Tayama explained.

Xiang Kuihua, the trauma specialist in our department, felt uncomfortable about Lu Cheng persuading the fracture patient to leave. He believed advising the patient was a responsibility of orthopedics.

”Is it necessary to handle it like this? Lu Cheng, after all, is inexperienced. If something goes wrong, won’t we just have to clean up the mess?” Peng Haibo frowned.

Peng Haibo understood Xiang Kuihua’s meaning — you want to do it, then go ahead. You’re an adult; if you take risks without experience, who can you blame?

If Lu Cheng gets involved in a medical dispute, he’ll come to grips.

Tayama said, ”Director Peng, if Lu Cheng truly lacks self-awareness, it’s not anyone else’s fault!~ Our orthopedics department isn’t unwilling to consult.”

”He is an attending physician, not a hospital newcomer.”

”And Director Lin is calling you, so they’ll handle it?”

At this point, Tayama suddenly added: ”Oh, Lu Cheng is rather sensible; he texted saying there’s a tibial plateau fracture case.”

”I’m going to process the hospital admission, Director Peng.”

”Actually, these days during the holiday, if Lu Cheng wants to handle it, let him do it. It lets the brothers relax a bit.”

”Lu Cheng’s work is quite steady.” Tayama suddenly found it tasteless.

...

”Brother Lu, there’s a tendon injury case. Please come over as it’s Saturday and orthopedics is not on duty...” At 11 p.m., Lu Cheng had just opened a book when he was called out.

”Brother Lu, there’s another fracture case.” At 1 a.m., Lu Cheng was still in the operating room, and Tian Zhuang called.

”Brother Lu, there’s a joint dislocation...” At 1:30 a.m., Lu Cheng had just finished casting an avulsion fracture when Tian Zhuang called again.

”Brother Lu, appendicitis...”

...

August 23, 11 a.m.

Cloudy but no rain, the sky was gloomy.

Lu Cheng once again handed an admission slip for a fracture patient to their family and specially instructed them to inpatient after the fracture. ”Brother Zhang, I can’t go on, I need to finish up.”

”If there are more orthopedics patients, call orthopedics directly. If orthopedics doesn’t come, let the patient transfer!~”

Lu Cheng truly couldn’t withstand anymore.

It wasn’t the frequency of single-condition patients, but the overwhelming diversity of emergency cases being taken.

Joint dislocation must be treated, fractures need casting or manual reduction, appendicitis needs handling; Lu Cheng was overwhelmed.

Lu Cheng had just checked the mirror and his bags under the eyes had emerged from exhaustion!

”Alright, no worries, I’ll liaise with orthopedics.”

”Thank you, Xiao Lu.” Zhang Tiesheng pushed his glasses and agreed to handle it.

But behind the black-rimmed glasses, Zhang Tiesheng’s gaze was shifting, worried about Lu Cheng.

Actually, if Lu Cheng was smart enough, he could see that orthopedics was purposely ’messing with him’. Admitting it would be wiser, wouldn’t it?

Yet Lu Cheng was stubborn, perhaps due to his unpleasant previous experience in orthopedics...

Lu Cheng yawned as he worked, feeling exhausted but mentally cheerful.

Lu Cheng checked his panel—

[Skill Points Balance: 10.1!]

In one day, he earned 10 skill points. Emergency Department has many joint dislocation and small fracture cases indeed.

Of course, it wasn’t just fractures and dislocations; there were also tendon injuries, debridement sutures, appendicitis cases all intertwined.

All in all, 15 patients in total resulted in 10 skill points, not particularly many, as Lu Cheng handled a wider variety of cases.

Having hardly slept, Lu Cheng could only finish up.

In the evening, there was a dinner with Tong Yuan’an and Professor Chen Song, he really couldn’t keep pushing himself.

...

Lu Cheng rode his scooter to eat a Big Bowl Rice at home, took a shower, set the alarm, and fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.

At 4 p.m., Lu Cheng woke up punctually, freshened up again, and drove his Buick sedan to Long County North Station to pick someone up.

4:34 p.m., the train arrived, around 4:40, Tong Yuan’an and Professor Chen Song emerged together, immediately a few drivers beat Lu Cheng to it: ”Do you need a ride? Do you need a ride, boss?”

Chen Song joked with a smile, evidently in a good mood: ”Are you giving free rides? If not, I’ll take the complimentary one.”

”Someone’s picking them up?” The driver realized they were being picked up by acquaintances.

”Teacher Tong, Teacher Chen, this way...” Lu Cheng guided them to the parking lot, brought them to his car, then drove straight to the Old Duck Shop for a welcome dinner.

Once seated and ordered, Chen Song asked sarcastically: ”Xiao Lu, I heard from colleagues in the department that you worked till 11 a.m. yesterday?”

”You did well, didn’t you?”

Lu Cheng knew someone must have complained to Professor Chen Song. He understood Chen Song’s indirect implication, cautiously replied: ”Teacher Chen, Teacher Tong, one doesn’t hold guilt for what they don’t know.”

”Given knowledge, then one must live up to their learning.”

”If it hadn’t happened, okay, but if it happens again, I would still advise patients to use a forearm sling.” Lu Cheng replied.

This has nothing to do with social propriety; Lu Cheng simply wants to be a good doctor, doing his best to make the best recommendations for patients, regardless of other considerations.

If orthopedics sent someone and took over, recommending hospitalization for surgery, Lu Cheng wouldn’t object.