System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

”Auntie, you are too kind. This banner is costly, it must have been hundreds of yuan.” Lu Cheng respectfully stepped out and shook hands with the visitor.

It was the very same ’Auntie’ who had transferred back to Long County from Ji City a few days ago for a surgery on multiple tendon injuries!

She was truly reckless, transferring for such a long time despite having vascular damage. Fortunately, there was Professor Tong Yuan’an, otherwise, Lu Cheng wouldn’t have dared to treat her.

Of course, her post-surgery recovery was excellent.

Xiang Yaomei’s name really is Yaomei, even on her ID card: ”Dr. Lu, if it weren’t for you, my hand wouldn’t have recovered so well.”

”My daughter said that Director Liu from their hospital commented on my recovery and praised it as particularly rapid and of high quality.”

”Dr. Lu, you wouldn’t know how terrified I was at the time, afraid that it would turn out useless...”

Xiang Yaomei’s expression was earnest, her smile bright, and the wrinkles on her face seemed to have smoothed out quite a bit.

Lu Cheng surely knew she had mild anxiety, as it was indicated on the panel, which was why he communicated with her multiple times after the surgery.

Although it didn’t completely alleviate her anxiety disorder, it certainly prevented her from suddenly panicking due to tendon rupture to a certain extent.

Thus accumulated, it provided Lu Cheng with around four skill points.

Perhaps the anxiety was induced by the tendon rupture, Lu Cheng solved the tendon rupture problem, was patient enough, and often chatted with her about details, making her feel that Lu Cheng was meticulous and reliable.

”Auntie, it’s all part of my duty!~” She was fifteen years older than Lu Cheng, so calling her ’Auntie’ wasn’t wrong.

”Actually, the person you should thank most this time is Professor Tong from Xiangya Hospital, if not for him, your surgery wouldn’t have been possible...”

Xiang Yaomei’s husband responded: ”We certainly have to thank Professor Tong, and Dr. Lu, you too. Dr. Lu, please don’t mind, we went to the orthopedics department to give Professor Tong a banner first.”

”Professor Tong admitted himself, if this surgery was entirely performed by him, the effectiveness wouldn’t have been as good as it is now.”

”Dr. Lu, you are too humble. Professor Tong even acknowledged that your skills are slightly better than his.”

”And thank you, Director Lin.” The middle-aged man greeted Lin Qianlong politely upon seeing him.

”No need to thank me, receiving emergency patients is an obligation and responsibility of our department.”

”You’re the ones who are being too polite!~” After shaking hands with the middle-aged man, Lin Qianlong added:

”Actually, whether or not you give us a banner, we treat everyone the same. Though this kind of gift is indeed tempting to us doctors, as it makes us happy for quite some time.”

”Also, thank you for acknowledging our hospital and for traveling all the way from Ji City, it must’ve been quite a journey...”

Xiang Yaomei said: ”We are originally from Long County, and my daughter happens to work in the orthopedic department at the State People’s Hospital. If she didn’t understand this, how would we know Dr. Lu’s skills are so good?”

”It turns out we came to the right place. My daughter said that Director Xiang from the State People’s Hospital mentioned that only less than ten percent could recover to my level within a week at their hospital, and those were simpler cases than mine.”

After Xiang Yaomei finished speaking, she looked at Lu Cheng: ”Dr. Lu, I was quite tense that day, so I may have lost control of my emotions a bit, please don’t take it to heart...”

Obviously, the elderly couple wasn’t lacking money, so they didn’t mind the matter of giving a banner!

Lu Cheng didn’t say much but nodded that it was okay, and then after the head nurse and Director Lin chatted with the patients, took some photos, he planned to take a rest...

”Director Lin, you and Dr. Lu stand next to Uncle and Auntie, Nurse Station, move a bit closer to Dr. Lu...” Yao Lina guided the positioning for the photo.

However, while Lu Cheng was in the busy doctor’s office,

outside the ward, there was a patient Lu Cheng didn’t recognize, wearing a hand rehabilitation splint, sighing:

”People really have different luck, I got injured on the 4th, and went to orthopedics, still have some lingering pain now. The function of my hand hasn’t fully recovered either.”

”You got injured on the 3rd, met Dr. Lu. The key was that Professor Tong was just watching me being botched by other doctors without intervening.” The high, thin patient said, his expression troubled.

He came to the emergency department because Xiang Yaomei went to orthopedics to give a banner to Professor Tong Yuan’an, and through that found out that besides Dr. Peng Kun, there was also a high-skilled Professor Tong in orthopedics.

Upon hearing what Professor Tong said in the morning, he felt even more conflicted.

Beside him was a tattooed arm veteran from the emergency department, who explained: ”Dr. Lu can’t be on duty 24 hours a day, tendon rupture is handled alternately by emergency and orthopedics.”

”Emergency Department handles odd-numbered days, orthopedics handles even-numbered days.”

The patient sighed, his tone complicated: ”That’s why I say my luck is bad, if it was the day before or the day after, I’d be close to being discharged, or better yet, not getting injured at all...”

”It’s not too bad right now though.”

The tattooed youth chuckled: ”Brother, speaking of, I consider myself lucky despite the misfortune, because initially I didn’t trust Dr. Lu’s skills and thought about checking other hospitals.”

”After making rounds, no other hospital in our county dared to take on my tendon rupture, so I had to come back.”

”From the start, I thought that such a small problem could be handled anywhere, Dr. Lu said he couldn’t guarantee the effectiveness, which seemed outrageous.”

”Such is fate...” The tattooed youth’s tone was somewhat smug.

The smug tone made the other middle-aged man want to hit someone, but seeing his street-wise appearance, he swallowed his words.

...

When Lu Cheng stepped out from the doctor’s office, Hu Jizong, who had followed Xiang Yaomei to orthopedics, immediately approached Lu Cheng and said: ”Dr. Lu, could you take a look at whether my tendon suturing was done well?”

Lu Cheng unbuttoned his white coat, shook his head, smiled: ”Brother, you’re putting me on the spot. Tendon suturing relies on internal technique.”

”I don’t have X-ray vision, nor did I operate on you, so I can’t assess. Only your surgeon can better understand if your recovery is within expectations!~”

”If I commented, it would actually be unprofessional.”

In fact, Lu Cheng could tell at a glance that Dr. Peng Kun did a decent job, similar to the level when Lu Cheng first started with tendon suturing.

As they say, there’s no hurt without comparison. Compared with the surgical quality now under Lu Cheng’s lead, this patient’s recovery seems improved.

But certainly no problem!

Lu Cheng couldn’t possibly handle all tendon rupture patients in Long County alone, nor did he have the capacity.

So, even if Dr. Peng’s skills are slightly shallow, being able to perform the procedure makes him an ’expert.’

Skill level must be developed over time.

After Lu Cheng finished, he slightly bowed: ”Sorry, brother, I need to go home, just finished my shift.”

The tattooed youth suddenly realized, interrupting: ”Oh right, Dr. Lu, you were on duty yesterday, aren’t you going home to rest?”

”We are all waiting for you to come early tomorrow to handle our discharge!”

The tattooed youth’s loud pitch prevented Hu Jizong from further engaging, so he expressed gratitude and left, his silhouette looking somewhat lonely...

Lu Cheng watched his departing figure, feeling solemn inside.

Saving money for people and providing medical services previously unavailable is driven by medical ethics.

Yet high medical ethics with low skill results in a distorted structure, which should never be done; excelling in one domain demands specialization in it, infinite specialization.

Only by genuinely caring for patients can one become a better doctor...