System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

”Brother Deng, who did you say is looking for me?” Lu Cheng’s tone was slightly puzzled.

The call was from Deng Duanniu, who was on day shift in the ward today. He called to say that a colleague from the same hospital had come to the emergency department looking for Lu Cheng.

”Han Pingxiao, a colleague from the department of joint surgery, he came to the emergency department for a consultation, saw your photo and name, and said he knows you.”

”Look, he’s right next to me.” Deng Duanniu moved the phone away a bit.

”Brother Lu, do you remember me? The son of Han Yongshan, the brother of Han Rong.”

When Lu Cheng heard that, he suddenly realized that this was the son of a previous tendon injury patient of his.

Speaking of Han Yongshan, Lu Cheng had a deep impression of him; he was someone who transferred from Ji City to Long County specifically to have surgery done by Lu Cheng.

”Hello Brother Han, I remember now.” Lu Cheng immediately responded.

”Brother Lu, you truly don’t see me as a person. We agreed ages ago that I’d find you for drinks when I came to Long County. Now it’s been over a month since you came to Ji City, and you didn’t even send me a message.”

”Are you afraid I can’t afford to treat you?” Han Pingxiao preemptively asked.

Lu Cheng quickly replied, ”No, no, Brother Han, that’s a complete misunderstanding. I just thought Brother Han you were busy!”

”Forgotten, completely didn’t think of it!”

”Tell me, is that the truth?” Han Pingxiao exposed it bluntly.

Lu Cheng stopped pretending: ”Yes, Brother Han, my fault. How about I come to apologize to you in person right now?”

Lu Cheng never considered meeting with a patient’s family, having a meal together?

Even if the family member is now a colleague, things don’t work like that?

”Then you come...” Han Pingxiao wasn’t being polite either.

”It’s just right for us to get to know each other better; we’re truly brothers in the same trench now.”

...

Han Pingxiao had a notably recognizable appearance, a diamond-shaped face and protruding forehead bones that were hard to replicate in a crowd.

”Brother Han, Brother Deng!” When Lu Cheng arrived in the department, Deng Duanniu and Han Pingxiao were holding coffee and chatting together.

Deng Duanniu’s pouting posture was also quite characteristic, with thick eyebrows and high cheekbones. Upon seeing Lu Cheng, he actively stood up: ”Brother Han, Lu Cheng was called over by you.”

”Lu Cheng, if it weren’t for meeting Han Pingxiao today, I wouldn’t have known you were so formidable in the emergency department in Long County before.” Deng Duanniu laughed.

Only then did Lu Cheng learn that Deng Duanniu and Han Pingxiao had joined the hospital at the same time and were currently senior attending physicians.

”Oh, Brother Deng, it’s all Brother Han giving me too much credit.”

”You have no idea how stressed I was when I found out Uncle Han had specifically transferred from Ji City for me.”

”It worried me to death.” Lu Cheng took the coffee handed by Han Pingxiao.

As he opened it, he said, ”Brother Han, I just arrived this month and haven’t fully settled in yet. I indeed didn’t think to visit you, so please don’t take it to heart.”

”Tomorrow night, I’ll treat you to dinner as an apology.”

Han Pingxiao laughed, ”If the joke went to the extent you’re saying, it would be overboard. I’m really surprised.”

”Also, it’s because I haven’t been paying enough attention to you, Brother Lu, or else I should have already invited you for a meal.”

”If it weren’t for my emergency consultation shift today, I wouldn’t have realized you were here.”

Deng Duanniu said, ”The bulletin board outside got updated only yesterday. If you came during another shift, you wouldn’t see it either, Han Pingxiao.”

The doctor’s profile in the department wasn’t updated in real-time. If a new employee joined and Lu Cheng’s title wasn’t high enough, they might not replace it.

But Lu Cheng was a senior attending physician, and he was planned to be granted permission to assist in surgeries by the hospital.

So, if Lu Cheng’s resume wasn’t up on the department wall, it wouldn’t make sense. Hence, the emergency department got in touch to have it updated again.

This was how Han Pingxiao discovered it.

As they were chatting, a young nurse rushed in from outside: ”Who’s the consulting doctor from the joint surgery department? Dr. Liu from the surgery clinic is getting impatient.”

Han Pingxiao’s shoulders trembled slightly, and he immediately stood up and rushed out: ”I’m going to see the consultation!”

Those rotating in the surgery clinic were all on the verge of getting promoted to associate senior level, more experienced.

After requesting a consultation, if Han Pingxiao was still here chatting with Deng Duanniu, he’d really get in trouble.

”Brother Lu, Brother Deng, you guys sit tight for a moment; I’ll check out the situation and be right back.” Han Pingxiao walked out.

...

Deng Duanniu looked Lu Cheng up and down and seriously asked, ”Xiao Lu, your tendon sutures really better than those people in our hand surgery department?”

”Is it true?”

”Brother Han praised me; tendon sutures just have to suffice,” Lu Cheng chuckled.

Deng Duanniu rolled his eyes, his brows widening a bit: ”Bull! If it were just enough, would Han Pingxiao have sent his father all the way to Long County specifically to find you?”

”Maybe just a little bit better.” Lu Cheng didn’t want to climb over colleagues’ heads but also wasn’t overly modest.

Deng Duanniu said, ”Then it’s impressive, no wonder Han Pingxiao just said if you were in orthopedics, you’d have been so successful by now.”

”Seems like our department knows less about you than he does.”

Deng Duanniu looked at Lu Cheng with a rather peculiar expression.

Lu Cheng said, ”Brother Deng, it’s not that I’m deliberately hiding or holding back, but there’s no point. Even if my techniques are a bit better, so what?”

”The hand surgery procedures aren’t lacking, they work.”

”Back in the County Hospital, I handled tendon sutures because they couldn’t.”

”Causing extra trouble just for the sake of showing off?”

Deng Duanniu said, ”That’s true too. Even if you do it better, you can’t be on duty every day, and there will always be cases you aren’t handling.”