Great Doctor Ling Ran
chapter-330

Chapter 330: Cook Before You Grill It

The next day, the Orthopedics Department rejected the patients in need of Achilles tendon repairs who were transferred from the Emergency Department.

According to normal procedure, all patients with Achilles tendon ruptures received by the Emergency Department should be sent to the Orthopedics Department. They would be referred to other hospitals when the Orthopedics Department did not want the patient.

However, in order to truly avoid being compared with Ling Ran, Chief Physician Han Chengjiao was firm in his attitude. He knew Huo Congjun too well. Writing a research paper would be nothing for him if he did it for the sake of rebuking someone. All Huo Congjun needed to do was organize a team that specialized in researching the topic. In fact, it would not be surprising if he had them write a series of research papers so that he could use them to rebuke someone.

In fact, doctors in Yun Hua City and Changxi Province’s medical system knew that Huo Congjun’s research papers were really series of papers used specifically to rebuke people. If a paper could not be used to lambaste someone, Huo Congjun would not even bother to write it.

Therefore, if Han Chengjiao accepted the patient, he would not be surprised if Huo Congjun presented a paper titled “the Differences between Zhu-Ling Achilles Repair Technique and the Common Achilles Repair Technique” or something along those lines at a summit a few months later, and he would also use Han Chengjiao’s surgery as his content.

Should that happen, he would be so angry that he would kill Huo Congjun, then himself!

“The Orthopedics Department personnel said that from today onwards, they’ll no longer be performing any Achilles tendon repair surgeries.” Lu Wenbin returned with a smug look. Although he was absolutely terrified when he initially went to the Orthopedics Department to report for duty, he was now like a great general who had returned victorious.

“Not even one?”

“Not even one.” Lu Wenbin smiled slyly.

“Well, if they’re not going to do it, we’ll just do it then. We aren’t trying to rob them of their surgeries. We can’t always push patients sent to us in the ambulance to another hospital. That’s not the way to do things,” Huo Congjun chuckled. “Consider him lucky this time. I’ve had to manage the Emergency Medical Center recently, and I have no energy to argue with him.”

Several doctors in the office turned their heads and held their smiles. If they told outsiders that Department Director Huo had no energy to argue, no one would believe them.

“Yu Yuan,” Huo Congjun called again.

“Here.” Yu Yuan was so scared that she stood up immediately. She even jumped to mark her position.

Huo Congjun nodded with satisfaction and said, “You’ve performed dozens of Achilles tendon repairs with Ling Ran. You heard what Lu Wenbin said just now, from now on, the hospital’s Achilles tendon repairs will be done by our department. When Ling Ran isn’t here, you have to pick up the responsibility, do you understand?”

“Huh? I…” Yu Yuan wanted to say that she had not thoroughly learned it. When the words were at the tip of her tongue, she nodded heavily instead and said, “I’ll learn it well.”

“Well, I’ll report your name to the Medical Affairs Department. From tomorrow onwards, you’ll be on duty according to the chief resident’s rota. Is there any problem?” Huo Congjun asked sternly.

“No problem,” Yu Yuan replied quickly. She could not stop smiling after that.

A doctor would need to be a chief resident for eight months to ten months if they worked in Yun Hua Hospital, and there were some who would have their service extended slightly. However, no matter how long it took, the regulation that stated a doctor could only become an attending physician after becoming a chief resident was the bottleneck for Yu Yuan’s promotion. Now that she had joined Ling Ran’s treatment group, she was able to grab a place.

“For the next three days, we’ll be operating on a foreign patient every day. Everyone, buck up. Whether you can make a name for yourself at an international level will depend on this round,” Huo Congjun said with a smile.

The doctors responded with excitement and interest.

They were not the ones performing the surgeries or being the assistants for the surgeries. It made no difference even if their spirits were high. The ones who truly needed to buck up were the nurses and the care workers who were responsible for nursing.

Huo Congjun did not care.

The management was never strict. Unlike other industries, no one would supervise the doctors during the entire process of medical treatment to see whether they were truly being professional. The chief physicians could not guarantee how the other doctors would provide medical services when the chief physicians themselves were not there. Even the devotion of chief physicians to their work was also debatable.

It can only be said that the process of treating people itself still bound the doctors to their duty because of ethics and morals, causing the doctors who were not anti-social to be able to maintain some professional ethics. However, it was too subjective a judgment if someone had to say whether they did their best in their job.

Huo Congjun looked around and did not see his most conscientious and dedicated doctor of all—Ling Ran. He could not help but ask, “Where did Doctor Ling go?”

“He went to the Shao family’s restaurant,” Zhao Leyi chuckled and said.

“He went to the Shao family’s restaurant?” Huo Congjun looked at his watch and said angrily, “It’s still working hours, how can he go and eat crayfish?”

A resident doctor who had a look so common that his name was hardly remembered softly said, “They went to have a barbeque.”

“Is this a matter of having crayfish or barbeque?” The short spiked hair around Huo Congjun’s neck bristled. He turned to find the person who was talking, but he could not find him.

Yu Yuan whispered, “It’s because the Jamaican patient who paid the full fee came with his own doctor. Doctor Zhou said that they should be treated to a meal, so they took Doctor Ling along.”

“No wonder. Ling Ran wouldn’t… Hm, when Young Zhou comes back, ask him to come and see me.” Huo Congjun turned. He also flicked the hair around his neck.

Yu Yuan shrank back. “Did I just get in Doctor Zhou’s bad books?”

“It’s okay, Old Zhou’s used to it. He has his ways.” Zheng Pei was a senior resident doctor who had held his status for three years. He could be considered as Yu Yuan’s peer.

Yu Yuan thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and thought, ‘If Doctor Zhou didn’t have special techniques to hide from Huo Congjun, he would’ve died long ago. Since Doctor Zhou is still alive… Zheng Pei’s reasoning works.’

…..

Shao family’s restaurant.

Nesta, a twenty-year-old Jamaican sprinter, stared at the two Chinese doctors in front of him and his doctor, Winnie with a dumbfounded look.

Ling Ran, Doctor Zhou, and Doctor Winnie were chewing on spicy beef skewers. After the spicy beef was barbequed, it had an aroma that brought about Maillard’s reaction. It rushed into Nesta’s nose.

However, in front of Nesta was a bowl filled with a nutritious meal that tasted bland. He had been eating it for three years.

“I’ll be having the surgery tomorrow. I should be able to eat other food, right?” Nesta was so hungry that his saliva almost dripped down.

Winnie wore a kind smile and said to Nesta, “Your manager said that you’re not allowed to eat any weird food.”

“Why would beef be weird? I also usually eat beef in Kingston (the capital of Jamaica),” Nesta said in English, but it sounded as if he was speaking underwater, “I’d be satisfied with just eating a few pieces of beef. I can even mix it with rice.”

“Beef isn’ t weird indeed. But too much spice has been added to the beef here. Look, there are chilies, cloves, Sichuan pepper, peppers, and cinnamon…”

“I like cinnamon the most.”

“I like it too.” Winnie nodded in agreement as she skillfully grabbed another stick of spicy beef. While she smelled and tasted the beef, she also allowed the variety of spices to stimulate her taste buds. After she swallowed, she raised her beer glass and clanked it against Ling Ran’s. She drank a third of it in one breath and was so satisfied that she stuck out her tongue.

Doctor Zhou raised his cup, swirled it in the air, and looked at the charming mixed-race beauty, Winnie. He laughed bashfully. “I shouldn’t have followed you guys out.”

“Is my grilled beef not nice or is the beer not nice?” Boss Shao personally held a plate and placed it on the table of four. “The grilled beef shank you ordered.”

“Oh, the Achilles tendon’s here.” The mixed-race beauty, Doctor Winnie smiled at the young athlete next to her. “Nesta, you see, this is the cow’s Achilles tendon. Look at the fiber tissue here. It’s thicker than yours, but it can also rupture. So, it’s not surprising that yours is ruptured.”

“Doctor Winnie, it doesn’t soothe my nerves at all when you say that.”

“I’m not trying to soothe your nerves. I mean, you can eat two Achilles tendons. I’ll just pretend that I didn’t see it… According to the medical theories in China, it’s helpful to eat Achilles tendon if a person has injured their Achilles tendon, right?” Winnie winked at Ling Ran.

Ling Ran habitually ignored her. Nesta, who had dark skin, grabbed a grilled beef shank skewer without speaking and put the meat into his mouth. He was stunned after he chewed it a couple of times.

As he wiped his eyes, two streams of tears flowed from the corners.

Doctor Zhou smiled and looked at him. “This child is too pitiful. How long has it been since he ate good food?”

Nesta wiped his eyes. “It’s so spicy…”

“Then, don’t eat it…”

“No, I can take it,” Nesta said as he ate and whimpered. He asked, “How is this done? Shouldn’t the Achilles tendon be tough?”

“It’s first cooked before it’s grilled.” Doctor Zhou picked up a grilled beef shank skewer. He spoke as if he had studied it before, “The beef shank is first cooked until it’s 50% cooked. If it’s cut apart, it would still be red inside. When it’s taken to the grill, a small fire is used. When the outside is grilled until it’s yellow, the inside would be nicely grilled. It’s Boss Shao’s specialty.”

Nesta listened, but he did not seem to understand. He only knew how to nod and say that it was delicious. However, after eating two skewers of meat, he stopped and restrained himself from eating more.

“Is that enough for you?” Winnie asked, even though she knew the answer.

“Yes, I will be full after I eat some of this nutritious meal.” As Nesta spoke, he looked as if his tears were about to flow down.

“Well, once you recover, you can eat again.” Winnie herself ate until her mouth was covered in grease. She now admired the twenty-year-old young man a little.

Being a promising sprinter, Nesta had lived very well in Jamaica, except when it came to food. Jamaica was a kingdom full of sprinters. It was known as a place where someone would practice sprinting in any empty space. In such a country, it was necessary to put in a considerable amount of effort and luck to achieve good results.

Nesta was a young man who had worked hard. He possessed talent but lacked luck. He had just made some money when he ruptured his Achilles tendon during a practice match. For a sprinter, an Achilles tendon rupture basically meant the end of one’s career. Even the American doctors did not dare give Nesta any guarantee.

Plus, it was expensive!

After he made a few medical inquiries, Nesta finally chose to go to China for surgery. But even though Liu Weichen’s case was successful and doctors recommended Ling Ran, for Nesta, who was a patient, it was his last resort.

Even so, Nesta still did not choose to indulge in the simplest form of pleasure.

“Grilled beef shank, I’ll remember it. I’ll eat this after I retire,” Nesta said as he turned his wheelchair and left the table.

Winnie smiled and nodded. Once Nesta was a little farther away, she said to Ling Ran, “Doctor Ling, please try to cure Nesta as much as you can.”

“I will,” Ling Ran silently ate the meat and answered.

“You’re confident, right?” Winnie who introduced Nesta to China at the last minute felt a heavy responsibility.

Ling Ran was still nodding. He spoke in the tone medical doctors adopted when they chatted with each other, “I had a South African athlete, who loved to cry, as my patient, and his recovery was very good. Nesta’s state is similar to his, it’s very likely he’ll recover.”

Doctor Zhou asked curiously, “Would someone who loves crying recover from surgery differently?”

Ling Ran thought and said, “The operating theater’s atmosphere would be better, I guess.”