Chapter 19: The Surging Waves Behind

"Doctor Xiao Ji!"

Just as Ji Xiang emerged from the System Space, the nurse's call reached him.

Both Surgical Points and Experience Points had increased, but Ji Xiang felt his true gain lay not there, but in his understanding of the surgery.

"Coming." Ji Xiang rubbed his eyes, recalling the surgery the System NPC had taught him.

In textbooks and from the System NPC's own mouth, it was said that bleeding could occur after using a stapler; this was a normal complication.

The books also stated that postoperative infection was possible.

He had memorized it and listened to it, yet nothing was as profound as witnessing with his own eyes the bleeding from the frenulum, the blood-stained Pressure Bandage, and the long, purulent moss pulled out when the staples detached.

Walking along, Ji Xiang reminisced.

Only upon reaching the operating room did Ji Xiang smile faintly.

Because there were more surgeries to come, Ji Xiang hadn't exhausted his Basic Endurance Value. But the rapid improvement in his technical level made him very happy; he would surely perform even better in the next surgery.

"Doctor Xiao Ji, what's wrong with you?" Seeing Ji Xiang walking stiffly and slightly out of sync, the nurse teased, "Did you discover your external hemorrhoids were severe while in the restroom?"

"..."

Ji Xiang scratched his head; although that wasn't it, it was quite similar.

"How did you know? Were you peeking again?"

Just as they were speaking, Wang Daxiao walked in.

"Wang Daxiao, didn't you say you'd be here in ten-something minutes?" Mo Jiaoshou said. "How long has it been?"

"Don't even mention it. A postoperative patient in the Anorectal Department had a suture come loose last night, bleeding in the middle of the night until the sheets were soaked. Luckily, they had a Cardiac Monitor on, and it kept alarming due to low blood pressure, which is how they found out."

"And then?"

"I rushed over wanting to have Yao Zhuren take a look, but ended up standing outside listening to Yao Zhuren curse for half an hour."

"Take a look? Take a look at what?" Mo Jiaoshou asked, squinting his eyes.

It took a moment for Ji Xiang to react and realize that Mo Jiaoshou wasn't asking a question, but making a dirty joke.

The nurse didn't seem to understand, asking, "Wang Daxiao, did your hemorrhoids flare up?"

"Don't mention it, it's annoying just to talk about." Wang Daxiao sighed deeply. "Early this morning, I finished and looked back, and seeing the toilet full of bright red, it scared the hell out of me."

"Did you eat dragon fruit?" The nurse, being experienced, stated the truth directly.

"Yeah." Wang Daxiao nodded. "Usually, when I'm blabbering away to patients, I explain it so clearly, but when it's my turn, my first thought was that I was done for—bleeding this much must be Rectal Cancer!"

Ji Xiang associated this with the scene he had just experienced and felt a deep sense of empathy.

When explaining a condition to a patient, it sounds simple and easy, but when it happens to oneself, it's a completely different story.

It was only natural that Wang Daxiao didn't react immediately.

"And then, did you write a will?" The nurse couldn't stop laughing, her amusement impossible to hide.

"I thought, there's another possibility: hemorrhoids. I felt around, it wasn't an external hemorrhoid, so I rushed to the hospital to have Yao Zhuren take a look. At the time, I was just hoping it was Internal Hemorrhoids..."

As he spoke, Wang Daxiao twisted his waist in a strange, indescribable posture.

"What are you..." Mo Jiaoshou looked at Wang Daxiao strangely, not understanding what this guy's movements meant.

"The physical examination in the Anorectal Department is truly humiliating, especially with Yao Zhuren keeping a straight, old face; I really can't get used to it."

"Talk about business, I'm asking what's wrong with you."

"The digital exam, he didn't even seem to apply Paraffin Oil, damn it, making me feel like I haven't finished pooping even now." (Author's note: An experience from a long time ago; I really suspect old Yao from Anorectal didn't use Paraffin Oil... a lingering regret.)

"Hey." Mo Jiaoshou's voice suddenly dropped, becoming solemnly chilling.

"Huh?"

"When Yao Zhuren was examining you, did he hold your shoulders with both hands to keep you from moving?"

Ji Xiang was startled. Wasn't it a digital exam?

How could there be a procedure involving holding the shoulders with both hands?

"Old Mo, you've gone too far." The nurse laughed and scolded, "Start the surgery, start the surgery, we have many surgeries today. I knew you two couldn't stop making dirty jokes. If you had half the skill in surgery that you do in making those jokes, Peking Union Medical College Hospital would be scrambling to recruit you."

Wang Daxiao didn't mind Mo Jiaoshou's words; he didn't even spit, just glanced at Ji Xiang.

"I was still pondering that Doctor Xiao Ji would need some time for his exam, so it didn't matter if I came a bit late."

"I've finished the exam." Ji Xiang said while scrubbing his hands.

Mentioning Ji Xiang's exam, Mo Jiaoshou fell silent, and the sudden quiet made Wang Daxiao realize something.

"Doctor Xiao Ji just arrived?" He asked tentatively.

"He has already performed one surgery." Mo Jiaoshou said in a deep voice. "In a moment, you'll assist Doctor Xiao Ji."

Wang Daxiao, like Mo Chenggui, raised his eyebrows slightly.

The previous banter was swept away; Wang Daxiao became serious, and a sharp edge was revealed.

He had worked with Mo Jiaoshou for many years and they were familiar to the bone; some things didn't even need to be said—a single look or gesture was enough to understand the other's meaning.

Wang Daxiao understood clearly what deep meaning lay in Mo Chenggui's instruction to assist Doctor Xiao Ji.

He didn't continue to ask, but became serious and scrubbed in to enter the operating room.

Carrying countless doubts, Wang Daxiao's mind raced, pondering various possibilities.

"Mo Laoshi, I will be a good assistant." Ji Xiang explained in a low voice.

"Do it if you can; I see you're doing well." Mo Jiaoshou squinted his eyes. "Our team is doing Outpatient Surgery this week; you should follow along and participate. Cherish the opportunity. The next time we do Outpatient Surgery will be in a month."

Ji Xiang looked at Mo Chenggui, and seeing he wasn't being sarcastic, nodded steadily.

If the teacher gives an opportunity, then he will take it.

It was just that there was still room for his technique to be more refined; he must be careful and cautious, like walking on thin ice.

These eight words spoken by the System NPC echoed repeatedly in Ji Xiang's heart, buzzing.

Standing in the surgeon's position, Ji Xiang wore a professional smile as he looked at the patient, "Don't be nervous. Let me ask you a question: they say scars are a man's medals; do you know..."

Wang Daxiao and Mo Jiaoshou looked at each other.

This kid learns things really fast; he even learned to mimic that opening remark, which sounded unprofessional but is actually quite important.

"Doctor, you aren't very old, are you? Saint Seiya is an old manga, you like it too?" The patient heard the explanation about the medal, chuckled, and started chatting with Ji Xiang.

"I didn't graduate long ago," Ji Xiang said. "I'm helping my teacher and watching more surgeries. I like manga and have been to many conventions."

Hearing Ji Xiang say this, the patient's expression relaxed even more.

"Teacher Wang's surgeries are exceptionally good; we all call him Wang Daxiao. He used to be a Military Doctor."

"A Military Doctor, do you perform many surgeries?" the patient asked curiously.

"When I was in school, I had a teacher who specialized in military medicine. When he was young, he went to Africa to provide aid and performed tens of thousands of Phimosis Surgeries."

"Ah? There are that many over in Africa?"

While "chatting" with the patient, Ji Xiang began the Anesthesia.

Mo Jiaoshou wasn't watching the surgery either; he found a chair, sat down, and slowly closed his eyes.

If you didn't look at Ji Xiang's face and only listened to him talk, you wouldn't be able to tell that this person was just a "reserve" Standardized Training Student who had just finished his exams.

When performing Phimosis Surgeries in Africa, the technique used was somewhat different from the one in the country; most people used a removal ring.

This thing hasn't been used in the country for a long time; it belongs to the antiques.

I didn't expect Doctor Xiao Ji to be so well-versed in this kind of gossip.

While listening to Ji Xiang chat with the patient, Mo Jiaoshou was outlining Ji Xiang's surgical movements in his mind.

"The surgery is very minor. Medical conditions on the African grasslands are extremely limited, yet even so, very few patients get infections after the surgery. So, there's no need to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid," the patient replied, saying one thing while meaning another.

"The surgery is over once it's done. We're using a stapler, it looks very neat," Ji Xiang said. "When you have the chance later for a Little horse pulling a big cart..."

"What is a Little horse pulling a big cart?" Wang Daxiao saw the embarrassed smile on the patient's face and asked in confusion.

Having dominated the Urology Department for so many years, what slang could there be that he didn't know?

This kid Ji Xiang is interesting; he grasped everything so quickly and even innovated.

"Hehe," Ji Xiang chuckled without explaining. He was talking trash, but it didn't affect his hand movements. Wang Daxiao also instantly forgot what a Little horse pulling a big cart was, his eyes fixed on Ji Xiang's hands.

His surgery was performed quite standardly. Every step wasn't fast, but it had a special rhythm that made Wang Daxiao feel it was beautiful.

To feel beauty in a surgery, especially a simple minor surgery like a Stapler Circumcision, is extremely, extremely difficult.

Even he himself found it hard to achieve, let alone Ji Xiang, who was just a Standardized Training Student.

No wonder Mo asked him to come up and give Ji Xiang a hand.

With Wang Daxiao's assistance, although Ji Xiang felt a bit awkward—after all, the level of the person beside him was vastly inferior to the System NPC, and every movement had to be slowed down a bit.

Ji Xiang felt very awkward, but it was barely usable.

Mo Jiaoshou opened his eyes; in his estimation, Ji Xiang had already finished the surgery.

However, this time Ji Xiang was performing the surgery a bit slowly; he had just removed the safety buckle.

"Hmm?" Mo Jiaoshou made a puzzled sound.

He saw Ji Xiang grip the handle and continue to apply pressure for about 30 seconds, loosen the knob to push out the bell rod, remove the bell cover, and observe the incision, especially the frenulum, for any active bleeding.

Ji Xiang's process of observing the frenulum for bleeding was very cautious, looking exactly like a Surgeon who had been tempered in Clinical practice for countless years, or even like one who had just experienced a Medical Malpractice incident.

As cautious as a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow.

Unnecessary, Mo Jiaoshou thought to himself, but he felt more approval toward Ji Xiang, to the point that Mo Chenggui saw a brilliant light radiating from Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang had indeed done well in the previous surgery, but that was just purely good; it lacked a bit of seasoned experience.

After just one surgery, this kid has evolved into his current state? Mo Jiaoshou felt like he was hallucinating and stood up to observe Ji Xiang's movements carefully.

Ji Xiang tirelessly pressed the frenulum area with Gauze, observed for at least 15 seconds, then nodded and began to apply the Pressure Bandage.

"The precautions for after you go back are all written down," Ji Xiang said while bandaging. "There are some things you need to pay attention to yourself. After the surgery, the sky is the limit, so don't be in a rush for the moment."

"Oh," the patient responded.

"When flowers are ready to be plucked, pluck them; that's all for the future. You must patiently wait for all the Titanium Nails to fall off, otherwise, there is a possibility of bleeding. If there is any seepage, don't panic, come find me to change the dressing," Ji Xiang cautioned solemnly at the end.

"Oh." The patient didn't understand what Ji Xiang meant; he just responded with an instinctive "oh."

Seeing Ji Xiang send the patient away, Wang Daxiao asked, "Mo, what does 'when flowers are ready to be plucked, pluck them' mean?"

"Advise you not to cherish your gold-threaded robe, advise you to cherish your youthful time. When flowers are ready to be plucked, pluck them, do not wait until there are no flowers and pluck an empty branch."

Both were old hands; they understood with a single hint.

Actually, even without the hint, they understood; Wang Daxiao was just afraid he had misinterpreted it.

"Do not wait until there are no flowers and pluck an empty branch, interesting." Wang Daxiao laughed loudly while taking off his surgical gown. "This young man has something to him; I didn't even understand the slang he was using. The new generation is coming on strong."

(End of this chapter)