Chapter 211: Not What I Imagined

Wu Zong was very patient with the Patient; he did not stand in front of the Patient and speak in a condescending manner, but instead squatted down, adopting an equal posture to reason with the Patient in a soft, slow voice.

Sometimes, being a Doctor is difficult; a considerable number of matters must be handled "at one's discretion."

Wu Zong did this very well, with great patience.

Ji Xiang observed carefully, but did not see any Family Member present.

Total Penectomy, although its malignancy is not as high compared to Liver Cancer or Pancreatic Cancer, is still Cancer after all; how could the Family Member have vanished without a trace?

Another brand-new question appeared in Ji Xiang's mind.

This question left Ji Xiang completely baffled.

His mind was full of doubts as he silently watched the Patient and Wu Zong.

Wu Zong comforted him for about ten minutes before patting the Patient on the shoulder and helping him sit on the bed.

"I'll bring you a dish when I order food in a bit," Wu Zong said.

Jing Liang remained indifferent to Wu Zong's kindness, as if his entire person were already dead, leaving only a shell, devoid of any vitality.

"Sigh." Wu Zong sighed softly and turned to leave.

"Wu Zong." After moving ten meters away from the ward, Ji Xiang asked in a low voice, "Where is the Patient's Family Member?"

"I don't know; I suspect they likely divorced," Wu Zong said.

Divorced? That shouldn't be! Ji Xiang was startled.

Looking at the Patient's age, he was around fifty; if they were childhood sweethearts, it seemed the passion should have faded by now.

Even if they couldn't support each other through thick and thin, they shouldn't be kicking someone when they're down.

"Wu Zong, the Patient is being too much," Lu Kai complained disdainfully. "You said you'd help him order food, and he didn't even say thank you."

Wu Zong shook his head, wanting to offer an explanation, but the words felt boring, uninteresting, and meaningless once they reached his lips, so he lapsed into silence.

"Lu Kai, I have a task for you," Wu Zong said. "Keep an eye on this Patient. Tomorrow I will talk to Wang Daxiao; we'll rush the surgery and rush the discharge. Don't let any trouble happen in the hospital."

"Wu Zong, do similar patients often cause trouble?" Ji Xiang's heart stirred as he asked.

"Occasionally, but compared to patients with other illnesses, they belong to the type prone to problems," Wu Zong said. "We aren't his relatives, there's no blood relation; just taking good care of him while he's in the hospital is enough."

"Don't worry, leave it to me!"

Arriving at the Doctor's Office, Lu Kai patted his chest and said, "It's not me bragging, but I am patient and attentive with patients; nothing will go wrong, for sure."

"Bragging? Why don't you brag about San Ya?" Wu Zong laughed.

"I won't brag about San Ya, but can I brag about Yua Mikami instead?"

Lu Kai and Wu Zong really hit it off; one spoke and the other followed, perfectly in sync.

The two laughed heartily, in high spirits.

Ji Xiang, however, had no heart to ponder how they got from the Patient to Yua Mikami; the Patient he had originally imagined was completely different from the one he saw with his own eyes.

In his perception, a patient should be surrounded by family; although no one says anything, providing meticulous care is the bare minimum.

In reality, the Patient stood all alone, a solitary shadow.

In his perception, a patient would fight alongside themselves, adapting to the changes after a Total Penectomy; after all, being alive is what matters most.

In reality, before the surgery had even begun, the Patient seemed to have already fallen into an bottomless abyss, his mood terrifyingly low.

The most terrifying thing was that there wasn't even a single Family Member by his side.

And Wu Zong seemed to know something, but he was unwilling to mention it.

With all these questions converging, Ji Xiang became increasingly curious.

He tried hard to dispel this curiosity, because this experience of Empathy was not so easy to get through.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Ji Xiang was also afraid of bringing upon himself irreparable psychological trauma from something more painful than death.

He tentatively asked Wu Zong, but Wu Zong kept changing the subject and ignored Ji Xiang's questions entirely.

This was even stranger!

Through his contact during this time, Ji Xiang understood Wu Zong somewhat and knew that this person was worth befriending.

What kind of secret could there be?

"Ordering food." Wu Zong took out his phone and organized, "Xiao Ji, what do you want to eat? Let's all eat together."

"Wu Zong, I just ate." Ji Xiang sat in his chair, pondering the Patient named Jing Liang, and had no interest in eating at all.

Wu Zong didn't stand on ceremony and began ordering food while chatting and laughing with Lu Kai.

"Wu Zong, by the time my Standardized Residency Training ends, you'll probably be leading a team," Lu Kai said with a smile. "When that time comes, I'll invite you for a Flying Knife. You come to our place, and I'll cook for you in a big iron wok!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Flying Knife?"

"Ah?" Lu Kai was stunned for a moment. "Is leading a team that hard? Or are you unwilling to come to our place?"

"It's not hard for me to lead a team, at least I have confidence, but are you sure you have the qualifications to invite a professor for a Flying Knife? I'm not even talking about how much money your place can offer," Wu Zong said with disdain.

Lu Kai was taken aback. "There's a trick to this?"

"Of course. When you go back, your Lao Zhuren is there. Can he just let you find a professor for a Flying Knife whenever you want? Once word gets out that you, Lu Kai, have connections in the Provincial Hospital, you'll instantly overshadow the Lao Zhuren. If you were the director, what would you think?"

"It shouldn't be that bad."

Lu Kai really hadn't thought about this.

"After you go back, giving gifts to the Lao Zhuren during holidays is very important," Wu Zong said lazily.

These were experiences gained after being beaten down by society. Lu Kai was agreeable; although he was a bit clumsy and his brain was average, they chatted happily, and Wu Zong didn't mind saying a bit more.

"Wu Zong, tell me more."

"First of all, you have to keep giving gifts. If you give gifts the first year but don't the second, people will definitely think you're being negligent. It's better to just play dumb from the start; this point is very important."

Lu Kai nodded solemnly. He wasn't stupid; he knew that what Wu Zong said were words of wisdom.

"Secondly..."

General Manager Wu was imparting experience to Lu Kai, but Ji Xiang wasn't listening at all; to him, that was a matter from another world that had nothing to do with him.

Ji Xiang was pondering that Patient in his mind, and the increasing number of oddities made Ji Xiang restless.

Regarding many things that defied logic, Ji Xiang knew this was caused by his own lack of Clinical experience.

Surgical skills can be improved, but Clinical experience can only be slowly... no, it can also be accumulated rapidly through Empathy.

But this Empathy is a bit annoying; Ji Xiang's mindset had begun to change without him realizing it.

"General Manager Wu, how much money's worth of gifts is appropriate?" Lu Kai asked miserably after hearing General Manager Wu finish speaking, "It seems bad to just give money, and if I give tea or something, what if Lao Zhuren doesn't know how much it's worth?"

"Just tell him this tea is enough to get someone a life sentence," General Manager Wu said disdainfully.

"Hahaha, life is getting more and more 'sentence-worthy'."

"Of course it's Moutai; who still gives tea as a gift?" General Manager Wu said with added emphasis.

The sudden increase in his volume startled Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang looked at General Manager Wu, recalled the gesture where he had hesitated to speak earlier, and made up his mind in an instant.

(End of this chapter)