Chapter 562: The Enoki Mushroom That Said Hello

Ji Xiang understood Deputy Director Zou's grumbling.

Precisely because he understood, the option of Gastrointestinal Surgery did not exist in Ji Xiang's considerations for his own future.

Ji Xiang could accept being busy or tired from performing surgeries in the middle of the night, but he found it hard to accept cleaning up feces.

"Tell the patient to be careful after the surgery; make sure to observe them for at least 12 hours," Deputy Director Zou instructed as he was leaving.

Although this was a useless instruction, it was clear to Deputy Director Zou, General Manager Wang from the Digestive Medicine Department, and Ji Xiang alike.

Yet, Deputy Director Zou still left the medical order, even if it was only a verbal one.

This was part of shifting the blame; if a low-probability event occurred, Deputy Director Zou would have something to say.

Ji Xiang secretly noted this down; these were all part of clinical experience.

"Xiao Ji, our Gastrointestinal Surgery is truly not easy to do, especially the emergency cases. As doctors, we aren't afraid of having many emergency cases, but who wants to come in the middle of the night to perform emergency surgery, open up a stomach, and—oh, my—find it's equivalent to a buffet?"

A buffet... Deputy Director Zou really knew how to put it.

"That's true." Ji Xiang didn't feel disgusted; he followed Deputy Director Zou's lead, "Teacher Zou, when I was an intern, I heard my teacher mention a patient he encountered."

"Tell me about it."

"It was a young woman, not even fat, who was taking Orlistat to lose weight."

"The current aesthetic standards, what a load of nonsense. *Slurp~* Just be a little chubby, why insist on losing weight? And taking Orlistat at that—do you know how many side effects that stuff has?" Deputy Director Zou said with disdain while sucking in his saliva.

"Exactly. The patient took Orlistat, and it seems she even overdosed. After taking the medicine, she felt refreshed and went to eat at a buffet."

"..."

Even the experienced Deputy Director Zou was stunned after hearing Ji Xiang's words.

The "buffet" Ji Xiang mentioned came from Deputy Director Zou's own description; his reaction was truly fast.

"My teacher in the Digestive Medicine Department said the patient kept leaking oil. Perhaps because she was leaking so much, she got a bit panicked and came to the hospital. As soon as we took off her pants and took a look, the first impression was that there was too much oil, and there might be a problem. But then, a piece of enoki mushroom poked its head out. In my teacher's words, when he performed the first physical examination, he saw an enoki mushroom saying hello to him."

"Damn it!" Deputy Director Zou exclaimed.

"The enoki mushroom was expelled, and then everything the girl had eaten that night was clearly visible. Things like beef, crab sticks, shrimp paste..."

"Stop!" Deputy Director Zou frowned, and after a *slurp*, he said seriously, "That's too disgusting. Are you trying to stop me from eating hot pot in the future?"

"Ha." Ji Xiang laughed.

"At most, I see a hot pot feast inside a stomach, scooping it out handful by handful, mixed with blood clots. Those blood clots look like blood tofu, mixed in with the hot pot seasonings. Sometimes when I eat hot pot and see a pot bubbling away, I feel like I'm performing surgery."

"But yours, that's too disgusting. Xiao Ji, I've been in Gastrointestinal for over twenty years, and that line about the enoki mushroom saying hello is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard."

Although he said that, Deputy Director Zou's expression remained unchanged.

They were both old hands; neither should try to disgust the other.

"Sometimes when it's my turn for the emergency shift and I get a call in the middle of the night to rush over for surgery, I have a habit of drawing a lot first," Deputy Director Zou said while changing his clothes.

'Drawing a lot? Left eyelid twitching means you're going to get rich, right eyelid twitching means screw that feudal superstition?' Ji Xiang asked.

"Hahaha, it's a real lot. I once performed an appendectomy for a Taoist priest. The priest specifically requested me to do it, saying that after divination, he determined that me performing the surgery would absolutely be fine."

"*Slurp~*"

As Deputy Director Zou spoke, he was high-spirited and extremely proud.

"Amazing!" Ji Xiang gave a thumbs up, "And then, Teacher Zou, you learned the trick?"

"He said he wanted to give me a silk banner, you know, when in Rome. I didn't take it, but I asked for his divination lot cylinder. Every time before an emergency surgery, I have to shake it—*clatter, clatter*."

"What if you get the worst lot?"

"Shake it again, of course, until I get the best lot," Deputy Director Zou glanced at Ji Xiang, "What else?"

The Book of Changes says: The first divination informs; the second and third are blasphemous, and if blasphemous, there is no information.

Ji Xiang forcibly swallowed these words back; as long as it wasn't the best lot, it was feudal superstition!

It was just seeking a good omen, why should he care so much?

"Xiao Ji, there's nothing else to do for now. Go and familiarize yourself with the medical records of our department. If anything comes up, call me directly," Deputy Director Zou chatted for a while, then instructed Ji Xiang after changing his clothes.

"Teacher Zou, I want to go see the post-operative patient," Ji Xiang suddenly said, out of the blue.

"*Slurp~*"

Deputy Director Zou was slightly stunned.

But then he smiled slightly. Young people like Ji Xiang were the most meddlesome. After all, they were young; they were curious about everything they saw in clinical practice and felt they had to get involved in everything.

Deputy Director Zou didn't stop him, just smiled; once Ji Xiang hit a wall, he would naturally change his ways.

Right now, nothing he said would be effective.

"Teacher Zou, can I chat with the patient's family members for a bit?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Go ahead and chat. As long as you don't say anything too outrageous, I've got your back," Deputy Director Zou took the responsibility.

Ji Xiang "requested instructions" from Deputy Director Zou, changed his clothes, went out, and scanned the family members waiting at the door for the patient to come out.

"Family of Wei Liangcheng!" Ji Xiang called out.

"Over here," several middle-aged people gathered around.

They were very surprised to see that Ji Xiang was young. Although there was no disdain or slight, that lack of trust was written all over their faces.

"Hello, Wei Liangcheng's surgery is finished, and it went very smoothly," Ji Xiang stated clearly.

"The 5 polyps in the stomach were all around 0.3cm x 0.3cm; there were 8 polyps in the colon, 7 of which were small, around 0.2 x 0.3cm, and the largest was 0.8cm x 0.9cm. All of them have been removed."

"Where is he? When will my father come out?" a family member asked.

"Right away. He can come out once he wakes up from the anesthesia," Ji Xiang said, "After the surgery, it is recommended to observe for 48 hours..."

Before Ji Xiang could finish his sentence, the attitude and aura of the patient's family members shifted instantly.

Their impatience was written on their faces, not even bothering to hide it.

"Little Doctor, at the district-level hospital, polyp removal means you go straight home. Does your dignified Affiliated Hospital still require hospitalization for check-ups? Are you that short of money?"

"Exactly. I don't believe your Affiliated Hospital's technical level is worse than the district hospital."

"There are too many people in the hospital, and my dad doesn't sleep well. We'll go home after observing for two hours if everything is fine."

Hearing the Family Member's explanation, Ji Xiang thought of the Intestinal Obstruction patient who insisted on eating fatty meat to "lubricate the intestines" during his own experience of Empathy, and he smiled helplessly.

Although it was not the same illness, the mindset of the patient and the Family Member was much the same.

"Uncle has quite a few polyps, and the largest one is already close to 1cm, so it is best to observe for a while," Ji Xiang continued to explain.

Seeing Ji Xiang come out to give instructions to the Family Member, Fan Dao did not step forward, but instead raised his hand to signal the Camera Crew to start recording.

(End of this chapter)