Chapter 709: Lao Wangtou is still alive!

Many more days passed, and Ji Xiang gradually understood the system's intent.

Zhou Jiaoshou was teaching him how to perform heart surgery hands-on; such an opportunity was rare!

So that was it; this was the system opening a back door for him!

Here in the Heart Surgery Department, they didn't just perform surgical operations; they handled everything, including cardiac interventional surgery.

The Circulatory Internal Medicine Department was relatively weak, at least in front of Zhou Congwen, Zhou Jiaoshou.

Ji Xiang seized the time to learn cardiac interventional surgery and surgical operations from Zhou Congwen; watching the values on his skill sheet skyrocket, Ji Xiang was very happy.

Having a cheat is truly great; the system NPC and Zhou Jiaoshou often opened back doors for him, especially this time—it couldn't have been more obvious.

Ji Xiang even felt a little reluctant to go back.

A full month passed, and one day, after a surgery ended, Zhou Congwen called out, "What are we eating for lunch? I'm going to order food."

"Director Zhou, five burgers, six chicken wraps, and twelve egg tarts. Oh, and eight chicken legs, all large portions!" the Nurse replied.

"Do you want ice in the cola?"

"No cola, I'm on a diet."

"Pfft." Ji Xiang laughed out loud.

With that, they were still on a diet?

The nurses in the operating room were all quite plump; Ji Xiang knew this was a type of overwork-induced weight gain.

Shen Lang turned to take off his Lead Clothing, and he said sneakily, "Xiao Ji, I'll wait for you in the changing room in a bit."

Ji Xiang was stunned for a moment; what did this guy Shen Lang want with him?

Was there a problem with today's surgery?

His own level of cardiac interventional surgery was improving rapidly; although he couldn't catch up to Shen Lang, it wasn't far off.

And this was even without being able to use the "Autumn Hair" ability within the system.

However, Ji Xiang still nodded.

Through their contact over this period, Ji Xiang's feelings toward Shen Lang had improved a lot.

This guy was just fond of gossip; other than that, he was a purely good person.

Every day off, he didn't play games, didn't go out to indulge in debauchery, and wasn't a fishing enthusiast; instead, he stayed home and wrote novels on his laptop.

He was a pure person.

Moreover, Shen Lang's technical level couldn't be called very high—after all, Zhou Jiaoshou was in charge—but it was at least decent.

After sending the Patient back, Ji Xiang returned to the changing room and saw Shen Lang smoking with a deep expression on his face.

"Lang Ge, I did the surgery beautifully today, right!" Ji Xiang asked with a smile.

"Let me tell you, Lao Wangtou isn't dead," Shen Lang said in a low voice.

"!!!"

A thunderclap exploded over Ji Xiang's head.

Lao Wangtou had been discharged against medical advice for a month already, and Ji Xiang had long since put him to the back of his mind; it was only when Shen Lang spoke that Ji Xiang reacted.

Not dead?!

And the Empathy hadn't ended? No wonder this Empathy was so slow to finish; it turned out it wasn't over yet.

But... it was impossible for Lao Wangtou not to be dead!

When Lao Wangtou was discharged against medical advice, his various indicators were already at the Extreme Point; medication could no longer sustain him. At the time, there were only two situations—either go to the ICU to maintain vital signs with an Anesthesia Machine, ECMO, and other equipment; or go home and wait for death.

Lao Wangtou's grandson chose to go home and wait for death.

With those indicators, Ji Xiang believed that if Lao Wangtou lived for 24 hours after being discharged against medical advice, it would be a small miracle; if he lived for 48 hours, it would be a miracle of ancestral proportions.

But Old Man Wang had lived for over a month and still wasn't dead; was this the rhythm of a mythical Jianmu tree growing on their family's ancestral grave?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

"You don't believe it, right." Shen Lang's expression was somewhat gloomy, but only his eyes were glowing, filled with a longing for gossip.

Ji Xiang even felt that compared to the eerie, sinister legends of absorbing others' life spans, Shen Lang didn't care at all; he cared more about this piece of gossip.

"Of course I don't believe it, Lang Ge," Ji Xiang said. "The patient had blood drawn every day before discharge. Respiratory Alkalosis, Metabolic Acidosis, Renal Failure, Respiratory Failure, Heart Failure. Any one of these is fatal."

"Yeah, I can't figure it out either." Shen Lang sat under a 【No Smoking】 sign with a cigarette between his fingers, frowning in thought.

"Lang Ge, did you see it with your own eyes? Are you sure?"

"I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'm planning to go take a look today," Shen Lang said. "There's an old patient near Lao Wangtou's house; I called him and specifically instructed him to tell me any information regarding Lao Wangtou."

"!!!"

Ji Xiang was speechless at Shen Lang's persistence.

And he had such wide connections that he could even find someone to keep watch.

"He's a retired employee, you know; they have high pensions and don't have to pay for hospitalization, so others are jealous."

Ji Xiang didn't understand, so he nodded and noted down Shen Lang's words to ponder later.

"Actually, I didn't contact that patient either; he contacted me, asking about Lao Wangtou's situation."

"Ah? Why?"

"Jealousy, I guess," Shen Lang said. "I just happened to ask him to help me take a look."

"And then?"

"Later, word of mouth spread through the residential complex. He lives in an old company housing area; they are basically all former colleagues, everyone knows each other, and everyone is jealous. They said Lao Wangtou must have died long ago, and his grandson just isn't reporting it to keep collecting his salary."

Ji Xiang knew nothing about this and learned what "collecting a salary while not working" meant.

Although Shen Lang described the situation of collecting unearned salaries within the hospital, unlike Zhao Zhe, his attention remained on Lao Wangtou, and he didn't go off-topic.

"This matter is getting more and more outrageous, to the point where people from his unit want to go check the situation."

"But last night, Lao Wangtou's grandson pushed Lao Wangtou out for a stroll."

"!!!"

Ji Xiang was dumbfounded.

Whether it was Respiratory Alkalosis, Metabolic Acidosis, or failure of other organs, which one of them wasn't life-threatening?

Just this!

Lao Wangtou had actually managed to hold on for a month!

"I suspect, Lao Wangtou's grandson is going to die," Shen Lang sighed and said.

Ji Xiang forced a smile; the smile was very stiff and somewhat awkward, "Lang Ge, do you really think Lao Wangtou can absorb people's lifespan?"

"Do you have any other explanation? With those indicators, could he live for a month? If you let Cong Wen take care of him, he wouldn't even live that long."

"..."

Ji Xiang was speechless.

With so many fatal illnesses, to be discharged automatically and go home without the intervention or treatment of hospital Doctors, surviving for a month was simply a miracle!

"I have no other explanation. What I told you before, 70 percent of it was a joke."

Shen Lang furrowed his brows tightly, taking one puff of his cigarette after another.

"During the time Lao Wangtou was hospitalized, you saw how many types of medicine I adjusted every day; my level is not low, at least higher than the average ICU director at a local level."

"Moreover, there was Cong Wen's guidance."

"To say our medical level is the best in the country might be bragging, but top five is definitely no problem."

"Even with that, I had to give it my all just to barely maintain him; how could he possibly stay alive after going home? Xiao Ji, you tell me, if it's not absorbing people's lifespan, is there any other explanation?"

Shen Lang said a long string of words.

This time, even Ji Xiang's worldview began to waver.

"Besides, the old Patient said they saw Lao Wangtou's grandson Wang Quan looking unwell, pale as a sheet; it's estimated that he won't live much longer after being drained."

(End of this chapter)