Chapter 771: Great Brilliance

"Meng Laoshi." Ji Xiang scratched his head, "This kind of rare patient is very difficult to handle. What if their heart stops on the way to the ward?"

"Well, you know it's just a 'what if'." Meng Qingfei smiled, "Cases where intubation leads to severe pleural reaction resulting in cardiac arrest and an inability to resuscitate are rare. That's actually a bit conservative; at least in my career as a Doctor, I've never encountered it once."

"It's equivalent to an Urban Legend, though of course, being careful is the right thing to do."

"Besides, if we take precautions early and I take the Emergency Kit to transport them, what if there's a major emergency rescue needed in the Surgery Department during that time? What would you do then?"

"Add a few more Doctors? Heh."

Continuing this conversation would be redundant, so Meng Qingfei changed the subject.

"Xiao Ji, let me ask you about a common matter."

"Meng Laoshi, please go ahead."

Meng Qingfei wasn't in a rush; he went to wash his hands first, then wiped them vigorously on the seat of his White Uniform. The two black smudges became even more obvious after being soaked with water.

Returning to the Duty Room, Meng Qingfei opened the window, and the cold wind from outside poured in all at once.

"That's the only bad thing about smoking; the winter in the Northeast is too cold, and the ventilation isn't good. I rarely smoke when I'm on duty," Meng Qingfei explained.

But the next second, Ji Xiang had already taken out a cigarette and handed it to Meng Qingfei.

Meng Qingfei took a puff and asked, "Xiao Ji, you must have encountered situations in the ward where a Family Member refused resuscitation, right?"

Ji Xiang nodded.

"Let's assume a common scenario: for example, a Patient is terminally ill and can only be kept breathing with an Anesthesia Machine. Due to the high costs in the ICU, the economic situation of the Family Member, and other factors, the Family Member decides to give up treatment after careful consideration."

"Tell me, what would you do if you encountered something like this?"

Meng Qingfei held the cigarette in his hand, looked deeply at Ji Xiang, and asked about a common Clinical situation.

This question wasn't difficult. After thinking for a moment, Ji Xiang said earnestly, "First, I would find all the Patient's immediate family members to see if their attitudes are unified."

"If they aren't unified, I would go to the Medical Affairs Department."

"If they are, I would write a very rigorous communication regarding the medical condition, clearly noting that the Family Member requested to give up treatment and will take responsibility for all consequences."

"The signature form must be signed and thumbprinted by all of the Patient's immediate family members. It should be in duplicate; one copy stays in the Medical Record, and I keep the other one myself."

Meng Qingfei listened to Ji Xiang's long explanation and nodded with satisfaction.

Ji Xiang's handling wasn't exactly airtight, but it was standard and proper. Especially the part about keeping a copy himself—that action might seem meaningless, but it could prevent many accidents.

He hadn't expected Ji Xiang to be so shrewd.

But Meng Qingfei still wasn't satisfied. He continued to ask, "According to what you said, the Family Member is cooperative, you leave one signed form in the Medical Record, and lock one in your own locker. What then?"

"Then we can only extubate," Ji Xiang said with a hint of regret.

"Oh?" Meng Qingfei gave a playful smile, "If that were the case, the Patient would die."

Ji Xiang was slightly stunned.

"A Doctor's code of conduct includes a clause that one must not harm a patient's life in any way."

"Although the Family Member signed to give up treatment, causing the Doctor to remove the Anesthesia Machine, which indirectly led to the patient's death."

"As for you, you have the Family Member's signed consent, but whether this communication has legal validity is another matter. If the Family Member has bad intentions and decides to turn around and bite back, there's no telling how a court would rule."

"!!!" Ji Xiang's eyes narrowed into slits.

Meng Qingfei's words made his heart thump.

"But let's think about it from another angle—the Family Member cannot afford the treatment costs, and there is no corresponding institution to resolve the financial issue."

"Emmmm, is this really something a Doctor should be worrying about? Damn!"

Meng Qingfei grumbled.

"The Family Member firmly requests to give up treatment, and the Doctor has obtained authorization from all immediate family members. In terms of reason, there is no subjective intent to cause the patient's death. It is also helping the patient, so there should be no error in the eyes of the law."

"Tell me, how can you minimize your own risk?" Meng Qingfei asked, sitting with his legs crossed, cigarette dangling, looking rather cavalier.

The last sentence was a bit convoluted, but Ji Xiang understood instantly.

It wasn't hard to understand; the focal point was that the Patient died after extubation. Assuming the Family Member didn't admit to it and decided to bite back, how could one ensure they were safe?

Meng Laoshi was sharing his Clinical experience.

Ji Xiang focused his mind and thought solemnly for the duration of a cigarette.

But in the end, Ji Xiang shook his head; he couldn't think of a better way.

What he had just said seemed very thorough and complete to him; the rest was up to fate.

However, Ji Xiang didn't feel it was right to tie his own future to whether or not a Family Member acted like a decent human being.

"When I was young, I encountered a similar patient. I didn't understand the handling by my superior Doctor at the time, but over the last ten-plus years, every time I recall that method, I always think it's brilliant."

Ji Xiang pricked up his ears like Shen Lang and listened intently.

"The patient was the same one I just mentioned. My superior Doctor first had a cordial exchange with the Family Member, showing Empathy for their difficulties, and said a lot of nonsense. But that nonsense can bridge the emotional gap between each other."

"Of course, the signing still had to be done."

"The superior Doctor didn't extubate immediately, but asked many relevant questions while talking nonsense. After learning that the Family Member didn't have the habit of going home to change clothes, he had the Family Member go to the pharmacy across from the hospital to buy a rubber ball."

A rubber ball—the thing that Anesthesia Doctors often squeeze.

"Extubation is the final step. Before extubation, you first process an automatic discharge. Right! You missed one item—the Family Member requesting an automatic discharge. Look at my memory; I felt like you missed something, and I forgot it in the blink of an eye."

"Uh..." Ji Xiang was slightly stunned.

"Automatic discharge has many benefits." Meng Qingfei earnestly explained a bunch of things about automatic discharge to Ji Xiang, then continued, "After completing the discharge procedures, then you extubate, and while squeezing the rubber ball provided by the Family Member, you send the Patient to the Treatment Room."

"Next, hand the rubber ball to the Family Member and let them squeeze it themselves."

As he spoke, Meng Qingfei looked into Ji Xiang's eyes and didn't continue.

Ji Xiang knew what Meng Qingfei meant; this was a test.

He had already explained things very thoroughly; the rest was for him to fill in.

"The Family Member squeezes the rubber ball, the Patient still has a breath, and technically the person was still alive when they were discharged. After that, whenever the Family Member gets tired of squeezing, it has nothing to do with the hospital or the attending Doctor."

Meng Qingfei didn't praise Ji Xiang, but sighed instead, "Tell me, what are we thinking about every day? With this kind of Spirit, shouldn't we be focusing on our professional skills?"

Only a Doctor could understand this old inside joke.

Ji Xiang also spread his hands helplessly.

"That's about it; you must remember that voluntary discharge is very important," Meng Qingfei said. "It involves a lot, and when voluntary discharge is discussed, you can basically determine the intentions of the Patient's Family Member."

Ji Xiang nodded solemnly; he understood what Meng Qingfei meant.

"Alright, that's enough said; there's no point in saying more." Meng Qingfei stretched. "You go back, and I'll get some rest early too. Tomorrow, your brother here is going to handle a big matter!"

Ji Xiang asked curiously, "Meng Laoshi, what big matter?"

"Buying a car," Meng Qingfei laughed.

"Oh, I see." Ji Xiang had no interest in things like buying cars, but having been infected by the gossipy atmosphere from Shen Lang, plus the sentence Meng Qingfei had just said, he still asked with great interest, "Meng Laoshi, what kind of good car are you planning to buy?"

"Do I look like the type who can afford a good car?"

"You're a Doctor at the Second Affiliated Hospital after all, it can't be that bad."

"Don't talk nonsense. For a Doctor at the Second Affiliated Hospital, it depends on which department. Orthopedics Department, those doing Interventional Surgery in Cardiology, the Tumor department, Plastic Surgery, and the Oral Department—these are all top-tier departments."

"By the way, do you play Texas Hold'em?"

Meng Qingfei pulled the topic straight to the ends of the earth.

"Occasionally, but I have no interest in it. I don't like bluffing," Ji Xiang said honestly.

"Regardless of the skill in Texas Hold'em, in many game videos, there is a dentist brother. According to the content creator, this person loses hundreds of thousands of dollars at the poker table every week."

"Uh, looking at it that way, Oral Department doctors are indeed quite wealthy."

"They are Oral Department doctors, after all." Meng Qingfei said, sighing deeply, "I was wrong back then. There were no practice requirements at that time, so I should have transferred to the Oral Department. Even if I went to the Oral Department, I shouldn't have gone into Oral Surgery to do Tumor surgeries; I should have just fixed teeth."

"If I had the foresight I have now when I was young, I wouldn't have to buy a cursed car."

Ji Xiang's ears perked up, "Cursed car? What cursed car?"

"The kind that has been in an accident and had people die in it."

"!!!"

Ji Xiang was stunned.

This kind of car can actually be sold?!

And Meng Qingfei, Meng Laoshi, actually dares to buy this kind of car?

"I know a guy who is honest in business. A cursed car is a cursed car; he doesn't avoid it at all. Just like someone selling a haunted house, he states it clearly from the start. It's actually quite good."

"Very cheap?"

"The cursed car I'm buying was in a major accident, and the previous owner died too. This Benz is only 7 years old, and it's being sold for the price of scrap metal."

"Meng Laoshi... that's not good," Ji Xiang frowned and advised.

"Pfft, after the founding of the country, nothing is allowed to become a spirit anymore, so why are you worrying about these things? Besides, when I was young, I was a socialist grand wizard."

"..."

Ji Xiang did not approve of Meng Qingfei's attitude at all.

Disbelief aside, it was still better to keep one's distance.

And although Meng Qingfei was spouting nonsense about being a grand wizard, his attitude was truly one of disbelief.

"Meng Laoshi, is it reliable? Please don't let anything happen," Ji Xiang still wanted to persuade him.

"Come, come, let me show you this guy," Meng Qingfei laughed and took out his phone.

He found the personal profile.

【I have been in the second-hand car industry for over ten years and have absolutely never sold a premium car. The condition of the cars is transparent; I don't cheat my buddies or my fans. If I say a few people died in it, then a few people died in it! If your fortune is strong, don't be afraid of nightmares, and don't be afraid of cheap prices.】

Finally, there was one more sentence—Important partner of the funeral home.

Emmmm.

Ji Xiang felt his head buzzing with pain.

Perhaps Shen Lang would like it, but Ji Xiang truly could not bring himself to like it.

"It's awesome!" Meng Qingfei praised.

"Selling it for the price of scrap metal, then Meng Laoshi, what car are you buying tomorrow?"

"Benz GLE350."

Ji Xiang sighed. So that was it; perhaps the system really could know the cause and effect, who knows.

"Let me show you my car." Meng Qingfei was already using "my" to describe it.

Ji Xiang stopped trying to persuade him. Meng Qingfei looked gentle and kind, but his temper was actually quite stubborn.

【7-year-old Benz GLE350, major traffic accident, Black Dog has inspected it, three people died in the back seat, blood not cleaned off, looking for someone who isn't afraid of trouble.】

Damn it!

Ji Xiang cursed in his heart.

This guy selling the car really wasn't afraid of trouble. He wrote everything clearly, from the major traffic accident to the three deaths, and even wrote that the blood hadn't been cleaned off.

Is this considered an alternative form of marketing?

Perhaps.

Everyone else sells premium cars, and when buying cheap cars, you don't know the condition; instead, people who are this honest and clear are easier to trust.

But Meng Qingfei, Meng Laoshi, really has guts!

Although Ji Xiang wasn't very afraid, it was still uncomfortable regardless.

"There's even interaction here." Meng Qingfei really didn't seem to care. He smiled and opened a video, finding a comment.

This was a 2013 Mazda that had two people die in it, and the buyer left a comment.

【Boss, why is the air conditioner still spitting out blood foam?】

The boss replied—【Isn't that normal? My car has it too. If your fortune is strong, don't be afraid. It's fine.】

Ji Xiang sighed.

Although he knew it was highly likely a joke between the fan and the content creator, this was still going a bit too far.

"Meng Laoshi, why don't we just forget it? I keep feeling like something is strange about this," Ji Xiang asked tentatively.

"Xiao Ji, let me ask you something." Meng Qingfei lay directly on the bed in the Duty Room, his feet resting on the edge of the ladder to the upper bunk, legs crossed, speaking in a relaxed manner.

"Please, go ahead."

"Tell me, many people go to the Snow Region and feel that the blue sky, white clouds, and snow-capped mountains can cleanse their souls. How do you explain that?"

"It's quite normal, I suppose. Just the affectation of literary youths," Ji Xiang replied.

"Hahaha, I think it's just brain hypoxia causing a short circuit, making them recall many things, so they feel happy." Meng Qingfei was very skilled at spouting nonsense.

"Hahaha." Ji Xiang laughed out loud.

"So, from a materialist's perspective, it doesn't matter how many people have died in the car; as long as it's cheap, it's fine. Plus, if the engine hasn't had a major overhaul, it'll be reliable enough to drive once you buy it."

Ji Xiang deeply suspected that this guy Meng Qingfei was also suffering from brain hypoxia.

Well, that was hardly the same thing.

"Do we have few people dying in our hospital? To put it bluntly, I've seen more dead people than those shut-ins have seen... familiar living people," Meng Qingfei said dismissively.

"Meng Laoshi, you're awesome, a pure materialist."

"What others talk about is business; what I'm talking about is materialism."

Ji Xiang gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, enough nonsense with you. Hurry up and go back to get some rest." Meng Qingfei rolled over and got up, intending to send Ji Xiang off.

Just at that moment, an old woman came walking from the end of the corridor.

She was clutching her right hand with her left, and blood could be seen.

Meng Qingfei sighed, looking slightly dejected, "I'll handle this, you go back first."

"No rush, I can finish treating the Patient before I leave," Ji Xiang immediately reached out.

Meng Qingfei didn't stand on too much ceremony and happily tossed the keys into Ji Xiang's hand.

After changing his clothes, Ji Xiang saw Meng Qingfei was in the middle of taking the medical history, so he moved closer.

The medical history was very simple: the old woman had been picking up trash and accidentally cut her hand on broken glass; it was bleeding, so she came straight to the hospital for a dressing.

Ji Xiang brought the Patient to the Treatment Room, familiarly turned on the floor lamp, and examined the Patient's wound.

The wound wasn't deep, but it was quite long, about 5cm or so.

"Just two stitches will do." Meng Qingfei glanced at it and gave his treatment recommendation.

"No, no, I just need a dressing, no need for stitches, no need," the Patient hurriedly refused.

"It's best to get two stitches; it won't even hurt, don't worry, ma'am," Meng Qingfei said politely.

"I really don't need to."

Meng Qingfei gave Ji Xiang a look.

"Ma'am, when the anesthetic is injected, it'll feel just like a mosquito bite, it won't hurt at all, please rest assured."

Ji Xiang revealed a friendly, pure smile.

"Uh... I don't have any money, just a dressing is fine, it's just a small wound anyway," the Old Man said with some difficulty.

Meng Qingfei didn't speak; he watched Ji Xiang and the Patient with great interest.

Similar situations were very common in the hospital, and Meng Qingfei clearly wanted to see how Ji Xiang would handle it.

"Sigh," Ji Xiang laughed, "Ma'am, it's fine. It's the middle of the night, and I find it troublesome to fill out forms and collect money. Let's just quickly finish these two stitches, you can go, and I can get some rest."

"..." The old woman was stunned for a moment.

"But you still need a Tetanus shot, it's not expensive. Let's hurry, you don't have to pay for the Suturing or anything."

"..."

Ji Xiang persuaded her a few more times, then went to Meng Qingfei's locker to retrieve a spare anesthetic.

Meng Qingfei just watched with a smile, not saying a single extra word.

Since it wouldn't cost money, the Old Man didn't insist. Ji Xiang put on gloves, cleaned the wound, and then administered the anesthetic and performed a simple two-stitch Suturing.

The whole process didn't even take 10 minutes.

Ji Xiang aligned the skin edges and said with satisfaction, "Go on, I'll write you a prescription for Tetanus."

While waiting for the Patient to pick up the medicine, Meng Qingfei asked with a smile, "You're quite good at doing favors."

"The Old Man still has to pick up trash; two stitches make it more secure."

Meng Qingfei smiled at this, but didn't say much more.

"I have some anesthetic stored there too." Ji Xiang scratched his head; he knew it wasn't great to take Meng Qingfei's spare anesthetic, as those were bought out of his own pocket, so he said apologetically, "I'll bring you some another day."

Meng Qingfei waved his hand, "Xiao Ji, doing this is fine when you're on the night shift in the Emergency Department, but the Head Nurse in the department is quite strict."

"Oh, that matter, it's no problem," Ji Xiang smiled, "The Head Nurse doesn't manage me."

"Hmm?" Meng Qingfei was puzzled.

Over the last dozen years or so, cost-performance assessments had become increasingly strict; the department's income and expenses had to have the bonuses of the bureaucratic parasites deducted before the final performance bonus was calculated.

One Head Nurse after another had turned into a miser; let alone Suturing, even a small procedure or the use of a cotton swab was watched closely.

Leaked fees?

They simply didn't exist.

If you ran into a fierce Head Nurse, she could stand in the corridor and scold a doctor for an hour over a leaked fee.

Yet Ji Xiang said the Head Nurse didn't manage him.

"Is your Head Nurse that gentle?" Meng Qingfei was somewhat confused.

Whether it was the Head Nurse of the Urology department or the Orthopedics Department, none of them seemed to have anything to do with being gentle. Meng Qingfei was puzzled; could Ji Xiang's good looks have reached such a level?

"I wrote two SCI Thesis papers for the Head Nurse as second author," Ji Xiang said very casually.

"..."

Meng Qingfei was moved to tears.

So Ji Xiang had already paid all the expenses, and even paid in advance; he was truly generous.

Damn it!

This is just throwing money at the problem!

If he were the Head Nurse, he certainly wouldn't bicker with Ji Xiang over such a trivial matter.

Even if Ji Xiang poked a hole in the sky, as long as he himself didn't suffer a serious injury, he would protect Ji Xiang no matter what.

But this matter was absolutely impossible to replicate, and Meng Qingfei didn't want to replicate it either.

"Awesome," Meng Qingfei said, giving a thumbs up, praising Ji Xiang just as Ji Xiang had praised him for buying the car.

Two SCI Thesis papers as second author—many professors didn't even have that, yet Ji Xiang just casually gave them away to the Head Nurse.

"Heh, it's alright," Ji Xiang laughed. "I just wanted to make things easier while working; otherwise, there are too many rules in the Shen Ke now, which is inconvenient. Besides, for SCI Thesis papers, as long as they don't have many citations, they aren't of much help to me. I'm just buying some peace of mind."

"Who told you that?"

"No one told me." Ji Xiang recalled the many times he had used Empathy, but he couldn't tell Meng Qingfei about that, so he could only brush it off. "By the way, it was mainly you, Meng Laoshi, who told me."

"..."

"You could say it was teaching by example."

"I'm not that generous," Meng Qingfei said with disdain.

"Then I'm leaving, Meng Laoshi." Ji Xiang didn't argue with Meng Qingfei and waved goodbye.

"Alright, go ahead."

Watching Ji Xiang leave, the night shift Nurse grabbed Meng Qingfei. "Brother Meng, did you collect the fees?"

"Forget it," Meng Qingfei said. "The Old Man is still out picking up scraps in the middle of the night; it's not easy for him. Let it be."

"You explain it to the Head Nurse tomorrow morning," the little Nurse said, simply passing the buck to Meng Qingfei.

Meng Qingfei was also very helpless; although this was Ji Xiang's mess, it had fallen on him in the end, and he had to resolve it.

Sigh.

Meng Qingfei sighed and pondered Ji Xiang's methods of doing favors.

It really was very hard to replicate.

Thinking back to the Clinical experience he had shared with Ji Xiang, combined with Ji Xiang's way of handling the Old Man who picked up scraps, Meng Qingfei felt he was a bit greasy.

Perhaps when one reaches middle age, it's not just the skin that becomes oily; the way one does things also becomes more greasy.

Ji Xiang is better; young and full of energy, he acts cleanly and decisively, with very few worries, going all out, charge, charge, charge.

Meng Qingfei envied Ji Xiang to his very bones.

He wondered how far this child would go in the future.

Late at night, in Shanghai, a group of people were still in a meeting.

The Old Man who had witnessed Li Cailing winning the championship sat in the corner, listening to an Expert from Shanghai Huashan Hospital explain his understanding of the athletes' conditions.

The National Sprint Team had been having bad luck recently; they were about to participate in the Diamond League, but two of their top players had been injured one after another.

With a little over two years left until the Olympic Games, the General Administration was still planning to let them hone their skills for two years to win gold and silver at the subsequent Olympic Games.

The local authorities also wanted them to show their strength at this year's National Games.

But no one expected that the two of them would suffer serious injuries one after another, and it was the Achilles Tendon Rupture that athletes feared most—the kind of major injury that affects one's professional career.

The Expert from Huashan Hospital suggested sending the athletes to Wellington Hospital in the United Kingdom or some hospitals in the United States for surgery.

Although the results... were hard to say, that was, after all, where the world's top hospitals for Sports Medicine were, and there was no better way.

But now, the Old Man had another choice.

(End of chapter)