Chapter 126: with translation of chapter title

The host triggered a hidden task, the warmth of the mortal world, task completed.

Task reward one——Completion of the second stage of the physician's parental heart, task reward settled separately.

Task reward two——Interventional Medicine Discipline related skill +200 points. Reward Experience Points 20000 points.

Zheng Ren felt a bit dazed; was the Big Pig Trotter system sending out red packets?

From the reward description, it seems I would rather fail the mission than let Zheng Yunxia's surgery be anything less than perfect, prompting the system to grant the reward temporarily.

When did the Big Pig Trotter become so kind?

Moreover, it instantly boosted all interventional-related discipline skills by 200 points, which is quite powerful.

The system divides interventional medicine into circulatory, neurointerventional, peripheral vascular, and visceral interventions, among others. Earlier, raising interventional surgery to master level also involved an all‑around boost; although 200 skill points are minor against the 5,000‑point master baseline, they still amount to about 800 points.

Really generous.

Zheng Ren glanced at the system panel; the second stage of Physician's Parent's Heart had shifted from gray to completed, so he claimed the reward—100 skill points and 1,000 experience points. Since the surgery time exceeded the system's limit, no extra reward was given.

Having performed two level‑3 interventional surgeries today, Zheng Ren earned 4+4=8 completion points toward the main quest, completing another round.

Now Zheng Ren is filthy rich; 10 skill points and 1,000 experience points are merely a drop in the bucket.

Gleefully eyeing his General Surgery skill at 3,162 points, with 1,849 skill points in reserve. In other words, if he spends all his points, Zheng Ren's General Surgery is already at master level.

After much hesitation, Zheng Ren cautiously decided not to complete his foundation‑building dream, thereby achieving master‑level General Surgery.

After all, the Emergency Department is a mess; you never know when an unsolvable problem will arise—and each such problem means a life.

With skill books, one can reach the peak of the advanced level. If I could accumulate 4,000 skill points…… I could instantly boost a discipline to master level……

Zheng Ren began to daydream.

It's human nature to want more once you have something; that's normal.

This is only one reason; more importantly, Zheng Ren feels that increasing skill points matters, but he also needs surgical experience to truly match high‑level abilities. For instance, performing an interventional liver cancer surgery gives him deeper insight.

Zheng Ren gazed at the General Surgery skill tree with a hint of regret, resolving to study hard—every bit of skill helps.

As for skill points, it's still best to hoard them; expert‑level ability is already sufficient for current patients.

It's been a while since he traded experience points for operating time; Zheng Ren has saved up 111,260 experience points, amounting to under 31 hours of surgery.

Zheng Ren feels the system is more generous when he practices appendectomy, with surgery time measured in days.

But if he had to do it again, he'd surely refuse.

That carries the risk of being erased, and the whole system is unstable, prone to collapse at any moment. Nowadays, with gentle breezes and drizzle, if the Big Pig Trotter system merely leaks a little, I'd be content.

Is it a case of slow and steady progress?

After taking stock of everything, Zheng Ren felt content, sitting quietly beside the vibrant pool in the system space, enjoying a rare moment of peace.

After a day of hustle, Zheng Ren now sits quietly, staring blankly at the pool, clearing his mind completely.

The pool had unknowingly grown a ring larger; windless, its water gleamed like a huge gem, crystal clear. The thatched hut opposite remained unchanged, its wooden door slightly open; Zheng Ren tried to cross but couldn't, so he could only gaze from the far shore.

The little fox by the gate grows ever more lifelike; even if it sprang to life the next second, Zheng Ren wouldn't be startled.

Though silent and still, when Zheng Ren meets the fox statue's gaze, he feels no fear or negativity—only a sense of familiarity.

He has no idea when, where, or why they might have encountered each other before.

He didn't dwell on it; let this tranquil, warm moment remain undisturbed by trifles.

As he gazed at the little fox statue, Zheng Ren's lips slowly turned up in a faint smile.

At this moment, times are peaceful.

…… => none.

After some time, Zheng Ren sensed someone entering the duty room. He stepped out of the system space and opened his eyes.

"Done eating?" asked the returning Su Yun. Zheng Ren, in good spirits, greeted her willingly.

"Mm." Su Yun still couldn't be bothered with Zheng Ren: "Professor Pei said that if he gets the chance and can't go, he'll hand over the flying knife; Director Pan had a few drinks and readily agreed."

Flying Knife?

Zheng Ren never thought he'd one day be linked to those two words.

Moreover, his interventional skill is already at master level, so doing a few flying knife cases is to be expected.

"Nonsense!" Su Yun retorted. "Professor Pei doesn't know the situation—does Director Pan not know either? What's the scope of your physician license? If you go out to perform flying knife procedures, any proper hospital will demand a copy of your physician qualification certificate; you'd be trying to do interventional surgery with only a General Surgery license."

Zheng Ren considered it and agreed that Su Yun made sense.

But this is just a minor detail, not important.

I never even thought about doing this on the side; being busy at the hospital every day isn't enough? Sure, flying knife could bring in a lot of money, but what would an inpatient chief need all that cash for?

A lonely single who doesn't even dare to seek a girlfriend.

"And them?" Zheng Ren shifted the topic.

"Chu Yanran, Chu Yan zhi, and Xie Yiren went home together, because Xie Yiren lives closer, making it easier for her to handle evening emergency cases."

"How convenient is that?" Zheng Ren had no clue; he'd once heard Xie Yiren mention that her place was very near, even with her own garage.

But poverty limited Zheng Ren's imagination; he couldn't even picture a realistic scenario.

"The hospital is just a five‑minute walk away." Su Yun said it simply, then started changing clothes, pulling a clean set of bed sheets from the cabinet and laying them out.

City First Hospital lies in the city center; a five‑minute walk in any direction leads to the city's most upscale neighborhood.

A five‑minute walk translates to about one or two minutes by car. Driving straight to the hospital's underground garage and taking the elevator to the operating room takes no longer than pushing a patient there.

"Tsk, having money is nice," Zheng Ren thought.

"By the way, while you were eating, I just performed another postpartum hemorrhage interventional procedure; if I have time I'll go check on the patient." Zheng Ren suddenly recalled and said.

"Got it," Su Yun replied flatly, without surprise.

That night was peaceful—no drunk driving, no wine racks, no medication, no bleeding; the world seemed to settle into calm.

If nobody got sick every day, how wonderful that would be.

Zheng Ren had a dream, in which everyone was prosperous and healthy, living in peace, and he was very happy.

But that was just a dream.

At 3:30 a. m., Zheng Ren was awakened by the urgent ringing of the phone: "Chief Zheng, something happened!"