Chapter 1987: with translation of chapter title

Zheng Ren and Director Pan and his wife came together to the hotel; Director Pan kept worrying about not being able to drink alcohol.

Although these two guys could come back to see him, Director Pan still felt relieved, his words carrying a hint of pleasure.

Just as they sat down, Director Pan's phone rang.

He took it out, held it far from his eyes, looked at it for a few seconds, then laughed.

"Zheng Ren, today there's a stranger coming to eat together." Director Pan said, then picked up the phone.

"You brat, finally came out of the mountains?"

"I'm at the Yingbin Lou… Of course, my little brat came back to see me… Whether they come or not, anyway I can't drink alcohol."

Director Pan's words were very familiar; he chuckled, told the other party the private room number, then hung up.

Although Zheng Ren felt a bit restrained by the stranger's presence, seeing Director Pan's elated demeanor, he also felt much calmer inside.

One can't let Director Pan's mood be spoiled.

"Zheng Ren, Su Yun, this is quite a remarkable person." Director Pan laughed, "I had said I'd introduce you to each other, but you two brats ran off to Di Du within a few months."

"Director, what kind of person is this?" Su Yun asked curiously.

Director Pan has extensive connections; one could say from the countryside all the way to Hai Cheng, he knows countless people.

In the past, medical standards were low, with barefoot doctors everywhere; Director Pan, however, was a highly educated standard, a legendary old military doctor.

Over the years, he has taken root in Hai Cheng; people in the surrounding counties are very familiar with him. I still recall a time when a female patient's family didn't want to give her surgery, and she nearly suffered a perforated appendix from being left untreated.

Director Pan made a phone call, summoning the village officials to Haicheng Shi Yiyuan, and then gave the patient's family a good scolding.

What kind of formidable person is this today?

"He's a very interesting person." Director Pan chuckled, "When I was demobilized and returned to the locality, back then I was the only one in Hai Cheng capable of performing liver cancer surgery."

"Director, impressive! Being able to do liver cancer surgery twenty or thirty years ago!" Su Yun gave a thumbs-up.

"Don't talk nonsense; back then the incision had to be 30 cm, whereas now you guys solve it with a needle-eye." Director Pan waved his hand.

"How could they be the same!" Su Yun said, "Back twenty or thirty years ago, just being able to do it was awesome!"

Zheng Ren nodded, the time periods are different, so they definitely cannot be spoken of in the same breath.

Director Pan felt pleased by Su Yun's flattery; he chuckled and continued, "Once I took on a patient who needed liver cancer surgery. Back then the surgical mortality rate was high, incomparable to now."

Listening to Director Pan's continual sighs, Zheng Ren guessed that over the past six months he too had gained some understanding of interventional surgery. After all, Director Pan cared about his situation, so he likely watched the livestreams.

If a doctor who had performed liver resections saw an interventional procedure followed by liver resection, the shock deep inside would surely be enormous.

Zheng Ren didn't speak, merely listening with a smile as Director Pan gossiped.

"Generally speaking, patients coming for surgery are terrified to death. Back then medical disputes weren't as serious as now, but I still habitually explained things in detail to patients and their families."

"But then something strange happened."

A bunch of little ones listened to Director Pan's story from who-knows-how-many years ago, yet they weren't impatient; this gossip must be quite entertaining.

Director Pan also knew Zheng Ren's quirk; for such a family banquet, if it were an ordinary person, he definitely wouldn't bring them in to eat.

"Back then I said, your illness requires surgery, and it's still a major operation. The patient, though frowning, readily said he knew."

"Oh?"

"I said the surgery might not be successful, and both the patient and his family said they knew that, and they were determined to have the surgery. Later he gave me a whole spiel; when I listened, the patient knew everything inside out. Although some parts were wrong, he actually understood many details of liver resection." Director Pan recalled the situation back then and chuckled.

"He knew?" Zheng Ren wondered.

Not to mention a few decades' old almanac; even now, when I explain things to patients and their families with only a half‑correct chance, they still need to hesitate for days. Not to mention understanding… even if they do understand, it's basically all wrong.

This is human nature.

When life is at stake, thinking and hesitating a bit is quite normal. Moreover, not being a medical student, how could one understand such a major operation as liver resection? What Director Pan said flowed a little too smoothly.

Furthermore, the main point is that back then there was no internet, so ordinary people couldn't go online to look up their condition.

"Was he also a doctor?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Yeah, I found it strange too. But when I asked, he was just an ordinary worker." Director Pan said, "So I deliberately said there was a 20% chance the surgery wouldn't succeed. Guess what the patient said?"

"…" Nobody could guess.

"He said the Daoist priest calculated his fate, that he bore the heavenly calamity, giving him a forty percent chance of not surviving this ordeal. If he could get through it, things would go smoothly thereafter. And the surgical procedure was what the Daoist priest told him."

"This is…"

"I was curious at the time, so I asked for details. It's said that on the north side of Lao Ya Mountain there is a Daoist temple with a priest who can do divination. The patient said the priest had even calculated the surgical procedure."

"…"

Zheng Ren was speechless; he really disliked this sort of superstitious nonsense.

Just from Director Pan's recent familiarity and the story he told from decades ago, it seemed there was something different.

"I was curious, so I asked for the address and then performed the surgery on the patient. The surgery was more or less successful; after discharge, the patient didn't show much gratitude to me, but kept chanting about the immortal of that Daoist temple on Lao Ya Mountain."

"I asked for the address, found some time, and went straight to Lao Ya Mountain. Back then the roads were bad; I walked for two days and one night before I could reach the small temple on the mountain."

"He wasn't a proper Daoist priest at all, just an ordinary person living in the temple; he told me that upfront when we met."

"Director, were you drinking happily back then?" Su Yun asked with a chuckle.

"Definitely!" Director Pan laughed heartily, his heroic spirit on full display, "I told him my identity, and that fake Daoist closed the gate and invited me into the inner room."

"After the college entrance exam was reinstated, he took it three times and still didn't get into university. Afterwards, feeling disheartened, he attended a medical college, which was that."

"After graduating from medical college, his old father passed away, so he inherited the mantle and looked after the incense of the small temple."

"Can Daoists marry?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Seems like they can marry, who knows. It's said that in the past monks could marry, and even now in the East it seems they still do." Su Yun said.

Zheng Ren didn't look into it further; this sort of thing depends on the school.

No matter the sect, as long as it has been transmitted for a long enough time, there will surely be countless branches, and countless interpretations of the doctrine.

Regarding this, Zheng Ren has always maintained an attitude of respect while keeping his distance.

"Back then I told him the patient's condition, and he told me, this Daoist priest was actually a psychologist. At that time there was no term for psychologist, so that's roughly what he meant."

Zheng Renyi heard and was delighted.

Someone who studied medicine later switched to become a Daoist priest, running a small Daoist temple and living a comfortable life; the key was that others positioned him accurately—as a psychologist.

……

……

Note: This is a matter forwarded in the Weibo of Guy Dabaihua; I will specially explain it here. Saving lives and healing the sick can also be done in other ways; I really like this person.