Chapter 2040: with translation of chapter title

1969: People hadn't left, but the tea had gone cold.

The surgery ended, Liu Zewei stood in the operating room, feeling somewhat awkward.

Actually, he hadn't been with the Medical Team for long—less than two months.

But Liu Zewei felt he was indispensable, and even after learning that Director Jin was seriously ill, he spent several hours in inner conflict before deciding to stay.

In life, one cannot be unrighteous.

Boss Zheng taught the surgery with all his heart and effort, and upon arriving here, Liu Zewei realized he himself had become simple and pure.

Only when Gao Shaojie answered the phone did Liu Zewei's heart skip a beat. With barely any hair on his head, he almost went bald in less than ten minutes.

With Lao Gao here, Boss Zheng's work won't be delayed, so Liu Zewei can relax.

Besides, speaking positively, if things were a bit darker, Liu Zewei wouldn't want to offend Boss Zheng, who would obviously become the nation's foremost scholar.

Old Gao is willing to give up competing for the director position and come to 912; that's the best.

A win-win.

But...

Liu Zewei never expected that, before he even left, new personnel would arrive to report.

It seemed coincidental, but Liu Zewei knew coincidence was merely a surface appearance.

Boss Zheng's Nobel Prize project team—who knows how many people are eyeing a spot in it.

Only then did someone 'squeeze' in, and Liu Zewei realized how much pressure the person standing behind Boss Zheng was under.

That's what they say, but he hasn't even left and already can't go into surgery...

This also made Liu Zewei feel regretful, even a little sour in his heart.

Turns out he wasn't that important.

The girl with a ponytail looked young, but she was a Harvard Medical School doctor. Her surgical skill wasn't apparent yet, as in these two surgeries she was merely an assistant.

But looking at her disinfection, preparation, and assistance, she was a seasoned pro—her movements clean and neat, with no wasted motion.

Even working alongside Boss Zheng was fine; Boss Zheng hardly needs a partner and can operate just as quickly alone.

But working with Professor Rudolf Wagner really highlights the issue.

The girl didn't hold the professor back; although it was a relatively simple intestinal stent procedure, she completed it competently.

Before he even left, the tea had already gone cold.

Liu Zewei began to feel self-pity, even though he knew he had asked to leave; Boss Zheng hadn't driven him away.

But whenever he realized his role wasn't that significant, he'd feel unhappy.

Boss Zheng's Medical Team is like a machine, each person a part. Aside from Boss Zheng, the team keeps running even if someone is missing—though initially the coordination was a bit rough.

As for the unimportant parts, swapping in a replacement is fine.

This is the root of Liu Zewei's displeasure, and also the factual truth.

"Old Liu, why haven't you gone back to pack your things?" Zheng Ren asked.

"When I'm out, there's nothing to bring back." Liu Zewei touched his head, wearing the sterile cap; although the cap was there, the feel was different from before, but the gesture had become a habit.

"I said I'd see you off tonight, but two emergency surgeries came up. Since you're free over there, just grab a quick bite." Zheng Ren said while walking to the operating table to start cutting film.

Hu Yan Hui was cleaning up the equipment and supplies for the surgery livestream, while Lin Yuan examined the excised malformed intestine.

"Doctor Su..."

"What do you mean 'Doctor Su'? That's what the old chiefs call you; if you keep calling me that for a year, I'll grow white hair, and no amount of thick foundation can cover those deep wrinkles." Su Yun said while suturing with Feng Jianguo, and speaking to Lin Yuan.

That comment hit Lin Yuan's weakness directly.

Even she, who was always competitive and eager to win, fell silent—though she knew Su Yun was joking, she didn't dare try it lightly.

"Call me Yun Ge'er." Su Yun said.

"Um... that thing that was cut off, can I take a look?" Lin Yuan crouched beside the sterile drape on the floor, gently touching the malformed intestine with an oval forceps.

"Don't!" Su Yun and Feng Jianguo shouted in unison.

"Huh?" Lin Yuan exclaimed, "We should open it to see—what if there's mutant tumor tissue inside?"

"We need pathology; over there the ventilation is good, with a dozen or so fans blowing, which would reduce the smell." Seeing Lin Yuan had no intention of acting on his own, Su Yun watched him merely tap the specimen with the oval forceps and let out a breath.

"Don't open it!" Su Yun warned again, "If you open it now, the boss will kick you out of the Medical Team later."

"Why?" Lin Yuan asked, puzzled.

Even if there was the smell of fecal matter inside, Boss Zheng had already left—once the airtight lead door is shut, he won't smell it.

"How silly, the boss has left but Yi Ren hasn't stepped down yet." Su Yun gave Lin Yuan a disdainful glance, adding, "Besides, if you're down there and make an excuse to run off, Feng Ge and I will still be doing surgery."

That makes sense—Boss Zheng's girlfriend is still on the operating table. Lin Yuan saw Xie Yiren in the files today and thought the girl was truly lovely, naturally possessing an affable charm.

Although today was the first time he'd seen her and they hadn't exchanged many words, the impression she left was gentle and cute.

If that were the case, it would be a shame.

"I'm really curious." Lin Yuan set the oval forceps aside, crouched in front of the slightly elongated elliptical specimen, and examined it intently.

"Be curious about something else—what's there to look at? Go, go, stay away from that." Su Yun drove Lin Yuan out.

I'm really afraid that, out of curiosity, this thing will release twenty years' worth of fecal matter—the stench could knock someone out.

"Doctor Su... Little Su..." Feng Jianguo called out two names, feeling just as Su Yun had said—that he was already old.

"Haha!" Su Yun laughed, "Feng Ge, you won't also start calling me Yun Ge'er, will you? I wouldn't mind."

"Look at how you're saying that." Feng Jianguo pretended there was no psychological fluctuation, chuckling, "I thought we'd have to do a second-stage resection."

"I also thought we'd definitely need a second-stage resection." Su Yun didn't deny it, saying, "I never expected that inserting two stents would make the procedure so simple."

During the surgery, we lowered a membrane stent to the opening of the intestinal malformation, plugging the twenty‑year‑old fecal mass inside the deformed bowel, and there was no retrograde infection from the resection.

Now it sounds simple, but before the operation, not only Feng Jianguo, even Su Yun doubted that the surgery could be done that way.

Logically it can be reasoned, but after all, nobody has ever done it that way.

"Zheng Lao Ban's thinking is really impressive!" Feng Jianguo sighed, saying: "It looks as if it's done effortlessly."

"After doing many Shou Bing, he has reached another realm." Su Yun glanced at his own Boss outside doing X-ray, "Integrated and thorough? Doing as one pleases? That must be it."