Chapter 2754: with translation of chapter title

The patient was sent to a room after simple disinfection; Zheng Ren was a bit puzzled—if following the old mindset, doing surgery counts as seeing blood, and Master Yan is a folk expert, surely there wouldn't be any taboo?

But Master Yan didn't say anything, so Zheng Ren just pretended not to know.

"Zheng Lao Ban, I'm Qiu Zhongyun, director of the Anesthesiology Department at the First Affiliated Hospital of Tiannan Medical University." Yan Zhangsen introduced him to Zheng Ren.

Director Qiu finally saw Zheng Lao Ban this time; he gave a polite greeting, bowing his waist slightly to show his respect.

"Director Qiu, you're too courteous," Zheng Ren said. "Actually local anesthesia could work, but having you here is best—let's hurry and prepare the epidural anesthesia."

Although Zheng Ren spoke politely, he had no intention of chatting with Director Qiu; after putting on his cap and mask, he had Master Yan prepare warm water for handwashing and disinfection, and put on the sterile gown Director Qiu brought.

As the dark green sterile gown was donned, an old house that had endured who knows how many years turned into an operating room, filled with the scent of modern technology.

"The lighting is a bit dim," Su Yun said. "I really miss the shadowless lamp."

"You haven't rotated through the Emergency Department?"

"Boss, the Emergency Department also has lights, right? We can't just shine a flashlight for this operation. There will definitely be shadows; given the situation, we'll have to overcome them ourselves."

After Director Qiu finished the anesthesia, he and Su Yun, who was wearing three layers of masks, positioned the patient. He didn't understand why Zheng Lao Ban's assistant wore three layers of masks—could it be that this is standard equipment for a Nobel Prize?

No way! Zheng Lao Ban, like an ordinary doctor, wore only one mask.

Director Qiu was quite tactful; he merely greeted and then said nothing more. Looking at the prominence of the patient's sacrococcygeal area, it somewhat resembled a Kocher needle. Who knows? We'll see once we open it up.

The door was tightly shut; Zheng Ren stood in the surgeon's position, not reaching out for Yi Ren to slap the willow-leaf blade into his palm, but directly said: "Blade, gauze."

"Bipolar electrocautery, adjust the power," Su Yun pressed the button on the electrocoagulator, and a beeping sound sounded.

Zheng Ren waited until the power was adjusted, then raised his hand and dropped the blade, making a direct incision about 15 cm long in the patient's sacrococcygeal area.

Fresh blood flowed out; the sterile gauze wiped it away, and then Su Yun began electrocautery to stop the bleeding.

Cutting layer by layer, the Kocher needle soon became visible.

"Uh… it really is a Kocher needle!" Director Qiu exclaimed involuntarily upon seeing the Kocher needle with his own eyes. How could it have "swum" all the way to this spot?!

"Definitely, what else?" Su Yun said offhandedly while assisting Zheng Ren with the dissection.

Director Qiu was still somewhat unaccustomed to Su Yun's manner of speaking, feeling slightly displeased. A young doctor speaking like that to him would have been kicked by him into some unknown corner of Fu Yiyuan.

But Director Qiu Zhongyun immediately thought of the feng shui master down the mountain standing guard in the wind, and tactfully decided it was better not to stir up any conflict.

"You must be Doctor Su, and you and Zheng Lao Ban are really young." Director Qiu said pleasantly, "At your age, I was still in the operating room doing anesthesia day after day without seeing the sun. Make a slight mistake and the chief would dress me down in a bloody scolding."

"Huh?" Su Yun glanced at Director Qiu out of the corner of her eye and then smiled, "Director Qiu, you're being too courteous. It's fine, it's a minor surgery—don't worry."

"By the way, aren't you and Zheng Lao Ban interventional doctors?" Director Qiu vaguely recalled that Zheng Lao Ban had something to do with surgery livestreaming, but he wasn't sure face‑to‑face; if he said the wrong thing he'd offend them thoroughly, so it was better to pretend he knew nothing.

"There's no such thing as a pure interventionalist; they're all people who switched careers midway." Su Yun said, "I'm from the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, and Boss is from the General Surgery Department."

"How long have you been doing interventional work?"

"As of now, it's been less than a year."

"……" Director Qiu stared, stunned. One year, a Nobel Prize? That's nothing short of Arabian Nights.

"You two are truly accomplished at a young age." Director Qiu sighed.

Su Yun was about to speak when a vibration came from the hemostatic forceps in her hand, followed immediately by a "pop" sound.

"Focus on the surgery." Zheng Ren said without looking away, his voice low.

"Boss, you're too stern, aren't you?" Su Yun didn't mind, smiling, "Director Qiu, don't you watch the surgery livestream from Xinglin Yuan? Boss has performed many chest‑abdomen procedures. Boss, this time we're getting a bargain—the fee for this operation exceeds what you'd earn from lecturing for a whole year."

Su Yun's thinking is rather scattered, making her speech a bit incoherent.

"The adhesions are severe; stay focused—bleeding must not exceed one piece of gauze." Zheng Ren continued with blunt dissection.

"I know, it definitely won't happen. Take a Kocher needle—if there's a lot of bleeding, would you still want to save face?" Su Yun said, but her hand wasn't slow; the electrocautery made a steady pop‑pop‑pop sound, like background music.

Director Qiu was engrossed in watching.

An experienced anesthesiologist has his own standards for judging and evaluating surgery, and is even more objective and fair than many surgeons.

This was the first time he personally witnessed Zheng Lao Ban performing surgery; the procedure… how to put it? It could be described as making the complex simple.

What is most feared in surgery? Not size, not complexity, but adhesions. When they're a mess, there's no operating field at all, and the surgery can't be done. Who knows whether a mass of adhesive connective tissue hides a blood vessel; once it bleeds, a slight loosening of the forceps leaves you nowhere to search.

Director Qiu had seen many surgeries with severe adhesions—intestines stuck together in clumps, lungs and pleura especially firmly adhered; a tug would rip a hole, and similar procedures simply couldn't be performed.

The surgery before us was no different; the tissue around the Kocher needle had been wrapped by connective tissue, and the adhesions had undergone severe organization.

But Zheng Lao Ban, with a hemostatic forceps in one hand and blunt scissors in the other, made no flashy moves; indeed, it could be said to be overly simple. No matter how difficult the spot, he just swiped, swiped, swiped to dissect, showing no sign of difficulty.

Su Yun held the electrocautery and hemostatic forceps, continuously staunching bleeding; the two of them coordinated perfectly.

Dissection, separation, hemostasis—all done in one smooth flow. The surgery was already one‑third complete, and the sterile gauze beside Zheng Ren showed only a speck of red blood, like plum blossoms scattered across pristine snow.

To say there's no bleeding at all would be nonsense, but every capillary is instantly sealed by cauterization, so there's no large‑scale bleeding.

The surgery was truly excellent; Director Qiu felt moved. Before, he'd occasionally heard others say that watching Zheng Lao Ban operate in the Xinglin Yuan surgery livestream was superb, but back then he hadn't really felt anything.

But seeing it in person, one could truly appreciate how impressive Zheng Lao Ban's surgery was.

Director Qiu was actually influenced by external things; from the moment he started up the mountain, he subconsciously placed himself in a low position.