Chapter 49: Wang Chuan, You

After the Dean and the head physician left, Zhang Yang smiled and said to Wang Chuan:

"Tomorrow, go to the bookstore and buy a microsurgery textbook."

"Also, take this notebook of microsurgery insights—it includes postoperative care. Go back and read it. It's my personal summary of every surgery I've performed, so combine it with the textbook."

Zhang Yang patted Wang Chuan's shoulder again. "Tonight, you'll be on night shift with me and Wu Qinghua."

"By the way, since this is your first long surgery, it'll surely exhaust you physically and mentally. So, go back, take a shower, and buy us some late-night snacks—dumplings or wontons are fine."

Wang Chuan left the office and found the female patient who had undergone cricothyroid membrane puncture, handing her a piece of paper.

The patient looked at it and asked, "You're the one who saved me?" She nodded.

Wang Chuan wrote another line: "Do you want to thank me?"

The patient nodded again. Today, ten suturing cases had all received patient gratitude.

Dingdong. Wang Chuan checked his panel: 【Peak Medical Skill Experience】 first activation progress: patient gratitude received, cumulative 17/100.

That's one short of the previous thanks from Xin Yisheng—otherwise it would be eighteen. Add the gratitude from today's severed finger patient, and it'll be nineteen.

Still far from one hundred. The number of emergency cases I can personally handle will take at least another seven or eight days.

Naturally, I can't wish for a major car crash or explosion.

What Wang Chuan truly wanted to know was: what exactly was the Peak Medical Skill Experience, and what was the reward?

He checked 【Virtual Operation Training】 again: fourth activation condition, 3/6.

Unfair—suturing skin wounds and replantation of severed fingers both counted as one, regardless of surgical difficulty.

After complaining, he returned to the Intern Dormitory. Luo De was on night shift; only Li Wei was in the dorm.

But another person was sitting beside Wang Chuan's bed.

"Wang Jia, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you're playing cards with Li Wei?"

"Playing cards?" Wang Jia lifted her eyes.

Li Wei looked confused: "What cards?"

Wang Chuan remembered that "playing cards" was a phrase popular in future short-video eras. He told Wang Jia: "Forget it, Miss Wang. Move your butt a little—I need to find a T-shirt on my bed."

Wang Jia stood up. "I went to the ER but couldn't find you, so I came here. I have something to ask you."

"What's your relationship with Pei Nanli and the Porsche girl who was barefoot?"

Wang Chuan ignored Wang Jia. "I'm going to shower—I still have night shift."

"Wang Jia, you're too nosy. Seriously."

Wang Chuan picked up his basin, slipped on slippers, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower with a splash, singing Lin Junjie's 2004 song "Jiangnan."

The wind here clings, sticking to the travelers' longing,

The rain here tangles into threads, binding us to this mortal world,

You're by my side—that's fate, written on the Three Lives Stone...

When he finished the song, his shower ended.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of eyes staring at his back—cold and chilling.

He was about to turn around when he heard Wang Jia's familiar, melodious voice: "Hey, don't turn around—just keep your back to me. I didn't know you were a King of Karaoke, Wang Chuan?"

"Wang Jia, I don't curse girls—but today, I'm cursing you: damn it, I'm showering and you barged in!" Wang Chuan shouted.

He never imagined his bare back had been fully seen by Wang Jia.

Wang Jia smiled sweetly. "Answer my question, and I'll leave."

"Wang Chuan, why are you shy? We're all med students—what haven't we seen? Your back looks nice, and below it's pretty..."

"If you dare stay, I'll turn around right now!" Wang Chuan twisted his upper body first.

A scream: "Wang Chuan, you pervert!" Wang Jia covered her eyes and fled in panic.

Wang Chuan knew some female med students were just tough-talking—Wang Jia was one of them.

Back in the dorm, he told Li Wei about Wang Jia's behavior.

Li Wei stared in shock, then burst out laughing. "Wang Chuan, you're not innocent anymore—you got spied on by Wang Jia!"

Wang Chuan asked: "She keeps asking if I have a girlfriend—what's she really after?"

"I just asked. She's asking on behalf of her cousin Lu Na. Wang Chuan, what's your real relationship with Pei Nanli? Are you still emotionally entangled?"

"And why has Lin Weiwei's attitude toward you changed so fast? She used to call you 'little brother.'"

Wang Chuan saw Li Wei was just as curious. He sighed. "Fine. The day I get a girlfriend, I'll tell you first."

Li Wei suddenly clapped his hands. "I've got an idea! Let's set up a betting pool—with Luo De, Wang Jia, and a few others. Who's your girlfriend? Pei Nanli? Lin Weiwei? Lu Na..."

Wang Chuan changed clothes, put on his White Coat, walked to the door, and paused for a second: "Your betting pool isn't rigorous—it's missing a time qualifier."

Outside the hospital, he saw four late-night snack stalls.

Before food delivery apps rose, there were always snack stalls outside hospitals at night—many doctors and nurses worked night shifts for patients' health.

The dim yellow light from the stall fell on a beautiful, delicate face.

The Boss lifted the pot lid; rising steam enveloped the upper body of a pretty girl.

"Lu Na!"

The girl turned her head and called out happily: "Wang Chuan!"

"Are you buying snacks for your ER teachers?"

Wang Chuan nodded. After some small talk, Lu Na's snacks were ready—but she didn't leave. She waited for his to be done so they could go together.

On the way, "Lu Na, isn't Wang Jia your cousin?"

"Mm. Why?"

Wang Chuan recounted Wang Jia's behavior, omitting the bathroom incident: "Tell your cousin not to pry into others' privacy—it's not right."

Lu Na's almond eyes sparkled, her lips curved in a smile: "Don't scold my cousin—she's interested in you."

"Wang Chuan, did you know? Tonight, your name has spread throughout Mingzhou First Hospital; every doctor and nurse on the evening shift knows there's an intern named Wang Chuan."

"As an intern serving as the assistant for a Replantation of Severed Finger, you successfully completed the surgery. That's incredible."

Adoration was unmistakable on Lu Na's face.

"I'm also curious—who is your girlfriend? Even Nurse Shang Yan from our Pediatrics Department holds you in high esteem."

"Shang Yan?... It's her. Wait, are you all this gossipy?" Wang Chuan asked, somewhat helplessly.

"Lu Na, we've reached the Emergency Department. Bye! Let's chat again when you have time."

Wang Chuan hurried back to the Emergency Department with quick, short steps, then proposed to Doctor Zhang Yang that they also deliver a late-night snack to Doctor Sun Ke, who was still in the Orthopedics Department.

His main intention was to see that female patient, hoping to earn another expression of gratitude, while also avoiding damaging his relationship with Sun Ke.

After all, he wouldn't be staying in the Emergency Department for just a day or two. In the future, when Attending Physician Sun was on duty, he might even get the chance to participate in procedures himself, rapidly accumulating instances of patient gratitude.

Ding-dong! The elevator heading to the Orthopedics Department on the Sixth Floor stopped at the Fifth Floor, and its doors slowly opened.

Pei Nanli and a middle-aged woman who bore a striking resemblance to her came into Wang Chuan's view.