Great Doctor Ling Ran

“The bone is soft.”

“The periosteum is quite tough, don’t we need to peel it off?”

“Generally, people peel it off, but we don’t do that here.”

“Tasty!”

Zuo Cidian grabbed a rib and bit it with all his strength like a husky biting down on a bone.

Yu Yuan used her small hands, which were suitable for pulling out appendices and also aiding in obstructed labor, to hold the rib. Then, she bit down lightly with her teeth, which were suitable for cracking open pine nuts, to yank the meat off.

Ling Ran’s actions were more normal. He grabbed the rib with one hand and bit one side of the meat with his teeth. Then, he tore off a big chunk from it. He chewed vigorously before he swallowed.

“It tastes quite good even if we don’t peel the periosteum off.” Ling Ran praised and gave it a thumbs up.

“The presence of the periosteum makes it easier to retain the juice. The only problem is that it’s harder for the taste to seep in when we marinate the meat, but we have our own solution.” You Fengyu felt really good when he received the compliment from Ling Ran the specialist, so he showed off proudly.

“What’s the solution?” Zuo Cidian asked out of curiosity.

“Take a guess.” You Fengyu kept him hanging.

Ling Ran cast a glance at him and said, “You used a needle tube.”

“Huh? Doctor Ling, how did you manage to guess?” Not only was You Fengyu surprised, but a few doctors from Zhucheng People’s Hospital also showed surprise on their faces.

Ling Ran said, “I saw the pinhole.”

“These are all cooked ribs with added spices, yet you can still see the pinhole?” Yu Yuan was not good at surgery, but the more that was the case, the more desperate she was to understand everything on an operating table.

“Of course,” Ling Ran answered. “It’s just like a physical examination.”

“Yes.”

Yu Yuan whispered “attentive” to herself and started to find the pinhole in the meat.

Zuo Cidian took another rib after he finished the first one.

You Fengyu took another rib after he finished the first one.

Ling Ran took another rib after he finished the first one.

When Yu Yuan raised her head again, the remaining ribs were no longer there.

“They’re all gone?” Yu Yuan was so shocked that she looked like her winter supply had been snatched by others.

“I can get my people to bake another batch if they’re not enough,” said You Fengyu as he chuckled. “This dish is baked at low temperature, so the cooking time’s longer. We can watch an arthroscopic surgery, then come back for some more…”

“Low-temperature baking is good. Less water will evaporate, and that’s why the meat ends up tender and juicy,” Zuo Cidian concluded based on his experience.

“That’s the theory, and you need to cover it with the sauce and bake it repeatedly as well.” You Fengyu gave them the general gist of things, and he was not afraid of people stealing that information.

“If more patience is given during the injection, the sauce will be blended in the meat more thoroughly, right?” Zuo Cidian noticed Ling Ran’s facial expression so he purposely asked for confirmation.

Yu Yuan only listened to their conversation while she looked at the rib in their hands and licked her lips. “I can’t find the hole.”

“The hole in your rib is probably blocked.” Zuo Cidian smiled while he answered.

When the young resident doctor cleaned up the table and appeared to be in a state of helter-skelter when she did so, Zuo Cidian took out his notebook again. Under Yu Yuan’s headline, he wrote [Slow response] under the line, [Pays extra attention to feces].

..…

The doctors who were stuffed full of ribs staggered into the operating theater.

The chief surgeon, Zhang Pengyi, who was ready to participate in the surgery, washed his hands, took his surgical gown, and entered the operating theater. He smiled pleasantly when he saw Ling Ran do the same thing as him.

As for the other doctors, some who were particular put on alcohol-based hand sanitizers, while some who were sloppy did not even wipe their mouths. The color of Spanish paprika could be seen on their upper lips, and it was a brilliant shade of red; that was the look those doctors had.

The patient who was ready for the knee arthroscopy sat on the hospital bed. He was stunned when he saw the group of doctors who came in with red lips.

“A few colleagues of ours want to take a look at the surgery, don’t worry,” Zhang Pengyi explained to the patient before he made things clear. “We need you in a supine position, so please lay down.”

The patient looked at the doctors’ lips, and while he looked a little uneasy, he looked at the pale blue walls by his sides before he quietly lay down.

Ling Ran naturally stood across Zhang Pengyi and became the first assistant.

The original first assistant gazed at the chief physicians before he obediently gave away his position.

“Doctor Ling, can you put the tourniquet on the patient’s thigh?” Zhang Pengyi tentatively asked Ling Ran.

“Sure.” Ling Ran put the blue tourniquet on the patient, then he did the draping along with Zhang Pengyi.

Although he did not manage to become the chief surgeon, Ling Ran was not desperate. It was clear there were four cases of knee arthroscopy slotted in the surgery schedule that day.

Zhang Pengyi used a marker pen to mark the position of the patella, the space between the lateral knee joint, and the collateral ligament on the patient’s skin.

As he drew, Attending Physician Zhang Pengyi slowly gained confidence. He asked, “Doctor Ling, how do you feel now?”

“The anteromedial approach will work,” Ling Ran commented calmly.

Zhang Pengyi heard Ling Ran’s tone, and he could not help but lose confidence. “The patient mainly has problems with the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus…”

Ling Ran only hummed.

He had mastered Perfect Level Meniscoplasty and Specialist Level Arthroscopy Surgery, thus he could still come up with proper plans no matter what operative approach Zhang Pengyi chose. The only concern would be perfection and risk factors.

However, Ling Ran did not know if Zhang Pengyi had mastered a comprehensive set of skills for arthroscopy.

He observed while he cooperated with Zhang Pengyi. Then, he enthusiastically started the medical spoon-feeding technique…

Zhang Pengyi felt more comfortable as he operated. He thought that it was due to the smooth process during the surgery. However, from what the doctors around him saw, Ling Ran seemed to be pushing the surgery along, kicking Zhang Pengyi’s butt forward.

After thirty minutes, the meniscoplasty surgery was announced to be complete.

Zhang Pengyi was shocked by his own abilities. He took off his mask in excitement and spoke in a tone he had been preparing to use for a long time, “I’ll let you suture the rest.”

Then, Zhang Pengyi turned around and left.

After he left the operating theater, Zhang Pengyi slowed down to wait for the other doctors to come out and give him some compliments.

However, the surgery door did not ring after that.

“Doctor Ling, your skill in arthroscopy is fabulous!”

“Doctor Ling, you hide your talents really well. If I had known that you had such skill in arthroscopy, we could have accumulated five to six cases for you.”

Department Director You Yufeng chuckled and complimented Ling Ran.

Ling Ran immediately replied, “We can still make it now. We can finish the remaining cases.”

“About that… it’s mainly because we haven’t talked to the patients’ families about the specialist cost.” The size of You Yufeng’s arm was much bigger than Yu Yuan’s head, but he looked very cautious when he spoke.

Whenever a hospital hired a specialist for freelance surgery, the cost would usually be borne by the patient.

If they did not communicate earlier, things would be very troublesome later on.

Ling Ran replied without hesitation, “I won’t consider the arthroscopy as projects I’ve come for this time, so I won’t charge them any specialist fees.”

Once he made that promise, You Yufeng did not mind changing the chief surgeon at the last minute. After all, it was just minimally invasive meniscoplasty, and everyone wanted to look at Ling Ran’s skills again.