Chapter 349 237: The City First Hospital Badge
When you're yanked back from the brink of despair, your mind often goes blank. It just can't keep up.
The body, however, is much more honest. His legs gave out instantly, and he collapsed to the ground, silent for a long while...
Yang Xu was surprisingly kind, patting the man's shoulder comfortingly.
After a moment, the man struggled to his feet, walked over to Jiang He, and said weakly:
"Doctor... thank you. And I'm sorry..."
"What are you sorry for?"
"Before, in the operating room... I was just so worried, I..."
"?"
Jiang He froze.
'What's this guy mumbling about?'
Yang Xu stepped in. "You should be saying that to Director Wang."
Then he explained to Jiang He, "He was on edge earlier, got a little impulsive. You know how Director Wang is. The two of them nearly got into a fight..."
"Ah, I see."
Jiang He got it.
'That was perfectly normal for someone like Wang Zhengchu. Not that it was Wang Zhengchu's fault, just... it was completely in character. Gotta stack my defenses. Okay, moving on.'
"Doctor, can I... can I go in and see her?" the man asked, his voice hoarse.
Jiang He replied, "Not right now. The patient experienced shock and significant blood loss, and there's a risk of abdominal infection. The next forty-eight hours are critical. She's about to be transferred to the ICU for close observation, and the baby will need further fetal heart monitoring. Go take care of the admission paperwork. Once her vitals stabilize, you'll be allowed half an hour of visitation time each day."
The man nodded vigorously. "Okay, okay. I'll go do it right now. I'll take care of the paperwork."
The man hurried off toward the nurses' station.
Jiang He turned to Yang Xu and said with a sigh, "Director Yang, why haven't you gone to rest?"
Yang Xu replied matter-of-factly, "I was worried something would happen to you!"
Jiang He sighed and waved over a passing ER nurse. "Could you please take Director Yang to an observation room? Start him on a basic anti-inflammatory and rehydration IV, and make sure he gets some sleep."
The nurse immediately obliged. "Director Yang, please come with me."
Yang Xu was still protesting as they led him away. "I'm your teacher! I'm a director! What right do you have to give me orders? And besides, I spent all night handling your paperwork! Have you forgotten your license is only for Affiliated Hospital No. 1?! COUGH, COUGH... And you, miss nurse! Why are you listening to Jiang He? He doesn't even work at this hospital! Did he put a hex on you or something? COUGH, COUGH..."
But the nurse was clever and quick-witted. Of course she knew to listen to Jiang He.
Jiang He had just ordered Director Wang to be his first assistant. Anyone who wasn't a complete idiot knew who was in charge right now.
Besides, it was obvious this Director Yang was just putting on a grumpy act. His mouth said no, but his body was going along with it just fine.
'With patients like this, you just have to hold them down on a bed and give them a shot. That'll quiet them down...'
After they left, Su Zhi slowly approached.
She had spent half the night in the ER, witnessing everything—the family's entire journey from despair to renewed hope.
As a key member of the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, she had reviewed all of Jiang He's files after receiving her assignment from Minister Lin.
Twenty-one years old. A Ph.D. candidate at Southern Medical University. Author of a paper in a top-tier LNR journal. Creator of the "zero-fatality miracle" during the province-wide mass-casualty traffic accident. Head of a P3 laboratory. The SAP system. miRNA early screening...
Every line in his file was astonishing.
But reality, she hadn't expected, was even more so.
'How can he be so incredible?'
This was City First Hospital, not his home turf.
Yet he had rushed here through a torrential downpour and taken command of the operating table from a group of experts who were all a decade or two his senior.
'How did he even manage that?'
"What are you staring at?" Jiang He asked casually, looking at Su Zhi.
Su Zhi snapped out of it. "Nothing. Mr. Jiang, should I take you home now?"
"You've been up half the night, too. Driving while exhausted is a bad idea. Get some rest first. We can leave this afternoon."
...
Half an hour later, in the general surgery lounge at City First Hospital.
Jiang He had changed back into his street clothes and was sitting on the sofa, sipping hot water.
The most chaotic part of the night in the ER had passed. The day-shift doctors were trickling in for hand-off, and the situation was under control.
The door to the lounge was pushed open.
Wang Zhengchu walked in, grumbling under his breath.
"Dammit, those little shits in the ER get more useless by the day. They dawdle over a simple handover chart. I chewed them out a bit, and they actually dared to talk back. Ten years ago, I would've smashed the chart right in their faces!"
As he grumbled, Wang Zhengchu walked to a table and gently placed a plastic bag he was carrying on it.
"Eat! Don't go back to Affiliated Hospital No. 1 and tattle to your Dean Chen that we don't even offer you breakfast!"
It was a Cantonese-style breakfast: rice noodle rolls and soy milk.
Jiang He was, in fact, starving.
He began to eat obediently.
Wang Zhengchu grabbed the other portion and took a few quick bites, but his eyes kept darting toward Jiang He.
'This kid... he eats without making a sound. He's not slow, either, and he cleans his plate.'
'He's so well-behaved, yet it's still somehow infuriating to watch!'
Wang Zhengchu said gruffly, "Hey, don't think just because the surgery today was a success that your posterior approach with blind suturing is all that. I'm telling you, it was way too risky!"
Jiang He: "Mm."
"What do you mean, 'Mm'?! Do you have any idea how close we came to disaster today? If your angle had been off by just a little bit—just a tiny bit!—you would have pierced the main vessel. Blood would have just GUSHED out, SPLASHING all over our faces!"
Jiang He looked slightly puzzled. "Director, do all those sound effects you're using actually help clarify your point?"
Wang Zhengchu snapped, "Mind your own business!"
Jiang He let out an "oh." "We're eating right now, Director. Can we not talk about the surgery?"
Wang Zhengchu: "Fine. Eat. Eat more..."
In truth, he was just trying to pick a fight.
After all, he'd been completely overshadowed by the lead surgeon on his own turf. It was a bit of a blow to his pride.
He was waiting for Jiang He to argue back, to get angry. That way, he could use his seniority to lecture him some more.
But after they finished eating...
Jiang He meekly wiped his mouth and said, "Director Wang is right. The visibility was terrible. There was definitely an element of luck involved. I'll be more careful next time."
"..."
Wang Zhengchu was left speechless, choked with frustration.
It felt like punching a wad of cotton—soft, yielding, and utterly unsatisfying.
'Why doesn't this kid play by the script? Argue with me, dammit!'
'You're a twenty-one-year-old genius! Aren't young people supposed to be proud and arrogant? If you just agree with everything I say, how am I supposed to yell at you?'
Wang Zhengchu pursed his lips. "Good, as long as you know! Surgery isn't a game. Don't always be trying to show off your moves!"
Then, unable to help himself, he added with concern, "Did you get enough to eat?"
Jiang He found Wang Zhengchu's grumpy-but-caring act amusing.
He cleaned up his empty food container, then sat up straight. "Director, I'm full. There are two things I'd like to discuss with you while I have the chance."
Wang Zhengchu snorted. "I knew it. You never do anything without a reason. Spit it out, what do you want?"
Jiang He said, "The first is about the early prediction model for SAP—Severe Acute Pancreatitis."
"I heard about that. Your Affiliated Hospital No. 1 is already running a pilot."
"Correct. A while ago, the model successfully flagged a case of SAP in its earliest stages, proving its clinical value. As one of the city's largest general hospitals, City First Hospital's admission volume for acute abdomen cases is even higher than ours at Affiliated Hospital No. 1, especially with the critical cases referred from the surrounding counties. I hope that City First Hospital can become the second pilot site for the SAP prediction model."
Wang Zhengchu snorted. "Send the installation package to the medical affairs department. I'll have the ER and ICU terminals install it. But we're just running a trial. If I find this damn software increases the doctors' workload or starts crying wolf and interfering with clinical judgment, I'll have it uninstalled immediately!"
He had clearly agreed, but he couldn't resist adding a grumpy little disclaimer.
Jiang He nodded slightly.
"The second thing: a pancreatic cancer serum bank."
"A few days ago in the Capital City, Professor Zhong Shouxian and I reached an agreement. We're going to jointly establish a nationally standardized serum bank for pancreatic diseases. In the future, this won't just be for early screening; we also want to conduct high-throughput screening for targeted drugs. But right now, our sample sources are too limited."
"The hepatobiliary surgery department at City First Hospital operates on a significant number of patients with pancreatic masses each year. I'm hoping City First Hospital can follow an SOP we'll provide, draw some pre-operative serum from these patients, store it in an ultra-low temperature environment, and contribute to our national sample network."
Wang Zhengchu snorted. "I thought it was some big deal. We at City First Hospital were already planning to upgrade our biobank this year. Since you and Professor Zhong are running the show, I suppose contributing some samples isn't out of the question."
A hint of a smile flashed in Jiang He's eyes. "Then I must thank you for your support, Director Wang."
He stood up and extended his hand.
Wang Zhengchu remained seated, reluctantly reaching out to shake it. He was still muttering, "Don't think getting a few samples means you'll cook up some miraculous results. The whole world has been working on this for years without success..."
The handshake was over.
In his mind, Jiang He put a checkmark next to City First Hospital.
If the grand goal of conquering pancreatic cancer were a Pokémon game...
...then the major hospitals in the province were the Gyms he had to conquer first.
This trip to City First Hospital had been a fruitful one.
He had demonstrated a surgical technique that was ahead of its time, winning over the master surgeon Wang Zhengchu. He'd locked down the pilot program for the SAP prediction model and secured co-management rights to City First Hospital's incredibly valuable pancreatic cancer serum bank.
If Jiang He had a System, a notification would probably be popping up right about now:
[Congratulations! You have conquered the City First Hospital Gym and obtained the Wang Zhengchu Badge!]
"By the way," Wang Zhengchu coughed, taking the initiative to ask, "You've laid out your plans, but serum samples from just this province won't be enough, will they? You'll have to get more from elsewhere, right?"
Jiang He said, "That's right. After I get back from my exchange in the United States, I plan to go to Ruijin."
Wang Zhengchu frowned. "Ruijin? Those guys are snobs, and they're notoriously insular. You're a doctor from Southern China; they won't even give you the time of day. You'll just be setting yourself up for rejection. Pick a different place."
Hearing this, Jiang He pulled out his phone and checked a QQ message from Li Jianping:
[Elder Zhi! We at Ruijin are prepared. We respectfully await your friend's arrival to provide his guidance!]
Jiang He put his phone away and said calmly:
"It's fine, Director. I think I might have a few connections there."