The Surgeon's Studio

Words of gratitude poured from the father’s mouth. Zheng Ren smiled politely at the father.

They exchanged contacts as the father wanted to treat him to a meal once the little girl was healed.

The middle-aged man grazed past Zheng Ren as he left the room. Zheng Ren discovered a thick red packet in the pocket of his white coat.

The red packet, which rested inconspicuously in his pocket, was of considerable thickness.

The sleight of hand was done in a smooth fashion that suggested the father did this often.

The red packet was slotted into Zheng Ren’s coat pocket with featherlight movements. The gesture was not ostentatious but sincere.

When Zheng Ren discovered the red packet, he raced after the patient’s father but he was gone.

Zheng Ren’s only intention was to visit the patient. It was not proper to receive a red packet when the patient was still in recovery.

“Chang Yue, if you could take this to pay off the hospital admission charges.” Zheng Ren decided to delegate the work to Chang Yue.

“Oh, sure. That’s a thick packet,” Chang Yue remarked. The exchange caught Su Yun’s attention and he asked Zheng Ren, “It’s a sincere thank you from the family. Why are you returning it?”

There were two types of red packets.

The first type was given by insistent families prior to the surgery. The doctor would either accept the money or put up a meager resistance, then accept the money. If the surgery had a low success rate, the doctor would hand the money over to the hospital payment counter.

The second type was given after a successful surgery.

These were usually a token of appreciation by the patient’s family that was genuine.

Doctors typically would have a good sense of the patient’s condition post-surgery. Hence, accepting the sincere gesture from the family reflected their confidence in the patient’s recovery.

However, Zheng Ren declined the post-surgery red packet.

“There’s 3000 yuan here,” Chang Yue exclaimed after counting the bills.

“How generous. I thought they were all ten yuan bills. 200 yuan would have been sufficient.” The sharp-tongued Nancy boy had to open his mouth and ruin everything.

“Use it to cover the patient’s bills and bring back a receipt,” Zheng Ren said calmly.

“Why won’t you take it?” Su Yun pressed on.

“Why should I?” Zheng Ren challenged.

“After docking the contributions, you should be getting around 3500 yuan per month even with overtime. As a chief resident doctor, you’re saving on rental but you must have plans for marriage sooner or later. Which lady would want someone who has no money, no time, no house and no car?” Su Yun said truthfully.

“I’m worried things may go wrong,” Zheng Ren replied.

There were patients who gave red packets and recorded the incident for blackmail.

It was an unavoidable problem. It did not matter how well the surgery went.

Sometimes, rejecting the red packet would backfire. There had been cases whereby patients falsely claimed the doctor accepted bribes and went on to protest in the crowded areas of the hospital.

It was a tricky situation.

“Drama queen.” Su Yun turned his focus back to his phone.

Zheng Ren had only accepted one red packet from a patient in his entire medical career.

It was a liver cancer patient under his care. The surgery was done by a professor from Sorcery Capital but Zheng Ren dedicated much of his time to care for the patient.

After the patient recovered, Zheng Ren provided him with some basic counselling.

Although Zheng Ren was not a counselor, he had done some reading on the topic before giving counsel. He encouraged the patient to conquer his fear of cancer.

They spent a lot of time talking.

Three years later, on an autumn night, Zheng Ren saw the patient at his doorstep. The patient thanked him in a few simple words and passed him an envelope containing 2000 yuan.

That was the only monetary gift Zheng Ren had ever accepted.

Zheng Ren was not willing to share this story with Su Yun.

Soon, Chang Yue came back with a deposit slip. She gave the piece of paper to the patient’s family.

The family could reject the money but not a deposit slip. During the discharge, a missing deposit slip would complicate the billing process.

The family took the deposit slip begrudgingly.

Moments later, Zheng Ren got a call from the patient’s father.

Through the phone, the man conveyed his dissatisfaction at Zheng Ren without being overbearing. He explained how the red packet was a form of thanks from the family.

In the end, Zheng Ren allowed the man to order lunch for him.

There was no more fight in Zheng Ren.

Thirty minutes later, two men in Golden Spiral Restaurant uniforms arrived at the emergency department with four lunch boxes.

The dishes were laid out like magic.

Herbal soup with fish maw and sea snail, fried pork strips, honey roasted pork, crispy pork belly, braised pigeon, boiled clams, spicy salted mantis shrimp…

Each dish came with a short introduction by the Golden Spiral Restaurant employees, explaining the source of the ingredients, how it was the freshest in the market and how the masterchef personally prepared them.

The whole point was to boast the restaurant’s top-tier food and service.

Zheng Ren was initially excited to watch the presentation but as more and more dishes were placed onto the table in the on-call room, he lost interest.

These dishes must have cost more than 3000 yuan.

Zheng Ren had never been to the Golden Spiral Restaurant but he was aware of their reputation.

This was a heartfelt thank you from the man. Zheng Ren texted the Chu sisters and Xie Yiren to join the feast.

Xie Yiren’s eyes bulged when she saw the table full of food.

On the day the roads froze over, Xie Yiren had been adamant about eating out. This table of food was a jackpot for a foodie like her.

They were all friends so she was not shy. After washing their hands, they sat down and started eating.

“Delicious!” Xie Yiren chewed on a piece of fried pork strip. Then, she drank the herbal soup with fish maw and sea snail.

“Yummy.”

“This is good too.”

“This tastes amazing.”

Zheng Ren watched Xie Yiren praise each dish. He figured a rich woman like her would have eaten these dishes before yet she seemed incredibly fascinated with each bite.

‘She is truly a food connoisseur,’ Zheng Ren thought.

He had a small appetite. He was full after two bowls of seafood porridge and a bowl of herbal soup.

“Now, do you regret not taking the money?” Su Yun asked.

Zheng Ren chuckled and said nothing more.

He ended the conversation just like that.

“Yiren, don’t gorge yourself. It’s bad for the stomach,” Chu Yanran said. She took a small sip of soup.

“I’m not eating a lot,” Xie Yiren mumbled in between bites. “I have a friend who went to a buffet a few days back. Ate so much, his pancreas acted up and now he’s admitted in the gastroenterology department.”