The Surgeon's Studio

In the System’s operating room, Zheng Ren focused on the scans of the simulation mannequin. From CT scans to the NMRI, the 64-slice CT scan with 3D-image reconstruction, the B-scans, and the supine chest and abdominal fluoroscopy imaging, he went through them all.

There was some invariable connection between them.

However, Zheng Ren was met by one disappointment after another.

He had wasted almost half his surgery training time looking at those images.

What if… Zheng Ren rejected the thought. It was not possible. He was not able to fully consider all the symptoms as he was still fairly new to the System.

He would solve one problem at a time.

The life of the patient in front of him was crucial even though he knew the same thing would never stop happening in the real world.

Zheng Ren had never once thought himself capable of saving the entire world. Protecting his people and patients was enough.

He looked through the scans over and over again, performing punctures on the simulation mannequin with the angiographic needle.

Success came occasionally, but much more infrequently than failure.

Pulling it off was still a matter of luck.

Although all interventional surgeons in the world mostly depended on luck, Zheng Ren wanted to avoid it.

The NMRI was not practical for observing blood vessels. It was important when analysing the arterial vessels of tumor vasculature, but was not able to distinguish the venous channels.

What about CT scans?

Or 64-slice CT scans with 3D-image reconstruction?

Zheng Ren kept trying different combinations. He even included the positioning and landmarks of puncture sites with ultrasonography.

However, all his attempts were futile.

After countless puncture attempts on the simulation mannequin, Zheng Ren had gained lots of experience and drastically improved the success rate of the surgery.

On average, he got it right once for every twenty punctures.

It was not Zheng Ren’s ideal outcome.

How would he solve this?

The System had provided him with all manner of convenience. Zheng Ren could experiment indefinitely if he had sufficient surgery time.

As the time passed, though, he felt as if his heart was oozing blood.

Had he used it to perform surgery, he could have earned 300 skill points for every TIPS surgery he completed.

It was much less rewarding than prostate interventional surgery. Zheng Ren speculated that it was because the latter was a novel method while TIPS surgery was already a mature procedure.

Although the rewards were slightly fewer, it was still better than doing nothing in the System’s operating room.

He was still not giving up. He did not want to depend on luck when it came to surgery. There had to be a way… maybe… perhaps…

Time was passing by, every minute, every second.

Tick-tock… tick-tock… it was like the rhythm of Zheng Ren’s bleeding heart.

After countless attempts and various test results, Zheng Ren was on the verge of conceding.

There were so many doctors in the world that had failed to come to a conclusion. How could he do that in just a few days? Even with the help of the System’s operating room and simulation mannequins, this was too far a stretch.

…

…

Professor Rudolf Wagner was thrilled.

This was the first time Zheng Ren had personally called for him, possibly for help.

Zheng Ren was very skillful, but not necessarily in all fields of interventional surgery.

Everyone had their limits. Professor Rudolf Wagner was sure that TIPS surgery was Zheng Ren’s weak point.

This was also part of why he had chosen to stay in Sea City.

He had put in his best efforts to close the distance between him and Zheng Ren, hoping the man would agree to follow him back to Heidelberg for research.

The workload here was too heavy. Professor Rudolf Wagner had almost broken down after one night shift.

Zheng Ren’s determination to continue in such working conditions was perplexing.

Did he not know the value of his own gift?

Professor Rudolf Wagner stood in front of the mirror for a full minute after changing quickly, ensuring his scholarly appearance was authoritative and convincing enough before leaving Shangri-La Hotel. He then took a ride to Sea City General Hospital.

In order to adjust to the lifestyle in China, he had taken some time to chat with Chang Yue earlier in the day.

Professor Rudolf Wagner thought her an adorable girl with a warm personality.

She had helped him download ride-hailing and payment apps, converting 100 euros for the professor, and also taught him how to book a ride so that he could go anywhere he wanted.

Professor Rudolf Wagner was very pleased with the convenience it brought.

Even though he had only been here for less than two days, he had already fallen in love with the place.

On his way, the professor mentally ran through the TIPS surgery. He would be putting all of his energy and focus into it, giving his best to showcase the perfect TIPS surgery to Zheng Ren.

To be partners and not get pushed aside during surgical research, he needed to demonstrate that he was the man’s equal.

Unless he was comparable to Newton, he would not be able to claim someone else’s research as his own.

Such a thing was not his domain. Professor Rudolf Wagner wanted to get ahead on his own expertise.

The car reached Sea City General Hospital shortly. He alighted from it and rushed towards the operating room.

As he was not registered for the fingerprint lock on the changing room, he could only ring the doorbell.

The camera lamp on it lit up. “Who’s there?”

Professor Rudolf Wagner angled his face towards the light and gave his most winning smile.

“Please hold, Professor,” Xie Yiren said from inside.

Since it was an interventional surgery, Xie Yiren did not stand by at the operating table after preparing a sterile surgical pack.

With the exception of endovascular stenting and thrombolytic surgery, interventional surgeries did not require the presence of nurses.

They depended greatly on the surgeon’s skill alone.

“Professor, I’ll get the door.” Xie Yiren soon appeared to let the professor in.

“Thank you, pretty lady,” Professor Rudolf Wagner said gracefully, “Are you guys ready to start?”

“The surgery has started,” Xie Yiren said casually.

The smile on the professor’s face became even more charming. Knowing this was Zheng Ren’s personal scrub nurse, he had to leave a good impression.

“Zheng called me to join in on a TIPS surgery. What step are they in now?” Professor Rudolf Wagner asked.

“Oh, they have just begun,” Xie Yiren answered.

Hmm? Why had they not waited for him? Professor Rudolf Wagner was a little surprised.

“Have you guys done this before?” he asked.

“No, this is the first time,” she said gently. “They are taking it very seriously. This is our first TIPS surgery in the history of our hospital.”

Professor Rudolf Wagner felt slightly relieved.

TIPS surgery was extremely difficult. Even with Zheng Ren’s exceptional talent, the man would not be able to succeed on the first try.