The Surgeon's Studio

The golden retriever’s condition was not ideal. It was suffering from the human equivalent of a bowel obstruction.

The key factor was time and they were slightly behind. Chu Yanzhi got to the scene and quickly started the anesthesia.

Amigo Veterinary Hospital had the simplest of respiratory machines.

The veterinary hospital was large and boasted all types of facilities. However, it was still lacking when compared to a rural human hospital.

Zheng Ren had a suspicion the sterility of the equipment could be called into question.

An intravenous catheter was set up. Chu Yanzhi started to calculate the anesthetic dose, scribbling messy numbers on a piece of paper.

“Boss, what are you thinking? Have you made your considerations?” Su Yun mumbled tiredly.

“I’m still considering,” Zheng Ren replied. “There’s an upcoming surgery that requires traveling. Are you coming?”

“Where?” Su Yun’s ears perked up.

“Imperial Capital. Chief Kong says they have about a dozen or so liver cancer patients ready.”

“Of course I’ll go. It’s a large-scale clinical research trial. Once you have 100 cases—it probably won’t take too long—you can live on the money they pay you for annual conferences,” Su Yun said.

Su Yun stopped. He realized Zheng Ren was just bragging to him.

This bastard.

“Do you know why I came to this veterinary hospital?” Su Yun asked.

“Huh? Wasn’t it because of Shen Xiaoou?” Zheng Ren raised an eyebrow at Su Yun.

“Hehe,” Su Yun let out a dry chuckle that was filled with mirth.

Zheng Ren was sure he was right about the reason. If Su Yun was more reckless… Even if Su Yun was uptight, girls would still flock to him like bees to honey.

In this aspect, Su Yun was a Grandmaster. No, a Legend.

“Are you familiar with ringworms on dogs?” Su Yun asked abruptly.

“I’m not a vet, so no. I don’t think I’ve heard you mention it earlier either.”

“Simply put, when a dog has ringworm, its fur will start to come off in circular patches. The end result is a dog with ugly, patchy fur. Many people abandon their dogs because of this condition,” Su Yun said.

“And?”

“As a side note, ignore the fact that this surgery costs 10,500 yuan and this family is willing to pay up. They’re likely a well-off family. There are many owners who just abandon their pets. Have you seen people abandoning people? There probably are some, but it’s rare.”

“I see. So you have to seize the opportunity, I know.” There was no expression on Zheng Ren’s face. He figured sleep deprivation was making Su Yun talk more than usual.

This talkative Su Yun was getting on Zheng Ren’s nerves.

“To treat ringworms, there is an animal-specific ivermectin. An injected dose costs less than one yuan and even after some middleman profiting, the price is about one to two yuan.” A sneer appeared on Su Yun’s face. “Most veterinary hospitals look nice but just like some human hospitals, their intentions are not pure.”

“Oh? Intentional misdiagnosis?”

“Of course, what do you think? There are a bunch of divine doctors and cancer experts out there, don’t you know?” Su Yun rambled uncharacteristically. The mention of divine doctors was a trigger point.

“I know,” Zheng Ren answered exasperatedly.

“They’re all scams! Capitalizing on people’s despair. Most veterinary hospitals act the same way,” Su Yun scolded, then brought the conversation back on topic. “Honestly, I like to treat animals. There are less problems to deal with and the families are very civil, much better compared to human patients.”

“You can earn a good amount too.”

“I was the rising star of the cardiothoracic department, do you think money is an issue for me?” Su Yun said.

Zheng Ren knew that was true.

He himself was just a budding surgeon but within a short period of time, Department Chief Kong had involved him in research work in Imperial Capital. Money was no longer a worry.

Money was never an issue when one was at the top in their line of work, no matter how niche it was.

Medicine was definitely not a niche job. Needless to say, their financial support was not lacking.

“Back to the topic, I believe any veterinary hospital that administers ivermectin is good and sincere. When I visited, the attitudes of the vets here were average, but the medication they prescribed was on-point. So occasionally, I would come by to perform surgery,” Su Yun explained.

“Out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Hours in the hospital watching people live or die can make a man’s heart grow cold. Looking after these old dogs, you’d find that they’re sometimes more human than us,” Su Yun said with a laugh. “I saw Chang Yue’s rant in the group. That old man with liver cancer whom Old Chief Physician Pan referred to the hospital, his children are joking around in the hospital.”

Zheng Ren thought about his words before sighing.

The anesthesia was complete. Xie Yiren had the surgical tools ready. There were fewer tools here but she spent an equal amount of time making sure everything was perfect.

Zheng Ren and Su Yun scrubbed in.

The old golden retriever was lying on the operating table, anesthetized. The room was sparse, much like a clinic in the rural area.

The surgery was simple. After opening the abdomen, an obstructed intestine appeared before them.

The necessary organ protection was done before a 4cm incision was made at the bulge of the intestine. An undigested sock was pulled out.

Then, an aspirator was used to remove the fecal matter and digestive fluids.

The open intestine was stitched up. The abdominal cavity was rinsed before they sutured the layers back together. The whole surgery took less than 20 minutes.

Zheng Ren and Su Yun removed their gloves and stepped away from the operating table.

Xie Yiren instinctively went to clear the surgical tools but was stopped by Shen Xiaoou with a courteous smile.

The surgery was beyond the veterinary hospital’s capabilities but cleaning up after a surgery was not.

They exited the operating room and found the middle-aged man still waiting in the corridor.

“Doctor, did you help him?”

“Huh?” Zheng Ren’s mind could not formulate a response in time.

“Hush,” Su Yun interjected expertly. “The surgery is complete. In a moment, Director Ou will show you the sock. The sutures can be removed after ten days, depending on the recovery rate. Please be more vigilant next time.”

The middle-aged man was shocked.

He had driven to multiple veterinary hospitals around the city and every single one of them had turned him down.

It was all done behind his daughter’s back. He had lied to her, saying that he was just taking the dog out to play.

They got the golden retriever when his daughter was born and the two of them had grown up together. He was worried his daughter would be overly saddened by the dog’s passing.

The man was willing to pay for the best surgeon to work on him.

However, the surgery was quicker than he expected.

Just a blink of an eye and it was over already?

As they talked, Shen Xiaoou walked out with a plastic bag, the undigested sock within.

“I think you lost a sock,” Shen Xiaoou joked.

“Yes, yes.” The man’s eyes brightened.

“The surgery was successful but Harry will need to be hospitalized for a few days. When he’s stable, you can bring your daughter over to visit.” Shen Xiaoou added a caution note, “Please be careful next time.”

“Thank you, thank you.” The middle-aged man bowed deeply.

Zheng Ren thought of the children who treated their father’s illness as a joke… Humans were such odd creatures.

“Okay, it’s time to go home.” Su Yun’s eyes were nearly shut as he scrolled through his phone.

“Yeah, I’m leaving soon.” Zheng Ren was waiting for Xie Yiren.

“Boss Zheng, come have a look.” Su Yun waved his phone at Zheng Ren. It was a snapshot of a lab report.