The Surgeon's Studio

Zheng Ren and Professor Rudolf Wagner went through all the scans for 8 patients within an hour.

Cheng Lixue was still in a blur. He had no clue what Zheng Ren and the Professor were talking about.

After arranging the scans, Zheng Ren asked with a smile, “Chief Cheng, how are the patients’ post-operative conditions?”

“They’re doing fine. There were no symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy,” Cheng Lixue answered blankly. “When we checked the blood ammonia levels this morning, there was only one patient with slightly elevated level but his physical and oral examination did not show signs of hepatic encephalopathy.”

“That’s great. We can extract the removable stent 3 days after surgery when the patient’s body has adapted to it,” Zheng Ren said.

“Oh,” Cheng Lixue’s mind was filled with the DW-MRI imagery.

He felt hurt.

He was totally clueless.

As a medical professional who specialized in imaging and the interventional surgery department chief who majored in liver disease, he could not even understand the scans.

Where should he begin?

Cheng Lixue stood in the office dejectedly.

Zheng Ren was slightly annoyed as he was not in a mood to accommodate Cheng Lixue’s inner turmoil.

He sat in his chair and took out his phone to discuss with Xie Yiren about their dinner plans after work.

Zheng Ren was not hungry even though he had skipped lunch. He also did not want to share with Xie Yiren about his day.

Little Yiren seemed to notice Zheng Ren was feeling slightly down. She suggested walking around and just finding something to eat along the way when they felt like it.

Zheng Ren was a little worried when he recalled that his dates with Xie Yiren in the past had always been interrupted by emergency cases from the emergency ward, even when they were in the middle of a movie.

He decided to notify Su Yun beforehand by sending him a WeChat message.

[Do you have anything on tonight?]

[Hmm? Are you treating me to dinner or are you planning to go on a date with Little Yiren? Let me guess, you’re rather moody today. Surely you’re going to meet Little Yiren.]

Zheng Ren was speechless. He could sense Su Yun’s mockery through the screen.

[Hey boss, let me tell you a valuable lesson in life. You should never express your negative emotions in front of your girlfriend.]

Zheng Ren thought for a moment before replying to Su Yun.

[Do you have any word of advice?]

[Advice? Why are you still asking for advice? Little Yiren will be yours in no time if you use 10 percent of the focus you have during surgery.]

Ugh… His words were pointless.

[So are you free tonight?]

[Go enjoy your date. Don’t worry about the department. Good luck!]

Su Yun did not beat around the bush and simply dismissed him.

Finally, it was time to leave work. Zheng Ren went straight to the basement parking to D zone where he always parked his red Volvo.

This time, Xie Yiren had learned her lesson and met up with Zheng Ren much earlier.

She was wearing a white down jacket but her figure remained slender while still showcasing her beautiful curves. She jumped up and waved to Zheng Ren adorably when she saw him.

Zheng Ren’s negative emotions started to rattle and melt away the moment he saw Xie Yiren.

At this moment, life felt good.

When they reached the city center, Xie Yiren started introducing Zheng Ren to different eateries.

The way Xie Yiren described the dishes gave Zheng Ren the impression that she was truly enjoying it.

Even though he was not too enthusiastic about food, Xie Yiren was able to infect him with her happiness.

After parking the car, they both got out.

It was snowing outside. This year, the snowfall was much lighter. It was supposed to be snowing heavily this time of the year, but they could hardly see snow anywhere. Even the weather was warmer than in the past years. There was even a rumor that the influenza outbreak was related to the abnormal weather change.

Zheng Ren would not simply believe baseless speculations without any scientific evidence.

“Zheng Ren, that shop has really good egg tarts, especially when they’re fresh out of the oven. You can smell the milky deliciousness along the street,” Xie Yiren said while pointing at a bakery not far from them.

Zheng Ren did not look at the bakery as he was too focused on Xie Yiren’s hand.

Su Yun mentioned that he needed to use 10 percent of his usual focus on Xie Yiren, then they would…

Zheng Ren decided to make an attempt.

Xie Yiren had no idea that something was approaching her.

She put her hand down gleefully and started walking toward the bakery. When she took the first step, her hand was met with a much larger one mid-air.

She subconsciously tried to free her hand but the other hand was so firm and strong. She felt as if her hand was a small boat, parked safely in a port. She struggled for a moment before slipping her hand into his, holding it gently.

“The other side has a milk tea shop.” Xie Yiren’s face was reddened due to the chilly winds. She pretended as if nothing had happened and raised her other hand to point to the other shop and said, “That shop has a wide variety of flavors and toppings for their milk tea. It’s amazing.”

“Hmm? Isn’t it just milk tea?” Zheng Ren was lost.

He used his surgical precision and observation skills to track the motion of Xie Yiren’s arm so that he could meet her hand halfway to hold hers. That alone had exhausted his emotional and intelligence reserve, so his mind had regressed into a pile of gooey mess.

“Let’s try it out,” Xie Yiren said excitedly.

It might have been the fact that Xie Yiren tried to hide her awkwardness and embarrassment, or that she was truly happy. She dragged Zheng Ren to the milk tea shop happily.

To Zheng Ren, milk tea was just a normal dessert. The only special thing was the addition of pearls, nata de coco, and grass jelly.

When they entered the shop, Zheng Ren was surprised to see an entire menu of assorted flavors and toppings.

There was barley, oats, taro, red bean, pearls, nata de coco, papaya, almonds, brown sugar…

Xie Yiren chose the ordinary papaya almond milk tea with additional taro paste.

She was quite shy, lowering her sleeves to try her best to cover their linked hands as if the world would not know that they were holding hands if she did that.

“Sir, may I know your preferred choice?” The server asked Zheng Ren after noting down Xie Yiren’s order.

“I’ll try all of them.” Zheng Ren’s mind was still in a mess and he had lost all ability to comprehend at that moment.

His entire focus was on the tiny hand wrapped in his palm.

The server was stunned for a moment before asking, “Sir, you want all of the…”

“Uhm, I want to try them,” Zheng Ren said.

The server confirmed his order once again with a distracted Zheng Ren before entering the order in with a weird expression.

“I heard that there’s a dispute in the emergency department today?” Xie Yiren tried to start a conversation after the server left.

Otherwise, it would be weird for them to stare at each other in silence with their hands linked together.

“No worries, it’s just a small matter,” Zheng Ren said briefly. “Chief Pan already resolved the issue.”

“Oh.”

Both their heartbeats were racing at a pace that was dangerously close to atrial fibrillation. They gave their best efforts to continue the conversation and the awkwardness gradually dissipated in the warmth between their fingers.