The Surgeon's Studio

“Primary… Primary cell,” Cui Heming stuttered.

“Yes.” The elderly professor forcefully took down the film and turned off the radiographic film viewer. “She’ll be fine after a tooth extraction.”

“…” Ten thousand alpacas broke into a furious gallop in Cui Heming’s heart.

The same diagnosis as the young doctor in Sea City General Hospital?!

“Are… Are you sure?” asked the absent-minded Cui Heming subconsciously.

“Of course I’m sure.” Despite being questioned, the professor was not angered. “This disease is explained in dental textbooks. The amalgam denture is particularly strong and durable, and basically doesn’t need to be replaced in during one’s lifetime. They were also quite popular a decade ago as they were cheap, but have obvious disadvantages; the replacement crown requires a square-shaped space and mediocre dentists won’t be able pull it off.”

During his explanation, the elderly professor had opened his locker and changed his clothes.

“The dentist who made your mother’s denture was kind, but also failed to notice that his patient has a golden tooth.” He then added, “This condition has become rare in the past ten years since we essentially use only acrylic resin to make dentures now.”

It was true, then! However, it still felt ridiculous in Cui Heming’s opinion.

All his hard work and effort for days had been in vain? The diagnosis made after paying 5000 yuan to a scalper was the same as the diagnosis of a doctor from the emergency department in Sea City General Hospital?

Was this not nonsensical?

“Yes?” asked the elderly professor, who assumed that Cui Heming did not believe his explanation as the man was merely standing still, lost in thought.

“No… Nothing…” Cui Heming could deride a doctor in Sea City General Hospital as being lousy, but he simply lacked the courage to do so in Imperial Capital.

“A doctor from the emergency department in Sea City said the same thing too. He also asked my mother to get a tooth extraction,” he blurted out the truth inattentively.

“Yo? The emergency department? The medical standard of the Sea City emergency department is very good.” The professor smiled. “Let’s go. I’m leaving work now. Come here directly tomorrow. I’m not going to consult any further and will just perform a tooth extraction on your mother instead.”

Cui Heming did not dare ask why the professor could not perform it now and had to delay it until tomorrow. He imagined it was because everyone had gotten off work and no nurses could assist the procedure, not to mention the lack of equipment.

However, since the diagnosis was clear, it could be easily resolved.

The next day, the symptoms Cui Heming’s mother previously experienced disappeared after the tooth extraction.

On the third day, she was energetic and could even start applying light makeup.

Cui Heming’s mother, born of a respectable family, no longer looked sick and was resplendent and elegant after beautifying herself.

Cui Heming was exhilarated after his mother’s full recovery and booked a flight ticket back to Sea City.

His feelings about the doctor in Sea City General Hospital were indescribable. After hesitating for a long time, he finally made a silk banner and prepared to present it to the uncredited doctor after his mother’s constant insistence.

The whole trip between the cities took nearly a week. Since Cui Heming was eager to return to Imperial Capital, he paid the extra cost to obtain a silk banner as soon as he got off the plane and went to Sea City General Hospital with his mother.

They saw a bustling scene upon arrival at the Sea City General Hospital emergency building.

A lot of people were just watching the festivities while holding silk banners outside the building.

This was awkward. Was he supposed to throw the silk banner into the doctor’s office without greeting him and shooting the breeze?

“Brother, what happened? Why are there so many people sending silk banners?” Cui Heming lit up a cigarette and approached a random onlooker to ask about the situation.

“The emergency department in Sea City General Hospital has been upgraded to an emergency center. This is the grand opening ceremony.” The man accepted Cui Heming’s cigarette happily and took a deep drag. “Yo, this is a real Chunghwa[1].”

Of course. He was the boss of a small company with an annual income of a few million yuan. It would be disgraceful if he smoked fake Chunghwas.

“What’s the matter with this huge crowd and their silk banners?”

“Huh? You don’t know?” The man turned and stared at him as if he was looking at a monster.

Cui Heming was stunned as well. How would he know? However, he had become a smooth talker after working in business for years, so he immediately put on a smile and explained, “I brought my mother to Imperial Capital to consult a doctor, so I’ve no idea what happened recently.”

“Let me tell you, Chief Zheng from Sea City General Hospital is amazing!” After realizing Cui Heming was out of the loop, the man started excitedly telling the story of the nitrite poisoning, the major rescue operation that followed, and especially the fate of the braised meat restaurant owner.

That braised meat restaurant was a first-class old shop in Sea City and had more than twenty branches, which was why it became the hottest issue in just one night.

Cui Heming was flabbergasted.

“You didn’t see it, but there weren’t enough ambulances and the city even mobilized private ambulances to handle the emergency situation that day. Dozens of sirens wailed like a baby in distress. It’s the kind of noise that makes you sick.”

“No one died?” Cui Heming found it difficult to accept this ending.

It was not that he hoped for deaths to have happened, but some things were inevitable especially when medical resources were limited in such a large-scale rescue mission.

“Tut-tut, I initially thought lots of people were going to die too.” The man blew smoke into the air happily. Cui Heming fought down his murderous urges at being left dangling.

“You weren’t there, but every patient had the blue skin color of the aliens from ‘Avatar’ when they were sent here. Oh, have you read any martial arts novels? Imagine that they had been poisoned with a deadly toxin from the Western Regions.”

“…” Cui Heming failed to make the connection.

“Chief Zheng… There, look at that doctor next to that elderly chief physician. He’s young but his skills are amazing. He diagnosed the condition on the spot, allocated the special antidote from all over the city immediately and saved everyone.”

Cui Heming followed the man’s finger and saw the doctor standing beside the tall and strong Old Chief Physician Pan. He was indeed the doctor who informed Cui Heming that night that his mother would recover after getting a tooth extraction.

“Brother, I haven’t asked. What are you doing here with a silk banner?”

“I’m here to thank Doctor Zheng.” Cui Heming was ashamed of his harsh words then. “Doctor Zheng gave me a diagnosis and treatment plan but I refused to believe him, so I brought my mother to Imperial Capital and bought an expensive registration number from a ticket scalper for 5000 yuan. In the end, the diagnosis was the same as the one given by Doctor Zheng…”

“Hiss…” The man beside Cui Heming gasped in astonishment. He had not anticipated that Chief Zheng’s diagnostic ability and medical skills had reached the level of senior professors in Imperial Capital.

After finishing the cigarette, Cui Heming approached a trash can and threw the butt into its ashtray. Then, he mentally prepared himself to present his silk banner and apologize for his behaviour from that night.

A man needed to be responsible for his own mistakes and stand firm even if he had to receive physical punishment.

Just as he worked out a long list of compliments and was about to walk forward, a car stopped in front of Sea City General Hospital emergency building.

“Chief Zheng, my father has a stomachache. Can you take a look at him?” yelled a middle-aged man anxiously as he got down from the driver’s seat.

“…” Shoot! His psychological preparation had gone to waste.

Cui Heming froze on the spot and saw over twenty medical staff, who had been posing for the camera in front of the medical department, scatter immediately. A stretcher trolley was pushed out approximately ten seconds later and an elderly man was transferred onto it.

When he looked again, Chief Zheng Ren had already gone.

[1] Chunghwa is a premium brand of Chinese cigarettes produced by the Shanghai Tobacco Group, a subsidiary of China Tobacco. Due to its popularity in the Chinese market, it is considered the most representative brand of Chinese cigarettes and is known as the “national smoke”.