Qee Sheng hurried back from the City People's Hospital to the Affiliated Hospital's comprehensive diagnostic building. It was just past three in the afternoon.
When he arrived at the office, he waved his hand at Yan Feifan, We Xin, and the others who had stood up to greet him, saying, "Everyone, please sit."
"Regarding the patient's treatment plan, have you come to a conclusion?"
Zhu Xiangdong, the eldest among them, glanced at Yan Feifan and reported, "Director, given the severity of the patient's pelvic vein valve deformity and absence, we believe the chance of the venous valves redeveloping through conservative and stimulative therapy is minuscule."
"We unanimously agree on surgical treatment."
At this point, Zhu Xiangdong glanced at Yan Feifan again and said, "As for the surgical approach, compared to the traditional treatment method of implanting artificial venous valves, Mr. Yan has proposed a very bold surgical concept."
"Oh? How bold?" Qee Sheng looked at Yan Feifan expectantly.
Yan Feifan replied, "I've calculated that for the patient's condition, at least twelve artificial venous valves would need to be implanted via interventional vascular surgery."
"This procedure requires intervention through the carotid artery to deliver the artificial valves to the pelvic veins. Not only is the process extremely painful for the patient, but the implantation difficulty is also quite high."
"Furthermore, the patient would need to take anticoagulant drugs for the rest of their life and undergo regular check-ups."
"The patient is only fourteen or fifteen. Over a long lifetime, accidents like the dislodging of an artificial valve are bound to happen."
After a pause, Yan Feifan said, "Therefore, I propose we harvest several segments of well-developed venous blood vessels from the patient's legs and arms, then graft them onto the pelvic veins in sections. This would solve the problem once and for all."
Qee Sheng nodded slightly and said, "Xiaoyan, I have to say, your idea is indeed bold, and it has some feasibility."
"However, while implanting artificial valves into the pelvic veins via interventional surgery is difficult, here at the Affiliated Hospital alone, we have at least two doctors who can do it."
"But your autologous vein grafting procedure is a major, level-four open-abdominal surgery. In the entire country, there probably aren't more than five people who could perform this surgery, and even they couldn't guarantee success."
Qee Sheng shook his head again. "For a surgery of this difficulty, the probability of an accident occurring during the operation or recovery is just too high."
"Xiaoyan, the patient has a much safer option right now. It's best not to gamble with their life."
Yan Feifan opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.
Qee Sheng looked at Zhu Xiangdong and instructed, "Go and inform the patient's family about the treatment plan."
"If they're willing to be treated here, transfer the patient to the cardiology department."
Zhu Xiangdong grunted in acknowledgment, then asked, "Director, should we also introduce Mr. Yan's treatment plan to them?"
Qee Sheng mulled it over for a moment, then said, "Tell them."
He then stressed, "You must explain the risks of this plan in detail. Don't cause any unnecessary misunderstandings."
Qee Sheng waved his hand again. "Alright, you can all get back to your work."
"Xiaoyan, stay behind for a moment..."
Qee Sheng unhurriedly brewed a pot of black tea, pouring a cup for himself and one for Yan Feifan.
"To find and teach a great talent is one of life's greatest pleasures. I believe Mr. Qin shares this sentiment."
Qee Sheng picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and continued, "Xiaoyan, I acknowledge your excellence."
"You've proven that today with your performance."
"It's just..."
Qee Sheng paused for a moment, then said, "Xiaoyan, I'll be blunt."
"I made a point of asking a few of your supervising attendings from your residency rotations. They all said your performance in surgical practice was commendable, and that among your batch of residents, you were one of the best."
"But, it wasn't what you'd call stunning."
Qee Sheng sighed softly. "My niece is a renowned surgeon. What she values most are surgical skills."
"Her standards are incredibly high. With a surgical skill level that's not yet stunning, I doubt you'll be able to impress her."
"Besides, you were in a coma for over a year and then recuperated at home for several months. It's inevitable that your skills have gotten rusty."
"Xiaoyan, can you tell me where this confidence of yours comes from—this confidence that you can convince my niece to take you on as a student?"
Yan Feifan wasn't foolish enough to say that his confidence came from having meticulously dissected one thousand three hundred and thirty-five corpses in his world of consciousness.
He also picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said softly, "Director, you probably won't believe me if I tell you..."
"This accident, along with the long coma and recuperation at home, changed me profoundly."
"It allowed me to settle and reflect on many things."
"Through all this settling, reviewing, and thinking, I had a sort of epiphany."
"To put it simply, I've had a breakthrough."
Qee Sheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Xiaoyan, you're not just pulling my leg, are you?"
"You already had a reputation as a genius. According to what you're saying, does that mean you were still clueless and unenlightened back then?"
Yan Feifan gave a faint smile and said, "Director, seeing is believing. Actions speak louder than words."
"Instead of trying to explain further, why don't I just give you a demonstration?"
When Yan Feifan proposed the idea of drawing Mr. Qin's attention to himself—hoping to spark her desire to teach a worthy talent and thus put an end to her suicidal thoughts—it wasn't because he had a savior complex. He wasn't trying to sacrifice himself by throwing himself into the lion's den just to save Mr. Qin.
He had several considerations of his own.
The knowledge and skills Yan Feifan had spent countless years learning and honing in his world of consciousness had their limits.
The ceiling was defined by everything he had known, learned, and heard in his past.
To put it figuratively, Yan Feifan's current medical foundation was incredibly solid—like a foundation sunk one hundred and eight stories deep—but the building on top was, on average, only two or three stories high.
For example, the hospital classifies surgeries into four levels based on factors like scale and difficulty.
Yan Feifan had only been the lead surgeon for most level-one surgeries. Under the supervision of an attending physician, he had also led about ten to twenty types of level-two surgeries, such as inguinal hernia repairs and various polypectomies.
As for the more demanding and difficult level-three and level-four surgeries, he had only ever observed or participated as an assistant.
Mastery of such complex surgeries couldn't be achieved simply by watching surgical videos and performing simulations.
He needed guidance from a highly skilled and experienced teacher.
And Mr. Qin was undoubtedly qualified to guide him.
As for her being demanding, Yan Feifan had never been one to be afraid.
Besides, Yan Feifan's impression of Mr. Qin was quite good.
During the earthquake relief efforts in Chuanxi, he had worked as a member of a support team at the medical station where Mr. Qin was located.
He had personally witnessed Mr. Qin operate on earthquake victims for over thirty consecutive hours without rest, only being carried off to rest after collapsing from exhaustion.
Moreover, as far as Yan Feifan knew, although Mr. Qin was called "Abbess Miejue" by her peers, she was an absolutely wonderful doctor in the eyes of her patients.
The silk banners, thank-you letters, and gifts of gratitude she received from patients each year could fill an entire room.
Yan Feifan believed that a doctor like Mr. Qin, who treated her patients with such wholehearted dedication, was merely demanding, not unreasonable.
There was another important reason.
At the Affiliated Hospital, renowned doctors each had to mentor students, residents-in-training, interns, fellows, assistants, and so on. Having eight or ten was considered a small number; twenty was perfectly normal.
The sight of a chief physician making rounds, trailed by a massive entourage of dozens of people, was a common one at the Affiliated Hospital.
If he became Mr. Qin's student, there was a very high probability he would be the only one.
The effectiveness of that kind of one-on-one instruction was no joke.
Taking all these points into consideration, plus the old saying "saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda," Yan Feifan had proposed recommending himself as her student.
Qee Sheng looked at the composed Yan Feifan and suddenly smiled. "Seeing is believing. I was thinking the same thing."
"I've already spoken with Vice President Liu on the phone. He'll be here shortly. We can drink our tea while we wait..."
As he spoke, Qee Sheng refilled Yan Feifan's cup.
After two more cups of tea, the two were joined by Vice President Liu Jin.
Liu Jin placed the small organ preservation box he was carrying onto the coffee table and said, "Xiaoyan, this is a left hand I took from a cadaver used for intern training and study."
"Show us what you've got..."