Yan Feifan, Liu Jin, Yu Youhai, and Qee Sheng waited patiently for nearly twenty minutes before Yu Suye also completed her task and came out of the operating room with Dr. Qin.
Facing the questioning gazes of Qee Sheng and the others, Dr. Qin said, "These two young doctors performed well."
"They both successfully completed the task of splitting a hair lengthwise, and they did it quite well. It was beyond my expectations, I must say."
She added, "They are the best of the best among young doctors, and they've more than earned that reputation."
While Dr. Qin was speaking, Liu Jin secretly tried to signal Yan Feifan with his eyes, but the guy didn't seem to notice, remaining completely unfazed.
'Liu Jin was exasperated.'
He had no choice but to give him a verbal nudge. "Yan Feifan, didn't you once tell me you greatly admire Dr. Qin's abilities and wanted to ask for some guidance?"
At the same time, Qee Sheng also gave Yan Feifan a gentle push.
Having been pushed in front of Dr. Qin, Yan Feifan didn't beat around the bush. He got straight to the point. "Dr. Qin, I want you to be my mentor!"
His words were so blunt and direct that Qee Sheng had the urge to roll his eyes.
Just then, Yu Suye also approached Dr. Qin.
With a voice full of excitement, she bowed slightly and said, "Dr. Qin, I have respectfully read every article you've published and diligently studied every instructional video you've filmed."
"My dream is to become a medical expert in limb reattachment, just like you."
"Dr. Qin, you're my role model. Might I be so honored as to become your student?"
Dr. Qin didn't answer them directly. Instead, she looked past them to Qee Sheng, Liu Jin, and Yu Youhai and asked coldly, "You all put them up to this, didn't you? Forced them into it?"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Qee Sheng quickly explained, "Qin Ying, I'll be frank with you. This was actually Yan Feifan's own idea. He brought it up himself."
"He sincerely wants you to be his mentor."
Yu Youhai immediately added, "Dr. Qin, I won't hide it from you, either. The only reason I came here to offer you a position at Baining Hospital is because my Su Ye personally requested it."
Dr. Qin's gaze fell upon Yan Feifan and Yu Suye once more. After a moment of silence, she said slowly, "You are both so outstanding. It would be a lie to say I'm not the least bit tempted."
"However, I must warn you. Don't think for a second that because of what I've been through, I've gone soft."
"On the contrary, I will be even more demanding."
"My standards might even have become...unreasonable because of it."
Yu Suye started to speak, but Dr. Qin stopped her with a wave of her hand.
"You don't need to answer right now. Go back, think it over, and cool your heads. You can give me your decision next week."
After saying this, Dr. Qin turned to leave.
"Wait, Dr. Qin..."
Liu Jin stopped her. "About your test... Yan Feifan finished first."
"But this guy here, Yu Youhai, is trying to back out, saying speed shouldn't be the only criterion."
"Dr. Qin, I'd like you to judge. Between Yan Feifan and Yu Suye, who performed better?"
Before Dr. Qin could speak, Yu Suye spoke up. "Mr. Liu, Mr. Qi, Uncle... compared to the confident Mr. Yan, who succeeded on his first try, I failed three times and only barely managed on my fourth."
"So, for this task, I lost."
Yu Youhai quickly interjected, "Su Ye, there's no need for false modesty. Speed doesn't equate to quality."
"When it comes to treating patients and saving lives, quality is the top priority!"
"Isn't that right, Dr. Qin?"
Dr. Qin slowly shook her head, pointed a finger at Yan Feifan, and said, "His speed was... fast. And his quality was... higher."
"Compared to Yu Suye, he's not in the same league."
Everyone was stunned by her words, especially the Yu uncle and niece, whose faces were masks of utter disbelief.
Dr. Qin turned and walked away.
Her voice drifted back to them. "Go and compare their work for yourselves. Then you'll understand..."
Qee Sheng quickly called for his wife and daughter, instructing them to escort Dr. Qin home to rest. But when he turned back, Liu Jin, Yu Youhai, and the others had vanished.
He hurried into the operating room to find Liu Jin, Yu Youhai, Yu Suye, and Yan Feifan all crowded around a microsurgery station.
Qee Sheng could hear Liu Jin's smug voice echoing through the room.
"It's just as Dr. Qin said. They really aren't in the same league..."
"One is split perfectly down the midline of the hair. The cut surface is as smooth as glass, like it was done in a single, swift motion."
"And the other one... TSK TSK..."
"The cut is a wavy line, and it nearly snapped in several places..."
"Yu Youhai, you lose. One bottle of fine red wine."
Yu Youhai puffed out his chest and argued, "We were supposed to shake on it! Liu Jin, I'm asking you, did we ever actually shake hands?"
"If we didn't shake, it doesn't count..."
Liu Jin and Yu Youhai bickered for a while, and the end result was that they decided to go and sample Liu Jin's rare Mingqian Longjing tea together.
As for Yan Feifan, he didn't even get to taste the tea. He returned to the General Diagnostics Building alone.
Just as he stepped into the first-floor lobby, he saw We Xin getting out of the elevator.
Yan Feifan went up to her and asked, "Dr. We, was that girl from yesterday, Lehong, transferred to Cardiology?"
"No."
We Xin continued, "They're processing her discharge papers. They're going home."
Before Yan Feifan could ask for more details, We Xin explained, "They heard that if the condition is managed properly, it won't affect her quality of life or get any worse, so they've opted for conservative treatment."
"They're hoping for a miracle, that the malformed pelvic vein valves will finish developing on their own."
Yan Feifan asked doubtfully, "And how do they plan to 'manage' it?"
"Once you get a taste for something, it's hard to stop. Once a primal urge like that is awakened, trying to suppress it is incredibly difficult."
We Xin sighed. "How else can they control it?"
"They're primarily relying on the girl's own self-control, driven by her fear of the condition and her own mortality."
"Of course, psychological counseling and finding ways to divert her attention are also essential."
"And..."
We Xin added with a meaningful look, "Her parents also asked us to prescribe a drug for her: cyproterone acetate."
"Cyproterone acetate?"
Yan Feifan repeated the name, surprised. "They're essentially chemically castrating their own daughter?"
He remembered from Lehong's lab results that her testosterone, an androgen, was slightly elevated, but still within the normal range.
This hormone can increase a woman's libido.
Cyproterone acetate is a drug that can effectively suppress this hormone and lower a woman's interest in... that sort of thing.
Yan Feifan sounded perplexed. "Lehong is only fourteen or fifteen. She's still developing. Long-term use of this kind of suppressant will disrupt her hormonal balance and seriously affect the development of her secondary sexual characteristics."
We Xin sighed in resignation. "We warned them about the side effects, but they insisted. They said it was a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils."
"Mr. Yan, implanting at least twelve artificial valves in the pelvic veins... if we use imported ones, the surgical costs are incredibly high. At least three hundred thousand."
"After the surgery, she would have to take medication for the rest of her life and undergo regular check-ups."
"And there's always the major risk of the valves detaching down the line..."
Hearing this, Yan Feifan could only sigh.
He added wistfully, "I hope I can grow into a chief physician as quickly as possible, to have a high enough chance of success to perform an autologous vein segment transplant for her."
We Xin smiled, then said in a serious tone, "Mr. Yan, with your skills, you could probably break our Affiliated Hospital's record for promotions. You might even go from resident to chief physician within five years."
She made a gesture of encouragement and said with a laugh, "I'm betting on you, you know!"
"A mere five years... Lehong can afford to wait that long."
At this, We Xin's playful expression faded. "Alright, enough about that."
"As doctors, we only have the right to advise on treatment. The decision lies with the patient and their family."
As if suddenly remembering something, We Xin said, "Oh, Mr. Yan, we have a patient being transferred over this afternoon."
"Apparently lost over a hundred pounds in three months, and three separate top-tier hospitals couldn't find the cause."
"So they pulled some strings and managed to get a referral to our department head."
"The patient's detailed medical records should be sent over around noon..."
PS.
The contract has been mailed out. The book's official contracted status should be updated by Monday or Tuesday.
For any readers who want to 'invest' in the novel, now's the time.
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