Yan Feifan rushed to Mr. Liu's office at the Affiliated Hospital, arriving at 10:16 AM.
The moment he stepped into the office, he was reprimanded.
"A general practitioner?"
"Yan Feifan, you've got some nerve. Have you forgotten your place?"
Liu Jin's face was dark as he criticized, "This hospital is full of specialists, senior physicians, and even academicians of the Academy of Engineering. They've dedicated decades to their work and still haven't managed to completely master a single field."
"And yet here you are, setting your sights on becoming a 'general practitioner' right off the bat. What, you think you were born with two heads?"
"That's enough. Yan Feifan is my student now."
Qin Ying cut off Liu Jin's critique, her tone laced with displeasure. "Mr. Liu, my hope for Yan Feifan is that he will reach heights none of us ever could."
"At the very least, the goal he's set for himself shows great ambition."
"If you don't even dare to dream it, how can you ever attempt to achieve it or make a breakthrough?"
Liu Jin chuckled sardonically. "Dr. Qin, you've been his teacher for less than half an hour and you're already this protective."
"And Yan Feifan is still my student, too."
Qin Ying scoffed, her reply blunt. "Only in the most general sense, from when he attended your large-scale lectures."
"If you weren't in your current position, how many people do you think would still call you their teacher?"
"Dr. Qin, you're out of line." Liu Jin was genuinely getting angry now.
'This is a battle between titans,' Yan Feifan thought, not daring to intervene.
He quietly shuffled a few steps over to stand with Yu Suye, who was waiting silently off to the side.
Yan Feifan found it a little strange that Mr. Yu, the Vice President from Baining Hospital, wasn't there.
"Alright, alright, that's enough from both of you."
Qee Sheng quickly stepped in to play peacemaker. "Xiaoyan's goal might seem lofty and unrealistic, but he has a clear-eyed view of it."
"Didn't he state clearly that he won't move on to his next small goal if he fails to meet Qin Ying's standards in trauma surgery?"
Qee Sheng added with a sigh, "Think back to when we were young. Who among us didn't secretly harbor grand ambitions of conquering some human disease and leaving a bold mark on the pages of medical history?"
Seeing the expressions on both Liu Jin and Qin Ying soften, Qee Sheng continued, "Now that Xiaoyan is here, let's proceed with a simple tea ceremony to formalize the mentorship."
The ceremony itself was quite simple.
With Qee Sheng and Liu Jin as witnesses, Yan Feifan and Yu Suye each presented a cup of tea to Dr. Qin.
Qin Ying accepted the tea, took a light sip, and the ceremony was complete.
Yan Feifan noticed Liu Jin's sour expression and had a flash of insight. He seized the opportunity and presented him with a cup of tea as well.
This simple act brought a wide smile to Liu Jin's face. He didn't even seem to mind that the tea was a bit hot, downing it in one gulp.
Qin Ying, watching this, snorted derisively.
Qee Sheng quickly interjected, "Now that the ceremony is over, let's get down to business and discuss the arrangements."
He shot a meaningful glance at Qin Ying, reminding her, "It's Monday. In a hospital this size, there are many matters waiting for Mr. Liu's decision."
Qin Ying said after a moment of thought, "I'm willing to transfer my employment to the Affiliated Hospital, but my primary role will be teaching these two, Yan Feifan and Yu Suye."
"Of course, I can't just take a salary from the Affiliated Hospital for nothing."
"So, I can set aside two days a week."
"One day for expert consultations, and one day to give lectures to the hospital's junior doctors."
Liu Jin nodded, satisfied. "Excellent."
"I will personally coordinate with City First Hospital to get your employment transferred over as quickly as possible."
"Dr. Qin, here at the Affiliated Hospital, you will receive the salary and benefits of a department director."
"But which department should we assign you to?"
Qin Ying waved a hand dismissively. "I'm not good at dealing with people, so let's not bother another department."
"Just assign us to any department on paper and give us an office. That's all we need."
She added, "And since Feifan and Su Ye will need a lot of hands-on practice, it would be best to have an office close to the emergency department."
Liu Jin nodded again. "No problem. I'll personally select a suitable office for you."
"Dr. Qin, you'll need to coordinate with various departments for specimens, teaching equipment, consumables, labs, operating rooms, and so on."
"It wouldn't be right to have your students constantly running around for such tedious errands. How about I assign you an assistant or two?"
Qin Ying was about to refuse.
But then she considered that she wasn't familiar with the Affiliated Hospital, and someone would indeed have to be responsible for those tasks, so she agreed.
"For now, one assistant will do. We'll see how it goes once I'm more familiar with things..."
After they settled a few more key issues, Qin Ying grew impatient and said Mr. Liu could have full authority over the remaining details.
Afterward, Qin Ying led Yan Feifan and Yu Suye out of the vice president's office.
After leaving the main administration building, Yan Feifan and Yu Suye followed Qin Ying toward the east entrance of the hospital.
Qin Ying walked in silence, so neither Yan Feifan nor Yu Suye dared to ask where they were going. They simply followed along obediently.
Suddenly, Qin Ying stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Yan Feifan, what is 0.99 multiplied by itself ten times?"
After a moment's hesitation, Yan Feifan immediately replied, "Teacher, it's 0.9044."
Qin Ying was slightly surprised he could calculate that fast in his head. She nodded, then looked at Yu Suye. "And 0.98 multiplied by itself ten times?"
Yu Suye shot Yan Feifan a slightly resentful glance before pulling out her phone, opening the calculator app, and quickly typing in the numbers...
"Teacher, it's 0.8171."
Qin Ying nodded. "From preserving and transporting the severed limb, to debridement, bone setting, suturing blood vessels and nerves of all sizes, reattaching muscles and tendons, closing the surface skin, and all the way to post-operative care and physical therapy—there are at least ten steps."
"We can't perform any single one of those steps with one hundred percent perfection."
"Even if we could achieve ninety-nine percent on each step, by the end, the total recovery would only be ninety percent of the original."
Qin Ying raised her right hand and wiggled her five fingers.
"For limb reattachment, the absolute limit of what is humanly possible is restoring ninety percent of the original function."
"Anything more than that is just pure, heaven-sent luck."
Qin Ying lowered her hand, her voice growing grave. "In limb reattachment surgery, the official definition of success is simply the survival of the limb."
"This standard means that as long as blood can circulate through the reattached finger, arm, foot, or leg—even if it becomes nothing more than a decorative appendage—the surgery is considered a success."
"But that is not *my* standard."
"My standard is that for every step within your control, you must achieve an outcome of at least ninety-eight percent."
Qin Ying's tone was severe. "Limb reattachment is a test of a surgeon's comprehensive ability and skill."
"A single shortcoming in any one area will be magnified, affecting the patient's functional recovery."
She looked at Yan Feifan. "Yan Feifan, you want to become an all-around surgeon. Choosing trauma surgery as the first step toward that goal was absolutely the right decision."
"Once you can flawlessly reattach an adult's thigh and an infant's finger, you'll find you can practically swagger your way through at least half of the other surgical departments."
With that said, Qin Ying once again started walking toward the east entrance of the hospital.
Yan Feifan and Yu Suye hurried to follow.
This time, however, Yan Feifan could see his new teacher's destination: the Trauma Surgery Department, connected by a corridor to the Emergency Department.
As far as Yan Feifan knew, the Affiliated Hospital's Emergency Department and Trauma Surgery Department had originally been a single department.
But as they both grew in size, they were eventually split.
Even so, the two departments still worked closely together.
After all, a large portion of the patients admitted to Trauma Surgery were transferred over from Emergency.
According to the Affiliated Hospital's regulations for residents and interns on rotation, they only needed to choose one of the two—Trauma Surgery or Emergency.
Yan Feifan had chosen Emergency.
Following Qin Ying to the office area on the fifth floor of the Trauma Surgery Department, Yan Feifan saw a short-haired female doctor in her forties emerge from an office down the hall, surrounded by a group of more than a dozen people.
Yan Feifan recognized the woman.
She was Dr. Chen Yu, the director of Trauma Surgery, a strong-willed woman known as the "Iron Lady."
Upon seeing her, Qin Ying stopped walking.
Across the hall, Chen Yu noticed Qin Ying's group of three as well. Her eyebrow twitched, and she immediately strode toward them.
The entourage behind her scurried to keep up.
Standing just behind Qin Ying, Yan Feifan felt as if he were watching a torrential wave surge toward them.
Just as the wave was about to crash over their small group, its crest came to a sudden halt.
"Dr. Qin!"
"Dr. Chen!"
After the two exchanged cold greetings, Chen Yu, still flanked by her entourage, sized up Qin Ying and sneered, "I was starting to think you'd never dare show your face in front of me again."
"If I'd known you were going to be so despondent, I wouldn't have bothered operating on you. It was a waste of my time and energy."
Qin Ying replied coolly, "And yet, here I am."
"I'll be working at the Affiliated Hospital from now on."
"What, to retire and wait to die?" Chen Yu asked, surprised, her words dripping with acid.
Qin Ying didn't get angry. Her tone was casual. "That was the general idea. And I'll teach a couple of students while I'm at it."
"After all, since I'll be seeing you from time to time, I need something to do to lift my spirits."
Chen Yu scoffed, her eyes flicking over Yan Feifan and Yu Suye. "These two? The pretty little things?"
"Qin Ying, just because you can't operate anymore, don't tell me your standards for picking people have dropped this low, too?"
"Have you given up completely? Started judging people by their looks?"
Qin Ying smiled faintly. "Chen Yu, the fact that I can no longer operate means you've lost your chance to ever surpass me."
"I know you've always dreamed of getting the better of me, but you've never quite managed it."
"But now... I'll give you one more chance."
Qin Ying pointed a finger at Yan Feifan and Yu Suye. "I have these two students. You have a whole flock."
"I'll take my two and challenge your entire group."
"Do you dare accept the challenge?"