Chapter 231: Where Did Time Go?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Operating Area in the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center was small, and it contained only a total of eight operating theaters.

The ratio of operating theaters to its one hundred and eighty hospital beds in the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center was considered above average.

The Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center may seem as if they had many operating theaters, especially considering the fact that they often had empty beds compared to general hospitals, who often had to add beds to accommodate patients.

Ling Ran also liked their spacious Operating Area, which had a very large surface area. If he did not include the remaining half of the building that was intentionally reserved for other purposes, the other half of the building was being severely underutilized. When Ling Ran looked over, he found that the long corridor was empty and clean. It had a disinfectant wareroom, anesthetic wareroom, surgical instrument storeroom, and other rooms. They were scattered all over the corridor, but the layout still proved to be interesting. Because of it, when they took something out of those rooms at night while on duty, they could terrify a young nurse out of her wits.

Similarly, the cafeteria located in the Operating Area—the favorite place of all surgeons—also had had a very standard layout as well as standard equipment. At first sight, the kitchen was about 131 square feet big, and the dining area was almost 328 square feet big. But the cafeteria in the Operating Area was often empty because it was located in a research institute which had only dozens of doctors.

However, the cafeteria in the Operating Area appeared to be pretty crowded today.

It was not to the extent of being filled with noise, but it was still quite crowded.

Ji Tianlu followed Ling Ran into the cafeteria. For a moment, he was not able to recognize the once-familiar cafeteria.

Half of the tables and chairs, originally arranged in groups, had been moved to the front of the cafeteria. There were stainless steel pots on top of the tables, and nameplates resembling those used in buffets could be seen in front of the stainless steel pots.

Some doctors walked to one of the stainless steel pots and opened up its lid. Then, they had their spectacles moisturized by the steam that came out of the pot. When they could finally see clearly, they would take out a pork trotter, or a piece of pork shank, or an ear of corn, or even a long piece of pork ribs…

Lu Wenbin wore his white coat and stood at the end of the row of tables. In front of him was a chopping board, and he held a kitchen knife in his hand. Just like a buffet, doctors could just pick the meat they liked and have Lu Wenbin cut their meat into pieces. The pork trotter would be cut in the middle, the pork shank would be cut longitudinally, the corn would be chopped into two, and the pork ribs would be cut into pieces…

Of course, most of the doctors cut their own meat themselves.

Some of them used the table knife provided with their plates to cut the meat, while some of them only ate tendered pork trotters. But the most common sight would be surgeons deboning the pork trotters using highly accurate incision skills.

There were many cheap blades on the operating theater. As long as they were careful and did not break the blade off in the meat, they could freely eat and cut anything they wanted, and they enjoyed the fun of eating the meat in large mouthfuls.

“What’s… happening?” Chief Physician Ji Tianlu was very skeptical when he saw the big changes in the cafeteria.

Ling Ran said, “Doctor Lu had some stew delivered from Yun Hua…”

“I know, I remember that. You even advertised for SF Express. But that is not just one pot of stew…” Ji Tianlu stared at the surgeons who ate with greasy mouths. He was unhappy and grumbled under his breath, “Haven’t they eaten any meat before? Would they still be able to perform surgeries when they’re full? Won’t they feel disgusted eating these pork ribs when they’re going to cut bones later?”

Lu Wenbin saw Ling Ran and Ji Tianlu come in. He quickly stopped his work and passed them the QR code. Then, he smiled and said, “You came at the right time, another pot of pork trotters will be ready soon.”

“Another pot?” Ji Tianlu did not know what to say when he looked at Lu Wenbin. He did not have any special impression of this young resident doctor from Yun Hua. All that he remembered was that Lu Wenbin was rather experienced as an assistant, had a quick mind, and he seemed to have quite the bright future. But what Ji Tianlu did not expect was that Lu Wenbin did not become famous in the operating theater, instead, he created such a huge commotion in the cafeteria.

Lu Wenbin paid no heed to Ji Tianlu’s facial expression. He smiled and answered, “All the people here are rather fond of my pork trotters. Some of the doctors even try to take them home. Which is fortunate, because I saved the butcher’s phone number, so I asked him to bring over another pot of pig hooves.”

“You even have the butcher’s phone number?”

“I go to the butcher’s stall at two o’clock in the morning, and I can be considered to be one of his earliest customers of the day. So, the boss is very happy to sell his products to me.” Lu Wenbin had an expression that pointedly hinted at Ji Tianlu’s ignorance.

Ji Tianlu was completely stunned. He completely lost the ‘wisdom’ he should possess as a superior doctor. How was he supposed to employ his wisdom when this was not his normal field of operation?

“Please cut us some pork shanks, we’ll have the part with the skin and fat. Also, give me a pork rib, pour some stew on the rice, add some broccoli and mushrooms with it, and I’d like fruit salad as well.” Ling Ran ordered the dishes with practiced ease. He then asked Ji Tianlu, “Do you want pork trotters only? Or would you like some corn as well?

“I’d like some fruit salad as well.” Ji Tianlu was dumbfounded.

“Already ordered.” Ling Ran nodded.

“You…”Ji Tianlu stared at Ling Ran and Lu Wenbin. He asked, “Did you do something like this at Yun Hua Hospital?”

“No way” Lu Wenbin snickered. “I’m far more successful at this in Yun Hua Hospital. There are already hundreds of staff members in the Emergency Department alone. If we go to the surgical floor, there will be a few hundreds of surgeons and nurses going in and out of it all day, and that is if we exclude those in the wards.”

Ji Tianlu only grew more confused. He scratched his head and said tiredly, “The cafeteria in the Operating Area is so that we can make things easy for our medical staff to eat, and that leads to them being able to perform surgeries better.”

“It is indeed very convenient.”

“Once we eat dinner, we can begin with the surgeries. Are you going home tonight?” Ling Ran looked at Ji Tianlu with a spark of hope shining in his eyes. When he operated on Liu Weichen, Ji Tianlu was his assistant. Ji Tianlu performed well in the surgery, and it saved him a lot of effort.

Ji Tianlu laughed. He was too lazy to talk.

While they spoke, Lu Wenbin served the braised dishes ordered by Ling Ran.

“Let’s eat.” Ling Ran started to eat swiftly after he said this. He would only have enough energy to perform surgeries after he was full.

Ji Tianlu stared at the table of dark-colored braised dishes. The fruit salad was the only dish that had brighter colors. He could not help but complain. “It’s very unhealthy to eat like this.”

“It won’t be.”

“We need to diversify the types of food we eat every day. We need to mix vegetables with meat, otherwise, if you eat in this manner for a period of time, you’ll be lucky to only mouth ulcers as a reminder…” Ji Tianlu said while he picked a greasy pork shank with skin and put it into his mouth. Then, he chewed it slowly.

The pork shank braised with stew gave off a salty and savory flavor when it first touched his taste buds. It was then followed by a brothy taste and the greasy taste from the pork shank itself. The slightly tough skin, the soft, fat meat, and the small amount of lean meat formed a delicious taste…

Ji Tianlu always worked as a freelance surgeon, and he could be considered as a food expert. At that moment, he could not help but applaud the dish.

Luckily, he quickly realized what he was about to do, or else he would have embarrassed himself on the spot.

Ji Tianlu secretly nodded. When he opened his eyes, his mood turned better. He laughed and said, “When I read the report from the Central Healthcare Group, they stated that they have at least twenty-two types of foods in the menu prepared for the leaders every day in order to ensure sufficient nutrient intake. All of you are still young, so now, you do not have any idea of taking care of your health. Still, you shouldn’t ignore this. As doctors, we know it’ll be too late for us if we only start taking medicine when we’re sick…”

“Chief Physician Ji.” A young female nurse came over and greeted Ji Tianlu.

“Yes?” The middle-aged Ji Tianlu nodded firmly. He looked very dignified.

“Doctor Ling, I’ve made some scrambled green peppers and eggs. It is good to reduce excess internal body heat. I’ll share some with you.” The young female nurse smiled cutely while she came in front of Ling Ran.

“Thank you.” Ling Ran pushed the plate slightly forward and grabbed something from under the table. He then said, “Take a bottle of yogurt.”

“Thank you, Doctor Ling.” The young nurse took the yogurt from Ling Ran happily.

“Doctor Ling, I made this pork rind jelly.”

“Doctor Ling, try some lotus slices…”

“Doctor Ling, stir-fried wild rice with meat…”

Ji Tianlu, who sat beside Ling Ran, watched the young nurses of the research institute come to Ling Ran before they left with the yogurt they received from Ling Ran. The yogurt box underneath their table turned empty in a short while.

Ji Tianlu was completely stunned.

There was also a lot of food in front of Ling Ran, but the portion was not big. After a while, Ling Ran ate half of it.

“Chief Physician Ji.” Ling Ran wiped his mouth before he talked to Ji Tianlu, who could not really taste the food he ate because he was too stunned to focus on eating. “I’ll be off performing surgeries now. The patient should be here already, right?”

“Huh? Yes! The patient is someone we just contacted, he should be on his way here.” When Ji Tianlu was about to say more, he found Ling Ran swiftly leaving the cafeteria.

The light in Operating Theater 2 lit up very soon.

Lu Wenbin also quickly packed up and left.

In a short while, the light in Operating Theater 3 also lit up. Within twenty minutes, a nurse ran out and said, “Doctor Ling is performing his third surgery. It’s a fresh Achilles tendon rupture. He lacks an assistant. Is there anyone who wants to join?”

“I’m in.” A few resident doctors who had free time raised their hands.

Ji Tianlu smelled the pork trotters, looked at the crowded surgery cafeteria, and watched the excited resident doctors. He was filled with puzzlement, ‘Is this still the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center?’

The lights in the operating theater lit up before it was turned off. Then, it was lit up again.

Ling Ran normally used whoever available in his team when he wanted to perform surgeries, and when he did not have enough people available in his team, he would ask others to join his team. If he were thirsty, he would just drink water. If he were tired, he would take an Energy Serum. This cycle continued until the next morning, and it made him receive two [Peers’ Admiration] for some inexplicable reason.

As a result, he accumulated twenty Basic Treasure Chests granted to him by [Peers’ Admiration].

‘Open all twenty chests.’ Ling Ran stood in the operating theater as he gave the command in his heart while he observed the open wound beneath the microscope.

As a man who currently owned 124 bottles of Energy Serum, he had lost his interest in opening Treasure Chests. This was just like a gamer receiving Normal Treasure Chests in games. That gamer would not immediately open it until he accumulated a large number of those chests.

Only when he had accumulated a certain number of the Treasure Chests and could open all of them in one go would Ling Ran be slightly motivated.

He knew that opening all of them at once would not increase the chances of him getting rare items, but the feeling of opening the chests would still be different.

Brilliant colors shone in Ling Ran’s vision, yet it did not affect his sight.

In between the green Energy Serums was a silver book that moved on its own…

“Let’s stop for a while.” Ling Ran completed the work on his hands quickly. He stood up and shook his head. Then, he shifted his attention to the silver book.

The book opened on its own, and on the cover page was a familiar phrase.

[Single Skill Book]

[Skill branch obtained: Microscopic Epineurium Anastomosis Technique (Master Level)]

Ling Ran had obtained the microscopic perineurium anastomosis technique previously. The microscopic epineurium anastomosis technique that he obtained this time could make his nerve anastomosis technique even more complete.

Theoretically speaking, the range of application for microscopic epineurium anastomosis was much wider, and it could also be completed faster. If it was used in neurosurgeries, the combination of the epineurium and perineurium anastomosis technique would have higher accuracy and a better outcome.

‘Perhaps there is really a better effect if I open all treasure chests in one go.’ Ling Ran sat back in front of the microscope and said, “Doctor Lu.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go for a ward round tomorrow morning!”

Lu Wenbin looked at the clock in the operating theater and asked, “Do you mean the day after today, or now?”

Ling Ran realized what he meant, sighed, and responded, “Time really flies.”

Lu Wenbin could not help but yawn. He turned around to the nurse and said bashfully, “Excuse me, please help me wipe off my tears.”

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