Chapter 471: Chapter 470: Treating Him as a Teacher

Zhou Xian’s invitation was quite sincere. Plus, the place he’d chosen to treat them, Xinfeng Restaurant, was practically Yan Feifan’s home turf.

Yan Feifan was also curious why the man had suddenly invited him to dinner. After a couple of polite refusals, he eventually agreed.

At 6:30 p.m., Yan Feifan arrived at Xinfeng Restaurant with his girlfriend and personal bodyguard, Yu Suye, along with Feng Jian.

Yan Feifan told Feng Jian to order a couple of dishes for himself and wait in the main dining hall, then prepared to head upstairs with Yu Suye.

Just then, Yu Suye tugged on his arm.

"Feifan, look! Over there..."

Yan Feifan followed her gaze and his eyes widened in disbelief.

He saw his uncle, Shu Lei, walking out from the direction of the kitchen, carrying a tray with two dishes.

Shu Lei, dressed in the restaurant’s waiter uniform, had just served a table in the main hall when he noticed Yan Feifan staring at him.

He instinctively turned to bolt, but then stopped himself and walked over with an awkward expression.

"Feifan, Su Ye..."

"Um... I just got back today..."

"I was planning to surprise you all... but then I remembered you’d still be at work, so I came here first to grab a bite and... get rid of the ’dampness’ in my body."

"I didn’t expect so many of the restaurant staff to be on leave today. They were short-handed, so as a friend, I decided to help out, lend a hand..."

"Heh heh..."

Seeing Yan Feifan’s scrutinizing gaze, Shu Lei found it hard to keep up the pretense and started laughing foolishly to cover it up.

Yan Feifan snorted. "Uncle, you really expect me to believe that nonsense? Be honest. When did you really get back?"

Shu Lei scratched his head and said in a wheedling tone, "Feifan, my boy, I only got back a day or two early. I just wanted to spend some quality time with Xia, just the two of us."

"Just the two of you?"

Yan Feifan was skeptical. "Uncle, how long have you and Mrs. Xia even been seeing each other? You’re already at the ’just the two of us’ stage?"

"Who do you think you’re fooling?"

Shu Lei chuckled. "Heh heh, Feifan, my boy, you just don’t get it, do you? When you lock eyes with the right person, a single glance can feel like a thousand years. We’re inseparable."

"Besides, with my looks and this physique," Shu Lei said, puffing out his chest, "it’s enough to slay legions of beauties from eighteen to forty-eight."

As he spoke, he smugly flexed his arm, showing off his rather large biceps.

"Feifan, my boy, I swear I haven’t been anywhere I shouldn’t have these past two days. Xia can vouch for me."

"You might not believe me, but you have to believe Xia, right?"

Yan Feifan grunted twice and warned, "Uncle, I’m going to verify your story."

"If you’re lying... well, I don’t need to spell out the consequences."

Shu Lei quickly promised, "Feifan, my boy, I’m not lying to you! I’m really not."

"Hey, what are you and Su Ye doing here today?"

"A colleague invited us to dinner."

Yan Feifan replied, then asked, "Uncle, are you coming home tonight?"

Shu Lei hesitated for a moment before deciding. "I think I’ll stick to the original plan and come back on Sunday."

"Feifan, my boy, Su Ye, you two have to keep this a secret for me. Don’t tell Ziruo. She’s... formidable, and this would be hard to explain."

Yan Feifan admonished him, "What do you mean ’hard to explain’? Behavior like this is bound to make us trust you less."

Shu Lei quickly declared, "Feifan, my boy, from now on, I’ll report in every morning and evening."

"It’s just that I was momentarily... swept away by a beautiful woman."

"I’m a sailor who spends all his time at sea. You’ve got to understand, you’ve got to understand..."

Seeing his uncle’s pleading expression, Yan Feifan’s heart softened. "Just this once. Don’t let it happen again."

Meeting Shu Lei’s gaze, Yu Suye also chimed in, "Uncle, don’t worry. If Feifan doesn’t say anything, I won’t either..."

The two of them left his uncle and went to the private room they’d reserved on the third floor. They found that Zhou Xian had already arrived and was alone.

After they sat down and exchanged pleasantries, Yan Feifan got straight to the point. "Dr. Zhou, I’m here now. Whatever you have to say, please say it."

"Otherwise, I won’t be able to enjoy this meal."

Zhou Xian first stood up to pour tea for Yan Feifan and Yu Suye. After sitting back down, he began to speak slowly.

"Mr. Yan, last time you were in our cardiology department, you performed a simplified external cardiac bypass on a patient under emergency conditions."

"I’ve watched the video of that surgery over and over."

"I must say, Mr. Yan, your incredibly precise technique left me breathless. I was especially impressed by your courage and initiative in the face of danger."

Zhou Xian said with a sigh, "In that situation, anyone else would have backed away, afraid of taking responsibility."

"But you volunteered and went against the current..."

Yan Feifan cut him off. "Dr. Zhou, you don’t have to praise me like that. I was just being a little reckless and showing off."

"I was scared to death afterward, believe me."

Zhou Xian chuckled. "That wasn’t recklessness. All I saw in that video was a man who was confident, composed, and completely in control."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "Mr. Yan, I know you have a reputation for being a genius. Your academic record in medical school was in a league of its own, making you the only doctoral student in years to graduate early."

"Theoretical knowledge is one thing, and with your talent, Mr. Yan, it’s no surprise you’d sail through your practical internships."

"But your surgical skills..."

Zhou Xian stared into Yan Feifan’s eyes. "Mr. Yan, your surgical skills are second to none in this entire hospital."

"In my opinion, even those surgeons known as the ’top scalpels’ in their departments aren’t on the same level as you."

"Surgical skill, even with a gift for it, still requires a massive amount of practice and time investment to master."

"But you, Mr. Yan, seem to have skipped that stage entirely and achieved mastery in a single leap..."

Hearing this, Yan Feifan’s heart pounded with anxiety.

’So, someone has finally noticed there’s something strange about me.’

Theoretical knowledge could be explained away by a photographic memory and superior comprehension.

But practical skills weren’t so easy to brush off.

Renowned surgeons spent twenty to thirty years in the clinic, honing their skills over thousands of operations. For a young doctor, only four or five years out of school, to surpass them in a flash...

’How is that possible?’

Just as Yan Feifan was rapidly trying to think up a plausible and reasonable excuse, he saw Zhou Xian pour a fresh cup of tea, hold it, and stand up.

"Mr. Yan, you must have some kind of highly effective training method."

"I have an audacious request. Could you perhaps give me some guidance?"

"I am willing to treat you as my teacher!"

As he said this, Zhou Xian bowed slightly and offered the tea.

This...

Yan Feifan was dumbfounded.

A cardiac surgeon in his forties, with a decent reputation, wanted to take him as a master?

For a moment, Yan Feifan didn’t know how to respond.

If he really did have an effective training method for surgical skills, that would be one thing. It’s not about age; anyone who is more skilled can be a teacher, after all.

The problem was, he didn’t have one.

’He couldn’t very well tell the man to go get into an accident, fall into a coma for a year or two, then get lucky enough to wake up with the ability to create a virtual world where he could practice hundreds of thousands of times, could he?’

His hesitation was all Zhou Xian needed to see, and he grew despondent.

He sat back down in his seat and said with a self-deprecating look, "I understand. I was being delusional. Why would a method like that be passed on to a failure like me?"

"Dr. Zhou, it’s not what you think!"

Yan Feifan quickly explained, "I really don’t have any so-called ’highly effective training method.’"

"It’s just a matter of having some natural talent, better-than-average comprehension and coordination, and working hard every day."

"Dr. Zhou, think about it. If I really had some secret that I couldn’t share, with me coming and going from work every day, surrounded by colleagues, how could there not be a single rumor about it?"

Hearing this, Zhou Xian froze.

He pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. "That’s true. There’s no such thing as a perfect secret. If you really had a big secret, it’s impossible that not even a whisper of it would have gotten out."

Suddenly, Zhou Xian covered his face with his hands and said in a pained voice, "Ah, I really am washed up."

"Instead of focusing on the proper path, I started chasing after this illusory, opportunistic so-called shortcut."

"I’m washed up, completely washed up!"

Yan Feifan tried to console him. "Dr. Zhou, Dr. Zhou, you’re just burdened by your past fame. You can’t let it go."

Seeing Zhou Xian lower his hands and look at him, Yan Feifan decided to be blunt. "Dr. Zhou, I’ll be honest with you."

"Dr. Zhou, you need to stop clinging to that bit of fame."

"To put it bluntly, a lot of doctors at the hospital see you as a joke, or as a cautionary tale."

"You have two paths now. Either you let go of everything, break through your limits, strive to improve, and win back everyone’s respect."

"Or, you can just coast on your reputation as the number one surgeon for ventricular septal defect repairs, maybe transfer to an ordinary Grade A Tertiary hospital to coast into retirement, and forever be that cautionary tale people talk about..."

Just then, Yan Feifan noticed Zhou Xian’s face was flushed red, and the veins on the hand gripping his teacup were bulging.

"Dr. Zhou, I didn’t mean to offend you. Please don’t be angry..."

As he spoke, Yan Feifan scooted his chair back, ready to bolt if things went south.

Zhou Xian’s chest heaved. He took a few deep breaths, and the flush slowly faded from his face.

"Mr. Yan, you’re right. You’re absolutely right. I am a joke in other people’s eyes right now, a model of failure."

"The sad and laughable thing is, I still thought I was something special, that the department and the hospital were being unfair to me."

"Mr. Yan, thank you for that wake-up call..."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.