novelraw Chapter 41 Treating the Living as the Dead
Chapter 41 Treating the Living as the Dead
The back room of Renxin Pharmacy was separated by a heavy curtain. Outside was a noisy street, but inside was deathly silent.
Li Siyuan's hands were trembling.
Despite being a graduate student at a prestigious medical university with perfect theoretical knowledge, this kind of "field" surgery, performed in the back room of a pharmacy without anesthesiologists or monitors, still broke through his psychological defenses.
"Hemostats." Wang Minyu's calm voice broke the silence.
He didn't use general anesthesia, as the risks would be too high in this environment.
He used a high-level epidural block—of course, a systemically modified version of "acupuncture anesthesia".
Several silver needles were inserted into acupoints on the old man's back. With the help of local anesthetic, the old man stopped groaning and just stared at the light bulb above his head in horror.
A cool hand steadily placed the hemostat in Wang Minyu's palm.
Su Qing stood in the first assistant's position, her eyes focused intently on the incision.
She didn't need Wang Minyu to say anything; every time she reached out, she handed him the equipment he needed for the next step.
This tacit understanding surprised even Wang Minyu.
"Have you done general surgery before?" Wang Minyu asked as he cut open the skin.
"No." Su Qing's voice was muffled by her mask. "But on the dissection table, I've disassembled this part of the structure hundreds of times. I know where you want to cut."
Li Siyuan, who was in charge of making the pinky promise, felt a wave of nausea upon hearing this.
Calling the surgery a "disassembly" is something only a forensic doctor can do.
When the incision was made, the gallbladder was exposed and enlarged to the size of a goose egg, dark purple in color, and covered with a layer of purulent coating.
"Gangina." Wang Minyu frowned. "It's more serious than we expected."
At this moment, a prompt appears on the system panel:
[High-risk surgery detected. Recommended item: Basic Repair Fluid.]
[Primary Repair Solution: Accelerates cell regeneration, inhibits infection, and prevents postoperative adhesions.]
Without hesitation, Wang Minyu spent 1000 emotion points to exchange for a bottle.
This substance is colorless and odorless, and looks just like ordinary saline solution.
"Rinse," Wang Minyu ordered.
Su Qing took the bottle of "special saline solution" and skillfully rinsed the surgical area.
Just then, an accident happened.
The elderly man's abdominal muscles suddenly contracted violently, which could be due to fluctuations in the effects of anesthesia or an instinctive stress response.
This movement caused a tiny crack to appear in the already fragile gallbladder wall, and purulent bile was about to overflow and contaminate the abdominal cavity.
"Don't move!" Li Siyuan shouted in fright, almost slipping the hook in his hand.
One hand was faster than Wang Minyu.
Su Qing's left hand darted into the abdominal cavity with lightning speed, precisely pinching the opening with two fingers, while her right hand handed over a suction device.
"Sigh," she said coldly.
The movements were precise and decisive, without the slightest unnecessary tremor.
Those two fingers were like iron clamps, tightly sealing the opening that could have led to peritonitis.
Wang Minyu quickly took the suction device, sucked up the overflowing bile, and then swiftly ligated and removed it.
Ten minutes later, the blackened gallbladder was thrown into the curved plate.
"Sew it up".
Wang Minyu took the needle holder and began suturing. His suturing technique was at the master level, a reward from the system; the spacing between each stitch was as if it had been measured with a ruler.
Su Qing's timing in cutting the thread was absolutely perfect. The scissors were close to the knot, and with a snip, the thread end left was exactly the right length.
"Beautiful." Wang Minyu couldn't help but exclaim.
This isn't just hiring a nurse, it's practically hiring a top-notch assistant.
After the surgery, the elderly man was moved to the observation bed in front.
Li Siyuan slumped into the chair, his back completely soaked: "Senior sister... weren't you afraid when you put your hand in just now? What if..."
Su Qing is cleaning the equipment.
She wiped the blood off the hemostats bit by bit until the metal gleamed coldly.
"A dead person's gallbladder ruptures, so a quick wash will do." Su Qing said without turning her head. "A living person's is a little more troublesome, but it's just a cog in the machine. As long as you treat it like a cog, you won't be afraid."
Li Siyuan swallowed hard, deciding that he would never provoke this senior sister again.
Outside the door, the two bodyguards and the family members who arrived later were waiting anxiously.
As soon as Wang Minyu came out, a group of people surrounded him.
"Doctor, how is it?"
"It's been cut off." Wang Minyu took off his mask and pointed to the contents of the tray. "Gangrenous cholecystitis. Ten minutes later and it would have perforated. He's fine now; he just needs two days of antibiotics and he'll be out of danger."
The family members were extremely grateful, and the middle-aged man in the suit—the old man's son—even pulled out a card: "Dr. Wang, I can't thank you enough. Here's 500,000 yuan, please accept it!"
Wang Minyu didn't take the card, but pointed to the price list on the wall: "The surgery fee is three thousand, plus the cost of materials and house call, it's a total of five thousand eight. I don't accept red envelopes, and I don't sell myself."
The middle-aged man was stunned: "This...this is far too little."
"You think it's too little?" Wang Minyu raised an eyebrow. "Then turn right when you go out and go to the Second Hospital. The ICU there costs 20,000 a day. Go stay there for a month or two, and you'll feel better."
The surrounding patients all laughed.
Just then, a discordant voice rang out.
"Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!"
A bald man wearing a floral shirt and a large gold chain pushed through the crowd and limped in.
Two henchmen followed behind him, supporting his arms.
"Who's the boss here?" the bald man yelled. "My leg's broken! Set it right now!"
Wang Minyu glanced at it.
The person's right lower leg was at an odd angle, clearly indicating a tibial fracture.
"Get in line," Wang Minyu said calmly. "There are eight numbers ahead of us."
"Screw your line!" The bald man winced in pain, slamming his hand on the counter. "I'm Tiger! Who around here doesn't know me? You think I won't tear this lousy shop down?"
The patients in the shop were so frightened that they all backed away.
Su Qing had just finished washing her hands and came out, holding a pair of surgical scissors that were still dripping water.
She glanced at the bald man, her brows furrowing slightly.
"It's noisy."
She took the scissors and walked straight up to the bald man.
The bald man was taken aback by the woman's aura: "You... what are you going to do?"
"Shut up." Su Qing raised the scissors and gestured towards the bald man's mouth. "If you keep making noise, I'll cut your vocal cords. I have a way to make you unable to make a sound, but the forensic examination can only classify it as a minor injury."
Her tone was serious, and her eyes revealed a longing that said, "I want to try."
The bald man felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
He'd been in the underworld for so many years and had seen ruthless people, but he'd never seen a female nurse who looked like a psychopathic killer.
"I...I won't make a sound..." The bald man immediately backed down, lowering his voice by eight octaves.
As Wang Minyu watched this scene, the emotion value on the system panel rose again.
"Alright, Su Qing, put the scissors down. Don't frighten the patient." Wang Minyu walked over and glanced at the bald man's leg. "A comminuted fracture, and severely dislocated. Our current equipment can't handle this."
This degree of fracture requires vigorous reduction; Wang Minyu alone cannot pull it apart, Li Siyuan is too weak, and although Su Qing is ruthless, she is, after all, a girl.
"What should I do?" the bald man cried, "Doctor, it hurts!"
"We need a..." Wang Minyu stroked his chin, "...a doctor with some strength."
As soon as he finished speaking, the light at the doorway suddenly dimmed.
A huge figure blocked the door.
He was a burly man who was at least 1.9 meters tall and weighed over 200 kilograms.
He was wearing an old T-shirt that looked like it was about to burst from his muscles, his face was full of fat, and his beard stood up like steel needles.
He was carrying a woven bag containing a few changes of clothes.
The burly man glanced down at the job posting, then looked around the shop, and asked in a gruff voice:
Are they hiring doctors here?
Li Siyuan was so frightened that he hid behind the counter: "This...is this someone applying for a doctor's job? Or are they here to collect protection money?"
Wang Minyu's eyes lit up.
The system panel is flashing wildly:
[Rare elite talent detected. Characteristics: Violent bone setting, physical anesthesia, human crane.]
Match rate: 100%.
"Sure," Wang Minyu greeted him with a smile. "You know how to set bones?"
The burly man didn't speak, but glanced at the bald man who was still groaning.
He threw the woven bag on the ground and strode over.
"Does it hurt?" the burly man asked.
"It hurts...it hurts so much..." The bald man looked at the iron tower, so frightened that he could barely speak.
"Bear with it."
The burly man stretched out a large, fan-like hand and grabbed the bald man's ankle, while pressing his other hand against his knee.
There was no warning, no fancy moves.
"Snap!"
A sharp, teeth-grinding crack echoed throughout the entire pharmacy.
"ah--!!!"
The bald man let out a heart-wrenching scream, then his eyes rolled back and he fainted from the pain.
The burly man released his grip, dusted off his hands, and turned to look at Wang Minyu with a simple and honest expression.
"It's connected. This guy has no manners; he just fainted."
The entire room fell silent.
Su Qing glanced at the bald man's straightened calf and nodded: "The repositioning is perfect. It's even straighter than if you hit it with a hammer."
Wang Minyu looked at the humanoid Tyrannosaurus Rex and stretched out his hand with satisfaction:
"You're hired. Salary negotiable, meals and accommodation included, you'll be well-fed."