Chapter 154: The Surgeon’s Breakthrough

Summarizing the usefulness of the Fast Scalpel Technique is like describing inner strength in martial arts.

Master it, and you can channel ‘inner power’ to boost scalpel-based surgical skills by two to even ten times. For instance, today in the Operating Room, the Separation Technique—though at a junior level—succeeded in removing tumor remnants that even Director Wen couldn’t separate.

And he did it with just one incision.

For now, Zhou Can is still practicing the Fast Scalpel Technique with Red Carrots.

But as his scalpel skills have greatly improved, he no longer needs to cut the carrots into four pieces.

He now only splits them in half.

In his hands, the little scalpel seems almost alive—whether it’s a horizontal, pick, diagonal, or side cut, every slice is executed with flexible precision. The carrot slices come out uniformly in size and thickness.

One must admit, his knife skills are as impressive as those of five-star hotel chefs.

There are no shortcuts when training the Fast Scalpel Technique.

He steadily improves with every carrot he slices.

The carrots he uses could be measured in tons rather than bags.

……

Days passed by.

Working under Director Wen in the Neurosurgery Department, he assists in surgeries, consultations, and ward rounds. Thanks to his rare dual surgical talent, excellent Pathology Diagnosis, unique diagnostic insight, and rigorous work ethic, he quickly became Director Wen’s most relied-upon assistant.

Now, whenever Director Wen embarks on a surgery or a challenging consultation, his first act is to check if Zhou Can has arrived.

It’s astonishing that a Chief Physician would depend so heavily on a resident.

If you must know the reason, it simply comes down to profit.

Director Wen’s surgical caseload has noticeably increased recently.

Some ultra-difficult procedures, especially for patients with low endurance, would normally discourage traditional surgery.

Now, with Zhou Can’s help, consultations often include an option to try endoscopic surgery instead.

If Zhou Can is confident about a key part of an endoscopic procedure, the consultation note will reflect that.

Director Wen will write, “Recommend endoscopic surgery.”

Zhou Can’s various advanced surgical skills have all reached the resident level, except for Anastomosis, which still lags at the intern level.

In the past, only level-one surgeries were performed, so Anastomosis was rarely needed.

Now, working with Director Wen, even the minimum procedures are level-three, and many Neurosurgery operations involve complex blood vessels and nerves—spiking the demand for Anastomosis.

An intern-level Anastomosis may suffice for ordinary vessels and nerves.

But in endoscopic procedures, it simply isn’t enough.

Especially when an anastomosis involves intricately arranged rings around crucial nerves, blood vessels, vertebrae, skull, and brain tissue—the difficulty multiplies.

At present, Zhou Can’s six advanced surgical skills—Separation, Device Implantation, Grasping, Debridement, and two others—have all reached level four, equivalent to a resident’s competence.

Only Anastomosis and Transfer remain at level three.

For Transfer, extra practice after shifts has nearly bumped his experience to level four.

Another week or so of practice and he should reach the resident level.

That’s because Transfer is rarely used, so he isn’t in any rush to upgrade it.

What really worries him is Anastomosis: his current score is 116.8/1000 for level three, leaving him nearly 900 points short of level four.

Each nerve or blood vessel anastomosed earns him just 1 point.

Where can he find 900 opportunities for such practice?

Practicing on White Mice just isn’t cost-effective.

Anastomosing a blood vessel over 20 minutes yields only 0.2 points.

He needs to anastomose five vessels to earn a single point.

That means, at the very least, he needs 100 minutes for 1 point—in actual practice, anastomosing the tail vessels of five White Mice takes at least two hours.

And that’s excluding the time for anesthesia, vessel severing, stripping, and other preparations.

So practicing Anastomosis on animals is extremely inefficient.

Two hours spent on reading medical texts or honing his Fast Scalpel Technique would yield much more.

To quickly earn Anastomosis experience, he must operate on real patients.

Yet, earning only 1 point per vessel tied, the pace is agonizingly slow!

Ever resourceful, Zhou Can soon devised a plan.

He discovered that during an endoscopic procedure, if a particular technique is used for the first time—or if an endoscopic surgery is performed on an organ for the first time—it grants an extra 100 experience points.

And so, he charged headlong down the road to amass experience.

Whenever he spotted an opportunity for Anastomosis in endoscopic surgery, he pulled out all the stops to seize it.

Unless the procedure was exceptionally challenging and success was slim—in which case, he decisively let it go.

Earning experience and high rewards is crucial.

But safety remains paramount.

Don’t be fooled by Director Wen’s willingness to trust him with high-risk cases—it’s because he has steadily built up a foundation of trust.

So far, he’s maintained a flawless record: 0 errors, 0 accidents.

Zhou Can knows well that a single failure would instantly undo all the trust he painstakingly earned.

Hence, he can never sacrifice the bigger picture for a minor gain.

As long as Director Wen trusts him, surgical opportunities will keep flowing in.

And after over a month of relentless effort…

Zhou Can’s Anastomosis finally broke through to level four.

With that, his weakness has been remedied, opening the door to even more challenging surgeries.

Now that his Anastomosis is level four, procedures on high-difficulty vessels, nerves, tendons, and intestines that were once unmanageable can be handled effortlessly.

The patency of blood vessels and intestines post-anastomosis is dramatically improved.

Previously, an anastomosed vessel with a 2mm internal diameter would constrict to about 1mm.

Its flow efficiency would be reduced by nearly half.

Before surgery, 100ml of blood could pass through in a minute; afterward, only 50ml could—an impact not to be underestimated.

Now, with his Anastomosis at level four, a 2mm vessel retains roughly 1.5mm in diameter after the procedure.

Undeniably, that’s a huge improvement.

Moreover, the tightness and tensile strength of anastomosed vessels or intestines have at least doubled.

Many less skilled surgeons often cause intestinal leakage after anastomosis, which can lead to severe consequences.

But now, with his level-four Anastomosis, the chance of intestinal leakage or vessel bleeding is nearly zero.

Beyond these clear improvements, interference from the complex surrounding environment during vessel or nerve anastomosis has been mostly eliminated.

Finally, performing Anastomosis under endoscopy has become smoother and more effortless.

Zhou Can concluded that to competently perform a full range of endoscopic procedures, one’s advanced surgical skills must at least be at the resident level.

Over the past month, besides assisting Director Wen in surgeries, consultations, and amassing high-level surgical and diagnostic experience, he also helped out in the Manual Reduction Room in Orthopedics.

Last time, he gifted Dr. Fu Zhian in the Manual Reduction Room an Old Ginseng—and it worked wonders.

Whenever Zhou Can arrived, Dr. Fu eagerly provided him with hands-on training, patiently teaching him various Bone Setting techniques, almost leaving nothing unshared.

Zhou Can’s Bone Setting skills improved remarkably.

He has now reached an intermediate resident level, just a hair’s breadth away from an outstanding resident rating.

The knowledge, techniques, precautions, and methods he’s acquired in bone setting are countless.

Empowered by the accumulated experience and his relentless dedication, he has emerged as an unstoppable rising star.

……

Inside the Neurosurgery Department’s director’s office, Wu Baihe scrutinized last month’s surgical summary report, silent and pensive.

Du Leng and several of Wu Baihe’s disciples were present.

These individuals, highly trusted by Wu Baihe, receive his unwavering mentorship.

He makes sure to include them in every surgery.

Needless to say, many of these disciples have already reached the resident level, with some even at deputy director level.

“Director Wu, is there some problem with the summary report?”

“If they can’t even compile a report properly, I’m going to give them a good scolding.”

The disciples chimed in one after another.

A powerful surgical team, endowed with decisive authority and high standing in the department, is something to behold.

Wu Baihe himself is already formidable; his status in Neurosurgery is unassailable.

Now, with some of his disciples elevated to deputy chief physician, his own influence within the department has grown even stronger.

“The report’s data appears accurate. I was just curious why Director Wen performed so many surgeries last month—several high-level procedures were done via endoscopy, and the success rate was astonishingly high: a perfect hundred percent.”

Wu Baihe stared at the data, hardly believing his eyes.

“Could that be true?”

The others leaned in to take a closer look.

“I remember Director Wen’s endoscopic skills used to be quite ordinary. He usually opted for traditional methods for his patients. Now he’s suddenly performing a large number of endoscopic surgeries. There are only two possible explanations: either he’s made a major breakthrough himself, or one of his doctors possesses exceptional endoscopic talent.”

“Extraordinary surgical talent isn’t something you can just acquire. Director Wen’s endoscopic performance was always mediocre. I lean toward the latter—one of his doctors must have an outstanding gift in endoscopic surgery, and he’s been quickly nurtured to perform so many procedures in just a month.”

“We can do endoscopic surgeries too, but a 100% success rate is rather intimidating.”

“I know both of Director Wen’s resident-level doctors—their endoscopic talent is pretty poor. I haven’t heard of anyone like that!”

The disciples exchanged remarks.

As the saying goes, three dullards are no match for a genius! When many minds collaborate, it’s far better than one person struggling alone.

“Look at the strategies behind these high-difficulty surgeries; honestly, even I am deeply impressed.”

Wu Baihe pointed to several of the cases as he spoke.

As the head of Neurosurgery, he receives all monthly departmental performance reports.

He can tell who accomplished what—who earned recognition or made mistakes in treatment.

Of course, if a doctor hides errors, he wouldn’t know about them.

“If you think Director Wen’s team performed too outstandingly, I might consider transferring that person to our group.”

Du Leng’s scheming mindset mirrored his devious nature.

His suggestion was more about showing loyalty than anything else.

He wanted to earn Wu Baihe’s deep trust.

“Xiao Du, while I appreciate your good intentions, I must criticize you. As doctors, we cannot be so narrow-minded. In the same department, we are like family—we must stay united and avoid unhealthy competition at all costs. Understand?”

Wu Baihe looked sternly at Du Leng.

“Understood!”

Du Leng agreed readily, though who knows what he truly thought.

Having spent a long time abroad and influenced by Western ideas, he had become rather self-centered—a common occurrence.

The capitalistic mindset prioritizes personal gain: our interests first and no one gets to outshine us.

“Director Wen’s team performed exceptionally last month. That’s a good sign—it shows our Neurosurgery Department is growing stronger. I must ask him: which genius possesses such exceptional endoscopic talent? Such talent is rare and must be carefully cultivated.”

Wu Baihe himself has competent individuals in endoscopic surgery.

He, too, has decent endoscopic skills.

However, none of them have truly extraordinary endoscopic talent.

We can only say it’s above average—just passable.

When an outstanding talent in endoscopic surgery suddenly emerges within the Neurosurgery Department, Wu Baihe’s heart fills with surprise and high expectations.

After last month’s departmental performance was reported according to regulations, it quickly caught the attention of Director Xie.

Director Xie finished reviewing the report, his face beaming with a smile.

“Director Wu, it appears that last month, Neurosurgery performed an impressive number of endoscopic surgeries, with an extraordinary success rate and extremely high patient satisfaction upon discharge. Clearly, you’ve excelled in both quality and technique.”

Director Xie highly praised last month’s performance in Neurosurgery.

“To be frank, our remarkable progress isn’t solely my achievement; many high-difficulty endoscopic surgeries were carried out by Director Wen’s team.”

Wu Baihe was modest about taking credit.

He acknowledged that the success was due entirely to his team.

“Oh, Director Wen’s endoscopic work?” Director Xie might not recall the names of everyday surgeons in the Surgical Department, but he knows all the chief and deputy chief physicians by heart.

“Old Wen’s endoscopic surgeries used to be lackluster. How did they suddenly become so remarkable?”

“I haven’t had the chance to ask him yet, but my colleagues and I speculate that one of his doctors must possess extraordinary endoscopic talent.”

Being straightforward, Wu Baihe didn’t hold back and recounted everything in detail.

Strictly speaking, Director Xie is his superior.

However, among chief physicians, everyone is accomplished and respected, so nobody compares notes on whose status is higher.

There is mutual respect among them.

They naturally support and respect those in higher administrative positions.

That’s just the rule of survival in the workplace.

“So that’s the case! I told you—this is great news. Our Surgical Department is in dire need of talent in this area. Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and even Oncology are heavily promoting endoscopic and minimally invasive surgeries. With enough skilled personnel, our department will be unbeatable in competition.”

Director Xie spoke earnestly.

As the head of a major department, one must have a long-term vision and lay out a grand strategy for the entire unit.

Without such foresight, the department will quickly decline amid fierce competition.

Despite Tuyu’s Surgical Departments currently enjoying favorable conditions, if endoscopic surgery truly takes off while the Surgical Department lags behind, patients will seek treatment elsewhere.

“By the way, Director Wen’s team has really distinguished itself with these high-difficulty endoscopic surgeries. I must personally inquire about this talent, so that in the future other surgical departments can also invite them for joint consultations and operations.”

Director Xie, ever impulsive, couldn’t wait and decided to visit the Neurosurgery Department to learn more from Director Wen.

He even planned to meet the super genius in person to offer encouragement and establish a rapport.

At that very moment, Director Wen had just completed a level-four intracranial tumor removal surgery with Zhou Can and others.

It was an endoscopic procedure.

A resounding success.

His spirits were soaring. Truly promising times lay ahead.