Chapter 291: An Unexpected Interrogation

“I’m just a regular trainee. Reporter Mu, if you have any questions, you can ask Director Zhang or Deputy Director Shi instead.” Zhou Can felt a headache coming on as soon as he saw the female reporter.

He scrambled for a way to get out of it.

“Hmph, don’t think you can fool me, Deputy Group Leader Zhou!”

She gave a triumphant snort and called out Zhou Can’s temporary title.

The message was clear: Zhou Can shouldn’t think he could play tricks on her.

“It’s just an empty title. The senior doctors only dragged me in to fill out the numbers,” Zhou Can insisted, honestly dreading getting tangled up with this reporter.

“Coming in first place on Tuyu Hospital’s trainee recruitment exam was just filling out numbers? And when you were in the Emergency Department, you managed to do over a thousand surgeries in a single month? Was that just to make up for the shortfall too? And you also…”

She stared him down with a look that said she had him completely figured out.

“Stop!”

Zhou Can quickly cut her off.

“Have you been investigating me?”

He glared at Mu Qing, that dangerously beautiful, fox-like face of hers. No one would be happy having their past dragged out into the open, after all.

“Any good reporter’s got some secret agent in them. It’s not that I wanted to investigate you, it’s that you’re simply too outstanding. Like a beacon in the dark—trying not to get noticed is impossible for you!”

She made her case boldly.

“Don’t worry, Dr. Zhou, I won’t take too much of your time. For pity’s sake, I’ve waited almost four hours for you! Could you spare just a few minutes during your meal to answer a couple of easy questions?”

Seeing Zhou Can hesitate, she played her trump card—the unique charm of a beautiful woman.

“Please? If I don’t finish this interview, my boss at the station will chew me out!”

She gave him a pleading, puppy-eyed look.

“Let your boss chew me out, then. Just tell them it was me who refused to cooperate.” Zhou Can showed no sign of relenting.

If she thought batting her lashes and talking sweet was all it would take to sway him—

She was seriously underestimating him.

When she realized Zhou Can wasn’t giving an inch, he just left her behind with Nurse Ji You and headed straight for a small room nearby.

She bit her glossy lips, then hurried after him.

“So what exactly is wrong with that pregnant woman?”

No one answered her.

“We’re not bad people, you know. Reporters want to bring the truth to the public. Besides, that pregnant woman is out of critical condition now, isn’t she? Reporting this only helps showcase Tuyu Hospital’s experts—and it’s good press for Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital too! You really don’t have to treat me like a criminal. I’m a legitimate TV reporter.”

Still she wouldn’t let Zhou Can go.

Fortunately, Section Chief Tang finished his meal and stepped out of the room.

Spotting the reporter pestering Zhou Can, he immediately intercepted Mu Qing and said politely, “If you have questions, Reporter Mu, please direct them to me instead. Don’t keep bothering Dr. Zhou—he’s been busy rescuing patients and hasn’t even had lunch yet. Please try to be understanding.”

Mu Qing knew she couldn’t get a solo interview with Zhou Can anymore.

She felt frustrated but couldn’t do anything about it.

“I’ll just have to wait until next time Dr. Zhou has some free time, then. Goodbye, Section Chief Tang.”

At least she knew when to cut her losses.

Realizing she couldn’t interview Zhou Can, she spun on her heel and left.

Interviewing Section Chief Tang? If she could get a single straight answer out of ten, that would be a miracle.

……

Inside the room, Zhou Can and Ji You found their meal had been packed in insulated containers.

The dishes weren’t bad at all—three entrees and a soup. Clearly not cafeteria slop.

“Didn’t think Dr. Zhou was so good at resisting pretty faces! That reporter’s gorgeous, knows how to turn on the charm—most men wouldn’t stand a chance if she asked nicely. I have to say, you turning her down so quickly was a surprise.”

Ji You used the opportunity to chat with Zhou Can.

She wanted to get a little more familiar with him.

After all, they’d be working together for another five days rescuing all sorts of critical patients and handling emergencies as a team.

“So in your book, Ji the Beauty, do all men lose their wits at the sight of a pretty woman and let their second brain do the thinking?”

Zhou Can raised an eyebrow.

“Well… since forever, even heroes can’t resist a beautiful woman!” Maybe she hadn’t expected him to be so blunt—her cheeks flushed, and she quickly switched topics. “Dr. Zhou, what do you think is the best way to handle that pregnant woman’s femoral head fracture?”

“Surgery is off the table, so we have to try external fixation for the fracture. Judging from her X-rays, external fixation can at best keep the two major broken parts aligned. The other three milder fractures probably can’t be dealt with at the same time.”

Zhou Can had been running every possible external fixation plan through his mind.

No matter how he looked at it, it was about choosing the lesser evil.

He needed to ensure the main part of the femoral head healed properly; as for the three minor bone breaks at the edges, they would have to heal on their own. At least one of them might end up healing incorrectly.

That could affect her recovery and impairment in leg movement afterward.

Zhou Can’s plan was to wait until after the baby was born to arrange another surgery and correct any bone that hadn’t healed right.

Once they’d finished eating, the two went back to the resuscitation room to continue watching over the pregnant woman.

A bit after 2:10 in the afternoon, Deputy Director Shi’s phone rang.

“Hello, Director Zhang!”

“Is the pregnant woman still stable?”

“So far, so good.”

“I’ve just admitted a patient in her fifties. We found abdominal fluid, cirrhosis, and a mass at least five centimeters across on the front wall of her rectum during a digital rectal exam. I can’t shake the feeling there’s more to this than meets the eye. She was treated in another hospital first; they diagnosed her with rectal cancer and treated her with surgery and radiotherapy.”

Radiotherapy means using special high-tech rays to kill cancer cells.

It’s effective at preventing the cancer from coming back after an operation.

Especially for tumors that can’t be completely removed, radiotherapy is crucial. It can wipe out any remaining tumor cells.

Here’s why some cancer patients, after being diagnosed, aren’t rushed into surgery—the doctors recommend radiotherapy first.

A lot of patients don’t get it, thinking the doctors are just adding unnecessary procedures to wring out more money.

Patients worry that waiting too long could allow the tumor to spread and miss the best window for surgery.

But the truth is, doctors have their reasons. Pre-operative radiotherapy reduces the spread of cancer cells, lowers lymphatic metastasis rates, and expands the chance for removing recurrent tumors.

So, whether it’s before or after surgery, radiotherapy is part of a carefully considered treatment plan—not a scheme to make extra money, as some might think.

Then there’s chemotherapy—that’s treating cancer with special drugs.

This kind of treatment comes with nasty side effects, like hair loss and swelling.

Chemotherapy is a double-edged sword—it hurts the cancer, but it hurts your body too.

Some patients’ immune systems are already wrecked by the cancer, and chemotherapy only makes them worse. Many end up losing both their health and their savings.

With better cancer drugs on the horizon, chemo might become obsolete soon.

But for now, chemotherapy is still one of the most effective cancer treatments.

Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy—the three big weapons in fighting cancer.

If all three fail, it’s usually a death sentence.

In reality, many patients can’t even get through the final round of chemotherapy.

If Director Zhang was only seeing a regular rectal cancer patient, there’d be no need to discuss it with Deputy Director Shi.

But then she continued on the phone, “After surgery and radiotherapy at the other hospital, the patient still had a quick recurrence. She just asked me, ‘If we remove the entire rectum and give her a colostomy, will that fix it?’ I don’t think it’s that simple, so I want you to come over for a consult.”

Finally, the Gastroenterology Department had something to do.

Deputy Director Shi got excited and responded, “Alright, I’m on my way!”

After hanging up, he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm.

“Zhou, keep an eye here—Director Zhang’s got a rectal cancer patient and invited me for a consultation. I’ll be back when I’m done.”

“Got it!”

Zhou Can readily agreed.

The pregnant woman was stable enough for now, but he didn’t dare leave. The doctors and nurses at Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital were slack compared to the staff from Tuyu Hospital.

If the resuscitation room staff were this lax, imagine what the rest of the departments must be like.

Honestly, it’s a miracle trouble hasn’t happened in this hospital yet.

When a major incident occurs, the hospital should reflect, crack down on loose work habits, and make sure safety is, above all else, their top priority.

But instead, Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital just sends their best doctors out for training and ignores the slack attitudes of their own doctors and nurses.

Even with Tuyu Hospital’s experts lending their reputation to help them, it’s just a matter of time before disaster strikes.

The market plays by fair but brutal rules.

Hospitals with major flaws are doomed to get weeded out in the end.

Because the staff at Xinxiang act like they’re above it all and don’t value their patients’ lives, Zhou Can was even more unwilling to leave the pregnant woman.

She was still in a danger zone.

About twenty minutes later, Deputy Director Shi called again.

“Dr. Zhou, this case is tricky to diagnose—can you come help take a look too?”

Shi dropped his voice like he was embarrassed to be calling for backup.

He likely felt a little awkward asking for help at the last minute.

“What about the pregnant woman, though?”

Zhou Can was worried.

“I’ll ask Dr. Pang to keep watch. It’ll be fine.”

Shi replied.

“Alright then! I’ll wait until Dr. Pang gets here before I head over!”

After hanging up, Zhou Can looked at nurses Ji You and Chen Qingling.

Their crisis response team had five members—Chen Qingling was the instrument nurse. Whether it was emergency surgery or putting in a breathing tube, she’d be essential support.

“I’ll be gone for a bit, and Dr. Pang will come cover soon. But please, you two keep a close eye on the pregnant woman—her safety relies on you.”

Zhou Can reminded them both.

“Understood!”

The two nurses nodded.

Chen Qingling was nearly forty, experienced and dependable. Ji You was younger, earnest and responsible, and quite good at her job too.

With those two watching and Dr. Pang backing them up, nothing should go wrong.

Not long after, Dr. Pang from Obstetrics hurried over.

Once Zhou Can had handed everything over, he headed straight for the outpatient hall to help diagnose tough cases.

By the time he arrived, several doctors were already locked into a deep discussion.

Deputy Director Shi kept glancing around, clearly waiting for Zhou Can.

When he finally saw Zhou Can arrive, Shi let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Truth be told, when Director Zhang invited him to the consult, Deputy Director Shi thought it was his chance to shine. After all, the patient had rectal cancer—even if there were complications, it was probably still digestive.

But after he dug deeper into the patient’s condition, he realized this wasn’t nearly as straightforward as he’d imagined.

And it drove home the fact that his previous successes in tough cases had come with a lot of help from the Gastroenterology Department. Without Zhou Can, as a deputy chief, he was out of his depth.

“Dr. Zhou, here’s the patient’s test results. Take a look.”

Shi acted like he’d found his savior.

The other doctors didn’t say a word, but when they looked over at Shi and Zhou Can, their expressions were a little strange.

Mu Qing, ever the persistent reporter, wasn’t far away, watching closely.

She glued her eagle-eyed stare to Zhou Can the moment he entered, never taking her eyes off him.

Watching Shi hand the test results to Zhou Can, then look relieved as if the cavalry had arrived, Mu Qing couldn’t help but smirk.

“A trainee better than the chief doctors—now that’s something you don’t see every day!”

She muttered, now even more intrigued by Zhou Can.

After glancing over the documents, Director Zhang told him, “We’ve agreed—the patient’s rectal cancer is likely caused by metastatic cancer. The abdominal fluid is the best evidence.”

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Indeed, primary rectal cancer shouldn’t cause abdominal fluid to build up.

“Did you test the abdominal fluid? For example, checking if there are cancer cells inside?”

Medical technology is advanced—there are all sorts of diagnostics these days.

In this kind of case, testing the fluid directly could sometimes help pinpoint the primary cancer site.

“We did! Here, look—this page. The results show well-differentiated signet ring cells in the fluid.”

After seeing Zhou Can’s skills firsthand, Director Zhang no longer treated him like a trainee, but as a fellow chief doctor.

During the discussion, she answered Zhou Can’s questions personally.

That kind of unspoken trust was enough to make both Gao Jian and Du Leng blaze with jealousy. As for Yang Chan, since she was Zhou Can’s classmate, she didn’t feel jealous—just under more pressure to compete.

Pushing herself harder, she vowed to close the gap with Zhou Can.

Right now, she was far behind.

She could feel that fact very clearly.

“Signet ring cells? You should check her stomach, then! It’s possible the cancer started in her digestive tract and spread.”

Zhou Can had spent three months in GI surgery, and it showed.

He really knew his stuff when it came to digestive cancers.

Director Zhang shot him an approving look.

This kid really was something—every step of his diagnostic thinking aligned with their group consensus.

It had taken a whole team of experts ages to figure out the stomach was likely ground zero. Zhou Can had pointed it out instantly—talk about skill.

“Gastrointestinal imaging does show a mass at the greater curvature of the stomach, and there are also tumors on the rectal wall and peritoneum.”

Director Zhang continued.

Zhou Can reviewed the relevant test results.

“It’s very possible her original tumor started in the ovary.”

He’d just seen an ovarian cancer patient recently, so it left a strong impression.

Ovarian cancer is even sneakier than lymphoma—it’s seriously hard to diagnose and extremely cunning.

Both have one thing in common: the primary tumor barely shows symptoms, but the secondary tumors are obvious. Like a military feint—showing one thing, hiding another.

It’s all classic misdirection.

This cancer really is like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“But we checked the abdominal CT in the other hospital and didn’t see any obvious ovarian issues!” Director Zhang replied.

“Ovarian cancer is incredibly good at hiding. The fastest way to confirm it is to do a pathology check on the stomach tumor—that’ll show if it spread from the ovary or not,” Zhou Can suggested.