Chapter 298: A Doctor’s Gentle Touch

When it comes to such young children, what parents worry about most are the huge risks of surgery and the possibility of ugly scars. They’re even more anxious about whether their child’s arm will ever move normally again.

Some serious falls are enough to leave a child disabled for life.

“From the scans, the dislocation in his right shoulder is pretty severe. I can try a manual reduction. If it works, he’ll just need a month to recover. If not, we might have to consider surgery.”

Zhou Can had accompanied the senior physicians at clinics more times than he could count.

Even though this was his first solo clinic shift, he handled families’ and patients’ questions with ease.

Never pin yourself down with absolute answers—always leave room for options. That’s a basic rule for doctors talking with patients.

After all, a patient’s condition can turn in the blink of an eye.

Some come in looking fine, but a few hours later, they’re gone.

It’s most common with things like strokes or sudden cardiac deaths.

“He just needs manual reduction? That’s wonderful! Dr. Zhou, could you do it?” The boy’s mother clung to the hope that her son could avoid surgery.

It’s cheaper, and her child won’t have to suffer so much.

“I can give it a try!”

With that, Zhou Can got up and walked over to the little boy, letting his father keep holding him.

“Manual reduction’s going to hurt just a bit, so you have to be brave, okay?” Zhou Can comforted the child while gesturing for the dad to hold steady.

He took hold of the boy’s right arm with one hand and supported his right shoulder with the other.

Instantly, the boy’s face scrunched up in pain.

Zhou Can gently rotated the arm, searching for the right angle to set the joint.

“Uuu…”

The boy whimpered, but the pain was still barely within his tolerance.

He stared at Zhou Can with wide, nervous eyes—fear shimmering in his gaze.

His parents, meanwhile, were on edge.

With every move Zhou Can made, their hearts leapt into their throats, faces tight with nerves.

Suddenly, Zhou Can’s expression hardened. With a swift, firm motion, he pushed and pressed upward.

“Crack!”

The sound of the bone snapping into place echoed. The wave of pain brought the boy to tears—he bawled on the spot.

His parents nearly jumped out of their skin.

“Dr. Zhou, is my son going to be okay?”

The boy’s mother blurted out, unable to hide her worry.

Without medical training, it’s impossible to tell how serious an injury is just by looking.

“Are those lollipops you’re holding?” Zhou Can didn’t answer. Instead, he surprised her with a question.

“Yes! He cried the whole way here, so I bought two to calm him down.”

She had no idea what Zhou Can was getting at.

“Let me borrow one.”

He took the candy and waved it in front of the crying boy. Sure enough, it worked like magic.

Little kids cry mostly to get pampered and comforted by grown-ups.

Even as the boy wailed, he kept one eye just barely open, sneaking peeks at how the adults reacted.

To a child, sweets are simply irresistible.

“Do you want it?”

Zhou Can skipped the small talk, cutting right to the point.

“Uuu… I do!”

He was only three—way too little for games or pretense.

A child’s mind really is that simple.

He saw his favorite treat and wanted it, plain and simple.

“Here you go!”

Zhou Can handed over the candy.

The boy immediately reached out with his left hand, but Zhou Can shook his head.

“Use that hand!”

For just a moment, the boy hesitated. But craving the candy, he reached out with his right hand to grab it.

“Oh my god, it’s fixed! Really fixed! My baby’s arm is all better!”

The boy’s mother clapped her hand over her mouth in shock, tears of joy welling up. She could barely contain her excitement.

“Ha! That’s what experts do. He fixed our boy’s arm like it was nothing. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

The boy’s father was just as overjoyed.

Zhou Can looked calm—as if he already knew the outcome—wearing a faint, easy smile.

He watched the family beaming with happiness.

Once the boy got his candy, his crying stopped as if by magic.

Still, after such a scare, he’d sniffle quietly every now and then.

“Dr. Zhou, is my son okay now? Does he need medicine?”

“He’s only three, so I won’t prescribe any medicine—after all, even the best meds have side effects. But after a joint gets dislocated, if you’re not careful, it’s really easy for it to pop out again in a short time. So, I’ll put his right arm in a sling for about a month. Also, let him eat more calcium-rich foods. I’ll write you a prescription for special children’s calcium tablets, too.”

Zhou Can laid out the next steps for his care.

Dislocation isn’t a big deal in itself, but the joint capsule gets looser, making repeat dislocations much more likely.

If you’ve ever seen street performers pop their shoulders out of place without tools, it’s because years of practice have made those joint capsules so loose that dislocation becomes easy.

After doctors set a dislocation, they usually plaster it or sling the arm for about a month to help it heal.

Calcium tablets are prescribed too, to strengthen the bones.

“Alright! We’ll do exactly as you say!”

Having watched Zhou Can heal their son on the spot, the parents were full of admiration for his medical skills.

Their trust in him reached new heights.

They followed every part of Zhou Can’s treatment plan without question.

“Here’s the payment bill. Please take it to the cashier first. Once you’ve paid, I’ll get supplies and sling his arm properly.”

The cost wasn’t high—just the fee for the manual reduction, some materials, and two bottles of calcium tablets.

Many people think medicines at the hospital are pricier than outside, but it’s often the opposite.

The meds that actually work are cheaper at hospitals—and insurance can cover a lot of the cost.

Doctors who send you to outside pharmacies are probably prescribing drugs that are pricier than the hospital’s.

Truthfully, that’s just a way to dodge legal risks and pocket kickbacks.

When doctors say, “We don’t have that medicine here; try the pharmacy outside, they have something better,” it’s often just an excuse.

After the boy’s mom paid, Ji You brought over the bandage.

With practiced hands, Zhou Can fastened the sling, then let the family go pick up the calcium tablets. He offered a few last pointers, and the boy was all set.

The family slid away, holding their child and showering him with thanks.

With his arm set and the sling in place, the little boy could walk about freely again.

Candy in his mouth, pain gone, and a big smile spreading across his face. Kids really do find happiness so easily.

“Dr. Zhou, I got the whole thing on camera—your move was amazing! Mind if I steal a few minutes for an interview?”

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Reporter Mu Qing just wouldn’t give up. The moment she saw a chance, she set her sights on Zhou Can.

Seeing Zhou Can at the clinic today made her day.

Clutching her little pink fists, she thought, “Let’s see how he runs off this time!”

Sure enough, things went her way.

She managed to film the entire process of Zhou Can treating the boy.

In such a short time, he’d fixed a broken arm with ease. That was mind-blowing in her book.

This was the kind of medical skill you can’t fake.

“Sorry, I don’t take interviews while working.”

Zhou Can turned her down cold.

“But you don’t have any patients right now!” she winked at him.

Compared to other doctors’ desks, Zhou Can’s had hardly any traffic.

Not far away, Du Leng was watching Zhou Can’s every move. Seeing him handle that child’s injury so skillfully, it was hard not to be a little jealous.

But jealousy wasn’t going to help. Zhou Can had it—Du Leng didn’t.

Manual reduction looks easy, but doing it right is anything but.

Some orthopedics doctors can do reductions, but truly skilled hands are rare.

Du Leng was treating another child right then.

This patient was eight, with vomiting, diarrhea, a low fever, frequent urination—the symptoms kept piling up. The case was a headache.

They’d already been to two other hospitals, and nothing had worked.

Even the Provincial Children’s Hospital, a top-tier facility, hadn’t been able to help.

Reviewing the case, Du Leng noticed every necessary test was done—and even many unnecessary ones.

Some of the tests were done just days apart—total repeats.

Burned by being scolded to his face just two days before, Du Leng no longer dared to order extra tests.

He flipped through the child’s test results over and over, pondering, but still couldn’t give a diagnosis.

“Dr. Du, can you tell us what’s wrong with our child?” the family asked, tense with worry.

“Uh… well, it’s tough to say. His case is really complicated. You did all the right tests at the Provincial Children’s Hospital and the county women’s hospital. Maybe you should talk to Director Dai from Pediatrics?”

Blushing, Du Leng passed the case off.

But that counted as progress.

At least he’d stopped rambling on with useless medical jargon—that bad habit cured by criticism from families.

Otherwise, new parents would keep right on yelling at him.

Seven days in-clinic and scolded every single day—that didn’t bear thinking about.

Some say society is the best university of all, and it’s true. Before stepping out into the world, you might think you know it all. But once reality hits, you realize just how little you actually know.

So you start working hard, learning, growing, and getting steadier—adapting, bit by bit, to the harshness of the real world.

Hearing that Du Leng was handing off another case, Director Dai could only grit her teeth.

Just this morning, Du Leng had already pushed three difficult cases her way.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t solved a single one. Now here was another, and mentally, she felt like a million wild horses were stampeding. Was Little Du hoping to drag her down too?

Journalists, families, and patients all watched from nearby.

If even a specialist like her couldn’t diagnose or treat these cases, suddenly the “expert” looked like a fraud.

Du Leng seemed to have given up completely. Was he trying to wreck her reputation as a pediatric expert?

“Little Du, I’m swamped here. You could refer the family to another specialist, can’t you?” Director Dai came up with an excuse to turn him down.

When Du Leng took that last case, she’d been close enough to hear every symptom clearly.

Just listening to the long list of issues was enough to give anyone a headache.

After failed treatments at two different hospitals, you knew this was going to be a tough one.

Director Dai was self-aware—maybe she could handle mildly tricky cases.

But at this level, there was only humiliation to look forward to—successes were a fantasy.

One or two unsolved cases a day is no big deal.

But getting four before noon? That’s a real hit to the reputation.

“Oh—sorry, really sorry, I didn’t realize how busy you were.” Du Leng wasn’t lacking in emotional intelligence. The second he saw her sour face, he caught on.

There were a lot of child patients this morning.

When he couldn’t handle one, passing it off to Director Dai was just a reflex. Now he realized he’d pushed too much and annoyed her.

“Please try another specialist. Director Dai’s got a lot of patients waiting.” Du Leng turned back to the family.

“Alright, thank you!”

Scanning the other experts’ desks, the family’s eyes finally landed on Zhou Can.

“Honey, I saw that young doctor fix a broken arm just now—no surgery, no cutting. He did it so fast! Maybe we should see if he can help.”

The couple weighed their options.

“Wow, so impressive! I hope we can find a truly skilled doctor to cure our son. But that doctor is just as young as Dr. Du!”

The wife’s meaning was clear.

After Dr. Du’s letdown, she had doubts about such a young doctor, too.

But they’d come all this way—and her husband had seen Zhou Can’s skill, so she decided to give it a shot.

As they walked over with their son, Reporter Mu Qing chose that moment to pester Zhou Can yet again.

“Doctor, do you treat urgent cases here?”

“Yes, I do.”

Zhou Can glanced up at the group approaching—two kids, two adults.

Now the question was, which one was sick?

Looking them over, he focused on the eight- or nine-year-old boy. The child’s face was pale, even a bit bluish; his eyes sunken.

That had to be the patient.

“Reporter Mu, could you please stop chasing interviews with me? There are plenty of experts out there worth talking to—no reason to fixate on a trainee like me.”

Luckily, a new patient had arrived, giving Zhou Can a perfect excuse to shoo her away.

Both parents were young, and even if they didn’t know what a trainee was, it sounded pretty much like an intern. Their expressions changed at that.

“No other expert can do what you just did. If someone else can fix a broken arm with a gentle push, I’ll interview them instead,” Mu Qing shot back.

Her words rekindled the parents’ confidence in Zhou Can.

“No problem with recording—as long as you blur our child’s face for the broadcast. I don’t want him affected by media exposure.”

Mu Qing’s charm and friendly air easily won them over.

Besides, being a TV reporter made her seem very prestigious in their eyes.

The father agreed immediately.

Men have a hard time refusing a beautiful woman’s request.

Sensing her husband’s weakness, the mom shot him a look but let it slide, saving face in front of others.

She stayed quiet about it.

“Doctor, after my son got sick, we went everywhere—from the county women’s hospital to the provincial hospital—but nothing has worked. Please help us,” the father said, choosing his words carefully.

Most families hide their trips to other hospitals.

Bringing it up right away, he wanted Zhou Can to know there’d been no progress so far.

It was a way of saying—if you can help, great; if not, don’t take risks.

Zhou Can listened quietly, just giving a calm nod.

“Let’s take a look at the external test results and past treatment first.”

Picking up the file, he dove into the little boy’s case.

The boy was eight and, after days of vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and frequent urination with no relief, his parents had finally brought him for treatment.

They thought it was just a cold, never imagining the real culprit: a tiny live fish their son ate.