Chapter 362: A Promise to Return

He headed straight to the Emergency Department. It was just past seven in the morning, and Ye Tingting was busy handing over her shift.

When she saw Zhou Can walk in, her face lit up with a smile. “Morning, Dr. Zhou!”

“Morning, Ting! How’s my uncle doing?” He and Ye Tingting had known each other for years. Over the past two years, she’d become a veteran among the head nurses.

Time hadn’t dulled the friendship between them.

Every time Zhou Can came to the Emergency Department and Ye Tingting was around, she’d go out of her way to chat with him.

He never needed to ask for help—she was always ready to lend a hand.

“The patient’s not doing too well. He had two episodes of ventricular tachycardia last night. Director Han rescued him several times before things finally stabilized.” As Ye Tingting recalled the crisis, she was still shaken by how close it had been.

Ventricular tachycardia can cause blackout, dizziness, palpitations and chest tightness.

It often comes with dangerous heart arrhythmias, too.

You have to correct it right away to prevent a relapse. Otherwise it could take a turn for the worse and lead to ventricular fibrillation.

“You guys really worked hard—thank you.”

Zhou Can said it with genuine gratitude.

“We’re all on the same team, no need to thank me! You’ve got less than a year left of your residency, right? Will you come back to the Emergency Department after that?”

Ye Tingting looked at him with hope in her eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Zhou Can answered with a question of his own.

“Come on, you know how things are in the Emergency Department. It’s nothing compared to those departments with all the prestige and power. With your reputation and skill, they’ll be lining up to recruit you. Most people in your shoes would look out for their own future and go to the best place for career growth. Not coming back to Emergency would be the obvious choice for just about anyone.”

She had a point.

Grown-ups usually make choices based on what’s best for them, especially when it involves their careers.

Back when Zhou Can started in the Emergency Department, he didn’t really have a choice.

To put it bluntly, he ended up with what was left after everyone else had picked.

Having a department director take him in was already more than he could ask for.

But things were different now. Thanks to hard work, Zhou Can had broken out of his old shell. He wasn’t the same person anymore. Now, he had options.

No need to stay huddled in the struggling Emergency Department.

“But the thing is, I’m not like most people. I’m one of the odd ones out. So, Ting, get ready. When I finish my rotation, let’s take on the Emergency Department together!” Zhou Can’s gaze was resolute; he’d never wavered in his plan to return after his training.

“But…”

Ye Tingting still thought he didn’t need to let emotions get the better of him. Putting his future first made more sense.

She was happy at the thought of being colleagues again and fighting side by side—but with his skills, Zhou Can would surely become a backbone of the team the moment he returned.

With their long friendship, she’d benefit, too. He’d look out for her.

“A dog never despises a poor home, just like a child never dislikes their mother! That’s how I truly feel. If the Emergency Department is weak, then we should work together to make it strong. Every famous department became what it is today because a generation—or several—put in the work to get them there.”

Zhou Can had long ago decided to lead the Emergency Department to greatness.

He was just waiting for his Internal Medicine rotation to end so he could come back.

“What are you two talking about?” Han Changqing walked over. He was probably about to finish his shift and wanted to check on his patients one last time before handing things over.

“Good morning, Director Han! I heard you took care of my uncle all night. Thank you so much!” Zhou Can smiled and thanked him.

“Just doing my job. Besides, you’re one of us, Dr. Zhou. Of course I’ll do my best to care for your family. What you said just now about not abandoning your roots was really something.”

In truth, Han and Zhou Can weren’t particularly close.

Most folks in Internal Medicine are proud and reserved.

Director Han was rather aloof, and he didn’t have much of a personal friendship with Zhou Can. But maybe that heartfelt remark moved him, because now his look was especially warm.

“Haha, it was just an offhand phrase!”

Zhou Can felt a little embarrassed and tried to explain.

“I actually think it’s a touching metaphor. Well, I have to check on my patients. Excuse me!”

Director Han headed back into the Resuscitation Room.

“I’ve got work, too—let’s catch up later!” Ye Tingting waved at him as she left.

Zhou Can couldn’t find his cousin, so he’d have to call and check on the bed situation later.

Usually, when a new bed opens up for admission, it’s sometime before ten in the morning.

That’s because billing gets delivered to the inpatient unit first thing in the morning. Everybody knows a hospital isn’t a charity—if the bill isn’t settled, discharge paperwork doesn’t go through.

By about ten, he should know whether his uncle would actually get a bed.

Sometimes, a new bed becomes available in the afternoon, too.

Most often, it’s because a patient gets transferred, switched to another department, or—at the extreme—passes away.

“Acan, Acan…”

His cousin showed up carrying breakfast.

Ah, so he’d gone to grab food—that explained where he’d been.

“Hai, I just learned about Uncle’s situation. It looks grim. If there’s still no bed in the Cardiology Department by 11 a.m., give me a call. I’ll see what I can do.”

The Emergency Department had some pull when it came to transferring patients to a specialty.

But sometimes, the specialties weren’t willing to cooperate.

So they just had to wait it out until eleven. If Cardiology still refused, Zhou Can would reach out to Director Tan to pull some strings.

He wasn’t about to make the kind of stupid mistake his cousin Chen Shangfu had made, abusing his network for the sake of showing off.

People at the top only use their connections when absolutely necessary—if they can solve it with money, they won’t burn favors.

You should save your best resources for when they truly count.

After all, every favor has a price. Wasting your contacts on small things only makes you look bad, and when you really need help you might find yourself all out of options.

After explaining everything to his cousin, Zhou Can headed off to work in the Endocrinology Department.

This time, he’d managed to get five days off—a privilege most trainees never have. Zhou Can had always known his limits; once he got back to the job, he’d work hard to make up for lost time.

He spent the whole morning busy as ever.

Around ten, his cousin called with good news—his uncle had landed a bed in the Cardiology Department and was being transferred for more specialized care.

That was a relief for Zhou Can.

It was a shame he hadn’t done a rotation in Cardiology yet—he didn’t know anyone there. Otherwise, he could have pulled some strings to get his uncle even better care.

……

As soon as his shift ended, Zhou Can pulled out his phone and saw a text from Su Qianqian.

She’d sent it just after three, but he’d been too busy all day to check his messages.

“Darling, you’ll have to be patient again tonight! I’ve got a week of livestreams, a big concert and four ad shoots coming up…”

She was the star of Jin Yu Interactive and wildly popular these days, with work stacked to the ceiling.

Zhou Can couldn’t help feeling disappointed—last night had been the perfect chance, but he’d missed it.

Nothing to be done. He’d just have to wait for next time.

At least she’d dropped a hint; once things calmed down, they’d finally get to move in together.

“Don’t overwork yourself, okay? Stay extra safe these next few days!”

He quickly texted her back.

These days, tycoon Hu Haikun was probably making bold moves. With Li bending the knee and Zhou Can on the ropes, Hu Haikun would be riding high. Zhou Can was confident, but he still had to watch his back.

Disasters can strike at any time; he wasn’t about to let himself become a cautionary tale.

He hurried off to the hospital cafeteria for dinner, then made his way to Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Director Hu Kan had already called and asked him to come tonight to study the Steady Scalpel Technique and learn more about cardiac surgery.

After all, you need food to keep going—skip a meal, and you’ll regret it.

When it’s time to eat, you eat.

It’s only in desperate situations you have to work hungry.

While he was eating in the cafeteria, Zhou Can overheard whispered conversations about Cardiothoracic Surgery. Word was that the Provincial People’s Hospital and Third Hospital were both ramping up efforts in the field.

Provincial People’s Hospital had spent big to recruit a top heart surgeon from the Northwest, who arrived with a crack surgical team.

That included surgical assistants, nurses and anesthesiologists.

Supposedly, within a week, they’d already completed three challenging open heart surgeries and made headlines in the news.

Third Hospital relied on their homegrown team, tackling one heart disease surgery after another—some of their research even made it into top journals like The Lancet and SCI.

Wherever you find people, you find intrigue. Wherever there’s a market, there’s competition.

The medical field is a backstage war—a constant, invisible struggle.

Survival of the fittest isn’t just a saying—it’s a law of nature.

The fact that Director Hu Kan, the top surgeon in Tuyu Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Surgery, had gone down was officially kept quiet, but news like that always leaks. Other hospitals caught wind of it almost instantly.

Now, with both the Provincial People’s Hospital and City Third Hospital pushing hard in cardiac surgery, this clearly wasn’t a coincidence.

It was far too well-timed to be chance.

Zhou Can was sure more hospitals would soon join the fray, eager for a share of the pie.

He couldn’t help worrying about the future of Tuyu Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Surgery.

With no one to replace the old guard, the department was in a precarious spot.

He arrived at Cardiothoracic Surgery around 6:20.

“Dr. Zhou, you’re here! Director Hu is waiting for you.”

The nurse at the desk greeted him with a smile.

“Where’s Director Hu?”

“I think he’s in the side conference room. They have three surgeries scheduled for tonight—he’s probably going over the plans with the team.”

Cardiothoracic Surgery rarely does operations at night unless it’s urgent or a complex case that might run over ten or twenty hours—a last resort.

Normally, surgeries are handled during the day.

But tonight, Director Hu had left three big cases for the evening. While others might not catch the reason, Zhou Can understood—it was specially arranged for him.

Since Zhou Can was coming and had to work in Endocrinology during the day, Director Hu scheduled the surgeries at night, just so Zhou Can could have the chance to learn.

He wanted Zhou Can to get as much experience as possible.

Zhou Can walked briskly to the conference room. The door was open.

Inside, Director Hu and the others were eating dinner.

Boxed meals had been delivered.

Knock, knock, knock!

He knocked on the door, and Director Hu looked up—when he recognized Zhou Can, he grinned.

“Zhou, have you eaten?”

“Thanks, Teacher—I just had dinner.”

“We have three surgeries tonight. Take a look at the patients’ files first.”

“Will do!”

Zhou Can got right to it, picking up the reports and medical records.

All three surgeries were major—level three or four. Even if they went smoothly, they’d be working well into the night.

The toughest was a case involving a patient with grade four heart failure.

The plan called for ventricular folding and tricuspid valve replacement—highly complex heart operations.

Honestly, without Director Hu Kan’s steady hand, the department would struggle with surgeries this tough.

What was really missing was a cardiac surgeon who could take the lead.

“Zhou, we scheduled all three of these for tonight so you could benefit. You really ought to thank Directors Xue and Le—they went out of their way for you. The first two surgeries are almost tailor-made for you: challenging, yet within your reach if you haven’t mastered them yet. The last one, the ventricular folding, is much harder—but it’ll give you valuable experience. You’ll be second assistant on that one, and you’ll learn a ton.”

In surgeries this advanced, getting to act as second assistant was already a big opportunity.

For tough procedures like these, the whole team was top notch.

Second assistant was usually handled by an associate chief physician.

As for the first assistant, only a chief physician with extensive surgical experience would qualify.

“Thank you, everyone! I’ll never forget how you’ve let me join these surgeries and sacrificed your own rest to help train me.” Zhou Can stood up and bowed deeply to the group.

“You don’t have to be so formal, Dr. Zhou. Training you is a win for us too. With you on the team, maybe we’ll be calling on you for backup during the next big surgery! So you see, it’s mutual benefit.”

Director Le gave him a warm smile.

“She’s right. What we need most in Cardiothoracic is surgical talent at the top. With your growth rate, work a bit harder and you could take over Director Hu’s spot.”

Director Xueyan had high hopes for him as well.

“Our Cardiothoracic Department is really teetering on the edge, Zhou. We’re all counting on you to grow as fast as you can. We don’t expect you to join us full-time—but if you can help out with a few difficult surgeries when it counts, that’ll keep our hospital’s reputation strong!”

Director Hu Kan looked genuinely worried.

As head of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the number one surgeon, he could see threats others missed—danger was coming in from all directions.