Chapter 77: A Lesson in Punctuality

Dr. Xu, you see—I was only two minutes late. It wasn’t intentional! Can’t you cut me some slack? My salary is already pitiful, and I need every bit to put down a deposit on a house and get married! I’m thirty-four and without a home, no girl will ever marry me…

Dr. Lu shamelessly pleaded his case.

According to hospital regulations, every instance of tardiness or leaving early costs a doctor 100 yuan—even meals during shifts are penalized 100.

A junior doctor in the Emergency Department Operating Room earns roughly 7,000 yuan a month.

Dr. Lu, a senior resident, doesn’t perform many surgeries because the ED Operating Room doesn’t generate much revenue and he’s rather lazy. At best, his monthly earnings never exceed 8,000 yuan.

If 100 yuan makes him so anxious, his family must be far from well off.

His salary likely hovers around 7,000 yuan per month.

After deductions for social insurances, housing funds, and taxes, a net of 6,000 yuan on payday is considered good.

Being late ten times in a month would cost him 1,000 yuan.

Moreover, departmental rules state that if a doctor is late, leaves early, or is absent more than three times in one month, he forfeits his bonus.

This also affects departmental evaluations, promotions, and opportunities for advanced training.

Even knowing the gravity of being late, he still dares to do it frequently.

It seems he’s banking on the soft-heartedness of senior doctors.

As long as he isn’t caught by the Medical or Human Resources Departments, a plea to his department head usually wins him a pass.

“Today, I’m marking this incident to teach you a lesson!”

Dr. Xu’s usual stern demeanor gave way to unexpected warmth.

“Ah, if only I’d risen five minutes earlier! I know you’re doing this for my own good, and I accept.”

Seeing no further argument would work, Dr. Lu resigned.

“That’s the spirit. Now get ready—you’re still my assistant while Jin Mingxi and Little Zhou conduct the surgery independently.”

Dr. Xu proceeded to set the surgical plan.

“I want to improve too. What if I switch with Little Zhou?”

Dr. Lu, still reeling from last night’s humiliation and watching a newcomer effortlessly outpace him, felt a sting of jealousy.

On top of that, Director Lou’s remarks had given him a serious wake-up call.

Consequently, he became much more proactive.

“No way!”

Dr. Xu curtly refused.

When it came to surgical safety, he was far stricter than Dr. Fu. If any risk was detected, he would never agree.

“If you want to get better, I’ll give you some chances to practice.”

He quickly added.

Dr. Lu’s reputation was already tarnished by last night’s fiasco, and no senior doctor would easily entrust him with more responsibility.

Soon, two surgical nurses were summoned.

With Qiao Yu on night duty today, the nurse who usually assisted Zhou Can had been replaced.

No comparison, no hurt.

The replacement, Nurse Tian Tian, was pretty and had a pleasant voice, but she was noticeably less competent than Qiao Yu.

Sometimes she even mixed up the suture lines.

When handing over instruments, she appeared awkward and stiff.

Often, she needed Zhou Can’s reminders to pass the correct instrument.

For example, after initial debridement when the wound was bleeding, she would stand there in a daze until Zhou Can said, “electrocautery knife,” prompting her to quickly hand it over.

The coordination between Qiao Yu and Zhou Can, however, was much more in sync.

Many times, as if reading each other’s minds, Zhou Can barely uttered a word before the necessary instruments or supplies were already in place.

If only he could be promoted to Attending someday, he could have a dedicated instrument nurse.

For now, his low status forced him to make do.

……

They toiled until the end of the shift; today, Zhou Can performed a total of sixteen surgeries.

That was two fewer than yesterday.

Jin Mingxi performed thirteen, even one more than yesterday.

Keep in mind, yesterday Zhou Can had done six more surgeries than Jin Mingxi.

Today’s drop was mainly due to the clumsy coordination with Nurse Tian Tian, seriously hampering surgical efficiency.

Fortunately, his gains were significant—he earned a lot of experience points.

His skills in ligation and suturing should see him reach mid-level resident quality in a day or two.

His experience in injections and hemostasis also jumped by several dozen points.

The only skill that barely improved was incision.

However, after discovering a bug in the experience system, he realized that by spending money to practice anatomy on White Mice after each shift, he could quickly upgrade his incision skill to level four.

A level-four incision skill is on par with Attending-level competence.

So as long as he showcases his ability in front of Dr. Xu, there’s no reason he shouldn’t earn a level-two surgery opportunity.

One more thing is worth mentioning.

After an epiphany in his grasping technique, his improvement was tremendous. This benefit was evident in both his ligation and suturing.

Handling the surgical needle with forceps felt more intuitive and flexible than ever.

And his knot tying had improved even more.

Using forceps to clamp the suture, every grip was spot on, and his knots were almost effortless.

The knots turned out sturdier and neater.

Moreover, the force exerted on the wound during knotting decreased significantly.

This was undeniably a huge leap forward.

The pinnacle of knot tying is to secure various knots on a delicate cotton ball without shifting it an inch.

He was far from that level, but he was taking a giant step in that direction.

“Alright, clean up and get ready to clock out! Dr. Fu should be here any minute now.” Dr. Xu had already removed his gloves and tossed his mask into the trash.

His eyes fell on Zhou Can.

“Little Zhou, are you staying overtime tonight?”

“I’d really appreciate it if Dr. Zhou stayed and worked overtime!” At that moment, Dr. Fu entered the operating room and eagerly answered on Zhou Can’s behalf.

“Haha, Dr. Fu sure has a changed attitude toward Little Zhou now!” Dr. Xu teased with a smile.

He was stern with junior doctors but relaxed and humorous with his peers—he could be quite cheerful sometimes.

“Heh, you can only blame Dr. Zhou’s excellence! Last night, thanks to him, we narrowly avoided a major disaster.”

Recalling last night’s events, Dr. Fu still shuddered.

Jin Mingxi and Tang Ling immediately perked up.

From Dr. Fu’s words, it was clear that Zhou Can had once again achieved something noteworthy the previous night.

Tang Ling was simply admiring Zhou Can’s excellence.

Jin Mingxi, however, felt the pressure mounting.

The gap between him and Zhou Can seemed to have widened further.

“Dr. Zhou, are you staying for overtime? Don’t worry—I’ll help you apply for overtime pay so you won’t be working for free.” Dr. Fu’s gaze rested on Zhou Can’s face.

Ultimately, it was up to Zhou Can to decide whether to stay.

“I’d be more than happy! As long as you don’t mind, I’m here to help, no trouble at all!”

Zhou Can had already made up his mind.

He figured he could put in overtime for about twenty days a month.

For the remaining ten days, he planned to practice anatomical dissections on little White Mice in the dormitory.

The skills that couldn’t be honed in the operating room simply couldn’t be neglected.

He had to find a way to keep up with everything.

“No worries. You’re diligent and precise—your surgical and diagnostic skills are outstanding. Staying overtime won’t be a burden but a huge help. Today, in front of Dr. Xu, I’ll say this once more: whenever I’m on duty, if you’re willing to work overtime, you’re free to join. And if you want to leave, you can at any time,”

Dr. Fu repeated those words for a second time.

This clearly showed that his invitation to assist was genuine and not mere courtesy.

Zhou Can had proven himself yesterday, earning Dr. Fu’s trust.

Staying overtime today was the perfect opportunity to deepen that trust.

“Greetings, Dr. Xu!”

Dr. Lin entered alongside Dr. Fu.

He hadn’t had a chance to speak earlier.

Now that he did, he quickly greeted Dr. Xu.

“Mm!”

Dr. Xu merely nodded gravely.

“Little Zhou, do a great job. Save my number—I keep it on 24/7. Call me immediately if there’s an emergency.” Dr. Xu was perhaps also worried about Zhou Can’s tendency to get into trouble.

Keep the number handy so that he can always come over to help if needed.

“Thank you, Teacher!”

Zhou Can quickly saved Dr. Xu’s number.

“Teacher, do you have WeChat? Let’s add each other!”

“Sure, just search my number.” Dr. Xu responded kindly.

Watching both senior doctors showing such care for the newcomer, everyone felt truly envious.

After adding each other on WeChat, before leaving, Dr. Xu reminded, “In emergencies, please call first. Sending a WeChat might delay the rescue.”

Even a fool could see how much Dr. Xu cared for Zhou Can.

For a trainee to receive this level of support from such a uniquely esteemed Attending is nothing short of a blessing.