Chapter 246: Under the White Coats: Strengths and Surprises in the Ward

The two of them walked side by side down the corridor. Chief Resident Luo Shengsheng paused, turning to look at Zhou Can.

“Isn’t Bed 73 under Yu Xin’s care? Dr. Zhou, are you really going out of your way just because she’s a beautiful woman in distress?”

“Haha, something like that, I guess! But honestly, I don’t have any thoughts about pursuing her. We’re just in the same medical team, and besides, that couple in Bed 73 has it rough. They’re barely scraping by at the bottom of society. If we let the patient’s illness drag on, the costs could get out of hand and there’s no guarantee we could even save her.”

Zhou Can held firm to his own beliefs.

To say he had a thing for pretty girls was way off base.

Yu Xin wasn’t unattractive, but compared to Su Qianqian, she really couldn’t compete.

In Zhou Can’s eyes, she was the kind of ordinary, forgettable beauty.

“So that’s how it is. Dr. Zhou, your compassion truly is admirable!”

He gave Zhou Can a big thumbs up.

“Honestly, I would’ve taken care of it anyway even if you hadn’t asked. Yu Xin’s just way too cold. Most days she barely even says hello. It’s like we all owe her a fortune or something—kind of grates on your nerves.”

Yu Xin’s icy demeanor really did invite plenty of criticism from others.

There are just some women out there—you never know where they get their confidence—who walk around all day with a frosty face, thinking the world revolves around them.

So it’s no surprise that, at work, the best they can do is keep up appearances with their coworkers.

But when trouble comes, not a single person steps up to help.

Compared to Yu Xin, Qiao Yu was so much better.

Qiao Yu wasn’t just prettier, she was way more emotionally intelligent too.

Even when Dr. Lu kept bothering her—no matter how much she disliked him—she never let things blow up.

“Since you asked, I’ll definitely take care of it. Honestly, this is just a small thing to me. I have a ton of ways to handle stubborn family members. I’ll go settle it right now.”

After witnessing Zhou Can’s puncture skills, Luo Shengsheng had become a lot warmer and friendlier toward him.

Zhou Can headed back to the office.

Yu Xin was sitting there, a troubled look clouding her face. Clearly, she’d just gone to try and persuade the elderly woman again—but it hadn’t worked out.

It wasn’t long before Luo Shengsheng returned, grinning and relaxed.

“The family for Bed 73 went and registered for treatment like a charm! The patient’s little sister will be coming to the hospital later to help out.”

Luo Shengsheng reported to Zhou Can.

“You’re amazing, Chief Luo! That elderly lady was a handful, but you got her to agree just like that. She’s already so sick; if she didn’t get treatment, it could’ve turned into typhoid or septicemia—no way she’d survive. Chief Luo, you really saved her life. In Buddhist terms, that’s like building a seven-story pagoda of merit!”

Zhou Can was genuinely stunned that Luo Shengsheng had managed to convince the elderly woman so fast.

“Haha, I wouldn’t say it’s some grand merit! Still, a good deed is always worthwhile.”

Luo Shengsheng laughed heartily, clearly pleased with himself.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

Some people just stand out in certain areas. Luo Shengsheng’s puncture technique might not be on Zhou Can’s level, but when it came to talking with families, he was in a league of his own.

Honestly, if Zhou Can had been sent to talk with that elderly woman, he would’ve been at a total loss.

Not far away, Yu Xin’s brows were still tightly knit, her face troubled.

But the moment she heard that the family of Bed 73 had finally agreed, she was caught between surprise and delight.

It didn’t take her long to guess Zhou Can must’ve asked Luo Shengsheng for help. Otherwise, why would Luo come back and seek Zhou Can’s approval?

“Thank you, Chief Luo. Thank you, Dr. Zhou!”

Yu Xin could hardly believe it. She hurried off to check the ward.

She was back quickly.

But now, every trace of worry had vanished from her face.

“The elderly lady really did go for treatment—Chief Luo actually managed to convince her.”

“Did you think I was making it up?”

Luo Shengsheng raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Dr. Yu didn’t mean it that way! She’s just as amazed as I am. That family was so hard to convince—how did you get them to listen to you, Chief Luo? You have to teach us newbies your tricks!”

Zhou Can quickly smoothed things over.

With the way Yu Xin froze people out, she could’ve sparked Luo Shengsheng’s temper before even opening her mouth.

Once Zhou Can explained, Luo Shengsheng’s face softened.

He really had handled the matter beautifully.

“To be honest, all I did was quote the hospital’s infection control regulations and lay out some harsh truths. I told her that if she didn’t leave the ward immediately, the consequences would be severe. Turns out, before I’d even finished, her husband started urging her to go get registered for treatment.”

Luo Shengsheng didn’t detail exactly what he told the elderly lady.

But it was clear his words had a big psychological impact on the patient and her family.

The real decision-maker here was her husband.

As soon as his interests were at stake, there was no need for doctors to say more—he panicked first.

“Looks like being polite to families doesn’t always work! Today I learned a new move from Chief Luo: sometimes you have to mix kindness with firmness when dealing with tough situations. Don’t be afraid to lay down the law.”

Zhou Can had always struggled with stubborn families.

It came down to his upbringing.

From childhood, he’d only dealt with people with good manners and education. If there was the occasional troublemaker, he’d just use his fists.

But now he was working as a doctor—a service industry, after all.

You can’t exactly deal with patients or families with your fists!

So all you can do is bite your tongue and try to persuade them.

Watching Luo Shengsheng work his magic gave Zhou Can a real eye-opener.

Just then, Director Shang appeared at the office doorway.

He didn’t come in—he just called from the hall, “Dr. Zhou, remember to bring the patient in Bed 71 with the esophagojejunostomy leak to the interventional OR on time.”

This was a highly challenging case.

The Gastroenterology Department did plenty of endoscopic surgeries, but this one was still full of difficulties.

“Understood!”

Zhou Can hoped the patient could get surgery as soon as possible.

The patient’s body had grown very weak after not being able to eat for so long.

The sooner the operation, the better.

……

Inside the interventional operating room, Zhou Can and a nurse carefully wheeled in the patient from Bed 71.

Both the patient and family were willing to take the risk of this operation.

The pain had been unbearable.

The connection between the esophagus and jejunum was blocked—the patient couldn’t even swallow their own saliva, always needing a spittoon at their bedside. The suffering was unimaginable.

After anesthesia, Director Shang personally took the lead.

With the nurse assisting, he used an endoscopic ultrasound to guide a needle, less than one millimeter thick, from the blocked esophageal junction into the opposite bowel cavity. The whole process also needed imaging assistance from an X-ray.

Zhou Can watched from the side, wishing he could get in on the action.

What a pity.

It would have been great surgical experience—if he could’ve done it himself, he would’ve earned at least 100 points of high-level medical skill.

The entire endoscopic puncture went smoothly, and they’d picked the best nurse in the department for the procedure.

Director Shang even brought in an associate director as backup, just in case.

Next was inserting the covered metal stent.

The placement succeeded in the end, though judging by his technique, Director Shang’s implantation skills weren’t anything special.

At best, he was at the level of an attending physician—about on par with Zhou Can.

Still, that was impressive enough.

No gold is pure, no person is perfect.

A lot of chief physicians barely scraped by with endoscopic skills. Director Shang stood out among his peers—he could be called an endoscopy expert.

“Alright! The blocked section between the jejunum and esophagus is finally open.”

Director Shang was in high spirits.

The surgery had gone exceptionally well, taking only an hour and five minutes.

But this only solved the narrowed anastomosis. The esophagojejunostomy leak was still an issue.

“We’re done. The surgery was a success. Start withdrawing the endoscope and waking the patient.”

Director Shang officially announced the end of the operation.

Zhou Can hesitated for a moment. He’d clearly suggested to Director Shang earlier that they should try to repair the leak.

But seeing everyone so cheerful, he debated whether to bring it up again.

He’d actually put a lot of work into researching how to fix the leak.

If the operation stopped now, the patient still wouldn’t be able to eat normally.

“Director Shang, the leak still hasn’t been addressed. Is there any way we could try to solve it while we have the chance?”

It took all Zhou Can’s courage to raise the suggestion.

He was just a trainee, after all—with Director Shang, their relationship barely even existed.

If it were Mr. Liu or Dr. Xu, Zhou Can could offer advice freely.

As long as it was reasonable, they’d happily hear him out.

But Director Shang was still riding the high of a successful operation—being told there was still a problem left to solve could kill his mood.

“Fixing an esophagojejunostomy leak is extremely difficult. The patient had surgery at a top provincial hospital, just like ours, and they couldn’t solve it—instead, they closed off the anastomosis. To truly fix this, you’d have to cut it out and redo the connection. That’s incredibly risky, and I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Director Shang wasn’t thrilled, but since Zhou Can had performed especially well yesterday, he still took the time to explain.

There are lots of reasons for an esophagojejunostomy leak.

Some are due to poor suturing, local blood flow issues, surgical mistakes. Others come from post-op infection, tissue necrosis, or chest fluid buildup.

Sometimes it’s localized infection or a too-small anastomosis.

In the end, the root cause is often poor surgical skill.

Almost all of these problems are because the original surgery went badly. If it had been done right the first time, none of this would have happened.

And now the patient has suffered so much—all because the first attempt failed.

“Can I try? I think I can locate the leak and close it up.”

Zhou Can could make that claim only because he had Level 5 suturing and ligature skills.

“Repairing the leak inside those tiny passageways using just an endoscope? Zhou Can, I’m not trying to rain on your parade, but no one’s ever done that—not anywhere in the world.”

Director Shang was a top hand at endoscopic surgery and understood the difficulty inside out.

“I’m not saying I’d fix it all from inside the esophagus or jejunum! My plan is to locate the fistula, then create two small windows from the outside. Using the endoscope, I’d complete the repair.”

Zhou Can pressed on, determined to win the chance for the patient.

“You’re thinking about making two incisions in the chest? Do you realize how high-risk that is?”

Director Shang’s tone shot up.

This young trainee was being reckless. Was surgery some kind of children’s game?

Fixing a leak like that was far from easy.

“But what if the leak is right here?”

Zhou Can pointed to the patient’s upper left abdomen.

“You think the leak is there?” Director Shang grew more serious.

“I’m not sure yet—it’s just my best guess, based on tests from the other hospital and current symptoms. The blocked connection you just fixed means we can use imaging to check for leaks now.”

Zhou Can kept his tone calm.

Even faced with the department chief, Zhou Can stayed confident, without a hint of fear.

He was simply having a normal, professional exchange.

“Alright, we’ll do the imaging like you suggest. But let’s be clear: if this ends up needing chest surgery, I can’t agree. Even making two small incisions is out of the question. The patient’s so old and has been malnourished for so long—they’d never handle chest surgery. Plus, their organs are probably badly stuck together already.”

Director Shang had his concerns.

The patient had already had two operations. Organs in the chest and abdomen were almost certain to be glued together to some extent.

That only made surgery riskier and more difficult.

When all these risks piled up, the danger of surgery multiplied.

To keep things safe, neither the lead surgeon nor the anesthesiologist would ever agree to such a hazardous procedure.

“Thank you for being willing to give it a shot!”

Zhou Can felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he convinced Director Shang.

They then performed an esophageal imaging test—sure enough, the leak was right where Zhou Can had suspected.

Tracking the fistula tract was easier too, as it connected directly to the drainage tube.

“Even if the leak’s at that spot, fixing it is still extremely tough. Do you really have the confidence to pull it off?” Director Shang privately assessed the situation—he himself had zero confidence.

“If you trust me to handle it, I’m about eighty percent sure I’ll succeed.”

Zhou Can didn’t want to sound too cocky.

Still, eighty percent was impressive for any doctor.

Doctors always tended to give very conservative estimates.

Director Shang didn’t answer right away—he just lowered his head, mentally tallying the risks.

“I heard you’ve done several endoscopic surgeries in other departments. Is that true?”

Director Shang stared Zhou Can down, hard.

That piercing gaze was meant to catch any lies.

“It’s true.”

Zhou Can answered confidently.

“And how many times did you fail?”

Director Shang pressed on.

“Zero!”

Zhou Can’s answer shocked everyone in the room.

These operations don’t have a high success rate—even in a top hospital like Tuyu, plenty of cases fail.

Every surgery carries risk.

Director Shang was full of skepticism.

“To be precise, I never had a procedural failure. There were eleven cases where the post-op results weren’t as good as expected.”

Zhou Can explained further.

“So, how many endoscopic surgeries have you done in total?”

Most people would think—if you had zero failures, you probably didn’t do many surgeries at all.

Maybe only eleven in total.

Even if all eleven went smoothly during surgery, if they didn’t turn out well in the end, that would actually reflect badly on Zhou Can’s skills.

“Altogether, probably more than five hundred. I never counted exactly.”

That one stumped Zhou Can.

Usually, he just kept track of that day’s workload—he never bothered to total up all the surgeries since starting his trainee program.

He’d rather use that time to read more books.

“Wow—over five hundred? Can a trainee really pull that off?”

The associate chief physician couldn’t help but exclaim.

Everyone else was highly dubious too.

Zhou Can hadn’t even finished two years of his training yet.

“Alright, hold up. Let me make a call and check.”

Director Shang stepped aside to use his phone.

This was too important to just take someone’s word for it—he had to be certain about Zhou Can’s experience before letting him operate.

“Hey, Old Xiong? It’s Shang Feng from Gastroenterology. Could you check how many endoscopic surgeries trainee Zhou Can has been involved in?”

“Yeah, that’s right—I need to know as soon as possible.”

……

A minute later, there was an answer from the other end.

“What—did you just say Zhou Can’s done over eight hundred endoscopic surgeries?” That number floored Director Shang. Zhou Can’s report of five hundred had actually been an understatement.

“Got it! I just wanted to check out his skills and experience. That really shocked me. Thanks, old friend—I’m still in surgery, so I’ll let you go.”

With that, Director Shang hung up.

Who knew exactly which department he’d called? Someone with a bit of authority, clearly—it wasn’t easy to get those numbers that fast.

After the call, Director Shang looked relaxed for once—there was even a rare smile on his face.

“Dr. Zhou was telling the truth. Frankly, I’m amazed you’ve handled so many endoscopic surgeries.” If someone just shadowed, their name wouldn’t appear in the records at all.

You had to at least be third assistant before even getting listed.

If you were just an intern pulling odd jobs, forget about it.

“It’s only because senior doctors from other departments gave me so many chances.”

If Zhou Can had told Director Shang that he’d led a lot of those surgeries himself, Director Shang might’ve had a heart attack.

“Alright! You’ll be in charge of repairing the leak—I’ll assist alongside Director Shi.” Director Shang wanted to personally help, just in case anything went wrong.

He’d be there to back up Zhou Can every step of the way.