Chapter 288: A Rising Star in the Emergency Department

“Come on, don’t be like that! Fine, I’ll tell you.” This Dr. Zhou—he got into Tuyu Hospital with the top score in the residency exam and started a thirty-six-month residency program. But because he only had a bachelor’s degree, he was assigned to the worst department, the Emergency Department.

Hearing this, Mu Qing couldn’t help but feel indignant for Zhou Can. “Tuyu Hospital’s HR is unbelievable. A bachelor’s isn’t a low degree! Education doesn’t say it all.”

Old Qin shot her a meaningful glance, noticing her pouting with righteous anger.

“Reporter Mu, seems like you have quite a soft spot for Dr. Zhou!”

“Of course! The days of judging everything by academic background are long gone. Education just opens the door; real competitiveness comes from work skills, learning ability, attitude and communication.”

She kept feeling upset about how Zhou Can was treated.

Again and again, she spoke up for him, trying to set things straight.

“You hit the nail on the head! On his very first day in the Emergency Department, Dr. Zhou made huge waves. I heard a top official’s daughter suddenly fell into a coma—the woman was an older pregnant lady. The hospital sent over chief physicians from all the main departments. But guess what happened?”

Old Qin loved to leave people hanging.

But when he met Mu Qing’s frosty stare, he quickly continued the story.

“So, all these chief doctors were at a loss. It was Dr. Zhou Can who found the root cause. They say that diagnosis was as tricky as a top-tier criminal case. That’s how his reputation exploded. And it didn’t stop there. In just three months during his residency rotation, he boosted the Emergency Department’s monthly surgery count by more than a thousand!”

“He isn’t just quick and prolific with surgeries—the key is his quality is shockingly high. They say it’s on par with the leading chief physicians.”

Old Qin had clearly dug up all the sensational dirt on Zhou Can from Tuyu Hospital.

No one knew which insider he’d tapped.

If Zhou Can overheard this conversation, he would definitely call Old Qin’s contact a total gossipmonger.

“See, I was right, wasn’t I? If you’re gold, you’ll shine anywhere. Education doesn’t mean everything. Dr. Zhou really is outstanding!”

Mu Qing felt truly happy to hear how Zhou Can had thrived against the odds, almost as if she herself had turned the tables.

“Outstanding doesn’t even begin to cover it—he’s like a medical deity reincarnated. After that, he rotated through multiple departments. At first, no one paid him much attention, then every chief and head tried to keep him. They say every time he entered a new department, it stirred up a storm and he wrote his own legend.”

“What impresses me most is how loyal and principled he is. When things were down, the Emergency Department took him in. Now that he’s famous, all the other departments want to poach him with great offers, but he never wavers. He’s dead set on returning to Emergency after residency. That’s what a real man is—Old Qin respects people like that.”

Old Qin rattled off Zhou Can’s impressive achievements in one go.

Mu Qing felt her heart stir, changing her view of Zhou Can from distant stranger to someone much more familiar.

Her eyes sparkled as she glanced at Zhou Can not far away.

A bright smile slowly appeared on her face.

“Looks like we’ve found a big fish! I need to keep an extra close eye on him during these interviews. Who knows, maybe he’ll lead me to even better stories.”

The more she observed Zhou Can, the more unique he seemed.

“Wait… Are you really planning to focus all your interviews just on this one trainee the next few days? Our superiors sent us here to capture expert diagnoses, dramatic moments and tough cases. Focusing on a single resident can’t be right.”

Old Qin voiced his protest.

Women do tend to be guided by emotion.

No matter how great that trainee is, you can’t just center everything on one person!

“I said I’ll keep an eye on him, not interview him alone. You keep tabs on the other experts, let me know immediately if there’s any big news. Right now, I need to organize the story I just covered.”

After learning about Zhou Can, she felt that reporting the story of the girl with lymphoma held real meaning.

She wanted to write up her article quickly and send it back to the station. If her boss approved, she could ramp up her coverage and get more independence.

Like Old Qin said, following just one trainee for interviews isn’t proper.

But if the higher-ups approved, that changed things.

At least it would be fine to put extra focus on Zhou Can and dig deeper into stories connected to him.

…

With Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital ramping up advertising and all those patients spreading the word after yesterday, far more people came for specialist clinics today than before.

“Excuse me! Please make way!”

A pregnant woman with a bulging belly was carried in on a makeshift stretcher by two family members, rushing into the outpatient hall.

Patients and family ahead of them quickly stepped aside.

The outpatient hall, truthfully, wasn’t that crowded.

On the stretcher, the pregnant woman groaned with deep pain.

No one knew what exactly was wrong.

Most thought the family would race to the Emergency Department, but they headed straight for the specialist clinic.

“Doctor, doctor, please help my wife! She’s five months pregnant. Two days ago she fell and landed hard—her backside’s been in agony. We thought it was nothing serious, but today she started having trouble breathing and said her chest felt crushed. The local clinic told us to hurry to the County People’s Hospital. They said her case was extremely dangerous. If we delay, we could lose both mother and child!”

One of the stretcher-bearers, about thirty-five or thirty-six, was her husband.

Behind him, an older man—about sixty and still sturdy—was likely her father-in-law.

All three were clearly rural folks: dark, rough skin, plain clothes and old soldier’s shoes caked in mud. Hardly anyone in the city wore those shoes anymore.

Those shoes are cheap, sturdy, and favored by farmers.

Farmers wear them for fieldwork or chopping wood in the hills—they’re just right.

The pregnant woman had been hurt two days back but only now reached a big hospital. Rural people always tough it out if they can.

Only when things get unbearable will they finally go to the hospital.

“This is a specialist clinic. Your wife’s extremely ill—you really should rush her to the Emergency Department now.”

Section Chief Tang had been keeping watch over the area.

When he saw the family park a critical trauma patient right there in the outpatient hall, he knew it could easily cause panic and disrupt order.

【Honestly, lately I’ve been reading on Wild Fruit Reader. Multiple sources, audio options… works on both Android and iPhone.】

He quickly tried to persuade the family to take the patient elsewhere.

“If you hadn’t advertised specialists offering free consultations, we wouldn’t have come! Regular doctors aren’t as good as experts, right? We won’t go anywhere—we need the experts right here to help my wife.”

Her husband stubbornly refused, his neck tense.

Some rural folks, unused to city ways, are direct and tough from years of manual labor. They won’t reason with you—it’s their way or nothing.

Section Chief Tang was like a scholar up against a brute—logic didn’t work.

“Excuse me, which of you is Professor Zhang Bihua?”

The husband scanned the experts at their desks.

“That’s me!”

Director Zhang Bihua answered calmly, her tone warm.

“Professor Zhang, please—save my wife and our baby! Please, I’ll get down on my knees!”

Without hesitation, the man dropped to the floor, bowing his head to the ground hard—the sound of his forehead hitting the floor was real.

He wasn’t pretending. Each thud echoed on the ground.

“Please, stand up! Go register at my window. I’ll give your wife a preliminary physical exam right now.”

Director Zhang had no way to refuse under these circumstances.

A TV camera was aimed right at her.

Many eyes were watching and people were recording or snapping photos.

These days, anyone can film something and upload it online in seconds.

If a doctor stands by and lets someone die, the online backlash could destroy Director Zhang’s reputation. Worse, the whole medical team might get dragged down.

“Thank you, Professor Zhang! Thank you!”

The husband was overjoyed at her agreement, scrambling to his feet to register.

This specialist activity was all a PR move for Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital, meant to draw in new patients and restore lost trust. Registration was free.

The hospital covered all registration fees.

But proper procedures had to be followed.

Without registration, the case couldn’t enter the system. The doctor couldn’t order tests, prescriptions or arrange surgery.

Besides that, only registration was free. Other treatments cost the normal rates.

This is the usual tactic: hospitals advertise free consultations, but it’s only the registration that’s waived. They make up for it with medicine, treatment, hospitalization, scans and so on.

Director Zhang Bihua had already crouched down to start a preliminary check on the pregnant woman.

Yang Chan helped out by her side.

“Please, everyone, don’t crowd too close. The patient needs plenty of fresh air.”

Zhou Can and Deputy Director Shi, the leaders of the crisis response team, immediately stepped up to help.

Pregnant women already have trouble breathing; a suffocating crowd would only make things worse.

By now, the woman’s face, lips and fingernails were turning blue and purple—a clear sign of hypoxemia.

To doctors, chest tightness and pain means the patient is high risk.

She could suddenly crash into critical condition, or even die on the spot before anyone can save her.

“Hi, can you still talk right now?”

“Yes!”

The woman answered weakly in broken Mandarin.

“Where exactly do you feel unwell? Does your belly hurt?”

Director Zhang didn’t dare move her around. For a pregnant woman with trauma like this, extra caution was essential.

“No belly pain. Just my butt hurts—right leg can’t move at all.”

As she spoke, the woman tried to shift her right leg, but couldn’t budge it.

Pain tightened her face.

Seeing that, Director Zhang quickly pressed gently on her body, stopping her from moving.

“Please, don’t move. Just tell me exactly where it hurts and where you feel uncomfortable.”

“Only my right side really hurts, and my palm’s scraped. Since last night, it feels like a rock’s crushing my chest and it’s gotten hard to breathe.”

The woman was soon gasping for air after only a few words.

It looked frightening.

“Any other symptoms?”

Director Zhang’s expression grew more serious.

She’d seen more pregnant women and new mothers than anyone—her experience was unmatched.

No doubt she realized quickly this patient was in grave danger.

“Hmm… My heart’s beating way faster than usual—really pounding, like wild cattle!” She thought for a moment and offered one more symptom.

Shortness of breath, severe right hip pain, rapid heartbeat—these were her symptoms now.

It was only because country women are tough that her unborn child stayed safe after such a bad fall.

Switch it to a white-collar pregnant woman from the city—even carrying something heavy could lead to a miscarriage.

Though her stage of pregnancy also played a part.

The first three months and the last two are most likely for miscarriage.

During those times, couples have to be especially careful about intimacy.

She was five months along—the most stable stage of pregnancy.

A bit of luck amidst her troubles.

Yet her situation now was very dangerous. The lives of both mother and baby hung by a thread.

Hospitals always save the mother first, then the baby.

Sometimes, families insist and doctors will try risky methods to save both.

That means trying to save mother and child at once.

But in the end, it’s easy for both to die—or at least the mother.

Doctors need serious mental strength to face that.

Every doctor feels deeply troubled facing such scenes.

During his rotations, Zhou Can often saw rookie doctors or nurses hiding out to cry or even vomit when a patient died.

He’d been there, too.

The first time he lost a patient under his care, he couldn’t eat all day. He just felt like a criminal and the guilt stayed with him.

“Her temperature is normal, blood pressure a bit low, heart rate extremely fast…”

Yang Chan had quickly checked all her basic vitals.

“Let’s do a chest scan, and an X-ray of her right hip—I suspect there’s a femoral head fracture. Draw blood for a complete blood count and blood type. We’ll probably need emergency surgery.”

Director Zhang kept the exams brief, knowing time was critical.

She was clearly weighing the risk—there was no time to waste.

Finding out the cause quickly was the only way to save her.

By now, her husband had finished registering. Director Zhang handed him the test orders.

“Your wife’s situation is very dangerous. Pay the fees and get the tests done right away. One of our doctors will go with you so you can skip the queue. No delays.”

Director Zhang spoke gently.

That’s the usual tone—doctors try to be gentle to soften the blow.

“Section Chief Tang, could you arrange for a nurse who knows the test process to accompany them? From the specialist group, Dr. Zhou will go with them as well.”

They were all new here—unfamiliar with the hospital and where things were located.

Someone local had to show the way.

“No problem. I’m free right now, I’ll go with them myself.”

Section Chief Tang could see things were serious; he was worried about a fatal outcome.

So he decided to coordinate the whole process personally.

Together, they lifted the patient—stretcher and all—onto a flatbed and rushed to testing.

This patient got to experience top-notch medical service.

A nurse came right over to draw her blood for the lab tests.

Normally, a patient like her with such a rapid heartbeat ought to get an ECG, but Director Zhang probably axed that because it would take too long; there just wasn’t time.

Sending Zhou Can looked like assigning just a trainee—but really, they were dispatching an ace.

Director Zhang knew perfectly well that, of everyone there, Zhou Can was one of the very best in critical care.