Chapter 503: A Successful Operation and New Beginnings

Half an hour later, Zhou Can finished treating four more diseased sections of the patient’s coronary arteries.

During the stent placement he discovered a new ability.

In the past, whether he placed a stent or a metal coil, at best he could only deliver it precisely to the targeted vessel or tissue.

But during this operation, he could clearly sense when the stent expanded to its optimal state.

Placing a stent isn’t just about overcoming the puncture, threading the guidewire from the femoral artery to the major heart vessels, and accurately positioning the stent; there’s another crucial technical aspect.

That is, choosing the correct size and length for the stent.

Usually, based on the specific vessel segment, doctors use their surgical experience to pick the right coronary stent.

If the stent is too big, it can rupture the vessel or cause all sorts of unexpected problems.

Too small and the surgery won’t be as effective—the vessel stays narrow and blood flow suffers. If it’s too small, it might not grip well and could shift inside the artery.

That’s why selecting the right size and length for the stent is so critical.

Before placing the stent, doctors typically use a drug balloon to expand the blocked vessel to achieve the ideal lumen diameter.

Ideally, the diseased vessel should be close in diameter to a healthy artery so blood flow isn’t compromised.

Many of these technical requirements just have to be learned through hands-on experience and constant refinement.

A skilled interventional cardiologist can spare patients a lot of suffering, while inadequate technique might mean they need repeat dilations, the stent fails, or in worst cases, leads to death.

After Zhou Can completed all the stent placements, the patient’s blood flow improved to an ideal state.

Their heart rate normalized, pulse became strong and steady, circulation throughout the body was smooth—especially the chest tightness and fatigue improved dramatically.

“All done! The surgery was a great success. Congratulations—your heart is healthy again. Please take good care of your body from now on.”

As the surgery ended, Zhou Can finally let out a deep breath.

For once, today hadn’t gone off-track.

Who knows how many in the streaming room had been hoping he’d mess up, but things hadn’t gone their way.

“Thank you, Dr. Zhou! Thank you so much!”

The patient could barely get their words out, thanking him over and over.

To them, Zhou Can was like a second father, pulling them back from death’s door.

“Dr. Zhou, your fans are begging—could you take off your mask and say hi to everyone? They’re dying to see what a top cardiac surgeon really looks like.”

“Alright, why not!”

After a brief pause, Zhou Can agreed to the viewers’ request.

He took off his mask, waved at the camera, and said, “Hello everyone, I’m just an ordinary surgeon at Tuyu Hospital. Thanks for watching this surgery. I’m glad to meet you all. If you have any heart-related questions, feel free to come see us at Tuyu Hospital. Though honestly, I hope you all stay healthy and never need to see a doctor.”

That was an incredibly thoughtful response.

He introduced himself humbly, promoted Tuyu Hospital while still wishing viewers good health and hoping they’d never need care.

This is what true medical ethics look like.

Some hospitals even put up outrageous banners wishing for more business and endless profits. Others display ‘warm’ phrases like ‘Welcome back again!’ to patients.

Some even shout out goals in meetings about doubling business and setting new revenue records.

Without exception, these hospitals see treating illness as a money-making business.

It’s understandable a hospital would want more patients and increased income for staff, but when money and healing get tied together, something sacred turns into simple business.

Patients and their families naturally feel angry and resentful when faced with this kind of attitude.

It’s like a coffin-maker wishing for more deaths every day.

To put it bluntly, it’s just plain heartless.

Thanks to Zhou Can’s heartfelt words, the streaming room erupted in praise. Donations poured in, all to celebrate his integrity.

“A doctor with both skill and compassion!”

“He really is a top surgeon. Just the fact that he wishes for a world without illness says everything about his character.”

“Salute!”

……

After greeting everyone, Zhou Can didn’t bother reading the comments. He simply stepped out of the operating room.

The surgery had taken nearly three hours.

It was already 11 p.m.—time to head home.

Tomorrow would surely be another bright day.

Thanks to his spectacular surgery, Tuyu Hospital was bound to become the talk of the nation and gain a wave of attention.

Deputy Director Ye, Director Zhu, and others were surely in great spirits right now.

As Zhou Can left the interventional operating room, he was surprised to see Deputy Director Ye waiting just outside.

“Zhou, you did an outstanding job tonight! I meant every word I promised—keep working hard and you’ll only get better.”

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He was waiting there just to praise Zhou Can and give him his word.

It was a show of respect, plain and simple.

Proof of how much Zhou Can mattered to him.

“Thank you for your support, Director Ye! I’ll do my best.”

Zhou Can gave a textbook response.

……

By the time he got home, it was almost 11:20.

That’s only because his place was close to the hospital—if he still lived near Baying Lake, he’d never be home before midnight.

When he walked in, Su Qianqian had already put out pajamas for him to shower and change into.

After his shower, she brought out a special bowl of ginseng bird’s nest porridge she’d made just for him. They had all they needed now, and with their strong finances, Su Qianqian tried every way she could to help him recover after such exhausting days.

“Oh, right! Let me see your checkup results!”

As he finished his porridge, Zhou Can remembered Su Qianqian had recently gone for a hospital checkup.

He hurried her to fetch the test results.

“Here you go!”

She handed them over.

Dealing with chronic illness really does teach you a thing or two.

She could already read the results herself—just needed to check a few key numbers.

“Urine creatinine, urine protein, and sediment all normal; kidney images are fine; glomerular filtration rate is good… Oh my god, it really is all better—it’s cured! Qianqian, your kidney disease is finally gone. Traditional medicine is incredible!”

After reading the results, Zhou Can could barely get his words out, overcome with joy.

Ever since falling in love with Su Qianqian, her kidney disease was what weighed on his mind the most.

Seeing good results now made him immeasurably happy.

He’d done so much for her sake.

Their growing love meant she was long since an inseparable part of his life.

What he feared most was one day she might just slip away silently.

She was the kind who really might do something so foolish.

Too excited, Zhou Can picked Su Qianqian up and spun her around the living room.

“Haha… I want to get married, I want to have your children! I finally feel like a healthy, normal person again—I’m so happy!”

Su Qianqian flung her arms around his neck, laughing out loud.

“Have kids? No problem! I’ll plant the seed tonight!”

Still holding her, Zhou Can strode toward the bedroom.

“Bad boy, bad boy…”

Her playful fists landed without much force, her pretty face flushed bright red.

The next morning, Zhou Can woke up bursting with energy.

Youth really is a gift.

A little fun once in a while didn’t slow him down one bit.

Now that Su Qianqian was finally healthy again, and they were both getting older, it was time to put the wedding on the agenda.

But Zhou Can was also knee-deep in preparing for his graduate exams and racing ahead in his career, so he barely had time to think about wedding plans. Once he’d talked it over with Su Qianqian, he’d probably leave most of it to her.

They’d been together for years, living as a couple for ages now.

But Zhou Can had never actually met her family.

Her situation was complicated—she’d lost her parents young and was raised by her uncle and aunt.

Still, a wedding was too big to skip talking it over with them. It was a matter of respect.

But from the way she talked, it was clear her uncle and aunt hadn’t exactly treated her well.

They did feed her, but she had chores every day.

Even as a kid, she took care of sheep and cattle, cut and cooked grass to feed pigs, and worked in the fields… while her uncle’s children barely did anything. Every time she fought with them or squabbled over toys, she always bore the blame, whether it was her fault or not.

When her uncle and aunt came home from trips, they’d always hug their own children first, never her.

Orphans raised in someone else’s family often have it hard.

Going through all that taught her early on to read people’s moods.

At least the country did well by offering free education.

Kids from truly struggling families could get all their fees waived.

Later on, she scraped through high school by working part-time during holidays and with the help of teachers who fought for her scholarships and charity money.

She did college by taking out government loans.

She won scholarships every year and took part-time jobs during breaks to earn money.

Honestly, her uncle and aunt’s care was minimal—they gave her food and a place to stay, but little else.

Still, if not for them, things could’ve been far worse for her as a young child.

Now that she was well off, she sent them money or gifts every year.

But she hadn’t gone back in years.

Once, during New Year’s, Zhou Can suggested they return to her hometown to visit and maybe tell her family about their relationship. She just shook her head and said they could tell everyone once they were married.

He guessed she still remembered all the slights and favoritism from her childhood.

Each hurt and every little injustice had long frozen her heart.

That’s the real reason she didn’t want to go back.

Planning the wedding meant a trip home with her was inevitable. As for repaying her uncle and aunt’s kindness, Zhou Can would respect her wishes.

He’d always be her strongest support.

……

At the hospital, his colleagues in the Emergency Department all greeted him with smiles and congratulations.

Yesterday’s surgery stream had a huge impact—almost everyone at the hospital knew about it. Some even caught the stream by chance and saw for themselves just how skilled Zhou Can was.

The live stream’s popularity had been off the charts.

But for Zhou Can, it was just another day. After a good night’s sleep, he was back to business as usual.

He did his rounds, then headed to the operating room.

Among all his surgical skills, only his ligature technique was still stuck at level five.

It was hard to do anything about that.

Going from level five to six required one hundred thousand experience points—not a trivial amount by any means.

If he could only earn one point at a time, getting to one hundred thousand would be a long haul.

He didn’t get to use the ligature skill as much as suturing, and big rewards were a lot rarer, which explained why it was lagging behind.

He could only sigh.

Work was too busy every day. He couldn’t ignore other surgeries just to practice ligature techniques on patients.

Besides, who would want to be his personal test subject?

He’d just take it easy and grab every chance to earn ligature experience as it came.

He was busy until almost 11 a.m., when a nurse popped in to find him.

“Dr. Zhou, there’s a patient outside waiting just to see you. He’s right outside, waiting for you to finish.”

Normally, nurses wouldn’t interrupt a surgery.

After all, the operating room should be kept sterile.

There were strict protocols for nurses to enter.

“Tell the patient I only hold outpatient consultations on Friday mornings in Emergency. I have other duties the rest of the time—I can’t see patients then.”

Zhou Can had no intention of coming out to see this patient.

Lots of patients tried to see him by name, but he couldn’t just stop surgery to do outpatient exams.

Patients had to accommodate the doctor’s schedule.

If doctors ran themselves ragged for every patient, even ten times as many doctors wouldn’t be enough.

“I told him, but he wouldn’t listen. He said he’s happy to wait until you’re done and then wants you to see him.”

“That’s some real persistence! You can also let him know other doctors can help him just as well—everyone follows the same procedures.”

Zhou Can felt helpless in the face of such stubborn patients.

He did his best to have the nurse talk them around.

“I’ve told him, but he’s dead set on seeing you. And from the way he looked, he’s definitely not your average person—while waiting, two plainclothes guys stood guard a dozen meters away the whole time.”

“Alright then, tell him I probably won’t be free until around one. There are a lot of patients today, and most are urgent. I’d suggest he get his own things done and come back after one.”

With no other option, Zhou Can finally agreed.

With patients like that, he usually ended up squeezing them in during his break.

After all, coming to him was a sign of trust.