The W Province southerner was quite skilled at socializing. Every time that Zhu Qianqian and Zhang Fan were on the night shift, he would send over some small gifts, such as fruits, milk boxes, and so on. He didn’t miss sending small gifts on even a single shift.

Although Zhu Qianqian would complain about these small gifts, saying that none of the gifts were worth anything, having them was still better than not receiving anything at all. She really did pay special attention to the tuberculosis patient, and often reminded Zhang Fan to go check on his condition. “Doctor Zhang, although you’ll be in a surgical department in the future, and I know that you’re just going through the motions here in our internal medicine department, it will be helpful for you to have experience taking care of VIP patients.”

Zhu Qianqian was quite a smart individual. It was just unfortunate that she didn’t use her smarts properly!

Even without her telling him so, Zhang Fan would have periodically checked up on the tuberculosis patient regardless.

Every night back at his apartment, Zhang Fan would study seriously. He wanted to have a serious future in the medical field, and felt that he needed to improve his foundation. How was he supposed to do that? Through the medical textbooks. Only by completely understanding all the content in every medical textbook would he truly solidify his foundation. Zhang Fan was actually studying for the amount he should have done back in medical college.

His lack of foundation only hurt him after he truly started working. What was he supposed to do about falling behind due to not studying seriously enough in medical school? All he could do was study with his grinding method, reading the medical textbooks over and over again.

On this night, Superintendent Ouyang was woken up by a phone call in the middle of the night. “Superintendent Ouyang, I am the leader of Chasu City Communist Party Committee. I’ll cut to the chase. There’s two seriously injured patients who are on their way to Chasu City Hospital right now. You must summon all the best doctors in your hospital and save these two patients’ lives. This is a political task.”

Superintendent Ouyang broke out in a cold sweat after the phone call was over. This phone call had come through on her secret private cell phone number, which only her higher-ranked political bosses knew. Even her family members didn’t know about the existence of Ouyang Hong’s secret phone number.

Ouyang Hong didn’t dare to waste any time. She immediately called to check who was currently the highest-ranked hospital administrator in charge at Chasu City Hospital for tonight. Luckily for her, the person in charge tonight was the director of the logistics department. “Immediately call every single department director and doctor with the second highest-level certification. Tell them all to gather at the hospital. For anyone who doesn’t pick up their phone, send an ambulance to their address to pick them up. Also, call the head nurse of every single department and tell them all to come to work at the hospital immediately. You absolutely must hurry!”

Since Ouyang Hong didn’t dare to waste any time, she even had her husband drive her to Chasu City Hospital. That was how sensitive being issued a political task from her higher-ups was. She usually had a personal driver take her, but she couldn’t afford to wait for her driver to be summoned now. By the time that Superintendent Ouyang arrived at Chasu City Hospital, almost every single department director had already arrived. Most of the head nurses of each department had also arrived already.

Most of the department directors were relatively older. Almost all of the directors lived on the hospital grounds in the hospital’s apartments for them and their families, which made summoning them quite easy. Superintendent Ouyang told the surgeon vice superintendent, “Our political higher-ups called and said that two seriously injured patients will soon arrive for us. It’s likely that they’ll require surgery. Check to see if all the surgical directors are present or not.”

“Director Gao Shijun and Director Wang Dehua from our two orthopedic surgery departments are both absent. They’re both currently in Bluebird City, attending a Hong Kong expert surgeon’s charity conference.”

“What terrible timing! Are the two vice directors present?”

“Yes, both of them are present!”

“I really hope that the two patients don’t require emergency orthopedic surgery.”

Soon after, the sound of sirens could be heard. When everyone looked outside the hospital’s windows, they saw police cars leading the way, followed by military armored cars.

In the dark night, this procession seemed just like a long dragon whose body was on fire. The hospital had already prepared a large empty clearing for this procession’s arrival. Superintendent Ouyang stood on the stairs of the emergency department with a microphone, and spoke to it in a sharp tone. “Open all the doors! Every department, be fully prepared! Check our emergency treatment medical supplies one last time! All departments, be ready to potentially receive our patients! I must emphasize that I will personally fire anyone who dares to tarnish our hospital’s reputation!”

It took seven to eight minutes for the procession of police cars, ambulances, and military armored vehicles to fully finish arriving at the hospital. A number of infantry troops jumped out of the armored vehicles. They smelled as if they had just come from a battlefield. Two stretchers were slowly lifted out of an armored vehicle.

The first stretcher had a man with a serious expression who wore a military uniform. However, he had already passed away before reaching the hospital. The second stretcher was completely covered in blood. An army medic held onto an IV drip for the second patient while shouting, “Hurry! The patient took a bullet to the neck! He no longer has any blood pressure!”

Chasu City Hospital’s department directors acted as the emergency treatment doctors. The younger doctors assisted in pushing the surviving patient into the emergency treatment room. Various types of medical equipment and medication were swiftly prepared in an organized manner.

“Who’s the leader here?” A middle-aged man wearing a military uniform descended from an army green military SUV. His emotions couldn’t be discerned from his expression, but he gave off a really cold aura, and he had eyes that seemed like they would devour you.

“I’m the superintendent of Chasu City Hospital.” Superintendent Ouyang didn’t know the military rank of this man or how to address him. Her voice trembled slightly as she was a bit cowed by his aura.

The military man glanced at her, and said, “Of the two seriously injured patients, one already passed away before we could bring him here. You absolutely must save the life of the other patient, no matter what methods you have to use.”

“Yes, we’ll do our very best!”

“You absolutely must save him! I don’t care what methods you have to use. Do you hear me? You absolutely must!” the military man spoke in a very loud voice. Superintendent Ouyang was quite taken aback. Not long after, the city leader of Chasu City also arrived.

Superintendent Ouyang entered the emergency treatment room, and asked the directors, “How’s the situation?”

Zhao Quanping, the director of general surgery, and Ren Li, the director of the cardiovascular department, were acting as the lead doctors here, with the other department directors as their assistants.

The director of the neurosurgery department was the one who answered Ouyang Hong. “The patient has a bullet lodged between the seventh cervical vertebra and the first thoracic vertebra. The bullet just happens to be pressuring the arteries and medulla oblongata. The force from the bullet’s penetration probably damaged the arteries already, and it’s now stuck at a spot that managed to stop the bleeding. It’s also difficult to determine the amount of damage to the medulla oblongata.”

“So you’re saying that the bullet can’t be removed?”

“That will depend on the opinion of our orthopedic surgeons.”

Li Hongtu had arrived to represent orthopedic department #1, while Chen Qi had arrived to represent orthopedic department #2. Li Hongtu silently shook his head, while Chen Qi said, “The problem is that the impact from the bullet has damaged and pressured the medulla oblongata. If we don’t remove the bullet, the tissue will swell from edema, and the patient’s breathing will only constantly weaken until he suffocates.”

“Then what should we do?” Superintendent Ouyang asked immediately.

“We need an expert orthopedic surgeon. There might still be hope for the patient as long as the bullet can be removed without damaging the medulla oblongata any further while also repairing the arteries.”

“With the patient’s current condition, will he have any hope if we take him to Bluebird City?”

“I estimate that the patient can last at most another 40 minutes. Unless the bullet is removed, it will be difficult for him to…”

Meanwhile, outside the emergency treatment room, the city leader of Chasu City was talking to the middle-aged military man. “What happened? How was he injured?”

“Talking about that is meaningless right now. It all depends on his luck now! Please strongly emphasize once more to the leader of this hospital that his life absolutely must be saved. I’ve already notified my leader. He’s already sending the patient’s sister over. She will probably arrive before it’s light outside.”

“Alright.” The city leader then whispered a few things to his secretary.

The city leader’s secretary then summoned Superintendent Ouyang from the emergency treatment room.

“City Leader!” Superintendent Ouyang was feeling incredibly anxious. If only this surgery had any guarantee to succeed, she would be quite happy for all these leaders to be here. But, this surgery would be too difficult. Both orthopedic department directors were coincidentally out of town, and neither of the orthopedic vice directors even dared to attempt this highly difficult surgery.

Ouyang Hong didn’t get another chance to say anything, as the city leader spoke first. “No matter if you invite an expert doctor, transfer the patient to another hospital, or have surgery performed here, you absolutely must preserve this patient’s life. You don’t need to tell me the medical details, because I don’t have as much medical knowledge as you.” The city leader had a really serious expression.

Ouyang Hong felt really bitter inside. According to orthopedic vice director Chen Qi’s estimate, the patient would only last for another 40 minutes in his current condition. It was now the middle of the night. There was no time to summon any expert doctors from Bluebird City. Ouyang Hong went inside the emergency treatment room, and told Li Hongtu and Chen Qi, “Our bosses have given an absolute command. You can’t just try your best. You absolutely must save this patient’s life. Tell me what conditions you need. As long as you’re willing to attempt the surgery, I’ll agree to any conditions that you request as long as it’s within my power.”

There was no helping it. Ouyang Hong could only hope that someone would be willing to try for the sake of a big reward. While the other doctors could simply go to other hospitals if they lost their job here, things were different for Superintendent Ouyang. If she lost her job as superintendent here, it would be impossible for her to become the superintendent of another Class A hospital elsewhere.