Chapter 163: What a braggart! Keep bragging! I’ll watch to see you fail!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

Zhang Fan was young and just a resident doctor. He didn’t need to mind his status like how Superintendent Ouyang and the directors would. Not only that, Zhang Fan really did have the ability to perform this surgery.

Professor Chang wasn’t able to win a war of words against Zhang Fan, so he started trying to scare Zhang Fan instead. “Young man, don’t make it so that you’re unable to stay in the medical field just for the sake of getting into your leaders’ good graces.”

“Doctor Zhang, just talk about the surgery! You must have class rather than only talking! It’s not good to make others look bad!” Superintendent Ouyang finally felt like she could vent some of her anger. Although she was nominally lecturing Zhang Fan, everyone present knew that her comments were actually aimed at Professor Chang. Earlier, since Superintendent Ouyang had still wanted to rely on Professor Chang for the surgery, she was forced to tolerate his behavior. But now that Zhang Fan was talking like this, she understood that Zhang Fan had to have a guarantee of being able to perform the surgery!

Professor Chang suddenly felt like something was off about the situation, but he was unable to figure out what it was.

“You have the guts to say such things? Does that mean you can actually perform such a surgery?” Professor Chang said condescendingly.

Meanwhile, Zhang Fan didn’t want to keep talking to Professor Chang. All Zhang Fan wanted in the first place was to say a few words to help his coworkers and Superintendent Ouyang vent their anger. He ignored Professor Chang and spoke directly to Superintendent Ouyang and the others. “Superintendent, directors. If there’s no problems with the patient’s pre-surgery checkups, let’s prepare for the tumor removal surgery tomorrow. The surgery will take a long time, so there’s not enough time to do it today.”

“Do you have a guarantee?” Superintendent Ouyang asked again.

“Yes. My teacher was the one who invented this technique for tumor removal!” Zhang Fan stated.

“Hahahaha!” Professor Chang laughed out loud while everyone else was still being astonished. Everyone turned to look at him again because his laughing was far too sardonic.

“Brag! Keeping bragging! You probably don’t even know who invented this surgical technique! Why not claim that Qiu Fazu is your teacher instead! Oh man! This is so funny!” Professor Chang felt that it was really funny. This was because he knew that Superintendent Lu of Bluebird City University Hospital, the surgeon who pioneered Chinese surgical removal of liver tumors, hadn’t personally taught any graduate students for countless years already. If Zhang Fan really was Superintendent Lu’s disciple, then he would at least have to be a doctorate degree student. Would any doctorate degree students realistically come out here to such a small hospital in the border province? [TL note: Qiu Fazu is a real person, and considered the father of modern Chinese surgery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiu_Fazu However, Superintendent Lu is a fictional character.]

Zhang Fan glanced at Professor Chang, but ignored him. Instead, Zhang Fan continued to speak to Superintendent Ouyang. “Back when I was studying at Bluebird City University Hospital, Superintendent Lu and the others just started using this technique in clinical treatment. I was lucky enough to perform a few of these surgeries.” Zhang Fan was telling a lie here in order to make it sound plausible why he would know how to perform such a surgery. While it was indeed true that Superintendent Lu had started using this technique in clinical treatment at the time that Zhang Fan arrived at Bluebird City University Hospital, Zhang Fan had been busy grinding orthopedic surgery back then.

Only after he leveled up orthopedic surgery was he able to access general surgery courses in his System. Although Zhang Fan had never done tumor removal surgery in real life before, he had already practiced it in his System for over 100 times already.

He was saying all this in order to give Superintendent Ouyang and the other Chasu City Hospital doctors more confidence. Otherwise, Superintendent Ouyang would never dare to actually allow him to perform this surgery.

“This is no time to be joking around!” Superintendent Ouyang said with a serious expression.

“I’m not joking!”

“If you don’t have much of a guarantee, then you really don’t need to perform this surgery. I can apply to have this patient transferred to a different hospital,” Superintendent Ouyang said once again. She was being extra cautious because this would be a highly difficult surgery that even most expert doctors such as Professor Chang from the provincial tumor hospital would be unable to perform. She was worried that Zhang Fan was being reckless.

“You might as well just transfer the patient. Don’t think that you’re an expert already just because you learned a few things from your teacher. Young man, you need to do only the things you can do. This is only a small local hospital, after all.”

Zhang Fan would never miss an opportunity to level up his general surgery experience in his System. The more challenging the surgery, the more experience it would give him, and the more interest Zhang Fan would have in performing it. Zhang Fan had been an ordinary person before receiving the System. Now that he had something as powerful as the Medical System with him, it would be false to say that he didn’t feel a sense of superiority. However, since Zhang Fan was the paranoid type who didn’t know if the System wouldn’t suddenly disappear on him one day, he had intentionally suppressed this sense of superiority and worked his hardest on grinding as many surgeries as he possibly could. Actually, he felt even more a sense of lack of security that the System might disappear compared to the sense of superiority. Zhang Fan’s emotions over the past two years could be described as an emotional roller coaster.

Zhang Fan’s skill level still wasn’t good enough to go out into the world by himself. He could only stay here and continue working hard while grinding as many surgeries as possible. What would he do if he went to one of the best hospitals in China right now, but the System suddenly disappeared and Zhang Fan’s own skills weren’t good enough? That was why Zhang Fan had previously refused Guo Shubin’s offer to come work under him at Shuitanzi Hospital, one of the most renowned hospitals in all of China. Zhang Fan was clear that talent-wise, he was only an ordinary person without his System. There were plenty of geniuses out there far smarter than he was. Zhang Fan wouldn’t even count as above average without his System.

Right now, he could only work his hardest on improving his foundations with the assistance of his System. Once his personal skill level achieved a certain realm, he would be able to go anywhere he wanted!

“You truly have a guarantee?” Superintendent Ouyang hated others looking down on her more than anything. Back in the day, the former Superintendent Huang had suppressed the internal medicine departments, yet she developed her cardiology department while withstanding his pressure. The then-director Ouyang Hong had successfully developed her cardiology department so well that Chasu City Hospital was ranked in the top three in the border province for cardiology. Now that Professor Chang kept calling her hospital a low-level local hospital and her staff incompetent, she was incredibly furious.

“I truly do.” Zhang Fan’s tone was firm and confident.

Superintendent Ouyang took a long look at Zhang Fan and saw that his expression was resolute. “Compete all the necessary pre-surgery checkups for the patient and notify the laboratory department that they must complete all of the patient’s checkups even if they must work overtime all night. You talk to the patient’s family members and obtain a signature on the surgery paperwork. Prepare for the surgery to begin at eight a.m. tomorrow morning. All departments will be working together and all department directors will be on standby so that they may assist this surgery.” Superintendent Ouyang gave those orders to the hospital administration director, and then instantly left without even glancing at Professor Chang.

Although she was still worried, she felt much better!

Originally, Professor Chang was going to leave, but he decided to stay after this. He wanted to watch how the braggart would be shown up. If the surgery scheduled for tomorrow morning failed, Professor Chang intended on making this into a big incident.

Some time later in the superintendent’s office, Superintendent Ouyang had the surgeon vice superintendent, hospital administration director, general surgery director, hepatobiliary director, and Zhang Fan present in front of her.

“You’ve really performed this type of surgery before? How was your success rate?” hepatobiliary director Zhao Jun inquired.

“I’ve performed it twice. Both were successful.” Zhang Fan didn’t dare to claim any more than this, as others wouldn’t believe him then. It wasn’t like liver tumor removal surgeries would be that common. This was far different from performing appendectomies!

“I’ve read Superintendent Lu’s thesis on liver tumor removal surgery before. When he started using this technique for clinical treatment, the first patient’s age was older than our current patient’s. This will be more difficult. Are you certain you can do it?”

“I’m certain!”

Both surgical directors were veteran general surgeons. They knew quite well that this liver tumor removal surgery would be extremely difficult because of all of the patient’s specific conditions. That was why they kept asking Zhang Fan for confirmation so many times.

Superintendent Ouyang made up her mind to allow Zhang Fan to perform the surgery. She really trusted him ever since he performed the emergency military patient surgery and the surgery for vice director Wang Weiping successfully.

Since Zhang Fan was so confident, Superintendent Ouyang was willing to let him perform the surgery.

“Has Professor Chang left?” Superintendent Ouyang asked the hospital administration director.

“No, he hasn’t!”

“Make sure to arrange food and board for him. Even if he has no class, we must show class ourselves!” She then told the surgeon vice superintendent, “Immediately contact the director of the hepatobiliary tumor department in Dee University Affiliated Hospital. Have him immediately take a plane to Chasu City. We’ll pay him double his usual consultation fee.”

“Alright.”

Superintendent Ouyang then explained things just for Zhang Fan’s sake. “You’ll be the primary surgeon tomorrow. Rest well for tonight. It’s not that I don’t trust you. This is a major surgery, so we must be extra prepared. It’s best if the surgery succeeds! If there’s any difficulty during the surgery, we won’t be able to count on Professor Chang.”

“Superintendent, I understand! This is also to protect me,” Zhang Fan said. Well, whether it was for his protection or not, he needed to say this because it would be the polite thing to say!