Chapter 148 - Climbing up the Skill Tree

Chapter 148: Climbing up the Skill Tree
Translator: 
EndlessFantasy Translation 
 Editor: 
EndlessFantasy Translation


Forceps… Cut… Wash…

Ling Ran’s surgery had always been extremely intense, and it could be said that it was like a race against time.
This kind of surgery made those who watched also feel very nervous.
After one surgery, Lu Wenbin and the others who were involved in the surgery breathed a sigh of relief, but they were not the only ones. The doctors who also watched the battle were also greatly relieved.
Doctor Zhou, in particular, relaxed. He wiped his forehead and thought, ‘Next time, I don’t want to watch Ling Ran’s surgery anymore. It’s even more tired than a political party’s daily activity.’


As he thought about this, he inexplicably felt that he had been exploited.
It was not easy getting away from his work, and yet he did not manage to relax. Why did he bother coming here to suffer?
It was like setting the cart before the horse.
When he was out of the operating theater, Doctor Zhou stood in the hallway because he wanted to find Ling Ran to have a quick chat. But he saw Ling Ran walk in another direction.

Where is he going?
Doctor Zhou asked, puzzled.

To perform an M-Tang technique surgery,
a nurse said as she emerged from the back.
Doctor Zhou was stunned. He knew that Ling Ran had a lot of surgeries every day, but he did not expect that even after the energy-consuming finger replantation surgery, Ling Ran would still rush off to perform M-Tang technique surgeries.

So hardworking,
Doctor Zhou clicked his tongue a couple of times and spoke again,
No wonder he eats so much.


Doctor Ling doesn’t eat much.
The young nurse could not take it when she heard this. She puts her hands on her hips as she said,
Do you know how hard Doctor Ling works?


I know, I know. I just said it, didn’t I?
Doctor Zhou begged for mercy.


The young nurse continued harassing him.
What do you know?

After Doctor Zhou thought hard, he said,
The surgeons from the Hand Surgery Department are the most tired. The fact that Doctor Ling is willing to devote himself to it shows that he is very hard working and is indeed amazing.

The young nurse rolled her eyes and suddenly asked,
Have you ever seen Doctor Ling Ran eating a lot of food? Have you seen he ate?

…..
Operating theater.
Ling Ran looked at the MRI scans as usual before he beckoned Ma Yanlin over and said,
If you were to do the surgery, where will you start?

Ma Yanlin was excited.
Am I allowed to do the surgery?


Let’s hear your suggestion first.
Ling Ran already had the stance of a senior doctor.
In truth, a person was given the title of a senior doctor partly because of his position, and partly because of his skills.
Superiors without skills were nothing more than just superiors. It was difficult for them to manifest the might they should have in operating theaters.


Ling Ran, who had performed hundreds of M-Tang technique surgeries, was naturally an expert in this surgery. But he had only been in the medical field for a short period of time, and his reputation was not as obvious as other senior doctors.
Ma Yanlin was full of energy. He first looked at the MRI scans.
There was not much information he could gain from the scans, but with Ling Ran next to him, Ma Yanlin was much bolder. He decisively pointed at the thenar eminence [1] and said,
I will start from here…

This was an atypical surgery, it could be said it was quite a bold move.
Ling Ran listened without showing his thoughts, and neither did he show any intention to make any explanations. Although Ma Yanlin had a limited time of becoming Ling Ran’s first assistant, the number of surgeries he performed was quite a lot. He almost had two hundred surgeries under his belt.
This was the advantage of following a surgery maniac. In any other hospital, only chief residents had the experience of performing more than one hundred surgeries. As the saying went,
Practice makes perfect.
After Ma Yanlin performed all the surgeries, he had formed his own knowledge regarding the M-Tang technique.
At this point, after he heard that he could do the surgery, Ma Yanlin was slightly excited. The first thing that came to his mind was performing the surgery in an atypical position. This made him a little uneasy, but he insisted to tell Ling Ran about it. Then, he looked at Ling Ran anxiously.

Okay, you can do the surgery.
Just like that, Ling Ran gave up his position as the chief surgeon to Ma Yanlin.

I can do the surgery, for real?
Ma Yanlin asked once again just for confirmation.
Ling Ran made a sound of approval.


Ma Yalin let out a short bark of laughter and immediately shut his mouth. Then, he took a pen and draw lines on the patient’s hand while trembling.
He had experience in surgeries, but an M-Tang technique surgery was such a complicated surgery that it gave him great expectations.
After Ma Yanlin finished drawing the lines, he snuck a glance at Ling Ran.
Ling Ran still had the blank yet serious expression. Ma Yanlin could not guess what was in his head.

Scalpel.
Ma Yanlin clenched his teeth, and he requested for scalpel from a nurse.
The nurse slapped a scalpel with a scalpel head installed into his palm.
Ling Ran still did not utter a word. Ma Yanlin calmed his nerves. By doing so, he gained some confidence, and he moved the scalpel gently across the skin, layer by layer.
The skin, muscles, adipose tissues…
The tissues were exposed layer by layer.
Ling Ran acted Ma Yanlin’s assistant for ten minutes. Then, the operating field that was required was revealed to him.


When Ma Yanlin gave up the position of the chief surgeon, he was already sweating with excitement.

Concentrate,
Ling Ran reminded him. Then, he began to suture the tendon.
His mastery of the M-Tang technique was already quite strong. It could be said that his level of knowledge of this technique was near the top. If he wanted to improve more, he would need to operate on atypical cases and also perform an insane number of M-Tang technique surgeries.
Now that he had the Finger Replantation Skill, Ling Ran also consciously began to share surgical opportunities with his assistants.
This was how surgeons passed down their inheritance. From theories to practices, from the easy ones to the most difficult ones, from being an assistant to a chief surgeon. After the chief surgeons practiced madly and accumulated experiences, they would then try more sophisticated surgeries, and after they finished climbing up the skill tree, they gave out opportunities to the younger doctors.
However, Ling Ran could now only give out chances to perform incisions and sutures. If he did these two steps himself, it would take about twenty minutes. He could save quite a lot of time by letting the assistants do these steps.
After he finished carrying out the M-Tang technique, Ling Ran let Ma Yanlin take over to finish the surgery, and he headed to another operating theater.
Lu Wenbin was already waiting inside.
This was the routine they were all familiar with, which was continuous surgeries after surgeries…
In recent days, Ling Ran had cut down on his volume of surgeries. He was not the only one not used to it, Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin also had a hard time trying to adapt to this situation.
None of them chatted. They just performed surgeries in frenzy.
Both Lu Wenbin and Ma Yanlin got the chance to perform incisions, and it could be considered that they gained a deeper understanding towards the M-Tang technique. It made them even more enthusiastic when they did surgeries.
Even when their working hours were over, both of them were reluctant to leave.
Ling Ran just looked at his watch and said,
We start work tomorrow at three in the morning.

Both of them rapidly gave up their intentions on wanting to continue doing surgeries.
Ling Ran drove his tiny Volkswagen Jetta and went back to Lower Groove Clinic.
It was late, but there were six patients in the treatment room. Four of them were old patients who were about to finish with their transfusions. Two others who were injured were being sutured by Doctor Miao with absorbable sutures.
Juan Zi sat on the small camp chair at the side, delivering the materials to Doctor Miao with one of her heavy arms. She called out to Ling Ran,
Young Ran, someone is looking for you.


A stranger?
Ling Ran asked while washing his hands.
As he spoke, he saw Li Lei emerge from inside the house while patting her forehead,
My Doctor Ling, you are finally back. I have waited for you for a long time…