126: Chapter 126 The emergency department doesn't lack doctors who work tirelessly; what it lacks are doctors who can work tirelessly for a long time.
The ward fell silent.
The corner of Director Li Sen's mouth curled up just a tiny bit more.
Lu Chen's expression remained unchanged.
"Thank you for the evaluation, Director Xu."
Xu Minhua looked at his calm face, and a complex emotion suddenly surged in her heart.
She wanted to find fault.
She had wanted to find fault before she even arrived.
She wanted to tell this young man, who was being praised to the skies by the entire hospital, that there are no shortcuts on the path of medicine.
No matter how much you are praised now, if your skills aren't up to par, they're simply not up to par.
But she couldn't find any.
It wasn't just that she couldn't find major faults; she couldn't even find minor ones.
The precision of the Vascular Anastomosis, the quality of the Suturing, the choice of surgical plan, the evaluation of postoperative results—it was all impeccable.
A Resident Physician.
He had reached a level that many Attending Physicians and even Deputy Directors in her Department of Hand Surgery couldn't achieve.
What should she say?
Say "you did a great job, keep it up"?
She, Xu Minhua, hadn't easily praised anyone in thirty years; was she going to tell a Resident Physician to "keep it up" today?
She took a deep breath.
"Old Li, come out and talk for a bit."
The two of them walked out of the ward.
Walking to the end of the corridor, they made sure no one else was around.
Director Xu Minhua turned around to face Director Li Sen.
"Old Li, you know what kind of mindset I had before I came, right?"
Director Li Sen smiled.
"I can probably guess."
"I wanted to see just how capable this young man who's been praised to the heavens really is. To put it bluntly, I wanted to pour some cold water on him."
"And the result?"
Director Xu Minhua was silent for a moment.
"The water couldn't be poured because there was no fire in him; it's all solid, real skill."
Director Li Sen's smile became more pronounced.
"Then what do you think of him?"
"What do I think?" Director Xu Minhua's voice suddenly grew a bit louder. "Old Li, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You knew perfectly well that his level was solid, yet you specifically called me over for an evaluation. You just wanted me to see it with my own eyes so I wouldn't be able to say he's no good, right?"
Director Li Sen shrugged.
"I just wanted to ask you to help keep an eye on things."
"Cut it out." Director Xu Minhua glared at him. "You're clearly just showing off that your Emergency Department has produced a promising talent."
Director Li Sen didn't deny it.
Director Xu Minhua's expression flickered between conflict and admiration several times.
Finally, she said something Director Li Sen had expected but didn't want to hear.
"Old Li, it's such a waste to keep this young man in the Emergency Department."
"How so?"
"His manual dexterity, his precision, his judgment of tissue layers—these qualities make him a natural for Microsurgery. If he were properly trained in my Department of Hand Surgery, he would definitely become a top hand surgery expert in the province within three to five years."
Director Li Sen's smile faded slightly.
"Director Xu, are you trying to poach my staff?"
"I'm stating a fact." Director Xu Minhua's tone was serious. "To keep a young man with such a Suturing talent in the Emergency Department, making him suture scalp lacerations and traumatic wounds every day—isn't that a waste of talent?"
"The Emergency Department isn't just about Suturing scalp lacerations."
"You know what I mean. The fine operations he can do in the Emergency Department are limited. In the Department of Hand Surgery, he could work on Replantation of severed fingers, Tendon repair, Nerve anastomosis, and Skin flap transplantation. These are the fields where his Suturing talent can truly be utilized."
Director Li Sen was silent for a moment.
"Director Xu, I understand your thinking."
"But Lu Chen belongs to the Emergency Department. He's not just good at Suturing; his comprehensive emergency treatment capabilities are also growing rapidly."
"You saw today's surgery as well. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Vascular Anastomosis, trauma emergency care, Suturing repair—he did it all by himself."
"This kind of all-around emergency talent is even rarer than a specialized talent."
Director Xu Minhua opened her mouth, wanting to retort.
But she thought about it and closed it again.
Because Director Li Sen had a point.
Purely from the perspective of Suturing and Microsurgery, Lu Chen was indeed more suited for the Department of Hand Surgery.
But from the perspective of comprehensive emergency response capability, this young man's value went far beyond Suturing.
He could complete the entire emergency process by himself, from cardiac arrest to vascular repair and then to wound dressing.
This kind of ability is irreplaceable in the Emergency Department.
"You've blocked his path," Director Xu Minhua said with a hint of helplessness.
"It's not blocked; it's that he can play a greater role in the Emergency Department."
"Old Li, you're protecting your own too fiercely."
"When it's time to protect, you have to protect."
Director Xu Minhua gave Director Li Sen a deep look.
"Fine, I won't fight you for him."
After saying that, she turned and walked back.
After a couple of steps, she stopped again.
"But I have one condition."
Director Li Sen looked at her.
"In the future, when your Emergency Department encounters cases requiring fine Suturing or hand trauma repair, call him over to do a surgery or two with me."
"Let him accumulate some experience in the field of Microsurgery as well; don't let his talent go to waste."
Director Li Sen thought for a moment and nodded.
"Alright."
"Then it's a deal."
Director Xu Minhua left.
As she walked out of the Emergency Department building, her footsteps faltered for a moment.
She looked back in the direction of the Emergency Department.
A Resident Physician.
His Suturing precision was higher than hers.
He was only twenty-four years old.
She had practiced hand surgery for thirty years, honing her Suturing technique to the top of the province.
And yet, a young man who had started out less than two months ago was now standing ahead of her.
She couldn't quite describe the feeling.
It wasn't jealousy.
It was more of a shock.
And an inexplicable sense of regret.
Why couldn't the Department of Hand Surgery produce a genius like this?
She shook her head and left.
...
After Director Xu Minhua left, Director Li Sen returned to his office.
Lu Chen was called in.
"Sit."
Lu Chen sat down.
"You heard Director Xu's evaluation."
"I heard part of it."
"She said your Suturing level is among the top three in the province."
"Director Xu overpraised me."
Director Li Sen looked at him.
"She also wanted to poach you to the Department of Hand Surgery."
Lu Chen didn't say anything.
"I blocked it."
"Thank you, Director Li."
"Don't be so quick to thank me. I blocked her not just to protect you, but because your value in the Emergency Department is greater than in any single specialty."
Director Li Sen leaned forward.
"Lu Chen, from today on, you are the absolute ace of the Emergency Department."
Lu Chen looked at Director Li Sen and didn't speak.
"For all emergency cases in the Red Zone that require surgical treatment, as long as you are on duty, you will be the lead surgeon by priority."
"I will make adjustments to the schedule to ensure your surgical volume."
"At the same time, I will upgrade your teaching permissions."
"In the future, you will have the right to participate in teaching Interns and new Resident Physicians."
Lu Chen thought for a moment.
"Director Li, I'm still a Resident Physician."
"I know, but your technical level has already far exceeded the scope of a Resident Physician. Administrative title promotions take time and procedure, but I have the authority to adjust operational arrangements."
Lu Chen nodded.
"Understood."
"One more thing." Director Li Sen leaned back in his chair. "As for your paper, the typesetting and proofreading at the core journal have been completed. It will be officially published next month. This will be a very important bonus for your future application for the Attending Physician title."
"Alright."
Director Li Sen waved his hand.
"Go on then."
Lu Chen stood up and walked out.
When he reached the door, Director Li Sen called out to him again.
"Lu Chen."
"Yes?"
"Keep it up, but also take care of your health. The Emergency Department doesn't lack doctors who work themselves to death; it lacks doctors who can keep fighting for a long time."
"Got it, Director Li."