146: Chapter 146 Dr. Lu, I will remember this kindness.

Intradermal continuous cosmetic Suturing, from the top end to the bottom end, a distance of eight centimeters.

Lu Chen's fingers moved all the way down.

Throughout the entire process, there were no pauses, no redoing, and no adjustments made to any of the stitches already placed.

Formed in one go.

The last needle came out, the thread was cut, and a knot was tied.

He put down the needle holder and gently wiped the wound surface with saline gauze.

Then, he leaned back against the chair and took a look at the wound.

The entire wound surface was closed.

That eight-centimeter-long jagged laceration, after his three-layer Suturing, had turned into an extremely thin line.

The skin edges were perfectly aligned, without any eversion, inversion, or misalignment.

Not a single needle hole could be seen along the entire suture line, because all the threads ran beneath the dermis.

If one didn't look closely, one couldn't even tell that this was a wound that had just been sutured.

"It's done." Lu Chen's voice was very calm.

"The deep zygomaticus major and levator anguli oris muscles have undergone precise muscle bundle alignment repair."

"The superficial layer underwent intradermal continuous cosmetic Suturing. With normal post-operative care, scar formation will be very minimal."

"Facial expression function should be fully restored."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng's uncle was stunned for a moment.

"It's done? That's it?"

"Mm."

"How long has it been?"

Shen Xiaoning glanced at the clock on the wall.

From the start of the Debridement until now, it had been a total of thirty-two minutes.

Eight minutes for Debridement, twenty-four minutes for Suturing.

"Thirty-two minutes."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng's uncle raised his hand in disbelief, wanting to touch his face.

Lu Chen grabbed his wrist.

"Don't touch it. The wound has just closed; it's easy to get an infection if you touch it."

"Oh, oh, okay, okay, I won't touch it."

His uncle turned to look at Section Chief He Zhongfeng.

"Zhongfeng, get me a mirror to look at."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng looked around, found a small mirror in the corner of the treatment room, and handed it over.

His uncle took the mirror and brought it close to his face.

The treatment room fell silent for a moment.

In the mirror, there was a very thin line on the right side of his face, extending from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth.

But if one didn't look closely, it was almost impossible to tell it was a wound.

No sutures were exposed.

No skin edges were everted.

The skin on both sides of the wound was perfectly aligned. The color was slightly reddish because it had just been sutured, but the overall line was extremely smooth.

Section Chief He Zhongfeng's uncle looked for a long time.

Then he put down the mirror.

His eyes turned red.

"Dr. Lu."

His voice was a bit choked up.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's a standard procedure."

"It's not a standard procedure." Section Chief He Zhongfeng's uncle shook his head. "The doctor from the Plastic Surgery Department told me before that even with surgery, this kind of wound would only recover to seventy or eighty percent."

"There would definitely be a scar on the face, and facial expressions would be affected to some extent."

"But looking at the result you've achieved, I looked in the mirror, and I really can't believe it."

Lu Chen stood up and took off his gloves.

"Post-operative care is very important. I need to explain a few things to you."

"Go ahead, tell me."

"Change the dressing once a day. After disinfecting with iodophor, cover it with sterile gauze. Avoid large facial movements for the first week. Don't laugh, don't open your mouth wide, don't chew vigorously, and eat soft foods."

"Okay, okay."

"In the second week, you can start mild facial movement training, but keep the range small. If you feel pulling pain, stop. Don't force it."

"Okay."

"After the third week, you can resume normal activities. If everything goes smoothly, you should be able to restore normal facial expression function in about three weeks to a month."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng's uncle nodded repeatedly.

"Dr. Lu, then my performance at the end of the month..."

"If the recovery goes smoothly, it should be in time, but you have to follow my instructions strictly and not rush."

"Okay, okay, okay, I definitely will."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng stood to the side, watching his uncle's excited expression, unable to describe how he felt.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't get it out.

After Lu Chen finished giving the post-operative instructions verbally.

He asked Shen Xiaoning to write down a simple set of instructions on the specific method for changing the dressing and handed it to Section Chief He Zhongfeng's uncle.

"If it's inconvenient to come to the Hospital for dressing changes, you can follow these instructions to change it yourself. However, it's best to come to the Hospital for the first three days so I can check the healing of the wound."

"I'll come, I'll come, I'll definitely come every day."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng's uncle stood up and bowed deeply to Dr. Lu.

"Dr. Lu, I will remember this favor."

Lu Chen took a step back, avoiding the bow.

"There's no need for that. Treating injuries is my job; there's no such thing as a favor."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng spoke up from the side.

"Dr. Lu."

Lu Chen looked at him.

Section Chief He Zhongfeng's expression was unnatural, and his lips moved a few times.

"I..."

"Section Chief He, if you want to apologize, there's no need. What happened before is in the past; I don't really care about these things."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng was stunned.

"You don't care?"

"What's the use of caring? I didn't earn a penny less in salary."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng looked at him, not knowing what to say.

The things this young man said always made it impossible for people to respond in a normal way.

Lu Chen tidied up the items on the instrument table.

"Shen Xiaoning, help me pack up the instrument kit."

"Okay."

Shen Xiaoning began to pack up the instruments.

Lu Chen prepared to walk out.

Section Chief He Zhongfeng called out to him.

"Dr. Lu, the cost of this surgery..."

"Just go through the normal Emergency Department outpatient billing. Debridement plus Suturing, charged according to the standard for facial cosmetic Suturing. Go to the front desk to handle the payment."

"I know about the fees. I mean your personal..."

"I don't have personal fees." Lu Chen looked back at him. "Section Chief He, I am a doctor. Treating patients is my job; you don't need to give me anything extra."

Section Chief He Zhongfeng opened his mouth but ultimately didn't say anything else.

Lu Chen walked out of the treatment room.

Shen Xiaoning followed behind, carrying the instrument kit.

As the two walked in the hallway, Shen Xiaoning suddenly spoke up.

"Dr. Lu."

"Mm?"

"That Suturing you did earlier was really amazing."

"It's no different from the ones I've done before."

"There is a difference." Shen Xiaoning shook her head. "Before, when you sutured wounds on arms and legs, although I also thought it was very impressive, the facial Suturing was completely different. You could see the texture of those muscles and align them one by one; that was just too exaggerated."

"Muscle bundle alignment is a basic skill; it's in the textbooks."

"It might be in the textbooks, but there aren't more than five people in the whole province who can reach your level. Didn't you say that yourself just now?"

"Those five people are the assessments of experts in the Plastic Surgery Department; my situation is different."

"What's your situation?"

"My situation is that my hands are quite steady."

Shen Xiaoning glared at him.

"Can't you just be normally humble when you're being humble? Your hands are 'quite steady'? The stability of your hands is simply not at a human level, okay?"

"Then what level is it?"

Shen Xiaoning thought about it seriously.

"At least the level of a robot."

"Thank you for comparing me to a robot."

"I'm complimenting you!"

Lu Chen smiled and didn't respond further.

The two returned to the Red Zone.

Sun Ji looked up when he saw them return.

"Done?"

"Done."

"I heard it's Section Chief He's relative?"

"Mm."

Sun Ji put down his pen and looked at Lu Chen.

"You actually helped him?"

"I helped his uncle, not him."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes, one is a patient, and the other is a person from the Medical Affairs Department."

Sun Ji thought for a moment.

"That's true."

"By the way, how did that facial Suturing go? I heard from Xiao Liu on duty that the wound was quite scary."

"It's already sutured; there's no problem."

"The facial expression muscles were severed, and you still say there's no problem?"

Lu Chen sat down at the workstation.

"The muscle bundles have undergone precise alignment repair; the quality of the Suturing is fine."

"As long as post-operative care is adequate, facial expression function can be fully restored."

Sun Ji stared at him for several seconds.

"Lu Chen."

"Mm?"

"Where on earth did you learn all these things?"

"Textbooks, clinical practice, and some things I figured out myself."

"Stop kidding yourself; textbooks don't teach you how to perform precise muscle bundle alignment on jagged, irregular wound surfaces."

"Then that's just what I figured out myself."

Sun Ji was speechless.

"Forget it, I won't ask anymore. The answers from someone like you always leave people speechless."

Lu Chen picked up the reference material he had been reading halfway through and continued flipping through it.