37: Chapter 37: Crushed by Resident Physicians?
Lu Chen finished the last stitch.
He pulled the thread, tied the knot, and cut the suture.
The entire process was complete.
He put down the needle holder and took a step back.
Beside him, Zhou Wenjie was still working on his third-to-last stitch.
The Conference Room was so quiet that one could hear the hum of the air conditioner.
The expressions of the several attending physicians from Central Hospital were complex.
Wu Fan's eyes widened slightly; only now did he shift his gaze away from Lu Chen's operating station.
He Wenbin's mouth was slightly agape, his hand holding the water cup frozen in mid-air, having forgotten to drink.
Director Wang's expression was calm, but his right hand clenched slightly inside his pants pocket before relaxing.
Lu Chen stood by the operating station, waiting.
About a minute and a half later, Zhou Wenjie finished as well.
When he put down the needle holder, his hand trembled slightly.
It wasn't because of fatigue, but because when he was working on the last few stitches, no one else was operating beside him.
The attention of the entire Conference Room was focused solely on him, and that pressure affected his rhythm.
The quality of his last three stitches was slightly lower than the previous ones.
He knew it himself.
Director Qian Fangxu stepped forward and looked down at the finished Suturing on both sides.
First, he looked at Zhou Wenjie's.
The needle spacing was uniform, the edges were well-approximated, and the knots were neat.
It was a standard of excellence, a high score in any assessment.
Then he turned to look at Lu Chen's.
He looked for a long time.
About fifteen seconds.
Then he straightened up and took a deep breath.
The young female doctor behind him couldn't help but lean forward to take a look at Lu Chen's Suturing work.
Then her expression changed.
It turned into something hard to describe.
If she were to put it in her own words, it would probably be: "What on earth is this Suturing work? How can it be this neat?"
Director Qian Fangxu turned to face everyone and remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he spoke, his voice lower than before.
"Zhou Wenjie's Suturing is at his usual level; there are no issues."
"But this Suturing by Lu Chen..."
He paused.
"To be honest, I've been in clinical practice for over twenty years, and I have rarely seen this level of precision in Suturing."
"The edge approximation has almost zero error, the needle spacing uniformity is extremely high, the tension control is perfect, and there isn't a single superfluous stitch."
"And as for the speed, you have all seen it yourselves."
Director Qian Fangxu turned to look at Lu Chen.
"How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-four."
"What year of your Trainee Physician program are you in?"
"The first year."
Director Qian Fangxu's mouth moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed his words.
Beside him, Zhou Wenjie stood at his operating station, his face slightly pale.
It wasn't because he lost, but because of the way he lost.
He had prepared for a long time, practiced for a long time, and won a provincial silver award.
Yet, he was surpassed by a Trainee Physician several years younger than him in a way that was almost crushing.
That feeling was complex.
The atmosphere in the Conference Room was subtle.
The people from Guangfu Hospital looked at the exchange delegation from Central Hospital with noticeably different eyes.
Before, it was a condescending politeness, but now there was a bit more apprehension and re-evaluation.
The people from Central Hospital, especially He Wenbin, also changed the way they looked at Lu Chen.
Earlier in the car, he had thought it was ridiculous to bring a Trainee Physician to an exchange.
Now he felt that he was the ridiculous one.
Director Wang, standing nearby, finally revealed a faint smile.
Although it wasn't big, it was genuine.
He thought to himself that there was indeed a reason why President Zeng had specifically named this kid to come.
Director Qian Fangxu walked up to Lu Chen and extended his hand.
"Little Lu, who did you learn this Suturing from?"
Lu Chen shook his hand.
"I practiced it myself."
"Practiced it yourself?"
Director Qian Fangxu's expression was hard to describe.
"Can you reach this level just by practicing by yourself?"
"I put in some effort."
Lu Chen's response was very plain, but Director Qian Fangxu no longer knew what to say.
He turned to look at Zhou Wenjie.
Zhou Wenjie took a deep breath and walked up to Lu Chen.
"You suture very well, better than me."
When he said this, his throat felt a bit tight, but his attitude was sincere.
Someone who could say this in such a setting showed he had a good character.
Lu Chen looked at him and nodded seriously.
"Dr. Zhou's level is also very high; the provincial silver award wasn't won for nothing. Today might just be a matter of state."
This was a very gracious thing to say.
After hearing this, Zhou Wenjie smiled bitterly.
"It's not a matter of state; it's a gap in ability. I know that."
"To be honest, I might not reach your level of Suturing even if I practiced for ten years."
Lu Chen didn't respond to that, just smiled slightly.
He was not the type of person who liked to kick someone while they were down after a victory.
Winning was enough; there was no need to make the other party look too bad.
Director Qian Fangxu patted Zhou Wenjie on the shoulder and then turned to everyone.
"Good, this exchange today has gotten off to a good start."
"I originally thought only we had promising talent here; I didn't expect Central Hospital to be hiding someone like this."
"I'm looking forward to the formal exchange this afternoon even more."
When he said this, the smile on his face was much more sincere than before.
A strong-willed person often changes their attitude very quickly after seeing true ability.
Because strong people respect strength.
Director Wang stood up and took over the conversation.
"Director Qian, you are too kind. We came here to learn from each other. Your department's emergency procedures and triage system are also famous throughout the province. Let's take a good look this afternoon."
People from both sides began to exchange pleasantries again, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed than before.
Lu Chen retreated to his seat and sat down quietly.
He Wenbin leaned over, his voice very low.
"Brother, that Suturing you just did, is it for real?"
"What do you mean, 'for real'?"
"I mean, you weren't just putting on a show for me, were you?"
"Do you think Suturing can be faked?"
He Wenbin thought about it; it seemed that was indeed impossible.
Suturing is something that is there once it's done.
Good is good, bad is bad; it can't be faked.
"Fine, I'm impressed. You, this Trainee Physician, have got skills."
The words "have got skills" coming from a Resident Physician carried some weight.
Lu Chen nodded without saying much.
He looked down at the system panel.
[Suturing experience +45 (Technical demonstration bonus x1.5, Emergency Surgery Skill Enhancement Card bonus x1.5)]
The experience points weren't much, but having them was enough.
What was important wasn't this bit of experience, but the other things brought about by this Suturing demonstration.
For example, the change in Director Qian Fangxu's attitude toward him.
For example, the re-evaluation of him by the people from Central Hospital.
For example, the first impression he left at Guangfu Hospital.
These things could not be quantified by the system, but in the real world, they carried significant weight.
Wu Fan walked over from behind and sat down next to Lu Chen.
The middle-aged attending physician, who hadn't spoken much, spoke up at this moment.
"I saw your Suturing."
"Hmm?"
"I've been in surgery for fifteen years, and I cannot achieve the precision of your needlework."
Lu Chen looked at Wu Fan's expression; it was very serious, with no intention of flattery.
"Dr. Wu, you flatter me."
"It's not flattery; it's a fact."
Wu Fan paused.
"If you pursue the path of surgery in the future, you will go very far."
After saying this, he stood up and left, without any hesitation.
Lu Chen sat in the chair, watching Wu Fan's back.
This attending physician from the Emergency Department usually didn't talk much, but every sentence he said carried weight.
The formal exchange in the afternoon hadn't started yet.
But Lu Chen felt that today's start was already enough.
On his first day at Guangfu Hospital, he used a needle holder and a suture thread to say everything he needed to say.
There was no need to explain his age, no need to explain his qualifications, and no need to explain why a Trainee Physician was in the technical exchange delegation.
The Suturing work laid out there was more persuasive than any words.
The sunlight from outside the window shone into the Conference Room, landing on the sutured silicone pad.
Those neat stitches were very clear under the light; every stitch was on the same straight line, and the spacing was completely consistent.
Zhou Wenjie looked back at the work one more time.
Then he took out his phone and took a picture.
A colleague next to him asked him.
"Why are you taking a picture of this?"
"To save it, to use as a goal for the future."
The colleague fell silent.
Because if this was the goal, then the road for all of them might still be very long.