Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Please Help Me This One Time
The next morning, when Yan Feifan arrived at Qin Ying’s medical teaching and research lab at the hospital, he was surprised to find it filled with all sorts of instruments and equipment.
He saw a surgical table, a medical shadowless lamp, and a General model long-arm surgical microscope.
Seven or eight medical instrument cases of various sizes, containing complete sets of surgical instruments for orthopedics, neurosurgery, general surgery, and more, were stacked up.
Yan Feifan heard footsteps and turned to see He Junxing walking in, carrying an aluminum alloy case.
He noticed that He Junxing wasn’t wearing a jacket; his upper body was clad in a tight-fitting T-shirt soaked with sweat.
Clearly, He Junxing had already been busy for quite some time.
Yan Feifan was a little envious. ’This guy has a pretty good build. The contours of the muscles on his arms, chest, and abs are clearly visible...’
"Mr. Yan, good morning!"
"Good morning to you, too!"
Yan Feifan replied, then politely asked, "Do you need a hand?"
"No, no!"
He Junxing set down the heavy case and chuckled. "This is all manual labor and grunt work. I’m more than enough to handle it by myself."
He then explained, "Yesterday, Dr. Qin gave me an equipment list and told me to request it from the equipment department."
"I didn’t expect them to call first thing this morning saying everything was ready."
"I’ve rarely ever seen this kind of efficiency..."
A short while later, Yu Suye also arrived.
She and Yan Feifan began to work on the more technical tasks, such as installing and calibrating the equipment and inspecting the instruments...
It was past ten after nine, but Dr. Qin still hadn’t arrived, which made Yan Feifan and Yu Suye a little puzzled.
From what they knew of her, Dr. Qin was very punctual and wouldn’t be late unless there were special circumstances.
If something unexpected came up, being as strict with herself as with others, she would usually call to give a heads-up...
What the two of them didn’t know was that Qin Ying had arrived at the Affiliated Hospital on time.
However, she had been intercepted midway and asked to go somewhere else.
The Director’s Office, in the Plastic Surgery Center building by the Affiliated Hospital’s south gate.
Wang Chuan handed a cup of hot tea to Qin Ying, an ingratiating look on his face. "Miss. Qin, please, have some tea!"
Qin Ying urged him impatiently, "I’ll skip the tea. If you have something important to say, just say it."
"I have to go teach a class later."
Wang Chuan knew his junior’s temper. He chose his words carefully before saying slowly, "Miss. Qin, I’d like to borrow someone from you."
Qin Ying’s expression immediately darkened. "No!" she said coldly.
Then, she grabbed her handbag and got up to leave.
Wang Chuan quickly blocked her path, saying in frustration, "Miss. Qin, I haven’t even said who it is, and you’re already shutting me down and walking out."
"Aren’t you being a bit too harsh?"
Qin Ying said sarcastically, "You want Yan Feifan, don’t you? You want him to follow you and learn plastic surgery?"
"You can just forget about it."
She said resentfully, "When you transferred from trauma surgery to plastic surgery back then, there were special circumstances, so I couldn’t say much."
"But if you have designs on Yan Feifan, don’t even think about it."
"Yan Feifan is a very talented surgeon. I won’t let you ruin his future."
Wang Chuan said patiently, trying to persuade her, "Miss. Qin, listen carefully. I said *borrow*, not *take*."
"I have no intention of poaching Yan Feifan for the plastic surgery department..."
At this point, a bitter expression crossed Wang Chuan’s face. "Miss. Qin, Yanyan is seventeen this year. She’s already a young woman."
"But she hasn’t taken a single step out of our small courtyard in two whole years."
"I don’t want her to live the rest of her life like this."
Hearing him mention the name Yanyan, Qin Ying’s icy expression finally softened a little.
She sighed softly and said, "I sympathize with Yanyan’s situation. But Yan Feifan is still a novice surgeon for now."
"He’s a distant water that can’t quench an immediate thirst."
"But Yan Feifan has shown me hope."
Wang Chuan gestured for her to sit again. "Miss. Qin, please, sit down and hear me out."
He added, "For Yanyan’s sake."
Seeing the pleading in Wang Chuan’s eyes, Qin Ying’s heart ultimately softened, and she sat down again.
"Miss. Qin, are you aware of the Zhao Yuqi plastic surgery story that was all over the entertainment news last week?"
Qin Ying said indifferently, "I’ve heard of it. I don’t care."
Wang Chuan gave a brief explanation, "A major entertainment blogger, claiming to have inside info from our plastic surgery center, exposed the procedures Zhao Yuqi had done."
"The truth is, Zhao Yuqi did have her procedures done here, and I was the lead surgeon."
"The list of procedures the blogger leaked was extremely accurate."
"At first, I thought an insider from the plastic surgery center had leaked the information."
"But after some investigation, the trail led to Yan Feifan’s sister, Yan Ziruo, and then it went cold."
"And Yan Ziruo claimed that someone could identify all of a person’s cosmetic procedures just by looking at high-definition, makeup-free photos."
Qin Ying was taken aback. "And you think that someone is Yan Feifan? How is that possible?"
"How could Yan Feifan possibly identify the procedures you performed based on nothing but high-definition, makeup-free photos?"
Wang Chuan sighed softly. "At the time, my reaction was the same as yours, Miss. Qin. I thought it was impossible."
"But it’s the truth!"
He said excitedly, "I had someone conduct an intensive and detailed investigation. We found that the Yan siblings have absolutely no connection to anyone at our plastic surgery center."
"There’s no way they could have gotten inside information."
"Suddenly, I had a wild thought. What if what Yan Ziruo said was true? What if someone really could do that?"
"So, last night, I ran a test!"
Qin Ying asked curiously, "What kind of test?"
Wang Chuan chuckled softly. "I had that entertainment blogger contact Yan Ziruo again and offer to pay her to identify the specific cosmetic procedures done on another person, again from high-definition photos."
"Last night, Yan Feifan got home at eleven o’clock."
"At 11:34 PM, I received an email from Yan Ziruo with the results of the analysis."
"I can also confirm that before eleven o’clock, Yan Feifan knew nothing about this."
Wang Chuan’s voice grew excited. "In other words, it took Yan Feifan half an hour at most to make his assessment."
He picked up his teacup, took a sip to calm his emotions, and continued, "Four procedures. Four very subtle, minor cosmetic procedures that I performed myself. Yan Feifan identified all of them—not one more, not one less. Perfectly accurate."
"Miss. Qin, you must know what this means."
"To be able to do this requires an understanding of our facial anatomy down to a microscopic level."
"Also, I’ve seen the trauma suturing Yan Feifan has done. It’s nothing short of art."
A fiery glint flashed in Wang Chuan’s eyes, like a prospector who had just struck gold.
"Miss. Qin, I can guarantee that with my guidance and a little training, Yan Feifan will reach my level in one or two years at most."
"And maybe in just three to five years, my Yanyan can be given a new life at his hands..."
He picked up his teacup again, drained it in one gulp, and took a few deep breaths to slow his racing heart.
"Miss. Qin, I know you’ve already surpassed me in fields like capillary and nerve fiber suturing."
"But in the domain of skin, muscle, and tendon suturing..."
Wang Chuan said confidently, "In Binhai, if I say I’m second, no one would dare claim to be first."
"Besides..."
Wang Chuan glanced at Qin Ying’s right hand and said bluntly, "In your current condition, Miss. Qin, you can only provide Yan Feifan with theoretical guidance."
"If you and I, a union of the strong, teach Yan Feifan together, we can make him the most formidable surgeon there is."
"Miss. Qin, what do you think?"
Qin Ying was silent for a moment before saying coldly, "It may seem like you’re doing this for Yan Feifan’s good, but isn’t it really just for your own selfish reasons?"
"What happened to that so-called ’young surgical genius’ you took on two years ago? How did you torture him?"
"Did you ruin him?"
Wang Chuan hastily explained, "Miss. Qin, look at me. Do I look like someone who’s lost his mind?"
"That guy is doing fine; he’s a mainstay in the plastic surgery center now. It’s just that his growth rate was far below my expectations, and he’s already hit his ceiling."
"But Yan Feifan, in my eyes, he’s the kind of person who can deliver surprises, who can create miracles."
"Miss. Qin, for Yanyan’s sake, please help me this one time..."