Chapter 16: Trying to headhunt

Translator: imperfectluck  Editor: Kurisu

Gao Shijun felt slightly stifled. It was the first time he had ever met such a skilled recent college graduate. This Zhang Fan had been faster during surgery than he was, which shouldn’t have happened even with the handicap a far more unskilled assistant was! With such an amazing doctor in Kuake City’s orthopedic surgery department, Gao Shijun felt like there wasn’t much use in him coming here to help out.

Although Zhang Fan had been slightly faster than Gao Shijun in completing the simple surgery, this didn’t mean that he was actually more skilled than Gao Shijun, due to the great difference in assistants. Yet, the result was spread everywhere by the gossiping nurses in the operating room and the loudmouth Chen Qifa by the very next day.

“Haha, not bad at all! You were equal to Gao Shijun! But, you can’t allow yourself to become too proud.” Although Batu was telling Zhang Fan not to be too proud, Batu’s expression said that he was extremely happy and proud for Zhang Fan.

Seeing how happy Batu was, Zhang Fan didn’t say anything, and simply allowed Batu to be happy.

“Later tonight, you’re coming with me again to visit head politician Kang Hua. She probably wants you to treat her this time. Prepare everything that you need beforehand. After you get off work, don’t go off to dinner, because we need to go treat her first.”

“Alright, got it, Superintendent.”

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Since it was now known within Kuake City that some experts from a bigger city hospital were temporarily helping out at Kuake City Hospital, the hospital was receiving many more patients than usual. This also applied for the orthopedic department. They had surgeries to perform almost every day. After several days of working together, Gao Shijun found that he liked Zhang Fan more and more. ‘He’s skilled with his hands, talented, and willing to work hard at his studies. He’s also really humble and diligent,’ Gao Shijun thought to himself.

“We can’t apply any more screws here. Although it seems like a nice idea to stabilize the metal plating, this will easily cause metal fatigue, and if that happens, the metal plating might break inside the patient’s body.” Over the past few days, Gao Shijun had only worked as the primary surgical assistant and given advice on occasion to Zhang Fan.

‘This youngster, he learns so quickly and never makes a mistake for a second time once I teach him. Haha, I’m truly envious of his talent.’

Obviously, Gao Shijun had no idea about Zhang Fan’s skills stemming from the System supporting him. Even though Zhang Fan was still lacking in overall experience and on some small details, he was still quite incredible for a fresh college graduate. Gao Shijun was so satisfied that he became enamored with Zhang Fan’s talent.

During a surgery, Gao Shijun asked a seemingly casual question as he held surgical retractors for Zhang Fan. “Little Zhang, there must not be very many surgeries at Kuake City Hospital. It seems that there’s an average of one surgery per day here at the orthopedic department, which must be quite boring.”

“Director Gao, all the patients over the past few days are only here because of your reputation. Before you came, I would only receive one surgery patient every few days on average.” Zhang Fan had become familiar with Gao Shijun, so he spoke more freely and casually than before.

“In the end, Kuake City Hospital is only a hospital in a tiny city. It would be a waste of your talents to stay here. Have you ever considered working at a higher-level job?” Gao Shijun tried asking in such a manner.

“Haha, I don’t have my medical license yet. Besides, the atmosphere at this hospital is pretty good,” Zhang Fan replied. Actually, he wanted more than anything to go to a bigger hospital. Not only would the equipment there be far better, there would also be many more patients, so he could level up quicker. But right now, he still didn’t have a medical license, so even if he went to a bigger city hospital, the best he could hope for was to become someone’s assistant. That was why Zhang Fan preferred to remain in Kuake City Hospital for the time being, where he had a perpetually drunken boss like Director Nuar who allowed him to do whatever he wanted and take charge of all the surgeries.

Gao Shijun understood that Zhang Fan didn’t want to go to a bigger city hospital just to be an assistant. Regardless, Gao Shijun’s stay at Kuake City Hospital was scheduled to last a few more weeks, and he was confident in being able to slowly convince Zhang Fan over time.

After Zhang Fan’s shift ended, Superintendent Batu gave him a ride and brought him to KuakeCity Hotel. Kang Hua actually lived in a bigger city other than Kuake City. Her husband was a school principal in that city. Instead of living here in Kuake City, Kang Hua kept a hotel room permanently available for her personal usage only at Kuake City Hotel.

When the fat hotel manager who previously broke his kneecaps saw Zhang Fan and Batu, he greeted them from a long distance away. “Superintendent Batu, does Doctor Zhang have a dinner party here tonight? Do you two have a private room reserved? If not, I can have one arranged right now!”

“We’re not here for a dinner party tonight. We’re here to report to Politician Kang. Has she returned yet?” Batu shook the fat hotel manager’s hand.

“She’s back. She returned right before you arrived. Let’s all have a couple drinks together after you report to her. I had so much work to deal with here after leaving the hospital that I didn’t get to properly thank Superintendent Batu and Doctor Zhang. Please, give me some time today so that I can properly express my thanks.”

“Today might not be so good. Next time, we’ll definitely come have a few drinks with you.”

“Sure. You should go in, then. I wouldn’t want to make you late for a meeting with Politician Kang.”

Kang Hua’s female secretary opened the door to her hotel room and invited Zhang Fan and Batu inside. The hotel had given Kang Hua an executive suite that included a meeting room. The secretary poured some tea for the guests before excusing herself and moving to another room.

Over the past few days, the higher-level politicians had been around to inspect many things since the roads were now passable. Kuake City head politician Kang Hua had thus been in many meetings, and her back was giving her great pain. She felt that Zhang Fan seemed reliable enough, so she decided to allow him to try giving her a massage.

“I’ve been really busy with work over the past few days, so my back is complaining. Please check my current condition again, Doctor Zhang. This is a recent CT scan that I had done in another city hospital.” She brought out a different CT scan to show Zhang Fan.

The CT scan showed that Kang Hua’s condition was still the same. It hadn’t improved, nor had it gotten worse. “Let me give you a checkup first,” Zhang Fan said after looking at the CT scan.

“Sure. I’ll do whatever it is that you tell me. I listen to my doctors, isn’t that right, Superintendent Batu?” Kang Hua didn’t ignore Batu. Zhang Fan gave Kang Hua a lumbar physical examination and found her obvious spots of pain. “Politician Kang, let me try giving you a rehabilitative massage, and you can see if it’s effective or not.”

Zhang Fan followed Kang Hua’s muscle texture, and first straightened out her muscles in order to excite them. Directly giving a massage to a patient without doing this first might even accidentally hurt the patient. Zhang Fan put Kang Hua into the proper posture, pulled, and slightly twisted her spine. After approximately forty-five minutes, Zhang Fan’s face was covered in sweat as he said, “Politician Kang, try standing up now.”

“Oh, I feel pretty warm. I think it doesn’t hurt that much now. Oh my! It really is much better.” Kang Hua was truly astonished. Back at the bigger city hospital, she had undergone acupuncture along with moxibustion. Yet, all of that still hadn’t been as effective as this massage.

“Go out and rest for a moment. I’ll be out soon.” Once Zhang Fan exited, Kang Hua fixed her clothing. She then called her personal secretary Little Tang, who was waiting next door. “Little Tang, reserve a private room for us. Tonight, I’m treating the superintendent and Zhang Fan to dinner.”

“How was it?” Batu whispered in a low voice to Zhang Fan after seeing him exit Kang Hua’s room.

“It was alright.” This type of problem would be impossible to foundationally remove without a surgery. And even if the patient underwent surgery, it still might not be effective for removing pain. That was why Zhang Fan answered so vaguely.

“Was it effective or not?” Batu was rather anxious. ‘This youngster, can’t he understand what I’m feeling right now?’

Just as Zhang Fan was thinking about what to say to Batu, Kang Hua walked out of her bedroom. She was all smiles, and welcomed them far warmer than when they arrived.

“Doctor Zhang is truly skilled. The massage was great, and my back feels much better. I also want to thank Superintendent Batu for your hard work on running the hospital. You were the one who must have hired Doctor Zhang.”

“It’s all part of my job. My leader being happy means that my work has been recognized.” Batu felt like his heart was about to fly up into the clouds.

“You probably didn’t eat dinner yet, having rushed over here right after work. Tonight, I’ll properly treat both of you as thanks.”

In the private room, Kang Hua lifted up a glass of red wine and spoke to Batu and Zhang Fan. “My alcohol tolerance is low, so I’ll have Little Tang drink some more with both of you in my place. Thank you for your trouble today, Superintendent Batu and Doctor Zhang. My work is so busy that I don’t have the time to go to your hospital. It would also be inconvenient for me to be seen there, so I’ve delayed until my problem’s become like this. If it weren’t for Doctor Zhang, I would have needed to ask for some vacation time soon from the party secretary.”

“Leader Kang, you must take care of your body. Please set a time so that Doctor Zhang can come over to give you additional massages. This way, it won’t affect your work.”

“It won’t affect Doctor Zhang’s work?” After saying this, Kang Hua then immediately spoke up while looking at Batu. “It’s not convenient for me to go to the hospital every day, so this works. I’ll be counting on Doctor Zhang, then. As for the specific time you’ll be coming over, please discuss it with my secretary Little Tang.”

Kang Hua was aiming higher than being the head politician of Kuake City. That was why she was unwilling to let anyone else know about her health problems.

“Please rest assured. Helping our leaders keep their bodies healthy is one of the main jobs of our Kuake City Hospital. Not only is Little Zhang a wonderfully skilled doctor, his personality is quite reliable. He’s one of the main talents that our hospital is working to cultivate.” Batu was quite intelligent, and instantly understood what Kang Hua really meant.