Chapter 315: Simple yet complex Chinese work society

Humans were highly complex creatures. Some people would feel that the world was absolutely terrible and that they had no control over things around them, perhaps due to their environment or living conditions. They would think that death was also uncontrollable. However, there were also people who felt that the world was beautiful and that life and death didn’t need to be controlled or worried over. Things were quite nice for them! They would only need to worry about walking their own path in life.

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Everyone would experience hardships of some sort during their life. Such hardships could be passed over just by gritting one’s teeth. It wouldn’t be good to keep complaining[1]. Emotions were a complex chemical or biological reaction that concretely existed. Emotions could also affect the human body’s condition.

Having negative emotions for a long period of time would cause problems in the body sooner or later. The body’s pain would then add on to the negative emotions, causing the negative emotions to become even worse. This would then become a never-ending vicious cycle.

Look at the blue sky, green trees, and fresh flowers outside. The world was still beautiful. Smile more and open your heart. There was nothing that couldn’t be surpassed. There were no pits that couldn’t be crawled out of. As long as you kept working hard and persisted, one day, you would definitely thank your past self for having worked hard.

For many, many diseases, treatment for children was far more effective than adults. Not only were children’s bodies better at recovering, apart from individual differences, another major factor was that children weren’t that jaded with the world yet. No matter how much pain or bitterness a child experienced, as long as the symptoms diminished and they were given some candy, then the child would still think that the world was sweet and beautiful.

Bate’s spine correction surgery was really major. He would remain bedridden for half a year or even longer after the surgery, which was why there was a lot of work to be done before the surgery. Comprehensive checkups would definitely be required beforehand, such as CT scans, MRI scans, X-rays, blood tests, and all the other basic checkups. Luckily, medical insurance would pay for all these checkups.

After that would be training the child patient to use the bedpan for both peeing and pooping. While the ureter could still be temporarily left intact after the surgery, the ureter couldn’t be left for too long, as it would otherwise cause infection. Maybe it sounded like not having to move to go to the bathroom was something fortunate, but it would actually be really painful. Staying in an abnormal position which wasn’t natural for the body for too long might cause difficulties with excretion. That would be followed by a sense of frustration, especially right after the surgery. This frustration might cause an irregularity in the blood pressure or heart rate which could then cause major bleeding from the surgical incision that would then cause the surgery to fail. That was why training the child’s mentality was also highly important.

The parents would also need to be trained in how to perform lateral turns for their son. This was really important—the patient must often be turned laterally after the surgery. What was a lateral turn? That was quite simple. The patient’s body needed to be completely turned simultaneously like a wooden stick. This lateral turning would be needed for various surgeries after certain accidents, in addition to spine correction surgeries.

For instance, if there was a car accident or if someone fell over, if the injured person had a spine injury, it would be critically important not to move the injured person immediately. If you had to move the injured person, then it would be best to move them with the assistance of three to four people who all placed their hands under the injured person’s body and then lifted it simultaneously. Otherwise, moving the injured person might cause additional damage to their spine.

After all these preparations, there was one more highly important preparation known as spinal traction. The spine was highly important in any mammal, which was why the spine would also have many protective mechanisms. Using brute force to reach the spine would be quite simple, but doing as little damage to the body as possible while reaching the spine really wouldn’t be that easy. The muscles around the spine formed the longest muscle group in the human body. This muscle group was really famous, especially in other animals, as it was known as the tenderloin.

There were also multiple ligaments under the tenderloin. The ligaments were the hardest part of the human body apart from the bones. Basically, they would provide a limited amount of protection, such as the brakes in a car. Underneath the ligaments would be the joint capsule around the spine.

The joint capsule would be like a plastic bag which enveloped the joints. The joint capsule was protective as well as a place to secrete lubricants. Describing it in detail would be far more complex. The structural relationship in this area would be truly complex. The blood vessels, nerves, lymph nodes, and so on would all be really complex. Spine correction surgery was one of the highest-level surgeries possible for both spine and joints surgeries.

Traction was about creating a small gap in between all these structures for the surgeon to work with. Traction would last for about two weeks since it was a relatively slow process. That was why Zhang Fan was in a hurry to confirm the surgery plan as quickly as possible so that he could make preparations early.

On the next day, Zhang Fan especially had Little Li take the patient Bate to do the checkups. In China, many leaders liked to do what was popular, no matter what their actual skills were like. They would make little things seem magnificent. For instance, for the magnetic resonance imaging room, instead of writing the room label in Chinese, the leader would instead simply write “MRI room” in English. Most normal people wouldn’t have any idea what this actually meant in Chinese. Who knew what the leaders were thinking? Pre-surgery checkups were highly important and couldn’t be rushed.

“Zhang Fan, come over here.” Zhang Fan just finished a surgery when he was summoned by orthopedic department #1’s Vice Director Wang Hao.

“How is it, are you getting used to things here? I looked over the records. Your medical team is quite amazing. The number of patients you have is nearly double that of any other team. Not bad, young man, you’re quite hardworking!” Vice Director Wang said after Zhang Fan sat down.

“Haha.” Zhang Fan didn’t know what the vice director wanted, so all he could do was laugh without commenting.

“You’re hardworking, but you also need to interact with outsiders more. You can’t just only do surgeries all day! You need to make more friends. That’s your weakness which I must scold you for.” The vice director acted like he was displeased with Zhang Fan.

“Alright, Vice Director Wang. I’ll pay more attention in the future and definitely will improve.” Zhang Fan pretended to take these words quite seriously. This was Chinese society and a Chinese workplace. Many important things wouldn’t be said at formal meetings or so on. The important things would actually be said in private as if it was only a casual chat.

Of course, the leaders could act as if they were casually chatting, but the lower-ranking employees would have to take things seriously. Those were the rules of Chinese society.

“Oh, you, don’t be so nervous. Not bad. Not being too proud is good. It’s like this. There’s a meal tonight that you should join. Take one person from your medical team who you think is appropriate. It’ll be more lively with more people.” This offer definitely wouldn’t have come out if Zhang Fan hadn’t acted like he took Vice Director Wang’s words seriously. That was just how strange Chinese society could be. People would have to really think about what they said and how they acted in the workplace.

“Oh, alright, Director. I’ll take Xue Fei or Wang Yanan, is that alright?” Zhang Fan wasn’t stupid. The vice director asked Zhang Fan to bring someone, but Zhang Fan’s permanent medical team only had two other members to begin with. It was really obvious that the vice director didn’t want him to bring everyone, but Zhang Fan didn’t know whom he wasn’t supposed to bring.

“Bring Doctor Wang with you. She’s also worked quite hard since joining the department. There’s no need for you to drive after getting off from work. A car will be coming to pick you two up. How are your driving skills? We should find some time to go out on the plains since the grass is green now.” Vice Director Wang was quite satisfied with Zhang Fan’s behavior. Now that the main topic was finished, he really did begin to chat rather casually.

“Sure thing, Vice Director. Notify me any time that you would like to go to the plains,” Zhang Fan answered with a smile. Although Zhang Fan’s patron was Director Gao, Vice Director Wang was still a leader in the department as well. It would be necessary to pay him a certain amount of respect. Still, Vice Director Wang was only saying random things. It wasn’t likely that he would actually trouble Zhang Fan to drive him around to tour the plains.

“Okay, I’ll find an opportunity to ride in Doctor Zhang’s luxury car, haha!”

“Hah!” Zhang Fan’s expression was slightly awkward.

After work, Zhang Fan was thinking about how to explain things to Xue Fei, but before he could even speak up, Xue Fei hurriedly spoke first because he saw that Zhang Fan had something to say. “Just let me go, please. I haven’t played mahjong for so long already. My wife isn’t around today, so I’m begging you not to give me anything else to do!” Xue Fei then ran off before Zhang Fan could say a word; he was deeply afraid that Zhang Fan would drag him to another surgery.

“Okay then!” Zhang Fan commented as Xue Fei left. Well, this was fine! Otherwise, Zhang Fan really wouldn’t know what to tell Xue Fei. Zhang Fan felt rather bad about bringing Wang Yanan but not Xue Fei to the meal. Even though Xue Fei wasn’t so poor that he couldn’t afford to miss out on a single meal, they were still a team.

“Wang Yanan, don’t leave yet. There’s something to do,” Zhang Fan told her.

“What is it?” Wang Yanan was far more obedient than Xue Fei.

“The vice director is telling us to go to a meal, and that someone will come to pick us up,” Zhang Fan told her in a whisper.

“Okay.” Wang Yanan nodded without saying anything else. This was an unwritten rule of hospital society. The rotation doctors would be left out of many things. This was also why many doctors wouldn’t know very much about other departments’ affairs in detail.

Right after the work shift ended, Zhang Fan received a phone call from Vice Director Wang. “Zhang Fan, have you and Doctor Wang finished with work?”

“Yes, we have. We’re about to get off our work shift.”

“That’s good. Go to the hospital’s rear entrance and then walk west a little. There’s a black Buick that’s waiting for the two of you.”

“Okay, Vice Director.” Zhang Fan could immediately guess the meaning of today’s meal. Some things were known to everyone, but still couldn’t be said out loud. That was just how strange people were. Everyone knew about certain things, but as long as they weren’t brought to light, everyone would pretend that such things wouldn’t happen.

“Why are you acting like a bandit?” Wang Yanan remarked as she listened on to Zhang Fan’s end of the conversation.

“Haha! Don’t learn hoodlum vocabulary from Xue Fei. Just eat and drink at the free meals and control your own boundaries. There’s no need to say it out loud.” Zhang Fan felt rather helpless. As for today, if Zhang Fan didn’t go to this meal, or simply refused directly, it wasn’t like the vice director could do anything to Zhang Fan directly. However, Vice Director Wang would surely give Zhang Fan a lot more trouble for his work in the future. This would also make things difficult for Director Wang. This was just how life was. There would be endless compromises on the path forward.

Wanting things to be really simple and direct in Chinese society would be far too much to ask for, unless the job had no benefits involved or any superiors or subordinates. But, was there such a work environment? Nowadays, even the class president of an elementary school class was something that people would fight over, not to mention the medical profession where tons of benefits were involved.

“Alright, then. Zhang Fan. I’ve discovered that you’re truly the calculating type. You never say anything, but you’ve already figured everything out. Back before you joined the department, I was almost unable to take things here anymore. In the past, my temper was rather bad, so I felt like everyone should let me have things my way, so I antagonized many people without realizing it. Without even mentioning stealing patients, even the young nurses in the operating room will bully me. Am I really that bad of a person?” Wang Yanan asked rather sadly as she gazed at the setting sun.

“Not at all. Everyone has to experience such things. Just smile more in the future and be more polite to others and things will improve. Who hasn’t been young before? Besides, none of this is important. Right now, you only need to focus on properly performing surgeries, which will naturally decrease such things in the future.” However, Zhang Fan hadn’t told her everything. Yes, such things would decrease with an improvement of skill, but they would never disappear completely.

Wang Yanan rapidly caught up to Zhang Fan while asking, “Then how come you didn’t experience such things? It felt like you were already really mature when you first joined the hospital.”

“Well! I’m naturally the mature and intelligent type!”

“Haha! You’re so shameless. Does anyone praise themselves like you do? You don’t know embarrassment at all!”

“What of it? I’m just saying the truth!”

The two of them laughed as they went towards the hospital’s rear entrance. Some things sounded like joking or bragging, but would actually be the truth. Only you would know your own hardships. Such experiences would be a treasure rather than something embarrassing. As time passed, others would surely be envious of such a treasure. It would simply depend on if you could view your own treasure directly.

[1] ED/N: I digress a bit. As a certain classic said, holding it in isn’t healthy for the body. I agree with the author that it isn’t good to dwell on bad stuff, but it’s better to vent such emotions sometimes than just stiffle them.