Chapter 234 - 156: Jiang He, What Do You Think?
The two rode the elevator to the surgical inpatient building.
Hepatobiliary Surgery.
At the nurses’ station, several nurses were busy working.
The day’s surgical schedule was written on the whiteboard on the wall.
Chen Jing was checking the long-term doctor’s orders, her head down, so she didn’t see Jiang He.
"Come on, let’s go to the doctors’ office."
Meng Shiyu took a deep breath, adjusted the collar of his suit jacket, and fell half a step behind Jiang He.
But then he thought better of it, walked forward, and pulled Jiang He to a position slightly behind him.
’This little brother Jiang He looks so naive and simple-minded. I’d better look out for him.’
Pushing open the door to the doctors’ office, they saw seven or eight doctors already inside.
Some were writing medical records with their heads down, some were munching on buns, and others were discussing a few emergency patients admitted during the night shift.
The desks were covered with stainless steel chart binders.
Meng Shiyu didn’t dare to walk further in, pulling Jiang He to hide by the water cooler near the door.
This was a very strategic position; it allowed the people inside to see them without being in the way.
It perfectly matched the humble posture a low-level rookie should have.
"Hello, everyone. We’re here to report for our first day," Meng Shiyu said with a smile, bowing slightly in greeting.
A few of the younger Resident Physicians glanced up, gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, and then went back to their work.
Someone asked the person next to them, "Is that... Jiang He?"
The person replied, "Keep it low-key. Don’t make eye contact, you don’t want him to take a disliking to you."
"Oh, oh, oh, got it, got it."
And so, no one else responded.
Meng Shiyu turned his head and whispered to Jiang He, "In a hospital, all sorts of Interns come and go every day. The senior staff are used to it. When Director Yang gets here, we’ll just shrink back here and wait for the shift change meeting to end before we go up and report."
Jiang He leaned against the wall without saying a word.
He had worked late last night designing an miRNA project, and his nerves had been on edge.
Now, standing in this familiar hospital ward environment, he actually felt relaxed.
Eight fifty-five.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway.
The doctors’ office, which had been somewhat noisy, instantly quieted down.
The doctor eating a bun quickly swallowed the last half and threw the plastic bag into the trash; the doctors discussing cases immediately sat up straight.
Meng Shiyu’s body tensed instantly. He stared straight ahead, his hands pressed against the seams of his pants, and even his breathing grew shallow.
He didn’t forget to nudge Jiang He lightly with his elbow, signaling him to stand properly.
The door was pushed open.
Yang Xu strode in, wearing a crisp white coat.
His sharp gaze swept across the room.
"Morning, Director."
"Director."
The doctors in the office greeted him one after another.
Yang Xu nodded slightly.
Meng Shiyu swallowed, preparing to find the right moment to introduce himself in the most humble tone possible.
He had already rehearsed the greeting in his mind three times: ’Hello, Director Yang. I’m the new rotating doctor, Meng Shiyu, a graduate of Xiangya. I look forward to your guidance and feedback...’
However, Yang Xu didn’t even look at him.
His gaze swept the room, his brow furrowing slightly as if looking for someone.
"Where’s Jiang He? Wasn’t he supposed to report today?"
Meng Shiyu’s heart skipped a beat.
’It’s over.’
’The director is calling out this undergrad by name on the very first day? Did this kid cause some trouble before? Or did the director find out he got in through the back door and is about to make an example of him in public?’
Meng Shiyu subconsciously shuffled half a step to the side, trying to put some distance between himself and Jiang He to avoid becoming collateral damage.
Jiang He took a step forward.
"Teacher, I’m here."
Yang Xu followed the voice, and the moment he saw Jiang He, his expression, like ice meeting a spring breeze, instantly melted.
"What are you doing standing so far back?"
He strode directly toward the door.
Watching Yang Xu walk in his direction, Meng Shiyu’s heart pounded. He thought the director was about to lose his temper.
But instead, Yang Xu walked straight up to Jiang He and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Have you had breakfast? You didn’t stay up too late last night, did you?"
"Uh, just a little. I’m fine."
"Don’t do it again. Your health comes first, you hear me?"
"I know, Teacher."
The other doctors in the office had long since heard the legendary stories about the director and Jiang He.
After all, the story of Jiang He’s god-tier diagnosis in the red-tagged zone during the massive pile-up on the Ring City Expressway, and how he worked with Yang Xu to save the severely injured mother, creating a zero-fatality miracle, had already spread throughout Affiliated Hospital No. 1.
Not to mention the hospital’s subsequent promotion of the posterior approach.
But... Meng Shiyu didn’t know any of this.
He stared blankly at the scene before him, his brain short-circuiting.
’What’s going on?’
’Director Yang, the legendary department tyrant with a terrible temper, is actually asking a new undergraduate if he’s eaten breakfast?’
’And telling him not to stay up late?’
Why?
And it wasn’t over.
Yang Xu took Jiang He by the arm and led him directly to the front of the office.
"Come on, sit here."
Yang Xu pointed to a chair next to his own desk.
That was a seat only the deputy department director or senior professors dared to take when they came to discuss difficult cases.
"It’s okay, Teacher. The shift change meeting is about to start, I’m fine standing," Jiang He declined.
"I said sit, so sit. Why would you stand during the meeting? You’re a nationally accredited practicing physician now!"
Yang Xu deliberately raised his voice, clearly for the benefit of everyone else in the department. "By the way, yesterday, I contacted the editorial department of the *New England Journal of Medicine* and sent them your paper."
The office fell silent instantly.
A few Resident Physicians who had been pretending to organize their charts froze mid-motion.
The attending physicians also looked at each other in disbelief.
’The *New England Journal of Medicine*?’
’That’s the top of the big four medical journals!’
Meng Shiyu felt like he had stopped breathing.
The words he had said to Jiang He in the hallway just moments ago replayed madly in his mind.
"The politics in this hospital run deep..."
"Do more work, talk less..."
"Director Yang is the local tyrant, whatever you do, don’t make him angry..."
"In the director’s eyes, we’re basically invisible..."
The expression on his face had completely frozen.
’Meow?’
’Did I... just lecture a titan who’s about to be published in the *New England Journal of Medicine*—a titan treasured by the department director like a priceless gem—on how to navigate social situations?’
’Ugh... I just want to go die in a hole. Anyone feel me?’
"Sit, sit down first."
Yang Xu pushed Jiang He down into the chair, then finally noticed Meng Shiyu, who was still standing stiffly by the water cooler.
"Hmm, and you are?"
Meng Shiyu jolted and stammered, "D-Director Yang, hello... I’m the new rotating doctor reporting for duty today, Meng Shiyu."
Yang Xu nodded, his tone gentle. "Since you’re here on rotation, you know the rules, right? The first week is for getting familiar with the ward and writing medical records. You can start by following..."
Yang Xu’s gaze swept around the department. He had originally planned to assign him to a senior Resident Physician for supervision.
But then he glanced at Jiang He sitting beside him, and an idea popped into his head.
’Although Jiang He has his license now and is technically a Resident Physician, he still needs practice.’
’And in terms of professional theory and clinical judgment, he’s more than qualified to mentor a recent master’s graduate.’
So he said, "How about this: you can follow Dr. Jiang for now. Jiang He, you take him under your wing today. Show him around, get him familiar with our department."
Meng Shiyu: "..."
His eyes had completely lost focus.
Five minutes ago, he was planning how to help his "little brother" survive the harsh realities of the hospital.
Five minutes later, his "little brother" had become his supervising teacher...
Jiang He stood up calmly from his chair, walked over to Meng Shiyu, and spoke in the same gentle tone as he had in the hallway.
"Dr. Meng."
Meng Shiyu snapped back to his senses and instinctively straightened his back. "T-Teacher Jiang, what are your instructions?"
"Don’t be so formal. You can just call me Jiang He from now on."
Meng Shiyu immediately nodded furiously. "Okay, Teacher Jiang! No problem, Teacher Jiang!"
Jiang He: "..."
Just then, Chen Jing pushed the door open and walked in, holding a handover report. "Director, everyone’s here. We can start the shift change meeting."
"Alright," Yang Xu nodded.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Chen Jing looked up, her gaze landing precisely on Jiang He.
She paused for a moment, then the corners of her mouth turned up. She took two extra steps to stop closer to Jiang He.
"Dr. Jiang, you’re finally here to start."
"Sister Jing, morning. I came over as soon as I finished the paperwork."
"Did the paperwork go smoothly? Did you get your white coat? If the size logistics gave you doesn’t fit, let me know, and I’ll go get it exchanged for you."
"It went very smoothly, and the coat fits well. Thank you."
At this point, Meng Shiyu was completely numb.
’Wait, you two know each other? Then why didn’t you say hi at the door just now! Damn it!’
Right now, he had only one thought in his mind:
’Holy meow, the waters at Affiliated Hospital No. 1... they really run deep...’
’I’d better just play dead. No matter what, playing dead is never the wrong move.’
"Let’s start the handover," Yang Xu said.
Chen Jing immediately wiped the smile from her face, switched back to her professional demeanor, and began rapidly reporting on the night shift:
"Two new emergency patients were admitted last night. Bed three, acute suppurative cholangitis, temperature was 39.5 at 2 a.m., physical cooling and anti-infective treatment administered as per orders. Bed seven, conservative treatment for liver trauma, blood pressure stable overnight, drainage fluid color has lightened..."
After the nurse’s handover was complete, the Resident Physician who had been on the night shift stood up and opened a chart binder:
"Director, everyone, I’ll report on last night’s medical situations. The department was generally stable. I’ll focus on the suppurative cholangitis in bed three. The patient is a 62-year-old male, admitted through the ER last night. On admission, he had chills, high fever, significant jaundice, and right upper quadrant tenderness. A stat blood panel showed a white blood cell count of eighteen thousand. Bilirubin is progressively increasing. He was given Cefoperazone-Sulbactam sodium combined with Ornidazole for the infection overnight. His temperature has now dropped to 38 degrees. We’re considering scheduling an emergency ERCP today to relieve the obstruction."
Yang Xu asked directly, "Does the patient have a history of biliary surgery?"
The Resident Physician flipped a page. "Yes, he had a cholecystectomy at another hospital."
"What’s his blood pressure? And his urine output?"
"His blood pressure was maintained around 110/70 overnight without vasoactive drugs. From his admission at 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. this morning, his urine output was about 400 milliliters."
The Resident Physician closed the chart, and the office fell into a brief silence.
According to routine, this was the moment Director Yang would make the final call and give the diagnostic and treatment directives for the next steps.
The attending physicians and supervising professors all stopped writing, their gazes converging on the front desk.
After a moment.
Yang Xu suddenly looked at Jiang He.
"Jiang He, what do you think?"