Wednesday, July 15th.
A gentle drizzle made the Long County People's Hospital, tucked into the mountains, enveloped in mist. The moisture condensed against the windows, leaving spiderweb-like drip marks on the glass.
The doctor's office in the observation ward was silent, with only the crisp sound of pages being turned by the on-duty doctor Lu Cheng and the newly appointed inpatient doctor Hu Shuo occasionally breaking the silence.
The two sat on opposite sides of the office, much like reading in a city library, without disturbing each other...
It was unclear how much time had passed before Lu Cheng noticed Chen Song standing with his hands behind his back, slightly to his diagonal rear, quietly and complexly observing him.
Lu Cheng quickly placed his pen as a bookmark in "Huang Jiasu Surgery," turned sideways and asked, "Teacher Chen... Is it time for surgery?"
"You could have just sent me a message."
Lu Cheng was on long day shifts in the ward and was obligated to assist Chen Song with emergency surgical tasks when needed.
Chen Song turned coldly and walked out without saying a word. Although Lu Cheng didn't understand why Chen Song didn't reply, he followed him.
Chen Song first walked to the doctors' lounge, scratched his scalp, and sat on the lower bunk of a double bed with peeling yellow paint, smoothing the creases on the yellow-and-white striped bedding:
Chen Song sighed lightly: "Xiao Lu, I've really gained some insight."
"Your hospital, amazing!~" Chen Song deliberately gave a thumbs-up, with his left thumb nearly parallel to his left forearm.
"What's wrong, Teacher Chen?" Lu Cheng was puzzled by Chen Song's sudden sarcasm.
"Do you know Dr. Xiang Dahong from Xiangzhou People's Hospital orthopedics?" Chen Song directly named him.
Lu Cheng thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head and chuckled: "From the State People's Hospital orthopedics, I only know a few directors, Director Li, Director Zhou and the others."
The Xiangzhou People's Hospital had four subspecialties, and when Lu Cheng had previously submitted his resume to Xiangzhou People's Hospital, he only proactively learned about the various department directors.
Director Li was the administrative director of orthopedics, while Director Zhou was the ward director of trauma surgery.
Lu Cheng indeed had no impression of this Dr. Xiang Dahong, and it was impossible for him to research which doctors were in Xiangzhou People's Hospital orthopedics daily.
So Chen Song explained to Lu Cheng: "According to the emergency department's Director Lin Qianlong, Xiang Dahong is a senior attending in the upper limb and hand surgery group at Xiangzhou People's Hospital, and is about to be promoted to deputy chief physician."
"Promotions require rural experience; he was originally going to Huayuan County but was snatched by your Director Peng."
Xiangzhou, including Ji City, encompassed eight counties and cities, and both Long County and Huayuan County were county towns governed by Xiangzhou.
Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng immediately felt his throat tighten: "Just to lead Peng Kun in tendon suturing?"
According to national policy, in many fields in Hua Country, getting a promotion requires 'grassroots' work experience. For prefecture-level city hospitals and teaching hospitals like Xiangya Second Hospital, remote county hospitals count as grassroots work experience.
Chen Song needed rural experience for promotion, and doctors from Xiangzhou People's Hospital needed it too; July and August were peak periods for going rural...
If Chen Song could come to Long County People's Hospital, then Xiangzhou People's Hospital's Dr. Xiang Dahong could also come.
"Dr. Xiang is here to support your Long County medical health work," Chen Song deliberately emphasized to Lu Cheng, urging him to correct his mindset.
The 'technical accumulation' in hand surgery in county hospitals was nearly zero; both Long County and Huayuan County were like this.
Peng Haibo pulling Xiang Dahong over was reasonable, as Long County's economic status was slightly better than Huayuan County.
Peng Haibo, as Long County's orthopedic director, was considered a local 'tycoon.' He understood human relations well, and general relationships flowed smoothly.
Lu Cheng promptly responded with a smile: "Teacher Chen, I certainly understand that."
"But Dr. Xiang should be coming next month at least... For this month's tendon injuries, orthopedics won't routinely accept them, right?"
It was mid-month now, and Dr. Xiang Dahong would not go rural mid-month.
Tendon rupture suturing, wherever placed, belonged to orthopedics and hand surgery and did not belong to the emergency department. When Dr. Xiang arrives, Peng Haibo will give Lin Qianlong a call, and the emergency department won't deal with "tendon suturing."
Lu Cheng naturally knew Chen Song was a standard 'emergency department pro,' and in emergencies, Dr. Xiang couldn't beat Chen Song.
But when it comes to hand surgery tendon suturing, specialist doctors are still specialist doctors.
Even if Chen Song was an associate professor, the other was simply a senior attending in hand surgery, their fields differed.
"Alas..."
"Your life, truly full of ups and downs."
"Forget it, let's still honestly be emergency department doctors," Chen Song replied reluctantly.
No one could fault Peng Haibo's actions; Chen Song was the rural doctor for the emergency department, and orthopedics could have rural doctors too.
Besides, there was indeed a "technology demand gap" for hand surgery in Long County People's Hospital.
"Teacher Chen, it's all about perseverance." Lu Cheng indeed felt resigned; he was barely getting started in hand surgery, and now faced all these obstacles.
On the 13th, Lu Cheng had witnessed Peng Kun's basic suturing skills.
After completing his standardized training and then pursuing further studies, specializing in clinical practice, even if undervaluing basic suturing skills, he could demonstrate some proficiency.
Though he might not immediately master tendon suturing, focusing on a few months of intensive study, Lu Cheng didn't feel his skills were unattainably 'high'!
"However, Teacher Chen, other skills need to be learned, and tendon suturing should continue to be practiced."
Lu Cheng's voice was calm: "Technical learning is a lifelong matter... Dr. Xiang being here for rural teaching would at most be for a year or half a year, not permanently staying in Long County."
"As long as the skills are acquired, the surgery can be done, and others can't steal it."
"Moreover, there's such diversity in tendon suture cases, even if Young Master Kun has specialized mentorship, he can't entirely take over tendon suturing."
"At worst, he takes the meat while I drink the soup." Lu Cheng's expression was calm, his voice unruffled, instead analyzing with a smile.
There were many techniques for tendon suturing; Peng Kun might grasp tendon suturing and possibly learn the modified Kessler, Tsuge Suturing Skill to replace him, but there were also modified Tang Method, tendon weaving method, Pulvertaft weaving, 8-strand Krackow suture...
"If Young Master Kun truly could master every type of tendon suturing in the upper and lower limbs, the time invested wouldn't be in vain."
"If it can't happen in Renmin Hospital, I can consult privately. Having skills means not fearing stagnation..." Lu Cheng wasn't worried about his skills collecting dust.
This was Long County, aside from Renmin Hospital, private hospitals also had 'technology gaps,' and hand surgery technology in Long County was almost nonexistent.
Nowadays, he already had years of experience as an attending, so consulting as a 'traveling surgeon' was understandable. When going out to operate, patients didn't need to be admitted by him; he just needed to treat them...
"Mainly, your county has too few single-case patients; otherwise, both you two could develop simultaneously." Chen Song said with a sigh.
Mainly because in hand surgery technology, he couldn't compete with 'Xiang Dahong,' he could only accept it.