Great Doctor Ling Ran

Shao family’s restaurant was bustling with activity, as usual.

The lively street food alley was filled with people who were constantly roving about. Upon filing into the bystreet, they dispersed before gathering at Shao family’s restaurant.

There was no difference between the tourists and the people who were just there for sustenance. They were dressed in either suits and leather shoes, or slippers and T-shirts, and all of them looked like gluttons. They either went into the restaurant to sit or stood outside wolfing down their food.

Boss Shao held a large number of skewers, each filled with meat in his hands. The tips of the skewers were tilted skyward, and the end of the skewers were placed on the metal stand. He only used his little finger and ring finger to flip over the metal skewers. His movements were smooth and elegant.

Compared to his workers, Boss Shao was aesthetically pleasing to watch.

Fortunately for the doctors, they had already called ahead to reserve their seats, or else they would not even get a place.

“Boss Shao has really made an art out of roasting meat.” Doctor Zhou stared at Boss Shao, gulped, and praised him.

“I asked some people from the Orthopedics Department for a consultation last time, and I watched them manipulate intramedullary nails [1], but even their movements aren’t as smooth as Boss Shao’s.” Senior Resident Doctor Zheng Pei shook his head as he took in the aroma of the meat. He even used his hand to stroke his goatee.

“Boss Shao’s best with his beef tripes.” A resident doctor with such average looks that no one could remember his name grinned and said a sentence that no one cared about.

Zuo Liangcai, an attending physician who was of the same age as Doctor Zhou, smiled mysteriously. He said, “Let me tell you, Boss Shao’s best dish is actually his haggis, and if his haggis is already incredibly delicious, then there’s no need for me to even sing any praises for his haggis soup. It’s especially so for the sheep eyeballs. That taste is just…”

“Great?” Zheng Pei was curious.

“Of course it’s delicious.” Zuo Liangcai shook his head before he said, “But the people in Yun Hai don’t like haggis. Boss Shao only made it for a short period of time before he stopped. I think it’s because he had pancreatitis. Once he was admitted into the hospital for pancreatitis, he stopped making haggis.”

“He got pancreatitis because he kept eating haggis, right?” Doctor Zhou showed deep puzzlement. He turned his head towards Ling Ran and said, “You weren’t here yet. When Boss Shao had pancreatitis, Yun Hua had a large number of people who were also struck with pancreatitis. I once received a total of ten people with it in a week. I was often called to the General Surgery Department to perform laparotomies. The surgical procedure of the abdominal surgery you asked about today was used at that time.”

“Why did you have to perform laparotomies with the General Surgery Department?” Ling Ran was a little curious.

“That sudden boom of pancreatitis left the General Surgery Department with their hands constantly full, so they went around, seizing all the help they could find from the strong and capable,” Doctor Zhou said, feeling a little nostalgic. “At that time, I assisted them in four surgeries per day. It was tragic.”

Ling Ran cast a glance at Doctor Zhou. He could not understand what was so tragic about that scenario.

Zuo Liangcai coughed at that moment and said, “Speaking of which, Boss Shao has had his hand fixed on his left abdomen since the moment we came here.”

Once he said this, the doctors immediately turned their heads around to look over. Their expressions were serious.

“Since this is Boss Shao we’re talking about, could it be a case of colitis [2]?” Doctor Zhou said slowly, “He might also have kidney stones, but he’s someone who often performs physical examinations, and he was just discharged from the hospital. It’s impossible for him to have kidney stones.”

Zheng Pei pondered as he listened. He then said, “We were just talking about pancreatitis just now. Could it be that when Boss Shao came out, he started eating and drinking in excess again?”

Doctor Zhou shook his head. “He was just discharged, you know? Besides, Boss Shao already suffered through pancreatitis once, he’ll more or less pay attention to his diet. I don’t think it’s a problem with his food.”

“Hard to say. He has to taste test everything in his shop, right? He was on a really bland diet in the hospital, and he went straight back to greasy food right after he’s discharged. It’s quite possible that he might have eaten unclean or oily stuff.”

“Boss Shao is very particular about the use of oil in his food,” Zuo Liangcai said neutrally. “I bet 30% colitis, 30% ureteritis, and 40% on unknown.”

Ling Ran spoke up languidly at that moment, “Boss Shao just switched hands.”

The group of doctors let out faint gasps of surprise. When they looked over, they saw that Boss Shao had indeed changed his hands. He now used his left hand to grab the roasted meat while his right hand was on his abdomen.

Zheng Pei stroked his beard. He said, “Pain in the right abdomen? My first thoughts were appendicitis, but Boss Shao has long since removed his appendix, right?”

“Department Associate Director Du performed the surgery. I remember it.” Zuo Liangcai answered that question.

“If that’s the case, then the possibility of colitis and ureteritis is higher.” Doctor Zhou nodded to his cohort, Zuo Liangcai. The both of them had been sent to perform their housemanship training in the Department of Internal Medicine at the same time in the past.

The plain and ugly resident doctor by the side spoke softly, “If his right abdomen hurts, then shouldn’t we look into potential problems in his liver and gallbladder?”

“His liver is out of the question. If he had pathological changes to his liver, then we would have found out when he was admitted into the hospital earlier. Compared to the two problems you mentioned earlier, the possibility that he has problems in his gallbladder is higher.” Doctor Zhou went ahead and gave his professional opinion. Then, he said, “If his right and left abdomen hurts at the same time, then he might have colitis.”

“Yes, if he has enterospasm, it’ll hurt even more.” Once Zuo Liangcai said this, he stood up. “I’ll perform a physical examination on him.”

Right when he said those words, Ling Ran said, “He switched hands again.”

The group of doctors then realized to their surprise that Boss Shao was currently touching the spot above his heart.

“Boss Shao has congenital heart disease.”

“They had cured him of that in the past.”

“But it’s still a high-risk factor.”

“Young Zheng, you’re really good with CPR. Go and make preparations.”

The doctors ate the new plate of beef tripes that were brought to them. They made their analysis severely, as if they were performing a consultation.

This was normal, a regular departmental-level consultation would require two or three attending physicians to hold it.

However, the resident doctor who had been ignored by the side spoke falteringly at that moment, “Say, do you think that Boss Shao is just wiping his hands on his scarf?”

The doctors stared at Boss Shao.

After a moment, the doctors let out collective oohs and aahs.

Ling Ran looked at Boss Shao’s abdomen with a look of pity.

If he truly had colitis, then Ling Ran could have used the new technique he just learned.

He never performed any laparotomy before. If he had to start with appendectomies in his journey into laparotomies, then he would need to accumulate a number of surgeries before he could perform the tougher laparotomies.

Even a specialist knew how to perform certain laparotomies. The General Surgery Department was known as the General Surgery Department because it was the foundation of all surgeries. All surgeons knew more or less how to perform them.

“Your barbecued meat is done.” Boss Shao brought some skewers of meat over, then gave the doctors half of them.

The doctors stared at him with burning eyes.

“You can take more once I finish barbecuing new skewers. They won’t taste good if they get cold.” Boss Shao was ready to distribute the remaining skewers in his hands to the other guests sitting at the other tables.

The doctors scrutinized Boss Shao.

Boss Shao felt a little guilty, separated another ten skewers, and placed it on the doctors’ table. He said, “Eat first. If you don’t have enough of them, call me.”

The doctors discussed among themselves with just their gazes.

“Um… My facial color is okay, right?” Boss Shao looked into the mirror.

Some of the doctors nodded, but some shook their heads.

Boss Shao’s expression immediately changed.

Right then, the doctors who nodded just now shook their heads, but the doctors who shook their heads just now nodded.

Boss Shao became anxious. “Just what is…”

*Thud.*

A dull sound rose in the restaurant. A few seconds later, an employee called out calmly, “Boss, Third fainted.”

The doctors stood up in a flash. Only Doctor Zhou habitually shrank a little into himself.

Zuo Liangcai and Zheng Pei, who sat at the furthermost end of the table, swiftly went to the spot where the accident happened.

After a while, the two of them brought back a plate of beef tripes.

“Heatstroke.”

“He fainted due to the heat.”

Almost at the same time, the two of them said sentimentally.

For some strange reason, Boss Shao felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders. He quickly turned around and continued barbecuing meat.