Chapter 43: So exhausted that it's impossible to act cool

In the medical profession, there was a certain phrase. The scariest doctors were those who had too much energy as well as home mortgages to pay off—they wouldn't care about the system, society, or pressure. This phrase was mostly accurate. After Gao Shijun's meeting was over, everyone began their day's work. Li Hongtu had been feeling unwell over the past few days, and Cui Pingjun was too lazy to want to do any surgeries. Since Cui Pingjun was limited in medical ability but was a loyal follower of Gao Shijun's, Gao Shijun pretended to see nothing. Basically, in Zhang Fan's four-person team, all the work was being done by Zhang Fan and Wang Yanan.

Zhang Fan had his System which strengthened his body's physical stats, which meant that he was able to continue working despite only a limited amount of sleep. However, Wang Yanan wasn't able to take it anymore. Three surgeries were scheduled for today, and it would be afternoon by the time that they were finished. Not only that, both Zhang Fan and Wang Yanan had 24-hour work shifts today. Zhang Fan noticed in the operating room that Wang Yanan was wobbling unsteadily on her feet, so he said, "You should rest for a while since anesthesia isn't finished yet." She was truly tired, and couldn't be bothered, so she pulled out a simple hospital bedsheet and lay down on it. A few minutes later, she was already emitting tiny snores.

"Honestly, she just has to want to be a surgeon. That type of work is for stronger men. Why is a little girl like her participating in such work?" Xia Yonghong, a veteran female anesthesiologist, felt rather sorry to see Wang Yanan like this.

"It's what she wants to do. Weren't you also like her back in the day?" Zhang Fan helped the anesthesiologist to adjust the patient's body.

"Sigh! Our line of work isn't something meant for actual humans. It's gotten better over the past few years. There're more young people in our hospital now. I'm also getting older. Before, I often worked successive all-nighter shifts without any sleep. One time, due to lack of sleep, I administered too much anesthesia to a patient, and I also collapsed. Now, I'm feeling the consequences from that incident. I often feel dizzy. I should probably hurry and retire soon." Xia Yonghong kept chatting as she worked. She was a student from the worker-peasant-soldier generation, and she had learned almost all of her skills only after joining the hospital. She had been through many hardships before finally having an easier time. At a workplace like a hospital where concrete job skills were required, not having sufficient skills would truly give someone a hard time.

After the anesthesia was administered, Zhang Fan washed his hands as he said to Xia Yonghong, "Please wake up Wang Yanan for me after I finish disinfecting. Let her sleep for a little while longer. She was up all night working."

"Sure. Go wash your hands."

After the disinfecting was completed and the nurse prepared the medical equipment, Wang Yanan was woken up. "Go wash your hands now. That Doctor Zhang is truly a nice guy. He knows to take pity on you. Just look at you, insisting on working in surgery. Just look at how tired you are." Xia Yonghong's words made Zhang Fan feel rather awkward.

"Doctor Zhang, I heard that you're treating Little Yi to a meal today? Is that right? How about taking me along with you? Shouldn't you also treat me to a meal?" The nurse working today in the operating room joked around with Zhang Fan while Wang Yanan was washing her hands. Zhang Fan was single, hardworking, and especially skilled. All the veteran doctors in orthopedic department #1 valued him, so Zhang Fan became popular. All of the young nurses in the hospital worked every day, oftentimes with a lot of overtime. This was even more the case for the nurses in the operating room. It was common for them to work many 24-hour shifts and not see the sun outside for two to three days at a time. Since the nurses came into contact with so few people, the nurses who were young and single naturally wanted to focus on the young and single doctors in the hospital for their romantic prospects.

By the way, Zhang Fan wasn't the pretty boy type. He appeared to be slightly rough and wild. He was exactly 1.8 meters tall, which was average height in the border province. It would be impossible to perform orthopedic surgeries well without having a strong body. For instance, it would be impossible to correct the shape of a metal plate according to the patient's needs without having some strength in one's hands. Gao Shijun was already beginning to have a hard time since he was becoming older. This action had also become completely impossible for a doctor like Li Hongtu whose own physical condition was already so poor. He no longer had enough physical strength to correct the shape of a metal plate.

"Sure, let's all eat together. Invite all the nurses who have free time today. We've been working together for so long, and I'm always troubling you. I should be treating you all to a good meal. After all the scheduled surgeries are finished for today, let's go eat this afternoon. Sister Xia, you should come along as well." Zhang Fan figured he might as well invite everyone.

"Haha, an old lady like me shouldn't participate in activities for you youngsters. Still, Little Zhang is truly nice. You're still single, right? The nurses in our department are quite excellent and pretty. They're a lot better than the devils out in society. Doctor Zhang, you should hurry and make your move."

"Let's start already." Wang Yanan finally finished washing up. Zhang Fan was unable to handle the much older Xia Yonghong. With her age, he should rightfully address her as auntie, but it would be inappropriate to address a coworker like that. It would be more friendly to call her sister. Those who only had a working relationship with her would call her Doctor Xia.

It was past 2 p.m. by the time that Zhang Fan and Wang Yanan finished the three scheduled surgeries. Since Zhang Fan had promised to treat all the nurses to a meal afterward, he skipped eating lunch. However, Wang Yanan was no longer able to handle her fatigue. She only made it out of the operating room by clutching Zhang Fan's arm tightly. She instantly fell asleep in a bed at the doctors' resting area. They had been scheduled to work a 24-hour shift today, but Wang Yanan hadn't thought about this at all when she agreed last night at 3 a.m. to come help treat the emergency patient.

"Bro, come help me out. Take my work shift for me so I can go out." Zhang Fan phoned Xue Fei. Zhou Chengfu was working the night shift, so Zhang Fan didn't want to make him work the day shift as well. Xue Fei was working only an ordinary short shift today, and Director Gao was out visiting patients, so Xue Fei had left work long ago.

"You only know how to make work for me. Do I look that easy to bully?" Xue Fei complained as he arrived to come back to work. "I literally just sat down at a mahjong table."

"Sure, whatever. I'm helping you to save money since you lose it gambling every time. This is for the sake of your family's peace. Help take my shift today." Xue Fei was from Sichuan, and he really loved to play mahjong, which often led to arguments with his wife. One time, his wife even complained about this to Gao Shijun, so the director scolded Xue Fei severely. In surgery, a teacher/disciple relationship was more important than compared to internal medicine. In normal hospitals, an internal medicine student would be able to stand on their own after about one year. However, that would be impossible in surgery. Without a teacher, it might take an entire lifetime to learn and understand some certain techniques by yourself. This was why Xue Fei was actually more afraid of Gao Shijun than he would be of the superintendent.

Not far away from the hospital was a meat bun restaurant run by a Uighur Muslim. The buns here were almost translucent, and they contained plenty of delicious meat. Many people came to eat here as there was plenty of foodies in Chasu City. Zhang Fan would sometimes come here to eat a few meat buns in winter, but he felt it was too much for him in summer.

About seven or eight young nurses from the operating room came over for the meal, which made Little Yi quite unhappy. She had thought it would be a two-person meal, but it became a meal for all coworkers. While nobody else was paying attention, she viciously stomped on Zhang Fan's foot with all her might.

Everyone got in their seats and picked up their chopsticks. Zhang Fan finally had nothing to do. He wiped the tables and chairs for everyone, and then relaxed while waiting for the food. "Doctor Zhang, you graduated last year, is that right? I heard that you were at Kuake City Hospital before, is that right? Do you know Xu Hong? She works in Kuake City Hospital's operating room. She's a classmate of mine from nursing school." The young nurses had all started working several years before the doctors of the same age. They started asking Zhang Fan various questions about himself. They all knew a little about Zhang Fan's past work experience, and that he was quite famous at his previous hospital. Many of the nurses were paying attention to Zhang Fan.

"Yeah, I know her. We get along pretty well."

"Have your parents come here to Chasu City? I heard that your hometown S Province lacks water, so many people don't even wash their face in the morning."

"Haha, no wonder Doctor Zhang is so dark-skinned. So you never washed your face when you were younger." The women here were quite bold. Since they far outnumbered the only male, this helped make them bolder, and once they became bold, they could bully you to the point where you couldn't say anything.

Zhang Fan wasn't angry about this. He knew that they were only joking around rather than looking down on him. "Yeah, our province lacked water, but my family didn't. We lived on the Yellow River, so that was more than enough water for me to wash my face."

As they chatted, the meat buns arrived. Although there were many people eating together, they were all young women. One meat bun at this restaurant cost only one yuan, and in the end, it cost Zhang Fan less than 100 yuan to treat everyone.

"Doctor Zhang, it's my birthday this weekend. I'm inviting everyone to karaoke. Do you also have the time to come?" One nurse invited Zhang Fan to her birthday party.

Since she had already invited him in front of everyone, of course he would go. "Sure, where is it at? I might be a little late, but I'll definitely go."

Back at the hospital, Wang Yanan still hadn't woken up yet. Zhang Fan saved a few meat buns for her as there was a microwave in the doctors' resting area. She would be able to heat up and eat them when she was awake.

Meanwhile, Xue Fei was incredibly impatient as he waited while sitting down. He was in a rush to go out and play mahjong. When he saw that Zhang Fan returned, he instantly dashed out without saying a single word. Xue Fei being willing to temporarily cover for Zhang Fan's work shift was all because the latter had made efforts to get along well with everyone in the department. If he didn't get along well with Xue Fei, it would be impossible to even think about having Xue Fei cover a shift for a low-ranking resident doctor, even if only temporarily. Not to mention, interrupting Xue Fei in the middle of playing mahjong? That would be impossible.

Later that evening, Zhang Fan woke up Wang Yanan, telling her that she should eat since it was dinnertime. She was indeed starving. Although the meat buns had all started sticking together, she didn't care at all after heating them, and started devouring the meat buns ravenously.

"Are you tired?"

"I'm exhausted to the point where I feel like I've been skinned."

"You still have time to regret and change your field before you're permanently assigned to the surgical department."

"There's no need for that. I'm just not used to it yet, because I just started working. It won't be a problem after I get used to things."

"With your attitude, as long as your body can handle it, you'll definitely become an accomplished surgeon one day."

"Thank you!" Wang Yanan was truly exhausted. There were tears in her eyes as she chomped down on the meat buns. Her dream was beautiful, but reality was quite cruel. Surgery wasn't a field one could act cool in.