Chapter 988: Fall of a Career (Chu Chen’s Backstory)
When Chu Chen was a young child, his father had taught him that it was important to be an honest and upright person.
Chu Chen had once revered his father and those words of wisdom, until the day his father was set up by someone and put in jail.
His father was a very skilled surgeon and had been in practice for more than twenty years, working in a rather reputable hospital in his hometown village. He was a decent doctor who did his best for every patient, one who never sought to outdo others in terms of status, unlike others in the same field of work. As a responsible and compassionate surgeon, he often rushed out of the house after an emergency on the phone, even if he had barely had time for rest or a proper meal.
The hospital management liked getting Chu Chen’s father to be on duty because, while others were busy asking for a pay raise or a promotion, he was always doing his job well and sincerely without any agenda. In fact, he was even willing to let others claim his credit as theirs in order to fight for a rise in position. “To be at a disadvantage is a blessing,” he had said to Chu Chen.
Hence, despite his consummate skills, he wasn’t quite a renowned doctor.
When he was younger, Chu Chen had asked his father, “Dad, why don’t you tell everyone that Head of Department Zhou’s tumor removal surgery, Manager Li’s knotty diagnosis and so many others… were all your work?”
His father had ruffled his hair and said, “Son, a doctor’s job is to help the sick and dying, why should we claim credit for that? All of these are merely worldly possessions, it doesn’t matter whether we have them.”
Chu Chen did not really understand.
Chu Chen’s mother was a nurse. Each time his father said this, she would look at him with admiration and gentleness and add, “That’s right, as long as the three of us are safe, healthy and happy together, why do we need fame and fortune? They don’t matter a bit.”
Their wishes were so simple.
Years later, Chu Chen would still be thinking about what could have been, if not for that disaster. Perhaps, he would have grown up to be like his parents, an ordinary person who worked hard for society without asking for anything in return. Perhaps, he would have been a contented person who derived joy from the littlest of things.
What a pity, however, that the disaster changed things so drastically.
Back then, a seriously ill patient had come to the hospital—it was the last stage of cancer and the cells had spread in his body. His family, however, refused to heed the doctor’s advice and insisted on going ahead with the surgery. Every doctor knew that the surgery carried large risks, and any minor mistake could cause an earlier death. Yet, because this family was considerably rich and powerful in the small town, the doctor in charge decided to agree to the surgery in order to improve his ties with them.
That doctor’s skills, however, were not refined enough to perform such a major operation.
He requested for Chu Chen’s father to be the chief surgeon instead.
But Chu Chen’s father knew the risks that the surgery would carry, and refused to take it up. He tried to explain things to the doctor in charge. “This patient isn’t suitable for surgery. Since his chance of recovery is practically non-existent, the most responsible and appropriate thing to do is to ensure that he lives as long as he can without intervention.”
The doctor in charge refused to listen.
He had already made promises to the patient’s family. If he did not go ahead with the surgery now, it wasn’t so much the patient’s health at risk, but rather his career opportunities.
He cried and begged Chu Chen’s father, and even brought tons of gifts to their house—back then, Chu Chen was still a young child, and it was his first time seeing bottles of wine, live seafood, branded watches… only then did he realize how many luxury goods there were in the world…
He looked up at his father, hoping that he would accept them. But eventually, his father still declined the gifts.
The doctor in charge knelt down and wept, before he ended up questioning Chu Chen’s father, “Doctor Chu, you’re the best surgeon in our hospital. If you don’t take charge of this surgery, I’ll have no choice but to get Doctor Liu! You know Doctor Liu’s certificate was bought with money, he was just a vet before this! He has barely done a few proper surgeries, much less take charge of something so complicated! If I get him to do this, that patient is basically being given a death sentence! Are you so heartless as to watch the patient die in the operating table?”
His father thought in silence for a while before finally agreeing.
He was a soft-hearted man, after all. The doctor in charge thanked him profusely before leaving.
He took much time to prepare for that surgery—going to research centers, analyzing similar cases from overseas, asking the doctors and nurses about the patient’s details… he was even caught up with thinking about the surgery during mealtimes.
Eventually, under the pressure of the hospital management and the patient’s family members, he walked into the operating room.
Chu Chen knew that he had done his best.
Even so, doctors were not divine beings. Although his father had put in every ounce of effort and was perfect in his execution, the patient still went into a coma and did not live past the month.
His father was greatly pained and full of self-reproach. “I really regret this. If he had not undergone this surgery, he would’ve lived for another month at least, and witnessed the birth of his granddaughter.”
But he was just a surgeon, after all, there were things that were simply out of his control.
For the first time, he felt upset for being just an ordinary doctor. If he had more power and authority, could he have stopped this tragedy from happening?
After the patient’s death, he was reticent for a long time.
Little Chu Chen and his mother were worried about his state of mind, but never would they have expected that this was just the beginning of their nightmare.
The family of the deceased started voicing their unhappiness. They aggressively demanded an explanation from the hospital.
The hospital management could not deal with the pressure and decided to push Chu Chen’s father forward instead.
Chu Chen’s father was dumbfounded. He had done all his preparation, executed his techniques perfectly, and went through each step as per the requirements. He had not betrayed his conscience at all, how could he be held responsible for this tragedy? If anyone was to be accountable, it should be those who single-handedly made the decision to go ahead with the surgery!
What’s worse, the hospital held him responsible for this charge—error in surgical procedure, medical mishap.
They said that Chu Chen’s father had been a doctor for so many years but was never given a promotion. In a bid to climb the ranks as soon as possible, he boasted that he’d be able to do the surgery well and hence, swayed the doctor in charge to give the green light. Moreover, he even made countless mistakes during the surgery itself, directly leading to the death of the patient.
His father did not protest against those words; there was practically no way to justify himself.
The doctor in charge who had wept and begged him back then had now turned against him. He looked at him with utter disdain and chided him in front of the deceased’s family as well as their colleagues. “Doctor Chu, I never thought you were such a person. If you hadn’t guaranteed the success of the surgery, I wouldn’t have agreed for my patient to undergo this risky procedure! I can’t believe how unethical you are, what a disappointment!”