Chapter 199: Role Reversal (Part 1 of 5)
“Put it on and give me back my clothes,” Su Yun said as he glanced at the offerings from Xie Yiren. Their brand did not escape his attention. “I’ll have to wash it. Oh, Manger Feng, could you help me send it to the dry cleaners?”
“Ah… Sure…” Feng Xuhui muttered in reply.
Helping Chief Zheng’s assistant should gain him some brownie points.
However, from observation, the two seemed quite distant. The assistant did not show much respect for Chief Zheng and often made sarcastic remarks.
Feng Xuhui wondered if he had made the right choice.
Zheng Ren’s mind wandered as he held onto his new clothes.
“What are you thinking?” Su Yun asked. “Hey! You don’t have to stare at them for so long. Hey! Are you serious? Stop daydreaming about her. Wake up!”
Zheng Ren said quietly, “I was thinking about the patient’s scans.”
“Go take a shower and sleep. What’s there to think about? It’s not like the patient is a beautiful lady. You should think more about Little Yiren instead,” Su Yun joked, grinning.
Zheng Ren clutched the material in his hands. The shroud in his mind was dissipating. He felt like he was on the cusp of discovering something important.
What was his focus?
The truth still seemed elusive to Zheng Ren. It was as if the strength to push open the door was within him, but not the door’s location.
Seeing Zheng Ren’s blank look, Su Yun patted him on the shoulder. “You—”
“Ah!” Zheng Ren shouted suddenly.
“What the hell?” Su Yun jumped at the sudden outburst. He checked if he had accidentally touched Zheng Ren’s injured side. He had not, and with an angry scowl, he glared at Zheng Ren.
“I know what to do. I need to go to the CT room. Su Yun, help me get the research graduate, Dr. Liang. Then, head to the wards and get the contrast-enhanced MRI scans of patient 7-22,” Zheng Ren ordered.
“It’s really late, y’know,” Su Yun commented, irritated. He was never one to obey immediately but when push came to shove, he did as he was told.
Once he got the snark out of his system, he took his phone out and went to make the call. “You go and change, I’ll speak to Little Liang.”
Zheng Ren went to change his clothes. Feng Xuhui stood and waited for him.
He decided that unless Zheng Ren ordered him away, he would follow the man every step of the way. He was already trying his best keeping up with the duo.
With quick feet, Zheng Ren arrived at the CT room. A ray of light had burst through the shroud in his mind.
He had to verify his theory, and to do that, he needed the patient’s 64-slice CT and contrast-enhanced MRI scans.
Su Yun went to the wards to retrieve the patient’s MRI scans.
Dr. Liang was already there when Zheng Ren arrived. He had a look of admiration as he took two steps forward to meet Zheng Ren.
“Dr. Zheng, thank you for today,” the research graduate said sincerely.
“Huh?” Zheng Ren was confused.
He turned to look behind him but there was no one except Feng Xuhui in the corridor.
“Fang Lin and I were from the same batch. We get along pretty well. I heard he was injured today but didn’t know the details. Brother Yun told me that you were the one who saved Fang Lin… Please forgive me if there have been any shortcomings on my part,” Dr. Liang said. Zheng Ren found the man’s attitude satisfactory—he was recommended by Su Yun, after all—but found himself unable to respond to the good faith presented.
Zheng Ren waved his hand. “It’s my job. No need to thank me.”
“The machine is up and running. I’ll let you get to it and if you need anything, just call me up,” Dr. Liang said before letting Zheng Ren into the control room. Then, he joined Feng Xuhui at the back of the room.
Zheng Ren got down to business.
His fingers danced expertly across the control panel. The 64-slice contrast-enhanced CT scan came up.
Feng Xuhui could not understand what Zheng Ren was doing but could see that Zheng Ren’s expertise belied his years.
A moment later, Su Yun entered the room with a stack of scans. He let them fall onto the table with an audible smack. “The scans you requested.”
Zheng Ren ignored Su Yun’s insolence. Only the scans stuck in his mind.
He placed one of the MRI scans onto the viewer.
All his attention was fixed on the MRI and the 64-slice CT scans.
Su Yun quietly took a photo and sent it to the group chat.
Feng Xuhui had no idea what was going on. Boredom gnawed at him but he was determined to fulfill his duty.
He was not leaving no matter what. This was his priority mission.
With both scans on display, Zheng Ren’s Master-level skills complemented each other. The shroud in his mind gradually lifted.
Clarity cut through his thoughts like a knife.
After 30 minutes of deep thought, Zheng Ren found the answer.
He woke the machine from its sleep and began 3D reconstruction.
There were many nodules in the scan but Zheng Ren focused on only a few to save time.
He spent approximately two hours picking out nine nodules through reconstruction. One was eliminated and he confirmed that the remaining eight were malignant tumors.
Zheng Ren printed the data once he was satisfied. Fatigue was catching up with his body.
“Dr. Zheng, you’re done?” Dr. Liang asked behind him.
“Yes, I am.”
“How did you isolate the few nodules? From the CT scan, they all look the same.” Dr. Liang had paid attention.
As Zheng Ren was studying the scans, Dr. Liang had been texting several of his friends to ask about the incident in the morning.
Apparently, without Zheng Ren’s intervention, Fang Lin would be lying in his grave.
After knowing the full story, Dr. Liang wanted to do something for Zheng Ren.
Yet…
He had too little knowledge of what Zheng Ren was doing to actually help.
Some of the basics, he understood. From observation, there was an underlying reason Zheng Ren chose the areas he did to perform 3D reconstruction.
“Can you understand what I’m doing?” Zheng Ren asked.
Su Yun pursed his lips. Only Zheng Ren would have the gall to ask such questions directly. It was a miracle that he had survived this long.
“Only a little. Why did you need the MRI scans to identify the spots for 3D reconstruction?” Unlike Su Yun, Dr. Liang did not mind Zheng Ren’s direct question. He was brimming with curiosity but held back as he was worried about disturbing Zheng Ren’s thought process.
“Oh, it’s actually so…” Zheng Ren went to the viewer and pointed a finger at the spot of interest. The explanation started.
Each contrast-enhanced MRI scan was compared with the corresponding 64-slice CT scan by date stamp. Zheng Ren explained their minor differences as time progressed. He highlighted the key points to pay attention to, whether they were on the CT or the MRI scan.
Dr. Liang nodded as he processed the information.
Zheng Ren’s explanation was clear and concise. Any confusion was quickly addressed with some emphasis and details.
When he finally understood the concept, Dr. Liang bobbed his head gleefully.
Su Yun had his ears perked throughout Zheng Ren’s lecture.
Feng Xuhui was still in a shroud.
This was Imperial Capital—not Sea City—yet here Zheng Ren was. A chief resident giving a lecture to a research graduate like a professor would.
One would expect the Imperial Capital research graduate to deliver the lecture while the Sea City chief resident nodded along.
The opposite was happening now.
Feng Xuhui wondered if his anxiety was making him hallucinate.
When Dr. Liang bid them all farewell, Feng Xuhui’s mind was still trying to make sense of the situation.
The veneration Dr. Liang had for Zheng Ren was on full display as they left. Without much fanfare, Su Yun ushered the group back to their accommodation.