Xu Qinghuan had no idea what was happening, only that the patient could not afford any more delay.
Seeing the attending physician and the newcomers still hesitating and wasting time—something that absolutely never would have happened on her operating table in her past life—she grew irritated, snatched the scalpel, and with a swift, practiced motion, made a horizontal incision right across the pregnant woman's abdomen.
She certainly had no experience with natural childbirth, but she could perform a Caesarean section with her eyes closed. Furthermore, she was acutely aware of this particular pregnant woman's condition.
Subcutaneous fat, muscle fascia, abdominal muscles, the peritoneal layer, the uterine muscle layer, and finally slicing open the amniotic sac—Xu Qinghuan completed it all in one smooth, flowing motion. Her technique was skilled and fluid, every cut rigorous and precise, resembling both the calculation of a math problem and the steps of a waltz.
The people in the operating room had witnessed countless surgeries, but none that felt purely like a feast for the eyes rather than a nerve-wracking ordeal.
Xu Qinghuan was fully gowned and masked, with only her eyes exposed, so the hospital president had no idea who she was and assumed she was one of the doctors from their own facility. However, the longer he watched, the stranger it felt. If the initial choice of incision method had already seemed questionable, the stitching technique now made the president believe that not only their hospital, but the entire city of Shen City, possessed no one capable of such formidable skill.
Forty minutes later, the surgery was successfully concluded. This timeframe even included the hesitation of the original attending physician and the time wasted by the president's dithering.
A nurse carried the newborn away and patted its soles, causing the baby to let out a lustful wail. Tears slipped from the corners of the new mother's eyes, who was still under half-body anesthesia.
After placing the final stitch, Xu Qinghuan reached out to check the mother's pulse at the wrist. Her condition was excellent, and the previous bleeding points had already been tended to by Xu Qinghuan. She removed the silver needles from the woman's body and said, "All right, wheel her to the ward and observe her overnight."
Accustomed to issuing orders, Xu Qinghuan saw nothing inappropriate in this. It was only when she pulled off her face mask and caught the president's strange, staring gaze that she snapped back to reality and panicked slightly. "Apologies, I got carried away and forgot whose turf this was!"
Valuing talent, the president stepped forward to shake her hand. "Comrade, may I ask your honorable name? I am Wu Banghui, the president of this hospital. Today's surgery was entirely thanks to you!"
In truth, Wu Banghui was thinking that it would be wonderful if she were a doctor at their hospital. Since he didn't recognize her, he assumed she was from some other institution and wished he could recruit her. Even if Xu Qinghuan had known what Wu Banghui was thinking, she would not have been tempted, because she knew Song Wanlin would never let her escape her control. Otherwise, she wouldn't have used a job placement to keep a grip on her.
"My name is Xu Huan. It was just a coincidence today; I happened to encounter this pregnant woman fall and go into premature labor outside," Xu Qinghuan said, not daring to use her real name.
Wu Banghui was truly full of gratitude, because the pregnant woman's father-in-law was an old friend of his. The family had a single lineage for three generations, and this baby happened to be a boy. If anything had happened to him at his hospital, aside from everything else, it would have weighed on his conscience to death.
"Comrade, I noticed your surgical technique is very special. Could you tell me why you chose the horizontal incision method?" This was the first time Wu Banghui had ever seen such a cut.
"Horizontal and vertical incisions each have their own pros and cons. Two different surgical methods are suited for different groups of patients," Xu Qinghuan explained. "This pregnant woman had a low-lying placenta and a relatively thick abdominal wall. At the same time, the advantage of a horizontal incision lies in a smaller wound, faster postoperative recovery, and a lower risk of uterine rupture."
Wu Banghui made an internal assessment. Xu Qinghuan's words were indeed extremely professional, and he extended a sincere invitation. "Comrade Xu, on behalf of the hospital, I invite you to join us. How about it? As long as you are willing to come, you can start directly as an obstetrician, starting at a tier-five salary. What do you say?"
Not knowing which hospital she came from, and judging by her age, her wage grade shouldn't be high, so he decided to offer a high salary upfront, confident she would be tempted. A tier-five salary was sixty-six yuan, fifty cents, and three fen. At Xu Qinghuan's age, she would normally top out at tier two or three at most. Offering any higher would be dangerous for both Wu Banghui and Xu Qinghuan.
However, the surrounding doctors and nurses were dumbfounded. To command a tier-five salary at such a young age! Yet they had witnessed Xu Qinghuan's handiwork just moments before; not only could none of them pull it off, but there was no one in the entire hospital who could. They could only wonder if anyone in the major metropolitan hospitals possessed such skill.
Xu Qinghuan instantly regretted her decision so deeply her intestines turned green. Why on earth had she given a fake name just now? Coming right out of the gate with a tier-five post as a doctor—with such high technical demands—meant it couldn't be easily manipulated through job-buying channels!
Xu Qinghuan twiddled her fingers, swallowed her heartache, and politely declined. "President Wu, it is truly a pity, but I am about to go down to the countryside!"
"Go to the countryside?" Wu Banghui misunderstood again, assuming she was suffering unfair treatment, and felt a sudden pang of heartache, yet felt completely helpless.
Still unwilling to give up, Xu Qinghuan asked, "President Wu, I wonder if your esteemed hospital has any job openings recently?"
Feeling that he was back in the game—even though there hadn't been any openings initially—Wu Banghui hastily asked, "What kind of job opening is Comrade Xu looking for?"
"As long as it's not a cleaner's job, anything is fine," Xu Qinghuan said. All she wanted was an opening that would allow her to stay in the city.
Wu Banghui said, "Well... as it happens, our obstetrics department needs to recruit three intern nurses. If Comrade Xu wants one, I can save a spot for you."
Even though these were next year's recruitment slots, doing a little advance maneuvering wasn't out of the question. Only by doing this would Wu Banghui have a channel to find Xu Qinghuan in the future. Her surgical skills and mastery of silver needles were beyond the discernment of ordinary people, but Wu Banghui knew this was a master craft.
"That's wonderful!" Xu Qinghuan knew the reason behind Wu Banghui's gesture, and she immediately gave him Lin Xialan's contact information—something she and Lin Xialan had already discussed before she decided to go to the countryside. "Once I settle down in the countryside, I will write to Comrade Lin. If you need my help with anything, you can contact her and reach me through her."
Wu Banghui loved such quick-witted young people. Beaming from ear to ear, he called over the personnel manager, and Xu Qinghuan completed her onboarding as an intern nurse under her own name.
Meanwhile, the pregnant woman's mother had been searching upstairs and downstairs for Xu Qinghuan. Just as Xu Qinghuan was preparing to leave the hospital, the old woman caught her red-handed. "Comrade, I've finally found you!"
"Auntie, what happened? Is the eldest sister feeling uncomfortable somewhere?" Xu Qinghuan hurried back toward the inpatient department. Logically speaking, her diagnosis should not have been wrong unless some accident had occurred in the ward. Regardless, she had performed the surgery on this patient, and as long as the patient hadn't been discharged, she bore responsibility for a full day.
"No, no!" The pregnant woman's mother trailed behind, unable to keep up, but hearing her, Xu Qinghuan didn't stop her stride. Since she was already here, she might as well go take a look.
Inside the ward, the new mother was fast asleep in bed. Xu Qinghuan went over to check her pulse at the wrist and said, "Her lochia is discharging quite normally, and her body is in no major trouble. She can start having liquid foods only after passing gas."
She repeated the instructions she had already given earlier.
"I know, I know!" Hearing that there were no problems, the pregnant woman's mother was overjoyed.
Xu Qinghuan glanced at the baby again, took the infant's wrist in her fingers to check its pulse once more, and reported, "The baby is also very healthy, Auntie. You don't need to worry. If anything comes up, ask the nurse. As long as the mother has a proper confinement period, rests more, and eats a nutritious diet, there won't be any major issues."