Lo Jun thought his movements were seamless and incredibly fast, but in the eyes of Yan Feifan, whose mind was racing, they were barely faster than a crawling snail.

Yan Feifan effortlessly speared the second thread of tofu with a toothpick, again without touching the blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

Lo Jun was filled with admiration at this result.

“Xiaoyan, this single demonstration tells me everything I need to know. I now truly believe you have the skill to make your surgical concept a reality.”

Lo Jun added with excitement, “The success of this surgical concept would undoubtedly lower the difficulty of many complex intraspinal tumor surgeries by one or two levels.”

“This would be enough to send shockwaves through the world of neurosurgery.”

Yan Feifan replied humbly, “It would be difficult to popularize, so it probably won’t attract that much attention, will it?”

But Lo Jun said optimistically, “The first one will lead to a second. Experience is something you gain slowly through practice.”

“Once you’ve pioneered the method, others might be able to replicate your success.”

After a pause, Lo Jun added in a more measured tone, “Of course, it’s too early to be talking about this. Let’s focus on making this validation surgery a success first.”

He then looked over at Wang Chuan, Chen Yu, and the others, gesturing with his finger toward the porcelain bowl, which still had a few threads of tofu dangling from the edge. He asked with a smile, “Anyone else want to give it a try?”

Wang Chuan quickly shook his head. “I could never do better than Feifan. Besides, I’m his teacher. There’s no need for me to embarrass myself.”

Amid a ripple of soft laughter, Lo Jun’s phone, which was sitting on the dining table, chimed.

He picked up his phone, tapped the screen, and said with a smile, “It’s a message from my assistant. The patient has agreed.”

Lo Jun’s tone turned somber as he explained, “She’s a middle-aged woman. Her situation is similar to Mr. Pan’s, except her tumor is located at the T9 and T10 thoracic vertebrae.”

“Her spinal tumor was also discovered rather late.”

“Surgery comes with a high probability of paralysis from the chest down. Without it, she can still hold on for a while.”

“So just like Mr. Pan, she’s been putting off the surgery for as long as possible.”

“Now, by having the surgery ahead of schedule, she can avoid over a hundred thousand in surgical fees, plus all sorts of other costs. Naturally, she’s happy to do it.”

Lo Jun looked at Yan Feifan, his tone turning serious. “Given the growth of Mr. Pan’s spinal tumor, we have a surgical window of ten days at most.”

“Xiaoyan, that timeframe…”

Yan Feifan said thoughtfully, “Ten days is more than enough time.”

He added, “Mr. Lo, please send me the files on the woman’s tumor to my email…”

The sumptuous dinner lasted for over two hours, ending at nearly eight-thirty that evening.

Lo Jun, Liang Zhao Kui, and Chen Yu lived in a nearby residential complex, so they walked home.

Miao Quan, Qee Sheng, and Qin Ying didn’t live far either, so Qin Ying, who hadn’t been drinking, drove them home.

Since Wang Chuan had surgery scheduled for early the next morning, he hadn’t had anything to drink either and was responsible for driving Liu Jin and Yan Feifan home.

Once the car had merged onto the main road and was driving smoothly, Wang Chuan spoke up. “Mr. Liu, there’s a rather ugly matter at the plastic surgery center I need to report to you.”

“An ugly matter?” Liu Jin rubbed his face vigorously, trying to sober up a bit.

Wang Chuan sighed softly. “My preliminary investigation has revealed that Fo Yonghui, an attending physician at the center, has been colluding with several other doctors and nurses to substitute low-quality absorbable sutures for high-quality ones on cosmetic surgery patients.”

Liu Jin’s expression turned grim. He asked with concern, “Did a patient file a complaint at the center?”

He pressed on, “How many patients have complained so far? How many patients are involved in this altogether?”

Wang Chuan quickly replied, “Mr. Liu, please don’t worry yet. No patients have come forward to complain.”

“Feifan happened to notice an allergic reaction on a patient’s face. He then discovered that two different qualities of sutures had been used and told me about it.”

“I conducted a quiet investigation and found that someone was passing off inferior products as high-quality ones.”

Hearing this, Liu Jin breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s good that no patients have complained yet.”

“With the internet these days, even a little bit of negative information can spread everywhere in an instant.”

“We’d have to put in ten, even a hundred times the effort to undo the reputational damage from a single negative report.”

Liu Jin then asked, “Mr. Wang, where did they sell off the high-quality sutures they replaced?”

Wang Chuan reported in a low voice, “Fo Yonghui and two other doctors involved in this… I found out they all moonlight at Zhiyin Medical Beauty Hospital, which was founded by Dr. Tan Yerong.”

Hearing this, Yan Feifan thought of Zhao Dongsheng, who also moonlighted at Zhiyin Beauty.

‘I hope he hasn’t done something equally stupid!’

“Dr. Tan Yerong?”

Liu Jin thought for a moment. “You mean the Mr. Tan who resigned to start his own business after he lost out to you for the position of director of the plastic surgery center?”

Wang Chuan nodded. “That’s the one.”

“As far as I know, quite a few doctors from our hospital moonlight at his beauty hospital.”

Anger flashed across Liu Jin’s face. He snorted, “I refuse to believe he’s completely unaware that his moonlighting doctors are using our hospital’s resources for their private gain.”

“It looks like we’ll have to ask the relevant authorities to pay his beauty hospital a few surprise visits.”

After a pause, Liu Jin asked, “Mr. Wang, what are your thoughts on how to handle Fo Yonghui and the others?”

Wang Chuan replied in a low voice, “Let’s have the hospital’s disciplinary committee take over the investigation. It should be handled officially.”

Liu Jin nodded. “Alright. When you get home tonight, send me the files from your investigation.”

“I’ll discuss this with Mr. Jiang tomorrow morning.”

He added, annoyed, “I really don’t know what those people were thinking, ruining their own careers over such a paltry sum.”

Wang Chuan said sarcastically, “People’s common sense tends to plummet when there’s profit on the line. They can’t weigh the pros and cons properly.”

“Feifan…”

Wang Chuan called out to Yan Feifan before continuing, “Mr. Pan’s financial support for this validation surgery is being provided as a sponsorship for a medical research project. The money has to be transferred into the hospital’s research fund account.”

Yan Feifan grunted in acknowledgment. “Mr. Wang, I understand perfectly. The money isn’t for me personally.”

Liu Jin turned to look at Yan Feifan, the young man who had repeatedly astounded him, and said with a gratified smile, “Feifan, once you’ve made a name for yourself, you won’t want for anything. You just have to be patient and not rush things.”

“Of course…”

Liu Jin then added a reminder, “For research funds like these, which are secured by a doctor from a corporate or private sponsor, the hospital’s management of how the funds are used isn’t nearly as strict as it is for government-allocated research grants.”

“If I remember correctly, you’re allowed to claim up to twenty percent as a personal research stipend.”

Wang Chuan chimed in to confirm, “Twenty percent is the right figure!”

He added, “The reimbursement rates for things like meals, travel, and stipends for project team members are also much higher than they are for government-funded research projects.”

A look of realization dawned on Yan Feifan’s face, and he said with a grin, “So it seems I’ll be able to get some nice perks out of this after all.”

Liu Jin chuckled, but then his expression suddenly turned serious. He said earnestly, “Feifan, this time, so many people gave up their precious time off to gather specifically for you, to persuade Mr. Lo.”

“They did it simply because they trust you. They see your potential and hope you can bring honor to the hospital, and even to our nation’s entire medical field.”

“Feifan, you must stay focused and persevere. Don’t let yourself get lost along the way because of various temptations…”

Yan Feifan declared solemnly, “I will not fail to live up to everyone’s expectations…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep