At 5:40 PM, Yan Feifan started to eat dinner.

The dinner he’d prepared for himself was very simple: a large apple, a banana, and a dozen or so cherry tomatoes.

As for water, he didn’t drink a single drop.

After all, the surgery was expected to last three to four hours. If he couldn’t hold it and had to go to the restroom midway, it would be a huge hassle.

Surgeries have extremely strict rules regarding sterile procedures.

If his sterile surgical gown touched any area that wasn’t fully sterilized, he would have to take it off and put on a new one.

That whole process would waste at least half an hour.

Therefore, surgeons who frequently perform major operations try to eat and drink as little as possible beforehand, saving their big meal for after the surgery is over.

Even so, holding their bladder during surgery is a common occurrence for them, unless they absolutely can’t bear it any longer.

As a result, their urinary systems often have some issues, to one degree or another.

And to a certain extent, performing surgery is also physically demanding work.

The duration of some surgeries can last for seven or eight hours, or even a terrifying ten to twenty hours.

Just standing for that long is difficult enough for anyone, let alone a surgeon who has to maintain intense concentration while performing delicate procedures.

The drain on their physical and mental energy is immense.

Thus, it’s not uncommon to see some attending surgeons on an IV drip of glucose or nutrients while operating on patients, especially during the later stages of a long surgery, due to their age or physical condition.

Given Yan Feifan’s current physical state, he estimated he could last through a five or six-hour surgery at most.

If the operation went on any longer, his concentration would be affected.

Yan Feifan reckoned he might make errors in judgment or that his technical precision would falter.

At six o’clock, Yan Feifan arrived at the director’s office of the plastic surgery center to take a short break and compose himself.

He had to admit, the calfskin sofa in the director’s office was quite comfortable to lie on.

As for Wang Chuan himself, he had reclined his executive chair and propped his legs up on the desk, looking completely at ease.

“Feifan, I scared your sister off this afternoon.”

“Scared her off?” Yan Feifan was a little confused.

Wang Chuan explained, “She came to ask me about cosmetic surgery, so I showed her some photos of botched procedures.”

“Not only that, but I also did my best to exaggerate the chances of failure and some of the post-operative side effects…”

At this, Wang Chuan couldn’t help but laugh. “Judging by the look on her face, I doubt she’ll be considering plastic surgery anymore.”

Yan Feifan chuckled as well and said, “My sister is always going on about finding a rich, handsome guy, but her own assets are… quite limited.”

“Director, you know a lot of people. If you have any suitable candidates, please introduce one to her.”

Yan Feifan added with a wistful look, “If I can successfully marry her off, my life will be so much easier and freer.”

Wang Chuan chuckled. “If I find someone suitable, I’ll keep it in mind.”

“But, Feifan, given how you and your sister have been through thick and thin together, you’d probably feel sad if she really got a boyfriend.”

Yan Feifan said with conviction, “I wouldn’t be sad. At home, she does nothing but boss me around and exploit me.”

“I can’t wait for her to get married off.”

Wang Chuan didn’t pursue the topic, changing it instead. “That surgery Tang Zheng and Ge Xianghui did this afternoon… they did a decent job. It was completed satisfactorily.”

Yan Feifan just murmured an “oh” without asking any questions.

To him, how their surgery turned out was like a distant cloud—it had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Wang Chuan waited a moment, and seeing that Yan Feifan didn’t ask anything, he changed the subject again.

“Has that girl, Luo Wei, contacted you again?”

Yan Feifan replied softly, “Her aunt, Mrs. Xv, the head nurse of the Emergency Department, mentioned it to me. She said her family is strongly against it.”

“I guess it’ll take some time for them to sort it out before there’s a final decision.”

Wang Chuan also let out a soft “oh” in response.

After that, neither of them spoke, each closing their eyes to rest.

About ten or twenty minutes later, Yan Feifan’s phone rang.

He answered it, and Meng Yao’s voice came through.

“Mr. Yan, the operating room is ready, and the patient has completed pre-op preparations.”

Yan Feifan put down his phone and got up with Wang Chuan.

They took turns going to the office’s private restroom and, whether they needed to or not, procedurally relieved themselves.

As the two of them walked out of the office and took the stairs to the second floor where the operating rooms were, they were surprised to see Qin Ying and Yu Suye in a standoff with Dr. Chen Yu, who was accompanied by a young male doctor.

Seeing this, Wang Chuan immediately stepped forward to separate the two groups.

He said politely, “Mr. Chen, I’m so surprised you could come in person. It truly honors my humble establishment.”

“Welcome! A warm welcome!”

“Your ‘humble’ establishment? How hypocritical!”

Chen Yu curtly exposed the pretense, then glanced at Yan Feifan and said coldly, “I just came to see for myself what kind of person could make someone cling to life and become so full of themselves they look down on everyone else. I want to see what you’re really made of.”

Yan Feifan replied softly, “Mr. Chen, I’m a bit on the thin side right now. My net weight is only 62.3 kilograms.”

Wang Chuan was somewhat speechless. He turned and chided, “Yan Feifan, no one’s going to think you’re a mute if you keep quiet.”

“Alright, let’s hurry into the operating room…”

Just then, the deputy director of the plastic surgery center, Qu Peng, also appeared at the top of the stairs with a young doctor…

Scrubbing in is a critical part of the sterilization process.

A stiff-bristled brush must be used to repeatedly scrub the arms and hands, leaving no area untouched, especially between the fingers.

The hospital also has strict regulations for surgeons’ fingernails, requiring them not only to be trimmed frequently but also to be filed smooth.

If a fingernail were to puncture a surgical glove, it would be considered medical malpractice.

How to scrub, how to turn off the faucet after rinsing without touching it with your hands, and then how to put on a sterile surgical gown with a nurse’s help—it all seems simple.

But even with Yan Feifan’s top-student intellect and cautious nature, he hadn’t managed to pass the pre-operative preparation assessment on his first try back in the day.

During his internship at the Affiliated Hospital, he had been severely reprimanded by his attending physician several times for seemingly minuscule errors or a lack of rigor during this simple process.

Now, however, Yan Feifan understood.

Those nitpicky, fault-finding reprimands were meant to instill a sense of reverence in them as greenhorn doctors.

It was to ensure they would never treat this seemingly simple pre-op preparation process with complacency or carelessness.

With Ye Lin’s help, Yan Feifan put on his sterile surgical gown and stepped into the operating area. His eyes couldn’t help but glance toward the front-right of the operating table.

That was the observation area, where a total of eight people stood in scrubs, including Qin Ying, Qu Peng, Chen Yu, Yu Suye, Tang Zheng, and Ge Xianghui.

Yan Feifan hadn’t expected this relatively minor cleft lip repair surgery to attract the attention of so many doctors.

He withdrew his gaze, took a slow breath, and moved to the lead surgeon’s position at the operating table.

Yan Feifan glanced at the patient—under general anesthesia, covered in sterile drapes with an endotracheal tube inserted, only the lip area exposed—then turned to look at the anesthesiologist in charge, Luo Zhen.

“The patient’s vital signs are stable. You can begin the surgery!”

Hearing this, Yan Feifan looked across the table at Mr. Wang, who was serving as his surgical assistant. After exchanging a glance with him and then with the scrub nurse, Meng Yao, he announced in a clear voice, “The time is 7:03 PM.”

“The surgery will now begin…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep