The Life of a Serf

He lifted the lid, and steam rose from the purple clay tea cup. Director Han took a small sip and fell into deep thought.

Although Yang Ping had already been promoted to attending doctor, Han was still considering assigning him as a resident physician. He was hesitating a little, deciding to wait and see.

He ran his fingers over the warm purple clay cup and said, "You're new here and not familiar with the situation. For now, why don't you shadow someone else on the shift? You can work with Zhang Lin, one of the resident doctors in my team."

Yang Ping nodded.

Even though he was already an attending physician, being assigned to shadow a younger, less experienced resident doctor was a little frustrating. But for now, there was nothing he could do about it.

In large hospitals, departments are generally divided into teams, each consisting of doctors with a mix of seniority. The team leader is usually a senior doctor with a high title, like a chief or deputy chief physician. A mid-level doctor, usually an attending physician, assists the leader, and one or more junior doctors, typically residents, take on most of the patient care. In teaching hospitals, there are also interns, graduate students, and fellows.

Resident doctors usually handle direct patient care—admitting patients, writing medical records, arranging surgeries, changing dressings, and so on. Attending physicians don't have direct patient management responsibilities but focus on assisting the team leader with surgeries and guiding resident doctors with patient care.

Each team is an independent medical unit, with the team leader fully responsible for the team's medical work. Except for special cases requiring the department head, the team is generally in charge of all surgeries. The teams are completely autonomous, though they can collaborate with others when needed.

Some department heads don't manage a team themselves, while others, like Director Han, lead a team. His team includes attending physician Song Zimo and resident doctor Zhang Lin.

"In a few days, I'll be taking Song Zimo to a conference," Han said. "If anything comes up, help Zhang Lin out. If something's too difficult for you to handle, report it to Director Tian. He's a good person, very scholarly. Today in the meeting, you questioned his diagnosis directly. Not only did he not get angry, but he also immediately corrected his mistake. You did the right thing today. If you hadn't pointed it out so promptly and confidently, we would have ended up in a medical dispute. The patient would have suffered, and we'd need to operate again. Science is about practicality, not hierarchy or tradition. But once a decision is made, you can oppose it, but you can't go behind your superior's back and make decisions on your own. There's a hierarchical system for doctors, and it's a cornerstone for ensuring medical safety."

"I understand, Director. I will remember your advice," Yang Ping replied earnestly.

"Good. Work hard. Sanbo is a good platform, and our orthopedic team is excellent. You'll see for yourself," Han said, then excused himself to attend a surgery.

Yang Ping went to find Zhang Lin, who was sitting in front of a computer, writing medical orders.

Zhang Lin had just graduated with a master's degree and was a resident physician. He was tall and thin, with a face full of acne, wearing glasses and ignoring everyone around him.

"Dr. Zhang, hello, I'm Yang Ping. Director Han—" Yang Ping said, extending his hand.

"I know. Director Han called me," Zhang Lin said with a slightly unfriendly tone, not even acknowledging the handshake. "You know how to write medical records and change dressings, right?"

Damn it, I'm already an attending doctor. Why are you asking if I can handle these things? Are you treating me like an intern? Yang Ping pulled his hand back, feeling displeased.

"Yes, yes, I can do all of that!" Having thick skin was a good thing in this situation, preventing unnecessary conflicts. Otherwise, he might have lost his temper and argued, or even fought.

Zhang Lin adjusted his glasses, never looking away from the screen. "Beds 1, 3, 8, 10, 11, 12—change their dressings, and check for any missing patient progress records. Fill them in."

"No surgery today? Isn't it not allowed to change dressings before surgery?" It was only just after 9 AM, and Yang Ping was hoping to observe a surgery or at least participate.

"Oh, you don't need to join the surgery today. Just stay in the ward and change dressings," Zhang Lin said, tilting his head and walking away without further explanation.

"You still want to join surgery? You've seen a couple of X-rays and now you think you're someone important?" Zhang Lin muttered under his breath as he waited for the elevator.

Damn, he really thinks I'm an intern.

Well, when you're under someone else's roof, you have no choice but to lower your head. Yang Ping found the dressing room, gathered the necessary supplies, put on a mask and cap, and began pushing the cart to change the dressings for each patient, one by one.

"Hey, don't just stand there! You, come here and help with the traction and iron block. Take it to bed 33," a resident doctor called out.

Yang Ping wasn't standing still; he was clearly pushing the cart, but he went over to help anyway.

"Hey! Doctor, come here and help push the patient bed," a nurse called after Yang Ping had finished delivering the traction equipment. He had to help push a patient down to get an X-ray.

Half an hour later, after all the commotion, Yang Ping had to return and fill out the missing patient progress records. He wasn't familiar with these patients, and Zhang Lin had failed to introduce their conditions, so Yang Ping was left to handle the case reports alone.

Damn, some of these patients haven't had their progress records written for a week. How am I supposed to fill them in?

"Boss!"

"Boss my ass, I'm just being treated like a fool right now."

A call came in from Xiao Wu.

"Have you eaten fire today? It's me, Xiao Wu!"

"Yeah, yeah. Get to the point."

"I've rented a place for you, right across from the hospital. Just cross the overpass. I'll bring you the keys this afternoon after work. Oh, by the way, I also got a call, but it was from the ER's resident physician, handling ambulance services. I'll go for an interview in a few days. Who cares, carrying stretchers—I've got the strength for it. Work is work, and it's an honorable job," Xiao Wu rambled.

"Alright, alright. Call me at 7 PM, and we'll go have dinner. I'll treat you." At that moment, Yang Ping was completely frazzled. How was he supposed to catch up on these records?

His old place had been in a city district, but now he had moved to the suburbs. Yang Ping didn't have time to deal with it, so he asked Xiao Wu to cancel the old place and help him find something closer to Sanbo Hospital.

The hospital had dorms, but they were shared apartments, with several people living together, which was inconvenient. He preferred the freedom of renting his own place.

For the past few days, Yang Ping had been running around doing favors for Xiao Wu. He'd get to the hospital by 7 AM and leave after 11 PM. His legs felt as though they were filled with lead, his hands were on the verge of tendinitis, and he was barely able to keep his eyes open, yawning constantly.

Life felt like the life of a serf, but it had to continue.

Finally, he entered the system space, his own little world, to unwind. He opened the treasure chest and used his last beginner gift pack—5000 cases of replantation of severed limbs.

Five thousand cases! Yang Ping was stunned, unable to suppress his excitement. For a doctor, the most valuable resource is patient cases. Five thousand cases—something most doctors would never achieve in a lifetime.

He entered the training space, where the system simulated various finger replantation surgeries. There were simple cuts, blunt force fractures, avulsion injuries, severed limbs in multiple sections, skin defects, finger injuries, toe injuries, severed palms, wrists, ankles, forearms, upper arms, calves, thighs, elbows, knees, and even injuries at the shoulder and hip. The system simulated every possible scenario, including cases with newborns, premature babies, and children with congenital defects.

Surgery is all about practice, and practice makes perfect. The key to mastery is the volume of cases, and only with massive experience can you truly improve. The system's intensive training was something impossible to replicate in the real world.

Moreover, Yang Ping had a strong feeling that the efficiency of training in the system was far higher than in the real world.

However, the training was incredibly grueling. A few times, he wanted to quit, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through.

Unknowingly, he had spent months in the system's training space.