55 Reward: The Stone of Heart's Desire (Large)

"Tell me, Chen Yong, back when you were in school, did you always feel your mind was completely blank even after studying? How could you fail to answer such a simple question?" Luo Hao asked.

Chen Yong knew Luo Hao was just trying to mess with him, but remembering his master Jiang Wenming's advice, he gave a reluctant nod.

"So later on, you broke down large chunks of knowledge, or as the teacher put it back then, tore them apart and chewed them up before studying."

"Yeah, is there something wrong with that?" Chen Yong asked defensively.

"The reason you can't understand anything is because the knowledge molecules are too large to pass through the blood-brain barrier. That's why your mind goes blank after studying," Luo Hao mocked coldly.

Without even realizing it himself, Luo Hao's tone was slightly biting as he spoke to Chen Yong.

"Huh?" Chen Yong was taken aback.

Because Luo Hao used such professional terminology, Chen Yong believed him for a split second.

Before he could react, Luo Hao continued, "If you tear them apart and chew them up, they can pass through the blood-brain barrier. But unfortunately, because the molecular diameter of those knowledge points is too small, they all get filtered out through the glomeruli and you just piss them out."

"Shit!" Chen Yong finally realized Luo Hao was insulting him and cursed resentfully.

"I asked you such a simple question, and not only can you not answer, but you get upset. Have you no shame?" Luo Hao said with contempt.

"Then you tell me. Let me warn you, if your answer is just some stupid riddle, don't blame me for turning on you," Chen Yong said stubbornly, meeting Luo Hao's gaze.

Chen Yong was certain that Luo Hao's previous question was just a riddle.

The answers to those kinds of questions were always nonsense, though they were decent for telling to girls. At the thought of girls, Chen Yong's heart began to flutter, and he wanted to hear Luo Hao's answer.

He entered his peak state, preparing to memorize every single word Luo Hao said, without missing even a punctuation mark.

"The mechanosensitive ion channel at the tip of the stereocilia," Luo Hao said calmly.

"What?" Chen Yong blinked.

The mechanosensitive ion channel at the tip of the stereocilia?

What kind of ghost terminology was that!

"Luo Hao, you're tricking me!" Chen Yong raised his fist angrily.

"When the little frog hears these 7 knocks, the sound waves pass through the sound-collecting action of the middle ear to the inner ear, which involves the cochlear mechanotransduction mechanism.

The auditory receptors are located on the basilar membrane: at rest, the hair cell resting potential is about -80mV.

When the vibration of the basilar membrane causes the stereocilia to bend toward the tallest stereocilium, the 'mechanosensitive ion channels at the tip of the stereocilia' open, causing K+ influx and membrane depolarization. This membrane potential change causes the voltage-gated calcium channels at the base of the hair cells to open, triggering neurotransmitter release.

Simultaneously, it activates the calcium-activated potassium channels at the base of the hair cells, causing K+ efflux and restoring the membrane potential back to the resting level.

This is the mechanism by which inner hair cells of the cochlea and all hair cells of the vestibular organs generate receptor potentials."

"Part one plus the excitation of auditory receptors generates auditory nerve action potentials, which then transmit information to the auditory center to produce hearing. Only then can the little frog make its subsequent reaction. Therefore, the correct answer should be: the mechanosensitive ion channel at the tip of the stereocilia."

"During your biochemistry and physiology classes in college, were you sleeping, or were you making out with your girlfriend instead of listening to the lecture at all?"

Luo Hao asked with disdain.

Chen Yong blankly recalled everything Luo Hao had just said.

Although that passage was complex, Chen Yong remembered every single word clearly.

But if he said something like that to a girl, she wouldn't understand a word of it either. What a pity.

Just as he thought of this, Chen Yong noticed Luo Hao staring straight at him.

Instantly, he felt a wave of shame and even a hint of fear. Yet, Chen Yong couldn't explain why he felt that way.

No wait, he was being gaslit by Luo Hao!

Chen Yong realized this the next second.

"Do your surgeries properly and put more effort into your specialty."

"Whatever," Chen Yong muttered softly.

"At the end of the year, we're going to the provincial capital for an academic conference. If nothing goes wrong, after the Chinese New Year, I plan to work in the provincial capital for a while. If your skill level isn't enough and you can't keep up with my pace, the medical team is going to fall apart."

"The provincial capital?" Chen Yong asked, puzzled. "Are you transferring your personnel file there? That's notoriously difficult."

"Transfer why? Why bother with all that trouble? I'm just going for advanced training, not moving my file," Luo Hao said. "The provincial capital has more patients and a wider variety of difficult and complicated cases. It's a good place to build up clinical experience."

"And then what? Go out there to work like an ox and a horse, and come back to keep working like an ox and a horse?" Chen Yong asked, resorting to his habitual cynical remarks.

Luo Hao looked at Chen Yong as if he were an idiot.

"Isn't that right?"

"Definitely not," Luo Hao said with certainty. "If everything goes smoothly, around this time the year after next, I will most likely return to Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and transfer my work relationship to Beijing. What's the point of staying at Mining General Hospital forever?"

"!!!"

Hearing the name Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chen Yong's eyes lit up.

The exact same look he had when seeing a pretty girl.

"I really hope you can keep up with my pace, even though I know I move fast and this demand is pushing the limits."

Damn it!

Chen Yong felt uncomfortable all over whenever Luo Hao acted arrogant.

Yet he knew everything Luo Hao said was true.

Back when Elder Chai came to visit Luo Hao, his eager desire for Luo Hao to return to Beijing was written all over his face.

Chen Yong was certain that if Luo Hao wanted to return to Peking Union, he could do so without any doubt or exception.

As he thought about this, he suddenly felt a bit panicked.

"Are you taking me back with you?"

Without realizing it, Chen Yong also used the word "back."

"Of course. Who wouldn't want their assistant to be a Grand Magus?" Luo Hao smiled.

A Grand Magus...

Chen Yong was speechless.

Yet his resentment toward Luo Hao was completely overwhelmed by his inner longing for Peking Union.

For any doctor or medical student, Peking Union Medical College Hospital was the supreme temple, with no exceptions.

That was all Luo Hao could do. If Chen Yong didn't care, Luo Hao couldn't save him either.

Urged on by Luo Hao, Chen Yong clearly started paying attention, studying hard and completing interventional surgeries.

Watching the number of surgeries climb, Luo Hao experienced the joy of a capitalist.

Some things didn't even need to be done by oneself.

Before he knew it, Chen Yong had already begun working like an ox and a horse, only he didn't realize it himself.

Days passed by, the weather grew colder, and after several heavy snowfalls, the entire northern land was draped in a blanket of silver.

Seeing that the second stage of the long-term main quest was about to be completed, Luo Hao grew increasingly expectant.

A massive amount of experience points would be enough to elevate his surgical skills from Level 4 to Level 5. What kind of experience would that be?

Once his surgical level reached the provincial standard, he could genuinely return to Beijing with his head held high.

One day.

Luo Hao woke up leisurely in the morning.

Lin Yuejuan had prepared breakfast. As Luo Hao was happily slurping his food, his phone rang.

[They say a man remains a boy until the day he dies, but what boy ever worries about a few pennies.]

"Uncle, what's up?" Luo Hao answered the call, speaking indistinctly with a steamed bun in his mouth.

"Orthopedics Ward 4, get over here immediately," Lin Yuming said in a stern tone.

"Got it!" Luo Hao replied instantly.

Hearing the tone, he knew something was wrong. Luo Hao didn't even have time to ask for details and agreed immediately.

At this moment, Lin Yuming's words were a bugle call, and Luo Hao was a soldier waiting to charge. There was no time for questions; once there, everything would become clear.

"Is your uncle calling you for a consultation?" Lin Yuejuan asked.

"Yeah." With half a bun in his mouth, Luo Hao hurriedly put on his clothes.

"When I went out to buy groceries this morning, I heard people talking about a mining accident last night. Two people died on the spot, and a dozen or so were injured. They all got sent to your hospital."

"!!!" Luo Hao immediately understood why Lin Yuming's tone had been so stern.

A major accident was defined as between 3 and 10 deaths.

Two people had already died. If one more person died, it would officially be classified as a major accident.

By then, the mining district would face immense fallout.

No wonder his uncle was so serious.

He estimated the pressure coming from the mining district was overwhelming.

Although Mining General Hospital had severed its direct administrative ties with the mining district and now fell under the municipal government, it was still historically the district's affiliated hospital. Bones could break, but the tendons remained connected, and much of the pressure was very real.

"Mom, I'm heading to the hospital." With the bun still in his mouth, Luo Hao bolted out the door.

He got into the car, stepped on the clutch, shifted gears, and with a stomp on the gas pedal, his Santana 307 shot forward.

As long as he was willing to step on the gas, Luo Hao's 307 could speed on Germany's unrestricted autobahns just as well as any car.

Yet usually, Luo Hao only drove at 60 miles per hour, feeling anything faster was dangerous.

Today, driving right at the speed limit, he rushed all the way to the hospital, changed clothes, and hurried over to Orthopedics Ward 4.

The hospital-wide consultation had already begun. Luo Hao opened the door of the doctors' office and slipped inside quietly.

President Li was present, and Luo Hao knew his guess had been right.

"Luo Hao, over here," Lin Yuming motioned.

Looking serious, Luo Hao walked over to Lin Yuming and sat down to listen to the duty doctor's report.

The patient had a femoral shaft fracture. The condition was relatively simple, with no severe complex trauma and no traumatic brain injury. He had undergone emergency surgery yesterday afternoon.

However, seven hours post-surgery, the patient suddenly experienced altered consciousness, accompanied by dyspnea, tachypnea with a respiratory rate of 40 breaths per minute, generalized sweating, and a fever up to 37.7°C. An emergency repeat head CT at the time showed no significant abnormalities.

The orthopedics doctors were at their wits' end and had no choice but to request a consultation.

"Ding-dong~"

A task notification chime rang in Luo Hao's ear.

[Optional Quest.]

Seeing those five words, Luo Hao paused for a moment.

An optional quest?

What did that mean? Literally interpreted, it meant doing it or not doing it was entirely up to him.

He continued reading.

[Optional Quest: Seed.

Quest Description: Preserve the spark of specialized treatment for the local area.

Quest Duration: One week.

Quest Reward: Wish-Granting Stone (Large).]

！！！

When Luo Hao saw the Wish-Granting Stone (Large), he didn't feel excited; instead, he grew increasingly solemn and serious.

The quest description did not specify diagnosing or treating a single patient; this unconventional phrasing carried an eerie undertone.

Furthermore, the quest details were vague, yet the reward offered was extremely generous.

Combined with the label "Optional Quest," Luo Hao was certain the difficulty of this task would be extremely high.

It should be related to the patient present, but the direct connection might not be particularly large.

Luo Hao glanced around the office. President Li Qiubo was there, and sitting next to him was a clean-cut man in his thirties.

He was wearing casual clothes and gold-rimmed glasses, wearing a stern and grim expression.

"Director Lin, I'd like to go take a look at the patient," Luo Hao whispered.

"Go ahead," Lin Yuming whispered back. "The patient is currently suspected of having a pulmonary embolism. Check out the situation, and then ask if your mentor has any good ideas."

Pulmonary embolism!

Luo Hao's expression turned grave.

Because orthopedic patients required immobilization post-surgery, they were prone to developing blood clots. A small clot could potentially lead to a pulmonary embolism, causing the patient's death.

The probability of this complication occurring was low, but it certainly existed.

Judging by the look of it, the young man sitting next to President Li must have been someone important from the mining district. Understanding the hint, Luo Hao quietly slipped out of the doctors' office.

The young man sitting next to President Li was already agitated and distracted. Seeing Luo Hao arrive and leave, he looked displeased and let out a cold snort.

"President Li, are all your consultations handled this casually?" the young man asked.

"Secretary Chu, that was Dr. Luo, a graduate from Peking Union. He has a very high skill level. He must have gone to check on the patient," President Li explained.

He, too, wore a worried expression and had little heart to speak at length.

He only hoped this ticking time bomb wouldn't end up being pinned on Mining General Hospital for incompetence—that a perfectly fine patient was sent in, had surgery, and ended up dead.

Even though a healthy admission and the hospital stay were unrelated events, people were always eager to believe the worst.

People loved watching disasters unfold without minding how big they got.

In recent years, the medical industry had been exploited to the limit and then treated like pariahs, chased and beaten by everyone.

Facing such a massive incident, President Li didn't want any extra trouble either; he just prayed to get through it safely.

"What good is a doctor with a PhD? I thought you'd bring in some veteran department head," Secretary Chu complained softly. "Looks like we'll just have to wait for Professor Chu from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical University."

With that, he raised his wrist to check his watch.

Luo Hao closed the doctors' office door and walked to the ward.

The patient was in a light coma, with cyanotic lips and no response to verbal stimuli.

Luo Hao auscultated the patient's lungs and heard a few moist rales, likely from previously administered antispasmodic and anti-asthmatic medications.

While examining the patient, Luo Hao suddenly noticed tiny petechiae scattered across the patient's body.

The bleeding spots were sparse and pinprick-sized.

Had Luo Hao not been extremely meticulous, he would have missed them entirely.

Luo Hao paused slightly. Ordinarily, such pinprick-sized petechiae had no clinical significance, but Luo Hao thought of a specific possibility!

The patient had finished surgery less than 12 hours ago, was unclothed, and covered by a quilt.

Luo Hao pulled back the quilt and shockingly noticed that the petechiae along the medial side of the patient's right thigh near the cast edge were even denser, and similar dots were visible on the medial side of the left thigh as well.

They were numerous, yet still within a negligible range, not particularly eye-catching.

"What are you doing!" A accompanying coworker saw that Luo Hao was young and rudely snatched the quilt back to cover the patient. "What if he catches a cold? He just had surgery."

Luo Hao smiled apologetically and did not argue with the coworker.

In the system interface in the upper right corner of his vision, the diagnostic auxiliary AI flickered, and then produced a diagnosis that aligned precisely with Luo Hao's thoughts—Fat Embolism.

It was a fat embolism, not a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot!

Although fat embolisms were also severe, they were fundamentally different from pulmonary embolisms.

The pinprick petechiae on the patient's inner thighs, combined with the diagnostic auxiliary AI, gave Luo Hao complete confidence.

He needed to head back and explain the situation.

Walking back, Luo Hao suddenly froze.

He remembered something.

Mining General Hospital used to house the only hyperbaric oxygen chamber in Donglian City.

Recently, the hyperbaric oxygen chamber had fallen into disrepair. Restoring it would require a massive sum of money.

To the hospital, the hyperbaric oxygen chamber was a liability, losing money every month.

Keeping it barely operational was already a stretch, let alone coughing up millions for maintenance.

Thus, at last month's administrative meeting, the hospital decided to scrap the hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

It was a money-pitting monster, and an institution running on a self-financing model could simply not afford to maintain such high-end equipment.

Luo Hao didn't entirely agree with this decision, but he lacked the rank to attend the administrative meeting, let alone voice an opinion.

He had simply learned about it through Lin Yuming's rambling complaints.

From then on, Donglian City wouldn't have a hyperbaric oxygen chamber anymore...

The recovery rates for patients with cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction would drop by several percentage points, and treatment for certain rare diseases would be entirely out of the question.

Could the system quest be related to the hyperbaric oxygen chamber?

Was it asking him to push for keeping the hyperbaric oxygen chamber?!

Luo Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Shouldn't the system only issue quests targeting specific patients? It really thought highly of him.

Then again, the system had issued an optional quest—he could choose to do it or not, only missing out on the reward if he passed.

Damn it!

Luo Hao's gaze grew increasingly resolute as he strode back toward the doctors' office.

Coming the other way, Director Tan of the hospital administration office was leading a middle-aged man. Seeing Luo Hao, Director Tan waved in greeting, then bowed slightly as he opened the door to invite the man inside.

Luo Hao quickened his pace, sidled up next to Director Tan, and asked, "Who is this...?"

"An expert invited by the mining district from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical University."

Director Tan sighed with a wry, helpless smile.

"The mining district was in a rush. They sent a GL8 to pick him up and sped all the way here. When they got out of the car, Professor Hou said his legs had turned to jelly."

Luo Hao recalled a popular joke: "Just drive, leave the rest to finance."

It supposedly referred to a company that needed an official seal urgently one year, speeding all the way to deliver it in record time. But the car ended up totaled, and they racked up over 8,000 yuan in traffic fines.

He never expected to encounter a real-life scenario quite like that.

"Director Tan, please go ahead," Luo Hao said politely.

Director Tan stepped aside, and seeing Luo Hao's firmness, walked in first.

Upon entering, the expert wasted no words. He immediately reviewed the imaging scans and lab reports. Afterward, they headed to the ward to examine the patient.

Returning to the office, the tall and thin Professor Chu asked, "Where are the CTA scans? Why don't I see them?"

"We didn't have time to do them yet," the duty doctor answered awkwardly.

Professor Chu froze for a moment, a flash of annoyance crossing his face, but realizing this was a grassroots hospital, he understood.

"Get the pulmonary CTA scan done immediately. Really, not even rushing to get the gold-standard diagnostic test done."

CTA angiography, also known as a 64-slice CT, was not performed during night shifts at Mining General Hospital.

The orthopedics doctors rarely encountered similar patients and lacked clinical experience, leaving the scans undone even after the experts arrived.

"Wait," Professor Chu suddenly said. "Hook him up to thrombolytic medication first, let's speed things up. A suspected pulmonary embolism patient without prior thrombolysis or gold-standard imaging—have the doctors here never seen one before!"

"Hurry up!" Professor Chu demanded.

Things began to descend into chaos at Mining General Hospital. Doctors started writing orders, nurses prepared to wheel the patient out, and others asked Professor Chu about the concentration and speed of the thrombolytic infusion.

"Mentor." Luo Hao raised his hand neatly and cleanly.

He looked just like a student in a classroom.

"Hmm?" Professor Chu glanced at Luo Hao indifferently, assuming he was just an intern.

"Diagnosis is only preliminary. Wouldn't it be better to hold off on the thrombolytic medication? After all, the patient just had surgery, and directly administering anticoagulants will lead to bleeding."

"Is post-surgical bleeding more important or is a pulmonary embolism more important!" Professor Chu retorted angrily.

"A pulmonary embolism is only a suspected diagnosis, not a confirmed one. We need the 64-slice CTA results for a definitive diagnosis," Luo Hao insisted on his point.

Professor Chu laughed in disbelief. Pointing at Luo Hao, he asked, "Who's in charge at Mining General Hospital? An intern running around pointing fingers, and nobody's going to manage him?"

Before anyone could answer, Professor Chu scoffed coldly, "Pedantic. Picking up a little superficial knowledge and running around making reckless comments—this is emergency resuscitation!"

"Director Li, how can your hospital's doctors act like this!" Secretary Chu said with deep displeasure, glaring at President Li Qiubo while speaking in a lowered, angry voice.

It was clear Secretary Chu was at his wit's end.

After all, a general accident and a major accident had an insurmountable chasm between them, one that could severely impact a leader's future career prospects.

As a close secretary to the leadership, there was no way Chu wasn't anxious.

Luo Hao didn't argue.

In emergency resuscitation, there could only be one voice giving directions.

If he started quarreling with the other party now, even if he won, it wouldn't look good.

Lowering his head, Luo Hao turned and went to help transport the patient for the CTA.

"Knowing nothing yet trying to imitate emergency rescue work—what utter nonsense," Professor Chu muttered with contempt.

President Li found it strange too; by all accounts, Luo Hao should have defended himself.

Yet he had simply walked away like that.

President Li quickly stepped in to apologize, offering soothing words to help calm Professor Chu down.

Luo Hao helped wheel the patient onto the flat cart, and a nurse hurried over with a micro-infusion pump.

She installed the pump and calibrated the infusion rate.

"Let me do it," Luo Hao smiled. "We can adjust the speed on the way to the scan, it'll be faster."

"Okay, thank you Dr. Luo," the nurse hurriedly expressed her gratitude.

Luo Hao steadied the cart and adjusted the infusion pump's settings, but quietly turned off the intravenous flow valve.

If the 64-slice CTA confirmed a pulmonary embolism, administering the medication then would still be fast enough.

Yet Luo Hao refused to believe it.

The diagnostic auxiliary AI could even diagnose extremely rare genetic diseases, and combined with his own clinical judgment, he simply refused to believe the patient didn't have a fat embolism.

Still, a gold standard was necessary.

Professor Chu didn't accompany the patient for the scan; instead, he sat in the office waiting for the results.

President Li sent Lin Yuming to supervise and coordinate.

When Lin Yuming arrived at the CT room, the patient was already inside the machine gantry.

"Luo Hao," Lin Yuming pulled Luo Hao aside. "What were you doing back there?"

In the past, Lin Yuming would have kicked him right off the bat just to remind Luo Hao who was boss.

Yet having been through so much together, Lin Yuming had developed a whole new level of respect for Luo Hao, and his tone had grown much more polite.

"Uncle, Professor Chu's diagnosis is wrong."

"Huh? That's impossible. The patient's clinical symptoms match textbook descriptions word for word. Even setting textbooks aside, I've seen pulmonary embolism patients with presentation nearly identical to this."

"Did you notice the pinprick petechiae on the medial side of the patient's thighs?" Luo Hao asked.

"..."

Lin Yuming paused.

"That is the hallmark sign of a fat embolism. My diagnosis is a fat embolism secondary to a long bone fracture. If my judgment isn't wrong, the patient's 64-slice CTA won't show any major vascular blockages."

"But he's hooked up to thrombolytic drugs right now!" Lin Yuming's heart skipped a beat.

"I turned off the infusion valve," Luo Hao smiled, whispering, "Don't worry."

Lin Yuming felt a lump catch in his throat.

No wonder Luo Hao had obediently let himself be "scolded away"—he hadn't wanted to fight verbally, but instead sabotaged the treatment at the source.

This bastard's nerve was simply too big.

In a good light, it was supreme confidence born of mastery; in a bad light, it was reckless obstinacy.

Without offering an immediate verdict, Lin Yuming quietly waited for the imaging results.

Twenty minutes later, amidst the hum of the machine, the scans appeared frame by frame before Lin Yuming's eyes.