Chapter 49: Hitting Back Head-On

As the voice fell, the entire office seemed to plunge into a deep silence.

Rong Haiming stared blankly at Fang Zhiyan in front of him, feeling as though something must be wrong with his ears.

What did he say?

Able to treat? Capable of skeletal reconstruction?

Just a moment ago, President Wang’s junior fellow apprentice had stated clearly with his own mouth that amputation was the only option at present.

And now, the young man right before his eyes was actually claiming that he could perform skeletal reconstruction?

Was he serious?

Rong Haiming found it somewhat hard to believe. He turned his head to look at the other doctors present.

To his bizarre astonishment, none of them offered any rebuttal!

Wait, no, someone did object!

The very moment Fang Zhiyan’s voice trailed off, a dissenting voice rang out from the side.

"Nonsense! What kind of gibberish are you spouting?"

"Fang Zhiyan, you are merely an intern! Who authorized you to attend this meeting?"

"And who gave you the audacity to utter such wild exaggerations here?"

"Even Expert Song is incapable of handling this. You think you can?"

"When you make such remarks, do you possess even an ounce of responsible attitude toward the patient?"

Fang Zhiyan frowned slightly and looked in the direction of the voice.

It was Jin Mingcheng, the head of the emergency department.

At this moment, he had finally found a flaw in Fang Zhiyan’s words!

This brat actually dared to speak like that in front of the experts—it was simply laughable!

Thus, he could no longer hold back his retort.

However, as his words echoed through the room, not a single person chimed in to support him.

Gu Tao, who had initially intended to echo him, saw everyone staring fixedly at Jin Mingcheng and suddenly lost his nerve.

Jin Mingcheng, too, felt a twinge of panic.

He glanced at the president, and seeing that the president remained silent, he pressed on anyway.

"Fang Zhiyan, do you even know what you are doing?"

Fang Zhiyan remained silent, simply staring at Jin Mingcheng.

To be honest, he had only stepped forward because he saw that Song Song lacked the ability to stop the bleeding and was blindly demanding an immediate amputation.

Whether the patient ultimately underwent amputation was the patient's own choice.

At the very least, however, he could buy them some extra time to think things through carefully before making a decision.

As for Jin Mingcheng jumping out now—

Well, he was the head of the emergency department, and Fang Zhiyan could not outright defy his authority.

Therefore, after a brief hesitation, Fang Zhiyan asked, "Shall I let go now, then?"

"Don't!"

"Don't you dare let go!"

Just as the words left his mouth, Rong Haiming suddenly let out a loud cry, stopping Fang Zhiyan from releasing his grip.

"He managed to stop the bleeding, and he says he can do skeletal reconstruction. Why on earth are you chewing him out?"

Following this, Rong Haiming turned his head back to glare at Jin Mingcheng, looking rather exasperated.

It was only then that Song Song, standing nearby, belatedly furrowed his brow.

"Senior Brother? Who is he?"

Bleeding that even he had failed to control had been successfully stemmed by this young man using his bare hands.

This kid clearly possessed a certain level of genuine skill.

Yet, for him to claim he could perform skeletal reconstruction a moment ago—wasn't that a complete joke?

Wasn't that a direct contradiction of his own diagnosis, a direct slap to his face?

He himself was the foremost expert in skeletal reconstruction and a nationally recognized authority.

How could anyone dare to refute him?

Song Song fell silent, a subtle change creeping into the expression he directed at Fang Zhiyan.

Wang Xuewen, on the other hand, gave a slight shake of his head and offered no response.

On the other side, He Dongfang squeezed his way out of the crowd and took the initiative to speak. "Let me explain."

"This is Fang Zhiyan, a physician in our emergency department."

"Not long ago, he performed a near-brainstem tumor resection as the primary surgeon."

"That's right, I can vouch for that fact." Shao Gang, the deputy head of neurosurgery standing not far away, also nodded in agreement.

Hearing this, a trace of shock flashed through Song Song's eyes.

To be precise, the difficulty of a near-brainstem tumor resection far exceeded that of skeletal reconstruction.

How could such a young doctor be capable of performing such an advanced surgical procedure?

Did Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital actually harbor such talent?

Song Song looked uncertainly toward his senior fellow apprentice.

Meanwhile, Jin Mingcheng chimed in once more.

"But he is just an intern! He doesn't even have his practicing physician license!"

Upon hearing this, both Song Song and Rong Haiming furrowed their brows again.

What on earth was going on here?

An intern without a practicing physician license was somehow able to complete a near-brainstem tumor resection.

And now, he was claiming that the patient could undergo skeletal reconstruction?

Was this scientific?

Was this right?

"Zhiyan," He Dongfang looked at Fang Zhiyan with a hint of uncertainty.

To be frank, he had been quite surprised when Fang Zhiyan first stepped forward.

After all, he had only intended to bring Fang Zhiyan along to witness the prowess of Song Song, the nation's top skeletal reconstruction expert.

He had never expected Fang Zhiyan to step up like this.

And to make such an astonishing claim—that he could perform skeletal reconstruction on the patient.

Most crucially, he had managed to stop bleeding that even Song Song could not control.

This series of events had left even He Dongfang feeling somewhat doubtful.

Could it be that Fang Zhiyan was genuinely capable of performing this surgery?

"Director He, I am not joking. I know very well what I am saying."

Fang Zhiyan explained with utmost solemnity.

He knew that He Dongfang harbored doubts about the full extent of his abilities, so he needed to put his mind at ease.

Hearing this, He Dongfang gave Fang Zhiyan a deep, lingering look before stating, "Zhiyan is indeed capable of performing this surgery."

"Nonsense!"

Jin Mingcheng flew into a rage, cursing aloud.

"He Dongfang, have you lost your mind? And to think you are the deputy director of the emergency department!"

"Fang Zhiyan doesn't even have a practicing physician license, yet you dare let him perform a surgery of this magnitude?"

"Is this how you show responsibility toward a patient?"

Jin Mingcheng unloaded his fury entirely onto He Dongfang.

In front of so many department heads and the hospital president, he berated He Dongfang mercilessly.

Even Fang Zhiyan found it difficult to stand by and watch any longer.

"Director Jin."

He took the initiative to speak up, shielding He Dongfang from the brunt of the attack.

"I never said I insist on performing the skeletal reconstruction for the patient."

"What are you getting so anxious about?"

"As a doctor, when I saw that the bleeding hadn't been stopped, I simply stepped forward to stop it."

"And incidentally, I informed the patient's family that, under the current circumstances, skeletal reconstruction remains a viable option."

"If the patient's family does not trust my words, they are entirely free to choose amputation."

"What exactly are you panicking about here?"

As these words dropped, Jin Mingcheng was left dumbfounded once again.

As the head of the emergency department, he had never once had a subordinate doctor speak to him in such a manner!

Yet today, Fang Zhiyan had broken that precedent!

This was tantamount to ruthlessly trampling upon his authority right in front of everyone!

It drove Jin Mingcheng into an absolute frenzy of rage.

"What did you say?"

"I said! I am not forcing skeletal reconstruction upon anyone. The patient and their family will make their own choice. As for you, what are you stressing out about?"

Fang Zhiyan stared unflinchingly at Jin Mingcheng, enunciating every single word clearly.

He had no personal enmity with Jin Mingcheng.

However, shortly after his arrival, this man had attempted to steal his credit.

Although that attempt had failed, Fang Zhiyan was not the kind of person to swallow grievances and keep them to himself.

Therefore, today, in front of all the hospital directors and leaders, he refused to give Jin Mingcheng any face whatsoever.

Anyway, within the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, his stay or departure was not something a mere emergency department head could dictate.

Consequently, Fang Zhiyan was utterly devoid of fear.