The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 597 People are iron, meals are steel

Liu Banxia was not omnipotent. Even when he was full of energy, this surgery took him almost four hours.

By the time they left the operating room, it was past six in the evening.

"How are you feeling?" Zhou Shuwen asked casually.

"Director, I admire you for being able to hold out for so long. If it were me, I would have been exhausted long ago," Liu Banxia said.

Actually, today’s experience gave him an idea of just how tiring Zhou Shuwen’s work was each week. After all, Zhou Shuwen had surgery days at least twice a week.

They only had one surgery day a week, mainly for minor procedures, with only an occasional major one.

Of course, Liu Banxia was a special case. He was a resident doctor, but he did the same amount of work as an attending physician. The number of surgeries performed by Qi Wentai and Wang Chao was much lower in comparison, as they mostly served as first and second assistants.

"Our general surgery operations also need to be well-distributed. There are plenty of neurosurgery and cardiac surgery patients too; it’s just that their numbers are smaller compared to ours," Zhou Shuwen said.

"Next, prepare for an assessment of your surgical competence. Those who pass will be granted certain privileges for relevant surgeries."

"Qi, you also have a great foundation. Your performance in these past few months has been excellent, but you still need to improve in major surgeries. Strive to take on more significant responsibilities soon. We can’t afford to waste anyone in our emergency center."

"Director, don’t worry. I will try my best," Qi Wentai nodded and said seriously.

He felt even more emotional than Liu Banxia.

Initially, he had stayed at the emergency center reluctantly, even considering switching to another hospital after completing his clinical residency training. But then, out of stubbornness, he decided to stay and see how things would turn out.

As it turned out, neither Zhou Shuwen nor Liu Banxia seemed to hold anything against him. The anticipated backlash and retaliation never materialized; they treated everyone equally.

Even in surgeries Liu Banxia participated in, he would share his surgical insights without reservation.

But now, he had no such superfluous thoughts and could only accept things with an open mind.

This wasn’t due to any great magnanimity on his part; rather, he realized he was now a considerable distance behind Liu Banxia. Liu Banxia hadn’t just surpassed him; he was leading by a wide margin.

"Huh? Wang Chao and the others aren’t back yet?" Liu Banxia asked when they returned to the main hall.

"Not yet. We’ve all finished eating in shifts. You go eat with the Director first," Shi Lei said.

"The patient with the mucormycosis infection has shown some symptomatic improvement. However, the medication must be continued. We’ll check her vital signs tomorrow. If they’re stable enough, we’ll proceed with debridement."

"We’ve contacted Du Fancheng. But he said that even if he were to examine her via rhinoscope, he wouldn’t be able to identify it as a mucormycosis infection. At most, he would pay closer attention to the necrosis and suppuration."

"In his words, in his entire career, he’s never encountered such a patient. However, he said simple debridement wouldn’t be a problem, so you don’t need to worry."

Liu Banxia rolled his eyes. "Why does it sound like he’s doing *me* a favor? Who am I doing all this for? This is so exasperating."

"Well, what can you do? He probably thinks he came specifically because of you," Shi Lei shrugged.

"One more thing: we need to add a Cesarean section tomorrow. Can your surgeries for tomorrow be pushed back? The schedule is too packed, so we have to adjust yours."

"Fine, I guess I’m the easy one to pick on. Luckily, I don’t have many surgeries tomorrow. It’s just after the New Year, so things haven’t piled up yet. I’m going to eat first; I’m starving," Liu Banxia said, then hurried off to the cafeteria.

For him, not getting enough to eat would definitely sap his energy. He wasn’t a glutton, but he possessed the spirit of a true gourmand.

He had to be this way. Otherwise, how could he maintain the immense energy needed for his daily work? As the saying goes, man is iron, food is steel. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Just as he entered the cafeteria, before he could even get his food, his phone rang. It was a video call from Qiaoqiao, which he quickly answered.

"Have you eaten? What delicious food did you have?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Nothing much. I bought a head of broccoli, and Tang Dou and I each had half. Then I boiled some shrimp and we peeled and ate them," Qiaoqiao replied.

"Let me see if the cafeteria has broccoli. I’ll try to eat in sync with you," Liu Banxia replied with mock seriousness.

Even though she knew the saying about men’s words being deceitful, Qiaoqiao’s heart still felt a little sweet. She attentively watched Liu Banxia order his food, and only when she saw many meat dishes did she finally relax.

"Eat more; you work so hard every day. Tang Dou, be a good girl, we’re taking you on a blind date tomorrow too," Qiaoqiao said.

"Have you picked one out?" Liu Banxia asked once he sat down at a table.

"Yes, I’ll send you the photos later," Qiaoqiao replied.

"That’s great. Make sure to take good care of Tang Dou. Moderate exercise is fine, but don’t let her run wild again," Liu Banxia reminded her.

"Oh, come on, she’s not even pregnant yet! Stop changing the subject. I forgot to ask the important thing: How did Boss Shi’s blind date go?" Qiaoqiao asked.

"From what I can tell, he should be fine on his end. What about the woman? Oh right, what’s her name?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"Her name is Su Ying. I chatted with her this afternoon, and she made a very good first impression," Qiaoqiao said.

"But you also need to tell Boss Shi to be more proactive. When he has a day off, he shouldn’t wait for Su Ying to reach out; he needs to take the initiative. Your work schedules are so erratic, how can she guess when he’s free?"

"Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to make Boss Shi’s days off more regular. And you, don’t skimp on your meals at home either. Make sure to eat both vegetables and meat," Liu Banxia said.

"I’m still quite busy these days. Maybe in half a month or a month, my schedule will free up. Then we can let the interns handle things; I need to learn to slack off a bit."

"Chatting with Qiaoqiao again?"

Just then, Zhou Li came over with her tray and sat down.

"Hi, Sister Li! Sister Li, why are you eating so late?" Qiaoqiao asked curiously.

"Work has been hectic lately. I used to mostly observe, but now I have to take charge of many things myself. I’m not like Banxia, who’s always full of energy. I haven’t been home in three days," Zhou Li said.

"Sister Li, the Director praised both you and your husband in the operating room today. From what he said, it seems that even if our emergency center expands significantly, Old Wang will still be in charge of the Anesthesiology Department," Liu Banxia said.

"It will be more tiring for a while, but there will definitely be adjustments to your positions. And as for your own situation, even though the Director doesn’t usually concern himself with minor details, he definitely notices outstanding work."

"Sigh... I can only say this to you two. I’m actually regretting it a bit now. There are so many things to handle; I really don’t know how you managed as Chief Resident," Zhou Li said.

Qiaoqiao laughed. "Sister Li, it’s okay. When you have a day off, I’ll come get you. We can go to Lang Tao Sa to relax properly, and then we can stew some bones to gnaw on."

"Silly girl, all you think about is Banxia. As if you could eat that many. Aren’t you just preparing them for him?" Zhou Li said with a helpless smile.

"Hehe, it doesn’t matter who eats it, as long as someone enjoys it," Qiaoqiao said cheerfully, not minding Zhou Li’s teasing at all.

"Hold on, I see Wang Chao returning. He looks very spirited, like he’s come back victorious," Liu Banxia said.

Zhou Li looked over. Sure enough, Wang Chao was striding toward them with Li Hao and Miao Rui, looking quite imposing.

"President Liu, an announcement! I’ve requisitioned these two. From today onwards, they’ll help me out in their spare time," Wang Chao said as he approached.

Liu Banxia smiled and nodded. "Looks like today’s work went very well. Eat with us?"

Wang Chao’s expression changed. "Not now, I’ll just have a couple of bags of glucose."

After saying this, he led the two men away with an imposing air.

Zhou Li playfully slapped Liu Banxia’s arm in annoyance. This guy is too much! He almost made me lose my appetite.

Liu Banxia just grinned without saying anything, earnestly putting on his "eating show." His only audience members were the loyal Qiaoqiao and Tang Dou, who would occasionally peek at the screen, though it was uncertain if the dog could actually see him.

"Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to make time to rest," Liu Banxia said after finishing his meal.

"The Director has been scheduling a lot of surgeries lately. I’ll see if I can help lighten his load. Qing Kewa has the day off tomorrow. If you’re free, take her out and have some fun."

Qiaoqiao nodded. "Okay, you get back to work. I’ll take Tang Dou out for a walk."

With that, she ended the video call.

"Sigh... you two just got married, and you barely get to see each other," Zhou Li sighed.

"Don’t be so clueless all the time. Occasionally buy Qiaoqiao some small gifts. They don’t have to be expensive; it’s the thought that counts. Qiaoqiao cares about you so much. If you weren’t my younger brother, I’d definitely advise her to break up with you."

"Sister Li, don’t I have it hard enough already?" Liu Banxia said with a wry smile.

"I do buy her things, though mostly at random. The thing is, she doesn’t really know what she likes herself. We just have to get through these next few months. I can only make it up to her slowly after that."

Zhou Li didn’t say anything more. Being part of the emergency center, she naturally knew how busy Liu Banxia was. She had also heard that Liu Banxia had stepped in to perform surgery for Zhou Shuwen today. It seemed that in the entire emergency center, only Liu Banxia had this privilege.

Currently, even Shi Lei wasn’t up to par in this regard—not because he lacked the skill, but because he simply couldn’t match Liu Banxia’s stamina.

When Liu Banxia returned to the emergency center area, he couldn’t help but smile.

Wang Chao was there with his two new underlings, all of them uniformly chugging glucose. No job is easy. For them, the truly arduous task was still ahead.

Liu Banxia pumped his fist at them in a "go for it!" gesture. Not just Wang Chao, but even Miao Rui and Li Hao rolled their eyes in response.

They knew what he was implying, of course. But some things are better left unsaid; speaking them aloud would be too mortifying for words.