Wednesday morning at 7:30, Yang Ping promptly appeared at Orthopedics. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The elevator doors opened, and before he stepped out, he saw Fatty already waiting at the elevator entrance. That enormous body standing there completely blocked the elevator doors, resembling a door god.

"Professor Yang! You’re here!" Fatty stepped aside, his face full of smiles, "Director Bai is already in the operating room preparing, and he asked me to come down and meet you."

Yang Ping nodded and followed him towards the operating room, asking as they walked, "How is the patient’s condition?"

"Quite good, he slept well last night, and his blood pressure and heart rate are stable this morning," Fatty said, "just a bit nervous, considering the size of the surgery."

The two arrived at the operating room entrance, changed shoes, and put on scrubs, hats, and masks in the changing room. Yang Ping wrapped himself tightly, leaving only his eyes exposed. Fatty was different; his scrubs were specially made, three sizes larger than others, yet still tight-fitting, with his belly resembling a big basketball.

"Is that outfit custom-made?" Yang Ping asked.

Fatty glanced down at his stomach and sighed, "Yes, the hospital made a special order for us. Initially, they wanted to order two sizes larger, but it wouldn’t fit, so they had to go up three sizes."

Yang Ping couldn’t help but laugh.

They entered the operating room, where the shadowless lamp was already on. On the operating table lay a man in his forties, with the anesthesiologist adjusting various tubes. The electrocardiogram monitoring emitted rhythmic beepings, and green numbers and waves flickered on the screen.

Director Bai was already standing by the operating table, his large body conspicuously noticeable under the shadowless lamp. He was examining the images on the viewing lamp and turned his head when he heard footsteps.

"Professor Yang!" he called out excitedly, "You’ve arrived!"

Little Fatty was standing nearby, holding the surgical instruments checklist, checking them one by one. Seeing Yang Ping, he also quickly called out "Professor Yang."

Yang Ping walked over and glanced at the images on the viewing lamp; the shattered pelvis indeed looked a bit alarming.

"Ready?" he asked.

Director Bai took a deep breath and nodded, "Ready."

A young doctor with black-framed glasses, looking very scholarly, approached. Director Bai introduced him, "This is Xiao Li, a new graduate student rotating through our department, today he’s assisting us as the third assistant, helping with the retraction."

Xiao Li seemed somewhat nervous, nodded towards Yang Ping, and greeted, "Hello, Professor Yang."

Yang Ping responded with a hum, glanced at Xiao Li, then at Director Bai, Fatty, and Little Fatty, suddenly realizing a potential issue.

Would four people fit around the operating table?

Yang Ping was familiar with this operating room; it’s not small, but that’s for doctors of average build. Director Bai alone occupied space equivalent to two regular people. Although Fatty and Little Fatty were slightly lesser, they were still heavyweight contenders. Once the three stood by the operating table, there wasn’t much room left, hardly enough for a fourth person!

But he didn’t speak, choosing to observe first.

The anesthesiologist checked everything one last time and nodded at Director Bai, "You can begin."

Director Bai took a deep breath and assumed the position of chief surgeon. Fatty stood opposite him, as the first assistant. Little Fatty stood next to him, as the second assistant. Once all three were in position, the space around the operating table became quite packed, like three small mountains lined up.

Xiao Li stood with his hands together at the back, looking left, looking right, finding no gap to squeeze in. Even if he managed to squeeze in, he would be far from the surgical area, unable to reach.

He tried to squeeze in next to Fatty, but it didn’t work; there was no space.

Xiao Li: "..."

Director Bai turned his head to look at him, "What are you doing?"

Embarrassed, Xiao Li explained, "Director, I can’t find a spot to stand."

Fatty looked down and suddenly understood, "Oh, right, we three do take up a lot of space."

He tried to move half a step left, but there was a surgical instruments table, leaving no space. He tried moving right, but there was the anesthesia head frame, with limited space.

The three spent quite some time adjusting their positions around the operating table, like three bears trying to squeeze into the same den, pushing and shoving, but ultimately, it was packed tight.

Xiao Li stood with his hands together on the periphery, like a bird struggling to find a perch.

Director Bai sighed, "Forget it, Xiao Li, just watch and learn from the side today."

Xiao Li, feeling relieved as if granted amnesty, quickly stepped aside, wearing an expression of survival after a disaster.

Yang Ping finally couldn’t help but laugh.

"With your group, you have to plan the standing arrangement ahead when doing surgery."

Director Bai with a bitter face said, "Professor Yang, please don’t make fun of us. Usually for routine surgeries we are fine; three people each have their spot. This surgery is too complex, and in the stress, we forgot about the space issue."

Little Fatty whispered by the side, "Mainly we’re just too fat."

Fatty replied, "It’s not fat, it’s volume."

Director Bai glared at them, "Enough talk, let’s start."

The surgery finally commenced.

Under the shadowless lamp, Director Bai, experienced, proceeded with incisions, separations, and exposures—all done with crisp precision. His fingers were thick, yet surprisingly nimble, moving through tissues with a speed belying his size.

Fatty worked alongside as the first assistant, responsible for exposing the field. His task was to use the retractor to pull the muscles aside so Director Bai could see the deeper fracture. He excelled in this, positioning the retractor just right for good exposure without excessively pulling and damaging tissues.