Led by Xiao Hua, Yu Zhiming and Yu Xiangwan arrived at an office on the sixth floor of the Obstetrics and Gynecology building, where they met Xiao Hua’s parents.
Also present was Dr. Xi Zhen, the attending physician for Xiao Hua’s sister.
She was the Deputy Director of Obstetrics and a Chief Physician at Jinling Gulou Hospital. In her early fifties, she had a stern, unsmiling expression.
Just as Yu Zhiming had expected, his overly young and handsome face was met with intense skepticism from the patient’s parents and Dr. Xi Zhen.
In the medical profession, the degree of trust one earns is directly proportional to their seniority and age.
This aligned with the perception of most people in the country and was also largely consistent with the objective reality of the medical field.
After all, a doctor’s growth is inseparable from the accumulation of extensive clinical practice and experience.
Becoming an outstanding doctor requires the tempering of time.
Especially for a legendary Xinglin master capable of achieving the impossible, most people imagined someone who, if not an immortal with white hair and a youthful face, should at least be an old man.
Even a sloppy, shriveled old man would have been more convincing than a greenhorn like Yu Zhiming.
Facing their doubtful gazes, Yu Zhiming cut to the chase and said coolly, "If I say I’m confident, I know you won’t believe me."
"But I have, in fact, successfully treated a fetus with a twisted umbilical cord."
"If you have other, better options, or if you want to proceed directly with surgery, I can turn around and leave right now."
"If you have no other choice, then you might as well let me try."
Convinced he was the only one with this particular skill, Yu Zhiming gave a calm, self-assured smile.
"Taking a gamble doesn’t mean you’ll lose. What if it works?"
Since he had put it so bluntly, Dr. Xi Zhen and Xiao Hua’s parents found it hard to argue.
The three of them exchanged glances.
Xi Zhen sighed softly and said, "Miss Xiao’s condition can’t wait any longer. The more we delay, the greater the harm and danger to the baby."
"At this point, we have no other options. I personally recommend we let Dr. Yu give it a try."
"I will prepare for surgery. If anything goes wrong, we will operate immediately. The outcome couldn’t get any worse."
Xi Zhen looked at Xiao Hua’s parents and continued, "But the final decision is yours to make."
After a moment of silence, Xiao Hua’s father—a staid, weathered-looking man—spoke up.
He cupped his hands toward Yu Zhiming and said, "Dr. Yu, I’m entrusting my unborn grandchild to you."
Yu Zhiming bowed slightly in return. "I will do my best!"
With a somewhat complicated expression, Xi Zhen looked at Yu Zhiming and said, "Dr. Yu, it will take about half an hour to prepare for the surgery."
"What preparations and assistance do you need?"
Yu Zhiming held up his hands. "I’ve already reviewed the condition of the mother and fetus on my way here. My treatment method relies solely on these two hands."
"Just get me a pair of surgical gloves..."
Then, everyone went their separate ways to get ready.
Yu Zhiming and his sister were led to an empty staff lounge in the third-floor surgical area to rest for a bit.
Yu Xiangwan had just sat down when she scooted closer to her brother, nudging his shoulder with her own.
"So, that Su Tong... was she your girlfriend in college?"
"No!"
Yu Zhiming shook his head vigorously and explained, "She was just one of the classmates I got along well with in college. We often studied together when we were preparing for the postgraduate entrance exams."
Yu Xiangwan pouted. "Fifth Brother, you don’t have to deny it to me."
"When you two saw each other, your eyes lit up."
"I’ve never seen you look at any other girl with such a sparkle in your eyes. Su Tong is clearly different to you."
"Fifth Brother, fess up already!"
Yu Zhiming gave an awkward laugh. "Sis, she really wasn’t my college girlfriend."
"But, I did have a crush on her."
"I was planning to confess my feelings after I got into graduate school."
"But..."
Yu Zhiming let out a breath. "There was no ’after’."
"This is the first time we’ve met or even contacted each other since we graduated from college."
Yu Xiangwan let out a long "Ohhh," then patted her brother’s shoulder comfortingly. "Meeting again tonight means your fate together isn’t over yet."
"If you still have feelings for her, then you should pursue her."
"You’re about to start working at a major hospital in Binhai. You’re no less accomplished than her, even with her medical Ph.D."
Yu Zhiming hesitated for a moment. "It’s been four years. People change a lot."
"I’m not even sure if my feelings for her are the same as they were back then."
"We can get in touch first and see what happens..."
Ten minutes later, Xi Zhen came in person to call Yu Zhiming for his pre-treatment preparations.
Because he was entering the operating room, the travel-worn Yu Zhiming needed to go to the changing room first and change into a set of sterile scrubs provided by the hospital.
Before he entered the changing room, Xi Zhen stopped him.
"Dr. Yu, there has never been an effective treatment for umbilical cord torsion in the medical community. Many of my colleagues would like to observe your treatment process."
"Would you mind...?"
Yu Zhiming chuckled. "They can watch all they want."
’It’s related to my body’s abnormality anyway,’ he muttered to himself. ’I’m not afraid of anyone stealing the technique...’
Yu Zhiming changed his clothes in the changing room, scrubbed in at the sterilization room, and then pushed open the door to the operating room...
He had somewhat underestimated how curious people were about him.
The not-so-spacious operating room was packed with twenty to thirty observers.
They had arranged themselves in three rows.
The first row was sitting cross-legged on the floor, the second row was on small stools, and the third row was standing.
Yu Zhiming immediately recognized Su Tong, who was dressed in sterile scrubs and wearing a surgical mask.
Sitting cross-legged in the front row, Su Tong’s almond-shaped eyes behind her glasses were as wide as saucers, looking like they were about to pop out of her head.
The shape of her mask clearly showed that her mouth was wide open in an "O."
Yu Zhiming was quite satisfied with Su Tong’s astonished expression. He gave her a quick wink before walking to the operating table.
The pregnant woman was already lying on the operating table. All pre-surgical preparations were complete; she had even been anesthetized.
And with general anesthesia, no less!
If any problems arose during Yu Zhiming’s procedure, Dr. Xi Zhen, who was waiting at the side, would immediately cut open the woman’s abdomen to deliver the baby.
Yu Zhiming also noticed that there were five monitoring leads connected to the woman’s bulging belly alone.
’The medical equipment in this major hospital is leagues ahead of the county hospital.’
After this silent sigh of admiration, Yu Zhiming calmed his mind and gently placed his hands on the pregnant woman’s abdomen...
After a moment of careful perception, Yu Zhiming made a discovery.
This fetus’s umbilical cord torsion was slightly less severe than the one at the county hospital; it was only twisted nine times.
However, this fetus was only twenty-four weeks old and thus more delicate. Its chances of survival if born now would be even lower.
Yu Zhiming first had a nurse position the anesthetized woman on her right side.
Then, his hands began to press on one side of her belly and gently push on the other.
He repeated this process, completely focused, his movements gentle as he began to perform a kind of massage on the woman’s abdomen...
Dr. Xi Zhen and all the other observers in the operating room watched Yu Zhiming’s hands while keeping an eye on the changing data on the nearby monitor.
What Yu Zhiming didn’t know was that the leads on the woman’s belly were connected to a new device developed by Gulou Hospital.
It could not only monitor data like the fetal heart rate in real-time but could also track fluctuations in the fetus’s umbilical vein oxygen saturation.
The fetal umbilical vein oxygen saturation directly reflected the umbilical cord’s oxygen-delivery capacity.
With this data, they could clearly judge whether the cord torsion was being alleviated.
Xi Zhen noticed that as Yu Zhiming massaged the abdomen, the numbers representing the fetal oxygen saturation began to fluctuate wildly, like a rollercoaster.
62, 73, 71, 69, 70, 52, 74...
Watching these numbers change so rapidly, Xi Zhen’s heart was in her throat, her anxiety mounting with every shift.
According to the experimental data previously gathered by this device, the normal value for fetal umbilical vein oxygen saturation was around 80.
If the value dropped below 70, the fetus would suffer severe hypoxia, affecting its physical development.
Among these numbers, the only thing that made Xi Zhen’s eyes light up was the appearance of higher values like 73 and 74.
Previously, after discovering the fetal cord torsion, Xi Zhen had used treatments like oxygen administration and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, but she had only managed to barely maintain the fetal umbilical vein oxygen saturation at a level of 70 or 71.
The occasional appearance of numbers like 73 and 74 now indicated that this ridiculously young Dr. Yu’s treatment method was indeed having some effect.
As time went on, Xi Zhen was thrilled to see values like 75 and 76 appear on the monitor...