Surgery Godfather

Chapter 329: Chapter 0313: Tyson and the Green Giant

In the changing room of the operating suite at Tokyo University Hospital.

“Takahashi, so you’re planning a trip to China?” Sasaki greeted Takahashi.

Takahashi responded, “I will be leaving at the beginning of next month for a three-month clinical observation stint.”

“Takahashi, you’ve changed a lot since you returned from China, losing your former arrogance and self-confidence. I’m starting to suspect you’ve developed some sort of obsession when making judgments.”

Sasaki was somewhat baffled by his senior. Ever since returning from China, he had become exceedingly cautious, perpetually humble, a stark contrast to his previous arrogance and confidence.

“Sasaki, if you had been in my shoes at the time, you would have felt the same. Someday, you’ll understand,” Takahashi had no desire to explain further.

Those who have never been utterly defeated will always harbour illusions about their opponent’s strength, especially if they themselves once stood atop the world.

“Teacher Fujihara’s decision seems a bit baffling. Why do we need to learn from an unknown Chinese hospital?” Sasaki was disgruntled.

Sasaki, two years younger than Takahashi, was unanimously considered more gifted. While Takahashi excelled in trauma surgery, he explored less in other sub-specialties.

Unlike Takahashi, Sasaki was not content to stick to trauma surgery. He ventured extensively into spine, joint, and sports medicine with noteworthy achievements.

The one likely to succeed Fujiwara Masao in the future could very well be Sasaki. Even Takahashi himself had to admit that his junior outperformed him.

Although Sasaki had watched Yang Ping’s surgical videos, a single video was not enough to convince his self-pride. He always imagined himself to be far superior to Takahashi. Whatever Yang Ping could do, he believed he could do as well.

“Teacher Fujihara!”

Takahashi and Sasaki, upon seeing Fujiwara Masao enter the room, quickly greeted him with respect.

Fujiwara Masao, wearing a blue scrub suit, removed his mask and cap. “Takahashi, your trip to China is a precious opportunity. Remember, the best way to become the best is to learn from the very best. Facing them bravely is the key to defeating them.”

“Understood!” Takahashi stood at attention and bowed.

Although Sasaki appeared obedient externally, he was discontent within. He felt somewhat dissatisfied with his teacher’s logic. Weren’t they the strong ones?

Despite his discontent, Sasaki, who held an evenly matched status with Takahashi, remained unreserved in his interactions. In front of Fujiwara Masao, however, Sasaki wouldn’t dare voice his earlier comments.

“Mr.Fujiwara! Director Niaoqu’s upper cervical tumor surgery has run into trouble and needs your assistance.”

Someone rushed into the changing room. Without even having a chance to change, Fujiwara Masao followed the messenger out of the room.

“Takahashi, it seems like the world champion has been punched silly by you,” Sasaki couldn’t resist a jab.

“This is no longer a match between Tyson and Holyfield,” Takahashi commented helplessly.

Sasaki, wearing a teasing smile, asked, “So, who are we dealing with then?”

“If you and I were Tyson and Holyfield, then the opponent is the Incredible Hulk?” Takahashi finally found a comparison, albeit not a particularly fitting one.

Sasaki stifled his laughter: “That’s hilarious!”

Had it not been for that comment, he might have tried to understand Takahashi. But with that remark, he was convinced that Takahashi must be suffering from some psychological disorder.

Takahashi didn’t have the time to explain to Sasaki. One day, Sasaki would experience it for himself. Takahashi wished that Sasaki could go with him this time to witness firsthand what the world’s top surgeons were truly capable of.

Takahashi was in a hurry. After work later that day, he arranged to meet with his Chinese teacher for a language enhancement class before the trip. Since returning from China, with some effort, he had found a top-notch Chinese language teacher.

This teacher was a Chinese student studying molecular biology at Tokyo University’s School of Medicine. With a medical background, this foreign student helped Takahashi pass the Level 4 Chinese language exam within a mere four months.

Takahashi had paid a 20 million yen tuition fee, feeling it was worth every yen. The teacher began teaching him Chinese phonetics, enabling him to get the hang of the Chinese pronunciation system using several dozen alphabets, then provided him with a set of textbooks and some flashcards with Chinese characters.

The set of textbooks consisted of 4,000 unique rhymed characters. Takahashi mastered these 4,000 common Chinese characters within a month using these verses.

Thereafter, the teacher arranged reading and listening training, with four hours of language lessons every evening without fail. This allowed Takahashi to overcome his language barrier.

He used to think that Chinese was the hardest language to learn in the world.

But now, he believes Chinese to be the easiest language in the world, because by mastering these four thousand characters, he could read almost all articles without hindrance.

Now, he needs to reinforce his medical vocabulary.

This is much easier than English, which forms each medical term as a separate word in a cryptic way, with no obvious connections between them.

The magic of Chinese is that with only these four thousand characters, an infinite number of words can be formed following certain logical relationships.

For example, the liver, spleen, kidney, lung, and heart are all organs, and most of them are represented by the character for ‘moon’, which symbolizes the human body, immediately indicating that they belong to the same category. It’s no wonder that Japan has always retained the use of Chinese characters, what a wise choice.

“Teacher Tang, hello, I’m going to China next month, and I want to reinforce my Chinese learning,” Takahashi shakes hands with the teacher.

This is a night school, and Teacher Tang is only a part-time teacher here.

Takahashi arrived at the classroom on time. He enrolled for one-on-one teaching.

“These are the Chinese case examples I prepared for you. They include not only medical history but also surgical records and medical reports. You need to reinforce the reading of these materials.” Teacher Tang handed the sorted-out materials to Takahashi.

Teacher Tang is a very young man, a doctoral student in molecular biology at Tokyo University, who teaches Chinese in his spare time to earn some living expenses, which is much better than washing dishes.

Takahashi is currently his biggest client, a generous doctor client who once led Teacher Tang to suspect that he had encountered a scam in Tokyo.

Like a primary school student, Takahashi hunched over his desk and read the cases earnestly.

Being someone who always has his meals standing up in normal times, he would never waste a minute.

Four hours a day, from seven in the evening to eleven, if he is late for any special reason, he will stay up until one or two in the morning to complete four hours of study.

Of course, if this that’s the case, the training fee doubles.

Takahashi worries that the teacher might prolong the teaching time due to the tuition issue. He promises that for each month in advance, he will pay an extra tuition fee, directly to the teacher.

Teacher Tang did his utmost, shared his knowledge generously, and Takahashi mastered Chinese proficiently in four months.

For the words he did not understand or comprehend, Takahashi would highlight them with a pencil. After reading each case, Teacher Tang would explain with care, and Takahashi would take meticulous notes.

“Teacher, thank you for your careful teaching, please accept my sincere thanks!” Takahashi deeply bowed.

The teacher returned the bow, then Takahashi bowed again. The teacher returned it once more and Takahashi bowed again-

Forget it, the teacher stopped returning the bows, and only then did Takahashi stop bowing.

“May I ask, according to Chinese custom, how should I address Doctor Yang?” Takahashi decided to figure it out before his departure.

“It’s best to address him as Professor Yang, it’s more formal and respectful.” The teacher suggested.

“If I go to China, can I keep in touch with you? I might need to consult you on language or cultural issues at any time. I am willing to pay the corresponding consultation fee.” Takahashi considered thoroughly.

“Of course, we can charge the consultation fee by the hour. If it’s less than one hour per day, we still count it as one hour.” The teacher agreed eagerly, hoping that Takahashi would continue his studies for several years, ideally until the teacher completes his doctorate.

With the teacher’s approval, Takahashi felt more confident. He pondered whether he had any further questions to ask the teacher.

“Also, do you have any social advice?” Takahashi asked.

The teacher considered slightly, “You’re only studying for three months, remember some simple rules: do more and talk less; take immediate action when given commands; when toasting, keep your glass lower than the other person; seize the opportunity to pay when having a group meal; get to the point when drinking, without delaying using excuses; if you’re in a group dormitory, try not to snore when sleeping at night-”

Blushing, Takahashi replied, “I can manage all but the last one.”

“Then try your best, and if you do snore, apologize to your roommates the next day.” The teacher was very professional, he had considered everything.

“Our time is up, it’s time to end the class.”

Today’s class ended at eleven, very punctually.