Chapter 103: I Am a Father

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: I Am a Father

After further examining Yo Jiayong that afternoon, Wang Chuan and Yan Feifan conferred and scheduled the surgery for Thursday evening.

To ensure the best possible postoperative results, Yan Feifan visited Yo Jiayong’s room whenever he had a spare moment on Wednesday and Thursday.

His goal, of course, was to familiarize himself with the muscle fibers throughout Yo Jiayong’s body so he could find the optimal muscle bundles for transplantation in the shortest time possible during the operation.

As we grow and exercise, our muscle fibers only get longer or thicker; their number never changes.

To avoid impacting the function of the original muscles, Yan Feifan would only harvest a small number of muscle bundles from any single muscle for the transplant.

Fortunately, the muscle defect on Yo Jiayong’s right mandible wasn’t too extensive.

Even so, Yan Feifan had pre-selected a total of twenty-four sites on Yo Jiayong’s body from which to harvest the muscle bundles.

It was predictable that after the surgery, Yo Jiayong would experience widespread pain all over his body for several days.

Yan Feifan’s frequent examinations over the past two days had conditioned the introverted and quiet young man. The moment he saw Yan Feifan, he would reflexively start taking off his clothes...

On Wednesday afternoon, Yan Feifan received some good news.

Xiao Man, who was back at work, called to tell Yan Feifan that Yu Wenjun and Shao Fen’s adoption of Lu had received official approval from all the relevant departments, including Civil Affairs and the orphanage.

On behalf of the couple, Xiao Man told Yan Feifan how grateful they were for everything he had done for Lu.

Once the adoption was finalized and Lu officially became a member of their family, the couple planned to host a family dinner and insisted that Yan Feifan must attend.

On Thursday morning, Yao Yiyi paid Yan Feifan a visit.

Yao Yiyi explained that she was recovering well and was being discharged today to recuperate at home. She had made a special trip to thank Yan Feifan for discovering her brain tumor in time.

At six p.m., Yo Jiayong’s reconstructive surgery to repair the muscle defect in his right mandible began on schedule in Operating Room 3 on the second floor of the Plastic Surgery Center.

The only observer for this high-stakes surgery, which both Wang Chuan and Yan Feifan considered crucial, was Qin Ying.

Meanwhile, Yu Suye was at the operating table, serving as Yan Feifan’s surgical assistant.

Strictly speaking, she was assisting both Wang Chuan and Yan Feifan that day.

For this operation, Yan Feifan was responsible for harvesting the muscle bundles from various parts of Yo Jiayong’s body, while Wang Chuan was in charge of the implantation and suturing.

Both of them were effectively lead surgeons.

Meng Yao and Jio Xin passed instruments to Yan Feifan and Wang Chuan, respectively.

Ye Lin was the circulating nurse for the operation.

The two main challenges of the surgery were finding suitable muscle bundles to transplant and performing the precise implantation.

But with two masters like Wang Chuan and Yan Feifan working in tandem, these challenges seemed as simple as breathing.

This was especially true for Wang Chuan. The moment he finished implanting one muscle bundle, the next one was delivered right to him.

Furthermore, the length and tension of each bundle were so perfect that no further adjustments were necessary.

Performing this surgery, Wang Chuan felt a sense of complete, unrestrained flow.

It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

Wang Chuan glanced over at Yan Feifan. He watched as Yan Feifan pierced the patient’s skin with a delicate cosmetic scalpel, giving the tip a gentle flick.

He then inserted a pair of pointed forceps into the incision, clamped down, and lifted.

Next, Yan Feifan made another small incision nearby, and a moment later, he extracted a muscle bundle with the forceps.

The entire process left only two tiny wounds on the patient’s skin, so small they didn’t even require sutures.

Watching Yan Feifan’s fluid, masterful technique only strengthened a decision that had been forming in Wang Chuan’s mind...

With Yan Feifan’s highly efficient assistance, Wang Chuan’s own performance was also significantly boosted.

A surgery that had been scheduled to last over five hours was completed by the pair in under four and a half.

After briefing Yo Liguo on his son’s surgery and the postoperative instructions, Wang Chuan returned to the locker room. He found Yan Feifan resting on a soft chair, dressed in his blue short-sleeved scrubs.

"Tired?"

"A little," Yan Feifan admitted honestly.

"Could you handle being the lead surgeon for a short, ten- or twenty-minute procedure?"

Yan Feifan shot to his feet. "Mr. Wang, I might be a little tired, but forget a ten- or twenty-minute procedure. I could handle another one or two-hour surgery, no problem."

Wang Chuan smiled. "Then come with me."

Yan Feifan followed Wang Chuan to Operating Room 4.

He scrubbed in again at the sterilization area and, with Wang Chuan’s help, donned a sterile surgical gown.

During this time, Wang Chuan was wearing standard surgical scrubs, not a full sterile gown.

Yan Feifan assumed Mr. Wang was only there to observe this minor procedure and wouldn’t be scrubbing in, so he didn’t think much of it.

However...

Yan Feifan was surprised to discover that aside from himself and Wang Chuan, the brightly lit operating room was empty.

"Mr. Wang, making the lead surgeon wait in the OR for the patient and nurses... that’s just not right. You really need to whip things into shape around here."

Still in his scrubs, Wang Chuan hopped onto the operating table. "Feifan," he said, "your patient is me."

He pointed at Yan Feifan, then at his own nose, and chuckled. "For this little procedure, it’s just you and me."

Yan Feifan froze. A thought suddenly struck him, and he asked with curiosity, "Mr. Wang, do you have some... embarrassing problem you don’t want anyone to know about?"

Wang Chuan laughed. "You really let your imagination run wild."

"It’s not an embarrassing problem."

After a pause, Wang Chuan’s expression turned serious. "I’ve given a lot of thought to the idea you proposed the day before yesterday—splitting a nerve, letting it heal and cultivate within the body, and then transplanting it. I’ve also done some research."

"I believe it’s feasible."

"So, I thought I would conduct an experiment... on a nerve in my left calf."

Yan Feifan was alarmed. "Mr. Wang," he urged, "the pain from nerve damage is excruciating."

"Besides, this is just a theory of mine. It hasn’t been proven. Shouldn’t we start with animal trials?"

He added a warning, "Mr. Wang, this experiment could potentially cause permanent nerve pain."

Wang Chuan waved a hand dismissively. "I’ve already confirmed the theoretical feasibility."

"Conclusion: It’s viable."

"Animal nervous systems are too different from ours. The success or failure of a trial would have limited applicability."

"Therefore, a human trial is essential."

He continued slowly, "There is a high probability this procedure will eventually be performed on Yanyan. As her father, I have a responsibility to experience it firsthand."

Wang Chuan met Yan Feifan’s gaze and said, enunciating each word, "Feifan, I am Yanyan’s father. This is my duty."

His words stirred a strange emotion in Yan Feifan, and he felt a prickling in his nose.

But out of his duty as a doctor, he still tried to protest. "Mr. Wang..."

"Enough. Don’t say any more!"

Wang Chuan cut him off. "Feifan, I know what I’m doing. This was a carefully considered decision, not an impulse."

"I’m only asking you to perform this experiment on a nerve in a small muscle in my calf."

"Even if the experiment is a complete failure, it would only mean that one small muscle loses control and becomes paralyzed."

"It won’t have any significant impact on my daily life or my work."

Seeing Mr. Wang’s firm resolve, Yan Feifan tried another approach. "Mr. Wang, since this is just a trial, why don’t we use the most useless..."

Wang Chuan waved his hand again, cutting him off. "No."

"If we’re going to do a trial, it needs to be representative. I also need to get an accurate sense of the pain level."

He urged again, "Feifan, stop dithering."

"Let’s get started..."