Chapter 340: Chapter 339: Targeted Plastic Surgery

On Friday morning, as soon as Yan Feifan arrived at the Affiliated Hospital, he received definitive news from Director Lo Jun.

A representative from the Health Commission had mediated the situation. Coupled with the Affiliated Hospital’s insistence, the swindled patients finally agreed to return to Ren’ai Hospital for free surgical treatment.

As for whether their stolen money could be recovered, that would depend on how quickly the police could solve the case and how much of the money the suspects had already squandered.

Yan Feifan breathed a sigh of relief that the matter had been properly resolved.

He had been caught up in an undeserved disaster.

However, this was also related to the scarcity of medical resources.

Yan Feifan’s skill with anhydrous ethanol puncture injections was currently one of a kind—he was the only game in town, with no other options available.

The waiting list at the Affiliated Hospital was already three to four months long. Combined with his freelance surgeries at Baining Hospital, Yan Feifan was unable to accept any more requests from other hospitals.

This inevitably led some patients to try and find opportunities by any means necessary.

It was also related to some of the irregularities in the medical market.

For example, some specialist appointment slots at the hospital would be gone in a flash the moment they were released.

Many patients could only get an appointment by paying several times the original price to scalpers.

This phenomenon led some patients to believe that paying extra for an appointment or to cut in line was a matter of course—an unspoken rule of the industry.

To prevent similar incidents from happening again and to stop unscrupulous medical touts and other ill-intentioned people from seizing opportunities to swindle others, the Affiliated Hospital issued a special notice to its sister hospitals and other medical facilities in the area. It also posted warnings and explanations on its official website and public social media accounts.

At 9:30 in the morning, after performing a puncture injection on a patient with an intraspinal tumor, Yan Feifan rushed over to the plastic surgery center.

At two in the afternoon, he had another operation: a reconstructive plastic surgery for a little boy from an orphanage with a crooked mouth and nasal deformity.

In the inpatient department of the plastic surgery center, after re-examining the little boy with the facial deformity, Yan Feifan went to the empty director’s office to refine the surgical plan.

But it wasn’t long before Lin Qian knocked and entered.

"Feifan, here are the detailed examination files for the four volunteers undergoing the facial nerve division and nurturing procedure tomorrow."

Yan Feifan took the four thick folders, set them aside, and nodded. "I’ll review them tonight."

Lin Qian sighed softly. "Unregulated cosmetic surgeries are truly devastating. All four of them are victims of botched procedures."

"One patient is a thirty-five-year-old mother. She said her child doesn’t want to be close to her because she can’t smile, and it scares the child."

"The reason she doesn’t smile isn’t that she’s unable to, but because her smile looks worse than a grimace. A large muscle on the right side of her face distorts severely."

Lin Qian added with a sympathetic expression, "The other three are all girls in their twenties. Because of their facial nerve damage, they still haven’t been able to find boyfriends."

Yan Feifan said casually, "The pursuit of beauty comes at a price. They just never expected to be the unlucky ones."

"Their surgery tomorrow is simple. We just need to find the corresponding nerve on the other side of the face and split it in two."

"But the subsequent nerve nurturing process is extremely difficult to endure..."

Lin Qian picked up where he left off. "I’ve stressed that point to them repeatedly. They’re all mentally prepared."

"I also believe they can all get through it."

She added, with deep feeling, "Feifan, the limits of what a girl will endure in the pursuit of beauty would absolutely exceed your imagination."

"Do you have a similar experience?" Yan Feifan asked, a little curious.

Lin Qian shook her head. "I have a cousin. She used to be overweight, but four years ago, she suddenly decided to lose weight."

"To lose weight, the degree to which she punished herself was terrifying."

"Of course, the results were also obvious. In less than a year, my cousin transformed into a slender, beautiful woman."

Yan Feifan chuckled lightly. "Men can be ruthless with themselves for a short while, but when it comes to long-term endurance, they’re no match for women."

"I guess that’s one of our advantages as women."

Lin Qian agreed, then said with a pained expression, "Feifan, the director gave a few of us a lesson this week."

"I realized my fundamentals are definitely the weakest."

"If I want to get a lot of practice in the emergency department..."

Lin Qian added, looking troubled, "A box of absorbable sutures costs one to two thousand at the very least."

"That cost is just too high."

Hearing her say this, Yan Feifan finally realized something.

The medical consumables he used for his own practice, like sutures, were all taken as needed, and Mr. Wang footed the bill.

But Lin Qian would have to pay out of her own pocket.

A single box of sutures, in a place like the ER where there’s a constant stream of injured people, would probably be used up in a single afternoon.

For a young doctor relying on her salary, this practice cost was indeed very high.

However, to rapidly improve one’s surgical skills, a massive amount of practice is necessary.

"This necessary investment is indispensable."

Yan Feifan said ponderously, "Lin Qian, once your suturing technique improves a bit more, you’ll be able to perform minor procedures like scar removal."

"If you can do that, your income will increase quite a bit."

"Also, for the time being, free up as much time as you can to be my surgical assistant. I’ll give you an advance on your payment."

Lin Qian’s face blossomed into a smile, and she said sincerely, "Feifan, thank you so, so much."

Yan Feifan said casually, "Don’t mention it. We’re friends..."

For lunch today, Yan Feifan freeloaded off Mr. Wang’s takeout order.

Wang Chuan rarely ate the hospital cafeteria’s food, finding it bland and tasteless.

When he ate at the hospital, he usually ordered takeout from a few well-known restaurants he frequented.

"Feifan, take a look at this photo. Which celebrity does she look like?"

Yan Feifan put down his chopsticks and took the tablet Mr. Wang handed him. On the screen was a beautiful girl with a brilliant smile.

The girl had somewhat deep-set eyes and a slightly exotic look.

"A bit like that really popular Uighur actress?"

Wang Chuan nodded. "Are you confident you can make her look exactly like that celebrity?"

Yan Feifan scrolled through a few more photos on the tablet and said thoughtfully, "At first glance, there’s a thirty or forty percent resemblance."

"But making them look identical would be extremely difficult."

"Is she an obsessed fan?"

Wang Chuan said, uncertain, "Perhaps."

"The man who came with her boldly stated that the base surgical fee is one million."

"The closer the resemblance, the higher the pay. No upper limit."

Yan Feifan couldn’t help but laugh. "So the man is the real obsessed fan and admirer."

"But the woman knows he doesn’t like her for who she is, yet she’s still willing to get plastic surgery to look like someone else?"

Wang Chuan chuckled. "The girl is definitely getting what she wants out of it—money, designer bags, cars, houses, and so on."

"There are plenty of girls like that in society."

"Besides, getting surgery to look like a major celebrity is better than getting the same cookie-cutter ’internet-famous’ face everyone has these days."

"With a face that piggybacks off a major celebrity, if she has a little talent of her own, she could get plenty of opportunities to make money."

Yan Feifan thought for a moment, then said, "Since both of them are willing parties in this arrangement, I’ll accept."

"I’d also like to challenge myself with some... ’targeted plastic surgery’..."

"Targeted plastic surgery?"

Wang Chuan couldn’t help but chuckle. "Feifan, you really have a knack for coining new terms."

"But ’targeted plastic surgery’ is quite fitting, I have to say."

"The plastic surgeries you’ve done before were all about enhancing a person’s existing features to make them more beautiful."

"Now you’re aiming for a specific template. The difficulty is naturally on a whole other level."

"If you pull this surgery off, you could be considered to have reached a state of mastery in plastic surgery..."