Chapter 826: Monster

Chapter 826: Chapter 826: Monster

Ju Jiahong fell silent.

At this moment, he was no longer just surprised; he even felt a chill creeping up his spine.

If, during their previous debate over dosages, Ju Jiahong still felt that his vision had simply been clouded by the "play it safe" mentality cultivated over years in a major hospital—causing him to lose to Li Xu by a narrow margin—then Zhong Dongyang’s words just now had stretched the gap between them into an endless chasm.

Li Xu was only thirty years old.

At thirty, his level in Traditional Chinese Medicine was profound enough to make Ju Jiahong’s grandfather, Song Luojun, slam the table in admiration, and it even allowed him to firmly suppress Ju Jiahong in medical comprehension. At thirty, he actually managed to earn the praise of a pinnacle figure like Zhong Dongyang in the field of hepatobiliary surgery, an area that rigorously tested one’s foundational skills and clinical accumulation.

How did he learn all of this? Did he not need sleep? Was his life on fast-forward?

Without a doubt, Ju Jiahong was a top-tier genius. From childhood to adulthood, he had always been the "Qilin’er" praised by his elders, the "Great Demon King" in the eyes of his peers.

Top academic geniuses inherently possessed a pride that ordinary people could hardly grasp. Even if they fell into a disadvantage during a confrontation, they would only think it was due to a moment of carelessness or approaching from the wrong angle; they would never believe they were genuinely inferior to the other party. But now, in the face of an overwhelming, higher-dimensional strike from an "all-rounder," that pride was beginning to shatter.

"Director Ju?"

Zhong Dongyang had been mid-sentence, recounting how Li Xu precisely avoided mutant blood vessels on the operating table, when he suddenly noticed that Ju Jiahong’s expression across the table was a bit off. Seeing the man staring blankly, he called out.

"Huh? Ah..." Ju Jiahong snapped back to reality. In his usually unruffled eyes, there was a lingering trace of daze. "Director Zhong, what... what did you just say?"

"It’s nothing. I just noticed that you look a little pale, Director Ju. Did you not sleep well last night?" Zhong Dongyang asked with concern. Although he was a surgeon, he could easily tell that Ju Jiahong’s current state was clearly the result of excessive mental exhaustion.

"Yes, I had a patient with a high fever yesterday whose condition was quite complex. I really didn’t sleep well, as I was looking up reference materials the whole time," Ju Jiahong played along and replied.

He truly had no mood to sit there any longer. He felt he needed some quiet time, a place to digest this almost absurd reality. He hurriedly took a couple of bites of food without really tasting anything, then stood up and said, "Director Zhong, I have an urgent matter back at the department, so I’ll take my leave first. Please take your time eating."

"Alright, go on," Zhong Dongyang nodded with a smile. Watching Ju Jiahong’s somewhat hurried footsteps, he couldn’t help but advise, "Even though you’re young, you still need to take care of your health. By the way, that Li Xu is truly remarkable. Since you and he are both in Feng City and around the same age, Director Ju, you should interact and exchange ideas more often in the future. With an outstanding young talent like him, an extra friend means an extra path in life."

Ju Jiahong nodded mechanically. Like a soulless wooden dummy, he walked out of the noisy cafeteria.

The wind outside was a bit chilly. Blowing against his face, it sobered Ju Jiahong up a little, but Zhong Dongyang’s phrase—"the skills of a chief surgeon"—still echoed in his mind. He originally thought Li Xu had simply seen a farther scenery through a single window. Little did he expect that Li Xu had directly torn off the roof to gaze at the entire sky.

***

By the time he returned to the on-call room, it was already past one in the afternoon.

Liu Haohui was hunched over his desk, organizing medical records. As an attending physician, he was responsible for a massive amount of paperwork, so he was using the lunch break to catch up and avoid a frantic rush during his afternoon consultations.

While writing, Liu Haohui heard the turning of the door hinges. He looked back and saw that Ju Jiahong had returned.

"Director Ju, have you finished eating—"

Liu Haohui’s words came to an abrupt halt halfway through. He stared blankly at Ju Jiahong, completely dumbfounded.

Before leaving for lunch, Ju Jiahong’s expression had been stern, yet it carried a sharp, revitalized vigor because the patient’s fever had broken after using 280 grams of plaster. That was the Essence, Qi, and Spirit of a genius planning to catch up head-on after suffering a setback.

But how did he come back from a single lunch looking completely deflated, like a frostbitten eggplant? His eyes were dim, his shoulders were slightly slumped, and he looked like the very picture of someone whose core convictions had been utterly shattered.

"Director Ju, did you... run into some kind of trouble?" Liu Haohui asked probingly. He even wondered if something had happened to Elder Song on the other side, or if the hospital leadership had called him in for a talk.

Ju Jiahong didn’t speak immediately. He walked over to his desk and sat down. His trembling hand reached for his water cup, but after trying several times, he still couldn’t hold it steady. Such a loss of composure was almost unheard of for Ju Jiahong.

After a long while, Ju Jiahong finally took a deep breath, as if he had made some sort of major decision. He looked up at Liu Haohui, his eyes filled with extreme complexity.

"Dr. Liu, do me a favor," Ju Jiahong’s voice was somewhat low and deep.

"Name it. As long as it’s within my power," Liu Haohui’s expression turned solemn.

"Help me set up an appointment with Li Xu." Ju Jiahong paused, his tone becoming unusually grave. "Tell him that after work tonight, I’d like to treat him to dinner. I want to... formally apologize to him in person."

Liu Haohui was startled. Half-laughing and half-crying, he tried to persuade him, "Director Ju, is that really necessary? You were just being cautious for the patient’s sake. The whole point of a debate is to seek the truth. You already increased the dosage this morning, and the patient has recovered. We can consider this matter closed. Li Xu doesn’t seem like the type of person who would hold a grudge."

In truth, from Liu Haohui’s perspective, the fact that Ju Jiahong could put aside his pride and use 280 grams of plaster was already a tremendous show of magnanimity and progress. In the medical field, who could guarantee they would never make a mistake in their entire life? Recognizing a mistake and correcting it was a great virtue, one that demonstrated the demeanor of an esteemed master.

"Since the words were spoken, the deed must be done." Ju Jiahong shook his head, a hint of bitter resolve appearing on his face. "A person must keep their word, and a doctor must do so even more. I secretly underestimated him before. I originally thought that even if he was highly skilled, he was only exceptional in certain aspects—that he had defeated me merely on the level of technique. But after hearing Director Zhong’s words just now, I realized that on the level of the Dao—the fundamental principles of medicine—he left me behind long ago. If I don’t make this trip personally, I might never be able to overcome this mental hurdle for the rest of my life."

Liu Haohui was completely baffled. "Director Zhong? Director Zhong Dongyang? What did he say to you?"

Ju Jiahong, however, was unwilling to discuss it further. He just waved his hand wearily. "I won’t go into the details. Even if I told you, I’m afraid you wouldn’t believe it. In any case, just help me set up a meeting with him. If it’s inconvenient for him, I’ll go wait for him at the entrance of the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

Looking at Ju Jiahong’s "if you don’t do it, I’ll go block his door myself" posture, Liu Haohui knew he couldn’t talk him out of it.

It was also his first time seeing Ju Jiahong in such a state. This was no longer a simple matter of winning or losing an academic debate. It was more like someone who had always believed he stood at the summit, only to suddenly discover an even higher, more majestic peak towering above the clouds. The ensuing shock and self-doubt could only be quelled by seeking answers face-to-face.

"Alright, I’ll contact him right now," Liu Haohui sighed.

In truth, he didn’t want these two "monsters" to get too close. Every interaction with Li Xu dealt a devastating blow to the pride of an ordinary genius like himself.

***

*PS: Thank you to ’Acupuncture Cures Fast’ for tipping 500 coins.*