Masterful Miracle Doctor

After breakfast, since Lin Jie also needed to return to the Affiliated Hospital in the afternoon to attend to the somewhat mysterious patient Meng Yang had mentioned, he decided to drive An Weize and An Kemeng to the hospital ahead of time.

Upon arriving at the hospital, they first went to the neurosurgery department to visit Shan Huaizhou and learned that the test results had come back, confirming a severe blockage in one of the cerebral arteries.

Currently, Shan Huaizhou is in the treatment room undergoing urgent thrombolytic therapy.

With the diagnosis confirmed and effective treatment underway, Lin Jie naturally received thanks and praise from Shan Huaizhou's family, as well as from Xian Ping'an, Cui Yunan, Liang Ming, and others.

Feeling proud, An Weize humbly responded a few words on Lin Jie's behalf and then said, "Jie, since Huaizhou is out of danger, you should get back to work. I'll catch a ride home with Lao Xian and the others later."

Under these circumstances, Lin Jie took the little follower, An Kemeng, back to his office.

As they entered the office, even before Lin Jie could sit down, An Kemeng eagerly asked with her hands on the desk, "Brother Jie, where should I start learning from?"

Lin Jie gave her a sidelong glance and said, "Since you've decided to start today, I will help you achieve that. I've already made a call, and someone will bring something over shortly."

"Once the items arrive, you can begin."

An Kemeng responded with a simple "oh," somewhat bored while observing the familiar office, and refrained from disturbing Lin Jie as he checked his emails.

After about ten minutes, a hospital staff member arrived with a heavy half-bag of items and a thick set of lecture notes.

"Brother Jie, what's in this bag? It's for me, right?"

Curious, An Kemeng, without waiting for Lin Jie's response, untied the bag opening and peered inside.

An exclamation of "Ah" escaped from An Kemeng's mouth.

At the same moment, she sprinted up beside Lin Jie at lightning speed, clutching Lin Jie's arm tightly, and shouted in panic, "A head, a skull! Brother Jie, there's a skull in the bag."

Lin Jie could feel An Kemeng's trembling body, and seeing her slightly pale face, he lightly patted the back of her hand and said, "The bag contains a complete, unassembled human skeletal specimen."

"The human structure is one of the most fundamental aspects of medical education. It can be said to be the foundation of all foundations. Only by thoroughly mastering and becoming proficient in human structures can you lay a solid foundation for further learning."

"The human skeleton, comparatively, is the simplest part of human anatomy."

He smiled softly and said, "Kemeng, if you're scared, you can quit anytime."

"This is just a skeleton specimen. In future anatomical studies, you will be dealing with cadavers."

Once the initial fear subsided, a much calmer An Kemeng loudly argued, "Brother Jie, I wasn't scared; it just caught me off guard."

"I've been mentally prepared to study medicine."

To prove she was indeed unafraid, she released Lin Jie, took a deep breath, clenched her teeth, reached into the bag, and pulled out a bone, waving it at Lin Jie defiantly.

"Brother Jie, look, now that I'm mentally prepared, I'm not scared at all."

Lin Jie could clearly see that An Kemeng was pretending to be calm.

Just coming into contact with it and managing to suppress her discomfort was enough to satisfy Lin Jie.

Lin Jie didn't immediately stop An Kemeng from holding the bone.

Though these bones are real human bones, they have been medically treated and contain no germs, which makes handling them harmless.

Nonetheless, Lin Jie tossed her a box of doctor's rubber gloves, saying, "Your hands have oils and sweat that can stain the bones. When studying various specimens, gloves should be worn."

"Kemeng, do you know which bone you're holding?"

An Kemeng glanced at the block-like bone in her hand and, now more adapted, boasted, "It's a vertebra. I've seen pig vertebrae that look similar, so this is no challenge for me."

Lin Jie, smiling, continued to inquire, "Do you know which vertebra it is and where it is located in the human body?"

"Brother Jie, how would I know that!"

An Kemeng displayed an expression of mock grievance, as if being deliberately tested.

"Human vertebrae are categorized into seven cervical vertebrae, twelve thoracic vertebrae, five lumbar vertebrae, five sacral vertebrae, and four to five coccygeal vertebrae. As a person ages, the five sacral vertebrae fuse into a single sacrum, and four to five coccygeal vertebrae fuse into a single coccyx."

"Thus, an adult spine typically consists of twenty-four vertebrae, a sacrum, and a coccyx, totaling twenty-six bones."

"The bone you're holding is the third lumbar vertebra."

As he spoke, Lin Jie pushed the thick notes to the edge of the desk and said, "You have a week to master the human skeleton."

"My requirements aren't high. You simply need to be able to identify its exact position in the human body when given a bone at random."

An Kemeng stuck out her tongue, muttering, "And you say that's not a high requirement?"

Despite her words, she obediently picked up the lecture notes, sat on the sofa, and began flipping through them…

The two had their lunch, which they ordered, in the office.

To eat lunch, An Kemeng washed her hands for at least ten minutes, yet she still didn't have much of an appetite, only eating a few bites before stopping.

Lin Jie didn't force her, knowing there was a necessary adjustment period.

Shortly before two in the afternoon, Lin Jie met with Meng Yang and a solemn-looking middle-aged man who accompanied him in the office.

Meng Yang, noticing the young woman in the office, said, "Expert Lin, the matter we need to discuss has to be kept confidential, and it cannot be known by outsiders."

Lin Jie had no choice but to let An Kemeng step out.

After An Kemeng left, the stern-faced middle-aged man very unceremoniously went to the window to draw the curtains and took out a lighter-looking object from his pocket, pressed it, and placed it on the desk.

"This is an electronic jammer, it can prevent eavesdropping," Meng Yang explained in a low voice.

This setup seems unusual, could it be that this time the patient is truly a significant figure?

A president, prime minister, king, or princess from some country?

While Lin Jie was lost in these thoughts, the middle-aged man opened the briefcase he brought along, took out some photos, and placed them in front of Lin Jie.

These were photos of two Caucasian men, including face close-ups, nude front shots, nude back shots, as well as photos of feet, and even dental X-rays.

After going through these photos one by one, Lin Jie asked perplexedly, "Shouldn't you be showing me the patient's medical record? What do these photos mean?"

The middle-aged man remained silent and just looked at Meng Yang.

Meng Yang softly said, "Expert Lin, this is actually a secret operation, so there's no need to ask too much. You only need to answer whether it is possible or not."

"Expert Lin, based on these documents, is it possible through surgical means to transform one person into another? The requirement is that even their closest friends and colleagues wouldn't notice."

Lin Jie was taken aback; is this impersonation?

It seems I might be involved in a significant national secret operation.

This conjecture both excited and scared Lin Jie.

He pondered for a moment and said, "The bone structure of these two faces is quite different, and due to the inertia of facial muscles, it would be very difficult to completely transform one person's face into another's. It's not something that can be completed in one or two surgeries."

"In terms of time, it would take at least two to three years."

Meng Yang pressed, "So does this mean, at least if their facial bone structure is similar, and their appearances somewhat alike, it might be possible to complete such a surgery?"

Lin Jie replied quietly, "That depends on the level of resemblance."

"However, unless they are identical twins, no matter how similar, transforming one into an exact replica of another is incredibly difficult. Aside from requiring extremely high-level plastic surgery skills, it also needs a certain amount of luck."

"Expert Lin, I need to know..."

The middle-aged man suddenly spoke, his voice flat, devoid of any emotion, "If I present you with two individuals who look roughly alike and give you sufficient time..."

"Can you transform one person into another, at least fooling surveillance cameras and friends and colleagues?"

"This..."

Lin Jie hesitated for a moment and said, "I have never done such a thing, but theoretically speaking, with a bit of luck, it should be possible."

"So you're saying, Expert Lin, it should be achievable. Does that imply someone in the world can achieve this?"

After the middle-aged man asked this, Lin Jie pondered and asserted, "Someone should be able to achieve this."

The middle-aged man nodded slightly and spoke again, "Expert Lin, we are well aware of your profound expertise in plastic surgery. For instance, there was a young lady, Fang Yan, who gained a new life and became a different person through your surgical skills."

Lin Jie was shocked.

The other party had investigated him thoroughly, even knowing about Fang Yan's case.

He continued, "There's also Zhuang Shilei, Cui Shanshan, and Ni Ni, who all reflect your extraordinary plastic surgery skills."

Saying this, the man took out another stack of photos from his briefcase.

"With such advanced plastic surgery skills, you're surely skilled at identifications as well. Expert Lin, could you identify if the people in these dozen or so photos are the same person?"

Lin Jie took the photos and found that they were of a young Asian girl at different times.

Judging by appearances, the people in these photos should all be the same person.

He looked for a while and shook his head, "The resolution of these photos is a bit low, do you have high-resolution electronic photos, the kind that can be enlarged?"

"Yes!"

The middle-aged man then took out a thick tablet from the briefcase, turned it on, operated it for a while, and called up the same photos, handing them to Lin Jie.

Lin Jie enlarged them and looked at them carefully, murmuring, "This girl's face has undergone no less than ten plastic surgeries, making it difficult to determine quickly."

After a while, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he picked out two photos from the stack on the table and handed them to the middle-aged man, confidently saying, "I can't be sure about the others, but the people in these two photos are definitely not the same."

"Reason?" the middle-aged man asked in a deep voice.

One of these two photos was of a woman in a short skirt, and the other in shorts.

Lin Jie pointed to the knees of the woman in the short skirt photo, saying, "The legs of both haven't undergone surgery. This woman's legs are likely bowlegged."

"Her current leg shape should have been corrected through exercise."

"But no matter how they're corrected, the shape of her knees is always slightly deformed. If you carefully look at the other person's knees, you should be able to spot the differences."

The middle-aged man picked up the two photos, compared them carefully for about three or four minutes, exhaled, and said, "Expert Lin, thank you, you've been a great help to us."

He paused for a moment and said, "Expert Lin, let's pretend today's conversation never happened. Please forget about this and don't mention it to anyone."

After saying this, the middle-aged man packed up his things and left the office straight away.

Meng Yang, however, stayed behind and advised again, "Expert Lin, forget about what just happened, now let's..."

"Talk about a patient I'm about to bring..."