The Enhanced Doctor

The intern doctors on duty tonight were Liu Yiqing and Miao Rui, led by Wei Yuan; Li Hao, led by Qi Wentai; and additionally Liang Xiaolin and Qing Kewa, led by Liu Banxia.

Only Liu Banxia's interns, Liang Xiaolin and Qing Kewa, were somewhat special. After all, Liu Banxia, as the resident in charge, had to be on call 24/7, which gave his interns more flexibility with their night shifts.

The other interns had to follow their nominal supervising doctors, or they had to earn the right to work a night shift as a reward.

Of course, if anyone truly wanted to work more night shifts, Liu Banxia wouldn't stop them. He was very easygoing, but even when working the night shift, they couldn't let it affect their normal daytime work.

"Miao Rui, you and Li Hao, run an errand and buy some fruit for everyone. I'll transfer you the money. Just buy whatever looks good," Liu Banxia said, taking out his phone and transferring a hundred yuan to Miao Rui.

"Alright then. Should we buy more grapes? You seem to like them a lot," Miao Rui replied.

"Buy whatever you all like. We used to scrounge for fruit back in the day," Liu Banxia said with a laugh.

Miao Rui nodded and hurried out with Li Hao.

This must be one of the perks of having juniors around. In the past, someone at Liu Banxia's or Wang Chao's level would have had to run such errands themselves.

"Brother Wei, I'd like to discuss something with you. Do you think it's better to have rotating night shifts like our hospital does, or to split into two teams for day and night shifts?" Liu Banxia asked.

"That's a tough one. Both scheduling methods have their pros and cons," Wei Yuan said after some thought.

"Although the split-shift system is more common abroad, it's not very practical for our country, is it?"

"Let me put it this way: right now, we have fewer patients. But once we're fully operational, how much time will handovers alone take? Those on the night shift might not get much rest during the day."

Liu Banxia pondered for a moment and nodded. My idea was indeed a bit ill-considered. Wei Yuan hadn't pointed it out directly, which spared him some embarrassment.

But scheduling was truly a headache. Rotating night shifts were easy to arrange. Aside from him, the permanent fixture, the other four could just take turns.

But the reality is, once patient numbers increase, handovers really become time-consuming. Those on the night shift would end up working significantly more hours each month.

"I guess I'll have to work night shifts consistently from now on, unless we train someone else," Zhou Li added from the side, her face a bit glum.

"Don't worry, we're a bit understaffed at the moment. But we've also got many new intern nurses this time. We'll train them up gradually," Liu Banxia said cheerfully.

"If you ask me, Sister Wang is grooming you. You could become a proper head nurse in the future. How great is that? Many people would kill for that opportunity and don't get it."

Zhou Li shot him a glance. "That's why Brother Wang and I are hesitating. If we decide to have a child, I'd have to take leave, which would definitely disrupt things here in the Emergency Department."

"It won't be a big deal. By then, we'll have trained up these interns, and there will be dedicated physicians managing the inpatient wards, which will significantly reduce your pressure."

"To be frank, unless there's a major incident, that's when it gets truly hectic. Even with all of us, it would be tough, and we'd have to call for backup from other departments."

"Don't be foolish and sacrifice having a child for your career. If you want one, go for it. Otherwise, if you keep putting it off, who knows how long it'll be. Trust me on this. I'm planning on staying in the Emergency Department long-term anyway. If anything comes up, I'll have your back."

"Haha, that sounds quite reassuring. I'll make you some braised pork bones tomorrow," Zhou Li complimented him.

At this point, Miao Rui and Li Hao returned from their fruit-buying trip. They brought back two large watermelons, along with some grapes, apples, and bananas. Did they want to buy more, like some mangoes? Unfortunately, there wasn't enough money.

What could a hundred yuan buy? At current prices, watermelons were two yuan a jin; these two large ones alone probably cost sixty to seventy yuan. To have bought so much else, they had probably chipped in some of their own money.

"Miao Rui, are these two melons you bought ripe?" Liu Banxia said, playfully tapping the watermelons a couple of times before asking with a straight face.

Miao Rui was startled. "Teacher Liu, they should be ripe. The vendor helped me pick them."

"You, you're so naive. He's just teasing you, trying to act like a big shot," Zhou Li said, shaking her head in resignation.

"Haha, haven't you seen that TV series with Sun Honglei? It's a good one. Even though it's old, it's worth watching," Liu Banxia said cheerfully.

Miao Rui felt a bit helpless. He had thought the fruits he bought weren't to Liu Banxia's liking and had almost offered to go exchange them.

"Just holding them and gnawing isn't the way to do it. Liu Yiqing, prepare a basin for our two 'patients.' Liang Xiaolin, get the toothpicks ready and ensure airway patency. Miao Rui, prepare for surgery. Li Hao, fruit knife!" Liu Banxia issued a string of commands.

The whole scene looked just like a resuscitation team in the emergency room saving a patient.

The veterans in the Emergency Department were somewhat used to Liu Banxia's unconventional ways. Night shifts were lonely and tedious, and he was just trying to liven things up. At most, Miao Rui and the others, along with the new intern nurses, were a bit taken aback.

After all, Liu Banxia held a rather high position in the Emergency Department. Excluding Zhou Shuwen, who had been busy clearing his surgery schedule recently, Liu Banxia was now practically a co-leader.

Once the large watermelons were wiped clean, Liu Banxia picked up the fruit knife and, CHOP, CHOP, CHOP, started cutting away.

And then? The more Liu Banxia cut, the happier he became. He hadn't cut a watermelon in ages, so why did it feel so natural and effortless today?

The system truly is heaven-defying! The strength attribute's additional effects were Tool Proficiency and Tool Effectiveness. It seemed this didn't just apply to medical instruments but to all tools.

"Isn't that annoying? It's one thing for you to be fast at surgery—you're a doctor, after all. But how can you be so good at cutting watermelon too? The rind you've cut is so thin, barely any flesh wasted!" Zhou Li grumbled, looking at the watermelon rinds Liu Banxia produced.

"Next time you come to my place for dinner, let's have Sichuan Boiled Fish. You can be in charge of slicing the fish. I sometimes mess it up, but I still crave it. And Old Wang is lazy; he just wants to eat ready-made food."

"Yes, yes! I want to eat Sichuan Boiled Fish! Thank you, Sister Li!" Before Liu Banxia could even reply, Qing Kewa, who was beside them, exclaimed happily.

For Qing Kewa, what she looked forward to most was going out with everyone to have fun and enjoy delicious food. For a surgeon, she was perhaps a bit too keen on such diversions.

"Alright, let's eat first. We'll save the other one for our midnight snack. I'll cut up the apples for everyone too. My touch is really good today," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"When I get some time off, I'll find a restaurant and see if they're hiring anyone to handle cutting and prepping ingredients. I can learn some skills there too. After all, we all wield knives."

"PFFT."

Liang Xiaolin, who was eating watermelon, couldn't help but chuckle. She remembered when Liu Banxia had run into Zhou Yang at the mall and had bluffed him by claiming to be a chef.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Li asked curiously.

"Nothing. It's just that he's too mischievous and loves to fool people," Liang Xiaolin said.

Zhou Li was highly amused. Liang Xiaolin was the only one who dared to speak her mind so openly.

Liu Banxia didn't care. Let them talk; it wasn't like he'd lose a piece of flesh over it. He just continued cutting the apples.

There were fewer apples, so he cut them into smaller pieces. Even with a somewhat clumsy fruit knife, his hands moved with a SWISH, SWISH, SWISH.

Just as Zhou Li had said, with skills like these and a proper kitchen knife, slicing fish would be no problem at all.

Actually, if he wasn't afraid of being too shockingly unconventional, Liu Banxia would have liked to try peeling grapes with the fruit knife. The system was truly heaven-defying; although it was a medical support system, many fundamental skills seemed to be universally applicable.

This was his new discovery. Even as he was using a toothpick to eat fruit, he was pondering this.

It seemed he'd have to find a chance to prove himself next time. His previous attempt at learning yoga with Wang Xiaoyan hadn't gone well; they'd called him "the stiff man."

That shouldn't have been the outcome. It was just that he'd been a bit shy back then, especially since everyone else there was female. He had to redeem himself next time and not let them call him names.

"Liu Yiqing, how did our Teacher Liu get so amazing? When will we ever reach his level?" Miao Rui whispered, sidling up to Liu Yiqing.

"Us? We shouldn't even dream about it right now. Forget suturing patients, we can't even suture pigskin as fast as Teacher Liu," Liu Yiqing said.

"Haven't you noticed? Teacher Liu rarely has any idle time. Even when he's chatting with us, his hands are constantly practicing tying knots."

"I've tried it before; it's impossible. I mean, I can tie them, but it definitely distracts me from other things. I bet even if you handed Teacher Liu a brand-new suture thread, he could tie it perfectly without even thinking."

Miao Rui nodded, completely agreeing with Liu Yiqing.

He had also heard Wang Chao let slip that Liu Banxia had once recklessly challenged Shi Lei's knot-tying speed and had been utterly defeated. And now? Look at his speed now; it was truly incredible.

This was the result of diligent practice. Only by putting in such hard work could one achieve such results.

The suture thread Liu Banxia practiced with was usually kept behind his back, tucked into his white coat. When he was studying or thinking, his hands would naturally go behind him, and he would start tying knots.

It was a habit he had developed recently. His hands were rarely still; he was always finding something for them to do to train his finger dexterity.

This new discovery about the system's capabilities made him incredibly happy. Although it wouldn't make him a top expert in other fields—after all, the system's primary function was medical assistance—

But still? It could add a bit more zest to his life!

His cooking wasn't great, but now he could work on that too. He could just place his hand over the pot and instantly know the oil temperature. He could cook for himself in the future and save money!

He was a glutton too. Even though his current earnings were decent, that was only because of the extra income. At present, he was currently just a resident doctor; even if he frantically performed surgeries, his salary next month wouldn't increase by much.