It was nearly 3:30 in the afternoon in the pathology lab on the seventh floor of the Comprehensive Diagnostics Building.
Dressed in sterile scrubs, gloves, a surgical cap, and a mask, Yan Feifan stood under the watchful eyes of Qee Sheng and Liu Jin. With a swift, decisive motion, he made the first incision on the back of the left hand resting on the operating table.
The moment the blade descended, both Qee Sheng's and Liu Jin's eyes lit up.
You can spot a master from their very first move.
As professionals themselves, Qee Sheng and Liu Jin could naturally see the profound skill behind Yan Feifan's seemingly casual incision.
The tip of the blade rose and fell, perfectly following the contours of the hand.
The blade glided through the skin and the thin layer of subcutaneous fat as if cutting through butter.
However, the exposed muscles and blood vessels beneath were left completely unscathed.
This was a level of effortless control that even an attending physician with three to five years of surgical experience would find difficult to achieve.
Furthermore, Qee Sheng and Liu Jin noticed that the moment the scalpel made contact, it was as if Yan Feifan had become a different person.
His gaze became so focused it seemed as though nothing else existed in his world but the severed hand he was dissecting.
They could also faintly sense an indescribable air of confidence and composure about him.
Qee Sheng and Liu Jin exchanged a look, unable to hide the surprise on their faces. They gave each other a nod and turned their expectant gazes back to Yan Feifan…
'Yan Feifan, you've slowed down quite a bit. Are you holding back?'
As Yan Feifan was concentrating on dissecting the severed hand, a crisp voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced to his left and saw a young woman in a white lab coat.
The woman was tall and long-legged, with a mane of long, jet-black hair.
As for her face…
If anyone else had been able to see her, they would have instantly forgotten how to breathe, their hearts skipping a beat.
It was a face of such perfect beauty it reached the very limits of human imagination.
Poetic descriptions like "powder would make her too pale, rouge too red; brows like kingfisher feathers, skin like white snow; a waist like bound silk, teeth like inset shells" were not enough. Hers was an ineffable, breathtaking beauty—the very pinnacle of beauty.
But could such a perfect woman, a beauty that defied the limits of imagination, truly exist in reality?
Standing to one side, Qee Sheng and Liu Jin were completely oblivious to her presence, their eyes still glued to Yan Feifan's dissection.
Yan Feifan's hands didn't pause for a second, but he said angrily in his mind, 'Yiyi, why have you shown up again?'
'Go back this instant! Don't disturb me!'
The perfect beauty called Yiyi snorted in displeasure. 'Yan Feifan, although I'm a virtual character you imagined, I am also fused with the skill-based personality that split off from you.'
'In other words, we are equals. You have no right to order me around.'
'And Yan Feifan, you still haven't answered my question!'
Yan Feifan scoffed and ignored her.
This impossibly perfect woman, Yiyi, was indeed a figment of Yan Feifan's imagination.
Trapped in his own consciousness for an eternity, Yan Feifan would have surely gone mad if he didn't have someone to talk to.
What Yan Feifan hadn't expected, however...
...was that Yiyi could still pop up in front of him after he had woken up.
This made him realize he had developed multiple personalities.
Fortunately, the host personality that occupied his body still had powerful control.
For the time being, everything was still within his control.
Seeing that he wasn't responding, Yiyi raised an eyebrow and threatened in a cold tone, 'Yan Feifan, don't forget, if it weren't for our help, do you think you would have passed the hospital's mental state evaluation so easily?'
'Do you believe I could call out Erer, Sansan, and the others to ruin this little surgical skills demonstration of yours?'
Hearing this, Yan Feifan felt helpless and had to relent. 'Yiyi, I am indeed holding back so I don't seem too over-the-top.'
'No matter how much of a breakthrough I've had, even with a genius's halo, there has to be a limit to how much my surgical skills can improve at once.'
'I need to give people a chance to accept it gradually.'
Yiyi's tone was full of disdain. 'You possess absolute skill, why do you need to worry about the opinions of others?'
'Listen to me. Let loose and let your genius truly shine…'
'Yiyi, this is my decision!'
After that impatient reply, Yan Feifan stopped responding and continued dissecting the severed hand at his own set pace…
A little over two hours later, Yan Feifan put down his scalpel.
On the medical trays before him, arranged from right to left, lay a complete, intact sheet of skin from a left hand.
A left hand composed of muscle and tendon!
A left hand composed of blood vessels of varying sizes!
A left hand composed of nerves of varying sizes!
In the final tray lay a left hand composed of bone, without a single trace of muscle or blood clinging to it.
CLAP… CLAP…
Liu Jin applauded, praising loudly, "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"
Qee Sheng also clapped, nodding excitedly. "Xiaoyan, you have truly shocked me. I'm completely stunned."
"Your dissection and separation technique is so skilled and precise, I have to give you two thumbs up. Many surgeons with seven or eight years of clinical experience would find this difficult to achieve."
"Thank you for your acknowledgment, Mr. Qi!"
Yan Feifan replied politely, then asked, "Is my skill level high enough to attract Dr. Qin's attention?"
Qee Sheng replied with complete confidence, "Without a doubt."
"If she sees this performance and remains unmoved, then she's truly lost all hope."
"In that case, no one will be able to save her."
Liu Jin chuckled. "I can say with one hundred percent certainty that when Dr. Qin Ying sees a genius student like you, Feifan, she won't have the heart to kill herself."
"However, Mr. Qi, there are a few things I need to say upfront…"
Liu Jin looked at Qee Sheng, his expression serious. "Dr. Qin can be transferred to our Affiliated Hospital to run a specialist clinic, or she can focus on teaching or administrative work. If she wants to teach at Binhai University Medical College, I can arrange all of it."
"But…"
He pointed at Yan Feifan and continued, "Yan Feifan must, and I mean *must*, remain at our Affiliated Hospital."
"Sending him to City First Hospital is absolutely out of the question."
Qee Sheng chuckled lightly. "Mr. Liu, I'm part of the Affiliated Hospital too. Naturally, I wouldn't let Xiaoyan leave."
He then sighed softly, "After everything that's happened, my niece could use a change of work environment."
Qee Sheng checked the time and said to Yan Feifan, "Xiaoyan, it's quitting time. Go home and get a good night's rest."
"And tomorrow, put on another great performance in front of my niece…"
Yan Feifan first went back to the residents' lounge in the administration building to change his clothes, locking his lab coat, stethoscope, and other things in his locker.
He took the stairs, and just as he stepped into the first-floor lobby, someone ran up and hugged him tightly.
Yan Feifan reminded her, "Sis, we're in public. People are watching!"
"I'm hugging my own dear brother. What's there to be mindful of?"
Yan Ziruo linked her arm with Yan Feifan's, and they headed out of the building.
"Haha, Feifan, you got into the Diagnostics Department! I'm so happy for you. All my colleagues say that only the up-and-coming doctors the hospital is grooming for big things get to go there."
"Feifan, how was your day in the Diagnostics Department?"
"Are you tired?"
"And your mentor, and everyone else, are they treating you well?"
"It was fine," was all Yan Feifan said.
Yan Ziruo giggled. "Coming from you, 'fine' means it was great. We have to celebrate tonight! I'll buy some extra dishes."
She paused, then said in a hushed, dramatic tone, "Oh, Feifan, did you hear? That 'Iron Abbess' committed suicide."
Yan Feifan nodded.
Yan Ziruo continued in a conspiratorial whisper, "Feifan, let me tell you, I heard today that the young doctor who jumped from the building was actually a pretty outstanding guy."
"He made a bet with some people that he could pass the Iron Abbess's evaluation, so he made the suicidal move of picking her to be his mentor."
"But she ripped him to shreds in several consecutive evaluations, and it just completely broke his spirit."
"Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, he got caught cheating on an exam by the Iron Abbess, and she said he was going to be expelled."
"And just like that, he couldn't handle the blow and had a complete breakdown…"
"He was just too fragile."
Yan Ziruo commented, then added, "Feifan, the young man's family came and made a scene at the hospital a couple of times, but then they just stopped for some reason."
"They must have reached a settlement with the hospital or something…"
All the way home, Yan Ziruo chattered away, telling Yan Feifan every little piece of news and gossip she had heard.
Yan Feifan simply listened, never showing impatience or interjecting with an opinion. He just listened quietly.
They took the subway, transferred to the light rail, then switched to a bus. After getting off, they bought some vegetables and meat at the supermarket near their complex.
It was 7:30 PM by the time the brother and sister finally walked into their residential complex.
They entered Building Seven and took the elevator to the twelfth floor.
The moment the elevator doors opened, Yan Feifan saw a young girl in a blue and white school uniform sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of his apartment door, reading a book.