At nearly 6:50 PM, Qi Xiuping hurried to the teaching building in the southeast corner of the Affiliated Hospital. Following the directions in a text message, he arrived at a classroom on the fifth floor.

Pushing the door open, he surveyed the scene inside. Qi Xiuping immediately thought, ’Holy shit,’ and his heart pounded with even more anxiety.

Not only were there at least thirty people in the classroom, but he also saw many familiar faces.

Qi Xiuping even recognized that two of them were already attending physicians.

’Dammit, why are attending physicians competing for this too?’

’At this rate, there must be another two or three attending physicians among the dozen or so unfamiliar faces.’

’How is anyone supposed to survive this?’

"Hey, Qi Xiuping, what’s your number?"

Feeling the immense pressure, Qi Xiuping followed the voice with his eyes.

He saw that the person calling him was Pan Jichuan, a "second-generation doctor" of the same rank who had interned with him in several departments.

"Number eighteen!"

Qi Xiuping quickly composed himself, replied cheerfully, and strode into the classroom.

At the same time, he constantly nodded or waved to acknowledge the colleagues he knew.

After some pleasantries, Qi Xiuping sat down at the desk labeled with the number "18" and stuffed his briefcase into the desk cubby.

Just then, he felt a weight on his left shoulder. He saw Pan Jichuan leaning in, his hand resting on it.

"Hey, Qi Xiuping, feeling confident?"

Qi Xiuping shook his head with a wry smile. "I was confident, but after seeing this lineup, I’ve got none left."

"There must be five or six attending physicians here today, right?"

Pan Jichuan sat down next to Qi Xiuping and said nonchalantly, "What’s there to be afraid of with attending physicians?"

"If we had taken the assessment early, we could have passed it easily and become attending physicians too."

Qi Xiuping said flatteringly, "With your skills, of course you don’t have to worry about competing with them."

"But I’m not on the same level."

Pan Jichuan chuckled, leaned closer to Qi Xiuping, and lowered his voice. "Qi Xiuping, you don’t have to play weak with me."

"I know you’ve been getting pointers from Yan Feifan these past few days."

"Got any useful inside information? Spill some, won’t you?"

Pan Jichuan raised an eyebrow, gave Qi Xiuping a knowing look, and added, "I’ll owe you one. If there’s ever anything I can do to help, I won’t hesitate."

Qi Xiuping said with a frank expression, "Pan Jichuan, since you know that much, you must also know that I haven’t been doing anything else these past few days."

"I’ve been in the emergency department from morning till night, treating patients’ flesh wounds and drilling my wound treatment and suturing techniques."

"Occasionally, Mr. Yan points out my shortcomings."

"That’s all in the realm of basic skills, which have always been your strong suit."

Pan Jichuan said, somewhat smugly, "As for basic skills, my dad has been forcing me to practice them since I was a kid."

"My level... well, it’s just a tiny bit better than yours."

He then looked toward the classroom door and muttered to himself, "I just wonder how Mr. Wang will test our basic skills."

Pan Jichuan had barely finished speaking when the sound of shuffled footsteps came from outside the classroom door.

Then, Wang Chuan and Lin Qian walked into the classroom.

In addition, a group of young women dressed like university students were crowded at the entrance.

Standing at the lectern, Wang Chuan first swept an authoritative gaze over everyone sitting bolt upright in dead silence before speaking slowly.

"Thank you for your faith in me and for participating in this assessment."

"However, due to my limited energy, I can only take five people. Yet, thirty-three of you signed up, so I must resort to this rather crude assessment method."

After saying this, Wang Chuan gestured with his hand.

The university students gathered at the door filed in, each one taking a seat next to a candidate.

As the young women sat down, they also placed a small roll of clear tape and a pair of scissors on the desk in front of each candidate.

This scene made Qi Xiuping’s heart pound wildly. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He was both excited and apprehensive.

Over the past two or three nights, Qi Xiuping had been cramming last-minute, boning up on knowledge related to plastic surgery aesthetics.

But this kind of perception wasn’t something you could improve just by wishing it.

Yan Feifan had even commented on it.

His skill level in this area could only be considered average.

To be blunt, it was mediocre.

As Qi Xiuping carefully studied the ordinary face of the girl next to him, Wang Chuan’s voice sounded again.

"These are models I’ve specially recruited from the university."

"Your task is to use only the clear tape to make some changes and improvements to their facial features."

"Based on the changes you make, and according to my own standards, I will select fifteen of you to remain."

"You have one hour."

"Begin now..."

Yan Feifan finished getting ready, left the changing room, and walked out of the surgical area’s isolation doors. He was surprised to find his sister, along with Yu Suye and Yu Chuanbai, waiting for him in the family waiting area.

"What are you all doing here?"

"Waiting to have dinner with you!" Yan Ziruo said with a light laugh.

Yu Suye added, "The hospital atmosphere makes me feel at ease and relaxed."

"Besides, I’m not hungry at all, so I decided to just wait and have dinner with you."

Yu Chuanbai muttered under his breath, "Of course not, after eating so much for lunch..."

He noticed his sister’s icy glare and promptly shut his mouth.

"Feifan, how did the surgery go?"

Hearing Yu Suye ask about the surgery, Yan Feifan said happily, "Pretty well. Compared to the practice runs, the difficulty didn’t change much. It was all within a controllable range."

He couldn’t help but add with a laugh, "The wound was from a bite, so the surface was ragged. I had to trim a little extra when cleaning it."

"So now... well... tsk tsk..."

Yu Suye smiled and said, "That’s not what’s most important. Health is what matters."

"Most patients who undergo replantation surgery develop psychological issues..."

Yu Chuanbai couldn’t listen to this anymore.

He coughed loudly twice and cut in, "I’m starving. Let’s hurry up and get some food."

Yan Feifan glanced at the time. It was almost 8:20 PM.

"Have you decided on a place to eat?"

He asked casually, then added, "I have to make a trip to the teaching building first."

"Mr. Wang’s assessment is tonight."

"He sent a text saying that if my surgery finished before 8:30, I should head over to the teaching building..."

Yan Ziruo and the Yu siblings were helpless and could only accompany Yan Feifan to the teaching building first...

When Yan Feifan arrived at the classroom on the fifth floor of the teaching building, he found only fifteen people were seated inside.

Qi Xiuping was one of them.

Wang Chuan was holding a rectangular block of silicone and introducing the second part of the assessment.

"You need to carve this block of silicone into an identical nose, according to the diagrams and data I provide."

"After that, you will suture the kidskin you’ve been given into the skin for the nose and cover it."

"You have three hours for this assessment."

"Begin now..."

Wang Chuan turned to Yan Feifan and said, "Feifan, you’ll provide them with a demonstration and a model."

"Let them know what a real skill gap looks like."

Yan Feifan was frustrated. His sister, Su Ye, and the others were waiting outside the door for him to go to dinner.

But Mr. Wang had already spoken, so he couldn’t very well refuse.

Yan Feifan took the rectangular silicone block, glanced at the A4 paper on the lectern which showed side, front, and nostril views of a nose with detailed measurements, then casually picked up a scalpel from the desk and began to carve.

His fingers moved like a blur. Shaved-off scraps of silicone fell like wind-driven rain into a small empty box on the desk with a series of soft THUDS.

Three or four minutes later, Yan Feifan placed the fully carved silicone nose on the desk.

Seeing how quickly and almost dismissively Yan Feifan had finished, Wang Chuan walked to the desk with a grim face and picked up the silicone nose.

One look, and he was startled.

Although it felt a tiny bit rough to the touch, the bridge, tip, and wings of the nose were an exact match for the diagram.

Wang Chuan picked up the calipers from the desk and measured it.

The margin of error for the nose height, width, nostrils, and septum were all within 0.1 millimeters.

’Such precise control...’

As Wang Chuan marveled at this, he looked over at Yan Feifan.

He saw Yan Feifan spread the soft, thin piece of kidskin on the desk, pick up the scalpel, and make a few light cuts, dividing it into several specifically shaped pieces.

Then, with a needle holder in one hand and surgical forceps in the other, Yan Feifan’s hands began to suture, dancing like butterflies flitting through flowers...

Four or five minutes later, Yan Feifan slipped the sutured kidskin over the silicone nose.

"Mr. Wang, it’s done."

"If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving."

"Mr. Wang, I’m in a hurry..."

Wang Chuan saw the kidskin fit over the silicone nose like a perfect seal and waved his hand. "Get out of my sight..."