’They think that a small probability—a so-called two or five percent chance of surgical failure or side effects—could never possibly happen to *them*.’
’But to a doctor, that ’small percentage’ is just a statistic.’
’And doctors have seen those small-probability events actually occur.’
’That’s why doctors do everything they can to minimize that risk.’
’Unless it’s absolutely necessary, a doctor would never advise a patient to take an unnecessary risk, no matter how small the odds.’
’It’s better not to tempt fate with that ’what if’...’
When Yan Feifan got back to his apartment at Zuimo Court, a delicious aroma filled the air. He walked into the dining room to find the table laden with an impressive spread of six dishes and two soups.
Yan Feifan asked cheerfully, "Su Ye, your cooking skills have clearly improved! Which one of these dishes did you make yourself?"
Yu Suye chuckled. "I had a hand in every single dish! For this one with shiitake mushrooms and bok choy, I was the one who sorted and washed the vegetables."
"I’m the one who scored the fish."
"And I sliced the beef."
Yan Feifan rolled his eyes. "So you were just the sous-chef. And here I was thinking you’d actually cooked a dish or two."
"I’ll get my chance," Yu Suye promised.
"Just wait until I’ve studied with Mrs. Du for a little longer. Then I’ll cook a whole feast for you all by myself..."
After dinner, Yan Feifan returned to his bedroom to design a method for controlling a surgical robot to retrieve the bullet from Wang Zenglin’s lumbar spine.
’But as he delved into the details, he suddenly realized he had oversimplified the problem.’
’To achieve his goal, the surgical arm would have to be as flexible as a snake, bending and turning to navigate around organs and other obstacles.’
’It would also need to be incredibly thin, with a maximum diameter of no more than half a centimeter.’
After running numerous simulations and calculations, Yan Feifan finally came up with a design for the simplest possible surgical arm.
’Simplest’ was a relative term; the arm still required seven flexible, direction-changing joints.’
’Looking at the schematic he had sketched on the paper, Yan Feifan’s own confidence began to waver.’
’Could such a complex, slender mechanical arm even be built?’
At that moment, the sound of his phone ringing interrupted Yan Feifan’s thoughts.
He picked up his phone and saw it was a call from Dr. Qiu Ge!
"Dr. Yan, the student’s family has made their decision."
"They chose to go with medication and have transferred to the Neurology Department."
Yan Feifan let out a surprised, "Ah."
"Dr. Yan, I think all your talk about headaches and brain damage must have scared them off."
"Besides, they thought you were a little too young. They’re more inclined to trust the older specialists in Neurology."
"Sigh... To pass up a safe and effective option... I just don’t know what to say..."
Hearing this, Yan Feifan was at a loss for words.
’He had laid out the risks so starkly in the hopes of talking them out of the injection and convincing them to choose surgery. He never imagined it would backfire so completely...’