Surgeons Episode 21 Recap
> Surgeons Recap
Editor-in-Chief Hu expressed great satisfaction with Chu Jun's manga, immediately proposing a contract for a major new project that would require her to work six days a week. Chu Jun, realizing the heavy time commitment, expressed difficulty in committing to both, explaining she still had her hospital job. Editor Hu, surprised, questioned Yang Zixuan, who had suggested Chu Jun would resign.
Yang Zixuan tried to persuade Chu Jun by highlighting the new company's salary, which was three times that of Renhe Hospital, along with comprehensive benefits, and offered to find her an assistant. He argued she should pursue her dream, especially given her dissatisfaction with training at Renhe. Chu Jun, however, stated that changing jobs was not so simple and returned to the hospital, still grappling with her decision.
Later, Lu Chenxi, feeling the strain of her month-long suspension, was taken golfing by Zhuang Shu for a change of pace. Zhuang Shu confidently swung his club, hitting the ball a good distance, and then invited Lu Chenxi to try. Assuming she was a novice, he began to explain the fundamentals, even lending her his gloves and instructing her to hit without fear. To his astonishment, Lu Chenxi's first shot was remarkably long, surpassing his own.
She then revealed she had been playing since childhood with her father and was quite skilled. She proceeded to analyze Zhuang Shu's swing, pointing out his excessive hand force and body twisting, which she explained wasted energy. Lu Chenxi demonstrated the proper technique, emphasizing equal hand strength and a waist-driven downswing. Playfully calling him weak for sweating, she challenged him to a game where the loser would pay for dinner.
Zhuang Shu, acknowledging her superior skill, conceded and asked what she would like to eat, to which she replied he was sensible. After her shift, Yang Yu waited outside the hospital for Chen Shaocong. Director Zhong, noticing her, inquired why she wasn't home cooking for her mother. Yang Yu complained that Chen Shaocong had become increasingly distant since starting the mobile consultation platform project and was late to fix her water pipe at home.
Director Zhong marched back to the office and gave Chen Shaocong a slap on the head, scolding him for prioritizing work over his "wife." Chen Shaocong quickly left to go to Yang Yu's house, but not before clarifying to Director Zhong that Yang Yu had not yet agreed to be his girlfriend. At Yang Yu's home, Chen Shaocong busied himself with household chores, chopping vegetables, steaming mantou, and even preparing cold medicine for Yang Yu.
He meticulously fixed a rusted three-way valve, promising to return the next day with a non-rusting replacement. Yang Yu then asked him to help her carry her mother, which thrilled him. Upon entering the room, Chen Shaocong enthusiastically introduced himself to Yang Yu's mother as an attending physician from the Emergency Department, thirty years old. He also offered to bring his old iPad for her mother's entertainment.
As he was leaving, he cautioned Yang Yu not to mention anything unnecessary to Lu Chenxi, who would be back at work in two days, as Lu Chenxi tended to overthink things. He apologized for being preoccupied lately and promised to fetch Yang Yu for work every morning once his project was less demanding. Yang Yu accepted, bringing a wide smile to Chen Shaocong's face.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Chu Jun, still torn between her medical career and her manga aspirations, looked at her drawing of Zhuang Shu. She called Zhuang Shu, but he informed her he had two days off. Hesitating, she decided not to bother him with her dilemma and hung up. Later, after their golf outing, Zhuang Shu and Lu Chenxi chatted. Zhuang Shu subtly inquired about her past relationship with Xue Luan.
Lu Chenxi explained that while they were initially happy, their "differences in thinking" ultimately led to their separation. Zhuang Shu wondered if this made her less trusting of others. Lu Chenxi assured him she would eventually marry but admitted that she only truly felt a "sense of existence" when working at the hospital, a feeling she believed Zhuang Shu also shared, especially during her suspension.
She playfully blamed him for leading their conversation to serious topics and then demanded a French dinner with wine, which he readily agreed to. After their meal, before drifting off to sleep from the effects of the wine, Lu Chenxi spoke to Zhuang Shu about Fu Bowen, whom she hadn't yet visited, unsure of what to say.
She felt Fu Bowen, who had been like a father to her professionally, was an honest elder worthy of respect despite his past mistakes. However, she expressed frustration with the unfairness of the world, where diligent individuals like Fu Bowen suffered while opportunistic people like Yang Fan rose to power. She longed for the simpler, more blissful days at Renhe Hospital when Professor Xiu and Professor Fu had mentored her.
Zhuang Shu drove to a mountain, where they both spent the night in the vehicle. In his own home, Yang Fan sat alone, drinking, having called his son Yang Zixuan to celebrate his new position as acting dean. Yang Zixuan, however, was at a class reunion and wouldn't be returning home that night, leaving Yang Fan to celebrate in solitude. The next morning, Lu Chenxi woke first, enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery.
She secretly took humorous photos of Zhuang Shu sleeping, promising not to post them if the overnight "treatment" proved effective. Zhuang Shu woke to find her perched on the car roof. He helped her down, and she playfully clung to him, claiming dizziness from the altitude. He called her the "most troublesome doctor" he had ever seen, and she retorted that he was the "nosiest."
She suggested a celebratory hot pot dinner that night with Chen Shaocong and Yang Yu, as she was due back at work the next day. Zhuang Shu agreed but mentioned he had an "old friend" to visit that afternoon and couldn't help with shopping. That afternoon, Zhuang Shu visited Fu Bowen at a treatment facility. Fu Bowen was deeply moved that Zhuang Shu was the first to visit him.
Zhuang Shu praised Fu Bowen's courage in publicly disclosing his health condition and the truth about the lung transplant surgery. Fu Bowen reflected on the difficulty of facing one's true self, especially at the end of a career. Zhuang Shu conveyed Lu Chenxi's continued respect for him as an honest elder. Fu Bowen then asked why Zhuang Shu, a renowned thoracic surgeon, had accepted Yang Fan's invitation to Renhe.
Zhuang Shu explained that while he sought to expand his medical practice, he also had "personal matters" to resolve at Renhe. He then revealed his identity, stating he was born there and his mother, Zhang Shumei, had been a nurse in the Thoracic Surgery Department. Fu Bowen was visibly stunned, recognizing him as "Xiao Bin."
Fu Bowen recalled Zhang Shumei as an "outstanding nurse" but maintained that her "work mistakes" caused a tragedy by mistakenly administering penicillin to an allergic patient instead of Lidocaine. He stated the hospital had offered her a transfer to a library role, but she refused to accept the punishment. Zhuang Shu countered, asserting that his mother had consistently maintained she followed the order, injecting Lidocaine, and would not have made such a basic error, given her experience.
He lamented that her pleas to reopen the investigation were ignored, leading to her psychological breakdown and suicide two years later. Fu Bowen expressed sympathy but insisted the investigation's findings were clear. Zhuang Shu then directly challenged him, asking if it was truly a "mistake" or a "case of being wrongly accused." Later, Xue Luan arrived at Lu Chenxi's house, noticing several pairs of men's shoes. Lu Chenxi explained that Chen Shaocong and Zhuang Shu were renting rooms.
Xue Luan then suggested that Lu Chenxi and Zhuang Shu were dating, which she denied. Xue Luan insisted she was in love but either didn't realize it or wouldn't admit it. He then revealed his plans to move to the United States and urged Lu Chenxi to resign from her job and accompany him. He reminisced about her unwavering dedication to medicine since college, contrasting their demanding careers with the more lucrative and glamorous lives of others abroad.
He expressed regret for abandoning clinical practice for financial reasons but felt it was the right choice given the inherent unfairness faced by doctors in China, citing Fu Bowen's disgraced departure as a stark example. Xue Luan offered to arrange everything for Lu Chenxi in the US, suggesting she could either retake her license exam or transition to drug manufacturing, confident in her abilities. Lu Chenxi, however, stated her disinterest in drug manufacturing.
Xue Luan then pointed out her current precarious situation at Renhe—despite Fu Bowen securing her right to work, she lacked a proper title or personnel rights, making her future uncertain. Lu Chenxi's unwavering commitment to her surgical career, however, remained her priority.
