Chapter 48

Gong Xueting's father got up from the ground, dusted off the dirt from his hands, and glared at Director Zheng unhappily. He said, "Doctor, I just fainted from exhaustion at the construction site, and they brought me to the hospital. Your hospital can make money, but you shouldn't scare my daughter like that by saying it's an incurable disease. You've really frightened her! What you did is really unethical!"

"You... you... you! Are you really Gong Jianguo? How could you wake up on your own?"

Director Zheng stared at him with wide eyes, then suddenly grabbed Gong's father's hand, his eyes growing even wider, almost bulging out. Xu Yan was almost worried that his eyes would pop out.

Gong's father was very unhappy: "Doctor, how can you talk like that? Are you hoping I won't wake up?"

Director Zheng was extremely excited: "Ah, I didn't mean that. I meant that you have an incurable disease, and there's no reason for you to recover on your own..."

Gong's father's face turned even worse, and he scolded: "You have the incurable disease! Your whole family has the incurable disease! Xiaoting, let's go! This hospital is full of lunatics!"

Seeing the situation getting more and more tense, Xu Yan had to intervene. He cleared his throat and reminded: "Director Zheng, Mr. Gong has woken up. Don't you want to examine him?"

Director Zheng snapped out of his daze: "Ah, right, right! We need to examine him thoroughly! Someone, quickly call Dean Wang and the expert team over. A miracle has happened here—right, this is different, it's a real miracle!"

Gong Xueting's father didn't want to stay for any examination; he just wanted to leave with his daughter. But everyone persuaded him to stay for the examination to ensure there were no lingering effects. Not only did his daughter persuade him, but her classmates did too. Finally, Director Zheng made the final decision: "Mr. Gong, as long as you cooperate with our examination, we will waive all the hospitalization fees. The upcoming examination will be completely free!"

Gong Jianguo was afraid of examinations, mainly because he was afraid of spending money. But since it was a free physical examination with no medical fees, he might as well do it. Persuaded by everyone, Gong Jianguo finally agreed to the examination. He lay back on the bed, and a group of doctors and nurses surrounded him, taking blood and various tests.

Seeing her father recover, Gong Xueting was overwhelmed with joy. She looked at her father with tears in her eyes, too excited to sit still, walking back and forth, her face flushed with excitement.

Gong Xueting's father waking up was a joyful event for everyone, but there was a bit of disharmony. The senior student Zhao Tianyu kept making a fuss, reminding the doctors several times: "Doctor, Xu Yan gave the patient some random stuff earlier. You should check it carefully!"

"Doctor, the stuff Xu Yan gave the patient might have some side effects. You should be careful!"

Finally, Director Zheng, annoyed by his constant harassment, had the nurse kick him out of the ward, and everyone finally got some peace.

However, Zhao Tianyu's nagging wasn't entirely ineffective. Director Zheng remembered that Xu Yan had mentioned traditional Chinese medicine earlier. He found Xu Yan and asked politely: "Young man, you mentioned the traditional Chinese medicine from your hometown earlier, saying you gave the patient a prescription—did you give the patient some traditional Chinese medicine just now?"

Xu Yan feigned ignorance: "Doctor Zheng, I was just saying that. The medicine hasn't even arrived yet. You said it yourself that traditional Chinese medicine doesn't work for this disease. As a Western medicine doctor, don't you believe in science?"

Director Zheng was a bit embarrassed: "Well, that's not entirely true. Traditional Chinese medicine is profound and has been around for a long time, so there must be some merit to it... There are many things in the world that Western medicine can't explain."

He leaned closer to Xu Yan, lowered his voice, and put on a sincere and intimate demeanor: "Young man, that person has been complaining to us, saying you gave the patient some random stuff. Tell me, what did you give him? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

If Gong Jianguo's condition had worsened, Xu Yan might have been a bit scared. But now that Gong Jianguo was lively and healthy, Xu Yan wasn't afraid at all: "Director Zheng, don't scare me. I just gave him some water. If giving him water was wrong, I'll take responsibility, and it won't involve your hospital. Is that okay?"

"I didn't mean that..."

Director Zheng chuckled, knowing that this was just a scare tactic—since the patient was healthy and not in critical condition, there was no responsibility for whatever he had been given. This young man, though young, was quite experienced. It seemed he couldn't be scared.

While Xu Yan was chatting with Director Zheng, he could feel a sharp and intense gaze watching him from the side. Xu Yan knew without turning around that it was Chen Yaoyu's gaze—since the beginning, this girl had been looking at him with a curious and inquisitive gaze, listening to his conversation with Director Zheng without saying a word.

As soon as Director Zheng left, Chen Yaoyu came closer and whispered to Xu Yan, her voice slightly fierce: "I saw everything just now!"

"What did you see?"

"I saw you give him medicine! And the way Gong Xueting's father looked just now... it was definitely not normal!"

Chen Yaoyu had a mysterious air about her, and being caught giving medicine made Xu Yan feel quite awkward. But Xu Yan's greatest skill was feigning ignorance. He chuckled: "Well, it does seem a bit abnormal. Chen, what do you think happened?"

Chen Yaoyu glared at him and whispered: "Don't think you can get away with pretending to be ignorant! I won't let you off!"

"Miss, please spare me... I haven't done anything to you, have I?"

Chen Yaoyu was about to say more, but at that moment, Gong Xueting noticed their whispered conversation. She leaned in with a cute smile: "Hey, you two, what are you whispering about? Do you have some secret you can't tell me?"

"No!"

"No!"

Xu Yan and Chen Yaoyu answered in unison. Seeing their默契 (默契 means "harmony" or "synchronicity"), Gong Xueting was surprised and laughed: "Looks like you two really do have a secret~"

"Xiaoting, don't say that. I don't have anything with this guy. By the way, Xiaoting, your uncle has woken up, which is a good thing. Shouldn't we celebrate?"

"Sure," Gong Xueting nodded seriously, "You and Yaoyu have really helped me a lot. Without your help, I wouldn't have known what to do. After Dad is discharged in a couple of days, I'll treat you to a meal—please come!"

Both of them agreed to celebrate. At this point, Gong Xueting mentioned the donation: "Xu Yan, you brought me 50,000 yuan in 'donations' this morning. I didn't expect Dad to recover so quickly. Now that the hospital is waiving the fees, we don't need the money. I'll go to the bank and return it to you."

Xu Yan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Chen Yaoyu, then laughed: "Xiaoting, you're really putting me in a difficult position. The 50,000 yuan was donated by your classmates. If you return it to me, where will I return it to?"

Gong Xueting smiled and said playfully: "I don't care about that. I know you brought the money, so you figure out what to do with it—thank you, Xu Yan, really thank you!"

Chen Yaoyu, listening to their conversation, her eyes flickered. She interjected calmly: "50,000 yuan? What's this about?" Her gaze turned to Xu Yan.

Xu Yan smiled, but it was Gong Xueting who answered: "This morning, Xu Yan brought 50,000 yuan, saying it was a donation from our department's students—whether it's a donation or not, I'm very grateful to Xu Yan."

Chen Yaoyu "oh"ed and looked at Xu Yan again, her eyes showing a hint of admiration as she nodded slightly: "I didn't expect that..."

Xu Yan had used his own money and didn't claim it as his donation, instead saying it was a donation collected by the school, and even added 20,000 yuan of his own. She hadn't expected this guy to have such a good character and demeanor. If it were another boy, they would have seized the opportunity to show off and win the favor of a pretty girl. Even if they didn't keep the money, they would likely have claimed it as their own donation to make the girl like them.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yan was so honest and didn't take credit for it. He could truly be considered a rare gentleman in today's society.

In Chen Yaoyu's eyes, Xu Yan became much more likable, and her gaze softened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The examination of Gong Jianguo was only halfway through when other doctors arrived. Five or six serious-looking elderly doctors entered the ward, led by a middle-aged man in a suit with gold-rimmed glasses. Seeing the middle-aged man in the suit, the doctors and nurses in the ward greeted him: "Dean Wang, good morning!"

"Good, good, everyone, good morning, and thank you for your hard work!"

Dean Wang walked straight to Director Zheng and asked: "Old Zheng, I heard that one of your patients with idiopathic organ failure has shown some improvement? Are some of the indicators better, like yesterday?"

Director Zheng greeted Dean Wang and the experts and said excitedly: "Dean, today it's not just the indicators that have improved. What happened today can only be described as a miracle!"

"Ha ha, Old Zheng, you're still as exaggerating as ever. Don't let our sister hospitals laugh at us—where is the patient? Let me see how he is."

"Here, he's lying there, and they're taking his blood pressure."

Dean Wang looked in the direction and saw Gong Jianguo lying in bed. He thought he was seeing things and took off his glasses to look again. He was surprised: "Ah, the patient has woken up? He can sit up on his own? What happened? Old Zheng, this morning you told me the patient was almost gone and needed a critical notice!"

Director Zheng smiled bitterly: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and written the medical records myself, I wouldn't believe it either—Dean, please have the experts take a look."

"Ah, good! Old Zheng, quickly bring out the medical records and let the experts review them!"

Several experts gathered around Gong's father's bed. They had all participated in the consultation for Gong Jianguo's condition and had seen him looking lifeless and on the brink of death. Now, seeing him lively and healthy, they were all shocked.

At this moment, the examination results were brought over. The experts only took two minutes to review the indicators and concluded: Mr. Gong Jianguo was not only completely healthy but his physiological indicators were as good as those of a young man in his twenties.

Seeing these results, the experts were stunned. Some exclaimed, "It's a real miracle," while others called it "incredible." They argued and discussed in a chaotic manner, surrounding Director Zheng.

"Old Zheng, since the emergence of idiopathic organ failure, this is the first successful case in the world! This is a significant breakthrough, congratulations to you. The First People's Hospital is truly impressive, with its strong capabilities!"

"Old Zheng, can we have the case and the treatment plan? Did you use any special therapy?"

"Right, Dean Wang, we also want a copy for our Sichuan University Affiliated Hospital!"

"Uh, Old Zheng, I saw your medication records. You used a combination of a cardiac stimulant and a triple therapy, right? This therapy doesn't seem to work well on other patients. Our Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has also admitted nine such patients, and we are at a loss. Did you use any special medication that wasn't recorded?"

"Old Zheng, we are sister hospitals. If you have a good method, don't keep it to yourselves!"

Director Zheng, overwhelmed by the experts' arguments, could only laugh bitterly. Finally, unable to bear it, he spread his hands and said honestly: "Everyone, I really didn't use any special treatment. I used the standard combination of a cardiac stimulant, a ventilator, and a triple therapy. This morning, I made a ward round, and the patient's condition was still very poor. I was even considering issuing a critical notice to the family—look, the patient's data and records from that ward round are all documented, and it was less than an hour ago."

Director Zheng spoke sincerely, and with the detailed records, the experts discussed for a while and had to believe him.

After the discussion, the experts agreed that Gong Jianguo's miraculous recovery was a special event, likely related to his own physical condition, and could not be used as a standard for treating the disease. However, this case was still significant, being the first complete recovery since the outbreak of idiopathic organ failure. They suggested reporting the case to the Health Department and even the Ministry of Health, requesting that national-level experts conduct a re-examination and related research. If the reason for Gong Jianguo's sudden recovery could be found, it would be a breakthrough in the research of idiopathic organ failure.

After the meeting, the experts left, and Dean Wang pulled Director Zheng aside and said seriously: "Old Zheng, tell me the truth, what's really going on with this case? You must know something!"

Director Zheng smiled bitterly and raised his hands: "Dean, I swear! I really didn't hide anything. All the treatment processes are documented, and I didn't hide a single word from everyone!"

"No, Old Zheng! Look at your eyes, you must know something strange. Tell me the truth—otherwise, do you want the internal medicine department's funding to be cut this year?"

Seeing the Dean use his trump card, Director Zheng had no choice but to surrender: "Alright, Dean, if you put it that way, I'll tell you. But let me make it clear, these are just my speculations and may not be true!"

"Hmm, just tell me!"

Director Zheng lowered his voice: "This case, if there's anything strange, it must be related to the patient's family!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"This morning, when I made the ward round, a family member stopped me. It was a young boy..."

Director Zheng briefly described the events of the day: "Dean, now I strongly suspect that the young man surnamed Xu, the stuff he gave the patient, might be the key to the change in the patient's condition!"

Dean Wang thought for a moment and nodded: "Old Zheng, from the time you left until you returned, how long did it take?"

"About... I think it was about twenty minutes—looking at the ward round records, I reached room 702 at 8:05, and I remember being called away after finishing room 706... the record shows it was 8:22... yes, it was less than twenty minutes!"

"Then, Old Zheng, as someone who has studied traditional Chinese medicine, do you think there is any traditional Chinese medicine that can take effect in just twenty minutes and save a patient on the brink of death to such a lively state?"

Director Zheng thought for a while and shook his head: "I don't think so... Dean, Western medicine is known for its quick effects, but whether it's intravenous or oral, it takes time for the medicine to enter the bloodstream or the digestive system. As for traditional Chinese medicine, it takes even longer... in twenty minutes, acupuncture might have some effect, but oral medication would not have had time to take effect and certainly couldn't achieve such a miraculous result."

"Old Zheng, what you say is reasonable. But today's event is indeed strange—do you know that the higher-ups are very concerned about this strange disease? The Ministry of Health has formed a special expert group, and major cities like the capital, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Tianjin have all formed research teams to study this issue.

Compared to those major cities in the east, our Sichuan capital has weaker expert resources and equipment. If we follow the conventional research path, we definitely can't compete with the major cities. But if we take a different approach and find clues from the general public, we might have a chance to make a breakthrough. Don't let this clue slip away. Go back and talk to that young man again to see if you can find any leads."

"Dean, I... I've already asked, but he ignored me! He's a young man, and if he's not interested in money or pretty girls, why would he pay attention to an old guy like me?"

"Old Zheng, how can you be so inflexible? We are intellectuals and not very good at these things, but don't you have some pharmaceutical company sales representatives who are close to you? They are experts at this kind of persistent approach. Why don't you ask them to help?"

Mentioning the pharmaceutical representatives, Director Zheng felt a bit embarrassed but nodded: "