Chapter 63: With Money, You Can Do Whatever You Want

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: With Money, You Can Do Whatever You Want

Leaving private room number nine, Yu Zhiming asked cautiously, "Teacher, were we a bit too casual in explaining the risks of the experimental treatment?"

Qi Yue wasn’t surprised by Yu Zhiming’s question, nor did he show any displeasure.

He said slowly, "Patients always hold onto the fantasy that the 1% miracle will happen to them."

"Rather than waste time reciting a long list of risks, it’s better to use some strategic ambiguity."

"In any case, no matter what we say, they’re going to sign the form in the end."

"Besides, telling them too much in too great detail just adds to their psychological stress."

Yu Zhiming reminded him, "But the hospital requires us to explain the risks thoroughly to ensure the patient’s right to be informed."

Qi Yue scoffed disdainfully. "That’s just the hospital’s thuggish way of shirking its own responsibilities."

"Personally, I believe that as long as doctors are conscientious, the patient doesn’t actually need to know too much. They just need to cooperate fully."

"In many cases, ignorance is better than knowledge."

"As for the risks, they’re often uncontrollable."

"Even with something as minor as a fever or a cold, taking medicine or getting a shot can sometimes be fatal."

Yu Zhiming couldn’t agree with his teacher’s viewpoint, but he didn’t feel it was his place to argue further.

Qi Yue broke the silence.

"Zhiming, I’m not as cavalier about the patient’s health and life as I might seem."

"For example, I specifically invited Dr. Han Bixian, the heart transplant specialist, to determine the dosage of the immunosuppressants for the patient."

"And for another, I’ve placed him in an ICU room..."

ICU rooms not only have a full suite of monitoring equipment that can track a patient’s vital signs in real time.

They also possess comprehensive life support systems.

Even if a patient were to experience a critical situation like multiple organ failure, the machines could temporarily keep them alive.

The fact that Teacher Qi had put the patient directly in the ICU for the experimental treatment showed how seriously he was taking the patient’s life.

But Yu Zhiming didn’t even have a chance to feel relieved before another thought struck him.

’Putting him directly in the ICU... doesn’t that mean...’

’...that Teacher Qi also thinks there’s a high probability the patient will face a life-threatening risk during this trial-and-error treatment?’

Yu Zhiming’s heart leaped into his throat again...

The heart transplant specialist, Dr. Han Bixian, arrived in a hurry, determined the immunosuppressant dosage for Xu Feng, and left just as quickly. The entire visit took no more than ten minutes...

Yu Zhiming, meanwhile, pulled up a chair and stood guard outside Xu Feng’s ICU room.

His plan was that if Xu Feng’s monitoring data showed any drastic changes, he could rush in to provide emergency care at a moment’s notice.

Yu Zhiming kept watch from eleven in the morning until twelve-thirty, then dashed to the nearest cafeteria, wolfed down his lunch, and ran back.

To his simultaneous relief and anxiety, the patient Xu Feng’s monitoring data still showed no changes.

Drastic changes in the data would have terrified him.

But with no changes at all, he was growing impatient.

Having deliberately lowered the patient’s immune system, Yu Zhiming had been expecting some kind of obvious physical reaction.

Now, more than two hours had passed, and Xu Feng, looking relaxed in his ICU room, still showed no reaction whatsoever. It was making Yu Zhiming restless.

However, Yu Zhiming had to maintain an air of calm confidence, as if everything was under control.

This was to avoid panicking the patient, or his wife and son who were waiting outside with him.

Lying in his hospital bed, Xu Feng could see Yu Zhiming and his family through the large window and could also speak to them through a microphone.

In the past two-plus hours, it wasn’t as if Yu Zhiming had done nothing at all.

He multitasked, watching training videos on his tablet about the hospital’s history and ethos, medical ethics, and its system of rewards and punishments.

He also completed the online exam for his new employee training.

After answering all the questions and hitting submit, Yu Zhiming immediately received a notification that he had passed.

At 1:10 PM, Qi Yue came to find Yu Zhiming, accompanied by a tall man in his early thirties.

"Zhiming, this is Dean Li’s secretary, He Yingjun. He needs to take you on a house call."

"A house call? Now?" Yu Zhiming’s face was a mask of resistance.

He Yingjun explained with a smile, "Dr. Yu, the client is a rather influential and high-status entrepreneur who makes substantial donations to our hospital every year."

Qi Yue also chimed in, "Zhiming, just go with Secretary He."

"If the patient’s condition really does change, do you think you staying here is going to make a huge difference?"

Yu Zhiming knew that if a real emergency occurred, his skills were a far cry from Teacher Qi’s. He would be relegated to watching from the sidelines.

Still, he really wanted to stay by the patient’s side until there was some kind of result.

At that moment, Qi Yue’s voice turned serious.

"Zhiming, as a doctor, you should understand that we have more than one patient to deal with."

"If one of your patients has an emergency, are you just going to ignore all the others?"

"Teacher, I’ll go right now!"

Yu Zhiming quickly relented and turned to He Yingjun.

"Secretary He, what’s the situation?"

"What preparations do I need to make?"

He Yingjun chuckled. "Dr. Yu, you don’t need to prepare anything. Just come with me."

He added, "The situation you’ll be handling is both important and simple. You’ll understand when we get there..."

Yu Zhiming left Huashan Hospital in an Audi sedan driven by He Yingjun.

After driving through the city for nearly an hour, the scenery outside the car window suddenly changed, giving Yu Zhiming the feeling of discovering a hidden paradise.

One moment they were in a steel forest, bustling with traffic and noise; the next, they crossed into a serene, tree-lined world that felt completely separate. Yu Zhiming’s jaw dropped in surprise.

He Yingjun was quite pleased with Yu Zhiming’s reaction. "Dr. Yu, this is Binhai’s only large-scale villa district located in the city center."

"To live here, you not only have to be rich, but you must also have a certain level of status and influence."

"We’re going to Villa Number 26."

The Audi finally stopped in front of a three-story, Chinese-style villa. Yu Zhiming followed He Yingjun into the building, which looked quite old and slightly worn from the outside.

But once inside, Yu Zhiming discovered it was a completely different world.

The interior was decorated in a remarkably modern and elegant style.

As for whether it was luxurious, Yu Zhiming couldn’t say.

With his level of knowledge, he couldn’t identify the origin or story behind any of the furniture, appliances, art pieces, or the calligraphy and paintings on the wall.

They were greeted by a handsome man in his thirties or forties who introduced himself as Wei Zesheng.

To Yu Zhiming’s surprise, a boy of about ten was kneeling ramrod straight in the middle of the hall.

He was balancing a blue-and-white porcelain basin half-filled with water on his head, his eyes brimming with tears. He stubbornly kept his eyes wide, trying his best not to let them fall.

"I’m so sorry to have troubled you both to come all this way!"

Wei Zesheng apologized, then pointed to a cubic metal box on the coffee table and began to explain. "Dr. Yu, this is a metal puzzle—an intellectual toy, similar to our ancestors’ Luban lock puzzle boxes."

"My little brat here put a bottle of medicine inside it."

"That medicine is a special drug for my mother’s cervical cancer. It’s an experimental targeted drug, custom-made for her condition by a cancer research center in the United States."

"It’s not easy to produce a bottle, and it takes time."

"Now this little terror has locked it inside this metal puzzle, and no one can open it."

"Today is the day my mother is supposed to take her dose."

"I heard that you, Dr. Yu, are skilled in auscultation and percussion, that you can understand the state of internal organs just by listening through the skin. I was wondering if you might be able to open this metal puzzle and get the medicine out?"

Yu Zhiming was momentarily speechless.

He never imagined he’d been rushed over for something like this.

’Is this just the whim of a rich man?’

’Or do they think money lets them do whatever they want?’

’Well, if I look at it from another angle, opening a puzzle to retrieve medicine is, in a way, saving a life.’

Feeling deeply belittled and in a foul mood, Yu Zhiming gave himself a piece of self-deprecating advice and walked over to the coffee table.

He reached out and flicked the metal puzzle lightly.

"Dr. Yu, be careful!"

Wei Zesheng warned him nervously, then explained, "The medicine bottle inside is quite fragile. If it breaks or cracks, the pills will be contaminated and unusable."

Yu Zhiming nodded to show he understood.

He tapped the metal puzzle a few more times, and its internal structure formed clearly in his mind.

Yu Zhiming discovered twelve metal rods inside, interlocked with mortise and tenon joints, that could only move up and down or left and right.

Under normal circumstances, one would have to rely on repeated attempts, listening, and guessing to solve this metal puzzle. It would be quite difficult indeed.

But for Yu Zhiming, who might as well have had X-ray vision, the metal puzzle held no secrets or difficulty.

He ran a quick simulation in his mind, then picked up the puzzle. After a few gentle turns left and right, flipping it up and down a couple of times, he solved it with perfect smoothness.

The little boy watching from the side stared, his eyes wide with utter disbelief.

"How is that possible?"

"That’s the latest design from an international puzzle master! It’s supposed to be the most difficult puzzle box ever!"

"How could you open it so easily?"

Yu Zhiming ignored the brat and looked at He Yingjun. "Secretary He, the problem is solved. Let’s go back. I have a patient waiting for me."

Just then, his phone buzzed.

Yu Zhiming took it out and saw it was a message from Zhou Mo.

"Patient Xu Feng has a sudden high fever!!!"

PS.

Thank you to reader "Hao Long Ye" for the generous support!