Chapter 133: Save the Doctor First

“The last time, I was indeed a bit rash, but I think you can understand how I felt back then,” Xiaocheng nodded, offering a somewhat informal apology. Then, looking at the wronged expression on Dr. Zhang’s face, he asked seriously, “Doctor Zhang, I did wrong you, but let me ask you this: if there was a patient who needed your help but definitely couldn’t afford the medical fees, and if you didn’t treat him, he wouldn’t die but would suffer severe complications—yet if you did treat him, the hospital would dock your salary—would you still treat him?”

Zhang Yu didn’t hesitate at all. “Treat him! If this were before, I might not have paid out of my own pocket, but from now on, even if the hospital fires me, I will treat him! I won’t let some kid like you look down on me!”

Xiaocheng stood up solemnly, bowed to Dr. Zhang, then smiled as he straightened up. “Real man! I knew a real man wouldn’t use powerlessness as an excuse. But if such a thing really happens, I’ll cover the cost.”

Having just come into a sum of illicit money—over a million in hand—Xiaocheng knew he couldn’t bring this money home, but if it could be spent on something like this, it would be a noble use of it.

Charity ennobles the soul.

Dr. Zhang smiled, the shadows of grievance lifting. “Young man, forget it. After what happened last time, when you called me a murderer, it left a knot in my heart that was hard to untie. But after all this talk today, I feel like that knot’s loosened. You’re just a kid; you don’t have much money. I talked with Lv Qi—don’t be fooled by your height, you’re still a middle schooler. Study hard. If you have the heart for it, maybe one day you’ll study medicine too, heal and save lives! And if the hospital docks your salary then, you better stand tall, or else I’ll look down on you!”

Xiaocheng found this man somewhat endearing.

“Dr. Zhang, I’m serious. I just got a scholarship recently, about a million or so, and I don’t know how to spend it. Why not set up something like a fund? Not for patients, not for anywhere else—just for you doctors! If a situation like this comes up, where the hospital fines you and you’re afraid to save lives, this fund will be your backing!”

“Really?”

“I’m carrying this million-plus in my pocket right now, ready to slap it in your face!” Xiaocheng joked freely, now on familiar terms with Dr. Zhang.

“Really? Come on, you’re still a student. You need your family’s okay on this. You can’t just decide on your own.”

Xiaocheng waved off the objection, annoyed. “What, I don’t look like a rich kid? I have money. No need to waste words!”

Dr. Zhang rubbed his hands and paced around the office several times, as if still in disbelief. “So... how much can you put up?”

If it were to cover patients’ medical fees, Xiaocheng’s gambling winnings would vanish in a flash. But if it were just to cover doctors’ docked wages and bonuses, then for now, that was manageable. According to Dr. Zhang, the hospital often had one or two patients a month who skipped out without paying for surgery or hospitalization. Sometimes they ran away despite holding their ID cards as collateral. Xiaocheng roughly calculated: two cases a month, each docking a doctor’s salary by ten thousand yuan, so about twenty thousand per month. Offering two hundred thousand would probably last a whole year.

“Two hundred thousand!” Dr. Zhang was astonished.

“Bro, when I make a move, it’s twenty grand at a time. Didn’t you once worry I couldn’t pay a twenty thousand deposit? Don’t you feel like you misjudged me?”

Zhang Yu’s excitement was clear. “Kid, you don’t know. Do you think we doctors feel alright leaving patients like that? With this money, things would be so much easier. Last time, Dr. Tang from our department had a patient with appendicitis who hadn’t paid, and the surgery was delayed over two hours. He was so anxious he kept slapping his own face in the office!”

Hearing this, Xiaocheng felt a pang of discomfort. That slap shouldn’t have landed on the doctor’s face.

Doctors want to heal and save lives, but hospital rules keep them from acting. The hospital has been burned too many times by unpaid patients and had no choice but to impose such rules. But the patients have no choice either; no one wants to get sick or be broke.

But does being poor mean you deserve to die?

This fund might not be able to save patients directly, but it could at least save doctors. At least it would let them save lives without hesitation, without fearing financial loss when fulfilling their professional oath.

Murder may be the evil of human nature, but making people afraid to save lives or forcing them to kill—that is the evil of the system.

Without hesitation, Xiaocheng and Dr. Zhang began discussing the logistics. For now, this matter had to be kept from the hospital authorities, limited only to chief surgeons authorized to operate. If a patient didn’t pay after surgery and fled, and the hospital docked the doctor’s salary or bonus, Xiaocheng’s fund would cover the loss, ensuring doctors wouldn’t suffer because they saved lives.

Two hundred thousand was once an unthinkable sum, but for Xiaocheng, it was nothing now. After a big win at Lao Wai’s casino and distributing seventy thousand to his brothers, he still had nearly a million and a half left—money that had to stay under wraps. So setting aside two hundred thousand for this was nothing. And soon, the holidays would come, and there was still another sum waiting for him from Fanxing, money he could bring home.

...

After the final middle school entrance exam in ninth grade came the semester’s final exams for seventh and eighth grades—the semester was finally coming to a close.

When a person reaches a certain level in one aspect of life, they outgrow the things they once obsessed over, just like growing up means no longer sulking over missing an episode of a cartoon or crying over losing a lollipop.

For Xiaocheng now, final exams were just like a lollipop. The title of math prodigy champion already freed him from needing to prove himself with scores. So he wasn’t worried at all.

Xiaocheng wasn’t tense, but his teachers were. He had become quite a celebrity, skipping school frequently and ditching classes on a whim, making the teachers nervous—especially Mr. Yan, who had been caught off guard by him before and kept reminding him over and over: for the final exam, “Don’t you dare skip it!”

With the teachers’ earnest admonitions and hopes in mind, Xiaocheng entered the exam hall, and five minutes later walked out with a perfect score and first place, as expected. The only regret was that no rebellious antagonist had yet come up to him with some challenge like, “If you get first place, then I’ll do this or that,” for him to slap down. In school, especially in Class 8, no one doubted Xiaocheng’s ability to top the exam.

But really, what’s the difference between first and second? Like the red star stickers on the elementary school wall, or the lollipops parents gave in kindergarten. Only now, these scores could make grandma happy and give his father something to brag about when visiting the prison.

Sometimes, looking back, how much of our achievements are really for our parents’ pride?

Finally, the holidays had come...

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Charity and generosity ennoble the soul.