Chapter 368: Chapter 367: Selfish and Self-serving
Around 7:30 PM, after dinner, Yan Feifan, Yu Suye, and Wang Chuan arrived by car at the foot of a mountain.
They followed the base of the mountain to another villa complex, finally stopping in front of a brightly lit modern villa.
As they entered the small courtyard in front of the villa, Yan Feifan saw Pan Lirong drinking tea and chatting in the yard with Yueyang Dao and two other men.
After some pleasantries and introductions, Yan Feifan was introduced to the other two men.
One was Mr. Wu, a short, thin man in his fifties who dealt in bathroom hardware, and the other was Mr. Zuo, a man in his forties with a round face and large ears who sold ceramic sanitary ware.
"Mr. Yan..."
Yueyang Dao said with a chuckle, "I saw that episode of Social Weave."
"There aren’t many people like you left these days—people who genuinely do charity work and public service, not just for show."
Yan Feifan replied politely, "Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Yue."
He paused for a moment before adding with a compliment, "Truthfully, without generous donors like you, we would be powerless to perform these charity surgeries, even with the best of intentions."
Yueyang Dao chuckled, puffed out his little belly, and said with feigned misery, "Mr. Yan, flattering me won’t do any good now."
"I lost a great deal of money recently. As for charitable donations, I’m afraid I have the will but not the means anymore."
Yan Feifan offered some comfort. "In business, you win some and you lose some. I’m sure you’ll earn it all back in the next market upswing, Mr. Yue."
Just then, Mr. Zuo spoke up. "Mr. Yan, Mr. Yue was scammed out of a lot of money by that fellow, Xue Jisheng."
Yan Feifan said, "Oh," and asked, "He was caught a while ago, wasn’t he? Has he been sentenced yet?"
Pan Lirong shook his head and said in a low voice, "That bastard managed to get a lot of government officials and financial executives to vouch for him. There was definitely some bribery involved."
"They need to investigate everything thoroughly before the trial can even begin. That’s going to drag things out for at least a year or so."
As understanding dawned on Yan Feifan, he heard Pan Lirong ask, "Mr. Yan, I heard you invested in a medical technology company and are developing a medical product with very promising market potential?"
Yan Feifan hummed in acknowledgment and explained, "I had a little breakthrough, so I teamed up with a few friends. We invested a total of nearly thirty million to start a company."
"Right now, the product is being refined and finalized..."
Yan Feifan said apologetically, "I can only show you all the product after the patent application has been filed."
Pan Lirong chuckled. "Of course, of course. Intellectual property is being taken more and more seriously these days."
"But it’s also undeniable that a lot of people in this country still knowingly break the rules. They’re completely unscrupulous."
At this point, Yueyang Dao said in a grave voice, "Mr. Yan, we trust your medical skills and your character."
"But we can’t invest based on that alone."
"Running a business and performing surgery are two completely different things."
Yan Feifan smiled. "I’m well aware of that, of course."
"That’s why I’m only an investor in this company. I’m not involved in the actual management. The day-to-day operations are handled by professionals."
"In a little while, they’ll come to you with a detailed proposal and give you a full presentation."
Yueyang Dao nodded and asked, "How much financing are you looking to raise?"
"A minimum of two hundred million. The more, the better."
This was the figure Yu Chuanbai and Song Yi had arrived at after preliminary calculations.
With two hundred million in funding, supplemented by loans from banks and other financial institutions, and by arranging installment payments with parts suppliers and contract manufacturers, they could just barely launch a nationwide marketing campaign.
Pan Lirong chuckled. "As long as the product has strong market potential, you could raise two billion, let alone two hundred million."
"The overall economic climate isn’t great right now. A lot of people are just sitting on their cash, struggling to find good investment opportunities..."
Just then, Yan Feifan happened to notice Mr. Zuo’s brow suddenly furrow, as he reached down to rub his left calf.
"Is your leg bothering you, Mr. Zuo?"
Mr. Zuo said dismissively, "It’s just my old rheumatism acting up."
"I flew back from overseas today. The air conditioning on the plane was pretty strong; I probably caught a chill."
As he spoke, Mr. Zuo winced in pain again.
Seeing this, Yan Feifan knew the pain must be severe, so much so that Mr. Zuo couldn’t control his expression.
These men were all major potential investors. For the sake of his company’s success and his own financial freedom, an idea sparked in Yan Feifan’s mind, and he decided to act.
He volunteered, "Mr. Zuo, I know a massage technique. How about I give it a try and see if I can relieve some of the pain?"
The massage technique Yan Feifan mentioned was mainly for relieving muscle strain and spasms; it wouldn’t do much for rheumatism.
However, by improving circulation through massage, it was certainly possible to provide some temporary pain relief.
"Oh, I couldn’t possibly trouble you," Mr. Zuo said, looking embarrassed but appreciative.
"I’m a doctor. It’s what I do."
As he spoke, Yan Feifan placed his hand on Mr. Zuo’s left calf, habitually feeling for the arterial pulse.
The moment his hand made contact, however, his expression turned grim.
He immediately moved his hand down and took hold of Mr. Zuo’s left ankle.
The artery is closer to the surface there, making it easier to check the pulse.
Simultaneously, his other hand took hold of Mr. Zuo’s right ankle.
After a moment, Yan Feifan let go and said gravely, "Mr. Zuo, the pulse in your left leg is noticeably weaker than in your right."
"Considering you were on a long flight today, I strongly suspect you’ve developed deep vein thrombosis in your left leg.
"It could also be an arterial blockage."
"The pain in your calf isn’t from rheumatism. It’s caused by a lack of blood flow to the muscles and nerves."
Yan Feifan stood up. "Mr. Zuo, you need to get to a hospital as soon as possible for an angiogram on your leg..."
Given Yan Feifan’s reputation, Mr. Zuo immediately took his words to heart.
The tea and business discussions were immediately forgotten. Everyone piled into Yan Feifan’s Cayenne and Wang Chuan’s Mercedes and headed for the city.
Almost an hour later, they arrived at the nearest major hospital, the Marine Police General Hospital.
Since they had called ahead, Mr. Zuo was taken for an angiogram the moment he arrived at the hospital.
Just as Yan Feifan had predicted, they found embolisms in the veins of Mr. Zuo’s left leg—in two separate locations.
After arranging for his subsequent treatment and observation, Yan Feifan, Yu Suye, and Wang Chuan left the Armed Police General Hospital, showered with gratitude from Mr. Zuo and his family, who had rushed over.
Their next stop was the Affiliated Hospital, where they needed to arrange a physical examination for a certain superstar without the news leaking to the public.
On the way, Yan Feifan received a call from a young nurse, Ye Lin.
"Mr. Yan! Mr. Yan! There’s a minor internet celebrity online saying you’re selfish, that you’re just off having fun instead of saving lives."
"They even said you don’t deserve to be called a doctor..."
