Chapter 404: Chapter 403: Powerless
It was morning again.
The sky was overcast and the air a bit stuffy. The dim light made it look like six or seven in the morning, even though it was already past eight.
Yan Ziruo went up to the attic bedroom and found Song Yi already awake, sitting on the bed hugging her knees and staring blankly into space.
"What are you thinking about?" Yan Ziruo asked, handing her a glass of water.
Song Yi took a few sips of water, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and said with some embarrassment, "It’s been a long time since I drank so recklessly."
"Last night, I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself, did I?"
Yan Ziruo let out a sly chuckle. "Does clinging to my Feifan and crying your eyes out count as making a fool of yourself?"
Song Yi gasped in surprise, her cheeks flushing as red as agate. "I really cried? And I was holding onto Feifan?"
Yan Ziruo nodded in confirmation. "Not only that, but you also threw up. All over Feifan."
Song Yi buried her face in her hands, mortified.
Yan Ziruo continued with a grin, "And later, when it was time to give you a bath and change your clothes, you cried and screamed, insisting that Feifan do it. You wouldn’t let me help."
"That’s impossible, right?" Song Yi peeked through a wide gap in her fingers.
"You don’t remember any of it?"
Meeting the other’s teasing gaze, Song Yi nodded firmly.
"I blacked out. I have no memory of it at all. The last thing I remember is being at the private restaurant."
Song Yi couldn’t help but ask, "So who gave me a bath and changed my clothes in the end?"
"Was it you? Or Mrs. Du?"
Yan Ziruo said with a straight face, "It was my Feifan, of course. You wouldn’t let anyone else near you for the life of you."
"My Feifan said that since you wouldn’t remember it when you woke up anyway, and he’s a doctor who has seen plenty of bodies..."
"So, you get the picture..."
Song Yi dropped her hands and stared wide-eyed. "No way! Isn’t that just like me throwing myself at him, letting him take advantage?"
She sighed. "Oh well, forget it. I’ll just consider it a full-body check-up from Feifan."
"Speaking of a full-body check-up, I was just about to bring that up."
Yan Ziruo’s expression turned serious. "My Feifan said that your spine is slightly deformed, probably from hunching over a desk for long periods."
"He strongly recommends you get a few spinal adjustment massages."
"Feifan also said that if you don’t, in a few years, after you have children, there’s a high probability you’ll suffer from lower back pain and other issues."
Song Yi murmured an "oh." "I’ll find a proper clinic in the next few days to get my spine straightened out."
At this, she realized something.
"So Feifan really did give me the bath? I thought you were just pulling my leg."
"Doesn’t that mean he saw... everything?"
Yan Ziruo chuckled slyly again. "Well, who was it that was crying and making a scene, refusing to let anyone else touch her?"
"Song Yi, don’t worry. I can guarantee that Feifan performed his full-body examination with the heart of a doctor."
"Also..."
Yan Ziruo hesitated, then asked tentatively, "Song Yi, have any of your direct relatives had breast cancer?"
Song Yi froze, her hands instinctively moving to her chest. "Is there something wrong with me?" she asked worriedly.
Yan Ziruo quickly explained, "It’s just a few small, soft lumps. Feifan said there’s a very high probability they’re benign tumors, hyperplasia, or something similar."
She added, "Song Yi, Feifan wasn’t intentionally checking you... there."
"You weren’t exactly holding still, and he happened to touch them by accident. When he noticed a small issue, he did a more specific check..."
Seeing Song Yi’s face grow even redder, Yan Ziruo stopped explaining and asked again, "Song Yi, none of your direct relatives have had breast cancer, right?"
Song Yi’s expression darkened. "My aunt died of breast cancer."
Yan Ziruo comforted her, "Don’t worry, don’t worry."
"Feifan said the genetic probability for this type of cancer is only 5% to 10%. Those are very low odds."
"Based on his examination, he’s 99% certain they’re benign nodules."
"You know how amazing Feifan is. He’s rarely wrong."
Song Yi managed a small smile. "If Feifan says so, then it definitely isn’t cancer."
"I’ll go to the Affiliated Hospital for a check-up later."
Song Yi then asked, "Did Feifan find anything else wrong with me?"
Yan Ziruo lowered her voice. "Feifan said your liver isn’t in great shape either. He suggested you get your liver function checked while you’re at it."
Song Yi’s face fell. She said glumly, "They always say you shouldn’t let a doctor examine you unless you have to. The moment they look, they find a whole list of problems."
"And it turns out to be true."
Her expression was complicated. "Ruoruo, Feifan saw every inch of me. Am I supposed to thank him for it?"
Yan Ziruo chuckled slyly again. "No need to thank him. If you think about it, Feifan was the one who got the better end of the deal."
Song Yi huffed softly. "That’s true. He’s just lucky to be living in this day and age."
"If this were an earlier dynasty, Feifan would have had to take responsibility for me for the rest of my life..."
「At this very moment, at the Affiliated Hospital, Yan Feifan was facing a not-insignificant problem.」
A young couple, carrying a toddler of about two or three, along with several elderly people, had swarmed around him.
"Mr. Yan, we sold our car, we sold our house... We just can’t afford it anymore. We don’t have the money for the medicine."
"A single injection costs seven hundred thousand!"
"Please, save our child. I’m begging you."
Faced with the young parents’ pleas, Yan Feifan wore a troubled expression.
The 700,000-yuan injection they mentioned was an imported, precision-targeted drug used to treat SMA.
SMA is also known as the number one genetic cause of infant mortality. It is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder.
The parents of an affected child are usually carriers. The patient suffers from the loss and degeneration of motor neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord and the lower brainstem, leading to severe muscle atrophy and weakness.
Patients find it difficult to perform simple movements like turning over, kicking their legs, or crawling. Eventually, they can lose the ability to walk and develop respiratory and swallowing difficulties.
This 700,000-yuan injection can increase the level of survival motor neuron protein in SMA patients, thereby improving motor function, increasing the survival rate, and altering the course of the disease.
However, the injection must be administered every four months to remain effective.
The Extraordinary Fund’s fifteen or sixteen million yuan would only be enough to support one child for a few years.
Yan Feifan met the hopeful gazes of the young parents and the elderly people with them, and steeled himself to say, "I truly sympathize with your situation."
"But I have to make a choice."
"Should I help one family and one person, or help more families and more people."
"I’m very sorry, but I can’t help you. Please, go home."
As soon as Yan Feifan finished speaking, the young mother grabbed hold of his white coat!
"Mr. Yan! Mr. Yan! We’re not asking for much. Just one injection, that’s all."
"We’re just asking for one shot, to let my child live for a few more months."
"Mr. Yan, I’m begging you..."
There were things Yan Feifan wanted to say, things bottled up inside him.
But he opened his mouth, saw onlookers holding up their phones to record, and forced the words back down.
The Yan Feifan of today had learned enough about the ways of the world to know that words like "giving up" were not appropriate for a doctor to say in this situation.
"I understand your feelings completely."
"However, one of the principles of the Extraordinary Fund is to help those who have a chance to regain their health, return to society, and create value..."
Facing the young mother’s tearful, pleading gaze, he couldn’t bear to look her in the eye. He apologized again, "I’m sorry. In your situation, I’m powerless to help!"
As Yan Feifan was speaking, Yu Suye arrived with a few young doctors from the emergency department, inconspicuously forming a protective circle around him...
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