Chapter 490: Chapter 489: It Feels Strange
Wang Chuan knew Yan Feifan quite well. This blatant move to drive out Meng Huaxin was not his style.
Yan Feifan didn’t have the audacity for it, nor did he have any such ambitions.
Most importantly, Meng Huaxin hadn’t pushed him to the point of open rebellion.
However, if a good opportunity to trip someone up came along, Yan Feifan definitely wouldn’t mind giving things a little push—and an extra kick for good measure.
Yan Feifan could now be considered a standard-bearer for the Affiliated Hospital, and he had no conflict of interest with Meng Huaxin.
Logically, Meng Huaxin should have been fawning over Yan Feifan, or at the very least, keeping a respectful distance and leaving him alone.
However, some of his actions since joining the Affiliated Hospital clearly suggested he was trying to suppress Yan Feifan.
Was this just a natural dislike, a clash of personalities?
After eating his fill at Wang Chuan’s place and resting for a bit, Yan Feifan hurried over to the director’s office in the Trauma Surgery department.
He discussed his paper on reconstructive surgery with Mrs. Yu for a little over ten minutes, and then the person he was waiting for arrived.
It was one of their sponsors, the next candidate for reconstructive surgery: thirty-three-year-old Zhuo Xingfa.
According to Mr. Qin’s introduction, the man now owned a sizable foreign trade company in Binhai and was quite wealthy.
Zhuo Xingfa arrived, accompanied by Director Qee Sheng’s younger daughter, Qee Xiaodan, as well as Qin Ying and Yu Suye.
The moment he entered the office, Yan Feifan couldn’t help but size him up.
He was even taller than Yan Feifan, around six-foot-one, but with a slender, lanky build.
He had a square face, large eyes, thick eyebrows, and a high-bridged nose—a handsome man with a good deal of masculine charm.
In Yan Feifan’s opinion, judging by his appearance alone, he was a prime catch.
Add to that the huge bonus of being a successful businessman, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a diamond bachelor.
Only...
Yan Feifan sighed inwardly with regret.
"Mrs. Yu, hello! Mr. Yan, hello!"
Dressed in lightweight slacks and a T-shirt, his face covered in a fine sheen of sweat but wearing a radiant smile, Zhuo Xingfa greeted them before anyone else could make an introduction.
"I’m Zhuo Xingfa. I’ll be in your care."
He wiped the sweat from his face with a wet wipe he was holding and explained, "I’m from the north, so I don’t handle heat well. You could say that summers in Binhai are the hardest season for me to get through."
"I only took a few steps after getting out of the car, and I’m already covered in sweat."
Chen Yu agreed, "Binhai summers are often hot and humid. People from the north really aren’t used to it."
As she spoke, Chen Yu picked up the remote and lowered the office air conditioner by two degrees.
"So, let’s just do the examination here in the office."
Chen Yu then looked at Qee Xiaodan and asked, "Do you want to step out for a moment?"
Qee Xiaodan replied nonchalantly, "No need, Mrs. Yu. I’ve seen it before."
She added, "I was actually the one who did his surgical prep today."
While Chen Yu and Yan Feifan put on rubber examination gloves, Zhuo Xingfa, without the slightest bit of embarrassment, openly displayed his condition for everyone to see.
Yan Feifan made a visual assessment.
He saw that his condition was a little better than the "guinea pig’s."
Chen Yu and Yan Feifan each took a turn examining him.
"Hmm...?"
"It’s... manageable..."
In response to Chen Yu’s increasingly personal questions, Zhuo Xingfa gave detailed answers without showing much embarrassment.
This struck Yan Feifan as a little strange.
Generally, anyone who has had such an intimate defect since childhood would be somewhat sensitive and insecure.
But Yan Feifan saw no sign of that in Zhuo Xingfa.
He brazenly displayed his defect in front of everyone and answered personal questions without the slightest hint of awkwardness.
He didn’t even bother to lower his voice.
Yan Feifan had a feeling that the man’s attitude was, ’As long as I’m not embarrassed, you’re the ones who should be.’
’This doesn’t make any sense!’
’Is this true inner strength?’
’Or has he become so twisted that he’s gone to the opposite extreme?’
As a doctor, now with questions, Yan Feifan asked directly, "You seem very upbeat and outgoing. Has your condition not caused you any psychological distress?"
Zhuo Xingfa chuckled. "Of course it has. How could it not?"
"Before I graduated from college, I was introverted, sensitive, and had very low self-esteem."
"I didn’t have many friends. I kept to myself all the time. My days were spent either in class or in the library or study hall, reading."
"But after I graduated and entered the workforce..."
Zhuo Xingfa shook his head and sighed. "A personality like mine just doesn’t cut it. I couldn’t fit in, and my work performance was terrible."
"After going through three jobs in a row, I knew I had to change."
"I forced myself to strike up conversations with strangers every day, and I even started seeing a psychologist regularly for counseling..."
Zhuo Xingfa smiled at Yan Feifan, pumped his arm, and said forcefully, "Mr. Yan, when a person truly resolves to change themselves, nothing is impossible."
"I’m living proof!"
Hearing the man’s explanation and noticing the look of adoration and admiration in Qee Xiaodan’s eyes as she gazed at Zhuo Xingfa, Yan Feifan couldn’t help but wonder if his own strange feeling was perhaps just a prejudice.
After all, there were plenty of successful people in the world who, with great perseverance and determination, had broken out of their shells and reinvented themselves.
Especially in all sorts of "chicken soup for the soul" articles and in the biographies of some famous people.
’Why couldn’t Zhuo Xingfa be one of them?’
Today was just a preliminary examination.
Besides, Zhuo Xingfa was a company owner. He would need time to recuperate after the surgery, so he also had to make arrangements for his business affairs in advance.
The two parties discussed the surgery, settled on a tentative date, and then Zhuo Xingfa took his leave, accompanied by Qee Xiaodan.
As soon as the two had left, Qin Ying saw that Yan Feifan was still lost in thought and said in a low voice, "Feifan, I know what you’re worried about."
"I have similar concerns."
"I’ve spoken with him several times and have also observed him discreetly. I found him to be positive, cheerful, and forward-looking, with nothing seeming out of place."
"I even specifically asked Mr. Miao from the psychiatry department to speak with him, and Mr. Miao also said there were no issues."
Chen Yu said slowly, "With Mr. Miao’s experience, if he says there are no issues, then there are definitely no issues."
Yan Feifan couldn’t help but curl his lip. "Not necessarily. Even Mr. Miao can misjudge people."
He added silently in his head, ’Like me, for example!’
"Feifan, does that mean you’ve discovered something?" Qin Ying asked with concern.
Yan Feifan shook his head. "It’s just a strange feeling. No matter how much a person’s personality changes, they should still be capable of feeling shy or embarrassed."
"On the contrary, this guy Zhuo Xingfa parades his condition in front of us as if he’s proud of it, not ashamed. And that’s with you, his girlfriend’s cousin, right here."
"If you ask me, his personality change has been a bit of an overcorrection."
Now that Yan Feifan had pointed it out, Qin Ying suddenly felt that Zhuo Xingfa had indeed been showing off a bit.
It was as if he was afraid people *wouldn’t* notice his defect.
Yan Feifan added slowly, "Personality changes can have psychological causes, but they can also have physiological ones."
"For example, tumors, viruses, hormonal imbalances, and so on... these can all affect a person’s brain and nervous system."
Qin Ying nodded. "Physiological causes... I overlooked that."
"I’ll arrange for him to have another detailed psychological evaluation and physical examination under the guise of routine pre-op checks..."
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