A Thirty Percent Chance

The man who had shouted was startled when he saw Su Ziyang. "What are you doing here!?"

It was none other than Liu Yanzhen, who had argued and debated with Su Ziyang two days earlier.

"Me? I'm here to see a patient!" Su Ziyang said frankly. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Liu Yanzhen hadn't expected Su Ziyang to turn the question back on him and let out a surprised exclamation. Then he pointed at the white coat he was wearing and at his name badge.

Su Ziyang examined the badge. It read: Associate chief physician: Liu Yanzhen.

"What do you think I'm doing here!" Liu Yanzhen was still bitter about Su Ziyang making him lose face in front of his girlfriend two days earlier.

Now that he saw Su Ziyang visiting a patient, he felt quite pleased with himself and spoke with his nose in the air.

Liu Yanzhen's meaning was perfectly clear: weren't you so good at treating patients? Didn't you have a whole pile of theories?

For all your skill at treating patients, it's still no use. Aren't your relatives or friends here to see me for treatment now?

There was a reason people said Chinese culture was vast and profound. When Su Ziyang had said he was here to see a patient, he had meant he was here to treat one.

But Liu Yanzhen had thought Su Ziyang meant he was here to visit a patient, and had automatically assumed the family were Su Ziyang's relatives or friends.

Liu Yanzhen and Su Ziyang sparred openly and covertly. When Su Ziyang fell silent, Liu Yanzhen thought he had conceded. But before Liu Yanzhen could savor his triumph, he saw Daoist Jin lift the blanket covering the child and gently feel the child's abdomen with his hand.

"Hey! Old man! What are you doing? Why are you touching the patient without permission? How are you related to the patient?! What are you doing!" Seeing Daoist Jin pressing on the child's abdomen, Liu Yanzhen no longer had the mind to needle Su Ziyang and went straight over to Daoist Jin.

Daoist Jin was examining the child intently and paid Liu Yanzhen no attention at all. When Liu Yanzhen saw that Daoist Jin was ignoring him, he looked at Zhenzhen's brother-in-law.

"Um, is this a relative of yours?"

When Liu Yanzhen asked him, Zhenzhen's brother-in-law looked rather awkward. After all, they were staying in the hospital, yet had invited another doctor to treat the child. There was no justifying it, either by custom or by reason.

Especially with a serious illness like this, even what the child ate and drank was up to the attending physician, let alone privately inviting a doctor.

As Zhenzhen's brother-in-law struggled to answer, Su Ziyang spoke up behind Liu Yanzhen. "Ah, Director Liu. We're not their relatives. They invited us to treat the child!"

"What did you say?" Liu Yanzhen turned around and stared at Su Ziyang in surprise.

"Su Ziyang, did you even graduate from a proper medical university? Have you studied medicine? Have you studied health law? First of all, you came here to treat a patient without permission, which violates our hospital's rules. Second, is this somewhere you're allowed to practice medicine? Where is your medical license registered? Is it at this hospital?"

Liu Yanzhen did have a point. For a medical student to become a doctor, besides studying hard, passing the licensing examination, and obtaining a medical license, he also needed a medical practice registration certificate. That meant he had to practice at the location registered on the certificate.

Other than at the place where one was registered, privately practicing medicine anywhere else was, strictly speaking, illegal.

For example, Su Ziyang's medical license was registered at the Daoist Medicine Clinic. He could practice medicine only at the Daoist Medicine Clinic and was not permitted to treat patients at this hospital.

Liu Yanzhen's words left Su Ziyang speechless. Su Ziyang's assertiveness rested on having reason and evidence on his side, and in this matter, he really wasn't on very firm ground.

Seeing that Su Ziyang had nothing to say, Liu Yanzhen looked at Daoist Jin, who was crouching beside the hospital bed. "May I ask what exactly you're feeling around for? Could you get up now?"

By the time Liu Yanzhen asked him, Daoist Jin had just finished examining the child. He stood up and looked at Liu Yanzhen. "I came to see the child. What's wrong with that? Why are you making such a racket? Aren't you disturbing the child's rest?"

In fact, Daoist Jin had heard everything Liu Yanzhen had just said. But compared with young men like Liu Yanzhen and Su Ziyang, Daoist Jin was an old hand with many years behind him.

When Daoist Jin was practicing medicine, Su Ziyang and Liu Yanzhen had still been at home pissing in the dirt and making mud pies.

With a single sentence, Daoist Jin seized the moral high ground and clamped a hand tightly around Liu Yanzhen's throat.

Moreover, after years of roaming the jianghu, Daoist Jin had an inexplicable murderous aura in his eyes. When the old man, half a head shorter than him, glared at him like that, Associate Chief Physician Liu genuinely felt a little unsure of himself.

Seeing that both Daoist Jin and Su Ziyang were prickly characters who were not to be trifled with, Liu Yanzhen turned his words on Zhenzhen's brother-in-law and sister. "Sir, whether the people you invited here privately are real doctors or jianghu swindlers, I have a responsibility and an obligation to remind you of two things. First, what you're doing violates our hospital's rules. Second, if any serious problem arises during this private treatment, such as the child's life being endangered, our hospital will bear no responsibility whatsoever! You need to understand that!"

What Liu Yanzhen said was true, but his words were harsh. Any patient's family would have been somewhat frightened to hear them.

Once Liu Yanzhen had spoken, no one in the room said another word. Everyone watched Zhenzhen's brother-in-law in silence, while Zhenzhen's sister stood behind her husband, clutching his arm and secretly wiping away her tears.

Zhenzhen's brother-in-law fell into thought after hearing Liu Yanzhen out. Suddenly, two moans came from the quiet hospital room.

The sound drew everyone's attention, and they looked at the child on the bed.

The child's eyes were tightly shut as he moaned in pain. The monitor by the bed showed that his heart rate and body temperature were slowly rising.

His son's moans seemed to stir something in Zhenzhen's brother-in-law, and he calmed down. He stared at Liu Yanzhen. "Director Liu, I don't mean anything else by this. I understood what you just said, but by your own account, my child has been hospitalized here for three months, and his condition hasn't improved at all, has it? When he first came here, he could still manage to walk a little, but what about now? He's lying in bed, and even blinking takes effort!"

Liu Yanzhen's expression changed slightly at his words. "You can't say that. We're using treatments that are among the more advanced both internationally and domestically. Although the child's condition isn't very stable, we're doing our best, aren't we? And all our treatments comply with the law!"

After listening to Liu Yanzhen, Zhenzhen's brother-in-law suddenly raised his voice. Liu Yanzhen's words were like a match that set his pent-up feelings ablaze. "Then let me ask you: what does complying with the law mean? You mean that even though you've treated him this way, if something happens to my child, you'll have followed the rules! So you won't have to take responsibility, is that it? Is that what you mean?! Shouldn't curing patients be your standard and benchmark?! If you can't cure the patient, how can you call it reasonable and lawful?!"

The shouting in the hospital room drew two more doctors who were a little older. Seeing how agitated Zhenzhen's brother-in-law was, Liu Yanzhen said, "Please don't get worked up. A famous foreign physician, E. L. Trudeau, once said that doctors sometimes cure, often help, and always comfort."

"Don't give me that about China or foreign countries! I'm asking you one thing: can this illness be cured or not!" Liu Yanzhen's words not only failed to calm Zhenzhen's brother-in-law, they made him even more agitated.

"Please don't get worked up!" Liu Yanzhen sighed. "Let me put it this way: with current medical methods, this illness can't be cured! Neither Chinese nor Western medicine has any way to cure it! Even with these two people you've invited, can they guarantee they'll cure your child? I'm telling you, no doctor or hospital can guarantee that they'll definitely cure the illness!"

After hearing that, Zhenzhen's brother-in-law took a deep breath and calmed himself. He looked at Daoist Jin, who was standing to one side. "Doctor Jin, how confident are you, and can you guarantee it?"

Daoist Jin looked at the child, then at Zhenzhen's brother-in-law. He pondered for a moment. "A thirty percent chance!"

"All right! I'll stake everything on your thirty percent chance." Zhenzhen's brother-in-law made up his mind and gritted his teeth. "If I gain it, it's my good fortune; if I lose it, it's my fate. We'll leave it to my son's fate!"

"You! ..." Liu Yanzhen was at a loss. Somewhat angry, he pointed at Zhenzhen's brother-in-law.

Just then, a female doctor standing behind Liu Yanzhen, who looked a little older, tugged at his white coat and leaned close to whisper something in his ear.

Liu Yanzhen nodded after hearing her out, and his expression improved somewhat. "All right, since you've decided, that's fine! I can't force you to accept treatment against your wishes. Here's what we'll do: if you insist on letting this doctor treat him, I'll arrange your discharge, and you can transfer to this doctor for treatment. But before you leave, you'll have to sign an agreement releasing us from liability because you're leaving voluntarily. Would that be all right?"

Zhenzhen's brother-in-law nodded. "All right! I'll sign!"

"Fine, then I'll arrange your discharge!"

Su Ziyang watched as Zhenzhen's brother-in-law agreed, his fists clenched tightly together. His fingers had turned somewhat white from the force. In fact, both Su Ziyang and Daoist Jin understood.

Even if a doctor had been recommended by his own younger sister, the couple might not have trusted Daoist Jin, whom they had just met. They had simply lost hope in this hospital.

And the thirty percent chance Daoist Jin had offered had become the last straw the family clutched at to save their lives. After all, the hospital had not even promised them a ten percent chance.

The discharge procedure was simple. Zhenzhen's brother-in-law signed the liability waiver and got back the surplus money he had deposited with the hospital.

The group then hurried back to the Daoist Medicine Clinic. Zhenzhen's brother-in-law drove one car, with Su Ziyang and Daoist Jin as passengers. Zhenzhen drove her sister and nephew in another.

At first, Zhenzhen's brother-in-law was silent in the car. Then his eyes reddened. "Doctor Jin, I could tell from the moment he relapsed. This child isn't going to live. A face reader once said my son would face a great calamity. At first, I didn't believe it, but now I do. Everything is fate!"

As Zhenzhen's brother-in-law spoke, his tears pattered onto the steering wheel.

Daoist Jin pulled out a tissue and handed it to him. "A man does not shed tears lightly. Besides, face reading is feudal superstition; you can't believe it entirely. I don't know whether leukemia can be cured completely, but as I just said, I have a thirty percent chance of bringing your son back to life!"

"Thank you!" Zhenzhen's brother-in-law wiped away his tears. "Whether the treatment succeeds or fails, I'm grateful to you. At least you dare to say that. Ever since my child fell ill, every doctor I've heard has said the same things as that Director Liu just now! You're different! I trust you!"

"Thank you for trusting me!" Daoist Jin nodded. "Focus on driving."

The mood had been very sorrowful, but when Su Ziyang heard that face reading was feudal superstition, he almost burst out laughing. Lately, Daoist Jin had been teaching him about face reading and palmistry every day, yet now, coming from his own mouth, it had become feudal superstition.

Su Ziyang couldn't help sighing inwardly. When it came to comforting people, Daoist Jin really was the one for the job. An old hand in the jianghu was an old hand indeed!