This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

In the afternoon, Du Heng embarked on a shopping spree with his niece.

When Du Heng shopped alone, he usually just strolled around for amusement.

Du Xuejing had just started school and was very focused on her studies. Coupled with her frugal nature, she rarely roamed the malls. Even during outings with her classmates, she preferred window shopping over actively buying things.

However, things were different today. With Du Heng by her side and footing the bill, she was much more generous with his money.

The same applied to Du Heng. He usually lacked a clear goal when spending money on himself, but with Du Xuejing present, there was no shortage of targets.

Was he short on cash?

No! Especially now that he didn’t have a girlfriend and had no other financial pressures, he let Du Xuejing shop to her heart’s content.

However, Du Xuejing, despite her excited exclamations, wasn’t an extravagant girl. She tended to look at many things without buying, unless she particularly liked something.

「At this time, in the Orthopedic Third Department of the First Branch Hospital affiliated with the Traditional Chinese Medicine University」

A group of people were gathered around an X-ray, observing it quietly.

Some stroked their chins, others crossed their arms, and some frowned.

An older man, constantly smiling, stood up with his teacup. ”Xiao Li, I’ll leave this to you. I’m going out for a walk.”

Just as he was about to leave, the only man in the room not wearing a white gown, who was very elegantly dressed, quickly spoke up, ”Director Feng, you can’t leave! What will we do about Qinqin if you go?”

The old man, still smiling genially, replied, ”My staying won’t make any difference. If you have any questions, ask Director Li. He’s the top surgeon in our department now. You’re better off asking him than this old fellow.”

The old man continued speaking as he walked out, completely disregarding the elegantly dressed man’s words.

Once the old man left, the others also gradually departed, leaving only Director Li, a chief doctor actually over forty despite being called Xiao Li.

The elegantly dressed man sighed helplessly. ”Director Li, what do you think we should do about Qinqin now?”

Director Li looked at the X-ray again. ”It’s a comminuted fracture of the radius bone. Look here, and here—it’s shattered into four pieces, and the displacement of the fractured ends is quite significant. My opinion is still surgical treatment. This way, the fractured ends can be properly reduced, and then we can use a steel plate for fixation to speed up recovery.”

The man’s brow furrowed, and he asked uneasily, ”Can’t we opt for conservative treatment?”

”I wouldn’t recommend it.” Director Li shook his head slowly. ”The displacement is significant, and there are too many fragments. The results of manual reduction wouldn’t be very good. If the reduction isn’t properly aligned, the patient’s arm could heal with a deformity.”

This statement made the man’s brow knit tightly. After a moment of thought, he asked, ”Can the surgery be done without leaving any scars?”

”It’s impossible to avoid scars completely. After all, it will require two surgeries, so there will definitely be some scarring.” Director Li looked at the man earnestly. ”However, rest assured, we will do our utmost during the surgery to make the scars as small as possible. By the way, I have some materials here you can look at.”

Director Li walked over to his office desk, took a stack of photos from a drawer, and said, ”You can look at these. These are the scars left on patients after surgery and recovery. They’re very faint, mostly just a light red mark.”

The man took the photos and looked through them, but his brow remained tightly furrowed.

After looking through all the photos, he looked at Director Li and said, ”These scars are still too noticeable. You know Qinqin is an artist; she can’t always wear long-sleeved clothes, and she’s constantly under the spotlights. Any such scar would only be maliciously exaggerated by certain people. Director Li, please think of something else. Can you make the scar even fainter, ideally invisible?”

”That’s impossible. It’s impossible to prevent scarring completely. I can only say that I will do my absolute best to make the scar as faint as possible.”

Director Li’s answer remained firm. This was his specialty, and he knew the likely outcome better than anyone.

The man fell silent again. After pacing on the spot for two turns, he suddenly asked, ”Director Li, forgive my asking, but do you know anywhere that can perform scarless surgery?”

Director Li smiled. ”Let me put it this way: when it comes to the Department of Orthopedic Traumatology here in the Capital, we are the best.”

The implication was clear: he considered himself the best.

His Department of Orthopedic Traumatology, besides performing bone surgeries, also handled skin treatments.

The man was taken aback and didn’t pursue the topic further.

”Stop pacing around. Please make a decision quickly; I have other things to attend to,” Director Li urged the man who was still pacing.

The man looked at Director Li again, his eyes filled with hope. ”Director Li, is conservative treatment really not an option? Does she absolutely have to have surgery?”

”I’ve already told you, the risks with conservative treatment are too high. Primarily, the patient’s radius bone is too severely fragmented; we can’t guarantee that all pieces can be accurately reduced.”

”Well... I’ll go and talk it over with Qinqin then. *Sigh*!”

Just as the man was about to make his decision, an image flashed through Director Li’s mind: a tibia with a comminuted fracture that had been perfectly reduced.

”Wait,” Director Li suddenly said.

The man looked at Director Li in surprise. He had just steeled himself to go discuss the surgery and was startled by Director Li’s sudden words. ”Director Li, what is it?”

Director Li recalled seriously for a moment. ”Hold on. I might actually be able to find a bone joining expert for you.”

”Really?” The man was stunned by this sudden news. He immediately turned to Director Li, hope rekindled in his eyes.

Qinqin was his top artist. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also incredibly gifted in her performances. He couldn’t allow such a perfect person to have even the slightest flaw.

”Wait a moment, let me make a call,” Director Li said, signaling the man to be quiet as he dialed a number.

”Zhang, I need to ask you something.”

”Make it quick, I have an emergency patient here.”

”It’ll be quick, just a couple of questions. Do you remember that university student with the leg fracture from about half a month ago? How’s his recovery? Has there been any displacement at the reduction site?”

”Oh, that patient. I remember him. He was discharged yesterday. Before he left, we took another X-ray, and his recovery is excellent. I’m telling you, if you have time, you should come see the film. The alignment from the reduction is truly like a work of art.”

Director Li wasn’t interested in hearing about art. If I can find the person, what kind of art won’t I be able to see? He just wanted to know who the doctor responsible for the reduction was and where to find him.

”Never mind that for now. Do you have that doctor’s contact information?”

”No, but hold on, let me ask... Xiao He, come over here a second!”

Then, a murmur of voices came from the other end of the line. It was too noisy over there, so Director Li couldn’t hear clearly.

”Li, I found out for you. The doctor is Du Heng, from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Internal Medicine Department at Good Friend Hospital.”

”Internal Medicine Department?”

Director Li blinked.

How could an internist possess such a perfect reduction technique? Shouldn’t he be an orthopedic surgeon? It’s said: gold for ophthalmology, silver for surgery, and just plain old adult internal medicine. With his skill in reduction, in a place like the Capital, he could definitely afford a new car every two years and a house within ten.

”Alright, thanks, Zhang. Go on with your work.” With that, he hung up.

The elegantly dressed man asked, somewhat excitedly, ”Director Li, did you find someone?”

Director Li said, ”Just a moment,” and started searching for a number on his mobile phone.

”Director Chu, I need to ask you for someone from your department.”

Chu Xuwei’s hearty laughter came from the other end of the line. ”Director Li, just say the word! Who do you need? I’ll have them come over to you right away.”

”Du Heng. I hear he’s a doctor in your department,” Director Li said, getting straight to the point.

However, he didn’t hear Chu Xuwei’s usual hearty tone, but rather a hesitant voice.

”Du Heng... Director Du, you mean? What do you need him for?”

”Is there such a person or not? If so, have him come to my office immediately. I’m in a hurry.”

Chu Xuwei drew a breath. ”Director Li, anyone else would be fine, but Director Du Heng... he’s a bit problematic.”

”What, that old fellow doesn’t even give you, his director, any face? Give me his number; I’ll call and invite him myself.”

As soon as Director Li finished speaking, Chu Xuwei on the other end exclaimed, ”Huh? Old fellow? Are you sure the Du Heng you’re looking for is an old fellow?”

Director Li was a bit dumbfounded. ”Didn’t you just call him Director Du? And you said you can’t even order him around. If he’s not an old fellow, who is he?”

”The Du Heng I’m talking about is a Deputy Director, but he’s genuinely a young man.”

”A young man? How young?”

”He just turned 29 this year.”

”Twenty-nine? A Deputy Director? Director Chu, you’re not kidding, are you?”

Chu Xuwei chuckled on the other end. ”He really is 29, and a genuine Deputy Director. He’s a cancer expert we recruited for our department. Are you sure you haven’t mistaken him for someone else?”

Director Li was dumbstruck. The wrong person?

Twenty-nine years old, a Deputy Director, and a cancer expert... No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t add up. Can someone that prodigious really exist?

”Don’t you have any other Du Heng in your department? A Du Heng who knows bone joining?”

”No, he’s the only Du Heng in our department right now.” Chu Xuwei also began to feel puzzled.

But then he suddenly remembered that Du Heng was, in fact, a general practitioner of Chinese medicine. And when they were looking into his background, it seemed he really had treated a patient with a leg fracture. Could it be that the Du Heng Director Li is looking for is actually *this* Du Heng? ”Director Li, hold on. First, tell me how you know about Doctor Du.”

Director Li then recounted the incident from half a month ago. ”Director Chu, are you absolutely sure there’s no other Du Heng in your department? The ’Heng’ in his name is the one that means ’balance’.”

Chu Xuwei pursed his lips. ”Director Li, hold on a moment. I’ll ask around for you.”

After saying this, Chu Xuwei hung up before Director Li could reply.

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Xuwei left his office.

When Cao Binghe informed him that Du Heng hadn’t come in that afternoon, Chu Xuwei returned to his office and called Du Heng.

”Sorry to disturb you, Doctor Du. Is this a convenient time? I have something I’d like to ask you.”

Du Heng and Du Xuejing were tired from their shopping and had just found a place to sit down for a drink and rest. However, before they could even get comfortable, Du Heng’s phone rang. It was Chu Xuwei.