This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

It must be that Director Zheng could no longer bear that young man’s forthrightness and finally agreed to replace him.

Since then, things had become easier for Du Heng, as he no longer had to consider Qiu Pingzhen’s feelings.

”Alright, I got it.” Du Heng forced his sleepy eyes open. ”I’m going to take a nap now. If there’s anything important or any phone calls, make sure to wake me up.”

Having said that, he tossed his phone directly to Kang Zhirong.

Kang Zhirong, holding Du Heng’s phone, was a bit at a loss. ”Dean, should I answer your private calls as well?”

”Yes, wake me up if there’s anything urgent.”

”Oh.”

Watching Du Heng lie directly on the sofa, Kang Zhirong took the mobile phone and left the office.

He really hadn’t expected his ’interview’ to be so simple.

Du Heng’s life was very orderly; he didn’t receive a single call all morning. It wasn’t until just before noon that a call came in, with the caller ID displaying ”Teacher.”

”Hello, I am Dean Du’s assistant.”

”Hmm...” Li Jianwei on the other end of the line sounded slightly puzzled but quickly said, ”I am Li Jianwei from Provincial First Hospital. Put Du Heng on the phone.”

Kang Zhirong didn’t know how to address Li Jianwei either, but seeing Du Heng’s note labeling him as ”Teacher,” he followed suit. ”Mr. Li, the Dean was busy in the hospital room all night last night and just fell asleep. Do you have something urgent?”

”Yes, there is an urgent matter that requires him to come over immediately. Please wake him up. Also, tell him to bring his ID card when he comes.”

Li Jianwei hung up after speaking, leaving Kang Zhirong in a quandary.

Urgent matter? What kind of urgent matter? Teacher? How close a teacher? Should I risk waking up the man whose support I’ve just secured?

Weighing his options, Kang Zhirong decided it was more appropriate to wake Du Heng.

Du Heng’s reaction upon waking also brought him a sense of relief. Kang Zhirong then capably performed his duties as an assistant—unlike the previous one, who would merely pass on messages and even disappear when they weren’t filming.

For the first time, Du Heng experienced the joy and comfort of having an assistant by his side. Moreover, having one with particularly good judgment was even more delightful.

When it was time to wash his face, the towel and soap were laid out. When he was about to leave, he didn’t have to worry; all the necessary things were packed in a bag and ready. Just before getting into the car, his assistant even considerately offered, ”Dean, you can take another nap. I’ll drive.”

This level of service and conscientiousness made Du Heng feel a bit embarrassed.

But he felt truly at ease.

”Teacher, what’s the urgent matter?” Du Heng, familiar with the way, quickly found Li Jianwei.

Li Jianwei had Du Heng sit down, then took out several forms and placed them in front of him. ”Do you remember the two kinds of medicine you were testing at our hospital and the Chinese Medicine Hospital at the beginning of the year?”

”Yes, they have already gone public, and I hear sales are good.”

Li Jianwei was all smiles, showing no sign of urgency. ”At that time, I used the name of our research group to help you cut in line for last year’s national and provincial award selections.”

Du Heng’s eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, ”Did we win?”

Li Jianwei chuckled. ”What’s all the excitement for? You’re a Dean now. Sit down, let’s talk.”

Once Du Heng’s butt was back on the chair, Li Jianwei continued, ”As for the national award selection, cutting in line wasn’t successful last year, so don’t even think about it. You’ll have to wait until this year to submit it.”

Du Heng felt slightly disappointed.

”However, there’s news from the provincial level. The evaluation has reached its final stage.”

”Final stage? What do you mean?”

”It means that, no matter what, you will win an award. At the very least, you’ll win a third prize in the Provincial Medical Science and Technology Award. But from what I’ve gathered, it seems both of your houses are up for third prize.”

Du Heng still felt a bit deflated. ”Third prize? I thought it would be first prize.”

Li Jianwei glared irritably at Du Heng. ”First prize? What are you dreaming about? Even this third prize was awarded because your house has wide market application and its effects are indeed outstanding.”

Seeing Du Heng’s crestfallen expression, Li Jianwei started to feel annoyed. ”Regarding your prescription for wind-phlegm stroke this time, even if the paper is published and the experimental data is correct, the most you could get would be a barely earned second prize. If you want first prize, you’ll need to completely conquer Cancer, or something like leukemia or diabetes.”

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he set aside his irritation and asked, ”Speaking of which, that reminds me of something else.”

”Teacher, please tell me.”

”Look, you’ve already successfully treated six tumor cases. Do you have any mature ideas about tumor treatment at this stage?”

Du Heng’s expression became even more downcast. He shook his head, saying, ”Constructing the basic prescription isn’t an issue, but we consistently fail to establish a fixed dosage. Moreover, different patients and conditions require different primary and adjuvant drugs, and progress in this area has been slow.”

Du Heng sighed and continued, ”Professor Lan Changhua from the Capital has been sending me their experimental data, but the results are far from ideal.”

Li Jianwei frowned as well. ”Have you found the reasons?”

”I’ve identified a few reasons.” Du Heng leaned back. ”The first is inaccurate diagnosis. Masses can form for many reasons. Take gastric cancer formed from damp-heat: is it from liver-gallbladder damp heat, spleen-stomach damp-heat, or large intestine damp-heat? Once the mass has formed, all related areas are affected. Compounding this is the difficulty in accurately distinguishing between a damp-heat type and a type of cold dampness.”

”The second reason is that Professor Lan Changhua and his team are too cautious with medication. There are already errors in their syndrome differentiation, and they aren’t bold enough with the drugs. Using them is almost equivalent to not using them at all. In fact, the data they sent me shows one patient whose tumor spread even faster after receiving their treatment.”

Du Heng frowned deeply as he spoke.

”Dosage is one aspect. Another is the use of primary and adjuvant drugs. Often, the primary drug isn’t accurately identified. Even when it is, they run into the dosage problem again—the primary drug’s dosage is insufficient to achieve the desired effect.”

Li Jianwei also sighed. ”You can’t really blame them. The thinking behind your house is entirely a strategy of fighting poison with poison. The basic prescription itself consists of potent medicine, and the primary drugs you want to add are similarly powerful. It’s already quite remarkable that they dare to use and experiment with it.”

Du Heng sighed and shook his head. ”I’d rather they not try. Each use of medication stimulates the tumor, just like chemotherapy and radiotherapy. If it doesn’t eradicate the root cause, it only accelerates the tumor’s spread and metastasis. This worsens the patient’s condition, increases their suffering, and shortens their lifespan.”

”But someone has to do this, right?” Li Jianwei also sounded somewhat helpless.

”Let’s talk about the third point: the patients themselves. The patients who seek out Professor Lan Changhua are mostly in the middle-late stages, or even mostly late-stage. Moreover, they typically only find Professor Lan Changhua and his team after undergoing several rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, such patients’ bodies are already a complete mess. It’s difficult to find any area that’s even slightly less damaged. This, in turn, increases the difficulty of diagnosis for doctors, raises the risks associated with medication, and diminishes their body’s own tolerance for treatment.”

Speaking of this, Du Heng appeared even more helpless and powerless.

There were many inquiries on his ins account.

He had selected a few for initial contact, but when he saw their medical records, Du Heng’s heart went cold.

With bodies like tattered rags, a single bowl of medicine from Du Heng could have directly eased their suffering in this world.

They sought him out as a last-ditch effort, like trying to revive a dead horse. To be honest, he even got cursed out for it.

They wanted Du Heng to be their life-saving straw but also treated him as their emotional dumping ground.