This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

After Director Liu had no objections to Du Heng’s arrangements, Du Heng wrote a prescription for him and instructed him to bring the child back for a follow-up visit every month.

Once the arrangements were made, Du Heng got up and left Director Liu’s office. Kang Zhirong, who had been following him around recently, unusually didn’t follow Du Heng out. Instead, he took the camera and went with Director Liu.

However, Du Heng didn’t mind and simply returned to his office with a smile.

But what he hadn’t expected was that, after nearly ten days, news finally arrived about Wei Kaida’s paternity test: the results were ready for him to collect.

This time, Du Heng didn’t ask Kang Zhirong to accompany him; he went to the Provincial First Hospital alone.

When he received the results, they included not only the paternity test but also the fetal amniotic fluid DNA test results.

Regarding the paternity test, if the match rate is good, I’ll just pretend this whole thing never happened and play the villain this one time. If it’s truly the worst-case scenario, then I’ll have no choice but to be honest with my brother.

However, when he saw the match rate was close to 100%, Du Heng knew he was destined to play the villain.

In the office, Xu Pinglin saw Du Heng’s nervous expression and chuckled. ”Look at you. If anyone else saw that look on your face, they’d think you were the one getting the paternity test.”

Du Heng laughed awkwardly. ”He’s my brother; of course I’m nervous.”

”Alright, look at it and then destroy it immediately,” Xu Pinglin said. ”I pulled some strings to help you this time, and I bent the rules myself. Don’t you dare get me into trouble.”

”That won’t happen. This won’t leave this room,” Du Heng grinned, immediately tearing the paternity test report to shreds and tossing the pieces into the trash bin.

”Feeling better now?” Xu Pinglin asked.

Xu Pinglin chuckled. ”Yes, now I’m relieved.”

With the worst seemingly over, Du Heng easily reached out and picked up the other test report.

This test report had served as a cover; otherwise, the paternity test couldn’t have been done.

As for the reason Du Heng had given Wei Kaida, it was just to scare him. People with only a little knowledge are the easiest to fool.

Xu Pinglin also chuckled. ”Alright, hurry up and finish reading it. I have a patient I’d like you to take a look at. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be living up to your title as Deputy Director.”

Du Heng absentmindedly pulled out the report and casually asked, ”What’s the matter?”

”A patient with hiccups came in the day before yesterday. He’s had a gastric ulcer for over ten years…”

Xu Pinglin had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he noticed Du Heng’s expression change. He immediately stopped and asked anxiously, ”What’s wrong?”

Du Heng slowly furrowed his brow. He read the report again from top to bottom, then handed it to Xu Pinglin with a worried expression. ”Director Xu,” he said, ”could you take a look at this for me? Are these acetylcholinesterase values unreasonable?”

The corner of Xu Pinglin’s eye twitched. He took the report and read it.

After finishing the entire report, he looked at Du Heng with a complicated expression. ”It is indeed abnormal.”

Du Heng was baffled for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh. ”What kind of situation is this? Is my brother incredibly unlucky, or strangely lucky?”

Hearing Du Heng’s words, Xu Pinglin didn’t know what to say either.

He sighed. ”Acetylcholinesterase is involved in cell development and maturation, promoting neuron development and nerve regeneration. With these values, the probability of the fetus having open neural tube defects is extremely high.”

Du Heng also sighed. ”It’s not just a high probability; it’s practically 100%.”

”What do we do now?” Xu Pinglin asked.

”What else can we do? Tell my brother… they should terminate the pregnancy.” Du Heng shook his head. ”Keeping the fetus and attempting treatment after birth would be incredibly difficult. Open neural tube defects can result in conditions like anencephaly, spina bifida, or meningocele. For any of these, even if they were to spend their entire fortune, a cure isn’t guaranteed.”

Xu Pinglin looked at Du Heng. ”Your brother should thank you. If it were only a Down’s Syndrome screening, this might not have been detected. If this baby were born, both the child and the parents would suffer for a lifetime.”

He then praised Du Heng, ”Your skills are incredible. You handle infertility cases with ease, and now you can even diagnose issues with a baby still in the womb. You’re on your way to becoming a Divine Doctor!”

Du Heng grimaced. ”Don’t praise me like that. This was purely accidental.”

”How could that be possible?”

”To be able to cause a pregnancy means the quality of that particular sperm must have been the best of the lot,” Du Heng explained. ”Otherwise, it wouldn’t have overcome all the obstacles to fertilize the egg.” He spread his hands helplessly. ”So now, who knows if it was good quality or bad quality?”

Call it good quality, yet an embryonic developmental abnormality occurred. Call it bad quality, yet it managed to win out against millions of others.

Xu Pinglin tried to comfort Du Heng. ”Don’t blame your brother too much. Maybe it’s not an issue with his sperm quality; it could be his wife’s problem.”

Du Heng shook his head. ”Impossible. His wife’s test report is right after his, and she’s a very normal, healthy woman. Besides, I know his wife; she’s a nurse. As far as I know, she’s never had any bad habits.”

”Since you know this woman doesn’t have any bad habits, why did you even run a paternity test?” Xu Pinglin asked.

”Having no bad habits is one thing,” Du Heng replied, ”but her personal conduct is another matter entirely.”

Xu Pinglin was taken aback for a moment. ”So, your brother doesn’t know this young woman has a questionable reputation? You didn’t tell him?”

”It was all just hearsay and rumors. How could I say anything?” Du Heng explained. ”Besides, my brother used to be a total player, falling for every new girl he met. Who would’ve thought he’d be serious this time?”

This time, Xu Pinglin was truly at a loss for words.

Du Heng didn’t hesitate. He took out his phone and dialed Wei Kaida’s number. ”Bro, your test results are out. Come to the hospital tomorrow and see me.”

”Can’t you just tell me the results now? I’m busy over here,” Wei Kaida said.

”It’s not something to discuss over the phone. It’s better if you come by tomorrow. Oh, and bring Li Nating with you.”

With that, Du Heng hung up without giving Wei Kaida a chance to say anything more.

”Alright, now tell me about your patient. What’s going on?” Du Heng asked.

Xu Pinglin hesitated for a moment. But then, considering it was discovered early and likely wasn’t a major issue, he relaxed.

”Here’s the situation,” Xu Pinglin began. ”Two days ago, a patient came to our department with severe hiccups. He reported a history of gastric ulcers for over ten years.”

”Damn, that long?” Du Heng exclaimed, astonished. ”Is his stomach even okay? No perforations? No cancer?” He’d never heard of a patient with such a severe condition.

Hearing Du Heng’s question, Xu Pinglin gave a wry smile this time. ”I don’t know.”

”You don’t know?”

”Yes,” Xu Pinglin said with a hint of helplessness. ”He said that for the past three days, he eats in the morning and vomits in the afternoon. The rest of the time, he’s constantly spitting up saliva and has acid reflux. We originally wanted to perform a gastroscopy, but it failed due to severe spasms of the cardia.”

Du Heng blinked, completely captivated by the patient’s symptoms. ”Are there any other issues?” he asked.

”Starting yesterday afternoon,” Xu Pinglin continued, ”he could only manage one or two bites of food at a time, and he’d vomit immediately after swallowing. Saliva and drool were constantly dribbling from the corners of his mouth, and the frequency of his dry heaving and hiccups became terrifyingly intense.”

Xu Pinglin sighed softly. ”We’ve tried every treatment we could think of, but nothing has worked. Oh, Gu Ping prescribed Harmonizing Decoction, saying it was for hiccups, but that had no effect either.”

”Should I go take a look?” Du Heng offered.

”That’s exactly why I’m telling you. I want you to go take a look.” Xu Pinglin stood up. ”If you can’t find a solution either, we’re prepared to proceed with an exploratory laparotomy.”

Du Heng said, ”Oh. An exploratory laparotomy is a reasonable approach. Why haven’t you done it yet?”

Xu Pinglin smiled wryly again. ”The old man is 79. His eye sockets are sunken, and he doesn’t have an ounce of flesh on him. I’m genuinely afraid that if we open him up, he won’t make it off the operating table.”

That makes sense, Du Heng thought. With a gastric ulcer for over ten years, he probably hasn’t absorbed much nutrition. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was just skin and bones; I wouldn’t be shocked at all if the old man truly didn’t have an ounce of flesh on him.

The two of them walked out of the office. When they were halfway there, Xu Pinglin suddenly spoke up. ”I forgot to mention earlier: this patient fainted twice—once last night around midnight, and again at noon today. He was revived quickly both times, though.”

Du Heng’s steps faltered slightly before he resumed his normal pace. ”Just those two times?”

”Just those two. We asked his family; nothing like this had ever happened before,” Xu Pinglin confirmed.

As they reached the entrance of the hospital room, they bumped into Gu Ping.

When Gu Ping saw Du Heng arrive, his face lit up with pleasant surprise. ”Mr. Du, you’re here!”

Du Heng smiled at Gu Ping. ”Is your patient in there?”

”Yes. He was complaining of stomach pain just now, so I came to check on him.” Gu Ping’s expression suddenly dimmed. ”But I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and the medicine I gave him isn’t working at all.”

Du Heng patted his shoulder. ”It’s alright. I’ll go in and take a look.”

Upon entering the hospital room, their attention was immediately drawn to an emaciated old man lying on the bed, groaning continuously.

Moreover, it was almost June, and the daytime temperatures were already quite high. Yet, the old man was covered with a thick quilt, and they could see he was wearing a sweater underneath.

Clearly, the old man also suffered from an aversion to cold.

Du Heng moved closer to the old man’s side and gently turned his face. He saw a face with high cheekbones and a dark complexion.

This isn’t good, Du Heng thought.

He sighed silently to himself, then took the old man’s arm and examined his tongue coating.

His tongue was pale, swollen, and showed teeth marks along the edges; his pulse was slow, fine, and faint.

Du Heng pursed his lips, his gaze focused and serious as he observed the old man.

This, however, made Xu Pinglin and Gu Ping, standing nearby, exchange surprised glances. They had collaborated with Du Heng many times and were somewhat familiar with his habits and mannerisms, but they had never seen him wear such a grave expression before.

Could it be… that the old man isn’t going to make it? they wondered.