This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Du Heng put on a relaxed smile. ”Uncle, don’t worry, I’m fine.” After saying that, he secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead and placed the peaches he was carrying on Wu Shengnan’s father’s table. ”Uncle, I came across someone selling peaches on the way. They’re our local white powder peaches. They looked pretty good, so I bought a few for you to try.”

Wu Shengnan’s father laughed. ”You know, you’re the first person to openly bring me a gift in this entire compound.”

Then, he gestured to his secretary nearby. ”Please wash these peaches. My son-in-law bought them; let the others have a taste too.”

Hearing this, Du Heng felt quite relieved and a bit embarrassed. Putting aside their current location, even the secretary’s rank was something Du Heng couldn’t currently aspire to. His father-in-law was truly giving him all the respect possible.

Seeing the secretary take the peaches out, Wu Shengnan’s father grinned and asked, ”I heard you’ve made a lot of money recently?”

Du Heng quickly nodded. ”You know about it, Uncle. It’s from that medicine I developed with my classmate. It’s not a huge amount. But please rest assured, Uncle, I’ve paid every cent of tax owed.”

Wu Shengnan’s father shook his head with a smile. ”Don’t be concerned. As long as the money is earned legitimately and taxed reasonably, there’s no problem at all. By the way, I heard from Nannan that you’re planning to use this money to set up some kind of foundation?”

Du Heng wasn’t surprised that his father-in-law knew about this. In fact, he would have been surprised if his father-in-law *didn’t* know. Now that his father-in-law was asking, he explained everything in detail, also seeking his advice as an old predecessor to ensure no trouble would arise.

”...That’s more or less the gist of it. My classmate’s company and I are funding it together to help those who can’t afford medical treatment due to financial difficulties.”

”It’s a good idea, and you are both good children. You haven’t been blinded by money,” Wu Shengnan’s father said, looking satisfied with Du Heng. ”Are there any limitations on the scope of application for this foundation?”

”No, Uncle. According to our initial agreement, as long as a family is impoverished and cannot afford medical treatment or doctor’s visits due to financial constraints, they are within our scope of assistance.”

”Is there any distinction made between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine?”

Du Heng shook his head and stated bluntly, ”No. Our purpose in setting up this foundation is to help those from impoverished families. It doesn’t involve the issue of traditional Chinese medicine versus Western medicine.”

At this moment, the secretary returned with the washed peaches, though only two remained in his hand. He offered one to Wu Shengnan’s father and the other to Du Heng.

Du Heng quickly declined, ”Director Ning, please, you have it. I ate several when I bought them.”

The secretary didn’t insist. Seeing that Du Heng didn’t want it, he simply stepped aside, holding the peach.

Wu Shengnan’s father gently peeled his peach and, without concern for his image, slurped some juice right in front of them. ”MMM... not bad! Our local white powder peaches are delicious. They’re so juicy, and there’s no astringent taste at all—just pure sweetness. Very good.”

”Little Ning, go order a few boxes of these peaches and distribute them to everyone in the office. In this hot weather, everyone has been working hard.”

Without waiting to see if the secretary agreed, he turned back to Du Heng and continued, ”So, how do you determine their expenses? For example, for some diseases, Western medicine might require hundreds of thousands of yuan for treatment, but in your hands, traditional Chinese medicine might only cost a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan. Will you still go with the Western medical therapy, or will you let patients choose your traditional Chinese medical therapy?”

This was indeed a pointed question. He and Liao Quansheng had argued fiercely about this very issue in that small restaurant.

However, they had eventually come up with an answer. ”We discussed a general direction at the time,” Du Heng began, ”but I’m not entirely clear on the specifics of how it’s arranged, as I wasn’t involved in that part and haven’t seen the documents yet.”

”But the general direction is that for surgeries like heart valve procedures, scoliosis correction, limb repair, and transplantation, we’ll provide assistance based on the patient’s family’s actual financial situation, and can even cover the full costs.”

”For other diseases, after the patient submits an application, we’ll strengthen communication with the hospital. We will then hold a consultation involving both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine practitioners to determine the most reasonable and cost-effective treatment plan. However, all of this is contingent on the patient’s willingness to accept the proposed treatment.”

Wu Shengnan’s father slowed his peach eating. ”What do you mean?”

”For example, take a fracture. If the hospital’s treatment plan proposes implanting a steel plate for internal fixation, while my treatment plan is bone setting with external fixation, then if the patient doesn’t trust bone setting with external fixation and insists on internal fixation, we won’t provide assistance.”

Wu Shengnan’s father tossed the rest of the peach into the trash can and grabbed a couple of paper towels to wipe his hands. ”Then there’s a problem. If the patient follows your suggestion and chooses bone setting, but the outcome isn’t as good as, well, that internal fixation method, who takes responsibility?”

Du Heng answered earnestly, ”We will make a detailed evaluation beforehand. If bone setting is a viable option and we recommend it, then we will take full responsibility.”

”However, consider a case where a leg is broken into three or four pieces, or is shattered. In such situations, where we have little to no confidence in the success of bone setting, we wouldn’t recommend it. After all, the purpose of all this is simply to ensure that patients don’t delay necessary treatment due to financial problems, thereby worsening their condition.”