This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Du Heng had just finished speaking when Gao Qin added, ”There’s another possibility. The presentation of the Bayberry virus isn’t limited to skin and mucous membrane damage. For instance, bone syphilis has less obvious external signs. It primarily causes extreme bone pain, and this pain mostly occurs at night. So, it’s very unreliable to determine the presence of the Bayberry virus based solely on whether the skin and mucous membranes are damaged.”

The woman grew angrier as she thought, her confusion fueling her fury. Her eyes fell on the man slumped on the stool like a spineless slug, and a wave of fury surged to her head.

SLAP!

The crisp, loud slap not only stunned Yu Zhiwei, her lover, but also startled Du Heng and Gao Qin, making them jump. The slap was so sudden, so swift, and so forceful that it was over before they could react.

Yu Zhiwei covered his face, his eyes blazing with rage as he stared at the woman. ”Are you fucking crazy? Why did you hit me? I’m a victim too!”

The woman’s fury was uncontrollable; the overwhelming rage twisted her beautiful features, making her look somewhat ferocious. Hearing the man’s outburst, she could no longer hold back. She pointed at his nose and seethed, ”You’re the victim? You, who can never keep your dick in your pants? You’re more of a menace than a victim!”

”Bullshit! You think I’m like...” The man couldn’t stand being blamed like this, and the words burst out. But he still had some sense and caught himself halfway through. He couldn’t judge how this woman behaved with others, but towards him personally, she had been very good. So, he swallowed the hurtful words that had risen to his lips.

”Go on, you bastard! Are you trying to say I’m a whore, that I’m the one who infected you?” The woman, trembling with anger, heard the implication in his unfinished sentence. ”Fine! I gave you everything, and this is how you see me? You bastard, you’ll come to a miserable end!”

The man felt somewhat ashamed and quickly said, ”Don’t talk nonsense. Was I talking about you? I was going to say, your bookworm husband... don’t underestimate him just because he looks quiet and unassuming all day. Quiet types can pull off big things. Maybe he’s the one behind this.”

”Bullshit! I think it’s more likely your wife is the sneaky one! This ’good deed’ was probably her doing.”

”You...”

”Enough!” Du Heng, having recovered his composure, saw they were about to argue again and interrupted. ”Can arguing determine who’s right or wrong? I don’t understand why you’re in such a rush to argue about this in a hospital. Once everyone connected to you has been screened, the truth will come out.”

Du Heng’s reminder immediately stunned the feuding couple. That was right. The man still needed to notify his wife to come to the hospital, and now that the woman was diagnosed, she had to inform her husband. Besides, Du Heng had made it very clear yesterday: anyone in an intimate relationship should not hide anything. So, whether they were the source of the trouble would become clear once the others were notified and arrived.

The two stopped arguing instantly. They looked at each other, then at Du Heng. The woman asked anxiously, ”Doctor, should we notify them now?”

”It’s best to notify them now.”

The woman grew flustered, her eyes darting around. ”Then... Then...” She stammered ’then’ for a long time but couldn’t articulate any actual problem.

It was the man who spoke. ”Doctor, should we be hospitalized immediately, or should we go home and wait for the others’ check-up results before coming back to be admitted together?”

”You can be hospitalized and start treatment right now,” Gao Qin explained softly. ”This has nothing to do with whether other people are infected.”

The man turned to look at the woman. ”What should we do? Should we just get admitted?”

Still furious, the woman turned her head away sharply. ”You get admitted if you want. What’s it got to do with me?”

The man shook his head and said to Du Heng, ”Doctor, please arrange it for us. We’ll be hospitalized.”

Du Heng nodded lightly. ”Alright then. Do you have any more questions? If not, I’ll arrange for your hospitalization.”

”...I do have a question,” the man said after a moment’s hesitation.

Du Heng nodded. ”Go ahead. This is Director Gao Qin from our hospital’s Gynecology Department. She’s a chief doctor in Western medicine and has experience treating syphilis. I am the Dean of the hospital, a general practitioner in traditional Chinese medicine. You can ask us any questions you may have.”

As soon as Du Heng finished, the woman interjected, ”Ask what? What’s there to ask? So many questions, you’re not man enough.” Then she turned to Du Heng. ”Since you’re the Dean, your skills must be excellent. We want you to treat us. We’ll do whatever you say.”

Hearing the woman’s angry words, Du Heng gently replied, ”You can’t say that. As patients, you have the right to ask about anything you don’t understand. Also, being the Dean is an administrative position; it doesn’t mean a Dean’s medical skills are necessarily superior. If we go by professional titles, Director Gao Qin is a Senior Director, and I am a Deputy Senior Deputy Director. Those are different.”

Yu Zhiwei, unswayed by the woman this time, continued asking Du Heng, ”Doctor, I want to know, how is syphilis treated with Western medicine? What are the potential sequelae? Will it affect our future lives?”