This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

For the child’s parents and the entire family, it’s hard to accept. Especially for the child themselves; they came to this world to appreciate beauty, not to suffer pain.”

”PAH, PAH, PAH,” Wu Shengnan spat repeatedly, as if to expel Du Heng’s untimely words. ”Can’t you say something positive?”

Du Heng chuckled. ”My fault, my fault. I was just explaining the importance of prenatal examinations. I didn’t mean anything else by it.”

”Even so, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

”Alright, alright, I won’t say it anymore.” Seeing Wu Shengnan so genuinely concerned, Du Heng quickly apologized.

Wu Shengnan gave Du Heng a pouting glare, still somewhat displeased with what he had just said.

”Hmph! Don’t you ever say such unlucky things again.” Wu Shengnan relented.

After a brief pause, her tone suddenly shifted to one of intense curiosity as she asked Du Heng, ”Husband, let me ask you something.”

”Go ahead, I’m listening,” Du Heng replied quietly without turning his head, focused on driving.

”If someone has an abortion, will it affect the size of their breasts?”

”What the heck?” Du Heng turned his head to glance at Wu Shengnan.

Wu Shengnan’s question made his mind race, and he inadvertently pictured her having had an abortion.

Du Heng’s quick glance made Wu Shengnan realize what he was thinking, and she hurriedly explained, ”Hey, don’t get the wrong idea! It has nothing to do with me.

It’s about Luo from our workplace. You met her last year when you came to our unit to do check-ups.”

”Is she the slightly chubby one from internal work?”

”Yes, yes, that’s her.”

”What happened to her? Did her breasts get smaller?”

Wu Shengnan nodded directly. ”Yes, that’s her.

She got pregnant in June. Then, in late August, she was on a bus home when the driver slammed on the brakes. She was badly jolted, and a few days later, she had an abortion.”

”And then? Her breasts got smaller?”

Wu Shengnan glared at Du Heng. ”Don’t interrupt, I’m still talking.”

Du Heng fell silent, and only then did she continue, ”And ever since then, Luo’s breasts have been getting smaller day by day.”

After listening to Wu Shengnan, Du Heng didn’t show any surprise. He said calmly, ”That’s quite normal.

As I’ve said before, when a woman is pregnant, various bodily functions are stimulated, leading to many changes.

Breasts aren’t just for appearance; they are also vital organs for nursing babies. As the fetus develops, the breasts naturally enlarge.

Now that she’s had an abortion, her estrogen levels will drop. Consequently, the breasts, which developed along with the fetus, will also shrink.

So, don’t make a big deal out of it. This is a normal physiological phenomenon.”

Wu Shengnan seemed a bit agitated by Du Heng’s explanation. ”Oh, come on! If they had just shrunk a bit, even if they were a little smaller than before, I wouldn’t be asking you about it.”

”Then what do you mean?”

”Luo’s breasts aren’t just smaller; they’ve practically disappeared!” Wu Shengnan said in a hushed, mysterious tone. ”During lunch break today, Luo let me take a look.

Good heavens! While it might be an exaggeration to say they’re completely flat, they’re about the same size as yours now.”

”Hmm?” Du Heng was surprised this time. ”That can’t be right. I still have some impression of Luo from when I visited your workplace last year. Even if hers weren’t prominent enough to overshadow all others, they were definitely in the ’hard to grasp’ category. And now they’re comparable to mine? That’s certainly a problem.”

Wu Shengnan nodded in agreement. ”That’s exactly it.

I asked Luo. She said she’s been to the hospital, but they couldn’t give her a definitive diagnosis, and now she cries every day. That’s why I’m asking you—is there anything you can do?”

Du Heng took a shallow breath. ”I can’t say for sure right now. I’d have to examine her first.”

Wu Shengnan was a little disappointed, but she also knew Du Heng was right. So, after a slight hesitation, she said, ”How about this: Tomorrow, I’ll have Luo accompany me for my prenatal examination. You could take a look at her then, alright?”

”Of course. That’s my job. What would be the issue with that?”

”Then it’s settled!” Wu Shengnan giggled, took out her phone, and began whispering with Luo.

Despite this conversation, the next morning, Du Heng still accompanied Wu Shengnan for her prenatal examination. As for Luo, he told her to come to his office and wait for him after her arrival.

The two of them sat in the office for a while, waiting for Gao Qin to finish her morning tasks before Du Heng took Wu Shengnan to Gao Qin’s office.

However, when they arrived at the office, they found that Gao Qin was still busy.

”Director Gao, could you please take a look at this child?” asked a newly promoted director from the Pediatrics Department—though his official title was only Deputy Director. ”The child has layers of thick, chapped skin. I’ve seen her twice already, but there’s been no improvement at all.”

Although Gao Qin was currently the Director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, her expertise in pediatrics was also considerable. Moreover, Du Heng had sent most of the Pediatrics Department staff to the Provincial Women and Children’s Hospital for advanced training. Consequently, any particularly challenging pediatric cases were usually referred to Director Gao from Obstetrics and Gynecology or Director Cao from the Internal Medicine Department.

Gao Qin first glanced at Du Heng and Wu Shengnan, who had just entered. ”Dean, please wait a moment. I need to deal with this matter at hand.”

”Take your time. Don’t mind us,” Du Heng said with a light smile.

With that, he and Wu Shengnan stepped aside to observe.

The parent mentioned the chapped skin on their child but hadn’t specified the extent.

When Gao Qin rolled up the child’s sleeve, the chapped skin flaked off like snowflakes.

Yet, even so, a thick layer still adhered to the child’s small arm, completely obscuring the skin underneath.

Gao Qin was visibly taken aback by the severity of the chapped skin. When she gently pulled open the child’s collar, she found the same condition.

The Deputy Director of the Pediatrics Department interjected, ”Initially, I suspected it was just dry skin due to lack of moisture, perhaps from infrequent or improper bathing, or poor hygiene. I prescribed some ointment, but it had little effect.

The second time, I prescribed medication for a fungal infection, but there was still no effect.”

Gao Qin frowned slightly. ”Did you do any check-ups?”

A family member quickly rummaged through their bag. ”Yes, we did everything the doctor asked.”

The Deputy Director of Pediatrics stated, ”All check-ups were done, and there were no problems. All indicators are normal.”

This was indeed becoming troublesome.

Gao Qin looked at the chapped skin on the child’s cuff, pondered for a moment, then asked, ”How often does the child bathe?”

”Every two or three days; she’s kept very clean,” a woman who appeared to be the grandmother quickly interjected. ”And I use shower gel and soap every time I bathe her. There’s no way she could have that fungal infection you mentioned.”

If the child maintained good hygiene and bathed regularly, what was causing the chapped skin?

”What about her diet?” Gao Qin immediately considered another possibility: malnutrition.

But as soon as she asked, Gao Qin felt it was a pointless question.

The report showed the child was two years and three months old and weighed 21 kilogs. She was already quite overweight, so it couldn’t be malnutrition.

Sure enough, the child’s grandmother confirmed, ”She eats wonderfully! Chicken, duck, fish, and meat, vegetables, fruits, milk—she eats everything and is never picky.”

Gao Qin was momentarily stumped, so she began to re-examine the child’s condition.

Just then, the child’s father spoke up, ”She had a bath last night, Doctor. But look, after just one night, her skin is like this again! What on earth is going on?”

Suddenly, Gao Qin thought of another possibility—an allergy.

Skin allergies can also cause chapped skin.

To determine if it was an allergy, they would need to test for allergens. For skin allergies, this could be done through acupuncture or blood testing. Neither method was particularly difficult, and the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital was equipped to perform them.

Gao Qin had reached a preliminary conclusion and was about to ask the family to take the child for testing when Du Heng suddenly interjected, ”Let me take a look.”