Later that afternoon, Zhang Fan received a phone call from Wang Qian. “Zhang Fan, I heard that you transferred to our Chasu City? You didn’t even come visit me to have a meal. I’m currently at your Chasu City Hospital to visit a patient, so I called you.” Wang Qian heard from Kang Hua that Zhang Fan had been transferred to Chasu City Hospital. She just happened to be visiting a patient here today.
“Mrs. Wang, I’ve been rather busy recently since I just joined this hospital. I was just thinking about visiting you when I had some free time. I’m in orthopedic department #1, on the ninth floor. Will you be coming upstairs to see me?”
“I won’t be going up. I’m at the special needs patient rooms. If you have the time, come visit me here. I’ll also introduce a new friend to you.”
The special needs patient rooms were formerly known as the government officials patient rooms, but as societal pressures changed, these rooms were renamed. These patient rooms were all just like high-end hotel suites, complete with a meeting room, office, bedroom, leather sofas, and the highest-quality mattresses. At any rate, these patient rooms were far more extravagant than most homes. This was Zhang Fan’s first time visiting this area of the hospital. The special needs patient rooms were in the innermost area portion of the hospital—a single two-story building not connected to any other buildings. There was also a security guard stationed here who would prevent any strangers from entering.
“Mrs. Wang!” Zhang Fan greeted Wang Qian when he saw her inside.
“You little brat, you haven’t come to see me for so long! Here, let me introduce someone to you.” She pulled Zhang Fan into a patient’s room. “This is the Zhang Fan, or Doctor Zhang, that I previously mentioned to you. He was the one who cured my back pain. It’s been almost a year already, but I haven’t had any relapses. Zhang Fan, this is my friend, Li Xiao. You can just call her Sister Li.”
“Hello, Doctor Zhang. Please have a seat.” Li Xiao was a middle-aged woman who had an impressive aura. She wasn’t very tall, and she wasn’t wearing a hospital gown like most patients would.
“Okay, Sister Li.”
“Your Sister Li here also has back pain. I told her about you before. Luckily, you’re now working at Chasu City Hospital, so it’s a lot more convenient. Why don’t you see to treating her?” Wang Qian explained to Zhang Fan as she pulled him to a seat.
“Let me check Sister Li’s medical information first, and then I’ll give her a checkup.”
After Zhang Fan checked Li Xiao’s CT scan, he performed a back checkup for her.
“How am I, Doctor Zhang? Director Chen of orthopedic department #2 personally treated me. He says that I should have surgery performed, otherwise I might become paralyzed in the future. I’m rather hesitant about it. Recently, my back’s been in a lot of pain, so I checked myself into the hospital. I figured I would decide after having a checkup here.” Li Xiao was the owner of a middle-sized real estate company in Chasu City. She was worth more than one hundred million yuan. Although she couldn’t be considered to be among the richest of the rich in Chasu City’s real estate business, she had an incredibly powerful brother-in-law in the government. Most of her real estate business was connected to government projects.
“Um.” Zhang Fan was rather hesitant. Li Xiao’s fourth lumbar vertebrae was protruding. There was no mistake that she could use a surgery. However, according to Zhang Fan’s System, rehabilitative massaging could also treat her successfully. He knew that orthopedic department #2 already hated him for stealing all the patients from the emergency department. Now, the director of orthopedic department #2 said that Li Xiao needed surgery, so if Zhang Fan said that surgery wasn’t necessary, that would make things even worse for him if he somehow learned about it. Besides, it wasn’t like the director was wrong when he said Li Xiao needed surgery. Zhang Fan could tell that this Li Xiao was obviously rich and/or powerful. He didn’t want to bring needless blame for nothing upon orthopedic department #2’s director.
Wang Qian was more familiar with Zhang Fan. She noticed that Zhang Fan was rather hesitant, so she said, “Zhang Fan, don’t worry about anything. Just say things how you see them. Your Sister Li isn’t the type to say what she shouldn’t.”
“Yeah, rest assured, Doctor Zhang. Even if I must have surgery, I won’t have it done at Chasu City. This isn’t exactly a minor surgery.”
Zhang Fan checked the CT scan one more time before he said, “Surgery will have the best effects, and you’ll also recover faster. Both orthopedic departments in our hospital are excellent at this type of spine surgery. Rehabilitative massages can also treat your issue, but it will be slower and the effects might not be as obvious.”
“Then I’ll choose rehabilitative massaging. I’m really afraid of surgeries. I wouldn’t have even come to the hospital if it hadn’t been for how bad my back pain is.” Li Xiao was just hoping for the best.
“Zhang Fan, I can deal with anything that you need,” Wang Qian said as she saw that Zhang Fan was still hesitant.
“Mrs. Wang, Sister Li is orthopedic department #2’s patient. If I perform a rehabilitative massage, it will make things awkward for me as it will look like I’m stealing their patient. I can only do one massage for Sister Li here. If it’s not effective, then forget about it. If the massage is effective, then we can’t do the following massages at the hospital.”
“Sure.” Li Xiao agreed. She was rather uneasy because Zhang Fan was so hesitant. Li Xiao had been successful in her field for more than twenty years. All the doctors she was able to access were basically at the top of their fields, and they would all be quite confident in themselves. Did someone as hesitant as Zhang Fan actually have any skills? She glanced over at Wang Qian, but Wang Qian gave her a look of confidence in Zhang Fan.
Rehabilitative massage for a protruding lumbar vertebrae was far more difficult than massage treatment for a slipped disc. An intervertebral disc was still soft tissue, but the lumbar vertebrae was hard bone. If Zhang Fan didn’t control the strength of the massage properly, a minor consequence would be that the pain would worsen, and a major consequence would be that the patient would even become paralyzed due to the massage. Li Xiao’s lumbar vertebrae wasn’t severely protruding, but it was already pressuring her spinal cord, which was why she had so much back pain.
Zhang Fan started the massage preparations by slowly awakening Li Xiao’s muscles to excite them first. He then arranged Li Xiao’s back into a special arc for the sake of helping the spine gradually recover. Rehabilitative massages were more difficult than surgeries because Zhang Fan would need to continuously maintain a constant force output in his hands. It couldn’t be too weak, as that would be ineffective, nor could it be too strong, as too much force would cause injury to the patient. It was absolutely required that he applied constant and steady force in his massage.
Approximately 45 minutes later, Zhang Fan had finished the massage. He was covered in sweat despite the room being well air-conditioned.
“My back feels so hot. It’s especially comfortable. Although there’s still some pain, it does feel like the pain’s been reduced,” Li Xiao said as she slowly got up.
“If it’s effective, that means Sister Li’s back pain can be successfully treated with rehabilitative massages.”
“Doctor Zhang, I’m truly grateful to you. What should I do about continuing treatment? We can do whatever’s convenient for you. I’m fine with anything that you can do.” Li Xiao now understood that Zhang Fan was indeed skilled, and that her friend Wang Qian hadn’t been exaggerating.
“Let’s continue the other massages outside the hospital. It would be bad for me if Director Chen saw me treating you. If this first massage had been ineffective, I would have also recommended that you go through with surgery.”
“Alright. I’ll send someone to pick you up from now on whenever it’s time for a massage~!”
“No need. Just tell me a place and I’ll go there. It needs to be after my work. I can’t go when I’m on a work shift.”
“Okay. I have a house close to the hospital. I’ll go there to wait for you every day after my work is over. It’ll be more convenient to be close by.” The rich and the poor were all afraid of being ill. Li Xiao’s entire head had felt numb because she was so scared of surgery. She had already asked many experts about her back pain, and had been prepared to go to the provincial hospital for the best surgical treatment in the area if all her checkups confirmed that she absolutely needed surgery.
“See, wasn’t I right after all? This young bro of mine is truly skilled. When he was massaging me, he also didn’t guarantee any effects, but it’s been one year since he treated me, and I’m completely like a normal person again. In fact, I can even go play badminton after work with no problems. Once Zhang Fan finishes curing you, you can’t be miserly with him.” Wang Qian knew that Li Xiao was quite rich and didn’t lack money.
“I’m truly happy that I listened to you. Who knows what could go wrong with a surgery? I’ll definitely treat Doctor Zhang well. Doctor Zhang, here is a bank card for you. Please take it. There’s not much on the card, just 30,000 yuan. The PIN code to the card is 111111.”
What? 30,000 yuan was supposed to be “not much”!? Zhang Fan was about to refuse, but Wang Qian took the bank card and stuffed it into his pocket. “Just relax and treat your Sister Li. Pay extra attention to her care. This is only pocket change to her. As long as you cure her back pain completely, there will be much more for you, isn’t that right?”
“Haha, just rest assured and take the money, it’s payment for your hard work. I’ve spent far more money on beauty treatments in Hong Kong. As long as the treatment is effective, money is no issue. Give me your cell phone number. I’ll contact you tomorrow after your work shift. We can’t always trouble Wang Qian here to be our intermediary.” Although Li Xiao had indeed spent a good deal of money in Hong Kong on many beauty treatements, she truly hadn’t spent much money on medical treatment in the border province. She met Zhang Fan only to give her friend Wang Qian face. If it wasn’t for Wang Qian, a simple phone call from her would easily make Superintendent Huang Yun serve her needs obsequiously. Without Wang Qian, Zhang Fan would have never come into contact with a rich woman like Li Xiao.
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