Chapter 319 - 216: Hug

Chapter 319: Chapter 216: Hug

Baiyun Airport.

Before boarding, Jiang He called Director Xu.

This trip to the Capital City wasn’t just for his marriage proposal; he had other goals in mind, of course.

Although they were both Grade A Tertiary hospitals.

There were still vast differences between one Grade A Tertiary hospital and another.

And Peking Union Medical College Hospital was, without a doubt, a titan in China.

While waiting for the call to connect, Jiang He recalled a joke from the medical circles of his past life.

People in the field absolutely loved doctors from Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

The surgeons from PUMCH were known for being incredibly skilled.

But as luck would have it, these clinical deities were mostly not great at research; they just knew how to bury their heads in the operating room day in and day out.

To the directors of regional hospitals, these people were the perfect workhorses:

They did all the work, shouldered all the surgeries, but when it came time for title promotions and research grant competitions, they posed no threat whatsoever to the local research bigwigs.

—Just which clinical grunt started that rumor? And he’d actually believed it in his past life!

"Hello, Jiang He." The call connected.

"Director Xu, I should be landing in the Capital City around seven tonight. If you have time tomorrow, I’d like to visit you at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and also take a look at that special case of the pancreatic lesion."

The other end of the line went silent for a few seconds.

A moment later, Xu Wenpei sighed. "Jiang He, you can come tomorrow, but... there’s been a development."

Jiang He’s brow furrowed slightly. "Go on."

"The special case you wanted to see... the patient’s condition worsened yesterday. Our top surgeon in General Surgery operated himself. The patient was only forty-two, and it wasn’t discovered too late. The preoperative imaging assessment indicated it was resectable. Our entire department had three preoperative discussions and formulated the most rigorous plan."

"But once we opened the abdominal cavity... it was inoperable."

"Our top surgeon fought on the operating table for a full nine hours."

"The bleeding wouldn’t stop, and the cancer had invaded a much larger area than we anticipated."

"In the end... the patient didn’t make it off the table."

Pancreatic cancer, the king of cancers.

Even at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, which represented the pinnacle of medical care in China, even with PUMCH General Surgery’s most skilled surgeon at the helm, they were still pale and powerless in the face of it.

It wasn’t a matter of the surgeon’s skill.

It was a testament to how far behind humanity currently was in its understanding of and ability to intervene with this disease.

Jiang He’s voice grew heavy. "Director Xu, could you get me a copy of yesterday’s surgical recording?"

"Alright. I’ll play it for you in the department’s demonstration room tomorrow."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

He hung up the phone.

Just then, Chen Hao ran back with two bottles of mineral water. "Old Jiang, here. We can board now, let’s go!"

Jiang He took the water without a word, grabbed his boarding pass, and headed for the gate.

His mood plummeted, sinking all the way to rock bottom as he walked through the terminal.

...

...

The plane accelerated down the runway, a powerful force pressing him back into his seat.

The jet engines roared.

The continuous low frequency vibrated deep within Jiang He’s chest.

It was a perfect match for his current state of mind.

Oppressive, heavy, inescapable.

Beside him, Chen Hao was as excited as a first-grader on his first field trip.

He flipped through the in-flight magazine, craned his neck to watch the city skyline shrink outside the window, and muttered about eating roast duck, climbing the Great Wall, and seeing Tian’an Gate once they arrived in the Capital City.

But Jiang He remained silent the whole time.

Xu Wenpei’s call had revealed something very grave.

Even though he had been reborn with memories that transcended this era, even though he had dominated the field of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), even though the miRNA early screening project was already fifty percent complete...

’So what?’

Early screening was just detection.

’And after detection?’

Even in the medically advanced future he came from, he had never completely developed a miracle cure for pancreatic cancer.

The current line of treatment was early detection followed by direct surgical resection.

It sounded perfect.

But it concealed a serious problem.

Even if Jiang He performed the most beautiful pancreaticoduodenectomy, the removed organs would never grow back.

Resecting part of the stomach, the entire duodenum, the head of the pancreas, the gallbladder, and part of the bile duct, then performing a complex anastomotic reconstruction to reconnect the remaining stomach, pancreas, and bile duct to the jejunum.

Post-operative reflux, dumping syndrome, chronic indigestion, nutrient malabsorption, the lifelong need for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy...

These sequelae were the inevitable consequences of changing one’s physiological structure.

’If, in a few months, the early screening kit really did show a positive result in Shen Yu’s blood...’

’Would I have to personally cut open my wife’s abdomen and take away so many of her vital organs?’

’And make her spend the next several decades eating with extreme caution every single day, enduring the torment of her digestive system?’

Just letting the thought cross his mind brought Jiang He a wave of agony.

Surgery, in the end, was the art of compromising with Death through violence.

It was using a part of the body as a bargaining chip in exchange for more time to live.

But in this new life, Jiang He didn’t want to leave behind any regrets.

He just hoped to keep Teacher Shen with him at the smallest price, the lightest cost.

If surgery could be avoided, he would avoid it.

The ideal solution would be to develop a targeted anticancer drug.

But anticancer drug development was a Mount Everest that towered ten thousand feet higher than early screening.

Even in the future, an era of abundant funding and mature gene sequencing technology, he hadn’t completely conquered it.

And now, in ’08?

The equipment was outdated, the foundational data was missing, and the theoretical basis was weak.

’Can I really do it?’

The plane passed through a thick layer of clouds, light and shadow dancing inside the cabin.

Jiang He closed his eyes, chewing over this sense of powerlessness in the dark.

The frontiers of medicine are cold and cruel. They don’t care about your devotion, nor do they care how many times you start over.

When you gaze into the abyss, the demon of disease might be growing wild in your blind spot...

After an unknown amount of time, the plane began its descent.

"HUUUU..."

Jiang He let out a heavy breath.

’Escaping is meaningless.’

’The top priority right now is to get the early screening project fully operational and improve the curative resection technique.’

’Surgery is the fallback, the last resort.’

’After securing that fallback, it’s time to enter the real battlefield—the one on Hell difficulty.’

Fighting cancer,

Fighting cancer.

...

...

A little after seven in the evening, the flight landed smoothly.

Jiang He was still sullen and dejected.

Chen Hao, pushing the luggage cart beside him, finally couldn’t help but ask, "Old Jiang, what’s wrong with you? You haven’t said a single word since we got on the plane. Did something happen?"

Jiang He shook his head. "It’s nothing. I was just thinking about a few clinical cases."

Chen Hao gave him a worried glance, then said, "Alright then. Where are we headed now?"

Jiang He replied, "Let’s go to the hotel first. After I drop my stuff off, I’ll grab a cab to Peking Union Medical College Hospital. I want to pull some data."

Jiang He, the Overachiever King, silently reflected:

’I’ve been a little too laid-back recently (Laid-back in what way?).’

Chen Hao paused, then asked tentatively, "Wait... Old Jiang, you flew all this way. Don’t you want to go see Teacher Shen first?"

"Of course I do, but Teacher Shen doesn’t know I’m here today, right? It’s fine. I’ll wait. After I finish up at the hospital, I’ll give her a surprise tomorrow."

"Oh..." Chen Hao nodded. "As long as you want to see her, that’s good."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, nothing! Let’s go, let’s go! Hurry up and get a cab!"

The two walked side by side.

The arrivals hall buzzed with the noise of the welcoming crowd. Some held signs, some were locked in embraces, some were crying.

Jiang He walked with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

’How could I not be thinking about my girl?’

’Of course I miss her.’

The feeling wasn’t some grand, dramatic affair. It was more like breathing—subtle, constant, and everywhere.

Just now on the plane, when he was being crushed by the hopeless bottleneck of medical science, just the thought of Shen Yu’s sparkling eyes was enough to give him the strength to keep fighting.

’I want to see you right now so badly.’

’So, so badly...’

’Sigh...’

Jiang He sighed softly to himself.

The two of them had just walked out of the arrival corridor.

Suddenly.

A voice sounded from behind Jiang He.

A voice...

The most familiar voice.

"Dr. Jiang."

Two words. They froze Jiang He in place for five seconds.

The surrounding clamor ceased, the flow of people blurring into indistinct shapes...

After five seconds.

Jiang He whipped his head around.

Just a step away.

Shen Yu was standing right there.

She was exquisitely dressed today.

Even the most discerning eye would fail to find a single flaw in her appearance.

In that instant, Jiang He felt as if the entire world had lit up.

From the gloom of learning about the failed surgery at Peking Union Medical College Hospital to the fear on the plane of being powerless against pancreatic cancer.

All the dark clouds weighing on his chest were utterly and completely scattered the moment he saw Shen Yu.

She was his medicine.

Fighting cancer with love.

Jiang He stood stunned for a long while.

It wasn’t until a stinging sensation pricked his eyes that he realized they had turned red.

He said, "...What are you doing here?"

Truth be told, Shen Yu was also nervous as hell.

Her hands were behind her back, her fingers fidgeting with each other.

Hearing Jiang He’s question, Shen Yu bit her lower lip gently and said with a hint of a pout:

"We haven’t seen each in so long, and that’s the first thing you say to me?"

Jiang He didn’t know how to respond.

So Shen Yu lifted her chin, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him, and took the initiative. "Dr. Jiang, do I look nice today?"

Jiang He: "Beautiful."

Hearing his affirmative answer, Shen Yu could no longer hold back the smile in her eyes.

But she still pretended to be troubled, shrinking her shoulders slightly and saying in a small voice, "It’s just... a little cold..."

She had indeed sacrificed warmth for beauty today.

She was full of anticipation, expecting that, just like in a romance novel, Dr. Jiang would take off his coat, gently drape it over her shoulders, and pull her into his embrace.

However, the moment he heard she was cold, Jiang He’s brow furrowed, and his tone became urgent:

"If you’re cold, then you should wear more, you idiot! What month is it?! Why are you wearing so little? What if you catch a cold?!"

Shen Yu: "?"

Xu Juan: "?"

Chen Hao: "?"

—What kind of Hell-level ’straight-guy’ comment was that?!!

Chen Hao covered his face, ranting wildly in his head:

’How does a guy like him deserve such an amazing girlfriend?! Does being handsome mean you can do whatever you want?! He deserves to be stuck performing surgery for the rest of his life!’

Shen Yu was also left stunned by Jiang He’s words.

After a long moment, Teacher Shen cursed silently in her heart:

—You idiot, Jiang He! You just have to make me take the lead, don’t you?!

Her internal monologue concluded.

Shen Yu couldn’t be bothered to wait for this clueless guy to get a clue.

She abandoned her reserve, her eyes curving into a smile.

"I bet you’re pretty cold, too."

Before the words had even left her lips, she spread her arms, rushed forward, and wrapped them tightly around his waist.

Pressing her cheek against his warm chest, Shen Yu closed her eyes and said softly:

"Let’s hug~"