“Call your parents. Have them come over here right away.”
Hearing that his parents needed to be called, Tong Xiao’s tears started streaming down his face again.
“Doctor, do I really have to have my foot amputated? Isn’t there any other way?”
“I’m a soccer player. I don’t want to lose my foot!”
No wonder his feet were so smelly; he played soccer.
Qin Jiang glanced at Tong Xiao.
“Amputation is the most severe outcome right now, but we can also consider conservative treatment.”
“However, regardless of the treatment plan, I need to discuss it with your parents. If surgery is required, a direct family member needs to be present.”
“Make the call now. Don’t waste time. Your condition can’t be delayed.”
Seeing how serious Qin Jiang was, Tong Xiao didn’t dare argue further and quickly called his parents.
Fifteen minutes later, the couple arrived at the clinic.
“Son, what’s wrong with your foot? Why is amputation even a possibility?”
Tong Xiao’s father was extremely agitated.
He had been grooming Tong Xiao to be a professional athlete since he was young.
The only reason Tong Xiao got into such a good university was because he was a recruited athlete.
His academic performance had always been poor; he just wasn’t cut out for studying.
If his foot were to be amputated now, his whole life would be ruined!
Tong Xiao looked at Qin Jiang and said, “Doctor, my parents are here. Please, go ahead.”
Qin Jiang nodded.
“Since your parents are here, I have a few questions for you, and you need to answer me honestly.”
Tong Xiao nodded.
“Go ahead, Dr. Qin.”
“First question: Do you usually smoke?”
As soon as Qin Jiang asked this, Tong Xiao’s scalp tingled.
Seriously? Starting with such a sensitive question?
Before Tong Xiao could answer, his father interjected:
“Impossible. My son is a soccer player; lung function is crucial. How could he possibly smoke?”
Tong Xiao: …
Tong Xiao was speechless.
The logic was sound, but saying it so definitively put him in an awkward spot!
Sure enough, Qin Jiang stated calmly the next moment: “You’re not him, how do you know whether he smokes or not?”
“Tong Xiao, you answer me.”
Seeing his father’s sharp gaze fixed on him, Tong Xiao braced himself and said, “Occasionally.”
The moment Tong Xiao said this, his father looked utterly incredulous.
“Tong Xiao, have you lost your mind!”
“Didn’t I tell you before not to start smoking!”
“If you ruin your health by smoking, how will you ever make it to the national team!”
Tong Xiao replied, sounding very wronged:
“Dad, lots of people on our school team smoke, and their stamina hasn’t really dropped. Two of them are even guaranteed spots in clubs already.”
“Soccer these days isn’t just about who plays better; it’s about ‘soft power’ too.”
“Smoking or not, it really doesn’t matter much.”
Hearing Tong Xiao talk back, his father raised his hand to slap him.
His mother quickly intervened and held him back.
“Enough, you. The doctor is still questioning him. Why are you getting so worked up?”
“Even if you want to hit him, can’t you wait until after we’ve seen the doctor?”
Persuaded by his wife, Tong Xiao’s father calmed down his anger.
He shot his son a fierce glare, signaling they’d settle this later!
Tong Xiao thought he had gotten through that hurdle, but then Qin Jiang pressed further:
“You’re not just an occasional smoker, are you? How many packs a day?”
Hearing this, Tong Xiao’s eyes widened, and his teeth started chattering slightly.
“Doctor, is… is this question important?”
“Can’t you just tell me what’s wrong with me directly?”
Qin Jiang shook his head.
“Identifying the disease is easy, but figuring out its cause requires asking detailed questions to avoid mistakes.”
“What’s wrong? Is it inconvenient to say? Then I’ll just go ahead and prepare for your surgery.”
Seeing Qin Jiang actually get up to prepare, Tong Xiao quickly said:
“It’s convenient, it’s convenient to say.”
Tong Xiao gritted his teeth: “Two packs a day.”
Tong Xiao’s father clutched his chest, almost fainting from anger.
This kid just started university!
And he’s an athlete!
Two packs of cigarettes a day – smoking like that, how can his lung function possibly compare to others?
He’ll be winded after two laps; how can he ever play on the field!
“Ungrateful wretch, you’re truly an ungrateful wretch!”
If his wife hadn’t held him back, the recovered father would surely have used his belt to remind Tong Xiao of the “good old days” of his childhood right there.
Tong Xiao was almost in tears.
Who would have thought a simple doctor’s visit would turn into this!
This doctor is toxic!
Qin Jiang was clearly used to such scenes. He nodded, then said to Tong Xiao:
“I basically understand your situation now.”
“Tell me, when did your foot start turning black and purple? Do you remember?”
Qin Jiang thought this was a simple question, but Tong Xiao scratched his face and couldn’t answer for a long time.
“Well… I really didn’t notice that.”
“Hmm?” Qin Jiang looked puzzled.
“Don’t you wash your feet and bathe every day? How could you not notice?”
Tong Xiao said awkwardly: “Our school team does heavy training, we sweat a lot every day. There’s just too much to keep up with bathing and washing feet.”
“So I usually just wait for the sweat to dry and then go straight to bed. I haven’t taken off my socks in two weeks.”
Holy crap!
Qin Jiang was stunned.
“You mean you haven’t bathed or washed your feet in two weeks?”
Tong Xiao nodded.
“It’s too much trouble. Once the sweat dries on your body, washing or not doesn’t really make a difference anyway.”
Qin Jiang didn’t know what to say.
The netizens in the live stream were even more disgusted.
“So that’s why this guy’s hair is all clumpy. I thought it was dreadlocks, turns out it’s just genuinely dirty!”
“Wait, I can sort of understand not showering for two weeks, but not taking off his socks for two weeks? Can’t his roommates smell the stench?”
“I think there’s a big problem with this dorm. Considering the symptoms of the first two, I can’t even imagine their living conditions.”
“Exactly. If everyone is a slob, even if there’s a smell, you wouldn’t know who it’s coming from. Maybe you just get used to it after a while.”
“I think the stool he’s sitting on needs replacing again. These patients are really hard on the stools.”
Netizens all felt that Tong Xiao not bathing or washing his feet for two weeks was too extreme.
And Qin Jiang was now even more certain of his diagnosis.
He looked at Tong Xiao and said: “This is vasculitis caused by a fungal infection.”
“People who smoke heavily have a high probability of developing vasculitis.”
“Combined with you never washing your feet or bathing, once the fungus infected it, the blood vessels in your foot got infected too.”
“Based on your current situation, it’s either amputation or conservative treatment, where I’ll use a medicinal plaster to scrape away the necrosis and let out the blood.”
“The choice is yours.”
