Zhong Xiguo certainly understood the principle that you shouldn’t put off treating an illness, but the real problem was that his family simply didn’t have the money.
Zhong Xiguo spoke quietly, “Dr. Qin, could you maybe help us calculate how much all these tests will cost in total?”
This was the first time Qin Jiang had ever heard such a request.
After all, he usually only gave an overall treatment cost after figuring out what illness the patient had.
But patients do have the right to know the cost of each individual test.
So Qin Jiang had the smart computer list out every single expense and compile them into a summary for Zhong Xiguo to see.
“Five thousand four hundred yuan total? That’s so expensive!”
As soon as he saw the bill, Zhong Xiguo’s face fell.
Even Zhong Chenglong, who usually didn’t get along with his father, frowned at this.
“Dr. Qin, is there anything on this treatment list we could remove?”
“My family is classified as extremely poor. Both my parents work, but their combined annual income is only about eighty thousand yuan. And I just started college…”
Zhong Chenglong’s voice trailed off.
His education told him that a doctor wouldn’t order unnecessary tests just to make them spend money for no reason.
Especially a skilled doctor like Qin Jiang, who was clearly focused on curing the illness.
But his family’s financial situation forced Zhong Chenglong to ask anyway, just to see if anything could be cut or reduced.
Qin Jiang hadn’t realized just how tough their financial situation was.
Eighty thousand a year for three people?
That meant the whole family lived on just over seven thousand yuan a month?
And that had to cover food, clothing, housing, transportation, and tuition fees.
No wonder Zhong Xiguo only ever took his son for basic checkups, even when he did bring him to the hospital.
After all, an MRI alone costs one or two thousand yuan per scan—how could a family like theirs possibly afford that?
Qin Jiang sighed and said, “These tests are all necessary to figure out the cause of your illness, so they have to be done.”
“But since your family has special circumstances, I can waive part of the medical fees upfront. For the remaining balance, you can put it on a tab here. You can pay it back little by little whenever you have the money.”
Hearing this, the whole family immediately thanked him.
Especially Zhong Xiguo, whose eyes were already glistening with tears.
The viewers in the live stream found this scene really heartbreaking too.
“Man, I’ve seen way too many rich folks online who make hundreds of thousands or even millions a month. I almost forgot that there are still poor people in our country.”
“That’s because truly poor people can barely afford internet access. Not every household can pay for broadband—the monthly fee alone is a significant expense for them. More importantly, they wouldn’t really have a use for broadband anyway.”
“Exactly. When I went back to my village for Chinese New Year, I noticed that many elderly people’s only form of entertainment is watching TV. The internet has nothing to do with them at all. It’s like they live in a completely different world.”
As much as people don’t want to admit it, there really are many families like Zhong Xiguo’s—honest, hardworking folks just trying to get by. Their only hope and dream is to send their child to college.
And Zhong Chenglong had indeed done well—he got into university.
But because of his health problems, his grades kept slipping, and he kept failing.
Plus, the hefty tuition fees every semester only added to his mental stress.
That’s why Zhong Chenglong had been losing interest in studying lately. He’d even thought about dropping out.
But his parents couldn’t understand those thoughts at all.
That’s why Zhong Xiguo had been so harsh and irritable with his son, as if he’d completely lost trust in him.
“So, can we go do the tests now?”
Zhong Xiguo nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, we can. Right now.”
Qin Jiang printed out the list of tests and had Zhong Xiguo sign it.
This time, Zhong Xiguo signed without hesitation.
After all, as long as money wasn’t the issue, why wouldn’t he want his son to be healthy?
Once Zhong Xiguo signed, Qin Jiang took Zhong Chenglong back into the examination room to run the tests.
But since there were many tests this time, Zhong Xiguo and Liu Xiu waited anxiously outside.
Half an hour later, Qin Jiang came out of the examination room with Zhong Chenglong, holding a test report in his hand.
Zhong Chenglong looked a bit weak after the tests. Liu Xiu quickly went over to support him.
Zhong Xiguo asked, “So how is it, Dr. Qin? Did the tests show what illness my son has?”
Qin Jiang didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked at Zhong Chenglong and said, “I’m going to do a simple test with you now. I hope you can cooperate.”
Zhong Chenglong nodded.
“Go ahead, Dr. Qin.”
“First, I want you to remember three words. Make sure you remember them clearly, because I’ll ask you about them later.”
“The three words are: ball, car, and tree.”
Zhong Chenglong repeated them silently in his mind.
Qin Jiang didn’t rush him, letting him memorize them at his own pace.
“Okay, Dr. Qin, I’ve got them.”
Qin Jiang nodded, then asked, “Tell me, what’s one thousand minus three?”
“Nine hundred ninety-seven,” Zhong Chenglong answered without hesitation.
The live stream viewers had no idea what kind of test Qin Jiang was doing, but when they heard it was just subtraction within one thousand, they suddenly felt very confident.
“One thousand minus three? That’s way too easy. What kind of test is this? It doesn’t measure anything, right?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. You really think Dr. Qin’s test is that simple? If you’re so confident, then follow along and do it yourself.”
“Fine, I will. There’s no way a simple subtraction problem like this can stump me.”
The viewers thought Qin Jiang’s test was too easy.
Even a first-year middle school student could solve that kind of math problem, let alone a college student like Zhong Chenglong.
After getting Zhong Chenglong’s answer, Qin Jiang continued, “Now subtract seven more.”
“Nine hundred ninety.”
“Subtract seven more.”
“Nine hundred eighty-three.”
“Subtract six more.”
“Nine hundred seventy-seven.”
Qin Jiang kept subtracting one digit at a time like this.
After who knows how many rounds, Qin Jiang suddenly asked, “Now tell me, what were the three things I told you at the beginning? Do you still remember them?”
“They were ball, and then… and then…”
Zhong Chenglong trailed off. Suddenly, his mind went completely blank. He couldn’t remember anything at all.
This terrified Zhong Chenglong.
They were just three simple words, and he had deliberately spent time memorizing them.
And now he couldn’t recall them?
