Chapter 128
“Allow me to apologize, but you should consider whether your mother agrees or not,” Su Xiaoxiao tilted her head, giving a meaningful look to the woman.
Peng Huijing took a deep breath quietly and then smiled insincerely, saying, “Hanyu, remember what I’ve taught you? As a person, one must be magnanimous. Even if someone misspeaks, as a man, there’s no need to be overly nitpicky.”
Tsk!
She certainly had a way with words. If it weren’t for the fact that he still needed to use her to contend with the mastermind behind the scenes, Su Xiaoxiao would have already torn her fig leaf apart.
However, even if some things couldn’t be said, Su Xiaoxiao still looked smugly at Zhang Hanyu. The implication was clear – even his mother heeded her advice. Did he, as a son, have a place to make a fuss here?
Zhang Hanyu felt a pang of unease, beginning to wonder just how crucial a piece of leverage his mother had on her. He also began to doubt whether his mother truly wanted to save his grandfather.
But in the next moment, he vehemently rejected this thought. Although his father held a high position now, it still paled in comparison to his grandfather’s status. If his grandfather truly had less than three months to live, the Zhang family’s position in Beijing and the estate would plummet. Moreover, he hadn’t even graduated from the university yet. There would be a significant gap in the jobs he could get with his grandfather’s connections versus those provided by his father alone. His mother couldn’t possibly be unaware of this. Therefore, for his own future, she would never give up any opportunity to save his grandfather.
“Go ahead, take out my medical records and show them to Xiaoxiao,” Grandpa Zhang directed as he was assisted to sit on the sofa by Grandma Wang.
“Dad! She’s just a young girl. What could she possibly understand?” Peng Huijing still couldn’t let go of her reservations.
“I only have three months left, does it really matter if Xiaoxiao takes a look at my medical records?” Grandpa Zhang’s voice was gentle, but the commanding aura in his words silenced the three of them.
Grandma Wang quickly retrieved the medical records from the room and handed them to Su Xiaoxiao. The records were detailed, covering the causes of fever, bleeding, various examinations, dietary supplements, medications, hospitalization, rest, sleep patterns, and general reactions.
When Su Xiaoxiao saw the definitive diagnosis and the estimation of the remaining time for Grandpa Zhang, her delicate eyebrows knitted tightly. “This is wrong! Grandpa Zhang doesn’t have leukemia,” she corrected with utmost seriousness.
“Not leukemia? How is that possible?” Grandma Wang was shocked.
But before Su Xiaoxiao could say anything further, Zhang Hanyu cynically interjected, “She looks even younger than Xiyue. How could she know anything? She’s just finding an excuse to attach herself to our Zhang family.”
Su Xiaoxiao’s lips twitched as she looked at him as though he were a big fool. “Just a while ago outside, you said I was here to mooch off our poor relatives, but when you misspoke, you had to apologize to us. So, if you make another mistake now, what will you do? Just to clarify, I don’t want your apology, as it’s utterly useless.”
“You…” Zhang Hanyu’s face turned dark with anger.
Peng Huijing, however, understood Su Xiaoxiao’s capabilities well. She reached out to pull her son’s arm, trying to keep him from making further comments. But Zhang Hanyu, who had always been spoiled by her and had already lost his composure, had very little sense left. He shook off his mother’s hand and arrogantly stated, “If you can really cure my grandfather, I’ll stand at the gate of the estate right now, and I’ll apologize to every passerby, admitting that I was blind and underestimated your abilities.”
“Zhang Hanyu, you close your mouth right now!” Peng Huijing urged urgently.
Grandpa Zhang immediately shot a stern look at her and rebuked, “You close your mouth! This is a matter between two children; you don’t need to intervene.”
If it weren’t for the fact that his daughter-in-law had spoiled her son excessively, his grandson wouldn’t have been so arrogant and disrespectful, uttering such nonsense. Especially after receiving a lesson just a few hours ago, he dared to provoke the same person again, he definitely needed another lesson.
Su Xiaoxiao, seeing that the head of the Zhang family had approved, didn’t hold back and said with disdain, “You were just questioning whether I knew anything about medicine, and now I’m saying I can cure Grandpa Zhang. These are two different matters.”
Ever since she had been reborn, she had become particularly petty. She wouldn’t allow anyone to take advantage of her.
“Alright, as long as you can accurately diagnose my grandfather’s illness, I’ll do as I said earlier. If you really can cure my grandfather, I’ll kneel down and apologize to you,” Zhang Hanyu said confidently, showing no signs of doubt.
“Are you sure you want to bet this big? If you lose, you’ll lose face and be ridiculed by everyone in this estate for the rest of your life,” Su Xiaoxiao warned.
Her words seemed to be directed at Zhang Hanyu, but she was actually seeking the opinions of Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Wang.
“No worries, losing face is his own doing!” Grandpa Zhang scolded sternly.
Zhang Hanyu, who had been somewhat worried, had a rush of blood to his head upon hearing this.
“I’m not afraid at all! You should be more concerned. What will you do if you lose?” Zhang Hanyu said arrogantly.
“Alright, if I can’t determine what illness Grandpa Zhang has, I’ll apologize by kneeling. If I can’t cure him, I’ll never show up in front of any of you in the future, no matter what happens,” Su Xiaoxiao said calmly.
“Agreed,” Zhang Hanyu responded enthusiastically, as if he was afraid Su Xiaoxiao would regret it.
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t bother to look at him again and turned to face Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Wang more attentively. She continued, “This is aplastic anemia. It has similar symptom to leukemia, but it’s a problem with hematopoietic stem cells. It’s different from leukemia, and anemia can be treated.”
Although in this era, the medical expertise wasn’t sufficient to distinguish between these two diseases, Su Xiaoxiao had her ways to differentiate them.
“While it’s true that aplastic anemia is difficult to heal and may cause wounds that won’t heal, unlike leukemia, it requires the individual to catch a chill before developing a continuous fever. Leukemia, on the other hand, causes a persistent high fever for no apparent reason. Moreover, in aplastic anemia, the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes won’t enlarge, but in leukemia, these lymph nodes will definitely swell.”
“The last point is already clearly stated in the medical records; Grandpa Zhang doesn’t have swollen lymph nodes. As for the first two points, given Grandpa Zhang’s condition after taking these medications, the illness has worsened, and each time he switched to a more potent medication, his condition deteriorated further, right?”
“Yes, yes!” Grandma Wang nodded eagerly, then muttered in disbelief, “Could it really be a misdiagnosis?”
“Give Doctor Lin a call and have him come here to discuss it with Xiaoxiao. If it’s indeed a misdiagnosis, there might be many other patients who were misdiagnosed as well,” Grandpa Zhang said firmly.
Grandma Wang immediately made the call, while Grandpa Zhang smiled at Su Xiaoxiao. “You discovered the problem so quickly. Do you already know how to treat it?”
“Yes, it’s quite treatable,” Su Xiaoxiao nodded. This was mainly thanks to her previous life’s experience, where Jiang Ye Xun had vigorously protected and researched traditional Chinese medicine, so she had a wealth of prescriptions in her mind. The medicine for aplastic anemia was not particularly expensive.
“Alright, when Doctor Lin arrives, you can discuss it with him. The main thing is to quickly distinguish the patients who are currently undergoing treatment,” Grandpa Zhang said, deeply concerned about those who were suffering from similar conditions.
Then he cast a stern gaze at Zhang Hanyu, who already had an unsightly face.
Zhang Hanyu, who had an unattractive complexion to begin with, quickly said, “This matter is not settled yet.”
“All right! We’ll let you struggle a bit more,” Grandpa Zhang said, looking down on his grandson’s attitude. He was just like his mother, lacking humility, being unassuming, and not willing to take responsibility or make promises. Such a person wasn’t suitable for anything significant. If his elder grandson, Jingyou, were here, he definitely wouldn’t be like this.
After about twenty minutes, a man came in, sweating profusely.
“General Zhang, Grandma Wang,” he said, standing still without even catching his breath, and quickly greeted them.
Grandma Wang smiled and waved to Su Xiaoxiao. “Come, Xiaoxiao, this is Doctor Lin from the People’s Hospital Blood Department. He has been treating your grandfather all along. You found the problem; you can discuss it directly with him.”
Lin Enyang pushed his glasses up his nose, and when he looked at the young girl standing next to Grandma Wang, he immediately extended his hand excitedly. Seeing the girl’s widened eyes, he realized that, as a man, it wasn’t appropriate to shake hands with a female comrade and quickly withdrew his hand.
“Hello, I’m Lin Enyang, from the Blood Department of the People’s Hospital. I heard you discovered a misdiagnosis of General Zhang. I’d like to ask you about this aplastic anemia you mentioned. What’s the difference between that and leukemia? I’ve never heard of this illness before,” Lin Enyang asked eagerly.
His attitude was very sincere, as he genuinely wanted to know the details. He had no doubts about Su Xiaoxiao’s statements.