114: Chapter 114 Please ask Director Chen to do it

Jiang Chen turned around and walked toward the construction site's main gate.

Behind him, Lu Zheng yanked the dirty towel from his shoulder, tossed it aside, and followed with long strides.

His steps were firm and his back was straight, like a sharp blade that had finally been wiped clean of dust and mud.

The two of them walked out of the construction site gate, one after the other.

Jiang Chen unlocked the panamera, pulled open the driver's side door, and glanced sideways at Lu Zheng, who was following.

Lu Zheng stood by the car, looking down at his clothes covered in dust and rust, then at the sleek lines and polished finish of the panamera, his footsteps faltering for a moment.

"It's fine, get in." Jiang Chen's tone was casual as he sat inside first.

Lu Zheng didn't hesitate any longer, opened the passenger door, and sat down.

He tried his best not to let the dust on his body rub against the seat, his movements carrying a clumsy caution, yet without any sign of awkwardness.

The car drove smoothly away from the construction site and merged into the traffic on the main road.

The inside of the car was quiet for a moment.

Lu Zheng sat in the passenger seat, his back straight and his hands resting on his knees, his knuckles tightening slightly.

His gaze fell on the street scenery rushing past outside the window. His Adam's apple bobbed several times before he finally spoke in a raspy voice.

"Mr. Jiang, my mother... she's been in the ICU for eleven days."

Jiang Chen didn't interrupt him; he just tilted his head slightly to show he was listening.

"The day she was admitted, the doctor told me it was acute pancreatitis with organ damage. She needs surgery as soon as possible. The initial monitoring, treatment, and surgery fees total eight hundred thousand."

Lu Zheng's voice was kept very low, as if he were afraid a louder sound might shatter something.

"When I was discharged from the military, I had saved over three hundred thousand, and I poured it all in. I borrowed from comrades, relatives—anyone I could—and scraped together another hundred thousand or so."

"I'm still short by four hundred thousand."

His fingers unconsciously gripped the fabric of his pants over his knees.

"For these eleven days, I've been at the construction site from six in the morning until eleven at night. I make three hundred a day, and after food and water, I can save two hundred and eighty."

His voice finally carried a trace of an imperceptible tremor.

"I know this amount isn't nearly enough, but I have no other choice. I can't just do nothing. I can't just sit in the hospital and watch my mother..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

His teeth suddenly clenched, and his jawline tightened like a taut bowstring.

Silence fell over the car again, broken only by the low hum of the engine and the sound of the wind rushing past the windows.

Jiang Chen held the steering wheel with one hand, looking straight ahead, his tone as calm as if he were discussing something perfectly ordinary.

"Once we get to the hospital, we'll clear all the outstanding fees first. Then I'll coordinate with the hospital to arrange for the best expert team to perform the surgery. Don't worry about any of the costs."

Lu Zheng turned his head to look at Jiang Chen's profile. His lips quivered for a long time before he finally squeezed out two words: "Thank you."

Jiang Chen could hear the weight behind those two words.

It wasn't politeness, nor was it perfunctory.

It was a man who never easily bowed his head, pouring all his gratitude, all his promises, and everything he couldn't say into those two words.

The car came to a steady stop in the parking lot of the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangcheng University.

Lu Zheng's movement to push open the car door carried an irrepressible urgency, but after taking just one step, he stopped abruptly and looked back at Jiang Chen, as if waiting for his instructions.

Jiang Chen pulled out the car key and nodded to him. "Lead the way."

The two of them crossed the outpatient building and took the elevator up to the sixth floor of the inpatient department.

The ICU corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and the bleak light from the fluorescent lamps spread evenly across the light green walls.

Several family members sat on chairs on both sides of the corridor, their expressions carrying the exhaustion and numbness typical of long-term caregiving.

Lu Zheng's pace slowed significantly as he approached the ICU entrance.

His gaze swept through the observation window on the closed door, looking inside.

Jiang Chen followed his gaze.

Through the glass, a grey-haired woman could be seen lying on the bed near the window.

She was thin, her complexion sallow, and she was connected to monitors and various tubes, with waveforms silently pulsing on the screens.

Lu Zheng only looked for two seconds before averting his eyes.

His Adam's apple bobbed heavily as he turned and walked toward the attending physician's office at the end of the corridor, raising his hand to knock on the door.

"Come in."

Inside the office sat a middle-aged male doctor wearing gold-rimmed glasses. His name tag read "Deputy Chief Physician of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery—Meng Xianglin."

He was flipping through a stack of test reports. When he looked up and saw Lu Zheng, the expression on his face didn't change much.

He clearly had a deep impression of this family member who came every day to ask about the patient's condition but could never produce the surgery fees.

"Mr. Lu, regarding your mother's condition today..." Meng Xianglin pushed up his glasses, weighing his words.

"Dr. Meng."

A voice came from behind Lu Zheng, interrupting him.

Jiang Chen stepped into the office and gave a slight nod to Meng Xianglin, his tone flat but carrying an undeniable firmness.

"Could you please print out the full breakdown of fees for Lu Zheng's mother, including the outstanding balance and the estimated costs for the subsequent surgery? We'll pay now."

Meng Xianglin was visibly stunned.

His gaze swept back and forth between Lu Zheng and Jiang Chen, as if trying to confirm the young man's identity and the weight of his words.

"Everything?" he repeated subconsciously.

"Everything." Jiang Chen's tone left no room for ambiguity.

Meng Xianglin glanced at Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng nodded to him, his voice raspy. "Dr. Meng, the matter of the fees... has been resolved."

Meng Xianglin didn't ask any more questions.

He quickly pulled up the fee list on the computer. The printer hummed and spat out two densely packed receipts.

"The monitoring and treatment fees already incurred, plus the current outstanding balance, total..." He glanced at the total column, "one hundred and eighty-four thousand, six hundred yuan."

At this point, he paused and looked up at Jiang Chen, his tone becoming a bit more solemn. "Regarding the surgery fees, if we have Director Chen Zhengsheng personally perform the operation, the cost will be higher."

"Director Chen is one of the top three experts in Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery in the province. The success rate of similar surgeries performed by him is nearly twenty percent higher than the norm."

"However, his surgeon's fee is one hundred and eighty thousand. Adding in intraoperative supplies, anesthesia, post-operative anti-infection care, and monitoring observation, you'll need to prepare around another three hundred and fifty thousand."

He looked at Jiang Chen, then at Lu Zheng, and added, "If you choose a regular expert to perform the surgery, the subsequent costs will be around two hundred and fifty thousand. Please consider it."

Lu Zheng's Adam's apple bobbed, and his lips parted slightly as if he wanted to say something.

But Jiang Chen had already spoken, his tone flat and without the slightest hesitation. "Let Director Chen do it."

He turned to look at Lu Zheng, his gaze calm. "Your mother's life is worth more than that hundred thousand yuan."

Lu Zheng's jaw clenched tightly.

He lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut. When he looked up again, his eyes were red, but his voice was as steady as a stake driven into the ground. "Mr. Jiang, I..."

"Say no more."

Jiang Chen cut him off and turned back to Meng Xianglin. "Dr. Meng, calculating based on Director Chen performing the surgery, what's the total?"

Meng Xianglin pressed a few buttons on his calculator and looked up. "The outstanding balance of one hundred and eighty-four thousand six hundred, plus the subsequent costs of three hundred and fifty thousand, makes a total of five hundred and thirty-four thousand, six hundred yuan."