116: Chapter 116 Surgery Successful

Lu Zheng remained silent for a few seconds, looking down at the teacup in front of him; the tea inside swayed slightly.

"My mother's health has always been poor. She urged me to return a few years ago, but I kept putting it off, thinking I'd lead just one more class, then another."

His voice was very low. "At the beginning of this year, she had a fall. A neighbor took her to the hospital, and I didn't find out until three days later."

He didn't say anything further.

Jiang Chen didn't press him, but his gaze lingered on Lu Zheng's face for a moment longer.

For someone who had spent eleven years in the military and served as the Chief Instructor of the Special Forces Brigade, it stood to reason that his demobilization allowance plus his salary and bonuses over the years should have amounted to more than four hundred thousand.

Lu Zheng seemed to sense the unspoken doubt in his eyes.

He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and set it down, his tone as flat as if he were discussing someone else's business.

"The year before last, my father was diagnosed with liver cancer."

The chopsticks in Jiang Chen's hand paused slightly.

"It was already in the middle-to-late stages when it was discovered. He was treated at the Provincial Cancer Hospital."

Lu Zheng's gaze fell on the slightly swaying tea in the cup, his voice suppressed and level.

"Targeted drugs, interventional therapy, radiotherapy—it cost nearly six hundred thousand all in all. All the money I had saved during those years in the military was poured into it."

He paused for a moment.

"We lost him."

Three words, as light as a leaf falling onto the water's surface, without making even the slightest sound.

Jiang Chen didn't speak; he simply picked up the teapot and refilled Lu Zheng's cup.

Lu Zheng watched the water level rise and fall in the cup and continued.

"Later, the house in my hometown really couldn't hold up anymore. It was an adobe house that leaked like a sieve on rainy days. My mother lived there alone, and I was worried."

"So at the beginning of last year, I took my demobilization allowance, borrowed some from my comrades, and built a small two-story building in the village, hoping she could live more comfortably."

His Adam's apple bobbed.

"Just as the house was finished, she collapsed."

Jiang Chen set down the teapot and leaned back against his chair, finally piecing together the scattered fragments.

It wasn't that he didn't know how to save money.

It was that his father's major illness had drained his savings of over a decade.

Just when he thought life was slowly getting better, building a new house for his mother had used up the last of his allowance.

Then fate, refusing to let up, dealt him the heaviest blow.

"Eat." Jiang Chen picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of braised pork in his bowl.

Lu Zheng looked at the glistening piece of meat in his bowl, his Adam's apple moving. He lowered his head and began to eat heartily.

After finishing the meal, Jiang Chen settled the bill.

When the proprietress gave him change, she glanced at Lu Zheng, her gaze lingering for a moment on his dirty clothes, but she said nothing.

The two walked out of the restaurant, crossed the road, and returned to the hospital.

There was still some time before half-past two. Jiang Chen found a row of empty chairs in the corridor on the floor where the operating room was located, sat down, and patted the seat next to him.

Lu Zheng sat down, his back still ramrod straight and his hands resting on his knees. His eyes were fixed on the closed stainless steel door of the operating room at the end of the corridor.

People came and went in the corridor; nurses pushed carts past in a hurry, and patients' families gathered in small groups by the operating room door, talking in low voices.

The electronic clock on the wall ticked away second by second.

At 2:15, the ICU door opened.

Zhang Guifang was wheeled out by the nurses, lying flat on a transport bed and covered with a light blue sterile drape. Her face was sallow, and her eyes were deeply sunken; she looked even more gaunt than when viewed through the observation window.

Lu Zheng stood up abruptly, walked a few steps to the bedside, leaned over, and whispered, "Mom," his lips moving slightly.

Zhang Guifang's eyelids fluttered as if she wanted to open them, but they only parted a crack.

Her lips were parched and peeling. She uttered an indistinct syllable, the words unintelligible.

Lu Zheng took her hand. It was as withered as a winter branch, with an IV catheter inserted into the back of it, secured with medical tape.

He held it very gently, as if afraid that any force would break it.

"Mom, I'm here. The surgery is about to start. It's the best specialist. You'll be fine after it's done."

His voice was very steady—so steady that he didn't sound like someone who had been guarding the ICU door for eleven days.

Zhang Guifang's hand moved slightly, as if she wanted to squeeze back, but she lacked the strength.

The nurse looked at the clock on the wall and said softly, "Family member, it's about time."

Lu Zheng released her hand and watched as the transport bed was pushed into the operating room.

The stainless steel door slowly closed before him, and the red light above it turned on.

"In Surgery".

Silence returned to the corridor.

Lu Zheng stepped back to the chair and slowly sat down.

His back was still straight, and his hands were still on his knees, but his knuckles tightened slightly, and his fingertips rubbed the fabric of his trousers over and over.

Jiang Chen sat beside him, saying nothing.

The light in the corridor shifted from the brightness of high noon to the softness of the afternoon, then gradually took on the warm yellow hue of evening.

The numbers on the electronic clock ticked by unhurriedly, and the sky outside the window darkened bit by bit.

During this time, nurses entered and exited; every time the door opened, Lu Zheng would look up.

Seeing that it wasn't for him, he would lower his head again and continue staring at that door.

Jiang Chen went out to buy two bottles of water and handed one to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng took it, unscrewed the cap for a sip, then placed the bottle on his knee and didn't touch it again.

7:43 PM.

The red light above the operating room door went out.

Lu Zheng stood up almost at the same instant.

The door opened, and Chen Zhengsheng was the first to walk out. He hadn't yet removed his surgical cap and mask, leaving only his eyes visible. Fatigue was hidden in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but his gaze was steady.

He pulled down his mask, looked at Lu Zheng, then at Jiang Chen, and nodded.

"The surgery went smoothly."

Four words.

Lu Zheng's body swayed violently.

This man, who had carried steel for eleven days and hadn't collapsed after seventeen-hour days on the construction site, now looked as if the bone supporting his backbone had been removed.

He reached out to support himself against the nearby wall, his knuckles turning white from the force. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes and let out a long, long breath.

That breath was squeezed from the deepest part of his chest, carrying all the fear, despair, and torment of the past eleven days that he had kept tightly suppressed in his throat; now, it was finally exhaled.

Jiang Chen stepped forward and reached out to Chen Zhengsheng. "Director Chen, thank you for your hard work."

Chen Zhengsheng shook his hand and nodded. "The extent of the organ damage was a bit larger than shown in the preoperative imaging. We performed an extended debridement during the surgery, which took some extra time."

"Fortunately, she wasn't brought in too late. The necrotic tissue was removed quite thoroughly. The next seventy-two hours will be the observation period. Once that's passed, she'll be stable."

"Thank you."

Jiang Chen's tone was flat, but those two words were spoken half a beat slower than usual.

Chen Zhengsheng waved his hand and led his team toward the lounge.

The corridor fell silent.

Lu Zheng was still leaning against the wall, his hand supporting him, his head lowered, and his shoulders trembling slightly.

Jiang Chen walked over and stood beside him without speaking.

After a long while, Lu Zheng finally straightened up.

His eyes were incredibly red, but no tears fell.

"It's done."

His voice was so raspy it was almost inaudible.

Jiang Chen nodded. "It's done."

Lu Zheng raised his hand and wiped his face hard, the heel of his palm rubbing from his forehead down to his chin, as if trying to wipe away all the fatigue and tension from his face.

"Mr. Jiang."

His voice was still hoarse, but much steadier than before. "I..."

Jiang Chen patted his shoulder, cutting him off.

"Don't say anything. Go see your mother first."

The transport bed was wheeled out of the operating room.

Zhang Guifang lay there quietly. The anesthesia hadn't worn off yet, and her face was still sallow, but the waveforms on the monitor were steady and rhythmic, emitting soft beeps.

Lu Zheng walked beside the bed, one hand on the railing, looking down at his mother's face.

His steps were very light, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Jiang Chen stood in the corridor, watching the transport bed being pushed into the elevator as the doors slowly closed.

He let out a breath and leaned against the wall.