Practicing Medical Skills in a Small Clinic-Chapter 55: Recognizing a Big Brother on the Cheap

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Recognizing a Big Brother on the Cheap

The fruit basket contains strawberries, cherries, grapes, and other fruits. It’s a rich variety, ample in quantity, and surely not cheap.

This person clearly distinguishes right from wrong.

He deliberately picked an expensive fruit basket to show his sincerity.

"You’re too kind! It’s just a misunderstanding, sorted now with no issue. You’ve gone through the trouble of buying such an expensive basket of fruit, I’m so embarrassed! Don’t just stand there, please have a seat!"

Li Jingsheng received the fruit basket, repeatedly expressing his gratitude, warmly welcoming the man named Xie Guiqiu.

If this scene were seen by that female journalist and photographer, they might scold him for being snobbish.

"Mr. Xie, please have some water!" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Tang Ping, being perceptive, brought over a cup of boiled water from the water dispenser.

"Thank you!"

Xie Guiqiu nodded to her.

"I’m really sorry about yesterday. Frankly, I don’t have the best impression of small clinics. My mother is old and stubborn; she insists on living alone in the old textile factory’s dormitory. No matter how much we urged her to move in with us, she refused, so we just complied. When I was just over three, my father died in an accident, leaving my mom with me and my sister, the three of us relying on each other. For our sake, she never remarried..."

Xie Guiqiu voluntarily sharing these personal matters with Li Jingsheng was a gesture to gain his trust.

Don’t think that exchanging secrets to gain trust and deepen friendship is exclusive to kids.

Adults do it too.

But the adult world is too cruel; people prefer to keep secrets as a form of self-protection.

"A woman trying to raise two children decades ago must have been really tough!"

Li Jingsheng remarked.

No wonder the elderly lady is both stubborn and strong-willed.

Though women are inherently gentle, motherhood makes them strong.

With her husband gone and children so young, if she weren’t strong, she would surely be bullied.

Children without fathers can easily be bullied at school or when they first enter society.

They tend to feel inferior and timid.

Knowing they have no father to back them up, they lack the courage to resist when facing bullying from other kids.

"It wasn’t just difficult; it was extremely hard. I remember during the worst times, the family’s daily ration was just two steamed buns. My mom wouldn’t eat them, giving one to me and one to my sister, secretly picking up rotten vegetable leaves to eat for herself. When I got into the best high school but couldn’t afford the tuition, she secretly sold her blood four times to gather the money for my fees. It was only after she collapsed on the road and was rescued that I found out what she had done..."

Speaking of these tragic childhood memories, Xie Guiqiu’s eyes became slightly moist.

"I’m telling you this so you understand how important my mother is to me."

What does kinship mean?

This is kinship.

It’s blood bonds combined with the nurturing grace experienced over time.

"Thank you for trusting me, willing to share these childhood stories with me. Anyone would cherish and protect such a selfless and great mother with their life."

Li Jingsheng sincerely said.

This seemed to resonate with Xie Guiqiu, making him feel understood and affirmed, making him like Li Jingsheng even more.

"Director Zhang from the Cardiac Surgery Department of the Second Hospital told me that because my mother has a special condition, a rare dextrocardia, added with symptoms similar to a cold, even big hospital doctors can easily misdiagnose it. Luckily, you didn’t give my mom an IV at the time. After the incident, being able to quickly determine my mother had a ventricular fibrillation was crucial.

Director Zhang told me that diagnosing ventricular fibrillation requires a comprehensive assessment of clinical symptoms, medical history, and imaging tests. In a large hospital, this is straightforward, but in a modest clinic and with her condition, it’s very challenging to diagnose accurately in the first instance.

I showed him the surveillance footage.

After watching, he commented on how remarkable the clinic’s doctor was, saying my mother was fortunate to meet a benefactor, preventing a fatal outcome.

If you hadn’t promptly identified the cause and defibrillated her in time, it would have been difficult to save her even if the ambulance arrived.

Dr. Li, you saved my mother’s life, which is a debt as significant as a new life.

Would it be too much to ask for your phone number? I was thinking that we could stay in touch like good friends in the future."

Xie Guiqiu sincerely made a request.

There are two ways to express gratitude: one is offering fruit, gifts, and polite words, then mostly cutting ties afterwards. The second is to maintain contact like friends.

Owing to his immense gratitude and deep appreciation for Li Jingsheng’s character, plus their apparent affinity, Xie Guiqiu ventured to make this request.

"Sure, of course. As long as you don’t mind that I’m just a small clinic owner. I can see that you’re someone who is impartial and upright, and being friends with you is my honor. Since I opened the clinic, I’ve been in debt, and those so-called friends avoid me like the plague, afraid I’d ask them for money. Please think it over?"

Li Jingsheng said, half-joking and half-serious.

There’s a Chinese saying that until you experience poverty, you won’t understand human nature; until you face hardship, you’ll always stay naive.

If Li Jingsheng hadn’t fallen on hard times after opening the clinic, he might still foolishly consider those ’friends’ true buddies.

In fact, when he was working at the hospital, whenever these friends called for help, either for themselves or their relatives, Li Jingsheng would eagerly assist.

He was even once dubbed the ’Little Menchausen’s Friend’ in his social circle.

Looking back, he was a fool being used by others during those times.

When others were in trouble, he went all out to help.

But when he was in distress, even borrowing a hundred to top up his phone credit felt like a blessing. Reality hits hard like that.

Having been through all that, Li Jingsheng has learned not to easily trust ’friends’ anymore.

He doesn’t want to get his heart broken again.

That feeling is painful and infuriating, just utterly miserable.

"Hey, it’s a coincidence; I went through similar experiences when I was younger. If you really face difficulties, while I can’t lend you a lot, lending you a hundred thousand isn’t a problem."

Xie Guiqiu replied with a smile.

As they looked into each other’s eyes, neither avoided the other’s gaze.

The eyes are the window to the soul; making friends boils down to two words: trust and sincerity.

Trusting each other, being candid with each other, are the foundations for a lasting friendship.

If there’s mutual benefit involved too, the bond becomes nearly indestructible.

"Thank you, Brother Xie, for not minding. My phone number is 136...7799, and my name is Li Jingsheng."

Li Jingsheng reported his phone number.

"I’m calling it now!"

Following Li Jingsheng’s provided number, Xie Guiqiu dialed, and Li Jingsheng’s phone quickly rang.

They exchanged phone numbers.

"Is it okay if we address each other like this in the future? I’ll call you Jingsheng or Brother Li. I’m older by a few years, so you can call me Brother Xie or Brother Qiu. To be honest, the more I look at you, the more we click. Being friends with you means I can feel assured when bringing my mother to you if she falls ill."

It turns out he also had this intention when befriending Li Jingsheng.