Chapter 2 Crooked Neck

  Soochow University Medical College Third Affiliated Hospital is a Grade 3A hospital and very famous in Jiangsu Province.

  In this large hospital, a loud shout suddenly appeared, quickly attracting a large crowd of patients who came to see a doctor.

  Song Jian supported himself on the stairs and went down, only to see in the first floor hall a giant of a man, almost 1.9 meters tall, wearing a black suit, with his head tilted to the left upper side, muttering curses, behind him followed a doctor in his thirties.

  "Ma Zong, what's the hurry? We're doing our best to treat you," said the doctor, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he grabbed the big man who was leaning to one side.

  "What the heck is this?! Is this how you treat illnesses?! You're making things worse for me! I just slept wrong and hurt my neck, because I have an important negotiation this afternoon, a 30 million contract, I don't want to go in with a crooked head, that's why I came to you. What did you say before? What did you say before?! You said it would be 10,000 yuan, guaranteed to be fixed in one day, now what?! Now I'm like a big turtle, can only look up at the sky! It's been a day and a half, not only is my neck not better, but it's getting more and more painful! Can you afford to compensate for a 30 million contract?! Where is your hospital leader?! I want to see him!"

  This big guy is clearly not a thrifty person, judging from the thick gold chain on his neck and the crude and tacky leather shoes, he should be a nouveau riche, with the temperament of a Sichuan nouveau riche, straightforward but also extremely irritable.

  The doctor behind him estimated that he had not graduated with a Ph.D. for long, and obviously had no experience in handling such situations. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Let's go back to the treatment room first, and I'll give you a detailed explanation when we get back to the treatment room, Mr. Ma."

  At this time, more and more patients gathered around, and many nurses also stood in the crowd watching, but did not dare to interrupt.

  "Go back to the treatment room! If you treat me again, I'll be lying in the morgue!" Ma was a straightforward person and his words were also very direct, with a slight Sichuan accent. The patients around him couldn't help but snicker.

  "What's going on?!"

  At this time a stout middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses, wearing a white coat, with his hands in his pockets, squeezed through the crowd and walked in, asking.

  "Director! Director, you've arrived," the doctor said, hurrying over to the middle-aged man with a protruding belly, as if he had seen a savior.

  The middle-aged man looked at the young doctor with dissatisfaction, then turned to Director Ma and said: "I am the director of orthopedics, Qi Fei. This patient, what are you dissatisfied with? You can tell me."

  He stood with an air of confidence, his hands naturally inserted into the pockets of his white coat, wearing a pair of thick-framed glasses, giving people an unconscious sense of trust.

  That horse heard the voice, made a great effort to turn his neck, glanced at Qi Fei, then tilted his neck, and said in a softer tone: "Yesterday I fell asleep with my neck down, came to your department, and was diagnosed by this Dr. Li. Because there's an important negotiation for me this afternoon, I asked if it could be cured within a day. This Dr. Li said it would definitely work, guaranteed within a day, but the treatment fee is quite expensive, over 10,000 yuan. I paid the fee, took the medicine and injections on time, now...now my neck not only didn't get better, it's swollen, even talking hurts...... Ah, damn it, it really hurts! That's how it is."

  Zi Fei nodded after listening, and looked at Dr. Li who was receiving the patient, saying: "You go get me a look at his neck X-ray."

  Dr. Li listened and rushed into the treatment room like a flying bird, taking out the film he had taken for Dajiezi yesterday.

  Zi Fei walked over, first took a look at the patient's information, then in front of many patients, pulled out an X-ray film and examined it under the light.

  "Director, shall we let the patient return to the treatment room first?" Dr. Li said softly to Qi Fei.

  "Shut up!" Qifei said in a low voice, but he was secretly feeling emotional. It seemed that these young doctors still needed to be tempered. Their knowledge and education were sufficient, but their experience in handling things was far from enough. With so many patients standing around now, if they couldn't resolve the issue perfectly, it would definitely damage the hospital's reputation.

  Ma looked at Qi Fei with his head tilted.

  Qī Fēi looked at the X-ray film seriously for a while, smacking his lips, and said: "That is, Mǎ Déshuǐ, Comrade Mǎ, from the X-ray film, it doesn't seem like you just have a simple strain. Look, from this picture, your fourth cervical vertebra has a slight displacement, and judging from the degree of redness and swelling on your neck, there should be muscle tissue damage accompanied by cervical neuritis."

  When he heard "cervical dislocation" and something like "tissue damage neuritis", Ma De's eyes showed a few points of worry.

  "I... I'm just a fallen neck," Ma De's tone suddenly became much softer, "I used to be very healthy, I just wanted to cure my fallen neck quickly, how come now I've got so many other problems."

  Zi Fei let out a sigh, patted Ma De Shui's shoulder and said: "I'm very sorry, Doctor Li just graduated and doesn't understand some conditions yet. The guarantee he made yesterday has caused you trouble, I apologize for that. On behalf of the hospital, I'd like to offer my apologies. However, your illness is something we can't cure in one day, or even a week."

  Chi Fei said this with a serious face.

  The patients around them heard Qi Fei's explanation and began to discuss it one after another.

  "So it was like that."

  "This big guy is really careless, he has such a big problem and doesn't even know it."

  "Oh dear, looks like I'll have to be more careful when sleeping from now on."

  Ma De was also flustered, he tried hard to turn his head and stared at Qi Fei, saying: "Director Qi, what about my illness... What about my negotiation this afternoon?"

  Qī Fēi shook his head and said, "Comrade Mǎ, to be honest with you, your illness is not a trivial matter. If treated lightly, it's light; if treated seriously, it's serious. Rest assured that with our hospital's capabilities, we should be able to completely cure it within a week. However, if you don't cooperate, there's a high possibility of causing lower limb paralysis. You also know that the neck is a very fragile and important part of the human body."

  Ma De Shui was about to speak when Qi Fei patted him on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Ma, think carefully whether you want your life or your money."

  "Ma De... " stuttered out, unable to say anything else.

  Song Jian, who was on the stairs, curled his lip in disdain and thought to himself: I originally thought that only quack doctors would use this trick to deceive patients, but now it seems that even doctors at large hospitals have learned this routine.

  Seeing the golden necklace on Ma De's neck, Song Jian's heart moved, and he went down the stairs, parted the crowd, and walked to Ma De's side.

  At this time, Ma De Shui's eyes were filled with a frightened expression, and Qi Fei's previous sentence "may cause lower limb paralysis" had indeed scared him.

  Song Jian walked up to Ma De's side and said: "Big guy, if I can cure your neck in ten minutes, will you give me a treatment fee of 10,000 yuan?"

  The patients around thought Song Jian was Ma De Shui's friend, but they didn't expect Song Jian to suddenly come out with such a sentence.

  "What? Is this kid crazy?"

  "Yes, cervical spondylosis and that what's-it-called cervical neuritis, how can this kind of illness be cured in just ten minutes?"

  "Major hospitals can't cure it, but this kid is talking big, probably gone mad from poverty."

  Song Jian ignored the crowd's discussion and looked at Ma De Shui, who was really short of money. Without this 10,000 yuan, Song Jian would have no way to cure the heroin poison in his body.

  Ma De stared blankly at Song Jian.

  At this time, Qi Fei frowned and pushed his gold-rimmed glasses with his right hand. "Who are you? This is a regular hospital, not a place for you to swindle people. Get out quickly, or I'll call security to throw you out."

  Song Jian didn't even bother with Qi Fei. He pointed to a chair beside him and said to Ma De Shui, "How about it? Treat the illness first and pay later. If you can't cure it, don't want any money."

  Upon hearing this sentence, Ma De was like grasping a life-saving straw and immediately nodded his head, saying: "Alright, I agree to it."

  As he spoke, Ma De Shui hastily sat down on the stool.

  Song Jian touched his own pocket and found he didn't even have a needle.

  "Who has a needle and thread? I'd like to borrow them for a moment," Song Jian asked aloud in all directions.

  Qī Fēi coldly laughed, "What? Are you still thinking of using acupuncture to treat this patient's illness? Do you have a medical license? Do you have an acupuncturist certificate? You're administering acupuncture in our hospital, who will take responsibility if something goes wrong?"

  The patients around were discussing it enthusiastically, but no one brought a needle.

  At this time, a nurse holding a tray was standing in the crowd watching with relish. Song Jian walked over, snatched the syringe from the tray, pulled out the needle and held it in his hand.

  "What are you doing?" The nurse shrieked, raising her hand to grab it, but the patients around her were very expectant and quickly squeezed the nurse out of the crowd.

  Qī Fēi sneered, he didn't believe that Sòng Jiàn could cure Mǎ Déshuǐ's neck within ten minutes. Although Qī Fēi knew that acupuncture was sometimes miraculous, Sòng Jiàn was just a young man of around twenty years old, and his body was so weak and frail, looking like a sickly person.

  "Hmm! Let me tell you, the nerves in the neck are very important. If you inject one needle, the patient may never stand up again!" Qi Fei said coldly, and he didn't come forward to stop him.

  Song Jian ignored Qi Fei and walked to Ma De's side with the needle of the syringe in his hand, having always despised such a big scam.

  "Hey, hey, brother, are...are you sure you can cure my cervical spondylosis and muscle strain with cervical neuritis? That...that's not a big deal, is it?" Ma De Shui looked at the needle in Song Jian's hand with horror. He had agreed earlier, but now he was having second thoughts. This made Ma De Shui feel a bit uneasy, but thinking about possibly being paralyzed from the waist down, he couldn't care less.

  Song Jian smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, I'll just prick your foot with a needle."

  Ma De let out a long sigh of relief, then chuckled and said: "Scared me to death. Ah, little brother, come on, try it if you dare, stab my feet at will..."

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