Chapter 368: Matters of Heart and Kidney

Profit really is what moves people’s hearts the most.

Everyone understood that the company going public would mean taking off. Zhou Can publicly promised them a share of the stock, which fired everyone up more than anything else.

Look at those major domestic companies. Becoming a mid-level manager or a key technical person means you get equity.

That kind of payout could surpass your regular salary by far.

“Alright, I have some things to attend to, so I’ll head out first. Boss Li will lead the rest of the meeting.”

After Zhou Can resolved Jin Yu Interactive’s life-or-death crisis, he chose to leave quietly.

His main job was always being a doctor.

Making money? Just a game to him.

Su Qianqian’s eyes never left her boyfriend. Only when Zhou Can walked out of the conference room did she finally look away. Seeing Zhou Can’s strength firsthand just now, her admiration for him reached a whole new level.

“This guy… is there anything in this world he can’t handle?”

Ever since they met, she discovered even the hardest things weren’t hard at all around Zhou Can.

Back then, she’d almost fallen so deep into despair that she’d considered ending her life.

But with Zhou Can’s help, she’d pulled off a stunning comeback and became a hugely popular star.

If that weren’t amazing enough, when Zhou Can brought her back home to their county and helped her family escape bankruptcy, the strength he showed was truly awe-inspiring.

This time was even more jaw-dropping—even someone as feared as Hu Haikun, a legendary bigwig, was crushed with a flick of Zhou Can’s hand.

With a man like him loving, pampering, and protecting her, Su Qianqian felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

But there was one thing she couldn’t help but be curious about.

“Honey, why does Hu Wei listen to you so obediently?”

“That’s a long story. One of these nights, let’s stay up talking it out!”

Zhou Can replied with a message that made her blush and her heart race.

She glanced around to make sure no one could see her phone, finally putting her mind at ease. If anyone had seen that message, she would’ve died of embarrassment.

After sending Zhou Can a hammer emoji, she locked her screen and turned her focus back to the meeting.

She was probably cursing him in her heart for being so unserious.

As for Zhou Can, he returned to work at the hospital as usual—no need to dwell on it.

…

Time flew by. Every day, Zhou Can trained hard, perfecting his medical skills and learning from the attending physicians.

Especially Chief Hu Kan, whose health was getting worse, so he sped up his mentorship quite a bit.

Within the Internal Medicine Department, Zhou Can rotated through all the important departments, learning wherever he could.

He’d had his eye on Nephrology for a while. He decided to spend a precious two months training there.

During his rotation in Nephrology, Zhou Can went all out, obsessively learning every detail.

He crammed every bit of kidney-related knowledge he could, shamelessly hunting down clinical experience from each of the department’s attending physicians. He took them out for meals, brought gifts, helped diagnose tricky cases—pulling out all the stops.

All for the sole purpose of finding a way to cure Su Qianqian.

Two months flew by in a blink. Now, he had a much deeper understanding of treating kidney disease and how the kidneys functioned. But frustratingly, he still hadn’t found a cure for Su Qianqian.

Inside the director’s office in Nephrology, Zhou Can sat with Director Jiang Songgui and Director Jian Dong.

Today was also Zhou Can’s last day of training in Nephrology.

This would be his final conversation with the two directors before he left the department.

“Zhou, you look a little down. Are you reluctant to leave us here in Nephrology?”

Director Jiang, a lean man in his fifties, asked with concern.

Before Zhou Can could reply, Deputy Director and Attending Physician Jian Dong laughed and said, “Zhou is the most diligent and talented young doctor I’ve met. In just two months he’s almost as capable as our attending physicians. Honestly, sometimes I trust him with the more complicated cases even more than our associate chiefs. If you don’t want to leave, just stay.”

Chief Jian Dong’s hair was snow white, his skin marked with age spots and deep wrinkles—he looked every bit the elderly grandpa.

He was over sixty years old.

Both his medical and academic skills were top-notch, making him one of the leading experts in Nephrology.

He wasn’t tall—not even one meter sixty.

His frame was small and thin.

Even past sixty, his back was still straight and his movements nimble.

Workload in Nephrology was fairly moderate. Things like dialysis, changing dressings, taking clinical samples, or inserting catheters were mostly left to trainees and residents.

Attending physicians did the more advanced tasks: teaching, research, seeing complicated patients, and performing key interventional surgeries.

Basically, as long as you made it to attending or above, life wasn’t too strenuous.

Chief Jian Dong had made it past sixty without getting sick from overwork—that alone made many doctors envious.

It was the surgical department doctors who had it the roughest—practically all of them had health problems.

Interventional operating room doctors had it even worse.

They might only do two or three surgeries a day, but with sixty a month, the cumulative radiation exposure, even with lead aprons, meant a high cancer risk. Making it past sixty was considered long-lived in that field.

“Zhou, if you’re willing to stay, both Director Jian and I would be happy to teach you more clinical experience. With your talent, as long as you keep this drive, you’ll become a top nephrologist in under five years.”

Director Jiang looked at him with genuine expectation.

“Thank you, Directors, for your kindness. The truth is, I’m down because my girlfriend was sadly diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. I dove so deep into Nephrology because I wanted to find the best way to treat her. But the more I learn, the more hopeless and powerless I feel.”

Zhou Can didn’t hold anything back, laying his cards on the table.

He’d always thought exceptional skill could cure chronic kidney failure without a transplant.

But these last two months, the more he learned, the deeper his despair.

Chronic kidney failure was like a Pandora’s box—once opened, there was no stopping it.

Directors Jian and Jiang exchanged surprised glances at the news.

“Once chronic kidney failure starts, it progresses nonstop. Currently, no medicine or therapy can really stop it—just slow it down. Can I ask what stage your girlfriend’s in now?”

Director Jiang was doing his best to help Zhou Can.

It was genuinely a tragic situation.

“Based on domestic staging, she’s probably still in the compensation phase!” Zhou Can felt guilty. He’d only ever reminded her to take her medication and never insisted on follow-up checks.

The last time he saw her results was two years ago.

After all this time, her condition had probably changed.

He remembered that last time they went home to meet his parents, on the way back, Su Qianqian suddenly mentioned wanting a kidney transplant at a famous hospital in the capital.

A sense of unease crept over Zhou Can.

“In the compensation phase, the kidneys are damaged but creatinine and urea nitrogen remain normal; only the glomerular filtration rate drops. By international standards, her GFR should still be above 90 ml per minute.”

Director Jiang mentioned those numbers to better confirm the situation.

In China, chronic kidney failure is divided into four stages: compensation, decompensation, failure, and uremia, also called end-stage renal disease.

By the time it progresses to failure, patients experience severe digestive problems—loss of appetite, vomiting, nausea, dizziness, weakness, and more.

The earlier you catch it, the better.

You can’t cure it, but you can control it with medication and slow it down.

Sadly, so few people realize how serious it is, waiting until obvious symptoms show up to get checked. By then, it’s often already advanced uremia.

At that point, without a transplant, there’s simply no way out.

Getting a transplant is a massive challenge: the cost alone is about 400,000 yuan, and most families simply can’t afford it. If a relative donates, it costs much less.

Finding a matching kidney and waiting is a whole other mountain—some patients never get one before they die.

Then comes the surgical risk itself and the threat of organ rejection.

Everyone’s body is different; every surgical team is different—outcomes can vary a lot.

Finally, lifelong anti-rejection medication and regular kidney function tests follow. Domestic anti-rejection drugs cost at least 1,000-3,000 yuan a month. Imported brands can run 4,000-10,000 yuan monthly.

Imagine—how many families could cope with costs like that?

Take care of your kidneys: drink water wisely, cut out sodas, eat less salty and sugary food, avoid late nights… That’s real kidney protection.

Yet so few people actually manage it.

“Shamefully, I haven’t seen my girlfriend’s test results since two years ago. We’ve been together this whole time, and I only ever asked if she took her medicine. That’s about it.”

Zhou Can admitted, embarrassed.

“So you’re just dating—not married yet?”

Director Jiang’s gaze flickered.

“We’re already talking about marriage! She’s scared of holding me back, so she won’t say yes.”

Zhou Can answered honestly.

“Zhou, I’ve seen a lot in my time. There’s a saying: if you don’t look out for yourself, heaven and earth will turn against you. Since you’re not married yet, I suggest you cut your losses!”

Director Jiang said this for Zhou Can’s own good.

It was harsh, but truly in his best interest.

“Thank you for your kindness, but there’s no way I’m giving up on her.”

Zhou Can’s voice was resolute.

Their feelings ran deep now, but even when they first started dating, Zhou Can had never thought of leaving.

He was an adult and a doctor—when he started dating Su Qianqian, he understood the dangers of chronic kidney failure and was mentally prepared for it all.

“If you truly can’t let her go, then I won’t play the villain. Bring her in for a checkup tomorrow so we can see what stage she’s at. Director Jian and I, and even the entire nephrology team, will consult together for the best treatment plan.”

Director Jiang left it at that.

“He’s right. It’s foolish, but love like yours is the most precious thing in the world. People talk about the warmth and coldness of life, but in the end, it all comes down to love. Bring her in tomorrow—we’ll work together for the best outcome.”

Director Jian agreed.

Love is beautiful—but for some people it’s pure and faithful, and for others it’s just a cover for lust or money.

Both Directors Jiang and Jian were specialist experts—appointments with them were nearly impossible to get.

The fact that both were willing to take time out for Zhou Can’s girlfriend was a sign of how much they cared about him.

“I’ll try to bring her in for a checkup today. Thank you both, Directors. Once we have the results, I’ll ask for your help again.” Zhou Can got up and bowed to them.

“No need for that. You’re worth helping.”

Director Jiang waved his hands quickly.

…

Once Zhou Can left the office, he didn’t want to waste another second—he immediately dialed Su Qianqian’s number.

“Hello? Honey? What’s got you calling me now? Aren’t you working today?” Su Qianqian sounded especially happy when she picked up.

Ever since she met Zhou Can’s parents, her relationship with him had grown even closer.

Both of them had been busy with work lately.

But they never drifted apart.

He was always on her mind.

She couldn’t imagine the hurt she’d feel if Zhou Can had actually listened to Director Jiang’s advice and left her.

“Qian Qian, are you busy?”

Zhou Can answered with a question.

“Super busy! In twenty minutes, I’ve got a livestream—and today my followers should break twenty million! Why?”

Su Qianqian said with a hint of pride.

“I wanted to ask if you’ve had a kidney function test done lately.”

Zhou Can got straight to the point.

“Um… actually, no, I haven’t! I feel really good, and I’ve been taking my meds. No need to check, right?” She hesitated before answering.

But that moment of hesitation only deepened Zhou Can’s worry.

“You might feel fine, but a checkup lets us know exactly where things stand and helps with treatment. I just talked to two top specialists—they’re willing to help with the best treatment plan. Can you put work aside and come in for a checkup?”

Normally, Zhou Can never interfered with her work.

But this time, it was about her health. He insisted she come to the hospital.

“But honey, I’m swamped! Can’t I wait a few days when things are slower? Plus, I’m far from Tuyu Hospital—I’d rather just go to a nearby hospital.”

Her voice took on a pleading, girlish tone—she didn’t want to come.

“Your health matters more than work! Skip your livestream today and come to Tuyu Hospital. I’ll call Mr. Li and explain.”

As one of the two biggest shareholders, Zhou Can could actually make that decision.

Plus, Mr. Li was his close buddy—the kind who always put friendship first. If Zhou Can wanted his girlfriend checked, he’d definitely agree.

“They’re calling for me now—I have to go! Your girlfriend’s a public figure, remember? I can’t just bail on a scheduled livestream. I’ll get checked when things are less hectic, okay? Bye!”

With that, she hung up.