Chapter 392: Hard Truths in the Clinic

It’s almost funny—some illnesses would clear up with a little medication, but the patient insists on surgery. The doctor refuses, and now he’s upset? Can’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.

Zhou Can had become a pro at handling every kind of patient by now.

He gently gripped the child’s arm, twisted it just so, felt for the right spot, and with a lift, set the bone back in place.

“Ah… it hurts! It hurts so much…”

The little boy started wailing in pain, tears streaming down his face.

Zhou Can was confident in his bone-setting skills, almost at a competent attending’s level. Even tougher joint reductions didn’t faze him anymore.

So seeing the boy bawling like this left him a little stunned.

Was the kid just oversensitive, or was bone-setting genuinely this painful?

He’d used subtle pressure just now to realign the bone, making sure not to be rough.

“Doctor, did you fix my son’s arm?”

Watching their child in agony, the boy’s family felt heartsick.

“Hey, buddy, lift your right hand and try to grab this pen!”

Zhou Can ran a quick check on the boy’s recovery.

The boy tried to lift his right hand, pain written all over his face, but he managed to raise it and grab the pen.

“Looks like there’s no major problem anymore. Still, his shoulder just got reset—he’ll need some time to heal. I’m going to wrap it and put his arm in a sling. Come back for a checkup in a month.”

Seeing the boy raise his right arm and grip the pen, Zhou Can was sure the reduction worked.

He fixed a sling for the boy’s arm, prescribed some calcium tablets, and told them to rest at home.

Because the boy kept crying and fussing, Zhou Can held back from suggesting a lumbar alignment for his mother. Figured it was better not to stress the family further.

The boy’s parents looked especially pained as they were about to leave.

Not even a word of thanks to Zhou Can.

He honestly didn’t care.

After enough time in clinic, you learn to expect all kinds of families.

Still, it puzzled him. The shoulder was back in place, so why did the boy seem to be in so much pain?

But just as the little patient left, a new case arrived—no time to dwell on it.

“Doctor, please take a look—our child always complains of headaches and throws up easily after eating. Please help us.” The family’s child, cradled in their arms, was a four-year-old boy.

The boy, hardly moving in the adult’s arms, looked especially frail.

Zhou Can immediately noticed something off about his head shape: it was unusually narrow and long. Most kids had round skulls, but this one’s head was more like an elongated peach.

“How long has this been happening?”

Zhou Can started taking the medical history.

He also took a careful look at the boy’s parents.

It was the boy’s father who brought him in, along with his grandparents. The mom was nowhere in sight.

They dressed plainly, in obvious cheap street clothes—old styles, poor fabric, all badly worn. Clean, yes, but the collars and cuffs were faded and frayed.

The knees and elbows were so well-worn you could almost see them shine.

That kind of wear comes only after years of use.

“We first noticed something was off when he was about a year old. Always crying, barely eating, so delicate you’d think he was a little girl. And his head just keeps growing long—like there’s an extra piece on it. Do you think it’s from sleeping on his side too much? He’s never liked lying down flat to sleep.”

The grandmother filled in, describing the symptoms.

“Have you been the main one caring for him?”

Zhou Can asked.

“Yeah! The boy’s mother left when he was just six months old after an argument with his dad. Never came back. I’ve never seen anyone so heartless.”

She couldn’t help but criticize her daughter-in-law after telling the story.

Meanwhile, the boy’s father just sat there in silence, holding his son.

Every divorced family seems to have their own drama, but the biggest trouble? It’s the in-laws all living under one roof.

Conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is almost inevitable.

Especially when the mother-in-law is controlling—if she catches the daughter-in-law eating a snack or buying new clothes, she acts like someone’s desecrated her ancestors’ graves. Out come the insults, never-ending scolding.

When a couple fights, she never even asks what happened—she always sides with her own son.

She’ll team up with her son to gang up on the daughter-in-law. After all, the daughter-in-law’s just someone they married into the family, an outsider.

Some mother-in-laws will even go out of their way to establish dominance—pick on the daughter-in-law, scold her, and force her to bow her head and admit fault.

After a few rounds of that, any spirit the daughter-in-law once had is broken. She won’t ever dare to talk back and just does whatever the mother-in-law says.

Sure, this backward way of thinking might have worked in the past. People needed help with housework and lazy daughters-in-law supposedly had to be “fixed.”

Back then, women had so little power—once kicked out of their husband’s house, they had nowhere to go. All they could do was keep their head down and endure.

Even in the early days after liberation, getting divorced was considered a disgrace. Women stayed, even when they weren’t happy.

Now things are different. Women hold important positions, college-educated women are everywhere. Even postgrads aren’t rare anymore.

You see women in leadership roles, from government officials to company executives.

Factories, supermarkets, businesses big and small—women are often more in demand than men. They can make money and take care of themselves. No one has to rely on a man anymore.

So they expect more out of marriage these days.

If a mother-in-law, father-in-law, husband, or even the husband’s sisters mistreats her, any woman with some backbone will just leave or get a divorce.

But Zhou Can’s a doctor—he doesn’t meddle in other people’s family affairs.

Still, you could read a lot from the silent father and the dominating grandmother. Life couldn’t have been easy for that boy’s mother. You’d have to be desperate to leave your child behind.

“So his main issues are headaches and vomiting?”

“Yes! Before he’d only throw up occasionally, but now every meal makes it worse.”

The grandmother replied.

Zhou Can ran a thorough physical exam, asked about symptoms and history, and ordered some tests.

“My first suspicion is a cranial issue—something we call craniosynostosis. You’ll need to do some scans. It may require surgery and hospitalization, so prepare yourselves.”

Craniosynostosis happens when one or more cranial sutures close too early, disturbing brain development.

It’s pretty rare.

Some kids never need treatment, but others must have surgery.

In this boy’s case, things were clearly getting worse. If they waited, it could be life-threatening.

“He needs to be hospitalized for surgery? You’re not just trying to scare us, right?”

The grandmother eyed Zhou Can with skepticism.

Part of it was that Zhou Can looked so young; part of it was that she’d heard plenty of stories about sketchy hospitals. She didn’t trust the system.

Doctor-patient mistrust is one of the biggest problems facing healthcare these days.

It’s gotten so bad, some people are afraid to even go to the hospital, worried they’ll get ripped off.

“Go get the tests first. We’ll talk once we see the results.”

Zhou Can didn’t argue back.

Specialists might be capped at thirty appointments a day, sometimes just twenty or even ten.

He saw well over a hundred patients in a single shift—there was no point wasting time debating with families.

His experience told him: the fastest way to help patients is to guide them to the right treatment quickly.

That’s the only way to make this work.

With their test orders in hand, the family left. The father hadn’t said a word the whole time, more like a robot than a person.

They say spoiling mothers raise problematic kids.

Really, though, it’s usually the domineering mothers who end up raising kids with issues.

Kind mothers—so long as they’re not overindulgent—raise kids who are more sensible, smarter, and more caring.

After the family left with the little boy, the triage nurse walked in.

Zhou Yanqing closed the door behind her and pulled Zhou Can aside to report.

“Dr. Zhou, the parents of the boy with the dislocated arm were cursing you as soon as they left, saying you exaggerated your reputation and doubting your skills.”

“It’s fine, let them talk. Their mouths are their own. Go ahead and call the next patient in.”

Sure, Zhou Can was a little bothered when he heard that.

But you’d get used to cold treatment like this after a while. He learned to just take it in stride.

The clinic kept rolling on, with Zhou Can diagnosing each new patient and recommending what they needed.

Just before noon, to Zhou Can’s surprise, the reporter Mu Qing really brought that child with leukemia over.

The boy’s grandfather came along, hobbling on a homemade crutch and wearing battered old shoes. When he pulled up his pants, you could see knots along his calves.

Classic case of varicose veins.

It’s something you often see in older folks who’ve done hard labor all their lives.

Usually it’s not a big deal unless it gets worse.

It was clear the boy’s grandparents lived a tough life—lots of farm and mountain work, no doubt.

“Dr. Zhou, here’s the kid!”

Mu Qing greeted him with a smile.

“Alright, I’ll handle it.”

Zhou Can didn’t hesitate. The boy looked about seven, small and thin, his face tanned dark by the sun. His lips and nails were pale, almost bloodless.

His clothes were threadbare and patched at the knees.

The boy snuck glances at Zhou Can, a little timid, but his gaze was bright and clear.

Kids from the mountains are usually pure-hearted and full of innocence.

But compared to kids in the city, they rarely grow up as fast.

Cities are complicated places—just the threat of kidnappers means urban kids have to learn how to handle themselves.

Too naïve, and you’re an easy target.

“Grandpa, you and the boy take a seat and rest a bit. I’ll go report to the hospital leaders.”

Zhou Can said to the old man.

The elderly man answered with a humble nod and a smile. Maybe his hearing wasn’t great—he probably didn’t catch a word Zhou Can said.

Zhou Can then called the Pediatrics Director, Tang Fei.

He’d already talked to her the day before and discussed the support plan.

She’d cleared it with hospital management. They backed the idea, but with a few stipulations: verify the boy’s identity and background, confirm the diagnosis, and make sure everything checks out before providing charity help.

And of course, the hospital couldn’t do it all for free. Publicity was necessary.

Individual acts of kindness could go uncredited, sure.

But hospitals weren’t charity—they needed good press. Quietly doing good wouldn’t get them anywhere.

So they had to make a big deal of it, letting Tuyu Hospital get some positive attention and show off some goodwill.

“Director Tang, the child with aplastic anemia from the mountain area has arrived. We’re in the outpatient room, reporters are here too.”

“Got it. I’ll come right away with the hospital leadership.”

Right after the call, Mu Qing walked up to him, eyes full of a strange light and a smile on her lips.

“Hey, are you really planning to sponsor Xie Miao’s living and schooling until he grows up?”

Mu Qing asked.

“As long as he studies hard, I’ll support him through college. On top of that, since you journalists have more influence, maybe you can help contact local authorities to get welfare for him and his grandparents. With my help and that, he can at least eat well, dress warmly, and go to school like any other kid.”

Zhou Can always thought a step further than everyone else.

He made sure to consider every angle.

It wasn’t about playing hero—he wanted to use the power of society to help, so that real change could happen.

To be honest, with his resources, helping one kid—or even ten—wouldn’t be a problem.

But the right approach mattered.

Getting others involved meant greater, lasting support.

Especially when local officials got involved, they could keep an eye on the child. Kids growing up without parents risked falling into loneliness or taking the wrong path without someone to guide them.

That’s the real tragedy, if it comes to that.

Just treating leukemia or spending money isn’t the hard part.

“Sorry, I misjudged you yesterday!”

She said to him sincerely.

“What did you misunderstand?”

Zhou Can looked completely lost.

“Yesterday I thought you were a cheapskate, like a landlord from old times—stingy and unwilling to pay for Xie Miao’s treatment. Now I see you’re thoughtful and thorough. I admire how steady and wise you are.”

Her explanation made Zhou Can sweat a little.

“Okay, enough! I don’t need your admiration.”

Zhou Can had a girlfriend, so he definitely didn’t want any romantic misunderstandings with this reporter.

Really, it was her who seemed more interested in him, not the other way around.

Before anything started, he knew to shut it down fast.

“Please, give me a break! I just said I admire you, not that I’m in love with you. Besides, you clearly have a wife. Don’t worry, with my standards, I’d never be okay with being the other woman.”

Mu Qing lifted her chin in mock offense, not charmed at all by Zhou Can’s reaction.

“That’s what I like to hear! Being a homewrecker is beneath you. With your looks, brains, and talent, you’d have at least ten thousand elite suitors!”

He gave her a thumbs up.

“Please, I know what you’re thinking. But listen—forget being the third wheel, I’ll just push aside your main squeeze and become the official one!” Her words were wild and fierce.

Zhou Can was so scared he decided to drop the topic entirely.