âI am not from any organization or agency, I just want to know the information personally,â I said while shaking my head.
âThat is impossible! The medical records are a secret so I cannot help you with anything!â Zhou Zhiping shook his head.
âHow about this?â I took out the 50,000 Yuan that I had prepared beforehand, putting it on the table.
âWhat is the meaning of this?â Zhou Zhiping looked at the money and his complexion turned bad as he said, âPut these back immediately, we donât welcome you here!â
âDirector Zhou, if you think this is too little then there isnât an issue, you just have to say the number! I will give you an empty cheque!â I smiled and pulled out a cheque-book from my pocket.
âYoung man, you have found the wrong person for this!â Saying that Zhou Zhiping calmed down a bit and said, âI, Zhou Zhiping, have a bottom line and morals that I always follow! If I am going to take patients, I am never going to sell them out! Donât even think of bribing me!â
âThis...â I looked at Zhou Zhipingâs angry look and was at a loss of what to do. Could it be that I really misunderstood him? Was he really not that sort of person? But just now, the leader of the Finance Department had said...... Suddenly, it dawned upon me and I understood the meaning of the leader from the Finance Department. It turned out that he meant that Zhou Zhiping will never accept the bribe, it was I who had misunderstood it as a lack of money!
âDirector Zhou, I am sorry to have misunderstood you!â I quickly took the money and the cheque-book back from the table and put them back, âDirector Zhou, I could only turn to the best way I knew when in my situation. I just want you to tell me about the patient to whom this receipt belongs to. I have gone up and down and found many people for help, giving out a lot of bribes, therefore, I naturally mistook you as the same as them. But it seems that I was mistaken!â
Listening to my explanation, Zhou Zhiping could only shake his head helplessly, but soon, the expression on his face returned to normal! He also knew how the officials in the hospital were, there was no one that could put a leash on them!
As I saw that Director Zhou wasnât trying to expel me anymore, I decided in my heart to now convince him, âDirector Zhou, I am also having a hard time and donât have any other choice. You see, I am the relative of this patient but she isnât willing to tell me the result of her medical inspection. I was very worried, so I came here to see you. Telling the patients family their results shouldnât be a violation of the rules, right?â
âSo thatâs how it was!â Listening to my words, Zhou Zhiping breathed out a sigh of relief, âYou could have just said that from the start, why turn the matter into something this big? I thought that you wanted me to kill someone!â
âHehe, you donât have to worry, I will never do something like that! Also, I can understand that asking for a medical record isnât a big deal so long as there isnât anything shady involved in the matter!â I smiled.
âYes. I am a cardiologist, not a surgeon. There are only patients that have gunshots and involved in some crime that we need to keep fully confidential. As for other patients, there isnât much that needs to be kept a secret!â Zhou Zhiping also said with a nod. {TL: This is messed up.}
âThen, Director Zhou, can you help me with this matter now?â I quickly asked.
âFirst, you should tell me the name of the patient. Only when the I know who the patient is can I try something. Even then, if the patient has asked to keep the matter confidential, even if you are a relative, we canât reveal anything to you!â Zhou Zhiping said.
The patientâs name? I donât know if Yang Mei was getting herself treated or someone else, but I still said, âShe is called Yang Mei and sheâs almost the same age as me!â In fact, Yang Mei was older than me.
âYang Mei? Oh, it turned out to be her!â Zhou Zhiping looked at me and said, âYoung man, you wouldnât be lying to me, right? What is your relationship with Yang Mei? A middle-aged woman had also come here to learn of her situation. Since you are also her relative, then have you not heard anything from her?â
âWoman? Are you talking about Li Xiaohong?â I thought about it and the probability of it being Yang Meiâs mother was high.
âLi Xiaohong? Yes, that woman was surnamed Li. I donât know what her full name is but since you know her, why come to me? Young man, it isnât good to be lying to others!â Zhou Zhiping looked at me and said seriously.
âThis...â Zhou Zhipingâs words made me somewhat not know what to reply with. People like him could only be persuaded and not coerced, so I thought about it and decided to exaggerate my relationship with Yang Mei!
âDirector Zhou, I didnât want to say it but Yang Mei is my girlfriend. I had been on a trip for the last few days but when I returned, Yang Mei had disappeared completely. There was no one at her home either. I went to her office and found this registration receipt when looking for clues!â I made myself appear to be depressed.
âDo you have any evidence to prove what you just said?â Zhou Zhiping wasnât a stubborn old man. As he saw my appearance, he thought that I might have some truth in my words. After all, it was no use for any bad person to come here and ask for Yang Meiâs records!
âOh, right! Here, I have a letter that she left for me through someone else!â I took out Yang Meiâs letter and showed him. Actually, I didnât bring it along on purpose, it was just with me at the time. Before my mood wasnât very good, so I conveniently kept the letter on me.
I deliberately placed the end of the letter in front of Zhou Zhiping.
Zhou Zhiping was a man in his sixties, so it was natural that he wasnât very good at reading the love letters written by the younger generation. He just hurriedly saw the words Yang Mei at the end of the letter and believed what I said.
âAlright, I will believe your words! You can put the letter away!â Zhou Zhiping stood up and said to me, âFollow me downstairs, the records are kept downstairs!â
âI will have to trouble you then. Director Zhou, can you tell me about Yang Meiâs condition first?â I followed Director Zhou out of the doctorâs duty room and got on the elevator.
âYou really donât know anything at all?â Director Zhou looked at me and said in a soft voice.
âDirector Zhou, I just guessed that my girlfriend might have gotten sick, I really donât know anything else,â I shook my head.
âThen you have to be mentally prepared,â Zhou Zhiping said with a sigh.
âDirector Zhou, you can rest assured that since I know she came to the Cardiology Department, I had already prepared myself,â I nodded.
âThe situation is like this, Yang Mei is suffering from a congenital (from birth) heart disease. With her sickness, a person canât be stimulated or excited, they wonât be able to live like a normal person and their lifespan isnât very long either. Theoretically, for the patients to live the longest, the patients are prohibited from exercising, getting angry, and even falling in love. Even certain small matters in love can affect the patientâs mood, causes the aggravation of the disease!â Director Zhou said, âWhat I am saying might not be very pleasant to hear. I donât know what happened among the two of you, whether you quarrelled or something else, but Yang Meiâs condition had been getting very serious during this year.â
Congenital heart disease? Why had Yang Mei never told me that! Canât fall in love, canât get excited? Could it be because of me that Yang Meiâs condition got so serious?
Although I wasnât willing to think like that, listening to Zhou Zhipingâs words I could tell that I certainly had something to do with her condition! Especially since it had nearly been a year that I have known Yang Mei!
âDid she know already that she had that heart disease?â I couldnât feel good. If Li Xiaohong already knew about Yang Meiâs condition yet still wanted her to be with me, then that was really a bad thing to do. Which mother would do something like that!
âNo, she didnât know about it beforehand. Actually, unless the sickness flares up too much, the patient can go on living as a normal person without any distinguishing signs!â Zhou Zhiping shook his head, âYou also know that majority of the normal people donât even get their heartâs condition checked even once in their entire life! Thereâs nothing too strange about it!â