Chapter 317: Beyond One’s Power l

Zhao Hai was both startled and touched, as he had never encountered a boss like Wei Ruo before, let alone heard of one.

Seeing his stunned expression, Xiemei reminded him, “Stop standing there in shock, let us into your house to take a look, maybe there’s something we can help with.”

Zhao Hai’s response was still somewhat slow, and it took a while for him to get out of Wei Ruo and Xiumei’s way.

“Little… Little Master… I… I have heard that…”

Zhao Hai, who was following behind Wei Ruo, hemmed and hawed, wanting to say something but hesitating to do so.

Xiumei couldn’t help saying, “Mr. Zhao, if you have something to say, say it directly. Your indecisiveness is making my impatient self anxious!”

“Thump–” Suddenly, Zhao Hai knelt down in front of Wei Ruo.

“Why are you kneeling? I was just saying that you were unclear when speaking, I didn’t mean to scold you!” Xiumei hurriedly said, afraid that her words had scared Zhao Hai.

“Young Master, I heard from others that you are a highly skilled doctor, I beg you to save my brother!” Zhao Hai pleaded, and he even started to kowtow to Wei Ruo.

The name Xu Heyou had appeared on the public announcement of the government office, and with a little inquiry, one could learn that Xu Heyou was indeed a very skilled doctor.

“What happened to your brother?” Asked Wei Ruo.

Zhao Hai explained the situation with his brother to Wei Ruo.

There are two brothers in Zhao Hai’s family, Zhao Hai and Zhao Xun.

Unlike Zhao Hai who is a rough and bold farmer, Zhao Xun had a talent for studying from a young age.

Zhao Xun passed the civil service examination at the age of sixteen and had a promising future, he was even supposed to take the imperial examination this fall.

However, recently, he fell ill. Initially, Zhao Xun hid his illness from Zhao Hai, until abnormal symptoms were noticed by Zhao Hai.

Zhao Hai took him to see a doctor, and the doctor diagnosed Zhao Xun with lung disease and prescribed some medication.

Zhao Xun has been drinking medicinal soup all this while, but his condition has not improved, on the contrary, it has become more serious – he can’t even get out of bed anymore.

This is the reason Zhao Hai has been taking leave for the past half a month.

“I understand. Let’s go and see your brother first,” Wei Ruo said.

Zhao Hai hurriedly got up from the ground and led Wei Ruo to his brother Zhao Xun’s room.

As soon as the door was opened, a strong smell of medicine wafted out.

Weiruo approached the bed and saw a thin Zhao Xun lying there, his face pale.

On seeing Wei Ruo, Zhao Xun tried to get up to greet him, but was stopped by Wei Ruo.

“Lie down and don’t move. I’m the doctor your brother called in to see you. Let’s take a look at your illness.”

Zhao Xun nodded and lay back down.

Wei Ruo observed Zhao Xun’s complexion, then asked Zhao Hai to get Zhao Xun’s hand out and rolled up his sleeve.

It was a overly skinny hand, its skin color was also a sickly pale.

But the bone structure was beautiful, with slender fingers, clearly the hand of a scholar.

Wei Ruo placed her fingers on Zhao Xun’s wrist to check his pulse.

During the check, Zhao Xun coughed a few times, spitting out a mouthful of white, dense, frothy sputum.

Wei Ruo frowned, then asked Zhao Xun, “How long has it been since you noticed difficulty breathing, chest distress, shortness of breath, and chest pain?”

“I began to notice difficulty breathing last winter, but it was not serious. Then after this spring, I occasionally suffered from chest pains, but it wasn’t too serious.”

Hearing this, Zhao Hai couldn’t help saying, “You shouldn’t have hidden this from me! You should’ve told me early!”

Zhao Xun guiltily said, “I’m sorry, brother, I thought it was just a minor ailment. I didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t realize my body was going to fail me…”

As he spoke, Zhao Xun spat out another mouthful of frothy white phlegm.

Zhao Hai quickly came forward to wipe his mouth corner, then tried to reassure him, “Alright, alright, don’t talk anymore.”

Wei Ruo released Zhao Xun’s wrist that she was using to check his pulse, and got up to walk outside.

Seeing this, Xiumei followed: “Miss, what’s wrong?”

She rarely saw the Miss showing such an expression after taking someone’s pulse.

“I cannot save him,” Wei Ruo said.

Xiumei looked shockedly at Wei Ruo.

To her memory, no matter how severely injured the person was, the Miss never said these words.

And today, Miss directly said, “He is beyond saving.”

“Is it surprising?” Wei Ruo asked.

Xiumei nodded, “You are the first to say such words, Miss. In my memory, there is no disease that you cannot cure!”

“Doctors are ultimately only doctors, not gods. With countless diseases in the world, some cannot be saved, and some are beyond human ability,” Wei Ruo said.

“But although Zhao Xun seems a bit weak, he does not seem to be at the brink of death,” Xiemei said.

“If it was half a year ago, I could have saved him, but now it’s too late,” Wei Ruo said.

Zhao Xun has lung cancer, which is already advanced. Furthermore, the cancer cells have spread. At this stage, it’s very hard to treat, regardless of traditional Chinese medicine or western medicine methods.

In such a situation, the chances of survival are very slim, and even she didn’t have any confidence she could cure him.

Xiumei glanced back at the brothers Zhao Hai and Zhao Xun in the room and wore a look of regret.

After a while, Zhao Hai, who had settle his brother down, came out and asked Wei Ruo, “Young Master, just tell me what medicine to buy, and I’ll go get it now!”

Zhao Hai believed that Wei Ruo could cure his brother’s disease.

Wei Ruo closed the door behind her, and then candidly told Zhao Hai, “I’m sorry, but I can’t guarantee your brother’s recovery. I can only delay the deterioration of his illnesses; I cannot save his life. You can seek help from other doctors.”

Wei Ruo didn’t want to lie to Zhao Hai, and moreover, this kind of thing can’t be concealed either, he was bound to find out sooner or later.

After hearing Wei Ruo’s words, Zhao Hai’s large body swayed, and despite his large beard blocking his face, Wei Ruo and Xiumei could clearly see his flabbergasted and incredulous expression.

“No, it can’t be. There must be a mistake. My brother just has lung disease, as long as he takes the correct medicine he will recover!” Zhao Hai emphasized.

Wei Ruo didn’t know how to comfort him, and could only look at him.

“Young Master, please check again, just to be sure, my brother’s illness can be cured. You’re the famous divine doctor from the public record of the government offices, surely you can cure him,” Zhao Hai begged again.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve checked very carefully. If it were half a year ago, I could manage his illness, but it’s become too difficult now,” Wei Ruo paused and then added, “Maybe it’s just my medical skills that are insufficient, you should seek out other doctors, maybe someone else could cure him.”

“No, there must be some mistake!” Zhao Hai kept requesting.

He had already had a hunch, Wei Ruo wasn’t the first doctor he had sought out, and she wasn’t the first person who said his brother had no hope.

He just didn’t want to admit or accept it.

Wei Ruo didn’t say anything more, at this moment, comforting words were powerless.

Wei Ruo left a prescription for Zhao Hai to help delay Zhao Xun’s illness, and then she and Xiumei left.