Chapter 184: Bad Money Drives Out Good

When it was his turn, Ji Xiang truly understood what it felt like to have a liver full of tumors.

Facing death, the Grim Reaper's scythe was already touching his neck; with just a slight movement, he would be harvested.

Holding the scan, Ji Xiang looked at it for a very, very long time. He thought about many things, as if he were facing a wall in contemplation.

The comfort from his lover and the doctors at the local hospital were all ignored by Ji Xiang.

He could understand it himself; those round, bulging masses were Metastatic Tumors, as obvious as could be.

It was just that this time, the Empathy lasted for a very long time and never seemed to end.

Ji Xiang was not anxious; he cherished this opportunity—knowing he had the possibility of living again and could personally experience everything a Cancer Patient goes through.

Yet even if this were just "a dream," Ji Xiang still felt the threat of death, and his emotions gradually began to go awry.

Time flew by; Ji Xiang became silent day after day, unwilling to say even a single word to anyone.

Perhaps it had to do with Liver Depression and Qi Stagnation, but Ji Xiang did not want to dwell on it; he quietly waited for that day to arrive.

Countless times, Ji Xiang recalled the fifteen-minute Interventional Surgery; his heart felt as if it were being repeatedly rubbed by sandpaper, beginning to ooze blood, the flow growing faster and faster, dripping down drop by drop.

It was as if a scent of blood lingered around Ji Xiang.

He suppressed his irritable emotions, but he had already made a decision—he absolutely could not stay at this hospital.

As for the consequences, heh, Ji Xiang actually hoped they would do something.

The illness progressed quickly; Liver Cancer is indeed the king of Cancer, and perhaps only Pancreatic Cancer can compare.

Two months later, Ji Xiang was already terminally ill, lying in a single room specially arranged by the Doctor, waiting for that day to arrive.

He asked the Doctor twice about euthanasia, but was firmly refused; even signing papers wouldn't work, because there were no relevant regulations in the country.

Ji Xiang understood the Doctor's approach; anything said by the Patient themselves would vanish into thin air upon death.

The Doctor had to face the Family Member, and it would be a disaster if they later denied it.

Not to mention that the state had no regulations, and there were other issues; regarding this, Ji Xiang could only endure it.

Another half month passed, and Ji Xiang had already entered a state of Cachexia.

He lay powerlessly on the hospital bed, occasionally talking to his "lover," forcing a smile.

Even if it were a virtual space, Ji Xiang did not want to hurt those around him; he tried hard to put on a cheerful expression to comfort this world at the end of his life.

Even if the world was full of malice toward him.

Even if that surgery remained a thorn in Ji Xiang's side, difficult to overcome.

Another five days later, in the quiet of the early morning, Ji Xiang experienced the sensation of Respiratory and Circulatory Arrest.

It was not as painful as he had imagined; instead, it felt like a release.

Returning to the System Operating Room, Ji Xiang felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Having experienced Empathy so many times, Ji Xiang had never felt it as deeply as this time. He looked silently at the System NPC, with a thousand words in his heart, yet he did not know where to begin.

"Are you alright?" the System NPC asked kindly.

"Teacher, I am alright," Ji Xiang said in a hoarse voice.

In the final moments of Empathy, he could not eat, his whole body was weak, and every word he spoke or movement he made required all his strength.

Unknowingly, Ji Xiang had already grown accustomed to this mode.

Even after returning to the System Operating Room, he could not shake it off for a moment.

"Rest for a while." The System NPC walked over and patted Ji Xiang on the shoulder. "Do you smoke?"

"I don't, but I want to smoke one."

Arriving at the locker room, Ji Xiang sat under the 【No Smoking】 sign and lit a White Lingzhi.

The intense irritation to his respiratory tract made Ji Xiang cough violently.

The System NPC took the cigarette and smiled. "If you don't know how, don't force it. Tell me, what questions do you have?"

"Teacher, tell me, this thing doesn't exist!" Ji Xiang's voice grew even hoarser after coughing, but he tried hard to say it loudly.

"Regrettably, this matter is real." The System NPC gave Ji Xiang a "cruel" answer.

Ji Xiang was silent.

"It is mainly a matter of technical level, and also because there are too few doctors in relevant departments," the System NPC explained.

He glanced at Ji Xiang, and seeing that Ji Xiang did not speak, he did not comfort him, but continued to explain.

"Your level in Interventional Surgery is Level 9, one of the few in the country, so you think Embolization of a Level 4 Blood Vessel is easy. For similar surgeries, there are few people in the whole country who can guarantee a success rate of over 95%."

"Even if they can do it, a surgery takes 4-6 hours; just the radiation exposure alone is something few people can accept."

"But..." Ji Xiang wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to say it.

The System NPC smiled. He couldn't bear to smoke the rest of Ji Xiang's cigarette, spending most of the time just smelling it, which looked a bit cute.

"This is the meaning of the existence of system teaching." The System NPC took a puff and said to Ji Xiang, full of happiness, "I won't explain the specifics yet; let me ask you one thing."

"Teacher, please go ahead."

"What is the level of the director of the Interventional Department at the Second Affiliated Hospital?"

Ji Xiang had thought about this kind of thing; after all, Zhao Xiangming was someone he had personally "brought up."

He immediately replied, "Teacher, Director Zhao's level is only about Level 6. Although there is no digital representation, I have a clear feeling."

"Look, Second Affiliated Hospital, Director of the Interventional Department, having performed similar surgeries at least several thousand times, and the level is only Level 6," the System NPC said. "Is it enough?"

"Not enough."

"So in that era, for patients with no other options, treating a dead horse as if it were alive and giving one round of Perfusion Chemotherapy was considered doing one's best."

Was it just doing one's best? Although Ji Xiang knew that human ability had its limits, he was unconvinced.

During those last days, "he" had lived very sadly, forcing a smile, and those feelings had all accumulated in the bottom of his heart.

Perhaps this was a volcano, and he didn't know when it would erupt.

"However, these are all excuses, and excuses are just cover-ups," the System NPC changed the subject.

"What do you mean, Teacher?"

"Even if the technical level is not up to par, one cannot do this," the System NPC said. "This hospital's reputation is very poor. Although their surgical volume is extremely high, basically no one in the industry is willing to associate with them; their academic status is disproportionately low compared to their surgical volume."

"Justice resides in the hearts of the people," the System NPC sighed. "I do not approve of things like performance evaluations for doctors. Why were the relationships between doctors and patients harmonious in the past? Because doctors did not earn money from this."

"If your family circumstances weren't so good, you would be able to keenly perceive the difference. A basic monthly salary plus a 1,000-yuan performance bonus versus plus an 8,000-yuan performance bonus are two different things."

"The vast majority of doctors will find a balance in this; this point has to do with the person."

"But!" the System NPC's voice was somewhat stern.

"This hospital was wrong from the root, and then bad money drove out good, turning into what it is today."

"Teacher, what should I do?" Ji Xiang asked.

"How to handle it is your own choice," the System NPC's tone softened.

The System NPC chatted with Ji Xiang for a long time again; this time, he appeared especially talkative, speaking of almost everything.

Ji Xiang knew the Old Man was worried that he would be left with psychological trauma.

After chatting with the System NPC for a long time, Ji Xiang finally left.

"Doctor Xiao Ji, do you think it's that we don't understand the new treatment plan?" Zhao Zhe asked beside Ji Xiang.

(End of this chapter)