Chapter 548: The Joys and Sorrows of Coming to Terms

The program did not linger in the Review Room for long; once the screen paused, the camera zoomed in, giving a massive close-up of Ji Xiang's heartbroken expression.

Tears streaming down his face, consumed by grief, the Ji Xiang on screen looked as if he had no desire to live.

At this moment, the footage of Ji Xiang's lips moving was also clear; even if they weren't lip-reading experts, the audience and guests could vaguely "read" a sentence or two.

Luo Zhuanjia stared fixedly at Ji Xiang's mouth, providing simultaneous interpretation sentence by sentence.

"My girlfriend had dysmenorrhea when she was in school, but it wasn't severe back then, basically over in a day. But the pain kept getting worse; I thought she was being dramatic and acting spoiled. At first, I was concerned, but later I felt she was going too far."

"One day she said she was in so much pain she couldn't get out of bed, her vision was blurring, and she was seeing double. I felt so helpless at the time; it was no joke—getting your period doesn't attack the brain, so how could she be seeing double?"

As Luo Zhuanjia translated this, the camera gave the female Patient a close-up.

The wariness and guard in her expression had completely vanished, replaced by a complex, indescribable emotion.

The female Patient understood this feeling; even if it wasn't exactly the same, she understood!

The hostility toward Ji Xiang gradually dissipated; the female Patient confirmed that Ji Xiang wasn't there to "save" her, but had just happened to encounter her on the rooftop.

Meanwhile, Luo Zhuanjia's simultaneous interpretation did not stop.

"I had already started to lose patience by then, especially impatient, and looking back now..."

At this point, Ji Xiang was streaming tears, his eyes rimmed with red.

After a pause of about 3 seconds, Ji Xiang continued speaking, and Luo Zhuanjia continued the simultaneous interpretation.

"Once, she suddenly turned deathly pale and was walking unsteadily. I felt something was wrong, but I thought she was putting on a performance. I went up to support her and found her hands and arms covered in cold sweat."

"She went to the bathroom and started dry-heaving while hugging the toilet. She didn't throw anything up, but that time I knew she was truly unwell, even though I couldn't understand why."

"Was she in a lot of pain?" the female Patient asked, trembling.

"Pain... I suppose. That time, hugging the toilet and vomiting, she quickly entered a semi-comatose state. I can't describe it, I just felt her whole being was wrong. She was very thin, ninety jin, and usually, I could carry her bridal-style with ease, but that day it felt like there was lead in her body; it took a lot of effort for me to carry her back into the room."

"After we got back, she kept dry-heaving, her clothes were soaked through with cold sweat, and her face was deathly pale—it was terrifying beyond words."

"I gave her ibuprofen, and she felt a bit better after about an hour. I got sleepy too and took a nap. But when I woke up to a sound, I saw her opening the window like a madwoman, preparing to jump out."

"!!!"

"!!!"

The guests in the Review Room, as well as Luo Zhuanjia and the nationwide audience, were all shocked.

The vast majority of people were thinking it was just dysmenorrhea; it shouldn't be enough to make someone want to jump off a building.

But at this very moment, even the bullet comments had thinned out significantly, with only a few trolls spouting nonsense, saying such a thing was impossible, and so on.

Anyone with even a shred of empathy fell silent.

Compared to before, the bullet comments were very sparse.

"I pulled her back, and she sobbed uncontrollably in my arms. That time, I could truly feel that she didn't want to live anymore, just begging to jump and find release."

"And then?" the female Patient asked in a low voice, her eyes red.

"I took her to many hospitals. Most of them said it was nothing, to go home, drink more hot water, and take painkillers when it hurt."

"At a hospital in Shanghai, it was diagnosed as Endometriosis, but the doctor also said that to treat such a disease, one could only perform a total hysterectomy. My girlfriend didn't agree; I knew she was very conflicted."

"She wanted to have a child and didn't want to have her uterus removed at such a young age."

"Later on, I contacted many people and visited famous gynecologists across the country, but everyone said more or less the same thing."

"I registered online and booked an appointment with a gynecologist who was said to be in the top five in the country. He told me we could try interventional methods. I didn't know what Interventional Surgery was, but I still wanted to give it a try."

"I talked to my girlfriend about it and came to the Affiliated Hospital myself to ask. I was worried she would have an accident; maybe it was because of the pain, but she was in a very bad state, as if she had developed Depression."

"I asked her best friend to stay with her, fearing an accident."

"I had just finished queuing to see Li Zhuren of the Interventional Department at the Affiliated Hospital when I received the call..."

As he spoke, Ji Xiang's tears fell like rain again, and snot ran from his nose at the same time.

Although it wasn't a pretty sight, and might even seem comical if taken out of context, everyone in the department could perceive Ji Xiang's profound sorrow.

Ji Xiang didn't continue, but everyone knew the outcome.

By this point, even the dullest person could guess the truth—Ji Xiang had been seeking medical help, and just as he learned that the disease didn't require a hysterectomy and could be treated in other ways, his girlfriend, suffering from Depression caused by long-term pain, jumped to her death in front of her best friend. (Note)

Once Ji Xiang finished recounting the events, the last line of psychological defense of the female Patient, who had wanted to jump to her death, was shattered.

From being full of wariness at the start, she now trusted Ji Xiang completely.

If one hadn't experienced it personally, hadn't witnessed with their own eyes their girlfriend in agony due to dysmenorrhea and Endometriosis, even developing Depression, no one could describe it with such intricate detail.

Many details are absolutely impossible to perceive without personal experience.

Only when the knife falls on oneself does one feel the pain.

The joys and sorrows of people are not connected.

The screen froze, and the program staff clicked pause.

Luo Zhuanjia stared blankly at the female Patient on the screen who was just about to speak, not blinking. When he realized the program had paused, he glared angrily at the Guangtou Zhuchiren.

The Guangtou Zhuchiren was experienced and naturally knew that this moment was a good breaking point for everyone to chat and let the overly intense emotions settle down a bit.

Moreover, Ji Xiang had just said a lot of semi-professional terms that the audience needed to digest.

Otherwise, they would only dwell on the gossip of the suicide, which was worlds apart from the program's intentions.

"Luo Laoshi, thank you for your hard work, have a drink of water first," the Guangtou Zhuchiren said with a smile, "Shen Ke, I heard Doctor Ji Xiang mention dysmenorrhea and Endometriosis; what kind of disease is that?"

Shen Ke was still lost in thought; after a few seconds, he sighed softly.

"The concept of Endometriosis is just as the name suggests: the original endometrial tissue appears in places it shouldn't be through various pathways," Shen Ke began to explain, "I once encountered a patient."

Note: I heard about the jumping incident from a junior high classmate; that girl was a very famous animation producer... silence.

(End of chapter)