Chapter 74: A Penny Stumps a Hero

Ji Xiang had not seen cash for a very long time, let alone those small-denomination bills that looked ancient just by sight. Mobile payment had been around for at least a decade, and Ji Xiang could not even remember the last time he had used cash.

So he was somewhat surprised.

The small-denomination bills were covered in a layer of greasy oil, reflecting the light of the setting sun, and Ji Xiang felt a slight palpitation.

"Dad, you stand here and wait for me." The young man pushed hard against his waist from behind, struggling to squeeze out a smile.

After saying this, he did not take the small-denomination bills, turned around, and ran off quickly.

"Where are you going?" the middle-aged man asked loudly.

"I'm going to the cafeteria to buy you some steamed buns; they're cheaper than the ones outside! And there's more meat, they're delicious!" the young man shouted while running away rapidly.

Ji Xiang looked back at the middle-aged man standing in the setting sun, watching his withered hands and the greasy small-denomination bills in them.

It had been so many years of electronic payments; it was truly difficult to see cash.

This scene seemed to take Ji Xiang back to his childhood.

The boy ran like a rabbit, turned a corner, looked back, and seeing the middle-aged man was no longer in sight, the boy finally could not hold it in any longer, squatted down, and pounded his left waist hard with his fist.

The thud-thud-thud of the pounding did not make him feel even the slightest bit better; the stone stuck in the narrow part of the ureter sent waves of intense pain.

Ji Xiang was very familiar with this kind of pain; he had felt it once before.

The boy was in extreme pain, tilted his head back, and roared silently like a little beast.

Without looking, Ji Xiang knew that the boy's face was ferocious at this moment, struggling against the illness.

The pain did not subside, yet the boy stood up and jumped hard twice.

His heels hit the ground, a strong sense of shock traveled up, and the pain seemed to get just a tiny bit better.

It looked like he had seen a Doctor, otherwise, it would be hard for an ordinary person to know the method of landing on one's heels to pass a stone.

Running quickly to the cafeteria, he swiped his card to buy a steamer of freshly made steamed buns.

At this moment, Ji Xiang felt the boy's Stomatology secrete saliva, and at the same time, his stomach let out a series of rumbles under the shroud of pain.

Sigh.

The feeling of hunger was very unfamiliar to Ji Xiang, and that steamer of small steamed buns did not look delicious either, but now in Ji Xiang's world, this was the most delicious delicacy in the world.

The young man swallowed a mouthful of saliva, packed the small steamed buns in a plastic bag, turned around, and ran.

The evening glow was beautiful, like chili oil, and combined with the aroma wafting from the plastic bag, it made one drool.

Several boys walked toward him holding basketballs, shirtless; their world was completely different from the boy's world.

A burst of intense pain arrived, the boy's legs went soft, and he knelt on the ground.

A burning pain came from his knees, but this level of pain could not compare at all to the pain of Urological Calculus.

In his panic, the steamed buns in the boy's hands scattered on the ground.

Enduring the intense pain, he hurriedly picked up the steamed buns.

The dust-covered steamed buns were still just as fragrant; the boy hesitated for a moment, wrapped up the buns that hadn't fallen out, picked up one of the buns that had fallen on the ground, wiped it haphazardly on his clothes, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"I guessed he would eat it," a handsome boy holding a basketball sneered.

"When people are poor, their ambitions are short; when horses are thin, their hair is long."

"Let's go, let's go." One person pulled the others, not wanting to make the boy feel awkward.

The beautiful campus of youth seemed to have nothing to do with the boy; compared to that group of peers holding basketballs, he was so out of place.

Picking up the steamed buns that had fallen on the ground and eating them, that scalding heat seemed to become a part of the deliciousness.

The boy felt a bit of regret, but the feeling of regret was interrupted by the pain.

At the corner, he jumped hard, rubbed his face with his hands, and struggled to squeeze out a smile.

"Dad, here are your buns." The boy held the buns out.

The middle-aged man rubbed his hands, not knowing what to say.

"You and Mom don't worry, I'm doing great," the boy said, struggling to smile. "I have enough money to spend, and you don't need to come see me. I'll go back to help out when I'm on break."

"No need, no need, things are great at home. This year we leased another fifteen acres of rice paddies, and the cow is promising too, it gave birth to three pairs of twins in a row!"

Speaking of this, the middle-aged man revealed a smile from the bottom of his heart.

"Dad, go back, go back." The young man pushed hard against his left waist with his left hand again, the smile on his face unchanged, stepped forward to hug the middle-aged man, and then waved his hand.

The middle-aged man felt some regret, his mouth moved, but he didn't say anything; he nodded and turned around.

The young man held back the tears in his eyes and ran away quickly. By the time the middle-aged man looked back again, he could no longer see his figure.

Returning to the dormitory, the pile of small-denomination bills was put away by the young man; he picked up his tea mug, gulped it all down in one breath, and then started jumping.

With his heels hitting the ground, the feeling of vibration traveled upward.

"Laowu, you're still not better?" A student from the same dormitory returned and, seeing the boy jumping, asked.

"Almost, almost!"

"It's really suffering," that boy sighed. "Keep it up."

The boy waved his arm and, enduring the severe pain, jogged downstairs.

Unfortunately, no matter how he jumped, it was useless; the stone was as if it had been welded onto the Ureter.

He urinated twice, the color was bright red, but the pain did not lessen even a little.

The young man endured the severe pain while jumping downstairs; his strange posture drew a few glances and a few whispers.

"Ji Xiang, you're still not better?" The bespectacled man arrived as promised.

Ji Xiang was speechless at the system's perfunctoriness; couldn't it name things better? Even calling him Two Doggy would be fine, why call him Ji Xiang?

This was an immersive bystander experience, and it actually used his own name.

"Counselor, I'm still in pain."

"Didn't you already have Stone Crushing once?" The bespectacled man adjusted his glasses, looking somewhat troubled.

"After the Stone Crushing, I followed what the Doctor said and have been drinking a lot of water and trying hard to jump," the boy said, panting. "Counselor, don't worry, I will definitely get better."

Just as he said this, a sharp, twisting pain came from his waist, as if a knife had been plunged in and was being constantly stirred.

"Ah~~~"

The young man could finally no longer endure this bone-piercing pain; he knelt on the ground and let out a miserable scream.

Ji Xiang watched in silence, finding the relevant process in his memory.

Three days ago, the boy had a sudden onset of pain in his left waist and, under the persuasion of his counselor, went to a nearby Er Jia Yiyuan for a check-up.

An ultrasound examination revealed a stone in the lower segment of the left ureter with a diameter of about 9mm, and he immediately underwent Extracorporeal Lithotripsy at that district-level Er Jia Yiyuan.

Regrettably, no stone was seen being passed after the Stone Crushing.

At the time, he spent "a lot" of money, nearly one thousand, and for the young boy, the heartache of this was no less than the pain caused by the Urological Calculus stuck in his ureter.

So, after the Stone Crushing, the young boy strictly followed the doctor's orders, not delaying at all in drinking large amounts of water, jumping around, and the like.

However, heaven did not grant his wish; the damn stone still hadn't passed.

"Ugh~"

The boy began to feel nauseous and dry-heave.

Seeing him kneeling on the ground, pale and covered in sweat, the counselor was terrified.

An ordinary person had never seen this before; he thought the young boy might die at any moment and was panicked to the extreme.

He called a few male classmates for help and, ignoring the young man's refusal, took him to the nearby Er Jia Yiyuan once again.

"Has it still not passed?"

Today's Doctor was the same one from three days ago. It seemed they were on a three-day rotation; running into each other again could be considered fate.

"Doctor, it hasn't. See what we should do. It's just a stone, so why does Xiao Ji look like he's in Shock? Could there be something else wrong?" the counselor said, somewhat flustered.

"This is how it feels when a stone hurts. If it didn't pass after the Stone Crushing, then it's difficult. You should go to the Second Affiliated Hospital," the Doctor sighed. "Extracorporeal Lithotripsy has requirements; the density and hardness of the stone cannot be too high. I suspect his stone is very severe now and requires Laser Stone Crushing."

"Okay, okay, okay," the counselor said repeatedly.

"Doctor, how much does Laser Stone Crushing cost?" the young boy asked, struggling.

His focus was on how he could escape this hellish pain, and even more so on how much it would cost.

"10,000 to 30,000," the Doctor said. "After you go there, explain the situation clearly to the doctors at the Second Affiliated Hospital. I estimate it will be around 10,000."

The counselor hesitated, but the young boy said firmly, "I'm not going. Doctor, I want to try Extracorporeal Lithotripsy again."

"Extracorporeal Lithotripsy has indications," the Doctor shook his head. "At most once a week..."

"Doctor, I'll sign!" The young boy was covered in sweat, his face deathly pale, his lips trembling.

Seeing his state, the Doctor knew he couldn't afford the 10,000 to 30,000 cost of Laser Stone Crushing; Extracorporeal Lithotripsy was much cheaper than Laser Stone Crushing and should be the best choice.

If he could pass it on his own, he certainly wouldn't want to spend even this amount of money.

Having seen too many people in difficulty, where a single cent can stump a hero, the Doctor knew this was a solution born of necessity.

But frequent Stone Crushing had too many side effects, and the Doctor was also in a difficult position.

After repeated instructions, the young boy finally signed, and the Doctor cautiously had him press his thumbprint before admitting him to the hospital to prepare for Stone Crushing.

Ji Xiang watched all of this silently; he knew the young boy understood everything, knew that Laser Stone Crushing was the best method, but because he had no money, he could only make a poor choice and try his luck.

He had originally felt a bit critical—wouldn't this just lead to spending more in the long run?

But when Ji Xiang thought of the bun that had fallen on the ground, he understood that this was a solution born of necessity.

"I will try my best to save on costs for you," the Doctor sighed and said. "Normally it's over 800, but since you're in a tough spot, I estimate this treatment will be around 400."

"Thank you, Doctor," the young boy said tremblingly.

"Sigh," the Doctor sighed deeply and took the signed form to the office.

But a few seconds later, Ji Xiang saw him come back out with the signed form and head to the Duty Room.

He must have felt it wasn't secure, fearing the signed form would be lost, and wanted to lock it in his own locker.

Ji Xiang knew that doing this involved great risk, both for the Doctor and the young boy.

By doing this, he had already shown the greatest kindness.

After completing the relevant examinations, Ji Xiang was sent onto the Lithotripsy Machine.

Lying on the examination table, above was a fluorescent screen similar to an X-ray machine, and below the bed was the Lithotripsy Machine.

The moment he lay down, Ji Xiang felt the young boy let out a long sigh, as if he would be better as soon as it was done.

"Getting ready now," the Doctor patted the young boy's shoulder. "I hope this works."

"It will definitely work!"

(End of chapter)