"What are you doing here?"

Su Chen was a little surprised to see Si Cong appear before him wearing a face mask.

"I was just in the area for some business and thought I’d drop by to see you!" Si Cong glanced to the side and saw Yang Wei sitting not far away, but he didn’t ask any questions.

"Come on, I’ll take you to meet someone!"

After saying that, Si Cong strode quickly toward an office, and Su Chen hurried to follow.

Si Cong seemed to know his way around. When he reached an office door, he deliberately took off his mask, glanced at Su Chen behind him, and then knocked softly.

"Come in~" A deep, resonant voice called from inside the room.

Si Cong immediately pushed the door open and walked in.

The room wasn’t large, only about ten square meters. It was sparsely furnished, with just an office desk, a computer, and a file cabinet.

An elderly man with salt-and-pepper hair was watching with a smile as Si Cong and Su Chen entered.

"Uncle Lu, I came to see you!" Si Cong said with a wide, eager grin.

"Tch~ Came to see me? You don’t show up unless you want something. If your dad hadn’t called me, I might have actually believed your nonsense!" As he spoke, the old man’s gaze fell on Su Chen.

Whether it was the sharpness of the old man’s gaze or his deep understanding of human nature, he seemed to see right through Su Chen in an instant.

Su Chen shuddered when he heard the old man’s words. He hadn’t expected Si Cong to actually call Old Wang just to pull some strings at the hospital.

’Looks like I really owe Si Cong a big one this time,’ Su Chen muttered to himself.

The old man didn’t waste any time and got straight to the point. "Alright, tell me. What’s the situation?"

Si Cong quickly nudged Su Chen with his elbow, signaling for him to speak, as Si Cong himself didn’t know the specifics.

Su Chen quickly explained the situation. The old man didn’t say much, only asking for the names before he started looking them up on his computer.

The room fell silent, filled only with the sound of the old man occasionally scrolling with his mouse.

But when he saw the old man’s brow gradually furrow, Su Chen’s heart sank.

There’s a saying: don’t fear a smiling doctor, fear one with a worried frown.

"The situation isn’t optimistic for either of them. The little girl, in particular, has already developed kidney failure, and it’s quite advanced."

"Uncle Lu, we’ll have to trouble you to put some extra effort into this!"

The old man looked at Si Cong, then at Su Chen, and pondered for a long moment before nodding. "Alright, you don’t need to worry about the rest. But I’ll say this upfront, the costs won’t be low..."

But then, as if suddenly remembering something, he shook his head with a smile. "I’m getting old. I forgot that for you two, this kind of money is just a drop in the bucket."

"Alright, go on and mind your own business. Don’t just stand around here like fools!" The old man waved them away and lowered his head to get back to his work.

"Okay, Uncle Lu. Sorry to disturb you!"

After saying this, Si Cong pulled Su Chen toward the exit. Su Chen wanted to say thank you, but he was dragged out the door before he could get the words out.

"Whew~ It’s finally settled!" Si Cong let out a long sigh of relief after they were outside.

Su Chen asked, a bit surprised, "Si Cong, what’s the deal with this Uncle Lu? I’ve never seen you so tense!"

Si Cong glanced around, and seeing no one nearby, leaned in and whispered to Su Chen, "This Uncle Lu is someone who has the ear of the highest authorities. He’s one of the heads of the expert panel, and he’s not just an acquaintance of my dad’s—they go way back, decades."

Su Chen was stunned. He hadn’t expected him to be such a big shot.

A certain phrase inexplicably popped into his mind: ’The hard work of several generations... why should it lose to your ten years of solitary study?’

Even though he had the system now, compared to these families built up by older generations, he was still far behind. In terms of connections alone, they were leagues ahead of him.

Su Chen was also starting to understand why everyone was so desperate to climb the ladder, whether in a company or any other organization.

Changing one’s social class was an eternal, undying belief hidden in people’s hearts.

Why were more and more people content to be "salted fish" nowadays? It wasn’t that they weren’t hardworking; it was the realization that their hard work could never compete with someone else’s birthright.

Some are born in Rome; others are born to be beasts of burden.

He shook his head, pushing all these thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Thank you, really, for this."

"Heh heh, what’s with all the thanks? Aren’t we friends? Shouldn’t friends help each other out when they’re in trouble?"

Hearing this, Su Chen nodded emphatically.

......

When Su Chen returned to the hospital room, he saw Yang Wei talking to two doctors. Judging by the excited look on his face, it had to be good news.

After the two doctors left, Su Chen walked over with Si Cong.

When Yang Wei saw Su Chen, he rushed over to greet him. "Xiaochen, thank you so, so much!"

It turned out the two people who had just been there were members of the nephrology expert panel. They had come to inform him that the expert panel was taking over the care of both patients, who would be transferred to a special care unit shortly.

"Alright, Wei, you don’t have to worry so much now. Things will slowly get better," Su Chen said, patting Yang Wei’s shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah... they’ll get better!" Hope flickered in Yang Wei’s eyes.

Just then, several doctors and nurses arrived. They wheeled Li Xiaohua and Xiaoyann out of the room, apparently preparing to move them to the special care unit.

"Where is Li Xiaohua’s family?" a nurse called out, holding some forms.

"Here, over here! Nurse, what is it?" Yang Wei raised his hand and trotted over to the nurse.

Seeing this, Su Chen followed him.

"We just received a notification from the expert panel. They’ve already found highly compatible kidney donors for both patients. The surgery can be performed tomorrow at the latest. This is the bill, go pay it quickly!"

They say that the medical resources in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou are the best in the country, and this moment proved it perfectly.

Yang Wei took the bill and glanced at it. His right hand, holding the paper, began to tremble. He mumbled, "Eight hundred thousand! Where am I going to get eight hundred thousand right now?!"

Seeing the helpless look in Yang Wei’s eyes, Su Chen reached out and took the bill from him. "Wei, go check on your wife and daughter. I’ll go pay this."

With that, he turned and walked toward the payment office. Yang Wei watched Su Chen’s departing figure, his mouth agape, as tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Yang Wei didn’t head for the special care unit. Instead, he walked over to the nurses’ station.

After asking a nurse for a few things, he finally turned and went toward the special care unit.

"Nurse, I’m here to pay a bill!" Su Chen said, sliding the form and his bank card through the window.

Leaning against the wall nearby, Si Cong asked curiously, "You’re that close with this Wei guy? Not only pulling strings for him but also fronting his medical bills... People like you are a dying breed."

Su Chen shrugged. He knew he wasn’t some kind of "saint." If it had been a stranger, he might not have helped.

After all, there was too much suffering in the world; you couldn’t help everyone.