Gao Yuan returned from New York and received a WeChat message the next day.

"Director Gao, I heard you came back from the United States. When do you have time? Let’s grab a meal together," the message read.

The sender was Duan Xiaoming, nicknamed Duan bald, whose profile picture was a bald selfie dressed in a White Gown, with a massive Gamma Knife device as the background.

Back in the days, Duan Xiaoming was the director of the Gamma Department at Sanbo Hospital. The Gamma Knife, a high-intensity focused ultrasound, is a technology that uses ultrasound waves to ablate tumors without surgery or puncture, like burning an internal tumor from the outside with an invisible beam. It was a novel concept back then; the entire hospital only had one machine, but it handled few patients yearly. The Gamma Department was the calmest in Sanbo Hospital, and during that period, Director Duan couldn’t extricate himself from stock trading.

Later, he learned something from Professor Yang when he took the chance to treat Sisi’s illness, and eventually, Xiaoming went to Pengcheng, causing less contact with Gao Yuan.

Occasionally chatting a few words on WeChat, Duan Xiaoming sent some photos of Gamma Knife treatments, and Gao Yuan replied with a ’thumbs up’ emoji. During holidays, they exchanged small Red Packets for good luck. Gao Yuan knew he was doing well but wasn’t aware of how well.

Until one day, Gao Yuan flipped through a finance magazine on a plane and saw a report titled "Duan Xiaoming: Leveraging a Billion-Dollar Market with a Beam." The picture featured Duan Xiaoming wearing a sleek suit with a tie, standing in front of a Gamma Knife device. His bald head gleamed under flashlights, but this time not operating lights — studio lights. Duan Xiaoming appeared differently than a few years ago, not aged, but rather full of success.

After reading the report, Gao Yuan discovered what Duan Xiaoming had done over the years.

After joining a private hospital in Pengcheng, he revived the idle Gamma Knife equipment within six months. Instead of waiting for patients to come, he proactively intercepted those needing fibroid surgery yet unwilling to have a hysterectomy at gynecology clinics, telling them: no surgery, no hospitalization, no impact on fertility, and home the same day. Initially, nobody believed it. However, sincerity made it possible, progressing from treating one patient every couple of weeks to having months-long queues.

During Duan Xiaoming’s first year at the Pengcheng hospital, its Gamma Department became the hospital’s best-performing department from the worst. The private hospital’s owner discussed offering him shares to stay. Duan Xiaoming said, "I don’t want shares. I want the machine. Give me the machine."

The owner thought he was joking, but Duan Xiaoming wasn’t joking.

The private hospital owner, having foresight, handed the Gamma Knife to Duan Xiaoming, plus some money as equity, letting him do as he wished without involvement. In Pengcheng, Duan Xiaoming rented a 200-square-meter space, registered a healthcare management company, and started his own business. He didn’t call it a "clinic" or "hospital," but a "treatment center." He said, "I’m not running a hospital; I’m doing technology. My technology is the Gamma Knife; I only do one thing and make it the best."

His judgment was correct; uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors in women, with a 20-30% incidence rate in childbearing women. The traditional method is surgical resection, either removing fibroids or the uterus. The cost of removing the uterus is losing fertility irrevocably; removing fibroids leaves abdominal scars, postoperative adhesions, and high recurrence rates. The Gamma Knife involves no surgery, bleeding, scarring, or fertility impact — home the same day — appearing like magic to these women.

Other hospitals also treat uterine fibroids with the Gamma Knife, but with many complications, unable to match Duan Xiaoming’s safety and efficacy and fewer complications.

Duan Xiaoming’s treatment center thrived, breaking even the first year, profitable the second, expanding to Nandu Provincial City the third year, then a third in Shanghai, and a fourth in Beijing. Four treatment centers spread across first-tier cities, each equipped with the latest Gamma Knife equipment and medical teams personally trained by Duan Xiaoming. He established a standardized treatment process, from pre-op ultrasound positioning to intra-op energy control to post-op effect evaluation, with clear operating norms and quality standards for each link. This process wasn’t copied from textbooks; he learned it from Professor Yang.

Gao Yuan finished the report and messaged Duan Xiaoming: "Mr. Duan, saw your report, awesome!"

Duan Xiaoming replied instantly: "Director Gao, don’t call me Mr. Duan; I’m still Duan bald. When are you coming to Pengcheng? Let’s have a meal and a good chat."

Gao Yuan replied smilingly: "Sure." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

After returning from New York, Duan Xiaoming’s message stayed in Gao Yuan’s list. He hadn’t replied, not that he forgot, but hadn’t figured out how to respond. Duan Xiaoming was no longer the Duan bald he once knew. He’s now the founder of a soon-to-be-listed chain medical group, worth billions, with drivers attending, seated on conference podiums. Gao Yuan didn’t want to make him feel like he was "climbing on" or "joining the hype." Not due to arrogance, but because Gao Yuan thought friends shouldn’t be this way — if I’m rich, you seek me out — is that friendship?