Chapter 144: The Truth

The man’s name was Zhang Dexing. To make it easier to care for his daughter, he had taken a job as a steel reinforcement worker at a construction site near the hospital.

He left early and returned late every day, buying a meal to take to his daughter’s ward at noon before rushing back to the site. He worked two hours longer than the average worker, all to earn a little more money.

"Neither of us had much education," he said. "After my wife married me, she never enjoyed a day of comfort. The day she jumped from the building, she told me she couldn’t earn enough money, that she couldn't go on, and that the only thing she could do for this family was..."

His voice trembled, and he wiped away his tears.

"I never imagined she would jump. To this day, I haven't dared to tell Yingying that her mother is dead. I lied and told her that Mom went to Grandma’s house and would be back in a while."

"Dean Qi... is a good person. I owe her, and my whole family owes her. But we have to go on living. My wife is already dead; isn't the price we've paid enough?"

Zhang Dexing bowed his head. "It’s too late to say anything now. My only hope for living is my daughter. If anyone tries to harm her, I will stake my life to drag them down with me!"

Tang Yu, sitting with him on a bench in the garden downstairs, remained silent for a long time after hearing this. She leaned back against the bench, looking up at the boundless moonlight.

"Auntie Qi was the first national top-scorer from our county. It’s hard to imagine how she managed to bring her younger brother to the Imperial City step by step after her parents passed away. With her grades, she could have chosen a comfortable career—finance, IT, anything—where she could have made money very quickly."

"But she chose the hardest path. Medicine is grueling. It requires memorizing endless books and conducting endless experiments. It took her twenty-nine years to get from that small county to the point where she could treat your daughter..."

The man’s lips trembled.

Tang Yu blinked her moist eyes. "Uncle, you might not know this, but I think you should. Dean Qi suffers from inflammatory myopathy. The day before your daughter’s emergency, she had already submitted a leave request. Her condition was already severe—she could barely stand. She was the only one capable of performing surgery on your daughter."

Zhang Dexing shook his head. "Don't say any more."

She gazed into the distance. "It was a twelve-hour surgery. I don't know how she endured it. She collapsed the moment the final stitches were made. That was the limit of her endurance; even the post-exposure prophylaxis was forced into her mouth by the nurses."

"Stop..." Zhang Dexing said, pained. "Please, stop..."

Tang Yu shook her head gently. "I'm not trying to force you. I just think you should know what kind of person saved Yingying."

"I know Dean Qi is a good person! I know it!" Zhang Dexing looked at her with bloodshot eyes. "But does that mean we deserve to die? Does that mean my daughter deserves to die?"

"Do you know where the AIDS in my body came from? Where the AIDS in my daughter's body came from?"

"It was these hospitals! All of these hospitals are to blame!"

Tang Yu was stunned for a moment, her lips twitching. "Hospitals?"

Zhang Dexing sneered. "A few years ago, I donated blood at a mobile blood donation vehicle back home. They said if I donated, I’d get bread and juice, so I went..." He buried his face in his palms. "Later, I contracted AIDS, but I didn't realize it at the time. It wasn't until my daughter’s health kept declining that I took her to the county hospital and found out she was infected."

He had injured his arm moving steel, and when his blood got on him, he accidentally infected his daughter. It was only after hospital testing that he discovered he was the source of the infection. The only consolation was that his wife hadn't been infected at the time, but now, his wife was also...

Zhang Dexing asked her ironically, "You came to find me, so tell me, who should I go to? Who is responsible for me and my daughter?!"

The man’s relentless questioning left Tang Yu silent. It felt as if something deep in her chest had been torn open, raw and bloody. For a moment, her expression vanished, and her chaotic thoughts threatened to suffocate her.

"You see," he said with a bitter smile, "no one can."

"Call me selfish, call me ungrateful—I accept it all. Because I... have no other choice."

No one knew the cold stares and disgust he had faced over the years. No one knew the panic and despair he and his wife felt as they held their child, finding every door closed to them. Whenever those hospitals heard they were AIDS patients, they refused treatment immediately, sometimes even having security guards block the entrance to keep them out. He could die, but he could not watch his daughter die in his arms, inch by inch.

Later, when his wife went to a Beijing hospital for treatment, they met Dean Qi. It was as if heaven had finally opened its eyes. Dean Qi was a kind person, a specialist in cardiothoracic surgery. She was different from other doctors; when she learned their family was in financial trouble and lacked medical insurance, she even applied to the hospital to have their medical fees waived.

And they... they had basely exploited Dean Qi’s kindness.

"I am sorry to Dean Qi and her family, but those hospitals are also sorry to my family!"

"That's not how it works," Tang Yu suddenly said.

Zhang Dexing mocked, "What, you want to get revenge on me for her?"

Tang Yu said coldly, "The price should be paid by those who harmed you, not by innocent people."

"Little girl, you are still too young. All crows under heaven are black!" Zhang Dexing sneered. "If I had received justice back then, if I had received compensation to treat my daughter’s illness and my own, do you think I would be saying these things? Would my wife have jumped from that building?"

It was because he couldn't get justice.

"Those hospitals mocked me, saying they didn't know where I contracted AIDS, so they weren't responsible! If I had been treated with kindness, I wouldn't have ended up on this path!" His voice grew louder, his eyes nearly bursting with rage.

Tang Yu calmed down for a moment. "What if you could?"

Zhang Dexing looked at her bright, cold eyes and was momentarily stunned. "Wh-what?"

"If you could get the justice you deserve, would you publicly apologize to Dean Qi?"

Zhang Dexing looked up. "That’s impossible. If it could be investigated, it would have been long ago. I’ve been to the police; it’s useless..."

"How do you know if you haven't tried?" Tang Yu stood up, a faint moonlight bathing her. Her voice was soft but firm. "You have to try. If I can give you the truth, then please, give everyone the truth."

She whispered, "Because someone has been waiting a long time for that apology."

Zhang Dexing looked blankly at the young girl before him. She was only seventeen or eighteen, thin and frail, yet she seemed capable of bearing any weight. Her eyes were exceptionally bright and resilient, as if no filth could ever touch them.

And yet, at that age, one should be full of longing and hope for the world.

He held no hope, but it was better than letting her keep pestering him. So he said, "If you can do it, then I can do it. If you can't, please never appear in front of my daughter again!"

Tang Yu pursed her lips. "Fine, I promise."

She handed him the rose she had placed on the bench. "Please give this to Yingying. After all, one must keep their word."

Zhang Dexing looked at the flower in his hand, and when he looked up again, her slender silhouette had already vanished into the night.