Chapter 27 Choices: "Don't Underestimate Yourself"

27

Today was her grandmother's follow-up appointment, and Meng Yao arrived at the hospital early in the morning.

The midday sun streamed through the window, warm and comforting. The old lady had just finished her last check-up, and stretched with a refreshed expression. She looked quite well, and her steps were more steady than before.

"See? I told you it would work, didn't I? What problems could there be?"

Meng Xiangque said this, but his hand still rested on her arm dependently. He turned his head and carefully examined her: "As for you, how's work lately? You seem to be doing better than last time. You've gained a little weight and have more energy."

"Great! Thank you so much for your kind appearance. I'm a big internet celebrity now." Meng Yao smiled and helped her to the bedside to rest.

Meng Xiangque tapped her brow, smiling kindly: "If you're always worrying, you'll get wrinkles on your brow. You can't earn enough money, but your health is the most important thing. You should take better care of yourself and stop worrying about me. I can do this kind of checkup myself."

Meng Yao didn't feel any better. She frowned slightly and said, "You're here again... I haven't neglected my own life. Didn't you just say I've gained some weight? Besides, what could possibly happen to me? At most, I'll be studying or working... I don't really have to go to work anymore, so can't I come here?"

“You’re a 24-year-old young woman, what kind of behavior is it to keep going to the hospital? You’ll just end up with a lot of sickness.”

As Meng Xiangque spoke, her brows suddenly relaxed: "Go do something your age should do, play games, go shopping, and what about your boyfriend? We haven't been in touch much lately?"

She was perceptive and tentatively asked in a soft voice, "There were so many rumors about you at work before, surely he can't be misunderstanding you? You can't accept that."

Meng Yao always felt inexplicably guilty whenever she mentioned that non-existent boyfriend.

At this moment, perhaps because of the arranged marriage, she inexplicably thought of Fang Huaixu.

Thinking about how the two had spent the last few days together, Fang Huaixu actually left work an hour or two early after that day to give her one-on-one tutoring, and even compiled a complete set of key knowledge points.

Meng Yao would also take advantage of her free time to look at the documents that he spent several hours pondering every day, and Fang Huaixu would patiently explain the logical chain to her.

She kept Fang Huaixu's unique taste in mind, and would occasionally try to challenge his taste buds again. Seeing his serious face, and the expressions of difficulty he made as he ate those experimental products, she could always make him laugh.

Sometimes the two of them would have serious discussions, and sometimes they would joke around. Despite being two people with completely different ways of thinking and acting, they would always be able to suddenly understand things thanks to each other's unintentional hints...

It's a really novel feeling, silently seeping into every aspect of life, bringing a strange sense of security.

Initially, it was to repay his kindness and make his life less monotonous, but as things progressed, Meng Yao could no longer distinguish what kind of relationship the two of them actually had.

Roommate? Close friend? Business partner?

Or rather, lovers?

She had never been in a relationship and didn't understand the differences between these things.

But she felt very comfortable with Fang Huaixu, and if it was a romantic relationship, she felt it was actually quite good.

"Yaoyao?"

Meng Xiangque's call interrupted Meng Yao's thoughts. She came back to her senses and saw Meng Xiangque smiling as if he knew everything: "What are you thinking about so intently? Your boyfriend? Are you still dating?"

Although the circumstances are vastly different, if we're really talking about the law now, how can Fang Huaixu not be considered a temporary "boyfriend" in some sense?

Having figured this out, Meng Yao was no longer flustered as before, and nodded somewhat embarrassedly: I guess so.

She quickly added, "We're dating. He doesn't mind my job, and he even helped me out in this matter. He's good to me and has a great personality."

The "boyfriend" she had casually created had become Fang Huaixu, a real person in her life, and she spoke of him with more confidence than ever before.

Meng Xiangque felt much more relieved, let out a long sigh, and smiled broadly. He squeezed Meng Yao's hand tightly: "It's rare to hear you speak so highly of someone. I'm glad it makes you happy. But we shouldn't look down on ourselves just because the other person is nice. A girl as good as us is bound to have good young men who like us. Since he likes you, he should treat you well."

Meng Yao chuckled: "Don't try to persuade me not to feel inferior. Look at your granddaughter's personality, she's almost become arrogant. How can she let others look down on her?"

Meng Xiangque smiled and shook his head: "Others may not know you, but don't I know you? You have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Girls in our Meng family are all stubborn as mules, and we value loyalty and friendship more than anything else. I'm just afraid you'll suffer."

"So it was our chief actuary who recognized his talent. I'll bring him to see you later, and you can keep a close eye on him for me."

Meng Yao held her hand tightly in return, her heart filled with warmth, and time passed peacefully and calmly.

But this warmth was soon shattered.

In the afternoon, Dr. Zhao, the attending physician, came to check on Meng Yao's condition as usual. Before leaving, he took advantage of Meng Xiangque's inattention and called Meng Yao aside, saying, "There are some things we need to talk about privately."

Seeing his serious expression, Meng Yao had a bad feeling, but she suppressed her unease, comforted her grandmother, made an excuse to leave, and then followed Doctor Zhao to the office.

Dr. Zhao sat down, then suddenly sighed and gestured for Meng Yao to sit down opposite him as well. He then handed her the imaging report and several lab results.

Meng Yao's heart skipped a beat. As she picked up the reports, Dr. Zhao explained, "Miss Meng, I didn't want to tell you this news either, but your grandmother's follow-up examination results this time... are not very good."

His voice was heavy as he pulled up the tumor scan on the screen: "New active signals have appeared in the previously identified lesion, and their location is quite tricky, compressing a key nerve area."

Meng Yao's heart sank, her nails almost digging into her palms: "You mean..."

"Surgery is necessary within the next three months," Dr. Zhao said bluntly, without mincing words. "But even if we choose to perform another craniotomy, it's questionable whether your grandmother's condition will allow her to survive until the end of the entire surgery, and the success rate is not high. She might even pass away during the surgery..."

He didn't continue, but his meaning was clear.

Meng Yao's vision blurred, and the surrounding air seemed to be sucked away in an instant. Panic crept into her every breath, seeping into her blood with each heartbeat.

The situation had clearly stabilized, and everything was moving in a positive direction, right? During the day, Grandma was perfectly fine, holding her hand and chatting with her. How did it get to such a serious point?

Her whole body stiffened, and her eyes instantly turned red.

"Then..." she began, her voice suddenly changing tone as she realized her lapse in composure. She cleared her throat and readjusted her tone, "Are there any conservative treatment options?"

“Conservative treatment can only control symptoms and slow down the progression, but it can never cure the disease. Moreover, given the location of this recurrence, the effectiveness is probably limited as well,” Dr. Zhao said with a sense of helplessness. “These three months are the best time for surgery. Even if we bring in Professor Anderson, surgery is currently the most promising option. But regardless of whether I or Professor Anderson performs the surgery, we will do our best to seize the opportunity.”

The familiar name was called out again, plunging Meng Yao into immense confusion and struggle.

Supporting the surgery might mean watching my grandmother suffer and risk losing everything; not continuing the surgery would mean watching her slowly lose her vitality before my eyes.

This decision was too heavy a burden, so heavy that for the first time in her life she felt an unprecedented sense of confusion.

Even if it could only increase the success rate of the surgery by one percent, she would definitely try to invite Professor Anderson, but Lin Tianhai's side had made a very bad scene, and she might not be able to contact Fang Huaixu either.

Even if we take a step back and actually manage to bring him in, the risks of this surgery are so high that it's hard to be optimistic.

She was almost in despair, unable to accept that all her years of hard work had ultimately failed to keep this most important family member.

Seeing her hesitant and confused, Dr. Zhao finally spoke up: "Miss Meng, there is actually another... rather unconventional and somewhat risky plan. I wonder if you would be willing to give it a try."

Meng Yao seemed to suddenly see a glimmer of hope and snapped back to reality, her voice urgent: "What plan? Tell me."

Dr. Zhao carefully chose his words: "I don't know if you've heard of the name 'Tianmu Group'."

Meng Yao's mind went blank: it was a name she knew all too well.

Dr. Zhao, oblivious to her momentary unease, continued, "Their team has been developing targeted cancer drugs for nearly a decade, and they've recently begun Phase III clinical trials, recruiting volunteers to participate. Last month, I had the opportunity to visit their research site. These drugs have a remarkable effect on reducing the activity of cancer cells, with a cycle of approximately 2-3 weeks."

After a pause, he continued, "In the most optimistic scenario, if their drug really performs as well as it has in the experiments, after a month of trial use to allow the tumor to shrink and its activity to decrease, the risk will return to the level of a regular surgery, and the cure rate will also increase."

Meng Yao never expected that the project that Fang Huaixu and his mother had poured their hearts and souls into would have such a significant connection to her at this moment.

But this did not comfort her at all. She did not ignore the risks mentioned by Dr. Zhao: the drug was still in the third phase of clinical trials, which meant that it was an experiment and there were unknown risks that were no less than those of direct surgery.

Dr. Zhao clearly knew her thoughts and continued, "Based on the publicly available data I learned from them last time, the theoretical benefits are quite optimistic. Moreover, the fact that the experiment has entered Phase III clinical trials means that it has passed the preliminary safety tests and preliminary efficacy verification, and it has already been put into Phase I human trials. I think it is worth a try. Besides, they are currently recruiting publicly, which is not as complicated as finding Professor Anderson. It is easy to obtain contact information."

He laid out the risks and benefits, and ultimately gave the choice to Meng Yao: "We have seen how hard you have worked over the past few years, and we sincerely hope that your grandmother can get better, so I have told you all the solutions I could think of. I can't control your decision, but no matter which path you choose, we will definitely do our best."

Author's Note: One more chapter to go. I'm pretty sure I can manage to write another one (I think, I think...).