"One million dollars! You're extorting us!"
The lead police officer in a bulletproof vest cursed fiercely. The reason wasn't just the exorbitant surgical fee—on the hospital bed beside them lay a fellow officer covered in blood and gore, and the doctor had coldly demanded full payment upfront before saving a life.
"One million. Whether we save him or not is entirely up to you. Either way, we've made our terms clear."
The lead doctor said this with extreme impatience. He was waiting to get off work and go on a date with his new girlfriend, and these cops were a real nuisance.
Wataru Date reined in his temper and explained, "Can you please make an exception? We can't scrape together that much money right now. Could we pay a deposit first and clear the rest after the surgery is over?"
The doctor sneered, "Forget it then. This guy was already on his way out when he was brought in anyway. Nothing we do will make a difference. You might as well give up and let me go home."
With that, the doctor turned and walked away, casting a disgusted glance at the man on the bed before he left. Jinpei Matsuda was so furious he wanted to rush up and throw punches, but Wataru Date held him back.
A young nurse following behind the doctor felt a pang of sympathy. She actually rather liked police officers, and taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking, she hurried over to Wataru Date.
"I'm sorry I can't help you directly."
"But I suggest you go find that doctor in the next section over. Even though his surgical fees are higher, at least he'll save lives first. You'd better hurry before he gets off work."
Before she could finish, the nurse handed him a business card. Following the address on it, the two officers found the doctor who was just getting ready to pack up and leave.
Geng Jing, who had just stood up to pack his things and head home, looked at the two panting men in front of him and the bloody, battered patient on the bed, and pulled a form straight out of his drawer.
"Sign after you've read it. If there are no issues, I'll go prep for surgery. If you have any questions, talk to my assistant."
Wataru Date fell silent as he looked at the document in front of him. It was a pre-surgery consent form. The first clause stated that regardless of the surgical outcome, the patient's party could not dispute matters with the chief surgeon or hold him liable.
The second clause stated that regardless of the outcome, the five-million surgery fee must be paid in full. There could be multiple payers, but the primary signature must be the guarantor's own.
Friendly reminder: Five million RMB, not US dollars. To reiterate:
Calculated this way, it was roughly 98.26 million yen. If it had been US dollars, it would have been around 100 million yen. Either way, it certainly wasn't cheap.
Comparing the two options, Geng Jing only required a signature to save a life immediately, whereas the previous doctor demanded full payment upfront before lifting a finger. Under such stark contrast, choosing Geng Jing was obviously the better choice—and perhaps Kenji Hagiwara's life could be saved.
"No matter the outcome, as long as there's a glimmer of life left, we won't give up. I'll sign."
Wataru Date signed his name without a moment's hesitation.
"Put me down too. The squad leader shouldn't be the only one signing."
Jinpei Matsuda stepped up right behind him and signed as well.
With the signed forms in hand, Geng Jing called the backstage medical staff, had them wheel the injured man away, and took his assistant to the operating room. The arriving medical staff were still dressed in casual clothes, clearly having been called back in a rush right after leaving work.
The two officers waited anxiously outside the operating room for the red light above the door to turn green. The surgery finally concluded after a full three hours.
"Doctor, how is he?"
Geng Jing walked out of the operating room in his white lab coat, his expression calm as he briefed Wataru Date.
"The surgery was a success. One of you go keep the patient company, and the other can come with me to my office to discuss the medical expenses."
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Inside the operating room, Kenji Hagiwara, his wounds now dressed, was slowly wheeled out by a nurse, and Jinpei Matsuda accompanied him to a general ward.
Stepping into the office, Wataru Date finally got a close look at the doctor before him. He had heterochromia—one gray eye and one red eye—and long, snow-white hair with a streak of black dyed into his bangs. His wine-red left eye wore a single-lens monocle.
His name tag was pinned to his chest:
Geng Jing
He appeared to be Chinese, as very few people in Japan had two-character given names, and red eyes were a hallmark of the Huaxia people. The doctor lowered his head, absorbed in writing something, and slid a slip of paper across the desk toward him.
"Considering the special nature of your profession, I'll give you a discount. Forty million for the surgery plus seven million for medical supplies—it comes out to exactly fifty million RMB."
Wataru Date suspected he had misheard. Surely a doctor couldn't be this bad at math? He asked, bewildered, "Then what are the remaining three million for?"
Hearing this, Geng Jing stopped writing, looked up, and said in a cold, emotionless tone, strictly by the book: "That's my overtime pay. Ten thousand per hour."
He pointed to the wall clock, which pointed at eight o'clock. "I get off at five to pick up my kid. Your arrival made me three hours late, and the office phone was ringing off the hook."
Japanese hospitals were divided into early and late shifts. The early shift let out at five in the afternoon, but Geng Jing and the other medical staff who had long since finished work had been forced to rush back and work three hours of overtime.
Geng Jing hadn't even had time to pick up his child. Wataru Date was surprised by his youthful appearance, but hadn't expected him to be a father as well, and offered an apologetic look.
"But didn't that consent form say five million?"
"That's why I said your profession is special." Geng Jing didn't even bat an eye as he began packing his things. "You can pay the fifty million in installments, though you'd better finish paying by the end of this year. Interest applies after that."
After finishing his explanation, Geng Jing glanced at the darkening sky and drove to a pet shop. Under the warm yellow lights, a pure white little fox was waiting by the door.
"Mr. Geng is here. This is the first time you've ever come this late to pick up Guangbai. Did something happen?"
The store manager looked somewhat surprised as Geng Jing scooped up the little fox. Knowing that he was always the very first person to come pick up his pet, being a full three hours late today was simply unheard of compared to his usual routine.
"Ran into a tricky patient. It's nothing major."
Guangbai trotted into its pet carrier. Every day before work, Geng Jing would leave it at the shop to be looked after and pick it up after his shift, no different from an ordinary parent picking up a child—except his child happened to be a fur baby.
In the past, the store manager had thought he couldn't afford to raise Guangbai and that was why he boarded it here. Later, he realized Geng Jing was a doctor who truly adored Guangbai, but simply didn't have the time to care for it during working hours.
He couldn't rest easy leaving Guangbai home alone all day, let alone asking friends to watch it, so he spent a large sum of money to board it here until he got off work.
Moreover, although this Mr. Geng looked refined, he wasn't pretentious at all; every time, he would carry the pet backpack on his back and walk home so Guangbai could enjoy the beautiful scenery along the street.
"It must be so lucky to be Mr. Geng's kid, right? Our cute little Guangbai."
With a calm expression, Geng Jing bid farewell to the store manager and walked home with the little white fox.