Du Heng put on a relaxed smile. "Uncle, don't worry, I'm fine." After saying that, he secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead and placed the peaches he was carrying on Wu Shengnan's father's table. "Uncle, I ca across soone selling peaches on the way. They're our local white powder peaches. They looked pretty good, so I bought a few for you to try."
Wu Shengnan's father laughed. "You know, you're the first person to openly bring a gift in this entire compound."
Then, he gestured to his secretary nearby. "Please wash these peaches. My son-in-law bought them; let the others have a taste too."
Hearing this, Du Heng felt quite relieved and a bit embarrassed. Putting aside their current location, even the secretary's rank was sothing Du Heng couldn't currently aspire to. His father-in-law was truly giving him all the respect possible.
Seeing the secretary take the peaches out, Wu Shengnan's father grinned and asked, "I heard you've made a lot of money recently?"
Du Heng quickly nodded. "You know about it, Uncle. It's from that dicine I developed with my classmate. It's not a huge amount. But please rest assured, Uncle, I've paid every cent of tax owed."
Wu Shengnan's father shook his head with a smile. "Don't be concerned. As long as the money is earned legitimately and taxed reasonably, there's no problem at all. By the way, I heard from Nannan that you're planning to use this money to set up so kind of foundation?"
Du Heng wasn't surprised that his father-in-law knew about this. In fact, he would have been surprised if his father-in-law *didn't* know. Now that his father-in-law was asking, he explained everything in detail, also seeking his advice as an old predecessor to ensure no trouble would arise.
"...That's more or less the gist of it. My classmate's company and I are funding it together to help those who can't afford dical treatnt due to financial difficulties."
"It's a good idea, and you are both good children. You haven't been blinded by money," Wu Shengnan's father said, looking satisfied with Du Heng. "Are there any limitations on the scope of application for this foundation?"
"No, Uncle. According to our initial agreent, as long as a family is impoverished and cannot afford dical treatnt or doctor's visits due to financial constraints, they are within our scope of assistance."
"Is there any distinction made between traditional Chinese dicine and Western dicine?"
Du Heng shook his head and stated bluntly, "No. Our purpose in setting up this foundation is to help those from impoverished families. It doesn't involve the issue of traditional Chinese dicine versus Western dicine."
At this mont, the secretary returned with the washed peaches, though only two remained in his hand. He offered one to Wu Shengnan's father and the other to Du Heng.
Du Heng quickly declined, "Director Ning, please, you have it. I ate several when I bought them."
The secretary didn't insist. Seeing that Du Heng didn't want it, he simply stepped aside, holding the peach.
Wu Shengnan's father gently peeled his peach and, without concern for his image, slurped so juice right in front of them. "MMM... not bad! Our local white powder peaches are delicious. They're so juicy, and there's no astringent taste at all—just pure sweetness. Very good."
"Little Ning, go order a few boxes of these peaches and distribute them to everyone in the office. In this hot weather, everyone has been working hard."
Without waiting to see if the secretary agreed, he turned back to Du Heng and continued, "So, how do you determine their expenses? For example, for so diseases, Western dicine might require hundreds of thousands of yuan for treatnt, but in your hands, traditional Chinese dicine might only cost a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan. Will you still go with the Western dical therapy, or will you let patients choose your traditional Chinese dical therapy?"
This was indeed a pointed question. He and Liao Quansheng had argued fiercely about this very issue in that small restaurant.
However, they had eventually co up with an answer. "We discussed a general direction at the ti," Du Heng began, "but I'm not entirely clear on the specifics of how it's arranged, as I wasn't involved in that part and haven't seen the docunts yet."
"But the general direction is that for surgeries like heart valve procedures, scoliosis correction, limb repair, and transplantation, we'll provide assistance based on the patient's family's actual financial situation, and can even cover the full costs."
"For other diseases, after the patient submits an application, we'll strengthen communication with the hospital. We will then hold a consultation involving both traditional Chinese dicine and Western dicine practitioners to determine the most reasonable and cost-effective treatnt plan. However, all of this is contingent on the patient's willingness to accept the proposed treatnt."
Wu Shengnan's father slowed his peach eating. "What do you an?"
"For example, take a fracture. If the hospital's treatnt plan proposes implanting a steel plate for internal fixation, while my treatnt plan is bone setting with external fixation, then if the patient doesn't trust bone setting with external fixation and insists on internal fixation, we won't provide assistance."
Wu Shengnan's father tossed the rest of the peach into the trash can and grabbed a couple of paper towels to wipe his hands. "Then there's a problem. If the patient follows your suggestion and chooses bone setting, but the outco isn't as good as, well, that internal fixation thod, who takes responsibility?"
Du Heng answered earnestly, "We will make a detailed evaluation beforehand. If bone setting is a viable option and we recomnd it, then we will take full responsibility."
"However, consider a case where a leg is broken into three or four pieces, or is shattered. In such situations, where we have little to no confidence in the success of bone setting, we wouldn't recomnd it. After all, the purpose of all this is simply to ensure that patients don't delay necessary treatnt due to financial problems, thereby worsening their condition."
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