Chapter 30: Is This Stuff Really Drinkable?

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Lin Xingfan had scrimped and saved to take out a mortgage on a modest apartment of just over eighty square meters in Tianhai, leaving him no money to buy a car.

Fortunately, he could stay in the company dormitory, which also spared him the daily commute.

Now that he was living with me at Bijiang Grand Court, it helped that the complex was not far from his workplace—only five subway stops away.

When we arrived at Lin Xingfan’s residential complex, he chatted with the security guard for a while before finally driving the car inside.

“Once the property office opens tomorrow, I’ll register your license plate. After that, you can just park here.”

“Sure.”

Lin Xingfan’s home was near the Third Ring Road, far from Bijiang Grand Court in the city center. We hurried as much as we could and managed to catch the last subway.

When we returned to Bijiang Grand Court and opened the door, every light in the apartment was on.

That was strange. I clearly remembered turning them all off before I left.

The room was filled with the intense bitterness of traditional medicine. Ji Leqing must have returned.

When I reached the kitchen, I found a clay pot for decocting medicine on the gas stove, bubbling away.

Ji Leqing came out wearing moon-white silk pajamas. Her hair was still damp, and a towel hung around her neck as she dried it.

“I was just about to call you two. What a coincidence.”

Lin Xingfan took a deep breath of the medicinal scent in the air. “Is this the prescription you brought back from Professor Chen?”

Ji Leqing nodded. “However, during the experiments, this prescription did show a certain degree of inhibitory effect on cancer cells.

“But its stability is currently very poor. In clinical trials involving patients, the chance of success is only two in a thousand, and the recurrence rate is also very high.”

When I heard that the odds were only two in a thousand, my eyes dimmed. Still, I had never placed much hope in it to begin with, so I could hardly call it a disappointment.

“Two in a thousand? That’s barely anything.”

The moment I finished speaking, Lin Xingfan stared at me with his eyes wide open. “What do you know? This is about conquering cancer cells! A two-in-a-thousand success rate is already a major breakthrough. It’s still better than having no chance at all!”

“You impossible man, you refuse chemotherapy, too. If you were willing to undergo chemotherapy along with other treatments, your chances of recovery would definitely be much higher.”

Ji Leqing unhappily shook her head at Lin Xingfan, then turned to me. “As doctors, we also have to consider the patient’s feelings. Let Jiang Jian take the medicine first to control the cancer’s spread and metastasis. Perhaps he’ll change his mind later, and it won’t be too late to undergo chemotherapy then.”

Lin Xingfan gave me a look of exasperation, as though I were beyond saving, then sighed helplessly.

“It’s the only option we have.”

Ji Leqing walked over to the clay pot and lifted the lid to check on it. “It needs another ten minutes of simmering.”

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The instant the lid came off, an even more bitter and concentrated medicinal smell drifted through the room.

I could not help wrinkling my brow and taking several steps back.

Lin Xingfan grabbed my arm, seeing straight through me. “I know you’re scared the moment you see traditional medicine, but scared or not, you still have to drink it!”

My eyes darted away. “Ahem, ahem, I never said I wouldn’t drink it. I’m just thirsty and wanted to get some water…”

“There are still ten minutes to go, aren’t there? I’ll go back to my room and take a shower. Heh, I’ll be quick.”

Lin Xingfan and Ji Leqing, however, both fixed me with scrutinizing looks. Under their gaze, my scalp prickled.

“Really, I promise I’ll drink it. Leqing went to all that trouble to get it, after all. How could I possibly waste it?”

I gave an uneasy laugh and tried to turn away, but Lin Xingfan and Ji Leqing each seized one of my shoulders and pressed me down into a dining chair.

“We’ll sit here and keep watch over you, so you can’t make excuses and hide in your room.”

It really was not always a good thing for friends to know each other too well.

Ten minutes passed quickly. Ji Leqing poured a bowl of pitch-black medicine and placed it in front of me.

“It’ll be lukewarm soon. You can’t wait until it gets cold, or it will affect the medicine’s efficacy.”

I repeatedly pressed my lips together. I did not even dare breathe deeply, because every breath sent that bitter smell straight into my soul, making me even more reluctant to drink it.

When the steam had finally stopped rising from the bowl, Ji Leqing touched its rim, then nodded at Lin Xingfan.

It was only medicine, but why did it feel as though I were about to be tortured?

Lin Xingfan patted me on the shoulder. “Come on, brother. Finish it!”

The smile on my face was probably worse than crying. Even the hand holding the bowl trembled faintly against my will.

“It’s so bitter. Can this stuff really be swallowed?”

“Of course. What traditional medicine isn’t bitter?”

With no other choice, I raised the bowl and gulped the lukewarm medicine down, holding my breath as I drained it in one go.

When I could hold my breath no longer and finally inhaled, the bitter, sour taste shot straight to the top of my head.

I instinctively tried to spit it out, but Ji Leqing quickly clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Whatever you do, don’t spit it out!”

Lin Xingfan patted my back, and at last I managed to force it all down.

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This medicine was unbearably bitter. It felt even more bitter than my life.

“D-do we have any candy? Anything sweet will do. My mouth is so bitter I don’t even want my tongue anymore.”

Ji Leqing handed me a cup of warm water and snorted. “You’re not a child anymore. Do you really need candy after taking medicine?”

I went to the sink and rinsed my mouth several times before spitting the water out. Only then did I finally feel a little better.

Lin Xingfan said with relief, “Jiang Jian can’t even stand the bitterness of Cold Remedy, let alone traditional medicine.”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly. “Maybe I had too much bitterness to swallow when I was young, so now I don’t want any more of it.”

After I finished the medicine, Ji Leqing had me sit on the sofa. She and Lin Xingfan sat on either side of me, watching to see whether I developed any adverse reactions.

Being treated like a laboratory mouse made me so uneasy that I could hardly sit still. I could only scroll mindlessly through short videos on my phone to distract myself.

Half an hour later, Ji Leqing asked, “You really don’t feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

I shook my head and answered honestly. “No.”

Then I asked, “Do I have to show some kind of reaction for it to be considered effective?”

Ji Leqing nodded, then shook her head. “According to Professor Chen’s records, every patient who took this medicine for the first time experienced reactions of varying kinds and degrees.

“But it’s been more than half an hour, and you’re acting as though nothing happened. That really is strange.”

“Could it be that this medicine simply has no effect on me?”

Ji Leqing raised her eyes and stared straight into mine. “I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow. I need to obtain your latest physical data after you’ve taken the medicine. My instincts tell me this is important.”

Tomorrow? I had originally planned to go to the seafood market in the morning to buy ingredients and make seafood congee for Xu Zhixia. I had promised her, after all. If I could avoid letting her get hold of something she could use against me, I had to.

“How about the day after tomorrow? I have something to take care of tomorrow.”

“What could possibly be more important than your health? Don’t worry. We’re only going for an examination. I’m not going to make you undergo chemotherapy.”

Ji Leqing assumed I was reluctant to go to the hospital and that was why I did not want to go tomorrow.

Seeing the serious, resolute expression on her face, I thought it over and decided to set Xu Zhixia’s matter aside for now.

“All right, I promise. We can go to Fan’s workplace. It isn’t far from there, either.”

“Good. Starting at midnight, you’re forbidden to eat or drink anything. I’ll drive you to the hospital at seven-thirty tomorrow morning.”