Friday morning at eight o'clock, an international flight from London, UK landed at Binhai International Airport.
Not long after, a tall white youth of 1.87 meters, with brown hair and a high nose bridge, exited the terminal dragging a slightly lame right leg, accompanied by a middle-aged Chinese man.
Watching the drifting rain outside, the young white man couldn't help but reach for his right knee.
There it was, faintly aching again.
The middle-aged man beside him hung up the phone and, somewhat embarrassed, said in English: "Anders, sorry, the rain has caused some traffic, and the car picking us up is delayed. We need to wait a bit."
Two years ago, upon hearing these words, Anders would have angrily rebuked him.
But after experiencing the world's coldness over the past two years, Anders had come to understand that he was no longer the person he once was.
He gave a slight smile and, very gentlemanly, said: "It's alright, I can wait."
Anders reached out into the air, feeling the drizzle fall on his palm, bringing a slight chill.
He withdrew his hand, clenched it tightly, and gazed at the distant gloomy sky, silently praying in his heart: "God bless me, let me find rebirth and health in this mysterious country, amen!"
Anders' full name was David Anders, hailed as a talented footballer in the United Kingdom before the age of seventeen.
In his seventeenth year, he had, in fact, luckily made it to the national team, about to represent England.
On the day he received the news, he went to a friend's house to celebrate wildly.
It was also that day.
An unexpected accident took away all the beauty—football, honor, money, women, and more—from him.
He vividly remembered himself waking up and hearing the team doctor say painfully: "Anders, your right knee is in a comminuted fracture, and the likelihood of recovery is small."
"However, given your tremendous value, the club will still send you to the German Munich Sports Rehabilitation Center for surgery."
"If post-operative recovery is not satisfactory, you may have to say goodbye to football for life..."
From that day on, Anders would have dreams again and again.
Dreaming of traveling back to that day, sternly warning his ecstatic self not to attend the party, not to drink, and especially not to dance wildly on the rooftop when drunk...
However, every day upon waking, the discomfort in his right leg reminded him that everything from the past was irretrievable.
Just as Anders gradually felt hopeless, focusing his main efforts on studying at a community college aiming for a degree, preparing to find a job upon graduation, and live a normal life like most people.
This Chinese man appeared at his side.
Anders remembered that day when the sky was raining just like today, albeit more damp and chilly.
He remembered the first words spoken by the man, "Anders, do you want to return to the football pitch?"
"The car is here!"
The middle-aged man's words pulled Anders back to reality, just in time to see a Mercedes sedan slowly stop in front of him.
Loading the luggage, Anders and the middle-aged man sat in the back seat of the car, leaving the airport.
"Anders, we will head directly to Binhai University Affiliated Hospital."
The returned middle-aged man said with some excitement: "This is the best hospital in Binhai, among the top nationwide. Once we arrive at the hospital, you will first undergo a full physical examination..."
"Afterward, we'll stay at the hospital to rest and adjust for the jet lag..."
Anders smiled, interrupting the man's words, and eagerly asked: "Mr. Li Liang, when can I meet this Dr. X?"
Dr. X.
This is the name Anders used to refer to this mysterious doctor.
To this point, the man had not revealed the real name of this highly skilled doctor.
Mr. Li Liang had only repeatedly assured him that this doctor had extraordinary medical skills and held great confidence in healing him, allowing him to become a football player again.
Upon hearing those words, Anders' first reaction was to think someone was playing an April Fool's joke on him.
After all, the world-renowned German Munich Sports Rehabilitation Center was powerless, let alone China, which lags far behind in modern medicine.
However, the dream and extravagant hope, along with strong unwillingness within him, made him listen on patiently.
There was another reason Anders listened.
That was, after the injury, his friends one by one started to distance themselves from him.
Perhaps this was a prank, but having someone play a prank on him, even joking with him, made him feel less alone.
The man spoke with unusual seriousness, even willing to sign a sort of betting agreement, pledging a million pounds to him should the treatment provide no results.
Although the condition was for him to play in a country with extremely backward football standards after recovering, this premise was that they healed his injury, allowing him to play again.
Anders reviewed the agreement provided several times over.
However he looked at it, it seemed like he wouldn't lose out.
If there was no treatment effect, he would receive a million pounds.
If there was some effect, he could move more comfortably in everyday life.
If there was a major effect, he could once again run on the field.
Although it would be playing football in China, it was still playing football, and they did not prohibit him from rejoining the national team.
This agreement seemed to have nothing but benefits for him, making it almost unbelievable.
Though they also promised that the agreement could be certified by the Chinese Embassy in the UK.
Anders finally agreed to sign the agreement, mainly because of one sentence from the other party.
"You have nothing left to lose, so why not take a gamble? What if it succeeds?"
This sentence touched Anders deeply.
Yes, he had hit rock bottom in life; how much worse could it get?
Anders refocused on the middle-aged man beside him and heard him say slowly, "I'm not sure exactly when Dr. X will see you, but it definitely won't be later than next Monday."
"Anders, just wait patiently."
"We've spent so much effort to terminate the agreements you signed, hoping you'll recover soon."
The middle-aged man's words reassured Anders a lot.
As a former football prodigy, Anders had signed quite a few agency and endorsement contracts.
After his injury, many contracts naturally became null and void.
Some even demanded compensation, which cost Anders all the money he had saved after becoming famous.
There were also contracts like club employment agreements, agent contracts, portrait rights agency, and image rights, which were now just scrap paper.
Clearing these agreements or contracts that were no longer executed but still legally binding cost a significant amount of money, at least 100,000 to 200,000 Pounds.
This convinced Andrew that they were truly confident they could cure him.
If they had ulterior motives, they wouldn't waste all that money...
More than an hour later, Anders, accompanied by Li Liang, walked into a bustling hospital.
At this point, a young male and female doctor approached and inquired, "Anders?"
Anders nodded quickly and said, "I am Anders!"
The male doctor smiled and said, "I'm Guo Peng, and this is Ma Hongmin. We were assigned by our teacher to take you for a physical examination!"
"Let's go, I'll first take you to the ward to put your things down!"
Anders followed Guo Peng with his suitcase, unable to resist asking, "Dr. Guo, is your teacher my attending physician?"
"Yes! My teacher will be in charge of your treatment; we are just assisting."
Anders pressed on, "May I ask when I can meet your esteemed teacher?"
Next to him, Ma Hongmin replied in English, "Today isn't likely, as the teacher is currently performing a cosmetic surgery, and will have one-on-one guidance sessions with us in the afternoon."
"Maybe tomorrow or the day after."
Ma Hongmin's words stuck with Anders, especially the word "cosmetic?"
He asked in disbelief, "You said your teacher, who is also my attending physician, is performing a cosmetic surgery?"
"Yes, performing cosmetic surgery!"
Seeing the astonished expression on Anders' face, Ma Hongmin realized it and smiled as he explained, "Anders, our teacher is a genius generalist."
"He's not only a cosmetic surgeon but also a neurosurgeon, cardiac surgeon, ENT surgeon, and general surgeon."
"For you, my teacher is an orthopedic surgeon and sports injury doctor."
"Cosmetic surgeon, general doctor, orthopedic surgeon!"
Anders quietly repeated the words by Ma Hongmin, becoming even more curious about this mysterious Dr. X...
Right now, Dr. X was in the operating room, performing a facial cosmetic surgery for Zhuang Shilei.
After returning to Binhai from Guangzhou and Shenzhen, apart from resting at home on the first day, Lin Jie began his busy work on the second day.
Supplementary classes on Wednesday morning!
In the afternoon, he conducted a meticulous re-examination of the Indian boy, with very satisfactory results.
On Thursday, Lin Jie performed an arteriovenous swap surgery on Lin Xiaoxiao's brain.
Also on Thursday, Zhuang Shilei came to Lin Jie, saying that the area of her expanded skin tissue was sufficient to cover her left face.
Lin Jie examined her and scheduled the surgery for Friday morning.
Since meeting Zhuang Shilei at Tianya Haijiao Resort before last year's Spring Festival, ten months had passed.
The final cosmetic surgery marked both an end and a beginning for this relationship.
Lin Jie, ever the perfectionist, was particularly focused, determined to ensure this surgery left no regrets and restored Zhuang Shilei's stunning beauty.
Present in the operating room during this surgery were Chen Shi, Tao Taqing, Yao Siyuan, and Song Licheng.
They were there as Lin Jie's surgical assistants and to witness this special moment together.
The surgery lasted three hours and thirty-six minutes.
It finished nearly an hour earlier than Lin Jie's estimated four and a half hours.
The reason, Lin Jie certainly knew.
For such a long time, Zhuang Shilei's face frequently appeared in Lin Jie's mind, and he occasionally simulated the surgical plan.
It can be said that Lin Jie was already intimately familiar with the specific surgical process.
When the actual surgery took place, movements flowed like water, with every incision precise and every suture flawless.
At the moment he put down the surgical forceps, Lin Jie said with satisfaction, "Perfection! Perfect!"
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