Chapter 761: Chapter 760: A Belated Apology

On Monday morning, Yan Feifan completed two intraspinal tumor puncture and injection surgeries that had been postponed from the previous week.

Immediately after, he rushed to the trauma surgery department to take over a phalloplasty that had already been underway for over an hour.

The entire operation was expected to last nearly ten hours.

But because it was a collaboration between Chen Yu, Yan Feifan, and Yu Suye, who took turns as the lead surgeon, the workload for each individual wasn’t actually that heavy.

This was especially true for Yan Feifan. Today, he was only responsible for the three most critical and difficult sections of the surgery—the grafting and suturing—and his total time in the operating room wouldn’t exceed two hours.

As a result, it wouldn’t place much physical or mental strain on Yan Feifan, despite his continuous work that day.

Yu Youwen and attending physician Zhao Dongsheng also participated in the operation as surgical assistants.

Their primary role for now was to observe and learn up close.

A little after two in the afternoon, Yan Feifan, having completed his portion of the work, hurried out of the operating room.

This afternoon, he had an exclusive interview scheduled with Tang Jun, the journal’s editor-in-chief.

The interview was originally supposed to have been completed a few days ago.

Unfortunately, Yan Feifan had unexpectedly fallen ill and then had to frantically catch up on work, causing a delay of several days.

This issue of the journal needed to be finalized by the sixth of the month. Tang Jun was pressing him hard, so Yan Feifan had scheduled it for this afternoon.

"Mr.... Yan..."

Yan Feifan had just stepped out of the trauma surgery department when he faintly heard someone calling him.

He stopped and turned toward the sound.

A few meters away, at the top of a short flight of stairs, stood a tall, thin young man wearing glasses.

’Just one glance was all it took for Yan Feifan to recognize him. It was none other than the detestable Xv Fang!’

But with a second glance, Yan Feifan wasn’t so sure.

The man before him had changed too much compared to the Xv Fang he’d seen over two months ago.

He was just too thin.

His eye sockets were sunken, his cheekbones jutted out sharply, and his chin had become gaunt and pointed.

The autumn wind pressed his baggy clothes against his side, revealing a skeletal frame.

’Yan Feifan had once wondered what he would do the next time he saw Xv Fang. Would he punch him on sight, or curse him out first and then start swinging?’

But seeing Xv Fang looking like this—a mere ghost of his former self—Yan Feifan’s anger suddenly vanished.

’He must have done something to weigh on his conscience. It looked like he’d been having a really rough time.’

Furthermore, Yan Feifan now held a significant advantage in the race to research waking deeply comatose patients with infrasound. This allowed him to view the situation with a greater sense of detachment.

Xv Fang didn’t dare to meet Yan Feifan’s gaze. After a moment of clear hesitation and internal struggle, he finally stepped forward.

Seeing this, Duan Yu, who was accompanying Yan Feifan, stepped forward, ready to stop the man at a two-pace distance.

"That’s not necessary. He’s not a threat."

After saying this, Yan Feifan took two steps forward himself, closing the distance between them.

Xv Fang stopped about a meter away from Yan Feifan. His lips moved, but it took a moment for any sound to emerge.

"I’m sorry!"

This close, Yan Feifan could see that Xv Fang’s complexion was a dull, ashen gray, and his eyes were completely bloodshot.

’This guy is in terrible shape.’

Yan Feifan adopted a nonchalant expression and asked, "Why the sudden urge to apologize now?"

A bitter expression formed on Xv Fang’s face. "A late apology is still an apology," he said.

"I know that you, Mr. Yan, and Dr. Qiu will never forgive what I did."

"But this is, at least, a way for me to answer to myself."

"At least I still have the courage to face my mistakes and apologize. It shows I’m not completely worthless."

Yan Feifan gave a soft "oh." "I’ve heard your apology."

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

Xv Fang shook his head. "No, that’s all. I just wanted to personally apologize to you, Mr. Yan, and to Dr. Qiu."

He paused, then forced a small smile. "I heard you and Dr. Qiu successfully woke a deeply comatose patient using infrasound, with no negative side effects."

"Congratulations. I mean it."

Yan Feifan said lightly, "I can tell."

He couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, "What about the lawsuit with the patient’s family?"

A look of resignation settled on Xv Fang’s face. "I’ve given them all the compensation I could," he said. "I signed the settlement agreement with them this morning."

"For what’s left, we’ll see how the court rules."

"Whatever the court decides, I’ll accept it. It’s the punishment I deserve."

With that, Xv Fang bent at the waist and gave Yan Feifan a deep bow.

"Mr. Yan, let me say I’m sorry one more time. It was all my fault. I caused you so much trouble."

After saying this, Xv Fang didn’t wait for Yan Feifan’s response, straightened up, and turned to leave.

His abruptness left Yan Feifan a bit stunned.

’I thought he was going to apologize and play the victim card to ask for some kind of favor.’

That’s why Yan Feifan had kept his attitude cool and distant.

He never expected the guy to just apologize and leave.

’This guy isn’t following the script.’

Yan Feifan watched Xv Fang’s lonely, desolate figure recede into the autumn wind and muttered, "I don’t know if I’m just imagining it, but why do I get the feeling he was here to say goodbye?"

"What do you think, Duan Yu?"

Duan Yu met Yan Feifan’s gaze and said, "I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I have a strange, bad feeling."

Hearing that, Yan Feifan bolted after Xv Fang.

"In a situation like this, it’s better to be safe than sorry. I have to ask him to be sure..."

A moment later, Yan Feifan caught up to Xv Fang and grabbed him by the arm.

"Xv Fang, are you having dark thoughts? Are you thinking of killing yourself?"

The question was so blunt it made Duan Yu want to roll his eyes. Yan Feifan’s voice continued.

"You just said you compensated the patient’s family with everything you could? Do you mean you gave them all your assets?"

"There are rumors your father is going to Japan?"

"With a lawsuit pending, there’s no way you can leave the country."

"In other words, your father has abandoned you?"

Yan Feifan saw Xv Fang biting his lip so hard his face contorted in pain, and pressed on. "Your father’s hopes of being elected to the academy are dashed, the infrasound awakening clinical trials have been shut down, and he’s under heavy criticism from Jingcheng’s medical community..."

"Has he pushed all the blame onto you?"

Yan Feifan noticed Xv Fang’s breathing grow ragged. He let out a long sigh.

"Xv Fang, you were wrong, but the biggest mistake was made by your parents."

"You don’t need to throw your life away."

Yan Feifan tried to comfort him. "Even if you can’t be a doctor anymore, you can still do medical research. You could even be a teacher."

"You couldn’t stand to see others suffer and were willing to break the rules to help them. That shows you are a kind-hearted person."

"Xv Fang, you’re a good person who just chose the wrong profession. You have a whole life ahead of you. Don’t even think about..."

As he said this, Xv Fang suddenly threw his arms around Yan Feifan.

Xv Fang’s choked, sobbing voice sounded by his ear.

"’It was my parents on one side, and my conscience on the other. I betrayed my conscience and chose my parents.’"

"’When everything fell apart, it all became my fault.’"

"’They say I screw up everything I touch, that all they ever do is clean up my messes.’"

"’Now I’ve even dragged them down, ruining their reputation and careers, to the point they can’t even stay in the country anymore.’"

"’They said I’m a failure who only holds them back. They asked why I don’t just go and die. That if I died, everyone would be liberated.’"

"’Mr. Yan... I... I...’ SOB... SOB..."

Xv Fang buried his face in Yan Feifan’s shoulder and began to sob.

At first, he desperately tried to suppress it, but soon his sobs grew louder, eventually breaking into unrestrained wails.

Tears streamed freely down Xv Fang’s face, quickly soaking the shoulder of Yan Feifan’s clothes.

After several dozen seconds, Xv Fang’s cries showed no sign of abating.

It was as if he was trying to release all the pain he had suffered recently through this unbridled torrent of tears...

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