800 Let’s Hope That All of Us Gets Cured (2/2)
…..
On the other side of the wall, Zuo Cidian immediately walked out of the door after Ling Ran nodded. He crossed his hands and called out loud, ”Patient One, you can come in now.”
”Number one.”
”Who's Patient One?”
A few patients who were standing in the corridor also called out for Patient One. Before they could repeat themselves, a middle-aged man rose and said, ”I'm Patient One.”
”You're pretty early, aren't you?” The patient beside him chuckled a few times. As the nurse standing at the corridor and guarding the consultation area of the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery allowed five patients in at once, the remaining four patients chatted in a low voice.
The old man sitting closest to the door smiled when he heard that and said, ”It's your first time seeking Doctor Ling's consultation, aren't you?”
”You're right. How did you tell?” The patient who was chuckling just now looked at the old man.
The old man said, ”There are a lot of people selling scalped tickets for those who want to seek Doctor Ling's consultation. The patient just now probably paid to be Patient One.”
”Probably? He definitely bought a scalped ticket.” The patient sitting the furthest away from the door was a middle-aged man, and out of habit, he placed a hand on his waist as he spoke.
The patient opposite him asked, ”How are you so sure?”
”I'm Patient Four, and I paid for a scalped ticket.” The middle-aged man with a hand on his waist admitted straight out. He then looked at the other patients.
”Me too.”
”Same.”
The old man was the only exception. He chuckled a few times, pleased with himself. ”My son came over early in the morning to queue up on my behalf.”
”What a filial son!”
”You got it good, old man.”
”You got to save money.”
This was when the patient standing opposite them looked at them with a curious expression and asked, ”How much does a scalped ticket cost?”
The other patients looked at one another, but no one said a thing.
The atmosphere remained awkward for a few seconds until the middle-aged man with a hand on his waist said, ”I spent 700 RMB.”
”Tsk, tsk.”
”You didn't haggle, did you?”
”I bought a scalped ticket for a consultation with an associate chief physician in 301 Hospital. It was only 1,200RMB.”
”That depends on which doctor you're going for. Scalped tickets for some doctors in 301 Hospital go up to 2,000RMB to 3,000RMB.”
The patients exchanged their thoughts and opinions, and the place soon slowed into silence.
For ordinary people, it was already quite a burden to pay a few hundred RMB for a consultation with a doctor, let alone two to three thousand RMB. Moreover, even though they could get a claim for their medical bills, they would not receive a single cent of reimbursement for their scalped tickets at all.
”Let's hope that we get cured.” The old man was the one who broke the silence. After all, he was the only one who did not fork out cash for a scalped ticket.
The middle-aged man with a hand on his waist snorted a few times and said in a low voice, ”After the first consultation, you can find a way to take up one of the extra slots in the future. Doctor Ling only puts up ten slots a day, and there are usually extra slots for patients who are not seeing him for the first time.”
”It's pretty troublesome to have to wait for the extra slots every single time.”
”Every single time?” The middle-aged man with a hand on his waist laughed. ”If you're not cured yet even after seeing him for a few times, why are you still here? People seek Doctor Ling's consultation because they want to receive surgery, do you understand?”
The rest of the patients nodded in unison.
Official news outlets would never report about doctors' abilities and surgical skills, but patients would always seek various ways to know more about this. This was especially true for those suffering from illnesses such as hepatolithiasis, as the disease progression was drawn out and painful. Moreover, the surgery involved was a dangerous one. Hence, patients who decided to receive surgery had usually spent a long time making that decision.
”Let's hope that all of us get cured,” the old man repeated and closed his eyes to rest while he waited.