The Little Prince

Zhou Yuan never thought that he would see Chen Bai again so soon.

When Chen Bai pulled out a chair and sat in front of him, handing him his medical record, he felt a slight throbbing pain in his right shoulder again.

He looked at the medical records. Chen Bai, 19 years old.

After flipping through the medical records, he could barely recognize a few lines of big words: rheumatic heart disease[1], mitral valve coaptation lesions
[1]: Rheumatic heart disease is a condition in which the heart valves have been permanently damaged by rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that can affect many connective tissues, especially in the heart. Untreated or under-treated strep infections put a person at increased risk.

Zhou Yuan said to Chen Bai: "Have you brought the echocardiography report taken before?"

Chen Bai sat on the chair and said carelessly: "Echocardiography, did I take it? I forgot to bring it."

Zhou Yuan raised his eyes and looked at him, as if he was a master who was not so easy to get along with.

So he said: "You go to take a Doppler ultrasound first."

Chen Bai propped up his jaw and didn't even look at him, looking a little indifferent. He said: "I probably didn’t bring enough money for it, so I'll come back tomorrow.”

He got up to leave, but Zhou Yuan was a little impatient with him, saying: "Wait."

He put on a stethoscope to measure Chen Bai's heart rate. Then he asked him to lie down, lifting his shirt to probe his heart.

He put a little bit of force on his heart, making Chen Bai frown a little.

Following his line of sight when he looked over, Zhou Yuan saw Cheng Bai’s long eyelashes twitching slightly. Zhou Yuan thought inexplicably, hey, this guy's eyes are really beautiful.

He asked, "Does it hurt?"

After Chen Bai nodded, Zhou Yuan put down his hand.

Chen Bai did not ask him what the result was, but Zhou Yuan said: "Come and take a heart color Doppler ultrasound tomorrow."

Chen Bai, who sat on the medical bed behind him without moving, suddenly said: "Doctor Zhou, am I dying?"

Zhou Yuan had heard this question many times and it was the same every time; so calm without crying. But he still turned his head back and replied: "Don't deny yourself so quickly before the diagnosis results come out. Even if the results come out, with the treatment, it is not impossible to recover."

Chen Bai rubbed his chin and looked at him with sarcasm in his eyes, "My former doctor said I have a heart disease. It is very serious, I’ll die without surgery."

Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment: "Which hospital did you go to before?"

Chen Bai reported the name of a township hospital before saying: "They said they don't do this kind of surgery so they told me to come here to take a look. I don't need to take the ultrasound, it's just a heart disease. See if you can move a knife here to make it less painful."

He pointed to his heart and thought about it: "If you think you can operate, I will bring my bank passbook tomorrow, there is a password on it, I will give the password to you. I have all my money in it. If you think you’re able to operate, then operate. If not, then forget it, ba.”[2]
[2] I think here, looking at the context, what he meant is if he can afford the surgery, then operate.

Zhou Yuan was slightly angry when he heard him being so casual: "Heart surgery is not such a rash thing."

But Cheng Bai just glanced at him without saying anything. He lowered his head, sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze with his legs folded.

Zhou Yuan sighed in his heart, turning around to pack up his medical records. However, a short while later he smelled a puff of smoke coming from behind him.

Zhou Yuan turned around and was startled. He rushed forward and snatched the cigarette from Chen Bai's mouth. A small cluster of flames fell to the ground and was crushed by his foot.

Zhou Yuan had not been so angry for a long time, he didn’t even know where this anger came from: "Do you not know that you have a heart disease and can’t smoke? You do not want to live?!"

“Damn it.” Chen Bai's face was separated by a layer of smoke, foggy and unreal, as he said faintly: "If I don’t want to live, I won't come to you for a surgery."

Zhou Yuan was rarely choked. After a while, he said seriously to Chen Bai: "When the results of your consultation come out, if it is determined that you really need a surgery, I hope you can think it over."

After a moment of silence, he said, "I'm the youngest doctor here."

"I know, be young when you are young, ba. I think you are very kind to patients." Chen Bai jumped off the bed: "Do you have no confidence in yourself or in me?"

Zhou Yuan frowned: "Think it over and bring your family over next time."

"I have no one at home." Seeing Zhou Yuan open his mouth to ask, Chen Bai naturally continued: "All dead."

Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment.

"All right, Doctor Zhou, I've thought it over," Chen Bai said, "I'll bring my bankbook tomorrow."

Zhou Yuan was still hesitant: "I hope you can search for more information on this when you go home..."

Chen Bai walked to the door and turned back, "I don't want to think about it, it's exhausting to think so much, it hurts too much here."

"Obviously I don't even know how many days I have left to live," he said about his own heart. "Wouldn't it be good to think less and make it hurt less here."

At that time, he was leaning against the door frame, looking at Zhou Yuan lazily, with a sickly face, looking pitifully thin.