The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 217: Chapter 217: The Second Plan

"Let’s talk. It’s about your injury."

The man on the bed didn’t move an inch when she said this.

Ji Huan didn’t mind. She just began to slowly explain the important points.

"You heard what Doctor Xin and I were talking about in the low shed this morning. The Xin family specializes in treating bone and tendon injuries, but to be honest, I’m not entirely sure about Xin Ziqi’s skill level.

So, this is a gamble. If we win, you’ll be a normal person again. If we lose, you might become a complete cripple.

I’ve told you all the details. The chances of success are about fifty-fifty. You don’t need to be pessimistic, but don’t be too optimistic either.

According to my rules, before any surgery, the patient or their family needs to sign a surgical consent form. It’s an agreement between the doctor and patient, indicating that the patient understands the risks of the procedure and voluntarily accepts them.

But given the state of your right hand... I won’t force you to sign. And since you refuse to speak, we’ll stick to my rule: silence means consent.

Besides, you were quite cooperative when I was debriding your wound and having you exercise your joints. That tells me you’re not against me and Doctor Xin performing this surgery. I’m not mistaken, am I?

We’ll do our best, and you’ll bear the consequences. Any objections?"

Ji Huan glanced at the man on the kang bed, who remained as still as a mountain, and slowly continued.

"Since there are no objections, let’s move on to the next matter.

Doctor Xin and I discussed it, and we might use a certain medicine on you during the surgery.

This medicine will put you into a deep sleep, and the surgery will be performed while you’re unconscious.

Of course, everything has its pros and cons.

The pro is what I just mentioned: it’ll be like you’re having a dream. You won’t feel any pain, and when you wake up, the surgery will be over.

As for the con—there’s a very small chance you might not wake up. Or you might wake up, but with impaired brain function and speech... Do you understand what that means?"

Ji Huan gestured with her hands. "It’s not that you’d definitely become an idiot. It’s more that your condition might change. For example, you might think a little slower, have a poorer memory, or develop a stutter... In any case, you need to weigh the risks yourself."

Ji Huan waited for a long time before finally shrugging in resignation.

"Since you’re still unwilling to speak, we’ll just follow my rule again. Silence means—"

"Don’t need it."

Ji Huan didn’t get to finish her sentence, because a voice interrupted her.

It was a man’s voice—low, hoarse, and raspy. It sounded strange, as if his throat had been injured before.

Ji Huan was stunned for a moment, and her first reaction was to laugh.

"So you’re finally willing to talk to me? I thought your first words would at least be a ’thank you’."

The vagabond’s mouth sealed shut again.

Ji Huan rolled her eyes and got back to the point.

"I don’t think you fully understand the severity of your injury.

You’ve already missed the optimal window for treatment. The surface of the wound has healed, but the tissue underneath has begun to necrotize and fester. So, the first step of the surgery is to cut open the adhered skin and flesh—which means you’ll have to suffer through the original agony all over again, except this time it’s to save you.

After the wound is opened, if the situation inside is severe, we might have to carve out the dead flesh. And that’s not even the most painful part. The truly excruciating part is reattaching the severed tendons.

Although your injury was caused by a blade, so the cut should be relatively clean without any tearing, I believe your tendons... that is, your sinews, have probably retracted slightly. If that’s the case, it will make the suturing process extremely difficult, and you will have to endure inhuman pain... You won’t be able to take it."

Ji Huan’s meaning was crystal clear.

’Isn’t that a contradiction? What’s the point of having the surgery then?’

The vagabond spoke again. Not only did he speak, but he also opened his eyes.

He looked at Ji Huan and repeated in that same raspy voice, "Don’t need it."

Ji Huan stared into his eyes, slightly lost in thought.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Ji Huan had assumed the vagabond’s inner world would be a barren desert or stagnant water, but after looking closely, she saw nothing at all.

She couldn’t glean any information from those eyes.

She saw only lines drawn with the precision of a fine brush, and in their center, a pool of icy water. The surface was calm, yet it was not lifeless.

"You’re not afraid of pain?" Ji Huan asked.

Afraid he would revert to his "silence is golden" policy, Ji Huan added, "You know my rules. If you don’t want to talk, you can nod or shake your head. But you’re not allowed to ignore me."

The vagabond paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"Really not afraid of pain, huh. Right, you managed to survive such a severe injury... But surviving it once doesn’t mean you can do it twice. Are you sure you don’t need it? Because if you are, I’ll go have someone inform Doctor Xin."

The vagabond nodded, then paused. "Thank you."

Ji Huan felt a sense of accomplishment. After all this time freeloading off her, she’d finally heard a ’thank you’ from him.

"Well, you don’t have to thank me. You saved my younger brother, so I’m helping you this time. I’ll respect your decision. If you say you don’t need it, then you don’t need it. That means tomorrow, during the surgery, you’ll have to endure it all on your own. Let me be blunt: if you don’t make it through, I don’t have money to buy you a coffin. I’ll just roll you up in that tattered mat you’re lying on, find an empty field, and bury you. Dust to dust. From that moment on, it’ll be as if you never existed in this world. Understand?"

This time, Ji Huan waited a long while before she got a quiet "Mmm" from the vagabond.

A short while later, Hu Liang returned with the shaving razor.

Shaving was not something Ji Huan was good at, so it was still Hu Liang’s job.

Hu Liang took a deep breath, forcing himself to slowly shift his gaze to the vagabond’s face, only to be caught off guard as their eyes met.

Even though it didn’t seem like the man was looking at him, Hu Liang couldn’t stop his hand from trembling uncontrollably. He hesitated, not daring to bring the razor down.

"Sigh. You, close your eyes."

Ji Huan gestured at the vagabond, and he did as she said.

She patted Hu Liang’s shoulder with a mischievous grin. "Brother Liangzi, you just go ahead and shave him. I’m heading home for a bit!"

"Don’t! Wan, wait..."

Hu Liang called out anxiously, but Ji Huan was already long gone.

Hu Liang turned back to the motionless vagabond on the kang bed and deliberately held out the razor.

’He’ll probably do it himself, just like when he had to wash,’ he thought.

’Wasn’t his left hand still moving just now? Shaving won’t get the wound wet.’

But he waited and waited, and the vagabond showed no intention of opening his eyes to take the razor.

Hu Liang was speechless.

Ji Huan ran home and told Dabao to go play in the courtyard with Hu Dacheng for a while. She then sat down at her desk and fell into deep thought.

The vagabond refused to take the Sleeping Powder. Although she didn’t know why he was so stubborn, she figured he was probably just afraid of potential brain damage.

But tomorrow’s surgery was no ordinary procedure. Even if he were made of steel, how long could a person’s willpower hold out against such extreme pain and torment?

What if he broke down mid-surgery and started to struggle? The resulting outburst of strength would be nothing to scoff at. If Doctor Xin couldn’t restrain him... falling short of success would be the least of their worries. Someone could actually die.

Ji Huan herself wasn’t 100% confident in the effects of the Sleeping Powder, which was why she respected the vagabond’s choice.

But at the same time, she had no choice but to come up with a backup plan.

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