Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

In the winter of 2024, Li Jianguo felt a slight headache after the winter came.

At first he thought he had accidentally fallen and hit his head the night before, but he had a fever for the next two days and a dull pain in his chest. He felt something was wrong and went to the hospital for a check-up.

The county hospital asked him to go to a big hospital for examination.

After returning home from the hospital, Li Jianguo was completely dazed. He couldn't hear Zhang Xiuhua when she spoke to him.

Zhang Xiuhua waved her hand in front of him, "What's wrong with you?"

Li Jianguo told Zhang Xiuhua what the doctor said, and she was shocked. "Did the doctor tell you what disease you have?"

"The doctor said that the medical equipment in the county hospital is not good, and the big city is more accurate." Li Jianguo felt that the doctor's words were full of meaning, "Is it possible that I have a terminal illness?"

Zhang Xiuhua was also worried, but seeing how nervous he was, she quickly smiled and said, "No. You also know that the medical level in our county is not good. We can only treat some simple diseases."

Li Jianguo thought about Ergou's previous misdiagnosis at the county hospital, and decided not to scare himself anymore. "Then I'll go to the capital to have a look."

Zhang Xiuhua nodded.

So the two of them took a train to the capital, where they registered, saw a doctor, took X-rays, and waited for the results.

After the results came out, Li Jianguo and Zhang Xiuhua fell into silence for a long time.

They are not doctors and don't know much about this disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Is this a terminal illness now?

Zhang Xiuhua still remembers that Zhuzhu had a classmate who had leukemia and was not cured! Although medical conditions are better now than before, this kind of terminal illness is generally difficult to cure, right?

With trembling hands, Zhang Xiuhua took out her cell phone from her pocket and called Yaoyao. Yaoyao was the only one in the family who knew about the disease.

Yaoyao seemed to be busy, and the call was unreachable. Zhang Xiuhua checked the time, hung up the phone, and comforted Li Jianguo, "Yaoyao is in class, let's wait a while. Don't be afraid."

She held Li Jianguo's hand and led him out of the hospital. During the whole process, Li Jianguo said nothing, like a lifeless piece of wood, allowing her to manipulate him.

Everyone is afraid of death, especially now that we are all living a good life. To die on the battlefield is at least to win glory for the country and to be a hero. To die of illness? Only regret and reluctance.

Zhang Xiuhua felt that any comfort she offered was in vain, so she took him to find Yaoyao.

On the way, she received a call from Yaoyao.

Yaoyao's voice sounded a little dry, "Mom, I was in class just now, you were looking for me?"

Zhang Xiuhua told him about Li Jianguo's medical examination report. "The doctor said that this disease has reached the late stage. Can it be cured?"

Generally, there is still a chance of cure in the early stage, but in the late stage, people can only wait for death. The doctor said it very vaguely, saying that as long as you have a good attitude, you can defeat malignant tumors. But Li Jianguo and Zhang Xiuhua both felt that the doctor was comforting them.

Yaoyao was a little anxious on the other end, "Where are you? I'll go find you. Let's meet and talk in person. This disease is not terminal."

Zhang Xiuhua told her, "Your father and I are in the car, and we will be at your school in ten minutes."

Yaoyao asked them to meet at the coffee shop in front of the school. After hanging up the phone, she rode her bike to the school gate.

Zhang Xiuhua hung up the phone and told Yaoyao what she had said, "She said it can be cured, it's not a terminal illness."

Li Jianguo didn't believe it, "I'm already in the late stage, how can I be cured?"

The newspapers and TV all said that this disease cannot be cured. Yaoyao was probably just comforting him.

He suddenly held Zhang Xiuhua's hand, his eyes full of relief, "Xiuhua, you are right. We are old, we should enjoy our lives. Before I leave, I have seen so many beautiful mountains and rivers in my motherland, and I have no regrets in my death."

Zhang Xiuhua listened to him as if he was explaining his last wishes. Her brows were furrowed so tightly that they could kill a fly. She patted the back of his hand and said, "Don't talk nonsense! You won't die. You're fine. We agreed that we would accompany each other and grow old together."

Li Jianguo smiled bitterly. He knew that his body probably couldn't hold on for much longer.

When they arrived at the school gate, Zhang Xiuhua paid the taxi fare. When she turned around, she found that Li Jianguo did not go to the coffee shop. Zhang Xiuhua stopped him and pointed in the opposite direction, "You went the wrong way."

Li Jianguo shook his head and pointed to the front, "I want some fried chicken!"

When you get older, you need to take care of your body. For the sake of health, he never eats junk food. Now that he is dying, he can eat whatever he wants. He can't treat himself badly anymore.

Zhang Xiuhua had no choice but to wait for him to buy three servings of fried chicken and three bottles of Coke.

Zhang Xiuhua's eyes widened. "It's so cold, and you're still drinking iced drinks? Do you want to keep your stomach?!"

You are so old, but why are you acting like a child and need someone to stare at you?

In the past, Li Jianguo would have listened to her, but now he advised her, "Xiuhua, eat less and eat less. We are already this age, don't leave any regrets for yourself."

Zhang Xiuhua was speechless. Was he being too stubborn? She was a little helpless. "You didn't listen to a word Yaoyao said. Aren't you afraid that the child will be sad?!"

Li Jianguo pursed his lips, "She would support me if she knew."

He walked back carrying a big bag of food.

When they arrived at the coffee shop, Yaoyao had been waiting for a long time. When she saw them coming, she immediately stood up and waved to them.

Li Jianguo took out the fried chicken and pushed it in front of her, "You can eat it too."

Yaoyao looked at the food in surprise and started to educate him, "Dad, it's so greasy, how can you eat this? It's so unnutritious. And you drink Coke. Old people have brittle bones and can't drink this. If you slip in such a cold weather, you won't be able to get out of bed for three months."

As she said this, she was about to take the Coke from his hand, but she found that his Coke was ice cold. She widened her eyes slightly, "Dad? How can you drink ice cold?"

Zhang Xiuhua sat opposite Yaoyao and said, "Don't worry about Coke for now. Tell him first that he can't die. He has given up hope now."

Yaoyao didn't care about that when she heard it. She quickly told him about the recent invention of CAR-T in China, which is specifically for adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Zhang Xiuhua understood, "It sounds familiar. I think I've heard it somewhere before."

Yaoyao was helpless. Her parents were not interested in her work at all. "Mom and Dad, I led the team to develop the therapy."

"What is CAR-T?" Li Jianguo didn't quite understand. It sounded like something very powerful. Could it really cure his disease? !

"CAR-T cell therapy is called chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy. To put it simply, it is to extract T cells from the patient's blood, and then genetically modify them in vitro to equip them with a 'navigation' that can accurately identify cancer cells. After that, they proliferate and increase their number before finally being infused back into the patient's body. In this way, the patient's body will have a large number of CAR-T cells that can accurately kill cancer cells, stimulate the body's immunity, and continuously and efficiently kill cancer cells. (From the news)" Yaoyao gave them popular science.

Zhang Xiuhua's eyes lit up, "Are there any successful cases?"

"Several patients achieved complete tumor remission after taking the drug for two months." Yaoyao paused and added, "As for whether it can be completely cured, it is still in the observation stage and cannot give an accurate answer."

Zhang Xiuhua was relieved when she heard this. "Then let's use this treatment."

Li Jianguo felt that things would not be that simple. "This treatment has just been introduced. It should cost a lot of money, right?"

Yaoyao nodded, "Yes! One injection costs 120 million."

Even someone as wealthy as Zhang Xiuhua took a deep breath. 120 million? That's so expensive. If I had to get a dozen injections, wouldn't I have to sell a house?

Li Jianguo was obviously frightened and did not answer for a long time.

Zhang Xiuhua asked, "How many injections do I need?"

"Generally, one to three injections are needed, and it depends on the patient's condition. There is no accurate answer." Yaoyao reminded them.

Li Jianguo's heart was beating like a drum, and his hands holding the fried chicken tightened. "Can the medical insurance cover it?"

"No! This drug has just been launched. Medical insurance won't cover it." Yaoyao shook her head. "The research and development costs are very high."

When new drugs are first launched on the market, the price will not be too low, because they need to recover the research and development costs.

Li Jianguo lowered his head and thought for a long time, but finally shook his head, "Forget it. It costs so much money, and we don't know if this treatment can cure it. If it doesn't work, then we'll lose everything."

When he got older, he sold all the land and houses under his name, leaving only the homestead in his hometown. He saved 200 million yuan for retirement. He usually lives on the interest. If he sells it, he will have nothing? He can't ask his children for money, right?

Yaoyao was about to speak, but Zhang Xiuhua held his hand and glared at him, "What nonsense are you talking about. This needs to be cured. We agreed to grow old together. You only have 200 million, so save the money and don't spend it. I have a lot of houses, I'll sell one. I can definitely cure you."

Li Jianguo opened his mouth and said, "Then I'm a gigolo, right?"

He never asked how much private money Zhang Xiuhua had or how many houses she owned. He was a man, and it was his responsibility to support the family. It was so shameful to let a woman pay for the support of the family.

Zhang Xiuhua rolled her eyes at him. "When we were young, you raised me and the kids. Now I raise you. It's reasonable. We'll spend money to treat it. If one shot is not enough, we'll take two. Our courtyard houses are now worth tens of millions. Selling one house will be enough."

She did not allow Li Jianguo to refuse, and asked Yaoyao to help contact the hospital, arrange a ward, and treat him as soon as possible.

Yaoyao nodded, "I'll take Dad to the hospital first and do another physical examination to make sure he doesn't have any other diseases before I start treating him."

Fearing that her father would stop her again, she said, "Dad, don't worry, I'll sell the house and help you pay for the medical expenses. I don't have any children anyway, so you don't have to worry about the children having any complaints."

Li Jianguo was somewhat touched and said, "Forget it, I'll just pay for it myself."

Zhang Xiuhua also advised, "Yes. Keep your house for your retirement. Your father and I have money. When we run out of money, we'll let you pay for it. You're still so young, and you'll have many places to spend money in the future."

Yaoyao wanted to persuade her again, but Zhang Xiuhua held her hand and said, "Listen to me."

Yaoyao thought about it and nodded.

The desire to survive finally made Li Jianguo decide to give it a try.