In the afternoon, Luo Ziling received a call from Ling Mingrui.
Ling Mingrui instructed Luo Ziling over the phone to come over to his place for dinner tonight.
Naturally, Luo Ziling agreed eagerly.
"What about my mom?" Luo Ziling thought for a moment and still asked Ling Mingrui if he had invited Ling Ruonan too.
"She’ll be coming over," Ling Mingrui told Luo Ziling, saying he would contact Ling Ruonan shortly.
As far as he knew, Ling Ruonan had a state event this afternoon, accompanying Wang Zhengqiang to receive a visiting foreign delegation, making it inconvenient to contact her now.
"Alright!" Luo Ziling understood that because Ling Mingrui couldn’t reach Ling Ruonan at the moment, he decided to call him instead.
He checked the time when Ling Mingrui called; it was four o’clock in the afternoon.
Ling Mingrui called at this time to invite him for dinner, which was certainly a last-minute decision rather than a pre-arranged plan.
Ling Mingrui thought of inviting them for dinner temporarily, indicating there must be important matters to discuss.
Luo Ziling called Lin Lan and mentioned Ling Mingrui’s invitation for dinner.
He asked Lin Lan to let Ling Ruonan know and to contact him if it was convenient, or to go directly to Ling Mingrui’s place.
Lin Lan informed Luo Ziling that she knew about the matter and would let Ling Ruonan know as soon as she was available.
About twenty minutes later, Ling Ruonan called and inquired about the matter.
Luo Ziling told her about Ling Mingrui inviting them for dinner.
"I don’t know when I’ll be finished here!" Ling Ruonan was slightly frustrated, "Why would my dad suddenly invite us for dinner?"
After a brief complaint, she instructed Luo Ziling, "You go ahead first; I’ll come over as soon as I’m done here. If I can’t make it in time for dinner, you guys go ahead and eat; save me some food. If there’s anything, talk to your grandpa first."
"Okay!" Luo Ziling agreed.
Around four-thirty, Luo Ziling headed to Ling Mingrui’s estate.
To his surprise, Ling Mingrui had already returned home upon his arrival.
As soon as Luo Ziling stepped inside, he reported the situation, "Grandpa, I’ve already contacted my mom; she wasn’t sure when her event would finish. She’ll come over as soon as it’s over, though she doesn’t know if she’ll make it in time for dinner."
"I know," Ling Mingrui nodded, "Your mom called me just a while ago and explained the situation."
"That’s good!" Luo Ziling smiled as he sat next to Ling Mingrui and proactively poured tea for him.
"Did you visit the old man?" Ling Mingrui casually asked Luo Ziling, "Did you go on your own, or did he invite you?"
"I went on my own!" Luo Ziling didn’t wait for further questioning and briefly discussed the visit to Ling Jinhua’s place.
"You’ve been busy these days!" Ling Mingrui chuckled, "The whole family visited Fang Xiang’s place, and last night you went to Yang Yuanshan’s old residence."
"Grandpa, the recent events have surely drawn a lot of attention," Luo Ziling said somewhat apologetically, "I suppose whoever hears about these things will have their own interpretation."
Ling Mingrui nodded but didn’t ask anything more.
"My mom originally planned to come by tomorrow to visit you and grandma and talk about these things," Luo Ziling quickly added some words on Ling Ruonan’s behalf to avoid any blame from Ling Mingrui, "But unexpectedly, you called today inviting us for dinner."
"Even if your mom is busy, you could always come and have dinner with us," Ling Mingrui glared at Luo Ziling, "After all, you’re not as busy as your mom."
Luo Ziling quickly agreed, "I’ll remember. Whenever I have some free time or even if I don’t, I’ll often come by to visit you and grandma and have dinner!"
At that moment, Xie Enhua, who had been busy in the kitchen, approached, and Luo Ziling quickly greeted him.
After learning that Ling Ruonan was still unavailable and would come later, Xie Enhua sighed and returned to the kitchen.
Luo Ziling didn’t wait for Ling Mingrui to inquire further and recounted the events at Fang Xiang’s house and the dinner at Yang Yuanshan’s place to Ling Mingrui. He also mentioned his suspicion that the Ishihara Family was involved in the Japanese intelligence agency’s activities and hoped Ling Mingrui would apply some pressure.
Ling Mingrui listened and nodded gently.
"Your frequent activities have made the Chen Family quite anxious!" Ling Mingrui sighed deeply, then got up, paced a couple of steps, and stood by the window, "Chen Yining’s turnaround has greatly shocked Chen Ruchang. This morning, we visited him again. His condition has worsened again. A few days ago, thanks to the prescription you provided, his condition was stable for a few days."
Although his interest lay in these matters, he wasn’t very intrigued by the intelligence agency issues Luo Ziling mentioned.
"What’s the exact condition of Chen Ruchang?" Luo Ziling was very concerned about the situation.
Ling Mingrui picked up a condensed case file from the table near the window and handed it to Luo Ziling for him to review.
After examining the case file, Luo Ziling couldn’t help but sigh softly.
Chen Ruchang’s condition continues to deteriorate, as noted in the case file: shadows that resemble metastatic lesions are found not only in the liver and lungs but also in the kidneys, mesentery, and bladder.
His various test results are extremely poor; total protein and albumin levels are much lower than those of a normal person, the albumin-globulin ratio is reversed, fibrinogen levels in the blood are only one-fourth of normal, and the enzymes indicating liver function abnormalities, such as ALT, AST, GGT, are all significantly elevated. Immunoglobulin types like IgG, IgM, IgA, and complements C3, C4 are all drastically reduced, while tumor markers AFP, CEA, and carbohydrate antigens have all sharply increased.
Looking at the densely packed up-down arrows on the test report, Luo Ziling sighed heavily again.
He felt a bit guilty.
All along, the medical skills he learned were meant to save people, not harm them.
For the first time, causing harm made his conscience uneasy.
During this period, Luo Ziling studied courses on analyzing test result interpretations and clearly understood what the variations in Chen Ruchang’s indicators signified. The ups and downs in these indicators foretold that the person’s life had entered a countdown.
With Chen Ruchang’s condition at this stage, even if the Divine Doctor were present, there would be no way to save his life.
If no unforeseen events occur, Chen Ruchang’s condition will further worsen in a while, and he might even enter another hepatic coma.
At that stage, the Grim Reaper could visit at any time.
While Luo Ziling was reviewing the case file, Ling Mingrui softly asked, "At this point in time, can you save his life if you assist with the treatment?"
"No!" Luo Ziling decisively shook his head, "Extensive tumor tissue invasion of vital organs, significant abnormalities in all indicators, drastic reductions in concentrations of immunoglobulins and complements that indicate immune strength, and his body’s self-defensive immunity is already in a collapse state. No matter how skilled the doctor is, they cannot save his life. It’s like a dam with thousands of leaks, where you don’t even know where to begin patching; the only outcome can be a collapse!"
After hearing this, Ling Mingrui’s expression didn’t change; he merely nodded lightly.