Surgery Godfather-Chapter 1408 - 1059: Things Aren’t as Simple as Imagined_2

"To say the experiment is torture may not sound nice, but Yang Ping doesn’t really care. These parents have all been through long-term mental suffering and are truly afraid of further trouble; they fear their children will suffer again.

But this one parent, after much hesitation and five lengthy conversations with Yang Ping, finally signed the consent. He also took the most time and required the most meetings.

The participants for the experiment gradually moved into the independent wards set up at the Surgical Research Institute—a temporarily established research ward to start various check-ups and further prepare for the experiment.

These family members, bound by a common fate, have also formed a group, supporting and encouraging each other, and exchanging information in a timely manner. They would occasionally gather to chat as well, and their most common topic of conversation was this experimental treatment.

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In a private room of a tea restaurant next to the hospital, these family members gathered for a meeting called by Lawyer Wang. Lawyer Wang is quite active and well-connected, which makes him quite respected among the parents.

"I’ve found out clearly, the Sanbo Hospital Research Fund is sitting on tens of billions, and they only give me a meager one million. Are they treating us like beggars? We are using our children’s lives for the experiment; these people are really too ruthless."

Lawyer Wang pushed up his glasses. He worked in the legal department of a major company, so his connections were fairly good and he could dig up some real information.

Actually, while Lawyer Wang was signing up for the experiment, he was observing and on the surface seemed very cooperative, but behind the scenes, he used all his relationships to investigate the details of the experiment.

"They have so much money? And they only give us one million? Really treating our kids like lab monkeys," a bald-headed family member exclaimed indignantly. Already depressed about his child’s condition in recent years, the stark contrast between tens of billions and one million as mentioned by Lawyer Wang made him feel extremely unfairly treated and convinced that the hospital was scamming them.

Another chubby civil servant family member said, "According to my friend in the health industry, such experiments should first conduct animal experiments, then proceed to phased clinical trials. My friend checked and they did not register this experiment, which means it’s highly likely they skipped animal experiments and directly went to clinical trials. This means their experiment does not comply with ethical procedures, definitely has something fishy going on—why else would they pay so much money? Maybe they got a lot of funds elsewhere and only gave us a little."

"That’s outrageous! Isn’t this bullying? No wonder everything’s so secretive, offering free experiments and some compensation. I thought to myself, there’s no such good deals in the world; turns out this is the deal, treating our kids like monkeys," a family member with a face full of freckles was on the verge of slamming the table.

Among these people, Lawyer Wang clearly had the highest educational level; he held a Doctor of Law degree. He contemplated for a moment in his heart: "Fellow parents, the reason I called everyone here today is to say that we must be united. We can participate in the experiment, but the money cannot be this little. They sit on tens of billions, why give us so little? Why? We shouldn’t be asking for much, at least ten or twenty million per person isn’t too much, right? One million? That’s like giving alms."

"Yeah, right, absolutely!" Everyone agreed immediately.

A silent parent, construction contractor Boss Zhao, finally spoke: "Let me say a few words. In fact, I feel this way about it: all these kids are in the late stages of osteosarcoma, and everyone here is financially and emotionally drained from treating the disease. Now there’s this experimental treatment available, might work, might not, but in the end, it’s a hope, right? And it’s free. I think whether we get paid or not, it’s a good thing. We’re here to get treatment, not to sell our children, so let’s not fuss over money. So, I think the tens of billions in research funds is someone else’s business, not ours; to get such compensation is already pretty good, many experiments only offer a few thousand, maybe more like tens of thousands, but Professor Yang is already offering a million, honestly, that’s already a lot, and I feel a bit embarrassed in my heart."

"What do you mean by that, making it sound like we are selling our kids? President Wang is fighting to maximize benefits for everyone. You also said, everyone is drained of their wealth and energy, and you don’t want to ask for more compensation? It’s not your money, why feel sorry for them? Right now, they urgently need patients for clinical trials; this is our opportunity, asking for the money is sensible, reasonable, and legal," one of the parents was unsatisfied with the other parent’s remarks.

"I mean—" Boss Zhao wanted to say more.

"You mean not to fight for the money, right?" the bald parent interrupted Boss Zhao’s words.

"Everyone, don’t rush, let Old Zhao finish speaking." Lawyer Wang tapped the coffee table, speaking gently and politely.

"Fine, go ahead." The bald-headed parent felt annoyed and scoffed at the pretense of integrity.

"I’m well aware of this hospital. Professor Yang, who is in charge of this project, has an outstanding academic record and is very famous internationally. It’s a stroke of luck to be able to participate in this clinical trial. We shouldn’t make a fuss and complicate things unnecessarily. With so many patients around the world, why did they choose us? It’s only because of a fortuitous coincidence. Proximity brings opportunity, and receiving a compensation of one million is quite good. Many such experiments just offer a few thousand, or at most tens of thousands. I’ve never heard of one giving a million. When doing things, we must have a conscience. If it’s something unethical, the money won’t feel good in our hands, right?"

"What do you mean by making a fuss? We’re fighting for our interests. If their experiment had no hidden issues, would they be giving us money? For what reason? Isn’t it because they feel guilty? Since they’re paying, why not pay more? They’re sitting on tens of billions on the books and only offering us this pittance?" The bald-headed parent retorted angrily.

"In fact, Old Zhao, you do have a point, and I understand your perspective, but think about it — if their experiment is free of problems, why would they give you money? What’s the rationale behind that?" Lawyer Wang latched onto this point as well.

The overweight parent immediately added: "Exactly, we are indeed fighting for opportunities for our children. But since there’s money to be taken, why shouldn’t we take it? If we have money, even if this experiment is ineffective, we can still look for other options without as much financial pressure. As previously mentioned, if there were no issues with the experiment, why would they offer money? It doesn’t make sense."

"I’m not going to be part of this, whoever wants to can join in. I can’t do this sort of thing." Old Zhao got up, ready to leave.

The bald-headed parent was not having it: "You can be a coward if you want, but don’t drag us down. We’re in the front, taking the lead for you, and if you hinder us from behind, it’ll chill everyone’s heart."

After exchanging glances with everyone, Lawyer Wang said: "Yes, Old Zhao, we understand you, but please also understand our difficulties."

"Don’t worry, I won’t participate, but I won’t betray you all either. Be assured." Old Zhao shook his head and stood up to leave.

The remaining parents had their hesitations, but most were eager to try, having heard that their Research Fund had tens of billions. They truly felt shortchanged and were not content, wondering why they were only given so little. If only those in charge were more generous and let even just a few tens of millions slip through their fingers, each person could at least get ten million. There’s a tenfold difference between ten million and one million.

"President Wang, you guide us then. Let’s all stick together."

"My thinking is this: let’s not make a fuss just yet, but participate in the experiment as they request. Afterward, we can seek media assistance for advocacy. If we start to advocate now, they might cancel our eligibility to participate, and we could end up with nothing. Only after participating in the trial and then advocating for ourselves can we be seen as actual victims. Don’t you agree?" President Wang was capable of analyzing the situation clearly.

"This Yang Ping seems to have a high status in the academic community, soon to become an Academician. Won’t this stir up trouble?"

"You don’t understand, the higher a person’s status, the more they value their reputation. Especially at a critical juncture like being evaluated for an Academician, they’d certainly fear us causing a fuss. In the end, they’d definitely pay to quell the issue. A few tens of millions are nothing with his tens of billions in research funds; paying more is not a problem. After increasing the compensation to twenty million per person, it only adds up to a little over a billion. As long as we stay united and firm, we will definitely get the money. We must not back down at the last minute."

"President Wang, I feel a bit unscrupulous about this. They’re providing treatment for free and offering so much compensation. Are we...?"

"Think about it carefully — if there were no issues, would they be giving you money? Since there are problems, isn’t it normal for us to fight for a bit more benefit?"