Freddy and Bird Cahill arrived quite punctually, knocking on the door just three minutes before two o'clock.

Both brought Lin Jie a bottle of British wine and American wine as gifts.

"Dr. Lin Jie, I sincerely apologize!"

Bird started straightforwardly in English: "The last time we met, I was too presumptuous, please forgive me."

"Dr. Cahill, I accept your apology."

Lin Jie invited them to sit down and responded in English as well: "Such things often happen to me, and your opinion, Dr. Cahill, was fair. It's just that my personal situation is somewhat special."

He asked frankly, "Dr. Cahill, did you specifically ask Mr. Freddy to accompany you? Are you friends?"

Bird glanced at Freddy and explained, "We are somewhat acquainted!"

"I have a college classmate working at the British Consulate in Binhai. At that afternoon tea, I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Freddy."

Seeing that Freddy had no intention of speaking, Bird continued, "More than three years ago, when I was studying at the ophthalmology research center led by Dr. Dadof at the Mayo Clinic, I had met Mr. Freddy."

"At that time, he was seeking medical help from Dr. Dadof for Lucy's eye problems."

"But Lucy's condition was complex, and Dr. Dadof had no effective methods..."

At this point, Freddy spoke up, "Dr. Lin Jie, back then, Dr. Dadof proposed a surgical plan similar to yours. However, he admitted that the possibility of success was very low and advised us not to take the risk."

"After my wife and I carefully considered it, we decided to give it up."

Bird continued, "When we met at the afternoon tea event that day, naturally we talked about Lucy's current situation, and I learned that Dr. Lin Jie, you performed surgery for Lucy."

He spread his hands wide, somewhat exaggeratedly stating, "Dr. Lin Jie, you can completely imagine my surprise and shock at that time."

"I am fully aware of the difficulty of Lucy's surgery. This made me realize that Mr. Chen Shi's praise for you might not be mere flattery."

He took a deep breath, saying, "Frankly speaking, at that time, I was always reluctant to believe this was true. But with Mr. Freddy's caution, it was impossible for him to gamble with his daughter's life and health."

"Mr. Freddy chose to believe in you, not blindly, nor could he have been fooled. Upon my specific inquiry, I learned a lot about you from Mr. Freddy."

"Facing a large amount of verifiable facts, I must admit, Dr. Lin Jie, your capabilities in ophthalmic surgery are no less than Dr. Dadof's, perhaps even surpassing him."

"Dr. Lin Jie, once again, I apologize for my rudeness that day!"

Bird stood up, requesting, "I wonder if I have the honor to learn from you for a period of time? I am willing to pay any tuition necessary for this."

This request left Lin Jie somewhat surprised and a bit pleased.

He sighed inwardly, as long as one has genuine skills and talents, they will always break through prejudices and gain recognition from others.

Lin Jie pondered for a while and said, "Recently, it's not very suitable, I don't have free time to guide others. If you are truly interested, you can wait until July or August next year, when Anlin Hospital is operational."

"At that time, the hospital will have a special exchange and learning department, and arrangements can be made for doctors like you to come to the hospital for further study."

"July or August next year?"

Bird thought for a moment and nodded with a smile, saying, "No problem at all, it gives me enough time to properly arrange my work and life in the United States."

Lin Jie remembered the matter with Chen Yuehua and asked, "Dr. Cahill, I know this is your private matter, but I still need to ask; what exactly happened between you and Chen Yuehua?"

Bird, who had sat down again, hesitated and said softly, "I don't mind your inquiry, it seems this is a Chinese tradition, that when lovers have conflicts, family and friends will come out to mediate."

"I can tell you, the conflict between me and Eliza was because I was misled by her."

"Oh, Eliza is Yuehua's English name."

After explaining this, Bird said somewhat ruefully, "Since I don't really understand Chinese, everything I know about Dr. Lin Jie was told to me by Eliza."

"According to her previous description of you, my impression was that of a somewhat gifted medical student."

"Eliza should have known your actual situation, but she didn't make it clear to me."

"This led to me being predisposed to rudeness that day."

Upon hearing this, although Lin Jie didn't know why Chen Yuehua had somewhat concealed his introduction, he still explained on her behalf, "Dr. Cahill, let me ask you, if Eliza had introduced me truthfully, would you have believed what she said?"

Bird was silent for a while, then slowly shook his head, "I probably wouldn't have believed it."

"The disparity between your age and achievements is too significant. If it weren't for Mr. Freddy's personal affirmation, and me being in Binhai, where I could verify some things, such matters would be unbelievable."

Bird remained quiet for a moment, then said with a difficult expression, "There should be another reason for my argument with Eliza; she was perhaps angered as well."

Lin Jie quietly watched, continuing to listen to him speak, "Last month, a very good friend of mine was in a car accident, injuring his right eye. The condition was severe, and only an ophthalmologist of Dr. Dadof's caliber could have ensured a cure."

"It's just that..."

Bird gave a bitter smile and said, "Even though I studied with Dr. Dadof for some time, my relationship with the doctor is quite ordinary, and there are dozens like me at the research center."

"As expected, my request was rejected."

With a bit of self-deprecation, he continued, "Dr. Dadof's assistant replied to me, saying that the doctor's schedule was tight and he had no time. My friend's surgery was eventually done by the head of the ophthalmology department at my hospital."

"No miracle happened, and my friend's right eye could not be saved."

"After I learned about your skills, Dr. Lin Jie, a thought popped into my head at the time: if I had known then that there was someone else who could save my friend's eye, perhaps his right eye wouldn't have been removed..."

Bird exhaled and admitted, "My anger caused me to lose some rationality that day, and I had an argument with Eliza. It's my fault, and I will go apologize to Eliza."

He then stated, "It's an honor to be with a beautiful Eastern lady like Eliza, and I will cherish it."

Lin Jie almost thought he had heard wrong.

A beautiful Eastern lady?

Looking at Bird's earnest expression, along with his brown eyes and red hair, Lin Jie realized that this was an East-West aesthetic difference.

In the eyes of many Westerners, Eastern women with small eyes and flat noses are considered beauties.

Lin Jie couldn't understand why many foreigners agree that Western beauties are those with freckled faces and particularly thick thighs.

After chatting with Freddy about little Lucy's situation, the two of them said their goodbyes and left...

For dinner, Lin Jie dined out with An Kexin.

During the waiting time for the meal, An Kexin first shared good news with Lin Jie. The six raw diamonds were sold to a wealthy buyer for five million.

"This price is considered fair."

An Kexin took out a check from her wallet and handed it over, saying, "My father had someone appraise them. These six raw diamonds are roughly worth this price in the market, and of course, once cut, their value could be over ten million."

"It's just that we don't have suitable channels to find skilled diamond cutters."

Accepting the check, Lin Jie flicked it lightly with his index finger and said with a smile, "In the future, I'll only buy you gold jewelry that can preserve and appreciate in value. This five million can buy over ten kilograms of gold."

"I don't wear flashy gold jewelry; it's too vulgar. I'd rather wear nothing. You might as well buy gold bars for value preservation."

After expressing her opinion, An Kexin continued, "A-Jie, Uncle called; he's arranging a family dinner for tomorrow night."

"Uncle said the purpose of this family dinner is to discuss the specifics of Cousin's wedding arrangements and also to formally meet Chen Yuehua and Bird."

"You'll be available tomorrow night, right?"

"I'll be available unless something special comes up."

Having accepted the family dinner invitation, Lin Jie thought to himself: "Bird's efficiency is quite high; he's settled the matter with the Eastern beauty Chen Yuehua so quickly."

He then inquired with concern, "How are the negotiations going with Slophel?"

"They are basically settled. Slophel won't take commissions from us. His income comes from the intermediary fees paid by patients. In that regard, we won't interfere; how much he negotiates is his own skill."

"Our targeted medical pricing here is basically just changing the RMB symbol to a US Dollar symbol."

An Kexin laughed, "Of course, to have a reasonable price increase, the hospital will specially renovate one or two luxurious high-end patient rooms to exclusively receive the high-end patients introduced by Slophel."

Lin Jie nodded in agreement with this approach and then asked, "Has Slophel mentioned any requirements?"

"He had initially thought optimistically, wanting an exclusive monopoly, asking us to only accept American patients he introduced. We firmly refused, and finally only agreed that the patients he introduces will have priority, as long as your schedule can accommodate it."

This condition, Lin Jie deemed acceptable.

An Kexin further added, "A-Jie, the reason Slophel is so confident about this intermediary service is that he already has a patient in his hands."

"I've already asked him to send the patient's medical records to your email."

"A-Jie, take a look over the next couple of days. If you feel confident and the timing fits, I'll contact the Affiliated Hospital to arrange it under the guise of a tripartite collaboration."

An Kexin excitedly said, "This would be our first international patient."

"I'll take a look right now!" Lin Jie took out his phone and opened the email.

As soon as he opened the attachment, Shen Lanruo's voice echoed in his mind: "Oh, it's him!"

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