The following Thursday afternoon, Yan Feifan received a call from He Junxing, who was reporting on his investigation at the scene of the incident.
His findings largely confirmed the initial report.
He Junxing told Yan Feifan over the phone that the accidental fire was quite well-known in the area, so it hadn’t taken much effort to gather a lot of information.
The grandmother, who was looking after the children at home, had tragically died in the fire, and the seven-year-old twin sisters were severely injured.
The children’s parents, who had been working in another city, and their grandfather all returned to their hometown the day after the accident.
Currently, the two children were receiving treatment at the best top-tier hospital in their city.
The steep cost of treatment had already exhausted the family’s savings...
Around 8:00 PM, Yan Feifan, back at his residence in Zuimo Court, received another call from He Junxing.
"Mr. Yan, I’m at the city’s top-tier hospital where the twins are staying. I’ve discovered two new things."
"Oh? What are they?" Yan Feifan pressed.
He Junxing’s voice came through the phone.
"The older sister is brain-dead. They’re using a ventilator and other life support equipment to maintain her bodily functions."
"Also, a charity from Jingcheng is in touch with the parents, offering to transfer the surviving child to a major hospital in Jingcheng for surgery."
Yan Feifan knew. ’The family must have cast a wide net, applying to numerous charities.’
And these kinds of tragic accidents tended to attract the most public attention, so they were often favored by charitable groups.
After a moment’s thought, Yan Feifan spoke into the phone, "Mr. Ho, here’s what you’ll do. On behalf of the Extraordinary Fund, express our sympathies to the family."
"And tell them that our Affiliated Hospital is willing to handle the child’s surgical treatment."
Yan Feifan added, "Mr. Ho, don’t get into a competition with that other charity over this."
"We’re just giving the family another option..."
Yan Feifan ended his call with He Junxing and met the concerned gazes of Yu Suye and Yan Ziruo. "I know you two were secretly worried this might affect our weekend camping trip."
"Maybe the family will choose to go to Jingcheng for the surgery."
Yan Ziruo pouted. "I wasn’t worried. If this affects anyone, it’s you, not me."
"We’ve already bought the tent."
"Hmph. Nothing in the world is going to stop me from going on my first-ever camping trip."
Still, she couldn’t help but add, "If I were one of their relatives, I’d definitely choose you."
"When it comes to facial cosmetic surgery, you’re the best in the country."
Yan Feifan chuckled. "Sis, it’s not up to you to decide whether I’m the best in the country or not."
Yan Ziruo chuckled as well. "Actually, I’m not the one who said it. That was Mr. Wang’s assessment, straight from his mouth."
"He said that while he’s at the top of the field in the country, your skills have far surpassed his."
"Doesn’t that mean you’re number one in the country?"
Yu Suye chimed in, "Ziruo, it’s not that easy to claim the number one spot."
"Don’t forget, there’s fierce competition and a lot of money at stake in the cosmetic surgery industry. Everyone will shamelessly claim to be number one."
Yan Feifan waved his hand dismissively. "Let’s not talk about something so meaningless."
He continued, "The crucial part of the surgery for these sisters is transplanting the hands and feet. Restoring her facial appearance can wait."
Yu Suye reasoned, "Feifan, it could be urgent."
"Judging by the photos they sent, the younger sister’s left cheek is severely burned, but the older sister’s face was mostly unharmed."
"Since her hands and feet are being transplanted anyway, why not just...?"
Yan Feifan understood what Yu Suye was implying. He said slowly, "If we can avoid a transplant, we should do our best to avoid it."
"Even though they’re identical twins, there’s still a risk of rejection."
"The more tissues are transplanted, the greater the chance of a rejection reaction..."
This conversation made Yan Ziruo’s heart clench with anxiety.
She suddenly asked, "Feifan, could our organs be transplanted between us?"
Yan Feifan replied, "Not necessarily. We’d need to do compatibility matching."
He explained, "We get half of our genes from our father and the other half from our mother."
"According to the laws of genetics, there’s a one-in-four chance that you and I are a perfect match. In medicine, we call that a full match."
"The genetic match between a parent and child is only a fifty-percent match, which is what we call a half match in medicine."
Yan Feifan further explained, "With current medical technology, we can perform organ transplants for both full and half matches."
"It’s just that with a full match, the post-transplant rejection reaction is less severe."
"On the other hand, half-match transplants require difficult pre-treatment, are more expensive, and have more severe rejection reactions and more complications."
"Unless there’s absolutely no other choice, half-match transplants should be avoided."