The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

"Doctor, do you mean we'll have to spend 200,000 yuan on medicine every month from now on?"

Wen Yao was the first to react. She grasped Huang Jianjun's hands and asked in a trembling voice.

Huang Jianjun glanced at the weariness that was hard to hide on everyone's faces, sighed softly, and nodded.

"In theory, this drug should hardly cause an immune response in the human body, but the patient's constitution is too special, and the quality of the drug has dropped significantly. I have been engaged in genetic disease research for decades, and this is the first time I have seen this situation."

Upon hearing this, everyone present was struck dumb.

Earning 1.2 million a year is already the result of their best efforts.

Two million four hundred thousand, not just a little bit more, but a full doubling!

Xu Nian swallowed hard, and before she knew it, she was stammering.

"Director Huang... will this drug resistance you mentioned... get worse in the future?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out."

Huang Jianjun's words were like a rusty iron arrow, piercing straight to everyone's hearts and lungs.

According to him, the future treatment costs may exceed 200,000 yuan per month.

Dead silence, a long, drawn-out dead silence.

"At the same time, there is another piece of good news for you."

"What news?"

Director Huang took off his glasses, a look of melancholy on his face.

"A European laboratory recently announced the launch of a series of gene-related research projects, which have received funding from its home country."

"Among these is a technology called gene editing."

"If there is a major breakthrough, it may be possible to edit and recombine the missing parts of the human genome, which could potentially lead to the cure of some genetic diseases caused by genes."

"This includes Beppuen syndrome."

"How long will it take them to complete their research?"

A glimmer of hope shone in Xu Nian's eyes, as if she had grasped at the last straw.

"It's hard to say."

Huang Jianjun shook his head with a wry smile.

"The development of a treatment plan takes a long time at each stage, from project initiation, research, clinical trials, to approval."

"It could take three to five years, or even ten to eight years, and the research might still fail."

"Whether to continue treatment and wait for this slim chance is up to you."

"Treat it! We'll treat it!"

Everyone said in unison.

As long as there is a glimmer of hope, they will never give up on their friends, family, and loved ones.

Huang Jianjun sighed softly, wondering if his words had harmed these young people.

They were just young men and women who had just entered university, yet they had to shoulder the responsibility of a life and struggle for this elusive chance.

"From now on, patients will be hospitalized for a long time, so that we can intervene in time if any sudden symptoms occur."

"I've spoken with the hospital and they can waive all costs except for the medication."

"Thank you, doctor!"

"Thank you, Director Huang!"

......

The ward was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant.

A ray of morning light fell on the girl's slender face.

Her bloodshot eyes gleamed as she silently stared at the pale yellow liquid in the IV bag.

"Xiaoxi, you're awake? I'll go buy you some breakfast."

The boy beside her, who hadn't slept a wink all night, raised his hand and gently smoothed the black hair on her forehead.

"I'm not hungry, brother."

She forced a bleak smile.

"Xi Bao, how are you feeling?"

Their conversation startled the three people who were taking a nap nearby.

The girl shifted slightly: "I'm fine, just a little sleepy."

She turned her head and looked at the boy beside her.

"Brother, why am I here? I remember falling asleep at home last night hugging my teddy bear."

"You developed a high fever in the middle of the night, so I took you to the hospital."

Without blinking, Xu Nian blurted out a lie she had already prepared.

He has lost count of how many lies he has told since his sister fell ill.

After telling so many lies, even he began to believe that the girl really only had ordinary pneumonia.

As long as he is willing to work hard and earn money to buy medicine for Xu Xi, his beloved girl can stay by his side forever.

"I see..."

The girl lowered her head in shame.

"I'm sorry... brother, everyone, I've caused you trouble again."

"What are you saying? Xi Bao, your business is our business."

"Exactly! We're friends, don't talk like that."

Xu Nian remained silent, tightly holding the girl's slender hand.

Despite the sweltering heat of midsummer, her palms felt like the frigid depths of winter.

Is it because of the IV drip?

The boy reached out his other hand and covered the cold IV tube.

It seemed that in this way, he could bring his body heat into the body of his beloved girl and help her fight off her illness.

In a daze, a familiar scene appeared before his eyes.

Last winter, he was in a car accident and remained unconscious in bed for several days.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was an angelic girl covering her IV drip tube with her small mouth.

The boy's heart skipped a beat, as if he had been electrocuted.

"Brother, do I have some kind of bad disease?"

When I came to my senses, I heard these gentle words echoing in my ears.

"No, it's just chronic pneumonia."

Xu Nian forced a smile and ruffled her dry hair.

He had been too busy lately and hadn't combed her hair for a long time.

"elder brother..."

The girl's mood became increasingly dejected.

"You're still unwilling to tell me the truth?"

Xu Nian's hands trembled slightly.

"Xiaoxi, don't overthink it, it really is just chronic pneumonia."

"Brother, I already knew."

The girl smiled sweetly.

She weakly reached out and gently stroked the cheek of her beloved boy.

"The Xiaoxi Canteen's annual income of 800,000 yuan can't even cure a minor case of pneumonia. Do my friends have to take on multiple jobs, and my brother have to work from dawn till dusk to earn money?"

"My attending physician, I've seen him in my mother's hospital room."

"I suppose I have the same illness as my mother."

"Brother, everyone is doing their best for me."

"I think I can no longer lie in my hospital bed and steal a moment of peace."

She struggled to support her weakened body and looked sincerely at her close friend and the lover she held in her heart.

"Let me get involved and work together with everyone."

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere fell into a deathly silence.

Xu Nian's cheeks twitched, her language system completely collapsed, and she no longer knew how to speak.

Wen Yao, Qi Yu, and Zhao Lin all turned their heads away, facing the white wall, and secretly wiped away their tears.

She knows everything, but she says nothing.

For the past six months, they have diligently woven a cage of lies, thinking they had trapped this innocent girl.

Unexpectedly, the girl was singing loudly in the cage, simply trying her best to cooperate with their performance.