Surgery Godfather-Chapter 457 - 418 Rejecting the Presidents Invitation

Chapter 457: Chapter 418: Rejecting the President’s Invitation

Chapter 457: Chapter 418: Rejecting the President’s Invitation

Everyone was cheering and jumping, lifting Yang Ping up, tossing and catching him repeatedly.

It scared Cheng Liquan and Huang Jiacai to death, worrying if they might accidentally let her fall and hit the floor hard.

Fortunately, these Americans are well-versed in this, having played football or basketball or, at the very least, some sort of soccer or volleyball during their student days. Such celebrations were a common occurrence during competitions.

The conservative Massimo, who has always been arrogant and self-important, believes in American supremacy and looks down on other countries.

Although he now admits defeat, he still harbours doubts about John Ansen’s claims and has been looking for opportunities to find out how many of these intracranial interventions Yang Ping has performed. A cross-disciplinary doctor could not possess such skills – such techniques must be developed through a combination of genius, diligence, and a large case volume.

Massimo too joined in with the excited crowd, who have reached nearly a manic state, as if celebrating a Super Bowl victory in American football.

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After lifting him up and down several times inside the hall, they showed no signs of stopping. The crowd, celebrating with Yang Ping overhead, was intending to move their celebrations from the indoor control center to the outdoors.

The outdoors was in the midst of a heavy storm, and these professors had entirely forgotten that they were no longer the students they once were.

In the face of the storm, the procession hesitated only slightly before someone called out, “Let’s circle around the space city, forward!”

These words ignited an overwhelmed reaction, and the suppressed youth within everyone was fully unleashed.

Without considering whether Yang Ping was willing, the crowd, singing and utterly disregarding the storm, lifted him up and embarked on a joyful parade around the space city.

The police, security, engineers, and other staff all joined the parade, with some reporters hurriedly joining as well.

The joyful parade circled around the space city before happily returning to the ground control center.

By this point, everyone’s clothes were soaking wet from the rain, dripping with water. Some were laughing heartily, while others were shouting into the storm.

Seeing this, Jim Basa quickly instructed his secretary to find dry clothes for Yang Ping and everyone else.

A press conference was scheduled to start shortly, and the reporters who had been waiting overnight were eager to get started.

But Yang Ping declined to attend the press conference, thinking it was a waste of time. He felt that instead of wasting words on those garrulous reporters, it would be better to rest and return home as soon as possible.

Jis Basa had no choice but to abandon the plan and deal with the reporters himself with his secretary.

He reported the good news to the White House, and the President enthusiastically invited Dr. Yang for lunch or dinner at the White House, hoping to arrange a time with him.

Eating a meal wasn’t his priority. If it weren’t for saving people, Yang Ping wouldn’t want to return at all. He was eager to return home. His return journey had already been delayed unexpectedly; he didn’t want to linger a moment longer, especially for non-urgent matters.

Yang Ping asked Boss Cheng to book a plane ticket immediately, preferably on the fastest available flight, as he was eager to return home.

Having lunch or dinner with the President at the White House is an honor many dream of. Old Cheng was tempted by the opportunity. He thought that delaying their return home by one day wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, they have to eat meals anyway, so why not have a meal with the President? To his surprise, Yang Ping declined the offer straight away. Boss Cheng felt it was a pity.

Many wealthy individuals would spend millions of US dollars to invite the President of the United States for a meal, even if he is no longer in office.

Traditionally, former American Presidents don’t have any special sources of income; earning money through giving speeches and writing books, which are both laborious.

However, with the development of the world economy, wealthy individuals from some developing countries would spend hefty sums of money to invite former US Presidents to their birthdays or other special occasions, in order to save face.

It’s a win-win situation. The wealthy individuals get to showcase their high social status, boasting about dining and drinking with former American Presidents, even though in reality, these guests were just brokers who were not known to the hosts.

These former Presidents are also happy to attend these events with their spouses. They earn hundreds of thousands, or even millions of US dollars just by sitting at a dining table, being treated like VIPs. They could easily earn billions in a year with such engagements, which requires minimal physical or mental effort – as long as they could manage the “three highs”.

Yet, Yang Ping showed no interest in dining with the President. Although Huang Jiacai didn’t think much of it, Boss Cheng felt it was a great loss, but he hesitated to persuade Yang Ping.

Seeing Yang Ping reject the President’s invitation, Jim Basa was surprised but upon second thoughts, understood. He concluded that a doctor like Yang Ping who’s engrossed in his craft would agree to seeing the President for a medical consultation, but not for a meal.

Backing this up, Jim Basa said, “I also don’t enjoy having meals with the President. He has peculiar tastes – he likes his steaks well-done, salads loaded with cheese and crumbled bacon, soups in extra-large bowls, and every meal comes with a large array of desserts and ice cream. Plus, he likes to drink loads of carbonated drinks, which make him burp during meals.”

Jim Basa added, “If you went, he would cater to your tastes. But the White House chefs are unlikely to satisfy your palate, no matter how hard they try. You declined rightly so.”

“Dr. Yang, you don’t need to book air tickets. United Airlines will arrange a charter flight to send you back home. You only need to tell us when you’d like to depart, and we’ll make the arrangements.” Seeing that Yang Ping was insistent on returning home as soon as possible, Jim Basa didn’t try to make him stay longer.

“In that case, we’d appreciate it if you could help us arrange the flight as soon as possible. I have a lot of matters to attend to back home, and the surgery on Steven has already caused a lot of delays. I can’t afford any more delays.” Yang Ping voiced his eager wish to return home.

Jim Basa immediately instructed his secretary to arrange for the charter flight and remembered the matter of the surgery fee. “Dr. Yang, we will pay you in full for your surgical services. What amount do you propose?”

At the time, Yang Ping was in a hurry and didn’t discuss compensation. Now that the problem had been resolved, it was time to talk about money.

In the American mindset, they are upfront and blunt, without beating around the bush. If you don’t ask for money, they won’t feel obligated towards you. On the contrary, they may believe your skills are worthless.

If you charge them, they wouldn’t bear any grudge. They would believe that your skills are worth the cost.

At this point, Yang Ping didn’t put the issue on their table. It wasn’t appropriate for Huang Jiacai and Boss Cheng to help set the price.

Yang Ping just thought for a moment and said, “How about charging a symbolic fee? Let’s base it on the cost of your rocket launches. How much does it cost to launch Falcon 9 once? You’ll pay me that as a service fee.”

“Sixty million US dollars?” Jim Basa cautiously confirmed.

“Then sixty million US dollars it is!” said Yang Ping firmly.

Money didn’t mean too much to Jim Basa. NASA’s annual budget exceeded two hundred billion dollars. Steven’s rescue alone cost several billion dollars, separate from normal expenses. Sixty million dollars, just the cost of a single Falcon 9 launch, was a merely symbolic charge.

Situations like this weren’t common, but it was important to maintain a good relationship, just in case they needed help again in the future.

If it wasn’t for Dr. Yang, the incident involving Steven could have cost Jim his career. Many of NASA’s programs would have been postponed amidst public outcry, leading to a reduction in funding.

Space companies like Raytheon, Boeing, and General Dynamics had powerful backers, and they wouldn’t hesitate to quarrel with the president.

But now, things had been resolved. NASA regained public confidence, and their funding was not only safe—it was set to increase.

Now lawmakers were clamoring about NASA’s inadequate funding, which they claimed led to the Steven incident. They urged Congress’s Appropriations Committee to increase funding for NASA.

Sixty million US dollars!

When Dr. Yang mentioned the amount, it rolled off his tongue with an ease that made Boss Cheng and Huang Jiacai exchange looks of admiration. He really knew how to carry himself with flair.

But the American was straightforward. Jim Basa didn’t even blink at the amount. Indeed, the American government seemed to have a money-printing machine at their disposal.

Old Cheng was full of admiration. Dr. Yang’s performance was like a tiger’s. Sixty million US Dollars in pocket in one round of negotiation. Old Cheng felt lucky to be associated with him.

Life was unpredictable. When luck struck, you couldn’t stop it. Old Cheng decided to donate some money to the Daoist temple next time, in appreciation of their accurate life guidance.

“Please take a moment to fill out a receipt. We will transfer the service fee to your account. Doctor Yang, please have a good rest. We will arrange a special flight for you to return to your homeland,” said Jim Basa. He arranged for John Ansen and Massimo to accompany Yang Ping to the hotel to rest. After the flight was arranged, they would escort them to the airport.

There were too many reporters around. Once Space City was reopened, journalists flooded in, all trying to find Yang Ping, but Jim Basa had already secretly sent him back to the hotel.

A breathless FBI officer called to report that the fees for the rain-dispelling vehicles had been paid, but they had been deemed illegally modified and ordered to be corrected.

The surgery was done, and it was pouring rain outside. They didn’t need the rain to go away anymore.

“No worries. You guys take your time to negotiate with them. We have plenty of patience.” Jim Basa was furious. The call came too late.

After a rest at the hotel, Yang Ping and his team changed into clean clothes. The hotel had somehow found a team of Chinese chefs to cook for Yang Ping exclusively.

To prevent Yang Ping from being disturbed by the press, the FBI and Houston police were assigned to his security detail.

Yang Ping wasn’t used to all the attention, feeling like some sort of VIP.

Some clever individuals, including Jim Basa and Richard, secretly asked Yang Ping for his personal phone number, email, and social media handles. As a terrific doctor, having him as a friend, a layer of insurance of sorts, would be reassuring should they have health problems in the future.

Even a few FBI officers had the audacity to ask for Dr. Yang’s phone number.

Yang Ping was generous enough to share his phone number and WeChat account with them.

After a while, the hotel’s chef had the Chinese food ready for serving. As they had gotten quite hungry, Yang Ping and his colleagues were invited to dine at the top-floor restaurant.

The private jet was also ready. While Jim Basa was busy preparing for a press conference, Yang Ping was getting ready to return to China.

John Ansen, Massimo, and others were waiting to take Yang to the airport.