Chapter 197 - 196: Belting Out a Song

Chapter 197: Chapter 196: Belting Out a Song

For the sake of the million-dollar check, Yu Zhiming first gave Rao Yi a detailed full-body examination.

Her brain: no issues found.

Heart and lungs: no problems.

Breasts: no problems.

Stomach: a bit sluggish.

Liver, kidneys, and intestinal system: all reasonably healthy...

When he examined Rao Yi’s reproductive system, Yu Zhiming hesitated, on the verge of saying something, and Rao Yi noticed...

"Dr. Yu, whatever the problem is, please tell me everything. Don’t hide anything."

Yu Zhiming said hesitantly, "Ms. Rao, it’s not that there’s a problem with your body, it’s just..."

Rao Yi interrupted, "Dr. Yu, the look on your face clearly shows something is wrong."

"Whatever it is, just say it."

Seeing her insistence, Yu Zhiming asked bluntly, "Ms. Rao, have you ever given birth?"

As soon as he said this, Gu Qingning and Yu Xiangwan, who were standing to the side, widened their eyes with gossipy curiosity.

According to public information, the thirty-two-year-old Rao Yi had always been unmarried, though she’d been rumored to have had a few boyfriends.

"You can detect something like that?" Rao Yi was shocked, indirectly admitting it was true.

Yu Zhiming explained, "A woman who has given birth has slight differences in her cervix and pelvic structure."

Rao Yi was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "I was young and foolish back then."

She added with a pleading look, "This is my absolute personal privacy. It’s not part of the three-month disclosure agreement."

Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning replied in unison, "We definitely won’t tell anyone."

Yu Zhiming also nodded. "We have a doctor-patient relationship now. I will not leak a patient’s private information."

"Ms. Rao, the physical examination is over. You can get up. Next, we need to examine your vocal issue."

Rao Yi got up from the sofa. As she straightened her clothes, she heard Yu Zhiming’s voice again.

"Come with me to the bedroom. That way we don’t have to worry about the neighbors hearing and filing a noise complaint with property management."

Rao Yi’s heart sank at his words.

’So there’s no escaping it after all. Is he going to take advantage of me?’

’Whatever. I’ll just treat it like a nightmare.’

Looking like a martyr making a heroic sacrifice, Rao Yi followed Yu Zhiming into the bedroom, only to realize she had let her imagination run wild.

Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning followed them into the bedroom as well.

As the heavy wooden bedroom door closed, Rao Yi felt as if she had been cut off from the rest of the world.

’It’s so quiet!’

Rao Yi immediately realized the bedroom had been specially soundproofed, just like her own recording studio and vocal practice room.

She quickly scanned the neat and tidy room. It was about fifteen or sixteen square meters and also served as a study.

What impressed Rao Yi the most was that one entire wall was a bookshelf, crammed full of books.

She also noticed an erhu hanging on the eastern wall.

"You play the erhu?"

"It’s a hobby!"

Yu Zhiming gave a simple reply, then reached out and gently touched Rao Yi’s neck.

"Ms. Rao, do your vocal exercises as you normally would. Gradually increase the volume until your voice cracks."

Rao Yi knew the most crucial moment had arrived.

But having a hand wrapped around her neck, as if ready to squeeze tight at any moment, made Rao Yi very uncomfortable.

But Rao Yi didn’t dare voice any objections. She first adjusted her posture, then took two deep breaths.

She opened her mouth.

"Ah... ah... ahhh..."

Yu Zhiming closed his eyes, concentrating on the feel of Rao Yi’s voice and the vibrations coming through his right hand...

Air, compressed by the lungs, rushed out of the trachea and straight toward the taut, nearly closed vocal cords in her throat...

Yu Zhiming was naturally familiar with the principles of human sound production.

When we produce sound, the muscles in the larynx coordinate to control the glottis in a regulated manner.

The vocal cords on both sides tighten, narrowing or even almost closing the glottis. The airflow rushing from the trachea constantly strikes the vocal cords, causing them to vibrate and produce sound.

This sound produced in the larynx is only the fundamental frequency.

It is then enhanced and altered by the resonance of the pharynx, mouth, nose, sinuses, trachea, and lungs.

Finally, it emerges from the mouth as the sound we hear...

As Yu Zhiming focused his senses, he discovered another small stream of air welling up from her esophagus.

This was likely what people referred to as ’Qi from the Dantian’ or ’singing from the diaphragm’...

Based on the disturbances caused by the airflow and the vibrations produced by the sound, Yu Zhiming began to construct a physiological diagram of Rao Yi’s vocal production in his mind...

Lungs, trachea, stomach, esophagus, larynx, vocal cords, pharynx, nasal cavity, oral cavity, tongue, lips...

Amidst the gradually rising "ahhs," all the organs the air passed through and all the organs involved in sound production and resonance formed a real-time three-dimensional model in Yu Zhiming’s mind.

The details were rapidly becoming richer and more refined...

"Ah... ah... ah..."

As Rao Yi progressively raised her volume, Yu Zhiming began to feel uncomfortable.

His ears ached, and so did his head...

It was as if someone were shouting into his ear with a high-powered megaphone.

He realized that diagnosing Rao Yi’s condition was just asking for a world of hurt.

But Yu Zhiming could only force himself to endure it, feeling as though he was about to drive himself crazy.

’Damn it, this money really isn’t easy to earn.’

As his brain throbbed with pain, a deep worry suddenly surfaced in Yu Zhiming’s mind.

’I’m not going to break down and collapse before I even find the source of Rao Yi’s problem, am I?’

Yu Zhiming tried to suppress his worry and discomfort, focusing as much as possible on sensing Rao Yi’s vocal organs...

"Ah... ah..."

Suddenly, Rao Yi’s voice seemed to break through a barrier, reaching a new height like a fish leaping from the water.

But in the next moment, that pure sound deflated like a punctured balloon, losing all its power and filling with static.

Rao Yi abruptly stopped her vocalizing.

It wasn’t that she lacked the strength to push her voice higher, but that she was frightened by Yu Zhiming’s appearance.

Yu Zhiming’s eyes were slightly closed, his face was pale, his forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and his body was swaying slightly.

Rao Yi blurted out, "Dr. Yu, did you just overdo it with your powers?"

Yu Zhiming opened his eyes and saw Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning approaching with worried expressions.

"I’m fine. It was just painful to endure the sound."

Yu Zhiming explained, then met Rao Yi’s gaze and said, "I’m not some charlatan Qi Gong master."

Rao Yi gave an embarrassed smile. "I’m sorry. For a moment, your appearance reminded me of a Qi Gong master with special abilities."

After a brief pause, she asked expectantly, "Dr. Yu, were you able to find the source of my voice cracking on the high notes just now?"

Yu Zhiming nodded lightly. "I have a small lead, but I need to confirm it further."

"You really have a lead?" Rao Yi was instantly overcome with excitement.

This was the first good news she had heard in months.

Yu Zhiming didn’t answer, simply placing his right hand on Rao Yi’s neck once more.

"This time, go directly to the high note where your voice cracks."

"Don’t stop until I tell you to!"

"Okay, no problem!"

Highly excited, Rao Yi took a deep breath, and a clear "ah" shot toward the heavens...

But a second later, the sound became like tearing fabric, completely losing its crisp, pleasant quality...

While forcing himself to endure it, Yu Zhiming clearly "saw" a slight bulge on the inner left wall of Rao Yi’s throat, THROBBING uncontrollably as if it had been electrocuted.

As he focused all his perceptive power, the surface layer covering that small bulge was "dissected," revealing a small bundle of muscle fibers.

He saw it vibrating nonstop, as if it were having a cramp.

On this small muscle, Yu Zhiming also "saw" several small nodules the size of millet grains!

’Fat granules?’

’Fibromas?’

’Calcified hematomas?’

...

"Okay, you can stop!"

Yu Zhiming looked at Rao Yi’s tense and expectant face and asked, "In the year before your voice started cracking, did you ever injure your throat?"

Rao Yi shook her head. "I’m always very careful with my throat. How could I have let it get injured?"

"Wait, does getting a fish bone stuck count?"

Yu Zhiming nodded. "That counts."

Rao Yi asked in disbelief, "Are you saying a tiny fish bone is what caused my vocal problem?"

"Perhaps!"

Yu Zhiming extended his right index finger and tapped a spot on Rao Yi’s neck. "You have a small bundle of muscle fibers right here. When you try to hit a high note, it vibrates uncontrollably."

"Its vibration causes turbulence in the airflow and a constriction of your vocal cords, which is what produces the crack in your voice."

Rao Yi reached up to touch her neck and asked, "Dr. Yu, it can be treated, right?"

Yu Zhiming said thoughtfully, "It’s just the vibration of a small bundle of muscle fibers, not an abnormal movement of the entire muscle, so it’s probably not caused by a neurological issue."

"Its vibration is more like a kind of..."

Yu Zhiming thought for a moment and finally found the word.

"Resonance!"

"I also found several small, hard nodules on that muscle bundle. Perhaps those nodules are the cause."

Yu Zhiming suggested, "I can use a puncture method to remove those hard nodules."

"Ms. Rao, would you like to try it and see if it works?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Rao Yi’s reply was firm...

The puncture procedure couldn’t be performed at home.

Yu Zhiming took Rao Yi, along with Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning, to a treatment room at the Qi Yue Medical Research Center.

Dressed in plain clothes, a sun hat, and a face mask, Rao Yi followed Yu Zhiming. They passed many people along the way, but not a single person recognized her.

People on the street were all in a hurry; who would bother paying attention to a stranger passing by?

As long as she wasn’t deliberately wearing bizarre clothes, surrounded by a large entourage, and making a big, mysterious show of hiding her face, who would notice that a huge star was present?

In the treatment room, Rao Yi grew frightened as she watched Yu Zhiming take out a long, thin puncture needle.

"Dr. Yu, aren’t you going to use anesthesia?"

Yu Zhiming smiled like a devil and said, "It’ll only hurt as much as a shot. No anesthesia needed."

"You can trust my puncture technique. I won’t damage any of your blood vessels or nerves."

Rao Yi steeled herself, closed her eyes, and tilted her neck back.

"Go ahead, Dr. Yu. I’m not afraid anymore..."

As the long, thin needle in Yu Zhiming’s hand approached Rao Yi’s neck, Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning both turned away, unable to watch.

Yu Zhiming calmed his mind, his hand as steady as a mountain. Over the next minute, he performed five consecutive punctures, extracting five small, yellow, millet-sized grains from Rao Yi’s neck.

He rolled one of the grains between his fingers.

The yellow fatty layer on the surface rubbed away, revealing a small, dark-red particle inside.

"It’s a blood clot."

"Ms. Rao, you can try hitting a high note again."

Rao Yi touched her neck, which was now covered with medical tape and still aching, and asked timidly, "Is that all it took?"

Yu Zhiming told her the truth. "This was just a test. It doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to work..."

A minute or two later, a continuous and beautiful "ah" sound echoed throughout the entire five-story building.

A moment later, the "ah" transformed into a powerful and soaring a cappella song.

It was Rao Yi, singing her heart out...