Chapter 203 - 202: That’s a Mother for You

Chapter 203: Chapter 202: That’s a Mother for You

It was past 8:30 PM. Yu Zhiming sat at his bedroom desk, studying the patient file Professor Qi Yue had given him.

The patient was a forty-one-year-old male, 177cm tall and weighing approximately 165 pounds, presenting with abdominal pain and intestinal colic of unknown origin.

The patient’s mysterious pain had begun to manifest sporadically five months prior. The episodes occurred sometimes days apart, sometimes weeks, with no discernible pattern.

Each bout of pain was sudden and came without warning.

They lasted anywhere from a few minutes to over ten minutes.

The patient had a nearly twenty-year history of smoking and drinking.

Yu Zhiming reviewed the patient’s cardiac exam records, abdominal imaging scans, colonoscopy results, and various other test analyses, including blood and urine reports, but found no valuable clues.

Yu Zhiming had expected this outcome.

If the exact cause of the illness could be so easily identified from physical examination data, the patient wouldn’t have been sent to them in the first place.

’Looks like it’s time for my probing technique to shine again,’ he thought.

The sound of the door opening made Yu Zhiming look up. He saw Gu Qingning walk in, carrying a glass of juice.

"Freshly squeezed kiwi juice!"

"Thanks!"

Yu Zhiming said his thanks, took the glass, and had a sip. He saw Gu Qingning lean gently against his desk.

"What is it?"

Gu Qingning put on a well-behaved, affectionate expression and said softly, "Nothing. I just wanted to see what you look like when you’re studying and working."

"Don’t they say that a man is most charming when he’s focused on his work?"

"And there’s that old saying, ’A beautiful companion by your side as you study through the night.’"

Yu Zhiming rolled his eyes, a look of disdain on his face. "One, you’re not a ’beautiful companion,’ and two, I don’t need company."

"Hurry up and get out. Don’t disturb me while I’m reviewing this case file!"

Gu Qingning didn’t get angry.

She glanced at the various test reports and lab results scattered on the desk and changed the subject. "Is it common for doctors to bring their work home these days?"

Yu Zhiming huffed softly. "Haven’t you heard? For doctors, there’s a set time to start work, but no set time to get off."

"Working overtime late into the night at the hospital is a regular occurrence."

"When we encounter a difficult case that can’t be solved right away, it’s perfectly normal to think about it day and night."

"Even after a diagnosis, it’s common to come home and continue optimizing treatment plans or refining surgical procedures."

As he spoke, Yu Zhiming grew more and more serious.

"Especially for someone like me, who strives for perfection and excellence in their work."

"Qingning, you need to think this through. I don’t have time to go out and have fun with you."

Gu Qingning giggled. "My standards aren’t high. Just being able to see your handsome face every day is enough to satisfy me."

"I don’t need you to entertain me at all. I can have more uninhibited fun when I go out by myself anyway."

After a moment of hesitation, Yu Zhiming met Gu Qingning’s bright eyes and said, "Qingning, you know I’m sensitive to sound, but I’m sure you don’t know just how sensitive."

"Let me put it this way. Right now, I can hear your breathing not just clearly, but as loudly as a howling gale."

Hearing this, Gu Qingning raised a small hand to cover her mouth and nose.

"Zhiming, really? Like a howling gale?"

Yu Zhiming nodded seriously and continued, "So, if we were to get married and be together, we’d have to sleep in separate beds."

"To me, your heartbeat and breathing, your teeth grinding and farting... it would all sound like the pounding of war drums and the roar of a tsunami."

"We could never share a bed."

Gu Qingning let out a long "Ohhh."

She stared at Yu Zhiming’s serious expression and said, "Sister Xiang Wan told me that when you worked at the county hospital, a lot of girls pursued you, but you ignored all of them."

"Did you reject them for this reason?"

Yu Zhiming grunted in agreement. "More or less. Not having feelings for them was also part of it."

He then said earnestly, "Qingning, we’re friends now, I suppose."

"While our relationship is still in its early stages, I feel it’s necessary to tell you all this."

Yu Zhiming tried to persuade her gently, "I know I’m quite handsome, but if you look at me long enough, you’ll get tired of it."

"When I hit middle age, I’ll probably get fat and greasy..."

Gu Qingning stood up straight, placing her hands on her slender waist.

"Zhiming, everything you’re saying, all the implications between the lines... you’re just listing your flaws and shortcomings to make me back down."

"Let me just ask you one thing, and answer me honestly. Do you really not have any feelings for me at all?"

Well...

Facing Gu Qingning’s burning gaze, Yu Zhiming instinctively wanted to look away, but that would make him seem guilty, so he forced himself to meet her eyes.

"Um..."

"Qingning, setting aside the friendship we’ve built during this time... you’re not bad-looking, and your figure is decent..."

This backhanded compliment from Yu Zhiming made Gu Qingning want to punch him.

’What does he mean, "not bad-looking" and "decent"? Is he blind?’

’Am I really that plain?’

’I’ll endure it. I’ll just endure it!’

Yu Zhiming seemed to notice the danger brewing in Gu Qingning’s eyes and changed his tune. "To say I have zero feelings for you, no romantic impulses whatsoever, would be impossible."

"It’s precisely because of that that I don’t want to hurt you."

Suddenly, Gu Qingning sensed the concern in Yu Zhiming’s words.

She also detected the insecurity and avoidance regarding relationships that he was hiding.

Gu Qingning let out a soft breath and said, "Zhiming, to be honest, I don’t know how far we’ll go either."

"I can’t be sure if I’ll ultimately be able to accept, or rather, tolerate the lifestyle habits forced on you by your condition."

"But right now, I can tell you..."

Gu Qingning said slowly, "Not only do I want to keep seeing you, but I also want our relationship to develop further."

"Because, without even realizing it, I’ve fallen for you. I think about taking care of you like your sister does, and I’ve even imagined what our children would look like..."

Gu Qingning set aside her shyness and said with a solemn expression, "As for the future, we can talk about it when we get there."

"Zhiming, I don’t want to see you push me away and resist again and again. I want to see you take the initiative to accept me..."

Yu Zhiming stood up.

He looked at Gu Qingning, who was so close. Her cheeks were tinged with a faint blush, and she seemed to have become even more beautiful.

He was just about to speak when his brows furrowed involuntarily.

"You heard that?" Gu Qingning asked shyly.

"I heard it!"

Yu Zhiming answered honestly, then added, "And now I can smell it too."

Gu Qingning’s face turned even redder. She balled up her little fist, gave Yu Zhiming a light punch on the chest, and ran out of the bedroom.

Yu Zhiming quickly waved a hand in front of his nose.

It was proof that even a beautiful woman’s farts stink, especially in an enclosed space where the smell was more pronounced.

Yu Zhiming opened the bedroom’s triple-paned soundproof window to air out the room and get rid of the smell.

Facing the breeze, he also took the opportunity to calm his mind.

Then, Yu Zhiming sat back down at his desk and got back to work.

This time, Yu Zhiming was looking at an email Academician Tan Ying had sent him, which had three attachments.

They were the résumés of the three doctors from the United States who would be at tomorrow’s exchange meeting.

All three were from the renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States. Two were internal medicine physicians specializing in hepatology, and one was a surgeon.

Yu Zhiming noticed that one of them was of Chinese descent...

Just as he was quickly browsing through one of the American doctor’s papers, the bedroom door was pushed open again.

Yu Xiangwan’s voice burst in first. "Fifth Brother, Zhang Bai’s mother is in critical condition."

Yu Xiangwan, who had come up close to Yu Zhiming, asked anxiously, "Is there anything you can do?"

Yu Zhiming shook his head. "His mother is in the late stages of stomach cancer. There’s nothing that can be done anymore. The only thing we can do now is help her pass on peacefully."

Yu Xiangwan was silent for a moment, then said, "Fifth Brother, I want to go to the hospital to be there for Zhang Bai’s mother in her final moments."

Oh... what...

Yu Zhiming stood up and asked, "Sis, since when did you get so close with them?"

Yu Xiangwan’s gaze shifted evasively. "We’re not that close. I’ve only visited his mom three or five times to chat with her, that’s all."

"They don’t have many friends in Binhai. I guess I could barely be considered a regular friend of theirs."

Yu Xiangwan said, sounding a bit guilty, "Fifth Brother, I want to go and keep them company. I don’t want his mom to be too lonely when she passes."

No matter how dense Yu Zhiming was, he could now sense some of his Fourth Sister’s feelings.

He sighed. "Sis, if you want to go that badly, I’ll go with you."

"Fifth Brother, no need!"

Yu Xiangwan pushed Yu Zhiming back into his seat. "Maybe his mom will make it through the night. You never know."

"Fifth Brother, you’ve had a long day, and you have work tomorrow. I can go by myself..."

Yu Zhiming saw his Fourth Sister out the door, then turned to Gu Qingning and asked, "You know what’s going on with my sister and Zhang Bai, right?"

Gu Qingning giggled. "Not that clearly."

"I just know that Sister Xiang Wan sometimes goes to the hospital during the day to talk and chat with his mom."

"And sometimes, she goes to the night market in the evening to help him with his business."

Yu Zhiming grunted in displeasure and asked again, "What about that charity fundraiser?"

Gu Qingning exclaimed, "Zhiming, I know about that! Zhang Bai did start the fundraiser, but it was just a stopgap measure."

"A few days ago, Zhang Bai finally sold his house back in his hometown and returned all the money from the fundraiser."

Yu Zhiming was slightly taken aback. "Zhang Bai really sold his house?"

Gu Qingning nodded. "Zhang Bai said he’d wanted to sell the house in his hometown for a while, but his mother was dead set against it, saying she couldn’t let her son end up with nothing."

"Besides, his mom knew her condition and didn’t want to be a burden on her son anymore, so she kept insisting on going home."

"Zhang Bai had no choice. He had to use the fundraiser to raise money and coax his mother by telling her that the money for her treatment was all from donations, so it wouldn’t be a burden on him."

"Only after seeing the donations pour into the fundraiser did his mother agree to stay in the hospital and continue her treatment."

Yu Zhiming was silent for a moment, then sighed with emotion. "That’s a mother for you, never wanting to be a burden to her son."

"Let’s go. We should also go see Zhang Bai’s mother off..."