Chapter 207 - 206: Unspoken Suffering

Chapter 207: Chapter 206: Unspoken Suffering

It was almost seven in the evening when Yu Zhiming finished work for the day.

When he reached the hospital entrance, he was surprised to find Gu Qingning had come to pick him up.

"Sister Xiang Wan isn’t awake yet, so I took the initiative and grabbed the car keys to come get you."

"Aren’t I thoughtful, Zhiming?"

Gu Qingning explained as she pulled into traffic, then added with a grin, "Zhiming, Sister Xiang Wan finally has a boyfriend. She can finally get the family off her back."

"That means all the family’s matchmaking pressure is going to be focused on you now."

"So, how about we take our relationship a step further? To, say, a ’prospective’ boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Yu Zhiming shot her a sidelong glance and snorted. "I’ve heard of a fiancée, but I’ve never heard of a ’prospective girlfriend’."

Gu Qingning giggled. "You know, that ’more than friends, less than lovers’ stage. An ambiguous relationship, you could say."

Yu Zhiming rolled his eyes. "Give me a break. We’re acquaintances at best, not even what I’d call friends."

"Besides, my family won’t pressure me. At least, not for the next year."

Gu Qingning pouted, then changed the subject. "Zhiming, would you be free to have dinner with me this Saturday night?"

"What for?" Yu Zhiming countered.

Gu Qingning said nonchalantly, "Oh, it’s nothing important. Just a little get-together with some cousins from the Gu Family."

"They’ll all be showing off their significant others, and I’ll be the only one there all by myself. It’s so embarrassing."

"Please, Zhiming? Just to help me save face."

Yu Zhiming refused flatly. "I’m not going."

Gu Qingning grumbled, "Zhiming, your eldest sister told you to take me out shopping and stuff when you’re free."

"And so far, you haven’t taken me out even once."

"You know, tonight I’m suddenly missing the sound of her voice. I think I’ll give her a call for a little chat."

Faced with this blatant threat, Yu Zhiming grew sullen. He said coolly, "I’ll go with you for one meal. That’s it."

Gu Qingning’s eyes crinkled with a smile. "Just one meal is fine! You can just put on your cool, aloof act. You don’t even have to talk to them..."

Gu Qingning drove near the Zijin Garden District, but instead of going straight home, she turned onto a nearby commercial street.

"I ordered a few dishes from a restaurant here before I came to get you. It’s that place we got the steamed sea bass from."

As she spoke, the car stopped in front of a restaurant. Gu Qingning hopped out and ran inside.

Yu Zhiming looked out the car window, sizing up the restaurant, which was called Hundred Flavors Kitchen. He noted that the decor was quite tasteful and the storefront looked impressively grand.

Five or six minutes later, Gu Qingning emerged from the restaurant carrying several takeout containers in each hand.

Yu Zhiming took the takeout containers, and Gu Qingning got back in the car.

"Zhiming, I asked around. Turns out the chef here really is connected to that Hundred Fresh Pavilion you mentioned."

"Apparently, Hundred Fresh Pavilion got a new head chef, and the old chef’s apprentices and assistants were sidelined, so they all came over here..."

When they returned to their place in Zijin Garden, Yu Zhiming saw that his Fourth Sister was already up and had tidied the living room.

After quickly washing up, Yu Zhiming sat down at the dining table and began to eat dinner with his Fourth Sister and Gu Qingning.

He had barely taken two bites, however, when he got up and shut the half-open window connecting the living room and the balcony.

"There’s a baby crying in the building across from us. It’s so annoying!"

Hearing Yu Zhiming’s complaint, Yu Xiangwan glanced at Gu Qingning. She noticed Qingning’s expression didn’t change, seemingly taking the comment at face value. While this was a relief, Yu Xiangwan also felt a pang of worry.

’With Fifth Brother’s sensitivity to sound, having kids in the future is going to be really difficult. He’ll probably get unbearably irritated.’

’We can only take it one step at a time.’

’If Fifth Brother does have a child, his sisters and I will just have to take turns looking after the little one for him.’

’We’ve been looking after our little brother since he was small; we can’t help but worry about him.’

Lost in thoughts about the future, Yu Xiangwan looked over at Yu Zhiming again, just in time to meet his gaze.

"Sister, what are Zhang Bai’s plans for the future?"

Seeing Gu Qingning also look over with concern, Yu Xiangwan smiled gently. "He went home for his mother’s funeral and has to take care of some other matters. It’ll probably take him ten days to two weeks."

"He said that when he gets back to Binhai, he’s not going to rush to find a job. He wants to help me get my short-term rental business established and running smoothly first."

"Zhang Bai also said that with your support, Fifth Brother, and with it being so close to two major hospitals like Huashan Hospital and Ning’an Hospital, the business is set up for steady growth. It might not make us rich overnight, but he thinks we can definitely earn enough to buy a house and a car."

As Yu Zhiming watched his Fourth Sister talk about Zhang Bai, a look of simple, pure happiness on her face, his own complicated feelings were mixed with a growing sense of relief and joy.

’He was finally starting to accept it. After so many romantic setbacks, his Fourth Sister had finally found someone she loved...’

Yu Xiangwan added with a grin, "I’m getting the paperwork together to register a company and make the whole rental business official."

"Fifth Brother, I’ll give you forty percent of the shares."

"Qingning, if you want to invest, I’ll give you shares, too."

Yu Zhiming shook his head. "Sister, I don’t need any shares. Of course I’m going to help you, no matter what."

Gu Qingning also declined politely. "All my money is tied up in your eldest nephew’s company. I’d love to, but I just don’t have the funds."

Yu Xiangwan shot Gu Qingning a sideways glance. "Qingning, you’re telling me you don’t have money?"

"I’ve noticed your clothes are all designer brands. The kind that cost thousands, even tens of thousands, for a single item."

"You just think my business is too small-time to bother with."

Noticing Yu Zhiming was also looking at her, Gu Qingning quickly and guiltily explained, "Sister Xiang Wan, Zhiming, only one or two of my outfits are actually real. The rest are just for show."

"The others are, you know... just high-quality knockoffs."

"The quality is that good for a knockoff?" Yu Xiangwan asked, unconvinced.

Gu Qingning put on an earnest expression. "Sister Xiang Wan, they’re called knockoffs, but really, you could consider them authentic."

"A lot of big-name brand clothes, shoes, and hats are actually made in factories right here in our country. But once they’re sold through the official brand channels, the price just skyrockets."

"The ones that get ’leaked’ privately from the manufacturers are authentic goods sold as knockoffs, but for a much, much lower price."

Yu Xiangwan’s eyes widened, her voice filled with excitement. "Qingning, you have a way to buy these authentic-goods-sold-as-knockoffs?"

Gu Qingning’s heart sank.

She knew exactly what was coming, but she didn’t dare let it show on her face. She just nodded and said, "I used to know a girl who told me about a few ways to buy them."

Yu Xiangwan exclaimed excitedly, "I’m a business owner now! I need to buy a few nice outfits to look the part."

She continued her calculations aloud, "And I’ll need to buy some as gifts for Mom and Dad, my three sisters, and my nieces and nephews for the New Year."

"Fifth Brother needs a few new outfits, too."

"And Zhang Bai..."

Gu Qingning, who was silently suffering, found it harder and harder to maintain her relaxed expression.

She quickly interrupted, "Sister Xiang Wan, to avoid getting caught by the brand, these kinds of clothes are sold secretly through inside connections. The quantities are always limited."

"And while they’re a lot cheaper, they still cost several hundred, even over a thousand, for one item. They’re not street-market cheap."

"Oh," Yu Xiangwan said. "Well, a few hundred or a thousand is still a huge bargain compared to several thousand or tens of thousands."

"Qingning, could you contact your friend first and see if it’s still possible to buy any? And find out how many we could get?"

Gu Qingning replied glumly, "Okay. I’ll let you know once I’ve contacted her and confirmed everything, Sister Xiang Wan."

Yu Zhiming sensed that Gu Qingning was acting a little strangely, but he didn’t dwell on it and just focused on his food.

’To be honest,’ he thought, ’while the food from Hundred Flavors Kitchen isn’t quite on par with Hundred Fresh Pavilion, it’s still pretty damn good...’

After dinner, Yu Xiangwan started clearing the table.

Gu Qingning got up and opened the living room window, wanting to air out the smell of food.

Yu Zhiming, however, frowned, walked out of the living room, and stepped into the hallway.

"Zhiming, what’s wrong?"

Gu Qingning came to Yu Zhiming’s side, her gaze following his to the building across from them.

It was now nearly eight o’clock, and the lights in the building opposite them were mostly on.

Gu Qingning could see people walking around in many of the apartments, and children running back and forth in others.

"That one!"

Yu Zhiming pointed. "Unit Two, seventh floor. That baby is still crying. It’s starting to sound hoarse."

"Why isn’t anyone comforting it?"

"Something’s not right."

Gu Qingning looked where Yu Zhiming was pointing. She could see a dim light filtering through the curtains but no sign of movement inside.

She couldn’t hear a baby crying, either.

"Maybe the parents are intentionally not comforting it."

"Haven’t you heard what some parenting experts say? If a baby is crying, and it isn’t hungry, doesn’t need a diaper change, and isn’t sick, you’re supposed to let it cry so it learns that crying won’t get it attention."

"That way, the baby won’t just cry all the time for no reason and drive everyone crazy."

Yu Zhiming shook his head. "That parenting expert is wrong. Babies can’t talk. Crying is the only effective way they have to express their needs or discomfort. You shouldn’t just ignore it."

After a moment’s pause, he added with concern, "The baby is almost out of energy. Its cry... it doesn’t sound right to me."

"I’m a little worried."

"Should we call property management to check on them?" Gu Qingning suggested.

Yu Zhiming considered for a moment. "Let’s just call the police. Property management might drag their feet or not take it seriously."

"It’s better to call the police. Even if we’re overreacting and it’s a false alarm, that’s better than letting something terrible happen."

Having made his decision, Yu Zhiming immediately went back to his room, picked up his phone, and called Jin Feng, the deputy chief of the local police station.

He explained his concerns and gave Jin Feng the exact apartment number where the crying was coming from.

Jin Feng said he would send an officer over to check on it immediately.

Just as he hung up with Jin Feng, before he could even put his phone down, Yu Zhiming received a call from Academician Yingtan.

"Dr. Yu, you were right. Dr. Kant’s scan showed an issue with his pancreas—there’s an unexplained mass on the head of the pancreas."

"They’ve already done a needle biopsy."

"The pathology results should be back tomorrow morning, but nine times out of ten, it’s going to be cancer..."