Chapter 102: Embarrassed to the Point of Social Death

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Embarrassed to the Point of Social Death

When Yu Zhiming entered the living room, he saw Gu Qingning clutching her lower abdomen. She was curled up into a tight ball like a kitten, lying on her side on the sofa bed.

Her face was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and she kept her lips stubbornly pressed together, refusing to cry out in pain.

It was a pitiable sight.

Yu Zhiming’s heart softened at the sight, but his expression remained calm and professional.

"Gu Qingning, lie on your back. It’ll be easier for me to examine you."

Gu Qingning reacted as soon as he finished speaking.

Her brow furrowed, and an even more painful expression crossed her face, but she slowly began to uncurl her body.

Clearly, she didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Yu Zhiming.

Yu Zhaoxia asked, her face full of worry and concern, "Fifth Brother, could it be acute appendicitis?"

"Or acute gastroenteritis?"

Yu Xiangwan chimed in with her own guess, quickly adding, "Fifth Brother, we ate a lot while we were out today. Raw things, cooked things, cold, hot, and a ton of seafood."

"Could she have gotten food poisoning?"

Yu Zhiming didn’t answer. Seeing Gu Qingning’s defiant look as she forced herself to straighten out and lie flat, he quickly placed his hands on her lower abdomen and began to palpate the area...

With every tap and press, the pained expression on Gu Qingning’s face intensified.

But Gu Qingning kept her jaw clenched, determined not to let a single sound of pain escape her lips.

Fortunately, Yu Zhiming didn’t make her suffer for long and quickly gave his diagnosis.

"It’s intussusception—the ileum telescoping into the cecum. This is something you usually see in one- or two-year-old children."

"It’s quite rare in adults."

Yu Zhiming teased her lightly before adding, "Gu Qingning, I can resolve the intussusception with a massage, but the process will be a bit painful."

"You’ll have to endure it."

"Hey, wait..."

Gu Qingning suddenly cried out, stopping him.

No longer able to pretend to be strong, she asked in a tearful voice, "How much is it going to hurt?"

"Yu Zhiming, I know you’ve got a problem with me, but don’t you dare use this as an excuse to hurt me on purpose!"

"I’m telling you, I’m really sensitive to pain. I’m terrified of it, so you have to be gentle."

She begged, "Please?"

Yu Zhiming looked at her face.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, and her face wore a pitiful, pleading expression.

Yu Zhiming kept a straight face. "Gu Qingning, right now, our relationship is that of a doctor and a patient."

"As a doctor, I abide by my professional code. I won’t do anything unprofessional, like hurting you on purpose."

"As for being sensitive to pain..."

Yu Zhiming snorted. "Besides someone born without a sense of pain, who isn’t sensitive to it?"

"Just bear with it for a moment."

As he spoke, he pressed his hands onto her lower abdomen and began to massage it gently in a specific pattern.

At the beginning of the massage, Gu Qingning couldn’t help but let out a couple of soft cries of "Ow," but soon, the pained, tense expression on her face began to slowly relax.

A minute or two later, Yu Zhiming stopped the massage, straightened up, and looked at her face.

"Doesn’t hurt so much anymore, does it?"

Gu Qingning, still with a pitiful expression, gave a slight nod.

Yu Zhiming then instructed, "Since the pain has subsided, go to the bathroom and have a bowel movement."

Gu Qingning let out an involuntary "Ah!" and a blush crept up her cheeks.

"I don’t need to go."

"You will if you sit on the toilet for a few minutes," Yu Zhiming said, his face still impassive.

"The main reason is to check if your stool is discolored or if there’s any blood in it."

Gu Qingning finally understood why he wanted her to go to the bathroom. Putting on a frail act, she slowly sat up.

Yu Xiangwan quickly came over, helped her off the sofa, and supported her as she slowly walked to the bathroom.

Her damsel-in-distress act made Yu Zhiming roll his eyes.

Just as Gu Qingning was about to enter the bathroom, Yu Zhiming called out another instruction, "If you’re not sure whether there’s blood in your stool, just let me take a look."

A SLAM of the door was his only response.

Yu Zhiming waited for nearly twenty minutes before Gu Qingning finally emerged from the bathroom.

The intermittent sounds of running water from the bathroom told him that the girl had taken the time to freshen up.

And sure enough, the Gu Qingning who emerged was once again a fresh-faced young beauty with smooth, tidy hair.

"Um, the... stool... was its normal color. I didn’t see any signs of bleeding."

"And my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore."

As she spoke, she nimbly lay back down on the sofa and covered her body, clad in light pajamas, with a thin blanket.

Yu Zhiming murmured an "oh." "No bleeding means this case of intussusception wasn’t too serious."

"However, intussusception in adults is often caused by a secondary, underlying issue."

"When morning comes, go back to Ning’an Hospital. Remember to get a colonoscopy to get a closer look at your ileum and cecum."

Gu Qingning looked up, her face suddenly pale, and asked nervously, "I... I don’t have colon cancer, do I?"

Yu Zhiming didn’t want to scare the girl in the middle of the night and keep the whole family from getting any sleep.

"It’s not colon cancer. I didn’t notice any worrying signs. At most, it might be an intestinal polyp."

After a brief pause, Yu Zhiming added, "You’re fine. Go to sleep. I’ll let Dean Gu know tomorrow."

Just as Yu Zhiming was about to turn and head back to his bedroom, Yu Zhaoxia stopped him.

"Fifth Brother, just in case Qingning feels unwell again, you should stay in the living room and look after her."

"Big Sis, I have work tomorrow," Yu Zhiming explained. "I can’t sleep in the living room."

Yu Zhaoxia glared at him.

"It’s not like you haven’t worked a day shift right after a long night shift at the county hospital before."

"Qingning is our friend, and you’re a doctor. It’s only right that you stay by her side and take good care of her."

With that, Yu Zhaoxia and Yu Xiangwan quickly tidied up the Murphy bed, grabbed their pillows, and went into the bedroom.

They didn’t forget to toss out Yu Zhiming’s pillow before they left.

Yu Zhiming turned on the lamp next to the Murphy bed, switched off the main living room light, and lay down, closing his eyes to rest.

Lying on the sofa bed, Gu Qingning waited for a while but heard no sound from Yu Zhiming.

She broke the silence. "It’s really not cancer?"

"It’s not. I have no reason to lie to you. Get some sleep."

Gu Qingning murmured a soft "oh."

After a moment, she asked another question. "You have four older sisters. They all dote on you, don’t they?"

"Mhm. Our family is pretty traditional, with a bit of a preference for sons over daughters. On top of that, I had bad eyesight when I was little, so my parents and four sisters have always treated me very well."

Gu Qingning’s voice was tinged with melancholy. "I really envy you. In my childhood memories, my parents were always working. I rarely saw them."

"It was usually my older brother who took care of me."

After another moment of silence, Gu Qingning spoke up again.

"I’m the type of person who keeps a clear ledger of favors and grudges."

"Yu Zhiming, this time, we can call it even for that time you shook me, made me fall on the floor and throw up, and then took a picture of me."

"But only on the condition that you delete that photo and swear you’ll never mention it to anyone."

Yu Zhiming couldn’t help but shoot back, "Gu Qingning, you’re one to talk about keeping a clear ledger?"

"You were the one who started the trouble between us, weren’t you?"

"A naive little girl who doesn’t know a thing, pretending to be some worldly-wise ’big sister.’ You’ve really got some nerve."

Those words shocked Gu Qingning so much that she shot bolt upright.

"How did you know that was me?"

"That’s impossible."

Yu Zhiming snorted derisively. "And you even dared to send a picture of your own figure?"

"I’m a doctor. I don’t need to see a face to recognize someone."

Gu Qingning realized her mistake.

Then another thought struck her, and she demanded, "Why did you call me a naive little girl?"

"I’m twenty-two years old."

Yu Zhiming scoffed. "When I was examining your abdomen, I took the liberty of checking for any issues with your other organs."

"I’m also quite skilled in gynecology."

"Did I wrong you by calling you a naive little girl? You’re not worldly-wise, you’re ’well-watched,’ aren’t you?"

Gu Qingning felt her face burn. Her ten toes curled so hard into the sofa cushions she could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment.

’It’s over. I’ve been completely and utterly humiliated in front of that bastard Yu Zhiming. This is social suicide. I can never face him again...’

She curled up on the sofa and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, wishing she could just suffocate.

But after a moment, she had a change of heart.

’On that night, half my face was covered in my own vomit. I already hit rock bottom in front of that bastard. I have no dignity left to lose.’

’So what if I suffer another social death? What more can happen?’

Having come to this realization, Gu Qingning relaxed and settled comfortably on the sofa.

’I have to find a way to make that bastard suffer a social death of his own...’