Chapter 121 - 120: Overusing the Brain

Chapter 121: Chapter 120: Overusing the Brain

Yu Zhiming cooked ten dumplings for Gu Qingning.

Then, he stared at the girl, watching her struggle to finish the dumplings one by one.

After that, Yu Zhiming patiently accompanied the little tyke, making idle conversation with her while they watched TV.

Fortunately, Yu Zhiming didn’t have to endure it for long. Having eaten and drunk her fill, Gu Qingning drowsily fell asleep...

Sometime after five in the afternoon, Gu Qingning was still sound asleep. Yu Xiangwan’s return finally set Yu Zhiming free...

Monday was Yu Zhiming’s regular shift in the outpatient and emergency departments.

From 8:30 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening, he saw another sixty registered patients.

Among these many patients, Yu Zhiming diagnosed one with lung cancer and two with liver cancer.

Unfortunately, the visceral symptoms of these three cancer patients were all quite pronounced.

Yu Zhiming judged that they had reached at least the mid-stage of the disease.

He also selected two patients with common illnesses for himself.

One was a cardiovascular patient with coronary artery stenosis, and the other had bile duct stones.

Yu Zhiming wanted to try performing an interventional procedure.

Interventional therapy was a major, booming subspecialty in hospitals today.

’This kind of treatment seems to be a perfect fit for my abilities,’ Yu Zhiming thought. ’It’s worth a try...’

He dragged his exhausted body back to the Qi Yue Medical Research Center, ready to change out of his work clothes and head home, but Ding Ye caught him and pulled him into a hospital room on the fourth floor.

"Aunt, Uncle, this is the medical genius from our hospital I told you about, Dr. Yu Zhiming."

Yu Zhiming gave a simple greeting to Ding Ye’s aunt and uncle, his gaze falling upon the quiet teenager in the room.

The boy, Yu Qiao, stood before the hospital bed wearing a patient’s gown. He seemed a bit shy. Yu Zhiming’s first impression was of a scrawny little frame topped with a large head.

His features were quite delicate, and his eyes were bright and full of life.

Yu Zhiming secretly compared the boy’s face with his father’s and saw a thirty to forty percent resemblance.

’It’s highly probable he’s their biological son,’ he concluded.

"Malnutrition?" Yu Zhiming asked bluntly.

Ding Ye sighed softly. "His blood albumin level is 30g/L, which indicates mild malnutrition."

"But if you judge by his weight, subcutaneous fat, and other indicators, it’s at least moderate malnutrition."

"But my aunt’s family isn’t poor. Not only does my cousin get enough to eat, but they also give him nutritional supplements from time to time."

’Is it poor digestion and absorption?’

’Or hyperthyroidism?’

Yu Zhiming only considered these two possibilities for a moment before dismissing them.

Both of those conditions were easy to diagnose. It was impossible that Ding Ye’s aunt’s family would have delayed until now and still be at a loss.

Yu Zhiming had Yu Qiao lie flat on the bed. He would check his internal organs first.

First, he examined the heart...

The THUMP-THUMP of the heartbeat indicated the heart’s vitality was decent.

Next were the left and right lungs, the stomach, the intestinal system...

Yu Zhiming performed a detailed examination of Yu Qiao’s internal organs and found nothing wrong with them, though he did notice their overall vitality was a bit weak.

Considering Yu Qiao’s physical condition, this slightly weaker organ function was to be expected.

But his heart was pumping powerfully!

’Is it because he’s too nervous?’

Yu Zhiming moved his hand back to Yu Qiao’s chest, over his heart, and began to examine it in greater detail...

A minute or two later, Yu Zhiming’s right hand was resting on Yu Qiao’s slightly oversized head.

A moment later, he withdrew his hand and looked at Yu Qiao, who didn’t dare to meet his gaze.

"Yu Qiao, your cousin Dr. Ding once told me you’re very smart. Can you tell me just how smart you are?"

Yu Qiao’s mother jumped in. "Dr. Yu, our Xiao Qiao is an amazing student."

"His grades have consistently been in the top five of his entire year. His grade level has twelve classes, with five or six hundred students."

Yu Zhiming smiled and agreed, "That is very smart indeed."

However, this level of intelligence was still a far cry from what Yu Zhiming had expected.

’Just top five in his grade, not even first place.’

’This level of smarts is still within the range of ordinary people; it hasn’t reached the level of a so-called genius.’

Yu Qiao’s mother seemed to notice Yu Zhiming’s dismissive perfunctoriness and continued, "Dr. Yu, you may not know this, but our Xiao Qiao was actually a slow child when he was little."

"He didn’t learn to talk until he was three."

"When he was five or six, he could only count to ten."

"In elementary school, he’d forget everything the teacher taught after a single night’s sleep. His test scores were almost always dead last."

"But after he started middle school, it was like his brain just clicked. His grades shot straight up."

"He did well on the high school entrance exam and got into a key high school..."

This new information gave Yu Zhiming pause.

If Yu Qiao had originally been a slow child, then this leap in academic performance was quite remarkable.

Perhaps that was the root of the problem.

Yu Zhiming interrupted Yu Qiao’s mother. "Did Yu Qiao’s height stop increasing much after he started middle school?"

This question made Yu Qiao’s parents pause to think back.

The two of them exchanged a glance, and Yu Qiao’s mother said with some uncertainty, "I think that’s right?"

"In elementary school, Xiao Qiao’s height was pretty normal among his classmates. He wasn’t tall, but he wasn’t short either; it wasn’t that noticeable."

"Once he got to middle school, he gradually became one of the shortest kids in his class."

Ding Ye asked expectantly, "Dr. Yu, have you figured something out?"

Yu Zhiming said slowly, "Under normal circumstances, 20% of the blood pumped by a person’s left ventricle supplies the brain."

"However, I sense that the proportion of blood flow to Yu Qiao’s brain exceeds that, reaching at least 25%."

"I suspect that Yu Qiao is overexerting his brain, causing it to consume most of his body’s nutrients."

Yu Zhiming’s explanation truly astonished Yu Qiao’s parents and Ding Ye.

This seemed a little too... far-fetched.

Yu Zhiming elaborated on his unique insight. "Yu Qiao’s blood vessels, even relative to his slender body, are a bit on the thin side."

"However, the blood vessels inside his brain..."

Yu Zhiming said with a confident expression, "are noticeably thicker compared to the average person’s."

"The vessels in his body are slightly thin, while the ones in his brain are noticeably thick. I wouldn’t mistake such a clear distinction."

"This should be the result of years of intense mental exertion developing his brain."

Finally, Yu Zhiming left himself some leeway, adding, "Of course, this is just my preliminary judgment. We’ll need more precise test data to confirm it."

He then reassured them, "Please don’t worry. Now that Teacher Qi has taken over the case, he will definitely get you an answer..."

Accompanied by Ding Ye, Yu Zhiming left the hospital room.

"Dr. Yu, I think your judgment is very likely the truth. I still remember some things about my cousin when he was little. They said he was surprisingly slow; he was often the subject of gossip among our relatives."

"After he got to middle school, his grades improved."

Ding Ye said with a sigh, "Looking at it now, it wasn’t that his brain ’clicked’ and he became smart. He was provoked into maturing."

"He learned the meaning of shame and honor. His academic improvement came from getting a head start because he knew he was slower, from studying himself to death."

"The price was his physical growth..."

When Yu Zhiming returned to his apartment in the Zijin Garden District, he was surprised to find Gu Qingning there again.

Moreover, the living room was once again cluttered with a messy pile of her belongings.

"Yu Zhiming, I went home last night and thought about it. I’ve decided I can’t bow down to my family and submit to their arrangements."

"So, I moved out."

"Yu Zhiming, I’m going to be self-reliant and live my own life!"

"I’ll be staying here temporarily."

"Once the company I invested in—you know, your oldest nephew’s—makes a ton of money, I’ll move out..."

Yu Zhiming slapped his forehead in frustration. ’This girl must think we’re pushovers,’ he thought, ’shamelessly latching onto us like this.’

"Fourth Sister, remember to charge her for rent and living expenses."

"And be sure to overcharge her. Let her get a deep and profound experience of how cruel society and people can be..."