Chapter 140 - 139: Exorbitant Protection Fee

Chapter 140: Chapter 139: Exorbitant Protection Fee

Qiao Lei followed Yu Zhiming to the outpatient and emergency building. He found a white coat, put it on, and entered Consultation Room 15.

The work in the consultation room didn’t require Qiao Lei’s help, so he stood aside and observed Yu Zhiming’s examinations.

After watching Yu Zhiming examine seven or eight patients in a row, Qiao Lei made a few observations of his own.

First, Yu Zhiming didn’t seem to like asking many questions.

After the patient finished describing their symptoms and feelings, he would go straight to performing a physical examination.

During the exam, Yu Zhiming would occasionally ask a question, but it was almost always to verify a new finding.

Second, Yu Zhiming wasn’t very good at hiding his expressions.

After observing nearly ten of Yu Zhiming’s diagnoses, Qiao Lei could already get a good sense of the complexity and severity of a patient’s condition just from the level of seriousness and gravity on Yu Zhiming’s face.

Third, Yu Zhiming’s ears could move.

Although the movement was slight, Qiao Lei had definitely noticed that Yu Zhiming’s ears could move.

Considering Yu Zhiming’s exceptional skill in auscultation and percussion, he must have possessed incredibly sharp hearing. To Qiao Lei, having a pair of mobile ears seemed only natural.

Qiao Lei even suspected that Yu Zhiming had the ability to diagnose illnesses directly by listening alone.

A middle-aged couple came in for a consultation; the husband was accompanying his wife.

While Yu Zhiming was examining the wife, the husband covered his mouth and let out two soft, suppressed coughs.

Those two inconspicuous coughs were enough for Yu Zhiming to offer to examine the husband’s lungs...

Judging from the unprecedented gravity on Yu Zhiming’s face—like the calm before a typhoon—Qiao Lei determined that the husband’s lungs were, in all likelihood, cancerous.

Sure enough, Yu Zhiming’s advice to the husband was to go to the respiratory department for a detailed lung examination.

He had a "not-so-good feeling" about it.

Qiao Lei, who had done his research on Yu Zhiming, knew what "a not-so-good feeling" meant.

It was Yu Zhiming’s euphemism for suspected cancer.

Moreover, this phrase had gradually begun to spread throughout Huashan Hospital.

Yesterday, Qiao Lei saw a popular thread on the Huashan Hospital forums.

It was about the "Three Great Fears of Huashan Hospital."

"Fear neither heaven nor earth, but fear the Three Great Fears of Huashan Hospital."

First, fear Director Min from the Liver Disease Research Center saying, "Let me take another look at the scans."

Second, fear Doctor Kang from the Gastroenterology Department stating, "I need to think this over some more."

Third, fear Dr. Yu from the Qi Yue Medical Research Center telling you, "I have a not-so-good feeling about this."

The original poster also said that among the three fears, Dr. Yu’s "not-so-good feeling" was the least terrifying.

While his "not-so-good feeling" also meant cancer, it was usually in the early or even very early stages.

With aggressive treatment, a cure wasn’t guaranteed, but living for another ten or twenty years was a high probability...

During Yu Zhiming’s afternoon clinic hours, a small incident occurred.

A teenager who had been skateboarding was sent to Consultation Room 15 as an emergency case, arranged by Director Zhao Shan to cut the line.

The teenager had been attempting to grind a rail on his skateboard when he had an accident. His "important parts" had a very intimate, high-impact encounter with the railing.

Qiao Lei glanced over out of curiosity and couldn’t help but feel a chill. It was swollen and purple—a truly frightening sight.

The boy’s injury required the clotted blood to be drained quickly to restore circulation; otherwise, there was a risk of necrosis.

It was a delicate procedure.

Yu Zhiming used the finest needle and, with a few seemingly random pricks to the boy’s "important parts," solved the problem...

It was 7:10 PM by the time Yu Zhiming finally finished all his consultations for the day.

Among those sixty patients, he had selected one with kidney disease to practice on...

When Yu Zhiming returned to the Qi Yue Medical Research Center, just as he expected, Teacher Qi and Zhou Mo had already clocked out and gone home.

After tidying up, he politely declined Qiao Lei’s offer of a ride and cycled back to his residence in Zijin Garden alone.

As soon as he entered his home, Yu Zhiming smelled the aroma of a home-cooked meal. He saw that his Fourth Sister and Gu Qingning were still waiting for him to have dinner.

"From now on, if I’m not back by seven in the evening, just leave some food for me and eat without me."

Gu Qingning said, quite reasonably, "There are only a few of us. If we eat in two shifts, it’ll feel so lonely."

"It’s better to wait and eat together. It’s more lively."

Yu Zhiming noticed that the coffee table in the living room was once again piled high with peanut shells and walnut shells.

"Did the food from home arrive?"

Yu Xiangwan hummed in affirmation. "It arrived this morning. They sent a lot this time, enough to last us for a while."

"Oh, and the license plate is on the car now..."

During dinner, Gu Qingning told Yu Zhiming that someone had already given Qianyu Culture a warning, so they probably wouldn’t be bothering him anymore.

"You have that much influence at Qianyu Culture?"

"Me? No way!"

Gu Qingning denied it, then explained, "It’s the Gu Family that’s powerful. Someone in the family is a major shareholder of Qianyu Culture."

"I was just borrowing your power, like the fox borrowing the tiger’s might. I asked a prominent figure in the Gu Family to step in and have Qianyu Culture resolve their dispute with Rao Yi quickly so it wouldn’t affect you."

"You’re a member of the Gu Family, asking other Gu Family members to step in. How is that borrowing my power?" Yu Zhiming was a bit confused.

Gu Qingning huffed. "Zhiming, do you really not know how highly the Gu Family regards you?"

She said with a hint of indignation, "The Gu Family’s core business is the Ning’an Group, and Ning’an’s core business is healthcare."

"Zhiming, do you have any idea how much effort the entire Gu Family and the Ning’an Group put in just to join the ultra-early cancer screening marker project led by Huashan Hospital? They mobilized everyone, calling in favors and pulling strings, not to mention all the benefits they had to concede."

"Just looking at the official expenses, besides covering their share of the project’s research funding, the Ning’an Group also has to make an additional annual donation of fifty million to Huashan Hospital."

’A fifty-million donation?’

Yu Zhiming was slightly taken aback. "I actually didn’t know that. No one told me."

He then chuckled. "Well, business is business. If the Ning’an Group didn’t see the massive returns after the project’s successful development, they probably wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble and expense."

Gu Qingning shot Yu Zhiming a look, her expression complicated. "Setting aside everything else, the Ning’an Group has invested so much, and you are the absolute core of this ultra-early cancer project. Do you understand how important you are now?"

After a moment’s pause, Gu Qingning giggled. "I guess Huashan Hospital didn’t tell you about the fifty million because they were worried you’d get a big head and become unmanageable."

She then added in a conspiratorial whisper, "I heard from Gu Qingran that of this fifty million, thirty million is for Huashan Hospital’s ultra-early cancer project, ten million is for training young doctors, and ten million is for the annual outstanding physician awards."

"This fifty-million donation is made every year and will continue until the year the ultra-early cancer project is completed."

"Most importantly, there’s a supplementary clause that basically says if you are no longer at Huashan Hospital, the donations stop."

"Gu Qingran said that this fifty million is basically your high-priced protection fee, your talisman. As long as you don’t do anything outrageous, Huashan Hospital will have your back."

Gu Qingning put on an exaggerated expression and declared, "Zhiming, you can walk sideways in Huashan Hospital now!"

"You could even bully men and abduct women, and they’d let you!"

Yu Zhiming laughed heartily. "Someone as good-natured as me wouldn’t be able to bully men and abduct women even if I let myself go completely."

Gu Qingning scoffed, expressing her disbelief and contempt.

"Oh, by the way, they’re saying the project signing ceremony is this Friday. You know about that, right, Zhiming?"

Yu Zhiming shook his head again.

Gu Qingning said disdainfully, "You don’t know anything! Do you do anything at the hospital besides treating patients?"

"You definitely have to attend this signing ceremony. Do you have a suit to wear?"

"I do have a few suits!" Yu Zhiming replied.

Gu Qingning rolled her eyes. "I bet you bought them before you came to Binhai, right?"

"The style and fabric are definitely not up to par."

She looked at Yu Xiangwan and said, "Sister Xiang Wan, Zhiming is going to be interacting with a lot of influential people in Binhai from now on."

"His wardrobe needs a serious upgrade."

"How about we take him on a big shopping spree in the next two or three days?"