Chapter 141 - 140: Medical Tourism

Chapter 141: Chapter 140: Medical Tourism

"What time is it? The birthday celebration is over. Go do your homework, and stop pestering your uncle nonstop!"

After 8:30 PM, his third sister, Yu Xinyue, shooed her son away and appeared on the video call with Yu Zhiming herself.

"Fifth Brother, do you remember that girl, Qu Hui, who was head over heels for you? She gave birth yesterday—a boy and a girl. I’m so incredibly jealous."

Yu Zhiming rolled his eyes. He knew what his third sister was going to say next.

He quickly cut in, "Third Sister, I have to start studying too. If there’s nothing else, can we hang up?"

Yu Xinyue’s eyes widened. "Hang up? What do you mean, hang up?"

"We haven’t talked in ages, brother. Are you saying you’re annoyed the second you see me?"

Yu Zhiming put on a smile. "How would I dare?"

"Third Sister, whatever you want to say, just say it. You could talk all day, and I wouldn’t get annoyed. I’ll listen obediently."

Yu Xinyue huffed, sizing up Yu Zhiming on the screen. She nodded slightly. "Well, you haven’t lost any weight, and you don’t have dark circles under your eyes. Looks like you’re adapting to Binhai quickly."

Yu Zhiming chuckled. "It’s mainly because my room has good soundproofing. I can get a good night’s sleep."

"As long as I can sleep well, nothing else is a problem."

Yu Xinyue had an ambiguous half-smile on her face. "You’re also pretty good at getting into trouble, aren’t you?"

"In the month since you moved to Binhai, I’ve been seeing news about you online almost every day."

"I’ve even developed a habit now..."

"The first thing I do when I wake up is grab my phone, go online, and search for any new stories about you."

Yu Xinyue grumbled, "It’s a good thing Mom and Dad don’t use the internet. Otherwise, you’d have given them a heart attack by now."

Yu Zhiming looked aggrieved. "Third Sister, you can’t blame me. I just keep running into these situations."

Yu Xinyue knew her younger brother’s personality. He wasn’t the type to go looking for trouble.

"Fifth Brother, you worked at the county hospital for years without any incidents. You go to Binhai for one month, and it’s one thing after another."

"Big cities have more people, more complications, and more drama."

"Fifth Brother, you need to be a little more careful, you hear? Don’t just be the first one to rush into everything so naively."

Yu Zhiming obediently agreed.

"Fifth Brother, our fourth sister says you’re pretty busy these days. Are you tired?"

Yu Zhiming answered honestly, "It’s okay. Not too tired."

"I pretty much get off work on time every day, and I even get one full day off a week."

"It’s much more relaxed than my first couple of years at the county hospital."

Yu Xinyue said "Oh" softly. "Since you have a day off and you’re not too tired, you shouldn’t just coop yourself up at home all the time."

"When you have time, take that girl out. If you don’t like crowded places, find some more obscure spots."

"Binhai is a huge city; there must be plenty of places to visit."

Yu Zhiming knew his third sister was talking about Gu Qingning.

Not wanting his sister to keep nagging him about it, he gave a noncommittal response, promising he would definitely take her out often.

"And about your fourth sister..."

"Fifth Brother, your hospital must have a lot of young doctors, right? If you meet anyone suitable—someone with good character, honest and reliable—introduce him to your fourth sister."

"Your fourth sister is the same age as you, but she’s a girl. She can’t afford to wait around like you can."

Yu Zhiming nodded emphatically. "Third Sister, I’ll definitely find opportunities for Fourth Sister to meet more of my young colleagues at the hospital."

Yu Xinyue’s tone became threatening. "Fifth Brother, you tell our fourth sister that if she’s still single by the Spring Festival, she either doesn’t come home, or if she does, she’s not going back."

"After all, you’ve already adapted to Binhai. You don’t need her staying there to take care of you anymore."

Yu Zhiming said with a straight face, "Third Sister, I’ll relay the message to Fourth Sister word for word. I’ll make sure she feels the pressure..."

Yu Xinyue chatted for another ten minutes or so before finally getting to the point.

"Fifth Brother, Dean Wu said that he originally thought you’d need some time to adjust after first arriving in Binhai. But seeing how you’ve been stirring things up, he figures you must have found your footing at Huashan Hospital."

"He has a project and wants to collaborate with you!"

"A project? Collaborate with me?" Yu Zhiming was a little confused.

"It’s that... what do you call it... medical tourism thing."

Yu Xinyue explained further, "You know how the news says a lot of people go to developed countries on tourist visas to see a doctor?"

"For us, the gap in medical care between our small county and Binhai is almost as big as the gap with a developed country."

"Dean Wu was thinking, could you act as a bridge and establish a designated partnership with Huashan Hospital?"

"Dean Wu said that appointments with specialists at Huashan Hospital are hard to get, and beds are in short supply. If you could guarantee a certain number of specialist appointments—it doesn’t have to be many, say, fifty a month?"

"Then he could get this medical tourism program off the ground and help solve the problem some of our local county residents have with accessing medical care."

’Hmm...’

Having worked at the county hospital for four years, Yu Zhiming knew its medical standards were just so-so. They couldn’t meet the needs of ordinary people for treating major or critical illnesses.

When these people tried to transfer to bigger hospitals in the city or the provincial capital, they were completely in the dark. They wouldn’t even know who to bribe if they wanted to.

He had come from Liyang County. If he had the chance, he should do what he could for the folks back home.

With this in mind, Yu Zhiming said cautiously, "Third Sister, this kind of thing is a collaboration between hospitals. I don’t have the final say."

"But you can tell Dean Wu that I’ll do my best to try and push it forward."

"No guarantees it’ll work out, though."

Yu Xinyue nodded. "I’ll let Dean Wu know."

She added a warning, "Fifth Brother, don’t overextend yourself."

"If it works, it works. If not, just let it go. There’s no need to go begging and pleading just to force it through."

Yu Zhiming chuckled. "Third Sister, I’m not some local official. Of course I’ll just see if it can be done. I’m not going to wear myself out over it..."

After finally ending the call with his third sister, Yu Zhiming came out of his bedroom. It was a rare sight to see both his fourth sister and Gu Qingning sitting quietly on the sofa, reading.

"What are you reading?"

"Still finance-related stuff," Yu Xiangwan replied simply.

Gu Qingning waved the book in her hand, saying smugly, "I’m reading about design and aesthetics. I’ve discovered I’m actually quite talented in this area."

"If you have a talent for it, don’t waste it. Work hard!"

Yu Zhiming gave a perfunctory reply, then relayed their third sister’s threats about their fourth sister finding a boyfriend.

Yu Xiangwan let out a wail of despair. "I really don’t want to talk to any of them anymore," she said, frustrated.

"They bring this up every single time. It’s so annoying."

Gu Qingning casually suggested, "Sister Xiang Wan, what’s there to be annoyed about? Just find a random boyfriend to fool them with."

"You could even rent one..."

Gu Qingning saw Yu Zhiming staring daggers at her, so she stuck out her tongue and didn’t dare continue.

Yu Zhiming turned his gaze to Yu Xiangwan. "Fourth Sister, you should buy yourself some new clothes in the next few days. Use my money."

"If I can bring a guest to the signing ceremony on Friday, I’ll take you with me so you can meet more people your age."

"Fourth Sister, you need to channel that same energy you had as a real estate agent and expand your social circle."

Yu Xiangwan’s only response was to roll her eyes at him.

Yu Zhiming pretended not to see it and casually mentioned what his third sister had said about medical tourism.

Gu Qingning jumped in enthusiastically, "Zhiming, you could collaborate with Ning’an Hospital on this!"

"Ning’an Hospital’s overall capabilities are on par with Huashan Hospital’s, if not even better."

"More importantly, it’s easier to get appointments with specialists at Ning’an Hospital, they have plenty of beds, and the environment is beautiful."

"The fees are also high," Yu Zhiming added.

Gu Qingning said righteously, "Zhiming, who told you our fees at Ning’an Hospital are high? Our pricing standards are about the same as Huashan Hospital’s, okay?"

’Hmm...’

Yu Zhiming actually had no idea about Ning’an Hospital’s specific fee schedule.

He just remembered it was a joint-stock hospital, and thinking of its park-like environment, he had simply assumed it was a high-priced, exclusive hospital.

"If the fees are on par with a public hospital’s, then a collaboration might be possible. I’ll find a chance to talk to Dean Gu about it..."

.PS.

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