Chapter 27: Found a Treasure

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Found a Treasure

After a quick read-through of the so-called "deed of sale" offered by Huashan Hospital, Yu Zhiming was quite satisfied.

In addition to a settling-in allowance, work subsidy, research stipend, and training funds, the hospital would also handle his residency registration.

Furthermore, on top of the benefits from the talent acquisition program, Yu Zhiming would work and study at Huashan Hospital with the official title and status of an attending physician.

His salary, benefits, bonuses, and promotions in rank and title would all be commensurate with those of other doctors at his level, in accordance with hospital regulations.

The clauses in this "deed of sale" that made Yu Zhiming slightly uncomfortable were the staggeringly high fines and breach-of-contract penalties, the decade-long service period, and the periodic performance reviews.

But Yu Zhiming understood the reasoning behind these clauses.

’Huashan Hospital was investing so much; if he made a name for himself and then just packed up and left, the hospital would suffer a huge loss.’

’And if his development didn’t meet expectations, the hospital would naturally need to cut its losses and stop investing in him.’

Yu Zhiming exchanged a look with his sister. Seeing she had no objections, he solemnly signed his full name on the contract, right there in the dean’s office.

The moment he set down the pen, Yu Zhiming heard a scattered, uneven round of applause.

He quickly stood, adopting the humble posture of a junior. He bowed slightly and said, "From now on, I’m one of the junior doctors here at Huashan Hospital. I’ll be in your care, esteemed seniors..."

As he spoke, Yu Zhiming suddenly noticed that Yuan Qi’s face was a bit pale, and his right hand was resting on his left chest.

"Vice Dean Yuan, are you feeling unwell?"

Yu Zhiming’s question immediately drew everyone’s attention to Yuan Qi.

Wang Chunyuan asked with a look of concern, "Vice Dean Yuan, you’ve had cardiac bypass surgery, haven’t you?"

"How is your heart feeling right now?"

Suddenly the center of attention, Yuan Qi waved his right hand and forced a smile.

"I’m fine!"

He elaborated, "I’m a doctor myself, and a bypass patient. I think I’d know if I were having a heart attack."

"I’m just a little agitated, that’s all."

Qi Yue, Cui Zhitan, and the others in the office naturally understood the reason for his agitation.

Now that Yu Zhiming had successfully joined Huashan Hospital.

His hiring was a slap in Yuan Qi’s face. The better Yu Zhiming performed in the future, the harder that slap would sting.

It was only natural for Yuan Qi to feel resentful.

Wang Chunyuan and the others fell silent, but Li Yao spoke up. "Vice Dean Yuan, you really don’t look well. It would be best to get checked."

"Say, Dr. Yu here has a remarkable talent for diagnosing heart conditions from the subtlest signs. Why not have him do a quick check right now?"

This...

Surprisingly, Yuan Qi was actually tempted.

First, it was a chance to test the kid’s abilities.

Second, his own health and life were on the line, and one could never be too careful about that.

Under the circumstances, Yu Zhiming could hardly admit that his previous diagnosis of that other patient’s heart had been based on nothing more than a hazy feeling.

He quickly agreed, saying he was willing to examine Vice Dean Yuan.

Yuan Qi then lay down on the couch in the reception area and, of his own accord, unbuttoned his lab coat and shirt to expose the left side of his chest.

Without putting on surgical gloves, Yu Zhiming reached out with his right hand and gently pressed the tips of his four fingers against the skin...

Five or six seconds later, something shocking happened.

As if he’d received an electric shock, Yu Zhiming snatched his right hand back from Yuan Qi’s chest and stumbled back a step in alarm.

"Zhiming, what did you find?"

Qi Yue asked, then bluntly voiced the thought on his mind, "Don’t tell me Vice Dean Yuan is about to kick the bucket?"

Li Yao, Liu Dingyou, and the others immediately shot Yuan Qi a complicated look.

Yuan Qi’s face instantly paled. He scrambled to sit up, clutching his left chest.

"I don’t feel like anything’s seriously wrong, though."

"And even if there were, they should be able to save me."

"Right, Dr. Yu?"

Yu Zhiming knew he had overreacted and quickly explained, "I didn’t find anything life-threatening with Vice Dean Yuan. I was just startled by my discovery."

This left Li Yao and the others a bit confused.

Nothing life-threatening, yet a startling discovery? It sounded contradictory.

Yu Zhiming continued to explain, "Perhaps I was just agitated and my senses were mistaken."

"Vice Dean Yuan, please lie down again. I’ll check one more time, carefully. I’ll be sure to focus this time."

’So you weren’t focusing before?’

Scared half to death, Yuan Qi wanted to slap Yu Zhiming, but his curiosity about the "discovery" won out, and he obediently lay back down.

Still, he made a mental note; he wouldn’t forget this little incident with Yu Zhiming.

’You’d better find something real, or else...’

’No, wait. If the kid *does* find something, that means there’s a huge problem with my heart...’

Torn by this dilemma, Yuan Qi watched as Yu Zhiming once again placed a hand on his left chest.

Before long, he noticed the young doctor’s expression turning hesitant, as if struggling with something.

Yuan Qi’s heart sank lower and lower.

He forced himself to remain calm. "Dr. Yu, just say what you need to say. I’m a medical professional myself. I’ve seen my share of life and death. I can handle it."

Yu Zhiming withdrew his hand and straightened up.

"Vice Dean Yuan, everyone, I’ve sensed something quite rare..."

Qi Yue’s eyes widened. "Spit it out, don’t just stand there hemming and hawing."

Yu Zhiming gave a short "Ah" and continued, "I can feel a small worm, about a centimeter long, in Vice Dean Yuan’s left atrium. It’s squirming around like a maggot."

Everyone in the office stared, wide-eyed with shock.

Fu Xiaoxue couldn’t help but blurt out, "How can there be a maggot in a living person? Is his heart rotting?"

Yu Xiangwan quickly tugged on her arm, signaling her not to speak so carelessly.

Qi Yue said in a serious tone, "Zhiming means a small worm that *moves* like a maggot."

"It’s likely some kind of human parasite."

He then suggested, "Why don’t we go to my research center for a more thorough examination?"

As the patient in question, Yuan Qi immediately agreed and strode swiftly out of the dean’s office, leading the way.

The entire room, including Dean Li Yao, hurried after him...

About ten minutes later, the group entered the five-story building that housed the Qi Yue Medical Research Center.

Before they even reached the examination room, Yuan Qi suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Let’s go straight to a thoracoscopy."

Yuan Qi turned to Yu Zhiming, his expression resolute. "You’ll perform the procedure. I want you to find that worm and get it out."

Yu Zhiming was taken aback.

Once again, it was Qi Yue who spoke. "Zhiming, do as Vice Dean Yuan suggests."

"Standard imaging would have a hard time detecting a tiny worm squirming on the surface of the heart."

"Besides..."

Qi Yue chuckled. "Put yourself in his shoes. If I knew some unknown worm was wriggling on my heart, I wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink until it was out."

Everyone else deeply agreed...

Inside the procedure room, Yu Zhiming, dressed in simple scrubs, first reconfirmed the location of the worm on Yuan Qi’s heart.

He then disinfected the area between Yuan Qi’s third and fourth ribs on the left side of his chest, administered a local anesthetic, and made a small incision less than a centimeter long...

He inserted the slender endoscope...

Li Yao, Wang Chunyuan, Cui Zhitan, Liu Dingyou, and Qi Yue all gathered around the monitor.

After a moment of shaking, the image on the monitor stabilized and came into focus.

On the screen, they saw a bright red surface rhythmically swelling and contracting, moving away from and then toward the camera lens.

"Look, there! Right there!"

"Whoa, it’s really moving, just like a maggot!"

"It’s a lung fluke!"

An adult lung fluke is 7 to 15 millimeters long, 3 to 8 millimeters wide, reddish-brown, and translucent.

Humans are not its primary host; infection occurs from eating raw or undercooked crab or crayfish, including dishes where they are marinated in alcohol.

In humans, besides the lungs, it can also infest the subcutaneous tissue, liver, brain, spinal cord, muscles, and eye sockets, causing systemic paragonimiasis.

However, in organs other than the lungs, the fluke usually cannot mature into an adult.

Li Yao, Wang Chunyuan, and the others speculated that this particular lung fluke must have migrated from Yuan Qi’s lungs and, for some unknown reason, ended up on the surface of his heart.

Seeing that the creature squirming on the heart was a lung fluke, Li Yao, Wang Chunyuan, and the others felt a wave of relief.

With modern medicine, treating this type of parasite is relatively straightforward.

As their relief set in, their gazes shifted back to Yu Zhiming, who was now in the process of removing the worm.

The ability to detect such a tiny worm through the skin, just by touch—it was something they found truly and utterly incredible.

Seeing was believing. This miraculous diagnostic touch alone was more than enough to justify his unconventional recruitment.

This time, they had truly struck gold...