Chapter 43: That’s the Guy

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: That’s the Guy

Yu Zhiming followed the sound with his eyes and saw a man in a motorcycle suit and helmet standing by a lamppost about a dozen meters away.

Next to him stood another person.

But that person was partially blocked by the lamppost, and with the dim light, Yu Zhiming couldn’t get a clear look.

Having only overheard a single sentence, Yu Zhiming had given it a passing glance and thought no more of it...

Besides those riding electric scooters home, two others lived close by. Three people ended up catching a ride in Yu Zhiming’s car.

After dropping those three off, he finally drove back to his own place in Yushui Bay.

As soon as he walked in the door, Yu Zhiming was surprised to find his niece, Fu Xiaoxue, was there.

She was in her pajamas, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds while watching TV.

"Xiaoxue, what are you doing here all of a sudden?"

"Does your mom know you’re here?"

"Why didn’t you call me?"

Fu Xiaoxue didn’t answer his string of three questions. Instead, she first scurried over to pour Yu Zhiming a glass of water, then pulled him down to sit on the sofa, her small hands earnestly massaging his shoulders.

"I told my mom!"

"I knew you had a get-together, Uncle, so I didn’t want to bother you."

Fu Xiaoxue chuckled slyly. "Tomorrow’s the day Binhai Jiaotong University announces the admission list for its Sino-British Finance program."

"If I don’t get in, no big deal."

"But if I do get in, there’s no hiding the one hundred and sixty thousand yuan annual tuition from your older sister—my mom."

"When she finds out, she’ll definitely flip out. A good beating would be getting off easy, so I came to your place to hide out for a bit, Uncle."

Regarding her application to the Sino-British Finance program, Fu Xiaoxue had conspired with Yu Zhiming and Yu Xiangwan and then been deliberately vague with her parents, conveniently leaving out any mention of the exorbitant tuition fee.

If she had told them, they absolutely would not have let her apply. The plan was to wait until it was a done deal.

If she wasn’t accepted, then it would all be moot.

Yu Zhiming let out an "oh" and asked, "Xiaoxue, the original plan was for you to go to Grandpa and Grandma for protection and support."

"If you hide out here and your mom comes looking for you, I won’t be able to stop her."

"She might even beat me up, too!"

"You have to understand, your grandma would never lay a hand on me, but your mom absolutely would."

Fu Xiaoxue sighed. "I didn’t want to, Uncle, but things don’t always go according to plan."

"An elderly person in the village died today. Grandpa and Grandma are going to be busy for the next two or three days, so they won’t have time to run interference for me."

It dawned on Yu Zhiming.

His parents managed the village’s major events. For any wedding or funeral, they would be busy helping run things for a few days.

"Who died?"

"That old man from the Feng Family, on the west end of the village. They said he was eighty-six. He was found this morning; he’d stopped breathing."

Yu Zhiming had a vague memory of the old man from the Feng Family. He’d been in good health, always walking a few laps around the village every morning.

’Gone, just like that?’

’Was it a heart attack? Or a stroke?’

Fu Xiaoxue’s voice sounded in his ear again.

"Grandpa said that since he lived a long life, had both sons and daughters, and passed away peacefully without any suffering or illness—saving his children a lot of money—it’s considered a joyous passing. It should be a grand affair."

’A joyous passing?’

Yu Zhiming thought about it and found himself agreeing with his father’s perspective.

He couldn’t help but think of some of the elderly patients at the hospital.

They were riddled with severe illnesses, in too much discomfort or pain to eat or sleep. Their bodies were wasted away until they were barely recognizable, with no hope of recovery, just painfully dragging out their days.

The family’s money drained away like water, and their children were forced to suffer right alongside them...

"Uncle, why does my bed look different from when I left? Did someone sleep in it?"

The sudden question jolted Yu Zhiming out of his thoughts.

"Oh, uh, a college friend of mine came to visit yesterday and stayed the night."

Yu Zhiming added, "The sheets and pillowcase on your bed were changed just last night. I forgot to clean up today."

"I’ll change them for you in a minute."

Fu Xiaoxue said casually, "I can change them myself, Uncle. Can’t have you tiring yourself out."

"Hey, Uncle... was it a guy friend? Or a girl friend?"

"A girl friend!" Yu Zhiming didn’t hide the fact.

Fu Xiaoxue’s eyes widened. "Oho!" she exclaimed. "A single man and a single woman, all alone in the same apartment, and an old classmate, no less."

"Uncle, did you seize the opportunity to, you know...?"

"You know what?"

"What kind of crazy ideas are you getting in your head all day, you little rascal?"

To hide his guilt, Yu Zhiming raised his voice to scold her while giving the girl’s head three firm taps.

"If I were that kind of person, you’d have had an aunt a long time ago, maybe even a few cousins by now."

"I’ve had quite a few girls chasing after me over the past few years."

Fu Xiaoxue rubbed her head, convinced. Her uncle really must have spent a purely platonic night with his friend.

Aside from her uncle’s usual upstanding character, the main reason was that his taps on her head this time hurt more than twice as much as usual.

Yu Zhiming stood up. "It’s getting late. Time to get washed up and go to bed."

Just then, his phone rang.

It was a call from Su Tong.

Yu Zhiming took the phone and went into his room.

"Are you home?"

"I’ve been home for a while. Already ate, showered, and now I’m just lying in bed talking to you."

"So, when are you starting work in Binhai?"

"In about a week!"

Yu Zhiming replied, then asked with concern, "Are you still sore?"

"How nice of you to ask. I was starting to think you’d gotten what you wanted and then completely forgotten about me!"

Su Tong complained playfully over the phone before answering, "Much better. I think another night’s sleep should do the trick."

Without pausing, she added, "Hey, I’m actually calling about something serious."

"After dinner, a neighbor I don’t know well came over to my place specifically to see me. He said he has a strange illness."

"He has this random, migratory pain all over his body. Sometimes it’s his thigh, sometimes his back, or his stomach. Occasionally, his head hurts too."

"When the pain hits, there are no other symptoms in the affected area. It just hurts, and it’s an intense pain, like being cut with a knife or stabbed with a needle."

Yu Zhiming listened quietly, mentally analyzing the symptoms and running through a list of possible matching diseases.

After a brief pause, Su Tong’s voice continued through the phone. "The attacks don’t follow a schedule. Sometimes it’s every ten to fifteen days, other times it’s only every three or four."

"Each attack can last anywhere from one or two hours to a day or two."

"He’s been to several hospitals, including the Provincial Hospital in the capital city. They’ve done tests and ruled out brain tumors, neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and other diseases that cause systemic pain, but they still haven’t reached a final diagnosis."

"He’s also undergone a few treatments, but nothing has worked."

"My neighbor said he’s at his wit’s end and asked if I could help him find a medical specialist."

"So I thought of you. Isn’t your mentor, Qi Yue, a nationally renowned specialist in diagnosing difficult cases?"

"Zhiming, can you help?"

Yu Zhiming chuckled softly. "Since you’re the one asking, of course I’ll help."

He then adopted a fawning tone. "Anything you ask, I’ll do. If it’s difficult, I’ll get it done. If it’s not difficult, I’ll create difficulties just to overcome them for you."

Su Tong’s giggles immediately came through the phone. "Heh heh, I like that attitude. Keep it up!"

A moment later, her laughter subsided, and Su Tong’s voice turned serious again.

"Zhiming, thank you."

"But I don’t want to put you in a tough spot. If it’s not convenient for you..."

Yu Zhiming cut her off. "Su Tong, I haven’t been completely bewitched by your beauty just yet."

"You should know that I’m in a stage of learning and growth right now. I need a lot of difficult cases to build my experience."

"For you to bring me a patient with such a difficult case... I’m the one who should be thanking you."

Just then, Yu Zhiming heard a BEEP BEEP, signaling another call was coming in.

"Su Tong, another call is coming in. I need to take it."

After letting Su Tong know, he switched over to the other line.

As soon as the call connected, Xu Shuang’s urgent voice came through.

"Zhiming, Zhiming! Qin Fang was hit by a car on his way home! He’s been rushed to the county hospital for emergency treatment..."

Hearing this, Yu Zhiming’s mind involuntarily flashed back to the two men by the lamppost.

And to the words he’d heard carried on the wind.

"Are you sure? That’s the guy!"