Chapter 58: Absurd Conjecture

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Absurd Conjecture

Yu Zhiming proved through his own experience that you never know your true potential until you push yourself to the absolute limit.

At an unprecedented speed, in less than a minute, he had devoured all the food, including the soup.

Before Ding Ye could return with his lunch, Yu Zhiming grabbed his briefcase and successfully made a run for it from the staff cafeteria!

Afterward, he returned to the Qi Yue Medical Research Center.

Yu Zhiming pushed open the door to the large office next to the director’s office and saw that Zhou Mo was the only one inside the vast room.

She was eating lunch.

Zhou Mo’s desk was just to the left of the entrance.

Yu Zhiming saw six small ceramic bowls on her desk, containing shrimp, beef, mushrooms, broccoli, rice, and a bowl of some unknown soup.

It didn’t look like takeout, and he hadn’t seen her come to work in the morning carrying a large lunch box.

Curious, Yu Zhiming asked directly, "Zhou Mo, is there a restaurant nearby that delivers single-portion meals?"

Zhou Mo smiled faintly. "My family’s housekeeper made lunch and had it delivered."

"Dr. Yu, have you eaten? Would you like to have some?"

Yu Zhiming shook his head. "Thank you, but I already had lunch in the staff cafeteria."

He scanned the large office.

It was quite spacious, around fifty or sixty square meters.

Lined up against the west wall were nine metal lockers, each tall enough for a person and suitable for hanging clothes.

Each locker door had a mechanical combination lock.

The south wall had two large, bright windows.

On the north wall hung an LED light box for viewing medical films, about two meters by one meter in size.

The east wall had a door connecting to Director Qi’s office.

In total, there were eight sets of desks and chairs in the room, three of which were empty and unused.

Additionally, the room contained a refrigerator, a large whiteboard, a printer, a multi-functional medical examination chair, a water cooler, and other items.

"Zhou Mo, where is my spot?"

Zhou Mo stood up and replied, "Dr. Yu, you can choose any of these three empty workstations."

"The desktop computers on the desks are all in good working order."

"Also, Dr. Yu, I’ve placed your white coat, stethoscope, and other items in locker number seven. The password is four sevens. You can reset it."

Yu Zhiming thanked her softly and sat down at each of the three empty desks for a moment to get a feel for them.

Finally, to Zhou Mo’s surprise, he placed his briefcase on the desk to the right of the entrance.

This was arguably the worst spot in the office, heavily affected by the opening and closing of the door and colleagues coming and going.

But for Yu Zhiming, it was a reluctant choice—making the best of a bad situation.

The whirring of six or seven computer towers, combined with the annoying noise from the air conditioner, refrigerator, light box, and other appliances, made Yu Zhiming feel as if he were in a buzzing factory workshop.

Although the desk to the right of the door was in the worst location, it was also the spot least affected by the noise, relatively speaking.

Yu Zhiming also understood that in Binhai, every inch of land was as precious as gold, and office space was especially tight in the city center.

With his current qualifications and status, he wasn’t yet entitled to a private office.

He could only endure it for the time being.

Yu Zhiming found himself missing his relatively spacious office back at the county hospital.

He carefully wiped down his desk and chair. Just as he filled a disposable paper cup with water, he heard the door to Director Qi’s office next door open.

Yu Zhiming drank half the cup of water, then knocked and entered the director’s office through the connecting door. He saw Teacher Qi sitting in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk.

"Teacher Qi, I’m back."

Qi Yue put his feet down and sat up straight. "Back so soon? Did you find anything over at Doctor Wang’s?"

Yu Zhiming nodded. "I noticed one of Doctor Wang’s friends has some swelling at the tail of his pancreas. It didn’t look good."

"Doctor Wang took his friend to get some urgent tests done."

Qi Yue let out a soft "Oh," then said thoughtfully, "Once your finding is confirmed, I expect more people will be bringing their friends to you for check-ups over the next few days."

"How about this: for this week, just focus on settling in. I won’t assign you any specific work for now."

Yu Zhiming murmured his assent.

"Um, Zhiming..."

Qi Yue hesitated for a moment before asking, "Did you happen to bring any local delicacies from your hometown with you this time?"

"Like those big baked flatbreads, or braised pork head, something like that?"

Yu Zhiming’s eyes widened slightly. "Teacher Qi, I was planning to bring some local specialties."

"But Sister Wenzhu specifically had Fourth Sister tell me that your family doesn’t need anything and that I shouldn’t bother bringing gifts."

"Especially... the braised pork head."

The moment Qi Yue heard that, he understood. This was his wife’s doing.

’Sigh, it’s so hard being a man...’

"Teacher Qi, if you really want some, I can ask my third sister back home to have Dean Wu prepare another batch and ship it over."

Qi Yue seemed to struggle with the idea for a moment, then waved his hand with a light sigh. "Forget it. At my age, I should control my cravings anyway."

After a two-second pause, he changed the subject. "Tonight, Gao Lei is treating us to dinner to thank you for the check-up last time."

"I’ll take you with me after work."

Yu Zhiming agreed, then asked with concern, "Teacher Qi, how is Uncle Gao’s wife doing now?"

Gao Lei had shamelessly bragged last time that he was a "four-times-a-night man" with extraordinary stamina.

When Qi Yue learned that Gao Lei’s wife’s libido had suddenly increased in recent months, he considered it an unusual change and suggested he bring his wife to the hospital for a check-up.

And that check-up revealed a major problem.

An ovarian tumor.

It was this tumor that was causing abnormal secretion of hormones like estrogen, leading to her excessive desire for marital intimacy.

Qi Yue sighed softly. "It was a stroke of luck, all things considered. The final pathology report showed it was a Stage I tumor."

"After treatment including surgery and radiation therapy, she was discharged last weekend to recuperate at home."

Hearing this result, Yu Zhiming felt a great sense of relief.

Ovarian tumors are a common type of gynecological tumor.

However, because the early symptoms are often not obvious, about 70% of clinical cases are already in the advanced stages when discovered.

The five-year survival rate for late-stage patients is only around 30%.

In the early stages, they are mostly benign, often asymptomatic, and usually discovered by chance during a gynecological exam.

Benign tumors have a good prognosis. They can be surgically removed, and with active, standardized treatment, the patient can be cured, with a life expectancy not significantly different from that of a healthy woman.

Gao Lei’s wife’s ovarian tumor, being identified as Stage I, was an early-stage benign tumor.

With a combination of surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy, her life expectancy would be almost unaffected...

Qi Yue chuckled. "That guy Gao Lei said he wants to thank you properly tonight. He said if it weren’t for you, his wife wouldn’t have, by a twist of fate, had her tumor discovered so early."

"If they had delayed any longer and the tumor had progressed to Stage II through IV, the outcome would have been hard to predict."

Yu Zhiming said humbly, "The credit mainly goes to you, Teacher Qi. You were the one who astutely noticed something was off with Uncle Gao’s wife."

Qi Yue scoffed lightly. "Don’t tell me you couldn’t have spotted that abnormality yourself."

"In any case, you deserve a great deal of credit for his wife’s tumor being discovered early."

"So tonight, you can eat your fill at his expense with a clear conscience. Don’t hold back at all."

Yu Zhiming chuckled.

After a moment, he said cautiously, "Teacher Qi, regarding Xu Feng’s unknown migratory pain, I have a rather outlandish theory."

Qi Yue’s interest was immediately piqued. He smiled. "The Provincial Hospital has already ruled out all the likely diseases."

"I’m not worried about how absurd or outlandish your idea is. I’m worried you don’t have any ideas at all."

"Zhiming, hurry up and tell me..."

Yu Zhiming organized his thoughts and said softly, "The inspiration for this idea comes from the diagnosis Xu Feng first received from the old traditional Chinese medicine doctor..."

"’External evil has invaded the body, causing an internal toxin.’ ’External evil invading the body’ signifies a decline in the body’s immunity."

"This ’internal toxin,’ along with the cutting and burning pain, made me think of a virus: the herpes zoster virus..."

Yu Zhiming’s voice grew animated. "Teacher Qi, do you think it’s possible that his recurring episodes of pain are actually shingles flare-ups?"

"The reason the typical characteristic of a shingles outbreak—clusters of small red blisters—hasn’t appeared on the skin’s surface..."

"...is because it’s being suppressed by something."

"And it’s precisely because of this suppression that the herpes virus can’t fully manifest, causing it to have these partial flare-ups every so often?"