Chapter 78: Paternity Test

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Paternity Test

At 8:20 on Tuesday morning, Yu Zhiming arrived at the Qi Yue Medical Research Center at Huashan Hospital.

After a quick break, he put on his white coat and headed to the ward area to check on the several patients under his care.

Yu Zhiming noticed his colleagues from the center, Wang Zhijin and Wang Zejia, along with numerous residents and medical interns, already scurrying between wards to get the latest updates on their patients.

’They’re doing their homework in advance,’ he knew.

This was to avoid being stumped by Director Qi’s unpredictable questions during rounds.

Yu Zhiming had also heard there was an unwritten rule at the center, one that kept everyone on edge.

If you couldn’t answer Director Qi’s questions, or got them wrong, three times, you would soon disappear from the center...

The first patient Yu Zhiming checked on was Xu Feng, who was suffering from a massive herpes virus outbreak.

After a few days of treatment and recovery, the clusters of small blisters covering his body had mostly scabbed over.

Most of his liver function indicators had also returned to their normal ranges.

Yu Zhiming optimistically noted that Xu Feng could be discharged this week to recuperate at home.

The second patient he examined was Yao Chengyun, who had been poisoned with ricin.

Although the ricin in Yao Chengyun’s system had been neutralized, the toxin had caused severe damage to her kidneys, liver, and lungs.

She would require a long period of treatment and recovery.

For instance, Yao Chengyun still required hemodialysis to assist her kidneys with the body’s urinary metabolism.

While Yu Zhiming was conducting his physical examination, the red-eyed woman didn’t say a single word to him.

’Yu Zhiming knew she was blaming him for failing to secure the antidote for her husband.’

Yu Zhiming had no desire to interact much with a girl who couldn’t tell right from wrong.

’He had a dark thought: for someone to be betrayed by both her husband and her best friend, she probably wasn’t entirely blameless herself.’

As Yu Zhiming left Yao Chengyun’s room, her mother ran out after him, her face filled with apology.

"Dr. Yu, I’m so sorry. I didn’t raise my daughter well. She hasn’t come to her senses, even after suffering such a terrible ordeal."

As she spoke, the mother began to shed tears.

She wiped her eyes vigorously and continued, "This morning, we received word. The treatment for that man was unsuccessful."

"He’s dead..."

Hearing this, Yu Zhiming understood why Yao Chengyun had reacted so strongly this morning.

’Ricin poisoning only gives you three to five days. And there’s no way that guy received an all-out effort to save him.’

’Considering the timeline, his death this morning wasn’t surprising.’

Yu Zhiming offered a few words of comfort to Yao Chengyun’s mother, assuring her that as a doctor, he wouldn’t hold anything against her daughter. Then, he went to the room of the heart patient, Zhang Zhe.

The patient, who had been transferred from the emergency department, was standing with his wife, silently watching their two children sleeping soundly on the bed.

"My wife and kids rushed here overnight from our hometown,"

Zhang Zhe explained softly before sighing. "I’ve worked so hard for so many years, all so I could bring them to Binhai to live with me one day."

"But making a life in Binhai... it’s not easy at all."

"They say there’s great terror in the face of death. Yesterday, during that stress test, when the heart attack hit... I truly felt like I was about to die."

"It’s a kind of fear you can’t possibly understand or describe unless you’ve been through it. I was absolutely terrified."

"In that moment, everything became clear to me."

"Being alive is more important than anything. A wife, kids, a warm home—that’s true happiness."

Zhang Zhe met Yu Zhiming’s gaze and said from the bottom of his heart, "Dr. Yu, thank you!"

"I’ve made up my mind. After I get the ICD implant surgery, I’m quitting my job and going back to my hometown."

"There might not be a job back home that uses all my skills, but I can start a small business. It’ll be enough to support my family..."

After checking on the condition of the teenager with narcolepsy, Yu Zhiming returned to the center’s main office.

By now, ten or twenty people had gathered in the large office, and Yu Zhiming once again found himself the center of attention.

The reason was simple. As time passed and several major online influencers and media outlets got involved, the controversy and attention sparked by the exposé post had reached a whole new level.

Yu Zhiming had seen his share of big scenes, so the stares of a dozen or so people weren’t enough to faze him.

He walked back to his desk, completely unfazed, but Wang Zejia’s voice piped up.

"Junior Yu, don’t you worry. With Teacher Qi protecting you, you’ll get through this wave of skepticism just fine, no matter how big it gets."

Faced with this insincere reassurance, Yu Zhiming replied loudly and righteously, "I’ve never been worried for a second."

"I earned my place in Huashan Hospital’s talent recruitment program fair and square. There was nothing underhanded about it."

"They say the truth is revealed through debate, and facts have nothing to fear from an investigation. In that sense, this storm of public doubt has come at the perfect time."

"Once the investigation concludes, people in this hospital won’t have to wonder anymore if I’m qualified or not."

Wang Zhijin chimed in, his tone laced with insinuation, "It’s good that you’re so confident, Junior Yu. The best, in fact."

"Hm, I wonder, have you heard the *other* rumor, Junior Yu? Why not get a paternity test and clear that up while you’re at it?"

At those words, Yu Zhiming’s expression instantly darkened.

He glared furiously at Wang Zhijin.

"Dr. Wang, you don’t know me, so it’s understandable you might have your doubts. But you’ve been studying under Director Qi for two years now, haven’t you?"

"Have you really learned nothing about his character, about the way he conducts himself?"

"Or do you bring it up because you’ve already decided it’s true?"

Wang Zhijin’s face flushed crimson as he hurried to defend himself. "Yu Zhiming, don’t twist my words."

"I have never questioned Teacher Qi’s integrity. I’ve always respected him immensely."

"It’s just that with rumors like this, words alone are a weak defense."

"A single paternity test report could shatter all the gossip in an instant."

Yu Zhiming scoffed.

"And a paternity test would refute everything?"

"Dr. Wang, you’re older than me. How can you be so much more naive about how these things work?"

"For the people spreading these rumors, it’s easy. They just have to add one more sentence to their story: that the paternity test was faked."

"They’ll say that with Teacher Qi’s influence, faking a sample or getting a falsified report would be child’s play."

"The root of this issue..."

Yu Zhiming raised his voice. "...is whether my skills are worthy of the special recruitment status the hospital gave me."

"As long as my abilities justify the exceptional offer Huashan Hospital made, who’s going to care whose son I am?"

"They’ll be wishing I was *their* son."

His comment drew a wave of suppressed chuckles from around the office.

Zhou Mo couldn’t help but smile. "Dr. Yu has spent more time outside the center than in it lately, so a lot of people might not be aware of what he’s actually accomplished."

"Let me just list a few things."

Zhou Mo rattled off the points with practiced ease. "That patient with ricin poisoning? If Dr. Yu hadn’t spotted the symptoms with his sharp eyes, who knows what would have happened."

"A friend of the cardiopulmonary specialist, Dr. Wang Chunyuan, was diagnosed with early-stage pancreatic cancer—a diagnosis made possible by Dr. Yu."

"You’re all doctors here. You should know how difficult it is to detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages."

"That heart patient who was sent to our center yesterday? He’d been under observation in the emergency department all night with no findings. Then Dr. Yu took one look and immediately found a serious heart problem."

"And what’s more, Director Liu from OB/GYN has already dragged Dr. Yu over there twice to solve fetal presentation issues for difficult births—problems her entire department couldn’t handle."

"And then there was what happened in the emergency department yesterday..."

Just as Zhou Mo reached that part, she was cut off by someone pushing the door open.

The newcomer was He Yingjun, Dean Li’s secretary.

"Dr. Yu, the investigation team from the Ministry of Health has arrived. They’d like you to come with me to answer a few questions..."