Chapter 217: 216: Falsely Claiming the Reward
Chapter 217: Chapter 216: Falsely Claiming the Reward
“Sister Xiang Wan, Sister Xiang Wan…”
Yu Xiangwan was roused from a groggy sleep, opening her eyes to see two crabs brandishing their claws.
She jolted in surprise, now wide awake, and saw that it was Gu Qingning, holding a crab in each hand to scare her.
Yu Xiangwan rolled over and sat up, glancing at the digital clock.
6:03 AM.
“Qingning, what on earth are you doing?”
“Fifth Brother was up in the middle of the night for a surgery at the hospital. It was a whole ordeal, and I barely got any sleep!”
Yu Xiangwan complained, letting out a big yawn.
“Sister Xiang Wan, want to eat crab? Crab roe dumplings?”
Crabs? Crab roe?
Yu Xiangwan’s mouth began to water, and she heard a rustling sound.
Following the sound, her eyes fell on two large plastic baskets in the living room. Inside, crab after crab was trying to break through the nets and crawl out.
“Qingning, how many crabs did you buy?”
“When did you go buy them?”
Gu Qingning grinned and said, “I drove to the seafood market first thing this morning. I bought a hundred.”
“We tried to order crab roe dumplings twice yesterday and never got to eat them. I figured I’d make them myself this morning, just in time for Zhiming to eat them when he wakes up.”
Yu Xiangwan got out of the fold-down bed and walked over to the plastic baskets, peering at the crabs scrambling over one another inside.
“They’re a good size. Do they all have roe?”
Gu Qingning giggled. “It’s almost October—the perfect season for crabs.”
“The vendor promised every single one has roe.”
“Sister Xiang Wan, want to shell the crabs for the roe together?”
Yu Xiangwan’s mouth was watering as she nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, yes! Let’s get that roe.”
“But let’s not get the roe from all of them! Let’s steam ten… no, twenty…”
When Yu Zhiming woke up again, it was nearly ten in the morning.
He had first been woken by his alarm at 12:30 AM, after which he’d gone to Huashan Hospital to assist Dr. You Weixian from the neurosurgery department with a cranial bypass surgery on a teenager.
Even though it was one or two in the morning, the hospital was incomparably quieter than during the day.
But to Yu Zhiming’s ears, it still sounded chaotic—nowhere near the absolute silence of the underground shelter.
Fortunately, he wasn’t working through the skull this time; Yu Zhiming was able to place his hand directly on the boy’s brain to probe it.
This allowed him to just barely live up to Dr. You’s expectations, successfully completing two cerebral punctures.
By the time Yu Zhiming finished assisting with the surgery and returned to his apartment in the Zijin Garden District, it was already past three in the morning.
And he’d slept for nearly six hours straight.
Yu Zhiming came out of the bedroom and saw his Fourth Sister and Gu Qingning sitting at the dining table eating.
Piled on the dining table, making Yu Zhiming’s eyes widen, was a small mountain of crab legs and shells.
“Sis, Qingning, what’s the special occasion?”
“Did you two achieve crab freedom?”
Yu Xiangwan raised a bright red crab and waved it at Yu Zhiming.
“Fifth Brother, hurry and get washed up. There’ll be something delicious waiting for you when you’re done…”
A dozen or so minutes later, Yu Zhiming sat at the now-tidied dining table and saw before him a plate of dumplings, a plate of crab roe tofu, and a plate holding six large, bright red crabs.
He looked at Gu Qingning and chuckled. “I’m not that much of a foodie, you know. I wasn’t dying to eat this.”
“Zhiming, because of my parents, you missed out on that big meal last night. I had to make it up to you.”
Gu Qingning explained, then said with an expectant look on her face, “Sister Xiang Wan and I made these crab roe dumplings ourselves.”
“And the crab roe tofu—I made it myself from a recipe, with Sister Xiang Wan’s enthusiastic guidance.”
“Go on, Zhiming, try some.”
With Gu Qingning’s eyes on him, Yu Zhiming ate a dumpling and then took a bite of the crab roe tofu.
“It’s delicious. So fresh and fragrant. You two eat, too…”
Yu Zhiming wasn’t just lying to be polite.
To put it simply, when the ingredients are this good and fresh, the food is bound to be decent, as long as the cook has some basic skills and isn’t a complete disaster in the kitchen.
This time, the trio of Yu Zhiming, Yu Xiangwan, and Gu Qingning ate their fill in a thoroughly satisfying crab feast…
After the meal, Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning threw the mountain of crab shells and other trash into the district’s dumpsters, then went out to buy some fruit.
“Fifth Brother, Fifth Brother…”
Yu Xiangwan was fuming when she returned.
“Let me tell you something infuriating. Someone claimed that five-thousand-yuan reward.”
“Five thousand? A reward?”
Yu Zhiming repeated the words, and understanding dawned on him in an instant.
“The five-thousand-yuan reward from the mother who fell in her kitchen? Do people that shameless really exist?”
“Tell me about it!”
Gu Qingning looked just as indignant.
“When Sister Xiang Wan and I were coming back, we chatted a bit with the security guard at the district entrance and learned about this.”
“The guard said that the young mother publicly thanked that person in the residents’ group chat and even posted a screenshot of the five-thousand-yuan WeChat transfer.”
“It’s just so infuriating.”
Yu Xiangwan was still fuming. “Fifth Brother,” she said, “that’s basically fraud, isn’t it?”
“Fifth Brother, I think you should come forward and reveal that you were the one who actually called the police.”
“We wouldn’t be doing it for the five thousand yuan. We’d be doing it to expose that person’s disgusting true colors, so everyone in the district can condemn the bastard.”
“It’s so infuriating, so disgusting.”
The news truly angered Yu Zhiming.
He might do good deeds anonymously, but he wasn’t so magnanimous that he’d let someone else take credit—and the reward.
Yu Zhiming picked up his phone and said, “Let’s have the police handle this.”
As he spoke, he dialed Vice Director Jin Feng’s number.
As soon as the call connected, Jin Feng’s cheerful voice came through the phone.
“Dr. Yu! What credit are you sending my way this time?”
Yu Zhiming said, still a bit miffed, “Director Jin, this isn’t about giving you credit. Well, strictly speaking, I guess it is. It’s about cracking down on villains and promoting good social values.”
“Director Jin, regarding the time I called the police about the constantly crying child, the rescued child’s mother offered a five-thousand-yuan reward in the residents’ group chat for the kind person who made the call.”
“I just heard that someone else claimed the reward.”
Jin Feng’s voice immediately came from the phone. “Dr. Yu, you want me to intervene and investigate this?”
Yu Zhiming hummed in agreement, then continued, “Director Jin, I’d like to ask you to confirm this matter.”
“If this really happened, it would be a crime, right?”
Jin Feng’s voice turned serious. “Dr. Yu, if that’s what happened, fraudulently claiming five thousand yuan constitutes fraud.”
“Dr. Yu, your identity…”
Yu Zhiming interrupted, “It’s better not to reveal it. Director Jin, you can just handle this as you see fit.”
He remembered something and asked, “Oh, Director Jin, the calligraphy work from our center was stolen. Do you have any leads?”
“Dr. Yu, we’re still following up on that case, but there haven’t been any major breakthroughs…”
After ending the call with Vice Director Jin, Yu Zhiming took the apple Gu Qingning handed him and took a bite.
“Now, we just have to wait for the results.”
Gu Qingning handed another apple to Yu Xiangwan and said, “National Day is in a little over a week. What about the Lake and Mountain Lodge?”
Yu Zhiming thought for a moment and said, “Let’s go on the first and come back on the fourth. We’ll book it for three nights.”
“Sis, check if our eldest sister’s husband and Xiaobo have time to join us and relax for a bit.”
Yu Xiangwan hummed and nodded.
Yu Zhiming then reminded Gu Qingning, “Teacher Qi told me that at Lake and Mountain Lodge, you can spend hundreds of thousands, even millions, in one night.”
“Qingning, confirm with them that we’re just going there to enjoy the scenery and basic services.”
Gu Qingning smiled. “Don’t worry, Zhiming. I already had a preliminary chat with them the other day.”
“Using your membership to book one of their mountain villas, including room and board, as long as we don’t eat rare and expensive delicacies, the cost per day won’t exceed ten thousand.”
Her eyes lit up as she said, “My older brother said he used your membership to treat someone there last time and spent just under a hundred thousand.”
“He originally estimated it would cost two or three hundred thousand.”
“My brother said your membership level is really high.”
Yu Zhiming scoffed lightly. “No matter how high the tier, it’s not free. Even if a million-yuan bill got a ninety-percent discount, that’s still beyond what I can afford right now.”
He couldn’t help but reflect, ’Speaking of which, I used to be perfectly happy earning ten thousand a month.’
’Now I’m daring to spend ten thousand in a single day. I’ve really gotten carried away.’
’If Mom, Dad, and Eldest Sister found out, they’d chew me out for being a spendthrift, a disgrace to the family.’
Yu Xiangwan chuckled slyly, “Then just don’t let them find out. Besides, you’re earning at least thirty thousand a day on average this month.”
“Earning thirty thousand and spending ten thousand—is that so much? Hardly!”
Yu Zhiming shot his Fourth Sister a look.
“Hey, by that time, Zhang Bai should be back, right?”
“We should invite him too.”
Yu Xiangwan chuckled. “He’s planning to come back next week. As for whether he’ll come have fun with us?”
“I’ll ask him in the next couple of days…”
Today was Sunday, a rare day of leisure for Yu Zhiming, a moment stolen from his busy life.
He didn’t read or study, nor did he go out. He just stayed in the living room, chatting, fooling around, and watching TV with his Fourth Sister and Gu Qingning.
At nearly three in the afternoon, Yu Zhiming received a call from Jin Feng.
“Dr. Yu, are you in the Zijin Garden District right now?”
“I am. What’s up?”
“Dr. Yu, are you free to come to Building 7, Unit 2 of the district right now?”
Before Yu Zhiming could ask, Jin Feng explained, “I’m in your district handling the fraudulent reward case. One of the perpetrator’s family members got overly emotional and passed out.”
“We’ve already called for an ambulance.”
“Her breathing and heartbeat are normal, but just in case, none of us dare to move her.”
“Dr. Yu, could you come over and take a look?”
“Okay, I’m on my way!”
Yu Zhiming put down his phone, went to the bedroom to grab his medical kit, and prepared to leave.
Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning also excitedly hurried to change into clothes to go out.
“Zhiming, do you think they’re just pretending to be unconscious…?”