Chapter 237: 236: Bearing Thorns and Pleading Guilty
Chapter 237: Chapter 236: Bearing Thorns and Pleading Guilty
Around 6:30 in the evening, Yu Zhiming returned to the rented villa to find several servers setting up dinner in the first-floor dining room.
The aroma of lamb rushed eagerly into his nostrils.
After the servers left, Yu Zhiming, Yu Xiangwan, Fu Xiaoxue, Gu Qingning, and Zeng Yan sat down at the dining table to eat.
As Yu Zhiming drank the delicious, creamy lamb soup, he recounted his experience of being taken to the large villa by Yan Ling.
He had just finished speaking when Fu Xiaoxue’s face lit up in a wide grin. She said smugly, “So that guy knew what was good for him. He confessed and took all the blame on himself.”
“Hey, Uncle, weren’t you afraid they’d just insist it was an accident, that their hand slipped?”
Yu Zhiming chuckled, looking as confident as a master strategist in complete control.
“The moment I walked into that villa and saw Doctor You was there, I knew they needed my help.”
“So, I immediately brought up the conflict.”
“If they didn’t confess honestly and everyone else tried to gloss over it, then our professional relationship would be over. I refuse to treat people with no class.”
Yu Xiangwan smiled. “That’s what you call being fearless because you have the upper hand.”
Yu Zhiming said, a little smugly, “Doctor You’s neurosurgery skills are among the best in the country.”
“He was there, and they still called me over…”
“That indicates the problem is incredibly tricky. I’m not saying I’m the only one who can solve it, but my help is desperately needed.”
“In a situation like that, I had to take the opportunity to vent a little and put them in their place.”
Gu Qingning felt a wave of happiness and a deep sense of being protected. Zhiming was standing up for her.
Blinking her sparkling eyes, she said, “That man is pretty sharp, at least. He didn’t act foolish like that woman and proactively confessed.”
“So, did they say what the punishment would be?”
Yu Zhiming shook his head. “No, they just said they would give me a resolution that I’d find satisfactory.”
“I suppose they’ll investigate to confirm the facts before deciding what to do.”
Yu Zhiming smiled again. “The punishment will likely be severe. If it doesn’t satisfy me, they’ll surely worry whether I’ll give the surgery my all.”
Gu Qingning then asked, “Zhiming, are you confident about the surgery for that old gentleman’s intraspinal tumor?”
Yu Zhiming’s expression grew serious.
“The tumor’s morphology is complex. It’s completely entangled with the spinal cord and intervertebral nerves, making the surgical risk extremely high.”
“I can only say I’ll do my best. I can’t promise a successful outcome.”
Gu Qingning murmured “Oh,” then said softly, “Well, if it weren’t so complex and difficult, they wouldn’t have needed to ask for your help in the first place…”
After finishing the delicious lamb feast, Yu Xiangwan and Gu Qingning took the two younger girls to the lakeside complex, saying they were going to watch a movie at the small cinema.
Yu Zhiming, however, went to his bedroom. He sat down at his desk, took out a piece of paper and a sketching pencil, and began drawing the tumors in Mr. Cao’s cervical and lumbar spine.
He had spent over an hour at the large villa. Apart from the initial time spent arguing about the conflict, he had used the vast majority of it to examine Mr. Cao’s intraspinal tumor.
What Yu Zhiming was drawing now was not the simple diagram he usually made, which only marked the location of the lesion.
He was going to draw a three-dimensional, cross-sectional view of the tumor, rendered in the most minute detail possible.
In Doctor You Weixian’s words, even the most high-precision medical scans couldn’t compare to the accuracy of Yu Zhiming’s examination.
Given the complexity of Mr. Cao’s tumor and the high surgical risk, You Weixian needed the most precise tumor image possible to design and optimize the placement of the radioactive seeds and the puncture trajectory.
What Yu Zhiming had to do now was transfer the three-dimensional image of the tumor he had examined and constructed in his mind onto paper, using the pencil in his hand.
It was a task that required both technical skill and meticulous precision…
Time flowed by, marked only by the faint scratching of the pencil tip against the paper.
The sound of a glass of water being gently placed on the desk startled Yu Zhiming from his work. He was shocked to realize it was already past eleven at night.
He picked up the glass, gulped down half the water, and glanced at Gu Qingning, who was admiring his drawing.
“What movie did you see?”
“The animated movie, *Yang Jian*.”
Gu Qingning gave a brief reply, then said, “Zhiming, I never knew you were such a talented sketch artist.”
“You’ve drawn it with such detail and realism.”
Yu Zhiming chuckled. “You don’t even know what a tumor looks like. How would you know it’s realistic?”
Gu Qingning laughed too. “Intuition.”
“And your complete absorption in your work.”
“You didn’t even hear me come into the room. For someone with hearing as sharp as yours, that must be rare, right?”
Yu Zhiming stood up and stretched his wrists, shoulders, and then his back.
“It’s mainly because I’m familiar with the sounds you make—your footsteps, your breathing. My subconscious doesn’t register you as a threat, so it doesn’t go on alert.”
“If a stranger had come in, I probably would have noticed the moment they set foot in the villa.”
The corners of Gu Qingning’s mouth curled up in delight, her eyes crinkling happily.
“Zhiming, you know how to draw portraits, right? How about I model for you tomorrow? You could draw me.”
Yu Zhiming shook his head. “This isn’t artistic sketching. It’s not about aesthetics; it’s about realism and positional accuracy.”
“A portrait drawn in my style would look really weird. Let’s just skip it.”
Gu Qingning murmured a soft “Oh.” Not pressing the issue, she changed the subject. “Zhiming, we brought back some snacks. Want to have some with us?”
Yu Zhiming shook his head. “I just need to add a few more details to this tumor sketch, and then I’ll be finished.”
“I’m going straight to bed after that.”
He couldn’t resist teasing, “You’re all so afraid of gaining weight, yet you can’t control your mouths.”
“Haven’t you ever heard that a horse gets fat on nighttime grass?”
Gu Qingning’s eyes curved into a smile. “Doesn’t a certain someone like a little more meat on the bones?”
“Look at me. Haven’t I put on some weight?”
As she spoke, Gu Qingning pulled her shirt taut behind her back and puffed out her rather impressive chest.
Yu Zhiming glanced once, and then again.
And what do you know, upon closer inspection, Yu Zhiming realized that compared to how he remembered her, Gu Qingning really had put on some weight.
At the very least, you couldn’t see her ribs anymore.
Yu Zhiming offered his objective assessment. “There’s some progress, but you’re still a little thin overall.”
“Hey, is that a little tummy I see?”
“Hey, don’t suck it in…”
Yu Zhiming was about to reach out and check for himself, but Gu Qingning had already scurried out of the room…
Fu Xiaoxue then darted in, her mouth shiny with grease and a roasted pig’s trotter in her hand.
“Uncle, are you sure you don’t want any?”
Yu Zhiming gave her a look of disdain. “It’s almost bedtime, and you’re eating something that greasy?”
Fu Xiaoxue giggled. “Uncle, I’m just letting loose for a few days. Once I’m back at school, eating cafeteria food and buried in heavy coursework every day, I’ll definitely slim down.”
A moment later, her smile vanished.
“My brother asked me to keep an eye on my roommate, Liu Yiyi. She told me tonight that her parents have separated and are preparing to divorce.”
Yu Zhiming grunted in acknowledgment. “Divorce is pretty normal and common these days. I heard the number of divorces each year is almost catching up to the number of marriages!”
Fu Xiaoxue pouted. “If you’re just going to get married and then divorced, you might as well not get married at all.”
She took another bite of the pig’s trotter and asked indistinctly, “Uncle, are you going to marry Sister Qingning?”
Yu Zhiming mulled it over for a moment before saying slowly, “Right now, I don’t know.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Go eat outside. I need to work…”
The next morning, Yu Zhiming woke up at six o’clock as usual.
After washing up, Yu Zhiming went to a flat, open area outside the villa and began his morning exercise routine, breathing in the fresh air.
He was halfway through his routine when Zeng Yan, already fully dressed, ran out and joined him.
“What are you doing up so early?”
“Uncle, since I’ve decided to study medicine, I have to develop good self-discipline.”
“I’ve decided to wake up at six o’clock every day, no matter what—winter, summer, school day, or vacation!”
Zeng Yan said, full of fighting spirit, “If I can’t even do this, how will I handle the demanding coursework of medical school, or the grueling work at a hospital in the future?”
Yu Zhiming smiled. “Whether you end up becoming a doctor or not, developing good self-discipline will always be a good thing.”
Zeng Yan hummed in agreement, then added softly, “Uncle, after I talk it over with my parents, I’m going to drop out, go home, and prepare to retake the college entrance exam.”
“I’m going to try to get into Jiaoda Medical School next year.”
These words made Yu Zhiming pause his exercises. He asked, just to be sure, “You’ve decided to drop out?”
Zeng Yan also stopped, panting slightly. “Uncle, if I don’t drop out and retake the exam, how else can I get into medical school?”
Yu Zhiming thought for a moment. “Don’t be so impulsive about dropping out. Wait until you truly understand all the trials and tribulations of being a doctor, and after you have your parents’ full support…”
As he said this, Yu Zhiming heard footsteps.
He turned his head. About a dozen meters away, three people emerged from behind a cluster of trees and started walking toward the villa.
Zeng Yan saw them too, and her jaw dropped.
The next moment, she turned and bolted into the villa.
“Auntie, Sister Qingning, Xiaoxue, get up, quick! Those people are here to make a formal apology—bearing thorns and all!”
And they were literally bearing thorns to plead for forgiveness.
The woman with the exquisite makeup, along with the shirtless tall, thin man and the short, stout man, each had five or six fresh, leafy branches tied to their backs.
The tall, thin man, in particular, was covered in walnut-sized red and blue welts.
It looked as if he’d had cupping therapy done all over his body.
As they drew closer, Yu Zhiming saw that the red and blue marks were actually bruises.
’Is this a taste of their own medicine? Did they get hit with golf balls?’
By the time the three of them had trudged hesitantly to the front of the villa with their heads hung low, Yu Xiangwan, Gu Qingning, and Fu Xiaoxue had also rushed out in their pajamas and slippers.
The tall, thin man came forward, looked up at Yu Zhiming and the others, his face flushing deep red, and bowed low.
“I, Ding Shaoyong, have come to apologize and beg forgiveness for my mistakes and offense yesterday…”