Chapter 188 - 187: Charity Event Invitation

Chapter 188: Chapter 187: Charity Event Invitation

A little after seven-thirty in the evening, Yu Zhiming returned to his place in Zijin Garden and flopped onto the sofa as if someone had pulled his plug.

"Sister Xiang Wan said dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

Gu Qingning came out of the kitchen, walked over to the sofa, and playfully stepped on Yu Zhiming’s back and bottom.

"You must be exhausted."

Yu Zhiming replied listlessly, "I screened fifty women for breast cancer today. It’s a lot more tiring than examining stomachs and livers."

Gu Qingning’s eyes lit up. She sat down next to Yu Zhiming and asked excitedly, "Breast exams? Isn’t that what you guys like most?"

"Yu Zhiming, are you actually tired?"

"Or is your body just weak?"

As she spoke, she gave his lower back a provocative poke.

Yu Zhiming was too tired to deal with the girl, but he felt that not explaining would be like admitting it.

He snorted. "Even something you love becomes dull when it turns into a job you have to do."

"That’s true."

Gu Qingning nodded in agreement, then had a sudden thought.

"Zhiming, when you get a girlfriend, will you not like examining her breasts either?"

Well...

Yu Zhiming actually gave it some serious thought.

"Probably not. It’s a different person, so the mood is different. I’d still be interested."

"I’m a red-blooded man, after all."

Gu Qingning let out a soft breath, patted her own ample chest, and giggled, "Well, that’s a relief."

Yu Zhiming grunted. "Your relief is useless. I know you’ve been having designs on me."

"But I really don’t have any special feelings for you..."

He stopped mid-sentence...

He heard a faint rustling sound scraping against the floor.

Although the sound was faint, Yu Zhiming had a particular aversion to that kind of scraping noise.

He rolled off the sofa, followed the sound to the large wardrobe with the murphy bed, and got down on the floor to look underneath it.

"Zhiming, what did you find?"

Gu Qingning followed him over, and the next moment, she saw Yu Zhiming’s body trembling slightly.

’Is he excited?’

’Or scared?’

Before Gu Qingning could figure it out, she heard a yelp. Yu Zhiming shot up, spun around like a startled cat, and bolted.

Yu Zhiming grabbed her, making her stumble and nearly pulling her to the ground.

Fortunately, her reflexes were quick. She immediately regained her footing and followed Yu Zhiming as they ran into the kitchen together.

Yu Xiangwan, still busy in the kitchen, was baffled by Yu Zhiming and Gu Qingning’s sudden commotion.

"Fifth Brother, what are you screaming about? Why are you two running?"

"Sister, a snake... a snake... a colorful snake," Yu Zhiming stammered, his voice trembling.

Hearing the word "snake," Yu Xiangwan also grew tense.

"Fifth Brother, is there really a snake?"

Hearing it was just a snake, Gu Qingning actually relaxed. At the same time, she noticed her hand was throbbing with pain.

She looked down and saw that the guy was still gripping her hand tightly.

Her hand was red from the pressure.

From his earlier yelp and his unusually agile reaction, Gu Qingning realized that the great Dr. Yu had been genuinely terrified.

His flight was a pure fight-or-flight response.

’Even so, the guy had still thought to pull her along with him as he ran, even if he had pulled a little too hard...’

A wave of sweetness suddenly washed over Gu Qingning’s heart.

She used her other hand to pat his shoulder soothingly and chuckled. "A snake is nothing to be afraid of."

"When I lived with my grandparents, snakes would often show up in the yard. I’ve caught more than ten of them myself."

By now, Yu Zhiming had overcome his initial terror and calmed down considerably. He quickly let go of Gu Qingning’s hand.

"Some brats in the village scared me with a snake when I was a kid. It left me with a psychological scar."

Yu Zhiming offered an explanation for his overreaction, then looked around the kitchen for a makeshift weapon.

A pot lid and a long-handled spatula.

Puffing out his chest, Yu Zhiming announced, "You two wait in the kitchen. I’ll go catch the snake."

Gu Qingning stopped him.

"I’m experienced at catching snakes. Let me do it."

Gu Qingning easily held Yu Zhiming back and walked out of the kitchen alone, heading for the large wardrobe.

"Qingning, be careful! You need the spatula..."

Realizing the spatula in his hand was a bit too short, Yu Zhiming dropped it and the pot lid, then ran to the bathroom to get a mop.

"Qingning, let me help—"

Yu Zhiming was cut short by the sight of a small snake with red and white blotches coiled around Gu Qingning’s right arm. She even waved it at him triumphantly a few times.

"Zhiming, Sister Xiang Wan, it’s a pet snake! It’s not venomous, so there’s nothing to be afraid of..."

The Yu Family Siblings were both deeply creeped out by the cold, slithery creature.

At their insistence, Gu Qingning put the pet snake, supposedly a corn snake, into a cardboard box, sealed it with tape, and then washed and disinfected her hands before she was allowed to join them at the dinner table.

"This snake must belong to a neighbor. I wonder how it got into our apartment."

Gu Qingning analyzed, then added, "I’ll take it to the property management office later and have them send out a notice to find the owner."

She looked at Yu Zhiming with a grin and asked, "Zhiming, were you really scared by a snake when you were a kid?"

Yu Zhiming shot her a glare and went back to eating, clearly not wanting to answer.

Yu Xiangwan answered for her brother. "Back then, there was a real mean kid in our village, three years older than Fifth Brother, who was always bullying him."

"When Fifth Brother was seven, that little villain found a snake somewhere and threw it on him."

"It scared him so badly he got sick."

"Our eldest sister was furious. She caught that nasty kid and had our third sister fight him. She gave him a serious beating."

"After that, the guy never dared to bully Fifth Brother again."

Gu Qingning looked at Yu Zhiming, who was still focused on his food, and reached out to pat his head.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Yu Zhiming shook his head away and protested, "Haven’t you heard the saying? A man’s head and a woman’s waist—you can look, but you can’t touch."

Gu Qingning swayed her slender waist and laughed. "Stingy! Well, you can touch my waist whenever you want. Is that okay?"

"I’m not interested!"

Yu Zhiming put on a proud front and turned to Yu Xiangwan, changing the subject. "Fourth Sister, is Third Sister arriving tomorrow?"

Yu Xiangwan hummed in affirmation. "Seventy patients, over one hundred and ten accompanying family members, plus doctors and nurses in case of emergencies. They said they’ve hired five tour buses."

"Two ambulances will be following them the whole way, too."

"They’re expected to arrive in Binhai around three or four tomorrow afternoon."

She added with a hint of showing off, "The sixteen beds near Huashan Hospital and the thirty-two beds near Ning’an Hospital have all been booked. Hehe."

Yu Zhiming reminded her, "The real test will begin after they check in. All sorts of problems, big and small, are bound to pop up."

"Fourth Sister, you should take my car for now. It’ll make it easier for you to handle any issues that arise."

Yu Xiangwan was about to refuse, but what Fifth Brother said was very likely to happen, and having a car would indeed be convenient.

She thought for a moment and said, "Alright, Fifth Brother. I’ll use your car to run errands, and I’ll be in charge of driving you to and from work..."

Just then, Yu Zhiming’s phone rang.

It was a call from Qiao Lei.

"Dr. Yu, two things. Rao Yi’s agent says they can raise the price to ten thousand."

Yu Zhiming couldn’t help but chuckle. "The rumor is that even though he’s a huge star, he’s notoriously stingy. It seems the rumors are true."

"I need to rest well at night..."

"How about this: we can schedule it for nine or ten at night, but it’s still five thousand. That’s my final concession."

After a brief pause, he prompted, "And the second thing?"

"Oh, I just got a call from an Artificial Eye Company. They’re holding a charity event to provide five hundred custom prosthetic eyes and installation surgeries for people from low-income families in need."

"They want to invite you, Dr. Yu, to attend the launch ceremony for this charity project."

’A charity event for prosthetic eyes?’

Yu Zhiming was a little puzzled. ’Are they inviting me because of my fame in the medical world?’

’Or because of my past experience with blindness?’

Yu Zhiming mulled it over for a moment, then said, "This is the first time I’ve been invited to a charity event."

"Qiao Lei, have them send over the information first so I can take a look. Be vague for now; don’t give them a firm answer..."