The Yu Family Siblings rushed all the way back, barely making it to Liyang County Town by eight-thirty in the morning.
The two of them first drove to the entrance of the county high school to offer a few words of encouragement to their niece, who was about to go in for her college entrance exams.
Then, Yu Zhiming switched to the small electric scooter his eldest sister had ridden to take Fu Xiaoxue to her exam, and he hurried off to the hospital for work.
Yu Xiangwan, meanwhile, drove their eldest sister home in the car.
As soon as the car started moving, Yu Xiangwan couldn’t wait to say, "Eldest Sister, I have some bad news."
"Fifth Brother got his heart broken. He’s in a bad mood, so you should make some of his favorite dishes tonight to comfort him."
"Fifth Brother has never even had a girlfriend. How could his heart be broken?" Yu Zhaoxia was completely baffled.
Yu Xiangwan briefly recounted their trip to Jinling the previous night and how Yu Zhiming had run into a female classmate he was interested in.
After hearing the story, however, Yu Zhaoxia let out a long sigh of relief.
"This is a good thing."
"Over the past few years, your second and third sisters and I have introduced so many nice girls to Fifth Brother, but he stubbornly hasn’t shown interest in a single one."
"We were all secretly worried that Fifth Brother was so focused on medicine he didn’t want to get married, or that... his orientation was different."
This was the first time Yu Xiangwan had heard anything like it, and she couldn’t help but purse her lips.
"Eldest Sister, what were you all thinking? How could you possibly think there’s something wrong with Fifth Brother’s orientation?"
"He’s a completely normal guy. I even found some of those... ’special’ action movies on his computer."
Yu Zhaoxia’s eyes widened in criticism. "Lao Si, are those kinds of movies something a young woman like you should be watching?"
"Enough about Fifth Brother. Let’s talk about you."
"Lao Si, you’re a woman. It’s fine for Fifth Brother to delay for a few more years, but look at your age!"
"Rounding up, you’re practically thirty. Do you still want to have kids?"
"Oh, Lao Si, you’re a good-looking girl, but a woman’s beauty has a short shelf life. While there are still men actively pursuing you, you shouldn’t have your standards set so high..."
Yu Xiangwan was already immune to this kind of nagging.
She responded with silence, pretending they weren’t talking about her...
After Yu Zhiming returned to the hospital, he was immediately swamped with work.
First, he did rounds with his colleagues from the department.
Then he adjusted the prescriptions for the several patients under his care, wrote up medical records, finalized the discharge paperwork for two patients, and examined the patient scheduled for surgery that afternoon...
Yu Zhiming didn’t get a moment’s rest until after eleven in the morning.
He hadn’t even finished a cup of now-cold water when he received an unexpected call from his second brother-in-law.
"Fifth Brother, do you have plans for lunch?"
"If not, how about grabbing a simple bite at that Li Family Chef restaurant near your hospital?"
This particular brother-in-law of Yu Zhiming’s worked as a household registration officer at the City Gate Police Station.
He had been a police officer for over a decade, and he was still a household registration officer.
His career had remained remarkably stable, essentially unchanged for over a decade.
Yu Zhiming held the phone closer to his mouth and said wearily, "Brother-in-law, just tell me what’s on your mind."
"I barely got any rest last night and I’ve been working nonstop. I’m dead tired. I have zero appetite and just want to sleep."
His brother-in-law’s voice came through the phone. "Fifth Brother, here’s the situation. I have a buddy whose father is in poor health. He recently had some tests done at a big hospital in the provincial capital."
"He wants to ask you to look over the test results and lab reports and give some advice on treatment."
After a brief pause, his brother-in-law’s voice spoke up again.
"Fifth Brother, no matter how tired you are, you still have to eat lunch, right? My buddy’s right here waiting with me."
Yu Zhiming was too tired to even roll his eyes. "I really don’t have an appetite," he said. "Tell you what, I’m kind of craving some noodles."
"The hand-pulled noodle shop diagonally across from Li Family Chef is pretty good. Let’s get noodles there for lunch."
His brother-in-law’s voice on the phone immediately brightened. "Okay, noodles it is for lunch."
"We’ll see you at noon..."
Yu Zhiming put down his phone and, out of the corner of his eye, noticed a heavily pregnant woman had entered the office.
He turned his head and realized he recognized the pregnant woman.
It was Qu Hui, a woman he had once been set up with.
The very pretty girl had enthusiastically pursued Yu Zhiming for two or three months. When she found him to be completely indifferent, with a heart of stone, she had given up, quite hurt.
Sticking out her belly, Qu Hui met Yu Zhiming’s gaze as she walked over. "Yu Zhiming," she said, "I’m here for a prenatal checkup. I heard you’re moving to Binhai for your career."
"Is it true?"
Yu Zhiming stood up and offered her his chair.
"It’s not finalized yet. Let’s just say there’s an opportunity."
Yu Zhiming replied cautiously, helping Qu Hui, whose forehead was beaded with sweat, to sit down. He then offered his congratulations, "Qu Hui, congratulations on becoming a mom!"
Qu Hui huffed softly and gave him a sidelong glance. "Yu Zhiming, you had a perfectly good chance to be the one who got me pregnant with your child."
She stuck her big belly out again. "I’ll have you know, I’m carrying twins."
"Feeling any regrets?"
In response to such a brazen question, Yu Zhiming could only manage a polite, awkward smile.
Qu Hui didn’t press the issue. Staring into Yu Zhiming’s eyes, she said, "Yu Zhiming, let me ask you something..."
"Did you know that you were eventually going to leave our little county town for a better place?"
"Is that why you rejected me, and all the other girls in town?"
’Well...’
Yu Zhiming saw Qu Hui’s pursed lips and serious expression and decided to just go along with what she wanted to believe.
He nodded. "That was part of the reason."
"To be able to leave, I needed to focus on improving my medical skills, which didn’t leave any time for romance."
Qu Hui said, "Oh. That’s what I guessed."
"Given my qualities—my looks, figure, education, and family are all excellent—and I was even willing to swallow my pride and chase you so proactively, it didn’t make sense that I couldn’t win you over."
Yu Zhiming felt uncomfortably stifled.
’Qu Hui’s case of an inflated ego is getting worse,’ he thought.
Yu Zhiming grabbed the half-full glass of cold water from his desk and chugged it, forcing down the retort that was already on the tip of his tongue.
Qu Hui’s expression shifted to one of admiration. "Yu Zhiming, you’re truly worthy of being the man I, Qu Hui, set my sights on. Soaring to new heights, going straight to Binhai to make your mark."
After a brief pause, she added with a serious tone, "In the future, you must find a wife who is absolutely, incredibly outstanding in every respect—figure, looks, everything."
"If she can’t even compare to me, you’ll be gossiped about, and I’ll be a laughingstock. Do you understand?"
Yu Zhiming nodded emphatically. "Qu Hui, don’t worry. For my own sake, and for yours..."
"I will try very, very hard to find a wife who is outstanding in every way."
Qu Hui stressed, "Not just outstanding. More outstanding than me. You understand?"
"Understood!"
Yu Zhiming repeated, thinking to himself, ’If the standard is "more outstanding than you," I could easily pick four or five from my past blind dates.’
Of course, he would never say that out loud.
When Yu Zhiming saw Qu Hui start to get up, he quickly reached out to help her to her feet.
Once on her feet, Qu Hui stroked her belly, leaned closer to Yu Zhiming, and lowered her voice.
"Yu Zhiming, my father-in-law is running a pool, and all our family and friends are betting on the gender of the babies in my belly."
"Two boys pays out at 1.5 to 1. They’ve got thirty-seven thousand on that."
"Two girls pays 2 to 1. Twenty-three thousand on that."
"One boy, one girl pays 5 to 1. Six thousand on that one."
"I’d like to win some extra formula money, you know what I mean?"
As she spoke, Qu Hui gave Yu Zhiming a rather flirtatious wink.
Eager to get this woman to leave, Yu Zhiming reached out and gave her belly a gentle pat.
"Go big or go home. A villa by the sea is on the line. Qu Hui, you can be as bold as you like!"
Qu Hui’s eyes lit up when she heard this.
She was too excited to stay a moment longer and rushed out of the office.
Yu Zhiming had to hurry after her, repeatedly calling out for her to slow down and be careful not to fall...
Just before the noon break, Yu Zhiming got another call. It was from Qi Yue, who informed him that his assessment was scheduled for next Thursday.
"Zhiming, you’d better clear your schedule. It would be best to stay in Binhai for a few extra days."
"A few guys who are paranoid about their health are crying and begging for you to give them a check-up, heart and all..."