Chapter 21: Is the Little Monster Doomed?
“Um… Mr. Qin, the test results are back. Could you… have the young gentleman lie down first? I’ll take you to the department director’s office.”
“All right. Give me a moment.”
Qin Zelin patted the back of the person in his arms. “Lie down for a while. I need to step out.”
The moment he finished speaking, Cen Miao squirmed around in protest.
“No~”
Qin Zelin fell silent for two seconds before trying, “…If you get down now, I’ll buy you buns tomorrow.”
The nurse: Wow~ Such a simple, down-to-earth way for a domineering CEO to coax someone!
“Beef… beef buns?”
Qin Zelin took a deep breath. “Yes. Beef buns.”
The nurse: “…?”
Was that the name of some new designer bag?
“Little Liu, stay here and look after him.”
“Yes, of course, Boss.”
After placing Cen Miao on the bed and carefully tucking the blanket around him, Qin Zelin followed the dumbfounded young nurse out of the room.
Inside the office, the emergency department director adjusted his thick glasses, his gaze darting between the CT scan on the computer screen and the report in his hand.
After a long while, he suddenly took a deep breath and asked with a frown, “Does the patient usually have rather unhealthy eating habits?”
Hearing the doctor speak in the tone of someone about to announce that his family member only had days left to live, Qin Zelin’s heart tightened. He struggled to remain calm.
“His diet isn’t very healthy. He’s quite picky, likes meat and sweet foods, and… eats rather large portions.”
The doctor nodded gravely, his brows tightly furrowed.
A moment later, he turned the monitor slightly toward Qin Zelin and pointed at a conspicuous shadow in the abdominal area with the tip of his pen.
“Do you see this mass here?”
Qin Zelin followed the pen and stared at the shadow. His heart inexplicably sank, and a chill spread down his spine and throughout his body.
“I see it.” His hand tightened unconsciously against the desk, his knuckles turning faintly white as he tried to maintain his usual composure. “Is it some kind of abnormal growth? Is it serious?”
“Mm… Ahem.” Just as the doctor was about to speak, an itch suddenly rose in his throat.
Hearing what sounded like confirmation, all color drained from Qin Zelin’s face.
Cen Miao was only twenty.
He couldn’t describe what he was feeling.
“Do we need to arrange further tests immediately to confirm a treatment plan?”
“Hm? No further tests are needed. Cough, cough.”
Qin Zelin’s expression instantly froze.
“???”
What did that mean?
Was the little monster beyond saving???
He was still so young…
The doctor picked up the thermos on his desk and took a small sip of warm water to soothe his irritated throat. Then he continued what he had been saying.
“No further tests are necessary. Based on my experience, that shadow should be fecal matter.”
“There must be at least five kilograms of it.”
“………!!???”
Five kilograms of… what?
Qin Zelin’s mind crashed for several seconds. After instinctively releasing a breath of relief, he remained speechless for a long while.
“Five kilograms of fecal matter… Then… why was he… in so much pain?”
“He’ll be fine once he passes it. I’ll prescribe something to clear his bowels.” The doctor calmly set down his thermos and chewed the goji berry he had accidentally swallowed with the water.
“…”
“From now on, remind the patient to eat more vegetables and foods high in dietary fiber.”
“…”
After that emotional roller coaster, Qin Zelin returned to the hospital room with sweaty palms, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
The driver hurriedly asked, “How is he? Is everything all right?”
“…Mm. You can go home first. Take tomorrow off. Have Little Zhang pick me up in the morning and bring a change of clothes for Cen Miao.”
“All right, Boss. I understand. I’ll head back now.”
“Boohoo… Am I going to die again?” Cen Miao sniffled and looked at Qin Zelin with red-rimmed eyes.
Qin Zelin had no idea where the word “again” came from.
He had originally planned to tease him, but seeing his swollen, tearful eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“You’re not going to die. You’ll feel better after taking the medicine the doctor prescribed.”
An hour later, after being made to drink two large bottles of bowel-cleansing medicine and making several trips to the bathroom, Cen Miao transformed into a shy little quail.
Qin Zelin looked at the small bundle beneath the blanket and suppressed a laugh.
“Come out. Even if you don’t die from being constipated, you’ll suffocate under there.”
“Aah~~~~ Don’t say it!”
“Then hurry up and come out.” Qin Zelin patted the person through the blanket.
Cen Miao shook his head beneath it.
He wasn’t coming out!
He would never come out again for the rest of his life!
He had only wanted to store more food in his stomach because he was afraid of starving.
How could there have been so much…?
It was too humiliating for a zombie!
“I won’t make fun of you. Hurry up and come out.”
“I don’t want to,” Cen Miao’s muffled voice came from beneath the blanket.
“Then I’ll tell the driver not to bring beef buns in the morning. Since you’re not coming out, you won’t be eating them anyway.”
Within seconds, a head poked out from beneath the blanket.
“Will Uncle Lin and Aunt Wang find out? Will everyone… know?”
Qin Zelin looked at his face, which had turned bright red from being covered, and pinched his cheek with a smile.
“No. Only the doctors, nurses, and I know. Hurry up and come out.”
“Then… I’ll trust you.”
After several more trips to the bathroom, Cen Miao’s stomach finally settled down, and he fell asleep on the hospital bed.
Qin Zelin tiredly rubbed his brow, removed his coat, and lay down for a while as well.
A little after eight, the two were sitting together having breakfast. Cen Miao was happily eating a beef bun when the hospital room door suddenly opened.
Qin Jianye and Shao Siheng entered one after the other.
“Oh, Miaomiao! I heard you suffered terribly last night, so Grandpa came to see you. You can’t be so picky with your food anymore. Having five kilograms of poop in your stomach must have been unbearable!”
“…”
With a soft plop, the half-eaten bun fell from Cen Miao’s hand onto the small table.
He turned an aggrieved gaze toward Qin Zelin.
Liar!
Big liar!
Qin Zelin: “…”
“Look at that. He can’t even hold his bun anymore. He truly suffered.”
Cen Miao turned toward Qin Jianye. Seeing the genuine concern on the old man’s face, he remembered the way his caretaker daddy had looked at him after hiding him when the red-haired zombies invaded their base.
Forget it!
Even if Qin Zelin had betrayed him, a zombie couldn’t abandon his principles.
“Grandpa, have a bun!”
Cen Miao took a large bun from the bag and held it out with smiling eyes.
“Oh, thank you, Miaomiao.”
Qin Jianye accepted it as though it were a treasure, then rolled his eyes at Qin Zelin.
“Look! Look at him! You’ve never handed me a bun before!”
Qin Zelin choked.
“…I’m the one who had the buns bought.”
“You failed to take proper care of him, and now you want praise for buying a few buns?”
Qin Zelin looked at Shao Siheng, who had raised a fist to his mouth to hide his laughter.
“…”
More than ten minutes later, Qin Jianye finished the three buns Cen Miao had “insisted” on giving him with an expression of great reluctance. After repeatedly praising how delicious they were, he prepared to return to the fifth floor with Shao Siheng.
Qin Zelin stood to see them out.
Outside the hospital room—
“How did the two of you find out?”
“Oh, we ran into Director Wu from the emergency department when we arrived for work this morning. He told us.”
“…”
“Director Wu also said…” Shao Siheng grinned obnoxiously. “You thought Cen Miao had a terminal illness and were almost scared to tears.”
Qin Zelin: “…”
He wanted to make Director Wu cry.
