CHAPTER 337: 337 DARKENED LITTLE FINGER

Liu Banxia’s days were passing pleasantly; he was truly enjoying his vacation. Every day was nothing but eating and playing—all kinds of eating and all kinds of playing.

He was quite fearless regarding the gifts Qiaoqiao bought for him, truly unconcerned about what others might think. As he’d said, he would never be able to earn that much money even if he worked hard for generations, so why bother being particular?

As long as he didn’t splurge Qiaoqiao’s money, this was all standard procedure. There was really no point in overthinking such things.

After five days of fun, Liu Banxia resurfaced, bringing Qiaoqiao to the place where he used to rent. He had two meals waiting for him there, and today he planned to combine them.

Of course, he couldn’t come empty-handed with Qiaoqiao; visiting Uncle Jiang and Grandpa Cao, however, required small gifts.

"How have you three been performing today?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

Wang Chao gave him a helpless look. "Who could live as carefree and sweet a life as you, with a beauty by your side and delicacies to accompany you?"

"You could too. Why don’t you get suspended too?" Liu Banxia joked.

"Uh... I’d better not. I’m striving for advancement and prefer to focus on my work," Wang Chao hastily replied.

"Teacher Liu, will there be delicious food today?" Xu Yino asked curiously.

"Count yourselves lucky. Of course, there’s delicious food. The three of you can join me for lunch. Mutton hot pot, it’s all in the insulated container," Liu Banxia said.

"Haha, I knew Teacher Liu is the best! Thanks also to Teacher’s wife for bringing us so many snacks," Liu Yiqing said with a beaming smile from the side.

After spending a few days together, Qiaoqiao had more or less accepted her status as his girlfriend. However, she still felt a bit flustered when Liu Yiqing addressed her as "Teacher’s wife."

"Alright, don’t be so reserved. They’re all playful; you’ll definitely get along with them," Liu Banxia reassured her.

Qiaoqiao shot him a glare; this man was truly thick-skinned, unfazed by anything.

Just then, Uncle Jiang walked over. "Dr. Liu, don’t just stand there. Come quickly, we need to get the food and drinks ready."

"I brought the mutton. We can just buy some vegetables from the market. I didn’t buy fish; I don’t know how," Liu Banxia said.

"The fish is already bought. Fish is a must for this meal. I won’t fight Old Cao for it; we’ll eat at his place today," Uncle Jiang declared.

"Great, it’s happily decided then. I’ll call you three once the food is ready. Work hard, okay?" Liu Banxia instructed.

The two girls giggled and nodded, adding with a smile, "Take care, Teacher’s wife!" This resulted in Liu Banxia’s ribs suffering several pinches from Qiaoqiao.

It had been a long time since Liu Banxia last visited. Nevertheless, both Uncle Jiang’s family and Grandpa Cao still welcomed him warmly. The little baby was there too. Although the baby didn’t smile constantly as before, he was somehow even more adorable.

"I saw the news; it seems to have affected you somewhat?" Grandpa Cao asked once they were seated.

Liu Banxia nodded. "A little, but it’s not a big deal. I’m treating it as a vacation. Otherwise, when would I find the time to come here for a meal?"

"Those people are too damn shameless! Who does things like that? It was all for their benefit, yet they stab you in the back," Grandpa Cao said angrily.

"Actually, you can’t quite say that. It’s standard procedure, I suppose. After all, our freelance surgeries were against regulations, so receiving punishment is to be expected," Liu Banxia said.

"Let’s not talk about these upsetting things. How has your health been lately? You look very well; it seems you’ve been doing fine lately."

"Ah... I’ve come to terms with things now. My two boys also visit often, which is a great comfort. When I have nothing to do, I go to Little Jiang’s place and play chess with him. It’s really good," Grandpa Cao said.

"I’ve lived a whole life, only understanding things clearly in old age. You have to tell them directly what’s on your mind. You can’t expect them to guess; who has the time to figure out what you’re thinking?"

"Haha, that’s right. Uncle Jiang, have you rearranged the shop? What’s changed? It looks much brighter too," Liu Banxia then asked.

"I rented the adjacent unit, knocked out the dividing wall, and it’s just right for living quarters now. The original room here has been freed up and can be used for storing and selling goods," Uncle Jiang said.

"Now, I just don’t know when the buildings in this area will be renovated. When that time comes, I wonder if they’ll compensate me with a storefront so I can continue the shop."

"If there’s demolition, will the market over there also be torn down?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Definitely. Actually, they wanted to demolish it before, but negotiations with the market side didn’t work out," Grandpa Cao interjected.

"They’re going to build more high-rises. This whole area is quite large," Liu Banxia remarked with some emotion.

While chatting, Liu Banxia didn’t stay idle; he helped prepare the vegetables. This was a proper home-style meal; it was much livelier when everyone pitched in.

"Uncle Jiang, preparing a feast again today, huh? Give me five bottles of beer."

As they were busy, a shout came from outside the small shop.

"Little Zhang, right? Come in and get them yourself; we’re all familiar here," Uncle Jiang responded.

"Not today. I just finished changing a car’s engine oil at the shop, and my hands are still a bit dirty," Zhang replied.

"Alright then, I’ll play shopkeeper for a moment," Liu Banxia responded with a laugh.

This task didn’t require much brainpower: bag the beer, scan the QR code for payment, and it was done.

Liu Banxia had some recollection of this Zhang. There was a car wash and repair shop by the community road, and Zhang was a worker there. However, he had only seen him before and never interacted with him.

Zhang’s hands indeed had some black oil marks, the standard mark of a mechanic. And from being constantly exposed to various oils, his hands were also quite rough.

However, as Zhang reached for the bag, Liu Banxia frowned. "Master Zhang, is your left little finger a bit weak?"

"Yes, I might have strained it yesterday. It’s been a bit unresponsive today," Zhang said.

Liu Banxia didn’t think so. Perhaps it was because his physique had been enhanced recently that his observations were particularly meticulous. Although Zhang’s left little finger also had black oil marks, they looked somewhat different from those on his other fingers.

Moreover, Zhang had a lot of sweat on his forehead, he was also breathing a bit heavily, and his eyes were bloodshot. His overall impression was that something was abnormal.

"What’s wrong?" Seeing Liu Banxia intently sizing him up, Zhang, who was about to leave, asked curiously.

"What sensations are you having in your little finger?" Liu Banxia asked in return.

"It’s a bit numb and stiff, and it seems worse than this morning. By the way, you’re a doctor, right? Could you take a look?" Zhang asked.

"Can you wash the oil off your hands with something? With your hands like this, it’s a bit hard to see clearly," Liu Banxia frowned.

"I can wash them, but I’d have to go back to the shop. And I can’t wash off everything, especially what’s in the lines of my skin," Zhang said after a moment’s thought.

"Uncle Jiang, could you trouble yourself to get some water for Zhang to wash his hands?" Liu Banxia called out.

Uncle Jiang glanced towards them curiously but didn’t delay, immediately fetching half a basin of water and also bringing out a bar of soap.

While Zhang washed his hands, Liu Banxia observed carefully. There was indeed a problem.

Because as Zhang washed, his little finger remained isolated and unresponsive. Judging by this, there might be an issue with the peripheral nerves in his little finger.

However, that wasn’t the crucial point. The crucial point was that after Zhang washed his hands, the color of his little finger was clearly different from his other fingers.

Even if his other fingers still had some oil stains that couldn’t be completely washed off, there were still clean areas. But his little finger now? It was somewhat cyanotic, a distinctly darker shade.

"You should go to the hospital for an examination," Liu Banxia said after a careful look. "You can see for yourself now that this little finger is clearly different from your others."

"In situations like this, you need to go to the hospital for a check-up. And such a dark color is definitely not good news for you. If you delay, you might need to have the finger amputated."

"Dr. Liu, is it that serious?" Uncle Jiang asked, shocked.

"Although the color isn’t very obvious yet, there are already some signs of necrosis," Liu Banxia said.

"You can feel it; the temperature of this finger is noticeably lower than his other fingers. That’s a manifestation of poor blood supply."

"But this is all I can tell here. To resolve it, you still need to go to the hospital for instrumental examinations. Have you fallen or bumped it recently?"

"I did fall, but that was yesterday morning. I just tripped over something. It couldn’t be because of that, could it?" Zhang said, somewhat alarmed.

He was just an ordinary person; hearing Dr. Liu mention amputation, how could he not be scared? Besides, his finger really did feel abnormal today. And after hearing what Liu Banxia said, it seemed to feel even number.

"Go to the Emergency Center of Second Hospital and say I sent you. Hmm... register for Doctor Shi Lei of the Surgery Department. I’ll call him in a moment," Liu Banxia said.

"Zhang, don’t delay. If Dr. Liu says you need to go to the hospital, you must go. Dr. Liu saved Old Cao’s life," Uncle Jiang urged.

"Yes, young man, this matter cannot be delayed," Grandpa Cao added.

Zhang became even more agitated. He didn’t even bother with his beer and ran directly towards the other side of the residential complex. Anyone in such a situation would panic.

"Dr. Liu’s medical skills are truly remarkable," Grandpa Cao praised, giving a thumbs up.

"Please don’t praise me. Even an ordinary person could see that his finger isn’t normal," Liu Banxia said with a helpless smile.

"Then why didn’t he notice it himself? How come only you saw it? That’s what I call skill!" Grandpa Cao retorted, still unconvinced.

"Exactly! His fingers were equally dirty. If it were me, I wouldn’t have noticed either," Uncle Jiang added.

Liu Banxia felt a bit helpless. Being praised could sometimes be quite a burden.

Qiaoqiao, standing nearby, listened with delight. She currently loved hearing others praise Liu Banxia.