Chapter 44 A Little Effort

　　As the two were chatting, Fatty came back with several bags full of groceries.

　　The young man named Pi Ruan was visibly stunned when he saw Fatty. After Jiang Cheng nonchalantly explained that this was his friend, Pi Ruan's face instantly lit up with the enthusiasm of someone finding a fellow countryman in a foreign land, making Fatty somewhat overwhelmed.

　　"Hello," Pi Ruan said, grabbing Fatty's free hand. "I'm Pi Ruan, nice to meet you."

　　A questioning look crossed Fatty's face. He looked at Jiang Cheng, but Jiang Cheng's face never revealed anything, so he had no choice but to look at the young man in front of him, saying with a regretful and conflicted expression, "Hello, brother. Although I sympathize with you getting this kind of disease at such a young age, I'm not a doctor. Telling me won't help."

　　Pi Ruan's hand froze in mid-air.

　　Fatty suddenly remembered that he needed to hurry up and make the ribs, so he excused himself and scurried into the kitchen, busying himself with clanging and banging.

　　Jiang Cheng didn't seize this awkward moment to make a big deal out of it, but simply motioned for Pi Ruan to sit down and asked, "How is your girlfriend doing?"

　　Hearing his girlfriend mentioned, Pi Ruan sighed. "About the same as before, just more severe. She often suspects that I'm not sincere with her and that I have someone else on the side."

　　Speaking of this, Pi Ruan suddenly became agitated, raising his head and shouting, "But Dr. Jiang, you know me! How could I be that kind of person!"

　　"Mm," Jiang Cheng said, flipping open a blue notebook and writing a few sentences in it. Then he nodded and said, "I know."

　　Afterward, Pi Ruan began to pour out his grievances like pouring beans, listing all the sacrifices he had made since being with his girlfriend, only to be met with her lack of understanding.

　　He even shed tears when he spoke of the depth of his feelings.

　　After washing the ribs, Fatty put them in a pot to simmer over low heat.

　　After hearing the gurgling sound from the pot, Fatty washed his hands and walked out of the kitchen.

　　Pi Ruan was still talking excitedly, but Jiang Cheng didn't show much empathy, only saying a word or two occasionally, mostly just listening.

　　Fatty was very curious about Jiang Cheng's work, so he pulled up a chair and sat on the side to watch.

　　Fortunately, neither Jiang Cheng nor Pi Ruan objected to this.

　　When he heard that Pi Ruan had given so much, but his girlfriend still suspected him, Fatty couldn't help but want to say something. But before he could, he met Jiang Cheng's gaze.

　　Fatty silently swallowed the words that were already on the tip of his tongue.

　　"Dr. Jiang," Pi Ruan finally said, sounding exhausted as he rubbed his brow. "That's the general situation. In short, my girlfriend suspects that my motives for being with her are impure, that I have ulterior motives."

　　Jiang Cheng closed the notebook, clipping the pen to it in the process.

　　"Dr. Jiang, please come up with a treatment plan for my girlfriend's current situation as soon as possible," he said earnestly to Jiang Cheng as he stood up. "Thank you."

　　Jiang Cheng nodded. "It's my duty."

　　Pi Ruan sighed and left.

　　As soon as he stepped out the door, Fatty leaned over and said, "Doctor, this guy seems pretty good. Although he has a few minor problems, he's really sincere to his girlfriend. I don't know why his girlfriend is so sure he has impure motives."

　　Jiang Cheng opened the drawer, put the notebook in it, and then looked up and said, "That's what you think?"

　　Fatty blinked, as if he didn't understand what Jiang Cheng meant, and could only vaguely say, "What do you want to say, Doctor?"

　　Jiang Cheng motioned for Fatty to be quiet. After a few seconds, the door was pushed open again, and Pi Ruan strode in, saying apologetically, "Dr. Jiang, look at my memory, I almost forgot the most important thing. My girlfriend's 80th birthday is the day after tomorrow, you must come!"

　　Jiang Cheng replied unhurriedly, "Congratulations, I'll definitely be there."

　　After receiving the answer, Pi Ruan left contentedly.

　　Fatty's mouth was wide open in an "o" shape.

　　After the door opened, Fatty noticed a young woman dressed as a secretary standing outside the door, wearing a white shirt, a black professional skirt, and black-rimmed glasses, looking intellectual and charming.

　　After Pi Ruan went out, he habitually put his left arm around the woman's waist, and the two left laughing and talking.

　　Fatty silently picked up his shattered worldview and found that he couldn't put it back together no matter what.

　　Jiang Cheng tidied up some of the materials on the table and inserted some of them into the medical record rack in order. When he turned around, he found that Fatty was still staring straight at the door.

　　A blue supercar roared away.

　　"What are you looking at?" Jiang Cheng asked.

　　"Doctor," Fatty suddenly said, "I don't want to work hard anymore. I think his happiness is so pure."

　　Jiang Cheng thought for a while, turned around, walked back to the medical record rack, and pulled out a few more folders with red sticky notes on them.

　　He first opened one, then turned to face Fatty, holding the others under his arm. "Zhao Guiqin," he read aloud, "individual entrepreneur, owns 9 villas, countless luxury cars, assets over 100 million, age 89," he looked up at Fatty, "currently single."

　　Fatty's lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

　　Jiang Cheng showed a look of sudden realization, and picked out one of the folders under his arm, "Liu Niu Ma, landlady, owns dozens of apartments, age 77, also single," he put down the folders, and said to Fatty earnestly, "Don't look down on her age, she's very sick, and she doesn't have any children."

　　Fatty took a deep breath and said firmly, "Doctor, I think I'm still young, I can still work hard."

　　Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue a few times, regretting that he had taken back the information in his hand.

　　Following behind Jiang Cheng, Fatty asked in confusion, "Doctor, how did you get the information on these people? Are they all your patients?"

　　"You could say that," Jiang Cheng said.

　　"What are their illnesses?"

　　Jiang Cheng looked at Fatty and said, one word at a time, "Lonely, empty and cold at night."

　　Fatty shivered involuntarily, then, as if he suddenly realized something, he widened his eyes and asked, "So, the girlfriend of that brother Pi Ruan… was introduced by you?"

　　Jiang Cheng touched his nose rather embarrassedly. "This is my duty as a doctor. Seeing the long-lost smiles rippling on their faces makes me happy from the bottom of my heart."

　　Fatty: "......Doctor, tell me honestly, how much kickback did you get from the rich women?"

　　Jiang Cheng ignored him and went upstairs alone, mysteriously busy with something. Fatty calculated the time, the ribs simmering in the pot would probably take another hour to be ready.

　　He washed the vegetables he had bought, peeled the yam and potatoes, and prepared to make a pot of stewed ribs with Chinese cabbage, adding some yam to nourish himself.

　　And stir-fry a plate of hot and sour shredded potatoes as well.