"Mr. Yan! Ruoruo!"
Tian Yu, a junior high school student from the next building, nimbly scrambled up from the ground.
A foot-long ponytail bounced behind her head, brimming with youthful energy.
Tian Yu proactively took the groceries from Yan Feifan's hands, chuckled, and said, "My parents are working overtime again tonight, so I cheekily came over to freeload dinner, hehe..."
"Then you're in for a treat!"
Yan Ziruo said with a light laugh as she unlocked the door, "We bought big prawns, beef, and pork ribs tonight."
Tian Yu cheered and was about to follow them inside when Yan Feifan stopped her with a warning look.
Realizing her mistake, she hurriedly slapped the dust off her rear and legs a few times, then jumped up and down before entering the apartment.
Tian Yu slipped into the slippers she kept there and looked up with her cute, round face and curved eyebrows. "Mr. Yan, was your first day of work tiring?"
"It was alright."
Yan Feifan replied, then asked, "Have you still not found a suitable cram school or tutor?"
Tian Yu shook her head and pouted. "The fees are all too high."
"Mr. Yan, I know you're working now and are too busy to tutor me anymore."
"Can I come over and ask you about some things when you're resting at home?"
Yan Feifan looked at the girl's expectant gaze and nodded.
Tian Yu jumped for joy, exclaiming happily, "Mr. Yan, you're the absolute best!"
"I could kiss you!"
Just then, Yan Ziruo, having changed into her loungewear, came out of her room and said with a light laugh, "Xiaoyu, you should seize the opportunity and ask your questions now."
"I'll go make dinner!"
The words had barely left her mouth when Tian Yu grabbed her by the arm.
Tian Yu whined, "Ruoruo, I'm still a growing girl! Let Mr. Yan make dinner."
"I can help him out and ask my questions at the same time."
Yan Ziruo saw Yan Feifan heading to the kitchen with the groceries. She lightly tapped Tian Yu on the forehead and huffed, "You two ungrateful brats. Fine by me, less work for me..."
Tian Yu giggled, then skipped off to the kitchen. She began washing the vegetables with practiced ease, not forgetting to show off, "Mr. Yan, my homeroom teacher praised me again today."
"She said I've made huge progress and that if I keep it up, I have a great shot at getting into a top high school in the entrance exams in a few months."
Yan Feifan soaked the prawns and pork ribs in clean water and started to prepare the beef. He urged, "Don't waste time. Hurry up and tell me what you don't understand."
Tian Yu said, "Oh. Mr. Yan, there were a few math problems the teacher went over today that I'm still a bit fuzzy on..."
Yan Feifan, who had a reputation for being a genius, was an experienced and highly acclaimed tutor for middle and high school students.
He had paid for his and his sister's high school and university tuition and living expenses by tutoring.
At his peak, during the summer break of his sophomore year of college, Yan Feifan had rented an apartment and tutored thirty-five middle and high school students of various grades simultaneously.
He only stopped tutoring when he began his internship at the Affiliated Hospital and no longer had a regular schedule with free time.
Not long after Yan Feifan woke up, he returned home to recuperate.
At that time, Tian Yu, who was home for winter break, helped take care of Yan Feifan while Yan Ziruo was at work.
In return, Yan Feifan tutored Tian Yu in her schoolwork...
The Yan family didn't end up eating dinner until after nine o'clock that evening.
Braised prawns in oil, beef with chili peppers, winter melon and pork rib stew that served as both a dish and a soup, plus scrambled eggs with tomato and stir-fried water spinach—it was quite a lavish meal.
However, to accommodate Yan Ziruo, who was catching up on a TV drama, the three of them ate in the living room.
A modern, fashionable romance drama was playing on the TV.
The screen was filled with handsome "Mr. Perfects" and beautiful Cinderellas, plus the token "it girl" antagonist.
Yan Ziruo and Tian Yu were completely engrossed, occasionally discussing the plot.
Yan Feifan, having no interest whatsoever, just focused on eating his food.
"Hey, Feifan..."
Hearing Yan Ziruo suddenly call his name, Yan Feifan looked up to see her pointing at the TV screen. "This actress playing the female lead, Zhao Yuqi—people online say her face has had work done."
"Today, Zhao Yuqi even issued a special statement saying her face is all-natural, and that she'd let a doctor examine it."
"Feifan, can you tell if her face has had plastic surgery?"
Yan Feifan glanced at Zhao Yuqi's bright, beautiful face on the TV screen, shook his head, and said, "The face on the screen has makeup on, it's been processed with lighting effects, and the resolution isn't high enough. I can't tell."
Yan Ziruo, her interest piqued, pressed on, "Feifan, under what circumstances could you tell if someone's had plastic surgery?"
Yan Feifan said casually, "A high-definition, makeup-free photo should work."
"If I could examine the person face-to-face with my own hands, I could be one hundred percent certain."
Tian Yu asked curiously, "Mr. Yan, can you really determine whether someone has had plastic surgery just from a high-definition, makeup-free photo?"
"I can't say I'd be one hundred percent sure."
Yan Feifan explained, "Regardless of whether a person is beautiful or not, the facial features they've grown up with have formed a harmonious whole."
"Once a knife has touched any part of it, that harmony is broken."
"It's a domino effect; it will cause subtle changes in the other facial features. In particular, the skin texture and so on around the incision site will undergo some incongruous changes."
"If it's a makeup-free photo with high enough resolution, I should be able to spot any incongruities."
Yan Ziruo's eyes lit up. She exclaimed excitedly, "I'm going to leave a comment on Zhao Yuqi's official blog right now and see if she dares to post a high-definition, makeup-free photo of herself."
As she spoke, she picked up her phone, found the page, and muttered to herself while typing her comment: "My friend is a renowned medical expert at Binhai University Affiliated Hospital."
"He says he can tell if someone has had plastic surgery just from a high-definition, makeup-free photo."
"To prove her innocence, we ask Zhao Yuqi to release a few high-definition, makeup-free photos."
Tian Yu giggled. "Ruoruo, getting her to post a makeup-free photo is probably impossible."
"I've heard that those female celebrities even sleep with their makeup on when they're not at home, terrified the paparazzi will snap a photo of their bare faces."
Yan Ziruo put down her phone and said nonchalantly, "What if she's confident in herself and decides to post a makeup-free photo?"
"We'd get to see her unadorned beauty and also test Feifan's skills."
"If Zhao Yuqi isn't willing, we don't lose anything..."
Yan Feifan didn't get involved in their nonsense. As he was about to get a second bowl of rice, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.
Tian Yu ran to get the door.
It was their neighbor from the same residential complex, Zhang Rong, who was nearly thirty.
He brought a bag of fruit, along with a medical record and an ultrasound film, asking for Yan Feifan to take a look.
After looking at the medical record and the film, Yan Feifan said, "A 4.5-centimeter uterine fibroid. It's benign."
"It's not a major surgery. The risk is very low, so there's no need to worry."
Zhang Rong took back the medical record and film from Yan Feifan. "The doctor who examined my wife said the same thing."
He then explained, a bit embarrassed, "My wife and I have been married for over two years, but we haven't had any children."
"We went to the District Central Hospital for a check-up a couple of days ago and found out this uterine fibroid is making it difficult for her to conceive."
Zhang Rong said worriedly, "Everyone says the surgery isn't difficult, but a surgery is still a surgery. There's always a 'what if'."
"And we don't have children yet..."
He looked at Yan Feifan and stated his real reason for coming tonight.
"Binhai University Affiliated Hospital is the best hospital in Binhai, and you work there."
"I'd like to ask you for a favor. I want my wife to have this surgery at the Affiliated Hospital!"
Yan Feifan said bluntly, "Putting aside the higher cost of having this surgery at the Affiliated Hospital, there's a good chance the quality of the surgery won't be as good as it would be at the District Central Hospital!"
"How could that be?"
Zhang Rong looked incredulous. "But the Affiliated Hospital is the best hospital in Binhai, isn't it? It has to be at least ten times better than the District Central Hospital, right?"
Yan Feifan explained patiently, "For a minor surgery like this, the Affiliated Hospital lets residents and other junior doctors perform it for practice."
"Of course, the quality of the surgery will definitely be above the passing mark, but you can't expect it to be of the highest quality."
"At the District Central Hospital, on the other hand, this kind of surgery is almost always performed by an attending physician."
Zhang Rong let out a soft "oh," then asked expectantly, "Yan Feifan, could you do me a favor then and ask a director-level doctor from your hospital to perform the surgery for my wife?"
Yan Feifan shook his head and said frankly, "A director won't take on such a minor surgery. There's no need for it."
"If you and your wife are willing, I can perform the surgery for her..."
When Zhang Rong left, he was huffing with anger.
Not only that, he even took the bag of fruit with him...