As the nurse pushed open the door to the examination room, Li Du saw a very amusing sight.
Flagstaff was a little town with a small population. It was not unexpected that there were no patients in the examination room, but only a young, blonde, female doctor.
She wore a white coat, with her blonde hair falling on her shoulders like strands of golden willow. From the side, Li Du could see the vivacious curve formed by her slim body.
When the door was opened, she first calmly started operating the mouse. However, perhaps because the computer didn't respond, her actions quickly became agitated as she took out the keyboard with her left hand, and began tapping.
However, those taps quickly turned into unrestrained smashing, while her right hand was frantically moving the mouse. As she turned her head in their direction, Li Du was able to see a beautiful but panicked face. The nurse grinned at the sight. "Hi, Sophie, my cute damsel, were you covertly browsing Amazon again?"
Sophie shook her head hard, causing her blonde hair to sway like a delicate willow being caressed by a gentle spring breeze. "Ah, of course not! I swear to God, I wasn't browsing Amazon!"
"Then you were browsing e-Bay," the nurse confidently assumed.
Sophie continued to shake her head. "No, I, I didn't…"
"Do you swear to God?" The nurse pressed.
Hearing that, the doctor let out a defeated look before murmuring, "Shoot, the computer froze again. Why can't the hospital give us a newer one?"
"Alright Dr. Sophie, let's get to work. There's a kitten here that's hurt very badly and needs your immediate attention," the nurse said with a smile.
"Kitten?" As Li Du looked at the animal in his arms, he couldn't help but question whether it could really be considered a kitten.
At this time, Ah Meow had already lost all its previous energy and could only droop its head while occasionally letting out a small "Meow."
At the sight of the injured yellow cat, Sophie's embarrassment was gone, and she became confident and stern.
After putting on a pair of latex gloves, she opened the hunting trap and started diagnosing. "It is facing a substantial hip injury, including pelvic contraction and possible femur damage. Also, its lumbar fascia and sartorius have various degrees of tear. Its longissimus thoracis and tail muscle were also damaged…
"Thank God, the clamp doesn't seem to have hurt any major arteries, but I can't determine whether or not its ureter, bladder, or colon are hurt. To be completely certain, I'll have to do a CT scan."
"Can you help it?" Li Du asked.
Sophie frowned as she looked at him. He wasn't quite sure why, but the movement of her brows reminded him of his childhood memories of rolling up willow leaves to make whistles.
"The outer injuries can be easily patched, but I will require more advanced equipment to determine the degree of organ impairment and other inner injuries. You are too careless, how can you put hunting traps inside your house?"
"This isn't my cat, I found it in the wilderness. Can this hospital provide the necessary equipment for further care?"
Nodding her head, Sophie answered, "Of course, but I suggest you find an actual animal clinic."
"Why? Does this one not accept animals?"
"No, it's not like that. It's just that the fees here are a lot more expensive than in a vet. I'm almost certain that your cat doesn't have health insurance, so the cost is going to be quite substantial."
Li Du understood now, but he didn't care. He had just earned more than three thousand dollars. It wouldn't be too costly to spend some money on curing the cat.
After receiving his affirmative answer, Sophie gave him an inspection sheet and asked the nurse to go through the tests. In the meantime, she went to prepare for the surgery.
When the test results came in, it was quite positive. The yellow cat had very strong muscles near its belly and legs, so the trap didn't hurt its inner organs.
Dr. Sophie and the nurse then worked for half an hour before returning. This time, Ah Meow had already been fully enveloped in bandages and was soundly asleep. The cat was quite cute in its sleep, letting out small snores. However, when Li Du got the bill, he was stunned and stood there blankly for a while.
Sophie carefully watched as she asked, "Sir, you can pay the bill, right? You won't run away?"
By the side, the nurse was fiercely staring at him with a look that said, "I dare you to run away."
Before the surgery, the hospital had notified him in advance of the cost. And the surgery did not start until Li Du had signed off. However, American hospitals were very tricky. Their statements were all separated, so when the total came out, it was over two thousand dollars!
That was more than his living for half a year!
"I'll just treat this as a donation," he comforted himself. This money had come easily to Li Du; it was not too hard for him to persuade himself that it was worth spending it on saving a life.
Li Du left the hospital with Ah Meow and returned to the red-light district.
It was almost sunset before Li Du saw Hans unsteadily step out.
"Yo Big Fox, you've got quite the stamina, not even a bit tired after an entire afternoon with women," Li Du mocked.
"Don't use that tone with me," Hans grunted. "Do you think I was in there only for the women? Wrong, I was looking for information that could make us rich!"
"What information?"
"My God, of course, information on other auctions! This is a pub, a pub where treasure hunters come to socialize, and as they start getting tipsy, they also leak important information."
"What information did you get this time?"
Hans threw a bottle of beer in his direction and answered, "There's another auction hosted by the Bachelor Public Storage firm in two days. Apparently, in this auction, there's going to be a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Similar auction to the massage chair one. Can you find it?"
"Yep, it's still a fifty percent chance," Li Du confirmed.
"Good, but that being said, this time, the competition is going to be a lot fiercer; we need to manage our finances in the next few days carefully," Hans stated with a serious look. "My estimation is that we'll probably need three or four thousand if we want to get the one storage we want successfully."
Li Du paused. "That much?"
"That isn't much; don't you still have thirty-six hundred? We can use that as principle. Dammit, what's that look?"
Li Du pointed towards the passenger seat and responded, "I would be perfectly happy to pay for the principle. However, this afternoon, I picked up an injured cat. Then I took it to the clinic for treatment, and it cost me two thousand dollars."
"Holy Virgin Mary, you are kidding me! It cost over two thousand to treat a cat? Are you f*cking sure that you are treating a cat and not a tiger!?"
"I think it should be described as a cat and not a tiger," Li Du said while picking up the cage.
Hans's temper was beginning to flare, but when he saw the caged cat again, he swallowed what he was going to say before leaning closer for a better look.
Just as Hans bent a bit closer, Ah Meow gave him a calm stare before quickly striking with its claws! Thankfully, Ah Meow was blocked by the cage so that he couldn't fulfill its wish.
"Sh*t, this little one is quite tempered. Hey buddy, looks like you really don't engage in unprofitable business!" Hans said while letting out a laugh.
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