After Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng experienced the enthusiasm of the Dass Fertility and Medical Clinic, they mentally prepared themselves for the next visit. They were calm and composed as they followed a local nurse to a consultation room.
“Please wait momentarily. The doctor will be here to see you right away.” The nurse was a local, so she spoke to them directly in English.
Huo Shaoheng thought for a moment, then asked, “Can you speak Japanese?”
The nurse froze, then replied with embarrassment, “I only know a little bit of basic Japanese, so I can’t converse with you. But…” She thought about it then said, “I can ask a Japanese doctor to see you.”
“That would be the best.” Huo Shaoheng nodded in agreement.
Gu Nianzhi continually smiled cheerfully at them and nodded at the nurse.
A real-time translation program was running in her Bluetooth headset, so everything she heard was being instantly translated into Chinese or English.
Although it wasn’t as accurate as in-person real-time interpretation, she was able to understand the gist of the conversation.
Gu Nianzhi was able to understand the Japanese speaking middle-aged women at the Dass Fertility and Medical Clinic because of this program.
The nurse strode out of the consultation room.
A short while later, a Japanese doctor entered the room wearing a lab coat with a toothbrush mustache and medium build. He brought in two Japanese nurses with thin eyebrows and delicate lips.
He greeted Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi in Japanese as soon as he walked through the door.
Of course, Huo Shaoheng repeated everything he said at the Dass Fertility and Medical Clinic once again.
The male doctor stared at Gu Nianzhi for a while, then asked Huo Shaoheng, “Can you please ask your wife to remove her sunglasses?”
Huo Shaoheng raised a brow and asked, “Why? My wife is rather shy, so she isn’t accustomed to dealing with strangers. Her psychiatrist especially reminded me to let her wear sunglasses when we visit clinics, so she can feel more secure and not get anxious.”
Huo Shaoheng even used a psychiatrist as an excuse, so the Japanese male doctor couldn’t continue asking Gu Nianzhi to take off her sunglasses.
But he turned around and looked up at Huo Shaoheng as he said, “And yourself? Did the psychiatrist ask you to keep your sunglasses on, too?”
He was hoping that Huo Shaoheng would remove his sunglasses.
Huo Shaoheng shook his head and said, “This is my personal preference because I hurt my eyes before and have weak vision. My eyes hurt as soon as I see sunlight.”
Huo Shaoheng spoke so confidently that even Gu Nianzhi was starting to believe him…
The male Japanese doctor became very excited and pointed at Gu Nianzhi. “She is your wife and was born deaf and mute. You are her husband, but your eyes were injured, and you have weak vision… Haha, how did you two end up together? This is against gene optimization conditions, so I don’t think the children you will have will be very healthy…”
Huo Shaoheng was very displeased, as his expression darkened immediately. He said, “What are you saying? Why would we come to consult at this kind of clinic if we were both normal people? I am sorry, you are making me very uncomfortable, so we will be leaving now. We don’t want to seek treatment at a clinic that doesn’t respect their patients.” As he spoke, he grabbed Gu Nianzhi’s hand and began to walk out.
The male Japanese doctor was an outstanding figure in his field of research, so he had always been revered like a god by all his patients.
He was very uncomfortable to be spoken to like that by a random patient, so he instantly frowned and replied in a strange tone, “You are patients consulting with me, so you must listen to everything I say. Why are you acting like this? If everyone acted like you, why would anyone need to see a doctor?! Go back to where you came from!”
The male doctor only intended to intimidate them a bit so the two patients would obey.
Unexpectedly, Huo Shaoheng didn’t take kindly to this at all.
Pushing the sunglasses up his face, he turned around and spoke to Gu Nianzhi very gently in Japanese, saying, “…Let’s go home.”
Gu Nianzhi heard the translated voice over her Bluetooth headset and nodded automatically. She put her hand on Huo Shaoheng’s arm.
The couple walked out of Batti’s Fertility Aid Center just like that.
The male Japanese doctor had never met patients with a bigger ego than a doctor’s, so he looked very sour.
“Don’t ask me to see such smug patients from now on! I am very busy!” He frantically ran his hands through his hair, then turned to leave the consultation room. When he got to the door, he even kicked it very hard to vent his rage and frustration.
…
Gu Nianzhi and Huo Shaoheng got back into the car. He Zhichu smiled at them as he looked at the watch and said sarcastically, “Aside from the half an hour you waited to get a consultation, you returned victorious after seeing the doctor for a whole five minutes? I already told you many times before; these places are shabby and not worth going at all.”
Gu Nianzhi was also very angry. Her eyebrows furrowed as she retorted in dissatisfaction, “What is wrong with their attitudes? I have never seen such a smug doctor, even when I went to the world’s top-ranking Johns Hopkins Hospital!”
Not only did he disrespect his patients, but he didn’t treat them like humans either. All he did was command them and treat the patients like slaves.
Huo Shaoheng leaned against the back seat as he ordered the driver to leave. He replied nonchalantly, “Looks like he is very confident about his research and sills. That is why he is so fearless.”
“Confident? Haha…” He Zhichu smirked in silence.
Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes as she leaned towards He Zhichu’s front seat and asked cheerfully, “Professor He, do you know what’s going on with them? Can you tell us if you know anything? Even if it’s just a tiny bit of information?”
He Zhichu turned around to look at her, then shrugged and said, “I really don’t know what those people are doing. But I do know that technological advancement shouldn’t require such methods. They will never achieve true technological advancement if they use these methods.”
Gu Nianzhi blinked her huge, dark eyes as she tried hard to digest what He Zhichu was saying.
After contemplating for a while, she asked in confusion, “So you mean that they are actually doing scientific research?”
“Research?? Perhaps. Science? Unlikely.” He Zhichu continued to act sarcastic and holier than thou as he said, “Just look at how they’ve struggled. Have they even achieved any results? That idiot doctor with the toothbrush mustache acted like he possessed universal wisdom just now, but I bet that he hasn’t even learned the number of base pairs in human genes.”
Gu Nianzhi’s slowly widened her eyes with a look of admiration. “…Professor He, so do you know the number of base pairs in human genes? But what are base pairs, exactly?”
Gu Nianzhi’s face was like a question mark full of curiosity.
He Zhichu pursed his lips and was a bit frustrated.
The saying was true. The more you speak, the more trouble you get into.
Huo Shaoheng casually observed this from the side, then replied calmly, “Nianzhi, Professor He studies the law. How would he know about base pairs in human genes? If you really want to know, it’ll probably be faster for you to look it up online.”
“Oh? Really? I forgot that Professor He studies the law.” Gu Nianzhi turned around to give Huo Shaoheng a sweet smile, then took out her phone to conduct a search.
The couple sang their merry tune in an attempt to goad He Zhichu in revealing more information. But this time, He Zhichu didn’t speak again no matter how much they provoked him.
…
It was nearly noon by the time they left Batti’s Fertility Aid Center. Huo Shaoheng looked at the information from their research and consulted with Gu Nianzhi and He Zhichu. “There are still two more clinics, do we need to take a look?” he asked.
Gu Nianzhi looked at He Zhichu first and made a bold suggestion when she saw He Zhichu acting as though this had nothing to do with him. “…How about we go back now? I think that all the clinics have similar business scopes and models, so the other two won’t be very meaningful now that we’ve already visited two. It won’t be a loss if we don’t go.”
They might also alert the enemy if they showed up at all four clinics.
Since they had already gone to two of the more representative clinics and had an argument with the male Japanese doctor at Batti’s Fertility Aid Center, it made sense that they didn’t continue going to the other clinics.
This wouldn’t alert the enemy by causing them to think their appearance and disappearance were too sudden.
Huo Shaoheng nodded calmly and said, “…This is exactly what I was thinking.”
He looked at Gu Nianzhi with a smile. They were so in sync that it was nauseating.
He Zhichu silently balled his hands into fists in the front seat and closed his eyes.
Trouble unseen was no trouble at all.
…
That afternoon, the four of them returned to He Zhichu’s apartment in the affluent area of New Delhi.
The South Asian sun had already reached scorching summer levels.
Gu Nianzhi was soaking in sweat in the time it took for her to leave the air-conditioned car and walk the short distance to the steps of the manor.
She fanned herself and mumbled, “This is only early summer, but it’s already so hot. Won’t people die from the heat by the time it’s actually summer?”
“Many people die of heat in New Delhi and Mumbai every year. This isn’t anything new.” He Zhichu turned around and replied dryly, “Go inside quickly. There is air conditioning in the house.”
A gust of cool air hit them as soon as they walked in the centrally air-conditioned manor.
Inhaling deeply, Gu Nianzhi walked to the kitchen and poured a glass of ice water then quickly downed it.
She then went to the fridge to get a Haagen-Dazs raisin ice cream bar and ate it as she walked around.
During the car ride, Huo Shaoheng had already gone through all the information they gleaned from the visits and completed a simple analysis.
He asked Gu Nianzhi, “I have some ideas now, do you want to hear my analysis?”
Gu Nianzhi nodded quickly and said, “Yes, of course.”
She noticed He Zhichu quietly standing alone in the corner with his head down and looking sad. She couldn’t bear seeing him like this, so she wanted to give He Zhichu something to work on instead of being lost in his thoughts. She smoothly asked, “…Can Professor He listen to the analysis with me?”
Huo Shaoheng glanced at He Zhichu, then smiled and said, “That can work if Professor He is willing to listen.”
He Zhichu had no intention of listening since this had nothing to do with him. He didn’t want to give it any of his attention at all.
But Gu Nianzhi was concerned about this, so he must focus his attention and join in for her sake.
He Zhichu nodded subtly. “I can listen from the sidelines if Alex doesn’t mind.”
Huo Shaoheng glanced at his watch. “Let’s have lunch first, and then we will need to borrow Professor He’s study. Also, bring Reinitz out here. I have something to ask him.”
