Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“How could this be?” Huo Shaoheng’s recently relaxed eyebrows scrunched together once again. His expression was very solemn. “I don’t understand medicine. Can you explain this more scientifically?”
If it wasn’t for Huo Shaoheng’s rather deep knowledge, Chen Lie would have thought that Huo Shaoheng was deliberately saying this kind of thing to insult him, the greatest physician in the nation!
If he could “scientifically” explain Gu Nianzhi’s special body constitution, he would already have been a pioneer and a major player in international bio-gene medicine! As if he would be shocked silly by a set of examination data?
But even if he understood that Huo Shaoheng wasn’t purposely insulting him, Chen Lie still felt very uncomfortable. Chen Lie had been renowned as a medical genius since he was a teenager. Even his doctorate supervisor had admitted Chen Lie was superior to him.
This was the first time he had encountered a difficult and unsolvable problem.
After sitting behind his desk and mumbling for a long time, Chen Lie finally dropped his eyes and said mildly, “I only have sparse talents, so I can’t ‘scientifically’ explain this situation for now.”
After he said this, he angrily threw his pen down and turned his head away to look blankly at the stainless steel garbage can in the corner.
Huo Shaoheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His mood had relaxed somewhat as he reached out to knock on Chen Lie’s desk. “I was only asking if Nianzhi’s condition can be explained medically. Why are you throwing a fit?”
Chen Lie fumed for a while and also thought that his sudden outburst was a bit inexplicable. Rubbing his head, he chuckled a bit and said somewhat guiltily, “Huo Shao, I wasn’t throwing a fit at you. I was throwing a fit at myself.”
Then he coughed quietly. “I really don’t know why it’s like this, but I have a general idea about what’s causing her physical condition.”
“Say it.”
“…Let’s put it this way. The human body has built-in self-healing functions. Everyone has them. For example, getting sick, having fevers, and fighting viruses are indications of the human body attempting to heal itself, but typical people don’t have powerful self-healing abilities, so they have to go see the doctor and take medication when they can’t handle it.”
Huo Shaoheng nodded. “I know that.”
“As for Gu Nianzhi, her body’s self-healing ability is probably geometrical multiples of that of normal people. That’s why we discovered these qualities.”
Chen Lie stated firmly, “Moreover, from the example of your mother receiving her bone marrow cells and successfully recovering, we can see that Nianzhi’s self-healing abilities can be transferred. In other words, her genes are like medicine that can heal people. That’s the scariest part.”
In the ten plus years since Huo Shaoheng had enlisted into the military during university when he was eighteen, he had witnessed no less major events of life and death than wartime military generals. He had long honed the ability to remain calm and unmoved, even when the world was about to fall apart, but when he heard Chen Lie’s last statement, his face blanched, and he was unable to speak for a long time.
The entire medical building had clearly been set to a constant 27 °C by the central air-conditioning, but Huo Shaoheng thought that the frigid winter air from outside the building had encroached inside. It made his entire body feel cold, and he shivered with a chill.
“So I’m asking you to be even more careful. You can’t let Gu Nianzhi have any more accidents. This time, it was thanks to Professor He being cautious and notifying us to pick her up. If it had been someone else, you can imagine for yourself what the consequences would have been if Gu Nianzhi had been sent to another hospital while she was unconscious.”
Chen Lie warned Huo Shaoheng not only for Gu Nianzhi’s sake but for Huo Shaoheng’s sake as well. To be honest, Huo Shaoheng had actually already seriously violated military discipline. At the very least, he couldn’t escape from the charge of “deceit.” As a soldier, it was an unforgivable felony to go against orders.
Huo Shaoheng’s only excuse was probably that he was never ordered to report all matters related to Gu Nianzhi. From the beginning, the order he had received was to unearth Gu Nainzhi’s past and investigate the person who had drawn the engine blueprints. But if the issue of Gu Nianzhi’s physical constitution was revealed, then those people wouldn’t think that way. They would say that Huo Shaoheng was playing with the terms and would still accuse him of “disobeying orders.” For Gu Nianzhi’s sake, Huo Shaoheng was nearly putting his entire future at risk.
In the face of Chen Lie’s warning, Huo Shaoheng only shook his head nonchalantly and eyed Chen Lie steadily as he said, “As long as you can keep a tight lid on this, I can guarantee there won’t be any problems.”
“Of course I won’t say anything.” Chen Lie fearfully glanced at Huo Shaoheng. “I see Nianzhi as my younger sister. Who would wish for their family member to be treated like a lab rat? You can be assured one hundred and eighty times.”
“Good.” Huo Shaoheng stood up and adjusted his military cap. “Then that’s fine. I’ll go take Nianzhi to stay at my official residence for two days. I’ll seriously consider what to do next.”
Chen Lie didn’t object. He winked at Huo Shaoheng. “Go, go, but her serious injury has just healed, so you’d better be gentle…”
Huo Shaoheng pretended not to hear the vulgar meaning behind Chen Lie’s words and turned to walk out of his office. He went to the intensive care ward outside.
Gu Nianzhi was sitting on the couch and absentmindedly cradling a glass of hot water. She looked up to see Huo Shaoheng come in, her pitch black eyes damp and glossy as she mumbled feebly, “… Huo Shao, I’m hungry.”
Huo Shaoheng: “…..”
He had originally been full of dread, but even his biggest worry dissipated when he saw her look like a little kitten begging for food. There was nothing more important than food in the heavens and earth.
“Let’s go. Come to my place.” Huo Shaoheng walked to Gu Nianzhi and helped her stand up.
“I’m fine. I can walk by myself.” Gu Nianzhi didn’t want to let him support her. She wasn’t even injured. Why did she have to pretend to be a patient?
Huo Shaoheng shot her a sidelong glance. “Aren’t you hungry? So you can actually walk?”
Fine, that sounded right, too.
Gu Nianzhi stopped struggling and obediently allowed Huo Shaoheng to help her back to his official residence. On the way, Huo Shaoheng called to ask the kitchen to prepare food for her.
The kitchen in the official residence had all sorts of ingredients prepared all year, as well as all sorts of clear broth simmering on low heat. When they heard Gu Nianzhi hadn’t eaten all day, the orderlies in the kitchen had prepared a bowl of fine noodles in chicken soup made using braised free-range yellow hen. Free-range yellow hens are young hens that live outside a coop and are less than a year old.
It had been been simmering on low heat for nearly an entire day, and all the oil had been skimmed off. Even the chicken meat had dissolved into the soup. Two handfuls of vegetables, a bit of bean sprouts, and a bit of salt were added before it was served in a small white ceramic bowl.
As soon as Gu Naiznhi walked inside, she immediately smelled the aroma of chicken soup. She followed the smell and ran off to the dining room by herself.
Huo Shaoheng followed her inside and saw that Gu Nianzhi was already cradling a small bowl of fine noodles. She ate so happily her eyes were squinting, so he felt assured enough to go back to his own room.
His room was on the second floor. It was a suite containing a study, office, bedroom, and living room.
After going inside, he immediately turned on his computer to receive the work report sent by the field personnel. After the four field personnel concluded their meeting, they summarized the situation as of late and wrote a detailed report.
Huo Shaoheng opened the email and began concentrating on reading it. The report wasn’t too long. It was only three pages, yet Huo Shaoheng spent an entire fifteen minutes reading it.
The report was written in detail about all sorts of situations in Gu Nianzhi’s life over the past few days. Aside from daily trivial matters, there were several things that made Huo Shaoheng vigilant. For example, there was one time she had nearly been hit by a bicycle on campus. Also, there had been strangers appearing around Gu Nianzhi lately. Although they didn’t do anything inappropriate, these people would discreetly follow her whenever she appeared on campus.
If Special Operations Forces personnel claimed they were second-best when it came to secretly following people, then no one would dare claim they were the very best. These people’s actions couldn’t be noticed by typical people, and even Gu Nianzhi hadn’t noticed them spying on her whereabouts, but from the way the Special Ops personnel saw it, it was the difference between an expert and a novice.
However, these people were really only paying attention to Gu Nianzhi. They didn’t take even the slightest actions. The Special Ops personnel only watched them but didn’t expose their whereabouts. And in the last few days, these people had already disappeared from B University campus and hadn’t returned again, so the Special Ops personnel weren’t certain if those people were actually targeting Gu Nianzhi.
The Special Ops personnel were planning to report these circumstances to Huo Shaoheng at their next regular meeting; they typically had a regular meeting every fifteen days. However, Gu Nianzhi already experienced this situation.
Huo Shaoheng agreed with his subordinates. He instinctively felt these people weren’t all that they seemed, but then why didn’t they do anything at all? These people only seemed to be observing from the shadows, so maybe they were being too paranoid? Huo Shaoheng lost himself in his thoughts.
After Gu Nianzhi finished a delicious bowl of fine noodles in chicken soup, she instantly felt energy return to her body again.
Wiping her mouth, she returned to her room on the second floor to take a shower. She felt that she was already stinky from lying in bed for a day and night, then also running a high fever for a whole night, but Huo Shaoheng didn’t seem to mind at all…
Gu Nianzhi sat in the bathtub and took a bubble bath. However, she recalled Huo Shaoheng’s deep and magnetic voice when he had sung “Fireflies Fly” for her before she fell asleep.
Oh my god! It was so nice!
Why was she so smart yesterday? She should applaud herself!
She remembered that when she first came under the care of Huo Shaoheng, he had found soothing lullabies for her. When he wasn’t home, Gu Nianzhi would play it herself and soothe herself to sleep.
Out of all the lullabies, Gu Nianzhi only remembered the song “Fireflies Fly.” The only reason was because the song’s melody was very beautiful, and the lyrics didn’t sound like a lullaby at all. She had grumbled about it when she was young, so she remembered it clearly. Now that she thought about, Huo Shaoheng must’ve become familiar with it back then so he was able to sing it.
All soldiers can sing, and Gu Nianzhi was deeply familiar with this fact. Military songs are loud, but they aren’t simple. However, Huo Shaoheng really hadn’t sung before, or at least Gu Nianzhi had never heard him sing.
This time, she had taken advantage of getting injured and had somehow gotten her way. In the moment, Gu Nianzhi somewhat lamented she had healed too quickly, otherwise she could have asked him to sign it once again.
Her thoughts grew wild as she sat in the tub, and before she knew it, the water in the tub had become cold.
Huo Shaoheng walked to the bathroom door and knocked. “Nianzhi, are you done?”
Gu Nianzhi composed herself and quickly stood up from the bathtub. She turned on the shower to rinse herself off and wrapped herself in a bath towel before coming out.
As soon as she opened the bathroom door, Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo Shaoheng as if she had never seen him before.
Huo Shaoheng became unnerved from her looking at him like that. “What is it?”
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes rolled as she put her hands on her hips. “Huo Shao, my bones still hurt…”
“They still hurt?” Somehow, Huo Shaoheng appeared greatly relieved. “Then that means you haven’t healed yet?”
Gu Nianzhi: “…..”
She continued the momentum. “Yes, it still hurts. Can Huo Shao sing another lullaby for me when I can’t sleep later?”
Huo Shaoheng: “…..”
“… Do you also want to be kissed, bugged, and carried up high?” Huo Shaoheng coldly looked at her, folding his hands behind his back. He was unperturbed and saw right through her little trick. He would never sing that type of song again.
Gu Nianzhi rubbed her nose nervously. “That’s all right…”
They walked to the bedroom. Huo Shaoheng had already set a redacted version of the field personnel’s work report on her desk. “Look at this information and try to remember if there has been any unusual people appearing around you lately.”
