Chen Lie’s surgery was finally complete, with ten minutes to spare. Huo Shaoheng’s chest relaxed and he now was more than confident with dealing with Bai Changui and Bai Jinyi. He raised his white gloved right hand in a wave, and the armed guards immediately retreated into their ambush positions.
Bai Changhui and Bai Jinyi immediately felt less cornered. “Now what? Did you decide? What good comes from going against the Imperial Administration and Military? You’ve climbed to the rank of Major General at a young age, so you should cherish it—” Bai Changhui immediately unleashed his usual blatant threats and lures as soon as he relaxed.
Huo Shaoheng calmly waited for him to finish and replied dryly, “What you’ve just said, I can return it right back to you.”
“What do you mean?!” Bai Jinyi was at her wit’s end. She had devoted herself to scientific research and although she had yielded no results from that most critical experiment, she had attained many success in other aspects. Otherwise she wouldn’t be the Director of the Insitute of High Energy Physics. She had stayed within the world of academics all these years and had the protection of the Bai family name, so she was less versed in social aspects compared to her older brothers. She also had trouble containing her temper. After waiting for half a day for no results, she was in a terrible mood.
Huo Shaoheng continued to ignore her and only spoke to Bai Changhui, saying, “Deputy Secretary-General Bai, I’ll say it again. I went home to visit family on my holiday and am spending some time with my mother. You can go and check, but tell me which law prevents this?”
“But… that document!” Bai Jinyi rubbed her hands anxiously as she stepped towards the cordon.”That document states that I should be in charge!”
“You should go home and wait for a subpoena.” Huo Shaoheng finally shifted his gaze to Bai Jinyi, his eyes cold and his expression stony. “Director Bai, we have to sort out all that you owe for the past 16 years.” He suddenly turned and loudly commanded, “Anyone who crosses the cordon without a permit is to be arrested on the spot!”
Bai Jinyi didn’t get a chance to stop herself and still propelled forward. As soon as she approached the cordon, Yin Shixiong casually shot twice. The pistol emitted a stuttering noise and scattered the mud by Bai Jinyi’s feet. She shrieked as she fell to the ground and was so terrified she couldn’t stand back up.
“Director Bai, a military order is absolute. Don’t give us trouble.” Yin Shixiong smirked as he warned the Bai siblings. Bai Changhui knew they wouldn’t be able to take away Song Jinning this time and hurriedly helped Bai Jinyi up. “Forget about it. Jinyi, let’s go back first.”
“No! I don’t want to! I have to take Song Jinning! What right does he have?!” Bai Jinyi wailed hysterically. Slap!
Bai Changhui couldn’t sand it anymore and struck her face. “Jinyi, wake up!
We’ll talk about it when we get back! Don’t be an embarrassment!”
Bai Jinyi stared blankly at Bai Changhui after being hit. She covered her cheek and glared at him, unable to speak.
“Take her away.” Bai Changhui ordered his subordinate as he pointed to Bai Jinyi, “We are returning home immediately!”
Huo Shaoheng suppressed the excitement over this victory in his heart and walked calmly to his bulletproof car. Fan Jian started the engine and headed to the official residence. The guards they had brought with them stood up from their ambush positions and rode on motorcycles that had been parked in a hidden parking lot. They followed Huo Shaoheng’s bulletproof vehicle.
…
“Hello, Chief!” The guard standing at the entrance of the official residence saluted Huo Shaoheng. He waved back and strode inside. Looking straight ahead, he crossed the living room and walk to the suite that had been especially fitted as an operating room. Gu Nianzhi was in Operating Room A, while Song Jinning was in Operating Room B. He saw Gu Nianzhi when he passed by Operating Room A—she was still lying in the operating chair and looked pale. Her lips only had the faintest tinge of pink. Carrying a surgical tray, Ye Zitan exited Operating Room A and saw Huo Shaoheng. She immediately stopped. “Huo Shao, the surgery is complete.” She glanced at the unconscious Gu Nianzhi and praised her, saying, “Nianzhi was amazing! She was so brave and donated a lot of bone marrow to Mrs. Song.”
Huo Shaoheng grunted before asking, “Why isn’t she awake yet? Did it hurt?” Looking at Gu Nianzhi’s complexion, Huo Shaoheng couldn’t help thinking she was unnaturally pale.
Ye Zitan laughed awkwardly. “Of course it did, Huo Shao…it was bone marrow extraction.”
Huo Shaoheng’s gaze immediately sharpened, “Didn’t Chen Lie say she would be anaesthetized, so it wouldn’t hurt?”
“We used a small amount of anesthetic gas, so it wasn’t complete anesthesia. She woke up during the second extraction…” Ye Zitan dared not lie to front of Huo Shaoheng and told him everything, including what Chen Lie asked her not to say to him. She had completely forgotten.
Huo Shaoheng was shocked. He glanced at Gu Nianzhi again, then strode to Operating Room B. Chen Lie was standing in front of the computer alone and inputting various observation data. The results would be compared in a week to assess Song Jinning’s recovery. Looking up to see Huo Shaoheng standing silently before him, Chen Lie hurriedly rearranged his face into a smile. “Mr. Huo, is everything good on your end?”
Huo Shaoheng cut to the chase, his face stormy.”Didn’t you say the bone marrow extraction wouldn’t hurt due to the anesthesia?”
Chen Lie immediately realized that Ye Zitan had revealed the truth to Huo Shaoheng. That silly girl. Chen Lie grimaced. He stopped his lips from curving into a complete frown and pushed up the round glasses that were about to slide off his nose as he attempted to change the topic. “Boss, it’s a miracle! Nianzhi’s bone marrow type is almost a perfect match with Mrs. Song, so there’s no rejection at all! I’m now 99% confident in this surgery!”
Huo Shaoheng snorted, leaning forward with his arms on either side of Chen Lie’s desk. His voice was frigid, as he spat out, “Chen Lie, you can’t establish the success of your surgery on the deception of others.”
Chen Lie was silenced. He was entirely guilty, since he had been well aware that the extraction of bone marrow was excruciatingly painful. To ensure the effectiveness of the surgery, he hadn’t used complete anesthesia. Not only had the extraction been done once or twice, but multiple times—it had been truly unkind of him. But, he hadn’t told Huo Shaoheng for his own good. Would they forfeit the surgery just because it hurt and complete anesthesia couldn’t be used?! Of course not! He had prepared for this surgery with Huo Shaoheng for six years, so there was no way they could give up! Now Huo Shaoheng was choosing to give him a hard time over whether it hurt or not. What a joke, Chen Lie thought.
“Boss, pay attention. Where is your decisiveness? Your ruthlessness?” Chen Lie rolled his eyes at Huo Shaoheng and looked down as he gathered his things and replied coolly, “I didn’t deceive anyone. Nianzhi isn’t a kid and is much smarter than you think; she understood the gravity of the situation.”
“She’s very afraid of pain.” Huo Shaoheng revealed. Straightening up, he appeared even more upset. “I had promised her that it wouldn’t hurt.”
“It certainly didn’t hurt in the beginning, but the anesthesia failed afterwards. So you didn’t lie, technically.” Chen Lie hummed as he humored Huo Shaoheng. “Ok, hurry up and go see Mrs. Song. Dr. Ye and I will be staying here today to observe her condition, so we can relax once the night is over and there are no complications.” As long as there was no rejection, Song Jinning’s body would begin repairing its own genes after absorbing Gu Nianzhi’s super self-repairing hematopoietic stem cells. This process would of course take more than one or two days. It would be least one week for Song Jinning to fully regain consciousness. Huo Shaoheng glanced at him before going to the operating chair Song Jinning was lying in. Her complexion was much better than Gu Nianzhi’s—the rosy and delicate skin was astonishingly beautiful. Time seemed to have frozen for 16 years and hadn’t left a trace on her body. Huo Shaoheng looked at Song Jinning with worry and reached out to adjust the blanket for her.
“You can take Nianzhi away. She doesn’t have to stay here. She’s going to wake up soon; if she’s hurting, she’ll feel better if you’re by her side.” Chen Lie grinned from behind Huo Shaoheng in attempts to make amends with the idea.
Huo Shaoheng ignored him. He silently looked at Song Jinning before leaving Operating Room B to go to Operating Room A. He picked up Gu Nianzhi in his arms, then headed to his bedroom. As soon as he laid her on his bed, she woke up and clutched his sleeve. “Huo Shao, it hurts. Make me feel better.” Her irises were shockingly bright as her doe like eyes shimmered with mushed tears. She watched Huo Shaoheng quietly.
Huo Shaoheng, unable to refuse her request, sighed and got into the bed. Embracing her in his arms, he gently patted her back, and lulled her to sleep with gentle words.
“Good girl, it’ll stop hurting. It’ll stop hurting…”