CH 176

In a sense, Amy Borro’s worries were right on the mark—Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan were, quite possibly, determined to stay in the hospital.

It was hard to discern who between Miss Borro and Horace Lee was more distraught at this. 

As ward rounds ticked away, the nurse’s smile became stiffer and stiffer, and the client’s scowl became deeper and deeper. Yan Suizhi took in all of their subtle expressions and gestures; he could read their psychological activities like an open book. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop him from feigning blindness. One of the most rascally things about a certain dean was that not only would he play blind, but he would also dangle hope before them when they were at their most desperate, and then dash their hopes at critical moments—as though toying with little mice.

At 4:30 p.m., Horace Lee needed to get a routine check-up.

Before the check-up, his attending doctor, Dr Xiao, dropped in on him again. He confirmed that the patient was in good condition; his nausea and vomiting weren’t serious, the red rash on his back and thighs had largely subsided, and his fever had gone down.

“Good recovery,” Dr Xiao said, pleased. “There, our Spring Ivy’s treatment is still up to par. In a day’s work, we managed to bring his symptoms under control; the infection treatment centre can definitely do no better.” 

The head nurse and the little troupe of nurses were all delighted. After all, they had managed to defend Spring Ivy’s honour.

Horace Lee was also passably happy. As long as he didn’t have to go to the treatment centre, he was down for anything.

The sole exception was Miss Amy Borro. She was displeased. She kept a sweet smile in front of everyone, but ground her molars when she turned her head, her smile twitching minutely in a display of restrained but implacable agitation. She had already missed countless chances. If this went on, her mission would end in failure. One missed ink would compromise something more important. She couldn’t bear this responsibility, nor did she have the guts to.

“Fortunately…”

Amy Borro thought to herself, thankfully, she was also in charge of Horace Lee’s medical examination. More than that, the two lawyers wouldn’t be there for that, right?

There was no reason for them to. It was impossible.

And she was finally right for once. After Horace Lee removed the needle for his fever, Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan got up to leave.

At least in that split second, Miss Amy Borro and Mr Horace Lee were of the same mind, looking just as though after enduring a lifetime of humiliation, they were at last sending off the two revered ancestors. 

To keep in character, Superstar Actress Amy Borro curiously asked, “Aren’t you coming along?”

“No, thanks.” Gu Yan took his coat from the hanger and draped it over his arm. “It doesn’t involve me. I’ve already asked everything I needed to ask.”

Amy Borro was so relieved that she practically wanted to blow up two carloads of fireworks in celebration. But she managed to keep her expression in check, nodding at Horace Lee, “Come along, Mr Lee, let’s go to the testing facility downstairs.”

She followed behind Horace Lee, her little finger flexing slightly. The grain-sized pellet was still hidden between her fingers, waiting for the right moment to be dropped. 

She had worked it all out. When she got to the testing facility 77, Horace Lee would need to wait for a few more minutes. One reason for that was because he had to wait for the patient before him to be done, and another reason was that he needed to clear his bladder. During which, she could sensibly grab a glass of water and urge Horace Lee to drink it to speed up that physiological reaction.

And the drug would, with that glass of water, be ingested.

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He paused here, then suddenly smiled jokingly at Horace Lee. “Why do you look so upset to hear this, Mr Lee? Have you become addicted to being ill?”

The officers at the door immediately bolted to their feet at that comment, completely triggered.

Amy Borro, “…” 

With the length of time that Horace Lee had dawdled in the hospital, the officers had long suspected that this chap was using his illness to stall for time. But without evidence, they could only spit with anger and watch in disbelief. Now, Yan Suizhi’s words suddenly reminded them…

What if Horace Lee had bribed the doctor to tamper with the medical report, playing up its severity?!

And so, with a breezily spoken sentence by a certain dean, the entourage of two officers became an entourage of six, watching Horace Lee back-to-front and from every side, and the last two even keeping watch on the nurse beside him.

Amy Borro was really about to burst into tears. 

Whilst the dark riptide surged in the inpatient wing, the laboratory floor finally saw new activity.

Jack White, who had been behind closed doors for a few hours, finally emerged from his lounge once more.

The corridor was deserted, and as quiet as it usually was.

The signal lights in front of the lounges of Lin Yuan and his team glowed blue, indicating that ‘someone is resting inside; they might have just fallen asleep after a few long days at work, so please do not disturb.’ 

Spring Ivy Hospital had always been very progressive in this aspect, taking care of these researches even to the smallest of details.

Jack White had always failed to notice these details before, because he was used to them and also because some matters beyond Spring Ivy consumed most of his energy.

He stood still for a while, then reached out to turn off the blue right next to his own lounge. When he shut the door, he suppressed his yawns, which instantly clouded his eyes with a dim sheen of light. He looked lethargic, as though verging on sickness, somewhat different from simple lethargy.

Jack rubbed his temples and rapped his forehead twice, then strode into the lab. 

“Dr White?” There was already someone in the lab.

It was a young man with above-average looks, just a few years out of school. He had a baby face and a dimple on the right side of his face when he smiled.

There had always been a lot of people on Lin Yuan’s research team. Jack White couldn’t recognise most of them to this day. This dimpled man, however, was an exception. Due to his meticulous and conscientious nature, he often helped other researchers sift through research data and was always in the lab to keep an eye on the reactions.

Jack White would often see him; they got along fairly well. 

“You’re on shift again?” Jack White greeted him.

“Yeah.” Shawn scratched his head, saying with a smile, “I slept a few more hours than them. I’m feeling up to it so I’ll just keep an eye on it for a while more. When Dr Lin and the rest are awake, I’ll go back to sleep.”

His fingers kept fiddling with his smart device under the table and he seemed a little nervous. Although he was doing his best to appear natural, when Jack White spoke, his gaze would still frequently dart around.

Luckily, Jack White didn’t notice these. He seemed a little worse for wear. 

Shawn watched Jack White’s every action, secretly concocting a few scenarios in his head.

For example, how should he react if Jack White suddenly raised difficult questions, and then whipped out something or other to menace him?

For example, how should he refuse if Jack White found a legitimate-sounding reason and asked to see some experimental data that was outside of his scope of authority?

For example… 

As a young man who liked to game and watch movies, Shawn played out almost a thousand scenarios in his head. And the result was that Jack White found neither a reason to ask him out of the lab nor showed overly keen interest in their team’s research projects and progress.

Jack White simply swiped his fingerprint and iris to use the machine as usual, and an electronic voice recited his range of permissions. Looking tired, he propped himself on the tabletop, his fingers sluggishly tapping on the virtual keyboard and command keys.

It was standard operations. Research data and results that had been verified or manually modified were usually written into the machine’s cloud storage database like this.

Unknowingly, Shawn stared at him for some time. 

A moment later, Jack White turned his head, asking, “What are you looking at me for? Don’t you have to watch the progress of your reactions?”

“I do, I do.” Shawn felt guilty at the question, and he hastily replied before averting his gaze. It was only a few seconds after that he thought of an excuse to cover up for himself, “I just thought that you look especially exhausted today… are you well? Have you fallen ill?”

Jack White’s fingers didn’t stop.

A moment later, he then said, “Hm? Sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention. What did you just say?” 

“Nothing much, I was just asking if you’ve fallen ill?” Shawn repeated.

This time, Jack White’s response came swiftly, “I haven’t.”

Just after saying that, he involuntarily snivelled, covering another yawn behind his hand.

Shawn, “Um…” 

Jack White’s brows furrowed. He added, “Alright, maybe I’m a bit down with a blasted cold.”

His data was a bit large this time. What usually took two to three minutes ended up taking twenty minutes. He would pause from time to time in between his typing, needing to wait for the data to save and auto-analyse.

As Shawn’s suspicions flared again, Jack White hit the confirmation button.

The virtual keyboard retracted and the machine beeped, indicating that it had been smoothly saved. 

Jack White straightened up, massaged his neck, and waved at Shawn, walking straight for the laboratory door.

“Are… are you leaving, Dr White?” Shawn took a few steps after him.

“Yeah, I haven’t slept in a long time. I’m going back to rest.” Jack White waved without a turn of his head, then stuck his hands into his pocket and left.

His footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor, turning muffled beyond the lab doors that automatically closed behind him. 

Somehow, Shawn felt panicked at that moment.

He had clearly kept a close eye on him just now. His team’s research data and reactive processes were all progressing as normal, without a single hitch.

He hurriedly jogged back to the machine and restlessly checked through it once more. After ascertaining that nothing was amiss, he then squashed down that inexplicable panic, sending a message to Joe.

-Dr White has just left. He didn’t touch our experiments. All clear.