Chapter 27

C27 – Body Mutation

“Is it possible to not be restrained?” Ye Hao’s complexion turned ghostly pale.

“You must stay still during the operation, or it could compromise the procedure,” the attending physician said, shaking her head gently.

“Fine,” Ye Hao reluctantly agreed.

Two nurses and other medical staff quickly secured Ye Hao’s limbs, then they all pressed down on his arms and legs in unison.

“Are you ready?” the attending physician inquired.

“Yes,” Ye Hao responded.

As the scalpel sliced through his flesh, Ye Hao felt a searing pain that caused his limbs to instinctively thrash about, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Despite the agony, he refrained from crying out.

The attending physician had a sudden thought. “Put some gauze in his mouth.”

A nurse promptly handed Ye Hao a wad of gauze to bite down on, anticipating that the pain might cause him to inadvertently bite his tongue.

Once the surgery was successfully completed, the attending physician was astounded. Patients often passed out, but this eighteen-year-old student had endured, remaining conscious even past the midpoint of the operation without a hint of struggle.

Such formidable willpower was something the physician had never encountered before.

“The surgery was a complete success,” the attending physician announced with a smile, wheeling Ye Hao out of the operating room an hour later to Guo Xiu.

“That’s a relief. Thank you so much, doctor,” Guo Xiu said, her gratitude evident.

Noticing the time nearing 1:30 p.m., Ye Hao felt an urgency to get out of bed.

“What are you doing?” Guo Xiu exclaimed, startled by his sudden movement.

“I need to take the SAT,” he declared.

“Stop joking around.”

“Mom, I’m really okay,” Ye Hao assured her, smiling.

“How could you be okay?” Guo Xiu retorted, her expression grave.

After a moment’s pause, Ye Hao reached for a paring knife on the nightstand.

“What in the world are you doing?” Guo Xiu’s heart lurched.

Grasping the knife, Ye Hao made a small cut, and blood quickly welled up. He then turned to Guo Xiu and said softly, “Mom, please look at my hand.”

“Ye Hao...” Guo Xiu was too anxious to inspect his hand, instead, she snatched the knife away, exasperated. “Have you lost your mind?”

Lan Xiaodie hadn’t really noticed Ye Hao before, but that changed when he topped the class. From then on, she kept a close eye on him. What she didn’t see coming was Ye Hao’s abrupt transfer to No.3 High School.

“It’s quite a tale,” Ye Hao said with a gentle shake of his head.

“Okay, I’ll leave you be. Just make sure you ace these next two exams,” Lan Xiaodie said before turning to head back to her seat.

The Chemistry exam questions were straightforward.

Ye Hao breezed through the test in thirty minutes. After a quick review, he rose to submit his paper early.

“He’s turning it in already?”

“That was just half an hour!”

“He’s always the first to finish.”

Post-exam, Ye Hao made his way to a bench on the field and stretched out for a quick rest. He found that sleep sped up his recovery.

Awakened by the buzz of students, Ye Hao realized the Chemistry exam was over. He squinted, rested a bit longer, then rose and headed back to class with twenty minutes to spare before the next test.

The Geography exam was even easier than the Chemistry one.

It took Ye Hao just twenty minutes to complete it. Amidst his classmates’ stunned looks, he stood and submitted his paper.

Lan Xiaodie watched Ye Hao leave the classroom with a complex look. She didn’t believe he was showing off; after all, no one would dare to trivialize such matters. Clearly, Ye Hao had immense confidence in his performance.

Yet, Lan Xiaodie was puzzled about why Ye Hao would skip an exam. But it didn’t matter anymore. She was convinced that Ye Hao had no chance of getting into one of the top six universities.

Ye Hao didn’t bother going back to the hospital. The doctors would be astounded by the rapid healing of his wounds.

Back home, Ye Hao wasn’t in the mood to look up the exam answers online. Normally, the correct answers would be posted soon after the exams, or students could pick up a hard copy at school the next day.

He hadn’t been resting for an hour when Zhang Jinsheng arrived with the exam answers in hand.

“Stay put,” Zhang Jinsheng urged as he noticed Ye Hao attempting to rise. “Just lie back and rest.”

“Mr. Zhang, I feel much better,” Ye Hao assured him, sitting up despite the advice.

“The school administrators are eager to see your scores, so they sent me to bring your paper answers,” Zhang Jinsheng admitted, a hint of sheepishness in his voice.

“Let me see,” Ye Hao said, reaching for the papers.

About half an hour later, Ye Hao closed the papers, having finished reviewing them.

“What score do you think you got this time?” Zhang Jinsheng couldn’t hide his excitement as he asked.

Even though it was clear that Ye Hao wouldn’t make it into one of the top six elite institutions, the faculty at No.3 High School were still very much anticipating his test scores.