Impostor

Impostor

Lü Qinggong's letter of recommendation had been written by Huang Ji himself. He had imitated Lü Qinggong's manner of speech, then found an internet café, logged into Lü Qinggong's personal email account, and sent out two letters of introduction.

Combined with some clever timing and psychological manipulation, Huang Ji had created an opportunity to interview directly with Dean Hong.

The outcome of the interview was unimportant. Huang Ji had never actually wanted a job.

With his genuine depth of knowledge, Huang Ji successfully spoke with Dean Hong for two hours. The man had even personally made two calls and arranged for Huang Ji to meet with several other professors.

Without a doubt, Huang Ji had begun a chain of "scams."

With Dean Hong's recommendation, Huang Ji found Professor Lin Tao. All it took was one sentence: "Hello, Professor Lin. I'm Hua Xu. Dean Hong asked me to come see you."

That gave Huang Ji the opportunity to have in-depth exchanges with a whole group of PhD students and professors from Tongji University's Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism.

This time, there was no need to pretend to stutter. He spoke with ease and eloquence, successfully making Professor Lin regard him as someone worth nurturing.

When he finally left, Professor Lin Tao told Huang Ji to take Tongji University's in-service postgraduate entrance exam that October. He would only need to bring his diploma for on-site verification before taking the test.

Since he believed Huang Ji would definitely pass, Professor Lin had already begun treating him as his student.

He allowed Huang Ji to enter and leave the laboratory every day and discuss problems with him.

That made things far too convenient. The knowledge in the minds of all the PhD students and professors in several nearby campus laboratories became Huang Ji's for the taking.

Huang Ji no longer had to chase after every person and talk to them for hours. With this status, he could approach them whenever he wanted.

For any one person, he only needed to remain nearby for half an hour each morning, then get close to them for another half hour in the afternoon.

After repeating that for two or three days, even with top-tier professors, Huang Ji could absorb all their cutting-edge knowledge.

As for the exam...

Huang Ji readily agreed, but he obviously would not go in October. He did not even have a middle school diploma, and he was supposed to take a postgraduate entrance exam?

If he had even a bachelor's degree, he would have plenty of ways to enter major research institutes. The simplest would be to apply directly!

Huang Ji was confident that as long as he was given an interview opportunity, he could legitimately get in and work through open recruitment.

But he did not even have a middle school diploma, so he could only rely on deception.

And so, three days passed.

Huang Ji wandered through the major laboratories at Tongji University, sometimes touring them, sometimes chatting, sometimes discussing and exchanging ideas with a posture of seeking guidance.

More often than not, wherever his gaze fell over the course of a day, there was always someone there, and at minimum, an associate professor.

Sometimes, when everyone was busy, he would even take the initiative to serve tea and water, or pick up a mop and clean.

Everyone gradually grew accustomed to his presence. Some simply treated him as Professor Lin's student and asked him to help deliver things.

Delivering things was Huang Ji's favorite task.

At present, he could only freely enter laboratories in the same building. But once he was delivering something, he might come into contact with professors from other departments.

Or chief physicians at affiliated hospitals, even hospital directors.

Over the past few days, Huang Ji had been using every possible method to approach department heads and directors at major hospitals, as well as PhD students and professors at major universities.

From internal medicine to surgery, from pharmacology to anatomy, from emergency medicine and clinical nursing to stem-cell regenerative medicine, artificial hearts, and organ transplants, Huang Ji had overlooked none of them.

Magic City had many hospitals ranked among the best in the country, key Ministry of Education laboratories, and all sorts of medical engineering research centers.

Huang Ji had done everything he could to infiltrate them, gaining a massive amount of knowledge and extensive clinical experience.

However, some places were still especially difficult to enter.

For example, the Academy of Sciences' Key Laboratory of Human Genome Research.

Huang Ji observed the place from outside and scoped it out for two days before finally waiting for an opportunity.

That day, he entered the security office with a smile and said, "Hello, I'm here for an internship. Academician Liu asked me to come register."

The guard checked and found that there really was a doctoral student returning from Canada that afternoon, someone who had studied at the University of British Columbia and was coming for an internship.

"Your name is..."

Huang Ji smiled. "Li Wensi."

"Oh, go directly to Director Zhao's office. Building C, third floor, room 305." The guard had him register, then let him through.

Huang Ji entered Building C right in front of the guard, but immediately slipped out through the back door and circled around to Building B.

This was the experimental building, where at least one or two top experts worked every day.

Of course, Huang Ji could not actually go see Director Zhao. The man had photographs, so Huang Ji could not impersonate him.

After glancing at the surveillance cameras, Huang Ji discovered there were no blind spots.

He hesitated for a second, then lowered his head and walked in. Although the cameras captured his entire body, he was certain that from this angle, they could not capture his face clearly.

"They actually require electronic credentials." As soon as Huang Ji entered, he glanced at the elevators from afar and found that they were not for just anyone to use.

A work credential was needed to activate the elevator, and each credential could only access a fixed floor or return to the first floor.

Just as he turned to take the stairs, he noticed a woman carrying two sheets of paper stride in from outside.

His retreat had been cut off.

At that moment, if Huang Ji backed away from the elevator doors and instead took the emergency passage on the other side of the lobby, it would look highly suspicious.

In that instant, Huang Ji slowed his pace while swiftly pulling out his phone.

He dialed the number of the woman behind him!

Ring, ring, ring! Several meters behind Huang Ji, the woman's phone suddenly rang. She stopped and answered it.

"Hello? Is this Liu Xin from the Organic Synthesis Laboratory?" Huang Ji asked into the phone.

"Yes..." The woman behind him held her phone to her ear and froze.

Because she could see Huang Ji standing several meters ahead of her, saying the exact same words.

Apparently unaware that she was directly behind him, he continued, "Oh, I'm the new Li Wensi. Director Zhao asked me to find you in Room 401 of Building B. Are you in the lab? I've already arrived downstairs at Building B. Should I come to your office now? Hello?"

As he spoke, he slowly walked toward the elevator.

"Huh?" Seeing this, Liu Xin smiled and approached Huang Ji, patting him on the shoulder.

Huang Ji turned around, covered his phone, and asked, "You are?"

"I'm Liu Xin," she said with a smile.

Huang Ji was stunned. "Ah?"

Liu Xin waved her phone.

"So Sister Liu was right behind me..." Huang Ji said in realization.

"Ha ha..." The two put down their phones and shook their heads with laughter.

Just like that, the two of them had unknowingly become much more familiar with each other.

Huang Ji smiled and introduced himself. "I'm Li Wensi. I just returned from Canada. We'll be colleagues from now on, so please take good care of me, Sister Liu."

"Li Wensi... Oh! I know. You're that international student who got a PhD from UBC, right? You turned down the university's offer to stay and came back to work in the country. Academician Liu recruited you. I didn't expect you to be assigned to the Organic Synthesis Laboratory," Liu Xin said.

"That's right, that's right. I came back to serve the country," Huang Ji said with a smile, keeping himself on Liu Xin's left side so that he would be farther from the elevator...

Sure enough, when they reached the elevator, Liu Xin instinctively took out her card and tapped it against the elevator reader.

Just like that, Huang Ji easily slipped inside.

In the elevator, the two chatted and laughed. Huang Ji told her quite a few amusing stories from his time at school.

Because Huang Ji knew that Liu Xin was deeply nostalgic for her student days. She had many precious memories from that time, and at least three of her most unforgettable experiences had happened during that period.

After reaching the fourth floor as he wished, Huang Ji saw only a few people working.

Liu Xin had not the slightest doubt about Huang Ji's identity and led him over to introduce him to the other experts.

At a glance, Huang Ji locked onto the most knowledgeable man there. He was forty-seven, and his receding hairline had nearly reached the back of his head.

"This is the new Li Wensi..." Liu Xin introduced him, then pointed at the balding man. "Little Li, this is..."

Huang Ji smiled. "Academician Pan, no introduction is necessary. I had long heard of your great reputation even in Canada."

"Is that so?" Academician Pan was somewhat surprised.

"Of course. In 2007, you visited UBC for an inspection. Before leaving, you gave us a lecture at the university. During the interview session afterward, I asked you a question as the representative of the Chinese students: 'How would you evaluate your own doctoral graduation project?' Do you remember?"

Academician Pan was stunned. Then he pointed a finger and suddenly understood. "Ah! You were the one who asked that question?"

Huang Ji smiled. "Yes. Your answer at the time was that your doctoral graduation project had actually still not been completed, even to this day..."

"Yes, yes, yes, I remember you. Forget back then—I still haven't finished that project even now..." Academician Pan said with a laugh.

The person who had asked that question back then could not possibly have been Huang Ji. It was not even the Li Wensi he was impersonating.

But Huang Ji knew that Academician Pan did not remember that person at all. After Huang Ji brought it up, Academician Pan could only recall that a student had asked that question. As for what the student looked like, he had no impression whatsoever.

Now that Huang Ji had suddenly mentioned it and even provided details, the student from that year in Academician Pan's mind automatically changed from a blur into Huang Ji's face.

With that impression in place, whenever he saw Huang Ji in the future, he would believe that Huang Ji was that student from back then. And all the lies built upon that foundation would instinctively be believed as well.

Just as Huang Ji successfully infiltrated the inner circle, working alongside an Academician of the Academy of Sciences and absorbing knowledge.

Outside the main gate, Lao Wang finally spotted his target.

Leaning against a sedan and smoking, Lao Wang caught sight of a young man walking toward the research institute.

"Thinning hair, slightly chubby, glasses, a mole at the corner of his mouth... That's right, it's him!" Lao Wang tossed away his cigarette butt and stepped forward first.

"Dr. Li Wensi, you've finally arrived," Lao Wang said with a beaming smile.

Li Wensi stopped by the roadside. After shaking hands with Lao Wang, he asked, "May I ask who you are...?"

"My surname is Zhao. I replied to one of your emails yesterday," Lao Wang said.

Li Wensi came to a realization. "Oh, you're Director Zhao!"

"Mm-hm, mm-hm. Here's the thing, Little Li. We originally planned to interview you in my office, but something unexpected came up, so there's been a last-minute change. I... need to go to Suzhou immediately," Lao Wang said.

"Su... Suzhou?" Li Wensi asked in astonishment.

Lao Wang said helplessly, "That's right. I was just about to leave when you arrived. Sorry about that. How about changing the interview location to the airport? Or you could go home first, and we can talk again in a few days?"

"Uh... Either works for me," Li Wensi said.

"Then let's go. Get in," Lao Wang said.

"Oh..." Looking thoroughly confused, Li Wensi got into Lao Wang's car, and Lao Wang drove away with him.

On the road, Lao Wang deliberately drove slowly. About ten minutes later, he pretended that he needed to make a call but could not find his phone.

"Oh dear, I really am getting old. I left my phone at home. Little Li, lend me your phone for a moment," Lao Wang said.

"Okay." Li Wensi handed over his phone.

"Not bad. A new phone."

"Yes, I just came back to the country, so I bought a new one," Li Wensi said with a smile.

Lao Wang fiddled with it for a while, then pretended to make a call while secretly tampering with it, adding Director Zhao's number to the blacklist.