Mysterious Swindler

Mysterious Swindler

Huang Ji and Academician Pan spent four hours together before Huang Ji finally left in satisfaction.

Although Academician Pan's medical skills could only be considered a secondary specialty, his cell synthesis and Organic Chemistry were both top-tier, while his expertise in genetic engineering ranked first in the country.

Though he was only forty-seven and counted among the younger generation of academicians, that was precisely the peak of his career.

Scientists were at their most creative in their thirties and forties. The average age at which scientists worldwide published major academic works was 34.9, and that figure was steadily declining.

Through him, Huang Ji finally broke through his last "bottleneck." In the three major fields of medicine, chemistry, and biology, he had now reached the international forefront.

Among them, his overall medical proficiency ranked fourth in the world.

That ranking was not high. Huang Ji even thought it was too low.

After all, he had reached the level of a first-rate full professor in China in nearly every specialty—every single one!

Coupled with Huang Ji's unique understanding incorporating traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the fact that he was the only person who knew all the body's special points, his medical skills could be said to possess a one-of-a-kind style.

Logically speaking, there should not have been anyone in the world with a higher overall ranking than him.

Yet there were actually three?

Huang Ji realized that those three were definitely not ordinary people. They were likely closely connected to aliens.

April 29th.

Huang Ji arrived at Hua Shan Hospital. After his efforts over the past while, he had successfully gained the opportunity to observe and study there.

Doctor Li, Professor Lin's wife, was an attending physician there. Thinking Huang Ji was Professor Lin's graduate student, she had pulled him into the hospital to help out, calling it observation and study.

There was not a cent in it for him, but Huang Ji was still happy to work, because he could properly interact with the leading figures of every department.

Of course, he had already squeezed dry everything worth squeezing dry. The only reason Huang Ji still came was to get hold of some medications Zhang Junwei had failed to buy.

"Hm?"

From a distance, Huang Ji spotted Doctor Li and stared at her for a moment.

It was a habit. Every day before approaching these experts in the medical field, he had to first confirm whether his fake identity had been exposed.

This time, after observing her for a moment, he smiled and turned to leave.

He had been exposed.

Starting with Professor Lü Qinggong, nine days had passed. He had interacted with nearly every authority in the medical field.

Most of the top doctors and professors in Magic City had been visited by him.

After a week of serial deception, his name had finally spread through the major hospitals and medical research institutes.

Being exposed was inevitable. Fortunately, I've already achieved my goal. Huang Ji chuckled to himself. He had never intended to deceive people forever.

Big names like Lü Qinggong and Dean Hong would inevitably cross paths and gather together. The moment any one of them mentioned Hua Xu, things immediately spiraled out of control.

At one exchange meeting, Lü Qinggong said, "Oh, the graduate student I met last time was fantastic! I liked him so much I wanted him as my student, but his identity was fake, and now I can't find him."

Dean Hong immediately said, "Oh? You still need students? A few days ago, you recommended an undergraduate to interview with me. I thought he was quite good, so I had Tongji University admit him. What's his relationship to you?"

Without question, Lü Qinggong was dumbfounded on the spot.

Recommended an undergraduate? How was that possible? No one had ever asked him to do such a thing.

"When did I recommend anyone to you?" Lü Qinggong asked.

Dean Hong froze. "Last week. His name was Hua Xu. Don't you remember?"

"What! Hua Xu? He's with you? That's wonderful! He's the one I was just talking about—I wanted him as my student." Lü Qinggong said excitedly.

"Don't even think about it, haha. You know now? Too late. You were the one who pushed him away. He'll be Lin Tao's student from now on," Dean Hong said with a laugh.

"That's impossible! I've been looking for him the whole time. Ask Yang Qizhong," Lü Qinggong said anxiously.

Professor Yang Qizhong said, "It's true. Hua Xu claimed to be my student when he went to see Old Lü. Old Lü discovered he was quite capable and even tried to get him from me. But guess what? He wasn't even a Fudan University student."

"What? He isn't a Fudan University student? Then what school is he from?" Dean Hong was dumbfounded too.

Then several other professors joined in. Clearly, they had all encountered Hua Xu.

"You mean Hua Xu? How could he be from Fudan University? He's obviously from Tongji University," one professor said.

"Nonsense. He absolutely cannot be from Tongji University," Dean Hong immediately said.

"How is he not? He's Professor Lin's student at Tongji University."

Dean Hong hurriedly said, "He will be in the future, but he isn't yet. He applied for the working-professional graduate program and won't take the exam until October. Right now, he only has an undergraduate degree from Fudan University."

"Bullshit!" Lü Qinggong and Yang Qizhong said in unison.

"We checked every student at Fudan University. There's no such person! Otherwise, why do you think I said we couldn't find him?" Lü Qinggong said speechlessly.

At that moment, another professor beside them kept shaking his head. "Oh, I don't know what you're all arguing about. Are you talking about a graduate student named Hua Xu?"

"You know him too?" everyone asked.

The professor laughed. "Oh, how could I not know him? He even delivered meals for me twice!"

Then, in an extremely confident tone, he said, "He's from Jiao Tong University! If you don't believe me, ask Old Zhu."

Professor Zhu, sitting in the corner, said in astonishment, "Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'huh'? He's your student."

"Who's Hua Xu? I don't know him..." Professor Zhu was utterly confused.

Then an expert from Jiao Tong Affiliated Hospital chimed in, "Nonsense! He definitely isn't from Jiao Tong University! He's Professor Lin's student at Tongji University."

For a time, the scene was incredibly chaotic.

Seeing that things had gone in a circle again, Dean Hong slammed the table. "Stop talking! Who else has seen Hua Xu?"

Swish, swish, swish—twelve professors present raised their hands.

Seeing this, Old Zhu smiled. "Hey, is this graduate student you're talking about even the same person?"

Dean Hong corrected him, "He's only an undergraduate."

"Impossible! He must be a PhD student."

"Huh? Didn't he already graduate with a PhD?"

"What? He graduated?"

Everyone immediately began talking over one another again.

Old Zhu laughed. "Could it all be fake? What if he's simply a swindler who fooled all of you? Did anyone give him money?"

"His identity... seems to have been fake. But if you're saying he scammed people for money, that's absolutely impossible. I didn't give him a cent. He even treated me to a meal."

"He can't be a swindler. There must be some other reason he concealed his identity, because he truly has real talent! You have no idea—his surgical knowledge is more solid than that of the two PhD students under me."

"Surgery? I think he has an exceptionally profound understanding of endocrinology."

"Endocrinology? You must not have read his pharmacology paper."

"Pharmacology? Do you know how accomplished he is in orthopedics?"

When the topic turned to Hua Xu, everyone had their own understanding of him, and the scene became chaotic once more.

But very soon, everyone realized that he was a super swindler.

One after another, he had deceived at least dozens of top-tier and first-rate doctors or professors in Magic City's medical community.

What school was he from? What specialty did he study? What degree did he have? There were actually several different versions.

His identity was completely shrouded in mystery.

"Quick! Old Hong, contact your student and have him ask where Hua Xu is now."

"And you lot, didn't you say you saw him recently? Find him!"

Thus, everyone mobilized. The people Huang Ji had visited verified things with one another and contacted one another, and the news quickly spread throughout their circle.

"My goodness, even the Chinese Academy of Sciences got fooled. A returned PhD named Li Wensi was directly sweet-talked into going to the airport, where he carried papers around all afternoon. Meanwhile, someone impersonated Li Wensi, entered the laboratory, worked for four hours, and even finished a semisynthesis for them before walking away openly."

"That happened too? The Chinese Academy of Sciences couldn't even tell someone was impersonating another person?"

"Didn't you get taken for a ride by a student too?"

"That's different. Hua Xu really has skills."

"So did that person. I suspect it was Hua Xu. Let me tell you, after Academician Pan learned the truth, he still refused to believe it. After meeting the real Li Wensi, he absolutely refused to acknowledge that he was Li Wensi. He insisted on asking where yesterday's Li Wensi had gone, and he even got into an argument with Director Zhao over it."

Because there were so many victims, the story spread like wildfire through their circle overnight.

But when they thought it over afterward, they realized he had not actually swindled anyone out of anything.

Money? From beginning to end, Hua Xu had never asked anyone for a single cent. Sometimes, he even gave out small favors.

Harm? No one present had suffered any harm. Everyone thought he had been considerate and thoughtful.

Not only that, Hua Xu had volunteered at several hospitals and worked odd jobs in the laboratories of several schools, serving tea and water with meticulous care.

Beyond that, his knowledge was all genuine. Only his title and identity had been fabricated, while his learning was entirely real!

When they put everyone's accounts together, they discovered that he really was a talent.

He was even an all-rounder. He possessed extremely profound theoretical knowledge in every medical field, and in some fields, his practical ability was also remarkably high.

The more they thought about it, the stranger the matter became.

What was his goal? What was the purpose of this mysterious graduate student's fabrications before so many professors in the medical world?

He was not scamming for money and not harming anyone, so could he have been stealing something?

Apparently not. After returning, everyone thought it over carefully and found that nothing had been stolen.

They would never figure out the answer in their lifetimes, because they could never imagine that someone could steal knowledge.

No, it could not even be called stealing. Could something scholars learned be called stealing?

Once a piece of knowledge had been learned, it became two copies. They had never suffered any loss.

In short, because there were simply too many mysteries in the end,

they all called him the "Mysterious Graduate Student," though there were several versions of what qualifications he actually possessed.

It was as though he had fallen from the sky, appearing mysteriously and deceiving countless big names, yet not even leaving behind a single frontal photograph.

Among those who had never met him, the only photograph circulating was a shot of his back captured by hospital surveillance cameras.

P.S. Sorry.