Professor Bruce's pause dragged on a little too long. Old Professor Zhang was no fool either, and he sensed something was off.
"Professor Bruce, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Professor Bruce rallied himself. "Since we invited you all to Country M, how could we not take responsibility for these arrangements? That would be terribly discourteous."
Ye Qi'an's expression betrayed nothing. "It's all right, Professor Bruce. We all know each other. There's no need to be so formal."
"Besides, my family's plane is the height of luxury. It certainly won't give the other researchers a bad experience. If your country really wants to observe every courtesy, please approve our flight route application a little faster."
Professor Bruce really could barely keep his smile in place now. He looked toward the silent Old Professor Zhang and forced out:
"Professor Zhang, your student certainly is wealthy. What do you think, then?"
From what he knew of Old Professor Zhang, the man always kept a low profile whenever possible and placed little importance on creature comforts.
But he clearly hadn't realized one thing: people from Hua Nation had a fine tradition of protecting their own.
At a critical moment, whatever the truth of the matter might be, they would never side with an outsider.
Old Professor Zhang smiled. "Well, as far as this is concerned, I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying ourselves a little."
Professor Bruce conceded a step. "Then you're agreeing to come to Country M?"
Old Professor Zhang said, "That depends on when the time is right."
Professor Bruce refused to give up. "Then what would make the time right?"
Old Professor Zhang said earnestly, "As for when the time will be right, that still depends on the timing. And what particular timing would that be? Well, it seems we can't just casually come up with a time."
Professor Bruce had never heard this sort of empty-word spiel. The barrage of Chinese hit him like a listening comprehension test.
While the other man was still struggling to process it, Old Professor Zhang offered a few more pleasantries, grabbed the two younger people, and promptly made his escape.
In the end, he had given no definite answer at all, leaving Professor Bruce cursing on the spot in anger: "Shit!"
After leading them away, Old Professor Zhang first gently sent Ye Xunzhi off, then asked Ye Qi'an with a stern face:
"Did you notice something just now?"
Ye Qi'an said, "Teacher, I have a suspicion..."
Watching the teacher and student whispering in a corner not far away, Ye Xunzhi broke into a smug smile.
[This should do it, right? I've never been so grateful that my third brother has such delusions of grandeur. At least he listens to me.]
Ye Xunzhi's smug inner voice was a little loud and successfully reached Ye Qi'an's ears, causing even his meticulous train of thought to break for a moment.
He really had sacrificed far too much for his teacher.
By the time the tea break ended, Ye Qi'an had explained everything clearly. Old Professor Zhang couldn't possibly disbelieve his prized student's words.
However obsessed he might be with academic research, he still had a family. He would pass on anything that gambled with his life.
And it wouldn't just be his own life at stake. The researchers he had mentally planned to take along had all been his colleagues for many years.
Each had a family. If anything happened, he couldn't bear the consequences, and he would be too ashamed to face them even in death.
Old Professor Zhang: It's not as though I absolutely have to go there.
Another lengthy stretch of meetings followed. Ye Xunzhi didn't go in this time. Having successfully secured the tea-break refreshments, she would stay in the lobby and continue savoring her haul.
As for her third brother's resentful looks, she ignored them completely.
[How could my third brother compare to dessert? Go, brother, race down your broad road to success. I'll ride alongside you in a Lamborghini.]
The meeting ended, and everyone left the venue.
Even when the others took some fruit or something, they tucked it out of sight. Only Ye Xunzhi and Ye Qi'an had both hands full, carrying bags large and small.
Everyone else had come to attend a lecture. They had come to stock up.
Old Professor Zhang trailed far behind them, covering his aging face for fear someone would recognize him.
"Are you looking after your sister tonight, or seeing patients at Myriad Wonders Hall?"
Old Professor Zhang asked from the back seat, where he sat with Ye Xunzhi. Ye Qi'an had to take him home first.
Ye Qi'an glanced at Ye Xunzhi through the rearview mirror.
"That depends on what she wants. Little sis, I'm planning to go to Myriad Wonders Hall tonight. Are you coming with me, or staying in the dorm on your own?"
Before Ye Xunzhi could speak, Old Professor Zhang warmly invited her:
"Little Xun, would you like to visit Grandpa's home? Grandma would definitely love you. Don't go to that Myriad Wonders Hall place. Let me tell you, it's incredibly boring there, and you'll also run into an old stick-in-the-mud."
"An old stick-in-the-mud?" Ye Xunzhi leaned forward curiously. "Who?"
"Your third brother's other teacher." Old Professor Zhang spoke bluntly, without caring in the least that Ye Qi'an was right there:
"That old fellow is like a relic of the feudal era. You couldn't beat a peep out of him with eight poles, and he's always putting others down. I really don't know why this man from the Great Qing is so hard to kill off."
Ye Qi'an's expression didn't change at all as he drove. He was clearly used to it.
Magic City First Hospital, where he worked, was one of the foremost major hospitals in the entire country.
Its most distinctive feature was its use of combined Chinese and Western medicine, for which the hospital had established dedicated departments for each.
Although they worked together to treat illnesses and save lives, the two departments were actually still rivals, to the point of trading a couple of barbed remarks whenever they met.
This rivalry wasn't so bad among the younger people, but it was particularly pronounced among the older generation. Normally, someone who studied Western medicine wouldn't go out of their way to study Chinese medicine, but then there was an oddball like Ye Qi'an.
He saw outpatients in the morning, did research in the afternoon, and held consultations in the evening. If he ran out of money, he even had to make time to cook and sell pancakes.
Ye Xunzhi had once wondered how her third brother hadn't dropped dead from being so busy.
He truly was a master of time management.
Although she rather wanted to mooch a meal, Ye Xunzhi was really curious about her third brother's other teacher, so she politely declined.
After hearing her reason, Old Professor Zhang sighed with the air of someone who had seen through the ways of the world:
"You're still a child, after all. Fine, then. But if he scolds you until you cry, call me. Grandpa will come comfort you."
"Is he really that scary?"
Old Professor Zhang raised his chin meaningfully. "You'll understand once you meet him. He's extremely difficult to get along with."
After dinner that evening.
Ye Xunzhi accompanied Ye Qi'an to Myriad Wonders Hall for his consultations. An elderly man with a square face opened the door to welcome them. Despite his age, his hair was still thick and jet-black.
His gaze fell on Ye Xunzhi, his face stern and expressionless.
Ye Xunzhi raised a hand and waved. "Hello, Grandpa."
Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian gave a reluctant nod. "Hello."
"Make a racket and I'll throw you out."
Ye Xunzhi: "..."
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