The True and False Heiress of a Wealthy Family 3
Qin Jingzhou watched as Senior Brother Qin, whose scalp was still bleeding, dashed out of the ward. He smiled and said, "He's off to bring in his big-shot dad to hold down the fort."
The Affiliated Hospital of Capital University Medical School was right next to Capital University itself. The faculty housing and expert building… really, it was just across the street.
Even so, he ended up waiting for nearly an hour before finally seeing original host's long-lost teacher, Academician Qin.
The old man was almost seventy, but he looked just past fifty. When he stood next to his son, Dean Qin, who was in his forties, the two looked more like brothers.
As soon as the old man walked in, he sat down across from Qin Jingzhou and examined him for a moment before saying, "You've gotten skinny, almost unrecognizably so." Then his tone grew sharp. "Who tests new medicine on themselves?! Absolutely reckless!"
Qin Jingzhou, acting as the original host would, smiled shyly and awkwardly switched topics, asking Senior Brother Qin, "Did you already test your mental calculation skills?"
No doubt, Senior Brother Qin had told his father everything in exact detail, and the Academician rushed over as soon as he found out. The old man might have had his doubts, but clearly he believed at least fifty percent.
Senior Brother Qin did not disappoint. He grinned, showing off an even set of teeth. "Yeah. My reaction speed even surprised myself."
Though he hadn't yet been tested with any instrument, Senior Brother Qin had a pretty good sense of his own capabilities: Puzzles that used to stump him now came with faint clues or flashes of insight, and the improvement in mental arithmetic was so concrete it was impossible to ignore.
Qin Jingzhou laughed as well.
There were still enough materials for three more doses on the surface, and he definitely wanted Academician Qin to "see to believe." So he watched Senior Brother Qin, with that fresh bandage plastered to the back of his head, and asked eagerly, "Senior Brother, once to start, a second time to master?"
Senior Brother Qin agreed without a moment's hesitation and immediately got to work.
With the remaining ingredients, three more doses could be made. Under his junior's guidance, and right in front of his own father, Senior Brother Qin completed the process smoothly.
Qin Jingzhou took the lead. "One bottle for Teacher, the other two to hand over."
He'd silently watched his son's every move, so Academician Qin did not hesitate. He picked up a cup and downed it in three big gulps. It was as if someone had tossed together mushrooms, tomatoes, daylilies, crab, apple, and coconut in a wok—a weird combination, but at worst it'd cause indigestion or a stomach ache, not real poisoning.
After gulping down the sweet medicine, Academician Qin only had time to raise an eyebrow before he, too, slumped backward in his chair.
Now that he had some experience, Senior Brother Qin was already positioned behind his father, steadying him as he sank, still having the presence of mind to ask, "Junior Brother, how long do you think the old man will be out?"
Back in his youth, Academician Qin's intelligence was at 19 points, and even now, with age, he’d only dropped to 18. After drinking this medicine, his intelligence should "soar" to about 26, which was about the minimum where one could vaguely sense the center-of-attention system at work.
The old man truly deserved the Lifetime Achievement Award from Hua Country's academic community, received while he was still in his sixties.
Qin Jingzhou answered frankly, "About three or four minutes, a little better than you."
Senior Brother Qin was surprised. "What does that mean? The longer the coma, the better the result?"
"It depends on natural talent," Qin Jingzhou explained. "The higher the talent, the longer the sleep, but even then it’s only a few minutes."
Senior Brother Qin then asked carefully, "And you…?"
Qin Jingzhou was ready with an explanation. "You forgot I was exposed to a neurotoxin. My body spent a huge amount of time just metabolizing the poison."
Senior Brother Qin nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Even so, you should get checked out thoroughly."
"Of course. I’ve got a lot of theories to verify—they'll need test results to confirm."
Senior Brother Qin was about to say something more, but just then Academician Qin opened his eyes and slowly sat up.
The old man looked at Qin Jingzhou, and after a moment unexpectedly broke into a wide smile, deep dimples appearing. "Now I get what 'when you open your eyes, the whole world is different' really means." He turned to glance at his beaming younger son, voice full of affection. "So you’re actually the dumbest one in the family." But truth be told, this rascal had excellent taste.
Senior Brother Qin's face fell instantly. "Dad, why do you always hit where it hurts?"
The old man ignored his son and looked at Qin Jingzhou with satisfaction. "What do you think?"
Qin Jingzhou knew exactly what the old man was asking. "The key is still the Golden Ginseng. The components I added just serve as auxiliaries—they help a handful of compounds in the ginseng, the ones that are still hard to isolate, come into play."
Father and son exchanged glances and nodded slightly.
Golden Ginseng, a precious and unique plant from Hua Country, already had a legendary reputation in ancient pharmacopeias: said to refresh the mind and prolong life. With scientific advances, they had determined that Golden Ginseng could indeed repair neurons, but which compounds did what was still unclear.
Progress over the years remained slow, not just because of the plant’s complexity but also due to its extremely limited supply. Few teams had the means or resources to research it extensively.
Had the original host not been a professor at Capital University, and a student of Academician Qin, he would never have landed such generous funding.
It was thanks to the original host's groundwork, along with Qin Jingzhou’s guidance and these clear, real-world results, that the Qin family believed "He Jingzhou" had made a breakthrough—in fact, an earth-shattering discovery. They couldn't help but suspect there had been a huge plot behind "Jingzhou’s" poisoning.
Academician Qin stood up, carefully sealed the two remaining cups of medicine with cling film, and said, "This is important. I’ll report it in person." Then he instructed his younger son gravely, "Take good care of your junior brother."
Senior Brother Qin understood the gravity of the situation and nodded quickly. "Don't worry, Dad."
With both doses in hand, the old man strode—almost jogged—out of the room.
Senior Brother Qin watched his father leave, then sat down near Qin Jingzhou and began to talk about the past two years at school. Soon after, he brought up He Chunxi in a gentle, probing way.
His junior brother had contacted him right after waking up and even requested a transfer to another hospital. Senior Brother Qin figured his junior likely understood something about his daughter's current situation. In his view, He Chunxi was strong, maybe even overly so.
Qin Jingzhou gave a slight smile. "Let's see if the organization will send someone… When they do, I'll apply to have Xiao Xi protected as well."
That told Senior Brother Qin everything he needed to know. He didn’t try to meddle further. Just as he was about to say something else, his phone rang.
In this world, Hua Country's officials were just as swift and decisive as ever. Within an hour of Academician Qin leaving the ward, the entire security team assigned to protect Qin Jingzhou—all four of them, including the assistant and bodyguards—were on site.
Qin Jingzhou presented the four official personnel with his first and only request for now. "Get my daughter back to me in a way that makes sense and won’t arouse suspicion."
The officials, who already had an idea of just how extraordinary his discovery was, were as certain as the Qin family that there was a major conspiracy behind his poisoning and coma.
To keep “He Jingzhou's recovery” under wraps as long as possible, the staff and head of the previous private hospital had already been instructed to keep their mouths shut. The vice president was simply sent abroad to attend medical conferences and wouldn’t be back for a month.
Overseas, He Chunxi—at midnight in Capital time, midday locally—received a personal phone call from the deputy general manager of her agency. She was told about a new assignment: a key role in a tribute film. She was to fly home at once, the plane ticket had already been booked, and her current contract would be settled by the company—no penalty fees required.
The news left He Chunxi genuinely overjoyed, as if a great weight had finally been lifted.
Ever since she was placed in this film crew by Ji Chun’s assistant—Ji Chun being her so-called “boyfriend”—she’d had a bad feeling about it. She wasn’t bothered that Ji Chun fancied someone else, but his moves were calculated to ruin her step by step, just to please his latest flame.
Both the leading man and woman were talent show picks who had paid money to get into the cast, while her villainess role required her to be dunked in icy water, roll in mud, get slapped repeatedly, and finally be driven off a cliff in a car. If that wasn’t targeted malice, she’d sooner twist her own head off.
Yet she’d had little bargaining power after signing the contract for cash. Her agent never pimped her out, but did only what Ji Chun said, treating He Chunxi like she was invisible.
After hanging up, He Chunxi suddenly had a new thought. The deputy’s tone had been unusually gentle this time… Could Ji Chun be having second thoughts? But if he regretted it, shouldn’t her agent be calling instead?
No matter. Once she landed back home, she would go straight to see her dad, then report to the company.
Ji Chun had gone out of his way to cause her trouble this time, so her personal assistant wasn’t with her, and she’d had to handle every little task herself.
With her luggage nearly packed, she received a friend request from the deputy general manager, who then sent a short voice message and a selfie to confirm identity, followed by a dump of flight information.
He Chunxi copied the details and pasted them to her personal notes.
At that point she was so overwhelmed with the thought that she was finally going home, she didn’t even realize she’d been booked in first class, nor did she know that security had already been arranged to sit in front, behind, and beside her.
He Chunxi woke up at the crack of dawn, grabbed her suitcase, and left the hotel. She didn't even bother to bid the crew farewell.
By the time the director and the stars—who’d been planning to teach her a lesson—heard that she’d left without a word, they were dumbfounded. Then they became angry.
The leading lady had more clout than most. She picked up her phone to call her backer and complain, then rang up He Chunxi’s agent and started cursing.
Back at the company, He Chunxi’s agent was shivering in the deputy general manager’s office. The deputy calmly answered the call and put it on speaker. After listening to the leading lady finish her tirade, the deputy responded sincerely, "Take care of yourself," then hung up.
The deputy turned to the agent. "Tell me, what was your plan for setting her up?"
The agent: …
That afternoon, after a full physical examination, Qin Jingzhou was undergoing rehabilitation with help from a professional. After all, he’d been in a hospital bed for two years, so moving around easily was unrealistic for an ordinary person.
As he worked through exercises, his assigned assistant gave him an update. When the assistant mentioned that He Chunxi had taken several dips in pools filled with ice and had literally rolled in mud, Qin Jingzhou abruptly turned and fixed him with a stare. "Is it Ji Chun from the Ji family?"
For the first time in his assistant’s career, he understood what real killing intent felt like. He'd faced plenty of tense situations, but right now, it was actually a little hard to breathe.
He steadied himself. "Professor He, should I teach the Ji family a lesson immediately?"
Qin Jingzhou smiled lightly. "No need just yet. Go get things ready—I'm going to pick up my daughter."
The young assistant pushed up his glasses and, in his heart, lit a candle for the Ji family's young master.