Zhou Wen and Shen Xue strolled around the underground shopping mall for a while, and they soon got bored. Coincidentally, Zuo Mengmeng got off work early, so the three of them discussed and agreed to visit the Pingtan art gallery.
Zhou Wen had been attending university in Jiangzhou for four years, but he had never experienced anything fun or had any good meals all this time until he was close to graduating. Lately, he managed to visit the Chinese garden, Zhouzhuang town, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Tiger Hill, attending the Kunqu opera, savoring the Aozao noodles and more.
He felt as if he had wasted the previous years that he spent in Jiangzhou.
They followed the experienced Zuo Mengmeng and arrived at a rather famous Pingan art gallery located on South Seacalm Street and found empty seats.
The three of them took a seat, and Zuo Mengmeng paid 38 RMB per person for beverages for them.
The waitress sent over the tea soon.
The three of them sipped tea while they listened to the actors and actresses sing with the gentle Suzhou dialect on the stage.
The actress sang, ‘Master, your words are too harsh. Your wife, her heart can’t be hushed. The husband and wife are supposed to be a whole, why do you part my beau and me… I hope that your intention is just like mine; our hearts will forever be intertwined…”
They sat through half of the song when Zuo Mengmeng explained softly, “This is a very popular song in Pingtan known as ‘Legend of the White Snake: Mid Autumn’. The female actress is taking the role of Bai Suzhen while the male is taking the role of Xu Xian.”
Zhou Wen and Shen Xue nodded.
The actor and actress on stage could sing really well. It was a blissful experience to listen to their unique and outstanding opera voices.
…
They listened to the show in the Pingtan art gallery until seven o’clock when the place closed down for dinner. It was then that Zhou Wen reluctantly stood up.
Zuo Mengmeng giggled and said, “It was really good, right? I was utterly obsessed with the singing when a local colleague from our department brought me here previously.”
“Mmhmm, it sounded really pleasant.”
Zuo Mengmeng asked, “Should you be treating me to dinner in order to show your appreciation to me for taking you to listen to this pleasant Pingtan performance?”
Zhou Wen laughed and said, “That’s for sure. Feel free to let me know what you would like to have for dinner…”
Zhou Wen had never been a stingy person… Or, one should say that the vast majority of men were not stingy, only that they were not permitted to be generous most of the time due to their financial constraints.
The three of them headed to the street nearby. They ate and strolled around until they eventually left the place at ten.
Zhou Wen sipped tea and smoked cigarettes on the balcony when he got home and took a shower to think about the issue with his pharmaceutical tasks.
The missions assigned to him in the laboratory department for the week had been busier than usual. He carried out three small missions during this period of time in addition to preparing the reserve DNA for the few days that he was going to be away for the conference. He did not manage to make time for pharmaceutical tasks all this time.
He was planning to officially begin when he was back from the conference.
He brought up the system and took a glance. Course Experience: [2900]
Points: [4250]
Soon afterward, he brought up the inventory list and took a glance to find that he had a wooden loot box and two black metal loot boxes.
He predicted that he would not be receiving any impressive items due to those simple missions. As a result, he had not opened them all this time.
Nevertheless, now that he had the time, he opened the first black metal loot box.
[Congratulations, you have received 500 RMB.]
“Hah-hah-hah…”
He opened the second wooden loot box.
[Congratulations, you have received 100 RMB.]
“Heh-heh…”
He opened the third black metal loot box.
[Congratulations, you have received Biotype Disinfectant Spray X4.]
“Huh, disinfectant spray?” Zhou Wen voiced out his puzzlement and took a glance at the description. [Effective disinfection that lasts 24 hours.]
Zhou Wen was under the assumption that he would not be receiving any useful items from conducting simple experiments like the PCR test. He did not expect that he would be given a good item.
He took out the disinfectant spray from the inventory list and took a look. A bottle of the spray contained 250ml of fluid, so four bottles would make a total of 1,000ml.
He turned around and looked around the room. Then, he picked up his phone from the table and aimed the disinfectant spray at the phone in his right hand. He sprayed both.
“Hiss… hiss…”
Soon afterward, he used his Truevision to see the bacteria on his hand and phone that could only be completely killed by boiling them in the high-pressure autoclave machine for two hours until they were dissolved into nothingness, akin to snowflakes illuminated by the scorching sun.
He used his hand to touch the handle of the chair and found that every bacteria that came into contact with his hand was eradicated completely without exception. It felt as if his hand was coated with a layer of invisible protective film such that no other bacteria could invade it.
Zhou Wen was gratified and overjoyed.
It was an impressive item. Even though he had the Biotype gloves that could shield against bacteria, the bacteria could still be found everywhere. On the other hand, the small laboratory that he carried out his experiments frequently in was not a sterile laboratory, so it would reduce the success rate of his experiments substantially.
There was no doubt that having this disinfectant spray would make his act of carrying out experiments way easier.
What a waste that it came in such a small amount. He hoped that he could at least have 10 or 20 bottles.
Meanwhile, Shen Xue and Zuo Mengmeng, who had just taken a shower, came downstairs dressed in cooling pajamas.
Zuo Mengmeng called out in excitement even while she was still far away, “Oh, Zhou Wen! Look, the scar on Shen Xue’s thigh is gone. That’s miraculous! Had I not taken a shower with her tonight, I might have almost forgotten…”
She dragged Shen Xue to Zhou Wen’s side and then tugged at Shen Xue’s shorts eagerly.
Shen Xue said shyly, “Hey, what are you doing…? I’ll do it myself.”
Shen Xue pulled the right hem of her shorts higher to reveal that the scar from before had truly vanished.
Zuo Mengmeng rubbed Shen Xue’s thigh and said in astonishment, “Wow, what kind of spray is that, Zhou Wen? It’s so impressive. I really can’t see any remnants of the scar at all.”
Zhou Wen laughed and said, “It’s a Biotype Scar Spray that I formulated in the laboratory. It is made with extremely precious ingredients.”
“I believe you, I believe you…” Zuo Mengmeng nodded repeatedly.
She found Zhou Wen to be a little ‘simple-minded’ and not wise enough in the past. Moreover, he was not good at his job, so he was not a worthy match for Shen Xue.
Yet, she felt differently now. He was a ‘treasured boy’.
He was capable of noticing an illness, such as the one that had affected Chief Liu’s mother. Furthermore, he was capable of inventing a genetic modification technique and was also capable of making such a miraculous scar spray.
A man like this could not be found even with the illumination of the brightest lantern.
Had it not been for Shen Xue, she would have wanted to go after him even.
Zuo Mengmeng said with a pleasing smile, “Zhou Wen, do you still have any of the spray left? Spray some for me please, is that okay?”
“Sure…” Zhou Wen returned to his room to grab the spray as he was speaking. In reality, he was removing the scar spray from the inventory list before he returned to the balcony.
Zuo Mengmeng raised her left leg to reveal a scar about the size of an infant’s fist on the inner side behind her knee. “Here, this is it.”
Zhou Wen sprayed it on her while Shen Xue was kneeling by her side to watch with pouted lips that were ready to blow Zuo Mengmeng leg dry from the spray.
Then, Zuo Mengmeng pulled away the collar of her white t-shirt pajamas to reveal a scar on the side of her collar bone. “Here, this is another one.”
Due to Zhou Wen’s position of looking down from above, in addition to Zuo Mengmeng pulling away the collar of her t-shirt like this, everything inside was fully revealed to him. It was all snowy-white.
Zhou Wen sprayed a little of the medication on her across a short distance.
Meanwhile, Shen Xue, who was standing by her side, blew for her again and saw the glorious scene underneath her clothes by coincidence. She reminded Zuo Mengmeng, “You have a wardrobe malfunction…”
“Oh?” Zuo Mengmeng lowered her head and took a glance before she hastily pressed down on the collar of her t-shirt. Her smooth, delicate cheeks flushed scarlet, and then she feigned magnanimousness by saying, “We’re keeping the good things to ourselves anyhow, just enjoy the view.”
Shen Xue pinched her charming cheek. “Girl, you’re getting more and more shameless these days.”
Zuo Mengmeng reacted by tickling her. “Right, right, right, I’m shameless… You’re the only prude here…”
“Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah…”
Zhou Wen felt rather awkward as he watched the two girls playing around. He closed the lid of the spray and said, “Uh… I’m going back to my room; time for bed.”
Zuo Mengmeng called out, “Wait up, give me the medication. There’s a scar on someone’s buttocks; I shall spray it for her later…”
Shen Xue blushed so much that her earlobes turned scarlet. She stretched out her hand to cover Zuo Mengmeng’s mouth. “Hey, what nonsense are you talking about?”
Zhou Wen passed the spray bottle to Zuo Mengmeng, and then he turned around and left.
…
Zhou Wen rushed over to the hospital at seven in the morning on Monday.
Zhang Shuguang was there already as well. Upon noticing Zhou Wen’s arrival, he called out, “Come over here for a while.”
In his office, Zhang Shuguang closed the door and said, “The hospital is in the process of appraising and selecting people to fill some senior positions now. I believe you’ve heard of it? The situation this time is slightly different from the past because the priority doesn’t lie in one’s experience, qualifications, or credentials anymore; it is focused on outstanding professional abilities.”
Upon hearing that, Zhou Wen’s heart raced. Judging from Zhang Shuguang’s remarks, could it be that Zhang Shuguang felt that Zhou Wen stood a chance?
Before he could think further, Zhang Shuguang continued by saying, “Chief Cao told me that there are a total of two slots for our laboratory department, and one of the slots will be given to you!”
“Oh…”
Zhou Wen was astonished beyond comparison upon hearing that. Soon afterward, he asked, “Boss, uh… Why would Chief Cao propose a nobody like me?”
Zhang Shuguang replied, “You’re a rather lucky young chap. Chief Cao witnessed the incident of you donating money to Ye Ziyao, coincidentally. She is giving you the opportunity in view of your medical ethics that qualify the hospital’s evaluation standards. Additionally, you scored some brownie points due to your thesis. Otherwise, how can it possibly be you?”
Zhou Wen was elated. It felt as if everything was already destined by an unseen force. He burst out laughing aloud and said, “One good turn deserves another, huh?”
Zhang Shuguang could not refrain from smiling.
However, he pulled a long face soon afterward and said, “Don’t be pleased too early. Whether you will be appraised and selected or not will be determined by your performance at this conference. If you perform well, it will be easy to talk about everything else, but if you don’t perform well and instead embarrass our laboratory department, don’t even think about the professional evaluation anymore.”
Zhou Wen immediately replied, “Don’t worry, boss. I can guarantee that I won’t embarrass our laboratory department.”
“Don’t just yap and not zap…”
Zhang Shuguang took a glance at his phone and said, “Alright, it’s almost time. Go on, quick.”