Electronic Nezha

Chapter 156 Emotional Value

The father and son left the office. I checked the time; there were still less than 20 minutes until school let out. I asked Liu Zhenhua, "Can we go straight home?"

Liu Zhenhua said, "The timing is a bit awkward. If I run away now, who knows if Wang Aili will mark it as truancy? I'd better go back and write the self-criticism."

I sighed and said, "Well, you've had a hard time—who exactly tipped you off about smoking?"

Liu Zhenhua smiled and said, "Guess."

"Cui Haoxiang?" I only know a few classmates from Liu Zhenhua's class. It can't be Chen Zihan, can it?

Liu Zhenhua nodded.

It seems the chubby kid holds a grudge.

I said, "Huang Jiaoming posted your drawing online again. Won't that cause us trouble?"

Liu Zhenhua said, "It's nothing, it's just a dragon-slaying technique."

"What do you mean?"

"Huang Jiaoming performed 7000 surgeries in his lifetime, and there were only three or four similar surgeries. Moreover, even if the bleeding point is found and the surgical procedure is simplified, it does not mean that the patient will definitely be cured. Regardless of whether it is successful or not, Huang Jiaoming will probably not need us much in the future."

Is it possible for a situation to occur where "the surgery is successful, but the patient dies"?

"Yes."

I sighed again. My initial intention in risking helping Huang Jiaoming was to hope that some poor person in this world could live. As Liu Zhenhua said, future technology can only increase the probability of this, not guarantee it. In fact... it was right for Cao Cao to disagree when Hua Tuo wanted to perform brain surgery. Readers never consider the problem from another perspective—what if Cao Cao died on the spot with one blow of the axe?

Liu Zhenhua said, "Dad, don't worry about it. I'm just a chosen worker, not a god. Besides, it would be scary if there really were gods in this world."

"That's very philosophical. You'd better go write a self-criticism."

……

Around 2 PM, I received a text message from an unknown number that said, "The surgery was a success." I was puzzled when the sender sent another message. I immediately became nervous, wondering if the patient had died. But the second message said he was Chen Zihan's father.

I didn't reply, and I didn't know what to say. The fact that Chen Zihan's father sent me this text message means he has already guessed something. I just hope that we can avoid contact with each other in the future, whether he contacts me or I contact him. Even if you know a top neurosurgeon, you wouldn't want him to be of help to you.

In the afternoon, we did something important: we paid the deposit for the New Year's goods festival venue, and Li Ping and I rented two adjacent stalls. Li Ping's business has visibly improved since Hu Chunyan joined her. When business is good, Hu Chunyan can help out with everything, and when things are slow, the two of them chat. Gradually, their relationship has changed from boss and employee to best friends and sisters, and Li Ping's way of addressing Hu Chunyan has changed from "Sister Hu" to "Sister Yan".

It was getting dark and the market was closing up when my dad called me and asked me to come back to his place.

I said, "If you miss your grandson, it will take him more than an hour to get off school."

My dad said, "Don't bring Liu Zhenhua. We can't let him know about this."

I immediately panicked: "What's wrong?"

"You'll know when you get here."

I have to go back now. I haven't been able to take care of my parents lately. I only call them occasionally, and it's just a few words. We don't have a tradition of chatting on the phone in our family.

Now I have to report to the Sixth Division wherever I go. Their principle is that I must have someone with me. At noon, I wanted Shark to wait for Liu Zhenhua at the gate while I strolled around and went back to the cotton mill, but they refused.

The sixth office seemed particularly busy today. After quite a while, Little Fatty told me that someone would pick me up at the market entrance.

Old Wang and I had almost finished packing up our stall when Old Wang said, "Fengzi, let's go get a drink."

"I'll go back to my dad's place another day."

Old Wang said, "How about I come along for a free meal? I didn't even visit the old man when he had his last attack."

"No need to say goodbye, I have something to do." I didn't stand on ceremony with Lao Wang.

We arrived at the market entrance together, and I immediately saw Xiao Wu parked there. Out of habit, I was about to open the driver's side door when the passenger side door opened automatically.

Old Wang looked on curiously and asked me, "Who's driving your car?"

"No one, a friend."

Since it's Xiao Wu who's here, there must be no one else. Xiao Wu has been with Ma Chaoran all this time, so of course I can't let Lao Wang see her. How do I explain that?
I got into the car and, sure enough, saw Ma Chaoran sitting there, beaming. "Are you coming with me?"

Ma Chaoran said, "Yes, where are you going? I'll take you."

I said, "I'm going back to my parents' place."

Ma Chaoran asked, "Little Wu, do you know how to get there?"

Xiao Wu said, "Of course, sis."

"Sis?" I asked, amused. "You two get along pretty well, don't you?"

Xiao Wu said, "Absolutely. If I had a head, I would have kowtowed to my sister and become sworn brothers long ago."

Ma Chaoran chuckled and waved his hand: "Let's go!"

"Got it."

Xiao Wu merged into the traffic and headed straight for my dad's house.

I said to Ma Chaoran speechlessly, "Is this what you gave me?"

"Don't worry about the details, just tell me whether I spent time with you or not."

I noticed that Ma Chaoran seemed to be in a good mood, so I asked her, "What are you happy about?"

Ma Chaoran said, "I'm happy as long as I don't have to drive."

"Then you can just take a taxi from wherever you want in the future, since you're not short of money anyway."

Ma Chaoran said, "What do you know? Can a taxi provide you with emotional value? Xiao Wu can."

Xiao Wu said, "Don't say that, sister. You've been providing me with emotional support these past few days. I get a response to whatever I say. I've traveled through so many years to be your driver. What a great fate that is."

Ma Chaoran laughed again.

These two are a perfect match. A talkative AI and a directionally challenged, optimistic, and silly girl—they're bound to be laughing and joking wherever they go.

I patted the control panel and said, "You've already betrayed us after only a few days, huh?"

Xiao Wu said, "Oh no, my brother is jealous."

Ma Chaoran said, "No—" She said to me, "Xiao Wu has been praising you these days, saying that you are broad-minded and kind. He has used all the good words he knows to describe you."

Xiao Wu said, "Sister, that's narrow-minded of you. I was just being careful with my words. I know more than just those few good words. We still have a long time together, right? I was planning to tell you slowly."

Ma Chaoran laughed again...

At the entrance of the residential compound, Ma Chaoran greeted the security guard and said she was dropping someone off. The guard didn't ask any questions and let them in.

When we got downstairs, Ma Chaoran helped me straighten my buttons and told me, "Keep the walkie-talkie on and put on your headset."

I said, "Is this necessary?"

"Yes, I need to make sure you're safe." Ma Chaoran immediately became serious when it came to work.

"What if my dad wants to talk about something really private?"

Ma Chaoran said, "I have a bad memory."

"what does it mean?"

"I'm a secret agent; I can only remember what I'm supposed to remember."

As I walked out, I scratched my head and said, "Spy agents all have exceptionally good memories, right?"

Xiao Wu said, "Brother, you go ahead. I'll play rock music in places that aren't suitable for my sister."

(End of this chapter)