Chapter 1036: Doctor in Critical Condition

Another month passed, and the epidemic in Si Jiu Cheng spread like a burst dam, with the number of infections soaring directly to over a hundred thousand.

The beds at that temporary hospital in Qinghe were already in short supply.

When Deputy Minister Sun visited again, his expression was very grim.

Seeing his worried look, He Yuzhu actually chuckled: "Are you here again because of the new emergency hospital?"

Deputy Minister Sun nodded heavily, "I estimate the infection figures will continue to climb. We must build another emergency hospital; this time... I have to trouble you again."

He Yuzhu waved his hand and said: "Deputy Minister Sun, set your heart at ease. I have discussed the epidemic's trajectory in depth with the Doctor, and she said that although the peak hasn't arrived, it's close. Our domestic control measures are already as tight as an iron bucket; it cannot spread further. Since you want to take precautions, I, He Yuzhu, will certainly not be vague and will cooperate fully."

"Then let's make the scale smaller this time, as long as it's sufficient," Deputy Minister Sun sighed in relief.

"No problem, I will arrange for construction materials immediately and start work as soon as possible," He Yuzhu agreed instantly.

Unexpectedly, Deputy Minister Sun's just-relaxed brow furrowed again, his face full of helplessness: "Old He, M Country is completely frantic. They seize every opportunity to splash dirty water on us, spreading rumors and smearing us one after another. Yet we cannot hit back hard against them; it is truly... suffocating. Do you have any brilliant ideas?"

He Yuzhu smiled faintly: "Didn't the batch of classified materials I gave to the Doctor come in handy?"

Deputy Minister Sun let out a long sigh: "Sigh—many leading comrades don't want to completely tear off the mask with M Country. Being caught in the middle, I am in a difficult position."

He Yuzhu spread his hands, his eyes suddenly sharp: "Then I really have no choice! If it comes to that, I will have Babylon release the information. They have been asking people to contact me, but I haven't paid them any mind!"

Deputy Minister Sun shook his head with a bitter smile: "Those people in Babylon are now being smeared like crows; who would still believe their words?"

He Yuzhu suddenly saw clearly—the higher-ups had set the tone, and Deputy Minister Sun was conflicted inside, unable to swallow this insult while hoping He Yuzhu could come up with a more tactful solution.

He deliberately provoked him: "Can you really swallow this insult? We are clearly the victims, they are the ones who did the bad things, yet public opinion is overwhelmingly suppressing us. Aren't you angry?"

Deputy Minister Sun laughed instead, slowly lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled a smoke ring: "Let them be strong; the breeze blows over the hills. Let them be arrogant; the bright moon shines on the great river."

He Yuzhu was stunned, then chuckled: "I didn't expect you to love reading martial arts novels! But we aren't weak anymore, why should we still be bullied?"

Deputy Minister Sun smiled and waved his hand: "Old He, endure a little longer. There will always be a day when they set like the sun behind the western hills."

He Yuzhu nodded and lowered his head, "It won't be long; both of us should be able to see it."

Deputy Minister Sun shook his head, a trace of dimness flashing in his eyes: "I'm afraid I won't live to see it."

After seeing Deputy Minister Sun off, He Yuzhu closed the door, and his expression sank instantly.

He let out a muffled breath and slammed his palm onto the rosewood tea table in front of him—with a crisp "Crack!", the tabletop split directly into two, and wood chips splattered.

Just then, Ma Rui burst in in a rush. Seeing the mess on the floor, he shrank his neck in fear: "Uncle, who provoked you today? Why are you so angry?"

He Yuzhu twitched the corners of his mouth and squeezed out a smile: "No one, I'm just struggling with myself."

Ma Rui didn't ask further and said urgently: "Uncle, I came today because of something major. My Oicq project has hit a snag! An M Country company wants to acquire 51% of the shares. What do you think I should do?"

He Yuzhu raised an eyebrow and calculated rapidly—this didn't happen in his past life; why did M Country set their sights on this project in this life? He was silent for a moment and said decisively: "If they bid the price high enough, sell it!"

"What?" Ma Rui's eyes widened, "Didn't you say this project might be the future trend?"

He Yuzhu lit a cigarette, took a few hard drags, and his voice was exceptionally steady amidst the smoke: "That's because the technology on He Zheng's side is no worse than this. I didn't stop you from doing it back then because I wanted them to compete with each other; it's good for everyone. If M Country really wants to arm-wrestle with He Zheng, that's also a good thing. It's hard for them to make something better than ours on our own turf."

Ma Rui scratched his head: "But they are indeed doing well in the internet sector; eBay, MSN, and that Amazon that sells books..."

He Yuzhu smiled: "That e-commerce stuff won't truly take off for another dozen years. Right now, internet speeds are as slow as a snail crawling, and the common people don't trust online trading much. At the moment, it's all small-scale tinkering to accumulate technology."

Ma Rui's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously: "I get it! You mean we are just occupying a spot by entering the market now. If those foreign devils have too much money to burn, we'll dump the shares to them at a high price and make a killing!"

"That's right," He Yuzhu patted his shoulder.

No sooner had he finished speaking than his cell phone rang violently—it was Fang Deng calling, her voice hurried and breathless: "Dad! The Doctor has contracted pneumonia; the situation is very serious!"

He Yuzhu's heart tightened: "What happened? Tell me in detail!"

Fang Deng was out of breath: "She was sabotaged while performing surgery on a patient the day before yesterday—someone cut a small hole in her protective suit, and she didn't notice at the time..."

He Yuzhu's voice turned heavy: "Are there any suspects?"

"There is a doctor who returned from studying abroad named Shi Lei, who suddenly disappeared," Fang Deng said.

"Did you report it to the police? What did they say?" He Yuzhu pressed.

"The higher-ups are taking it very seriously and have already established an Investigation Team. But that Shi Lei has vanished into thin air; we can't find him at all."

He Yuzhu said immediately: "Do you have a photo of him?"

Fang Deng thought for a moment: "Dad, there is a group photo in our department, kept in a photo frame on the desk in my living quarters. The one with a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked face wearing gold-rimmed glasses is him."

He Yuzhu lowered his voice and said: "I will send you a bottle of our family's Immortal Water right now; give it all to the Doctor."

Fang Deng was stunned: "Dad, didn't you say that water is extremely precious? It costs a lot of money."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, don't let your imagination run wild; your father has nothing going on with her. She is a talent who might be able to change some things; she is worth this price... I'm coming over to find you right now."

After hanging up, He Yuzhu rushed to Qinghe Hospital to hand it to Fang Deng.

He couldn't offer any other help, so he could only repeatedly urge Fang Deng to take good care of the Doctor.

Returning home, he immediately called Tian Dan and explained the situation in a few words.

Tian Dan pondered for a moment on the other end and said: "If you want to check information, go find my former assistant Miao; he is now the Section Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division."

He Yuzhu first returned to Fang Deng's living quarters to get the photo and headed straight to the Municipal Bureau.

Section Chief Miao was extremely enthusiastic when he saw He Yuzhu, handed him a cigarette, and said with a face full of smiles: "Old He, Auntie Dan has already greeted me, saying you are looking for someone."

He Yuzhu took the cigarette and didn't stand on ceremony: "There is a doctor named Shi Lei; I suspect he is a spy. To put it mildly, he was sent by the Black Stone Group; to put it strongly, he is inseparable from the CIA."

Section Chief Miao's expression turned stern, and he lowered his voice: "Coincidentally, I also heard today that the Ministry of Public Security has specifically set up a task force precisely because someone deliberately slashed the Doctor's protective suit, leading to the infection."

He Yuzhu placed the photo on the table: "I want to see the relevant surveillance footage."

Section Chief Miao nodded solemnly: "I have the authority for that. Rest assured, I will cooperate fully and assign a few capable men to assist you."