One hundred and nine pages Preparation for Surgery (Part 2)
[5:20 PM]
[The Office of the Magic Research Institute]
I leaned my left shoulder against Yuzu and my right shoulder against Sakurajamochi (Black Bun version), and pushed open the office door.
The person sitting behind the desk was Sister Ling Qing. She was the only one in the entire office, facing the computer, processing some documents. As soon as I entered, I asked, “You’re here, where’s the kidney?”
She knew about the random transformation incident. For the appearance changes of me and Lin Hua, she wasn’t surprised. However, she wasn’t accompanying Senior Sister, which was quite unexpected.
Professor Shi placed a transparent bookmark on the table.
“The kidney is here.”
“Is this the kidney?” Sister Ling Qing looked puzzled.
As Senior Sister’s secretary, her daily work involved handling matters from the company. She didn’t have much knowledge about magic or divine techniques. Her logical thinking was relatively normal, so when Professor Shi took out a bookmark and said it was the kidney, she completely didn’t understand.
Sakurajamochi explained, “The usage method is known by Boss and the others, but it needs to be processed first by ‘Qian Xia.'”
Sister Ling Qing didn’t ask further and said, “Then I’ll send it down first. Wait here for a moment.”
“Can’t we all go down together?”
After tidying up the desk and closing her laptop, Sister Ling Qing stood up and said, “Wait a bit first. I stayed here to welcome the family of Master Huangfu Yuehua. But compared to me, you guys are more suitable for this task.”
Lin Hua jumped out from behind me and asked, “Ah? Are Mom and the others coming too?”
“They’re already on their way. After all, this is an important surgery related to your grandmother’s life. Regardless of the outcome, they should be present as her children.”
Sister Ling Qing paused and sighed, “Unfortunately, the person who should be here today is absent.”
She was referring to Master Hariliuya. I tried to ease the situation.
“Don’t worry, once Grandma’s health improves, there will be plenty of opportunities to settle accounts!”
But no one responded. Lin Hua just gave a bitter smile, because even I myself lacked confidence, so it was natural for the conversation to fall flat.
Noticing the change in atmosphere, Sister Ling Qing said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned her, making you feel uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay.” I shook my head and asked, “Has Grandma been brought over?”
“Yes, she’s already downstairs. Boss has also gone down with her.”
Although I knew it was referring to the deep research lab, something sounded odd about it.
“How is her condition?”
“Her consciousness is clear and she can communicate, but her body is weak and she has severe edema. Even though I don’t know much about medicine, I know these conditions are serious.”
“How long until Aunt Zhen arrives?” I asked again.
“I’m not sure. We notified them an hour ago. Even if they need to pick someone up from Biyang, they should arrive soon.”
Aunt Huaying would bring Little Jing and Miss Fei over.
“Let’s go to the back door. Ba He is waiting there to pick people up.”
Due to Grandma’s situation, the research institute also entered a state of emergency, and her visit home to see her parents was postponed. But as punishment for the matter involving Yin Tianjie, she was still not allowed to use magic.
“After the surgery ends, I’ll take Ba He back to meet her parents.”
Professor suddenly slapped his forehead, “Oh! My luggage and car are still at the temple!”
——————–
Following Professor’s request, Sakurajamochi used the Jewel to send her back to the southern part of the city, then drove her own Beetle back.
Honestly, it was quite irresponsible. After all, she had sprained her foot at the temple and driving now was dangerous. Only hoping she could drive steadily.
When we entered the barn through the tunnel, Ba He was sitting at the entrance, boredly playing with her phone. Excluded from the research, she seemed lost.
As we approached, she looked up and asked, “Ling Qing sister, who are these little sisters?”
Was she still positioning herself as an older sister?
Sister Ling Qing introduced, “They are Xiao Lingmeng, Lin Hua, and… the silly girl.”
Xiao Lei protested, “Why don’t I have a name?”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t remember your name right away.”
Although Senior Sister liked Xiao Lei, Sister Ling Qing and the foolish girl didn’t interact much, so forgetting was normal.
“Ling Meng sister transformed into a foreigner again? How big!”
Being complimented on her chest was indeed embarrassing.
“I’ll send this kidney down first.”
Saying this, Sister Ling Qing rubbed Ba He’s head, turned around, and walked towards the teleportation platform, inserting the power battery.
As the light curtain rose, she reminded, “Just to be safe, remember to confiscate phones before you come down. There’s no signal in the institute, but I’m afraid they might take random photos.”
Then she disappeared with the light curtain.
“I’ll give Mom a call.” Lin Hua also took out her phone and stepped aside.
Yuzu jumped onto Ba He’s lap and asked in a sharp voice, “Ba He sister, how is Little Snow doing today?”
Yuzu was very concerned about her “animal friend,” even though the other wanted to catch and eat her — Yuzu really did resemble a large rat.
Being called “sister” made Ba He happy. She squinted and replied,
“I’ve settled Little Snow at home, let her watch TV to learn to speak. If you want to see her, I can take you up now… Yuzu’s fur feels so soft!”
Ba He couldn’t resist petting Yuzu’s smooth fur.
“Go, I want to go! Xiao Kai, can you turn me into human form?”
Oh, she didn’t dare appear in animal form to see Little Snow.
“No problem.”
A simple flow of divine power into Yuzu’s body, a flash of white light (about 0.5 seconds), and Yuzu appeared in her standard posture.
However, she was still sitting on Ba He’s lap, being held and having her belly rubbed, emitting a soft “Mmm!”
“Then we’ll go up first. Call us when people arrive.”
Ba He got up, dragging Yuzu away. I naturally sat in the empty chair, and Xiao Lei hugged my neck, pressing her nose against my head.
The barn door had an electronic peephole, and next to it was a display embedded in the wall, allowing confirmation of the situation outside.
After finishing the call, Lin Hua returned to me.
“They’ll be here soon, looking for parking nearby. Uncle will bring them over.”
Without Brother Zhu leading the way, Aunt Zhen and the others might not even find the entrance.
She added, “I hope Grandma’s surgery goes smoothly.”
“There’s no point in praying to anyone. We can only hope the witch doctor can help.”
Lin Hua smiled bitterly, “After all, praying to gods is useless…”
Brother Zhu led Aunt Zhen and the others to the empty land outside the barn. I lifted the wooden latch and pulled open the heavy barn door.
“Mom~”
Lin Hua threw herself into Aunt Zhen’s arms, being playful.
“You are… Lin Hua? Why are you smaller?”
“At Grandpa’s place, I was randomly transformed. This is Kǎi-Chan~”
“Aunt Zhen, nice to meet you.”
“Oh, Xiao Kai has become a foreigner?”
Aunt Zhen couldn’t help but comment on my appearance, patting her daughter’s back and examining the chaotic environment inside the barn.
“Is this Lu Bifang’s research institute? Bringing Mom to such a place, can professional surgery really be done?”
“This is just a disguise. The real operating room is elsewhere.”
Little Jing popped up from behind Aunt Zhen, her small eyes under the cap full of anxiety. She asked, “Where is Grandma?”
I bent slightly and tapped her cap.
“Don’t rush. We’re here waiting to take you all along.”
She poked my chest and said, “Senior Sister Ling Meng, your chest is too exaggerated now. Dad can’t compare to you!”
Behind Little Jing, Miss Fei’s cheeks flushed red. She grabbed her daughter’s arm and retreated to Aunt Huaying.
“Jing’er, don’t be so rude.”
Xiao Lei stepped forward and said, “But I need to clarify, even if Chairman hadn’t changed, Miss Fei’s size is still below Chairman’s!”
What nonsense is this! Is this really the time to care about chest sizes?
“Cough, please stand on this stone slab.”
I awkwardly invited everyone to stand on the teleportation platform.
This enlarged golden teleportation array, modified by Old Lady, accommodated all eight of us without feeling crowded.
Then, I inserted the power battery into the control panel.
Recalling what Sister Ling Qing said, I instructed, “Don’t touch the surrounding light curtains. Once you’re down, your phones will lose signal. It’s best not to take them out, and certainly not to take random photos. After all, this is a secret research institute.”
“You mean ‘going down’?”
Aunt Zhen was puzzled, but the light curtain had already risen. Compared to wasting words explaining, showing her the reality would make her understand faster.
The upgraded teleportation platform was quite stable. The power battery consumption decreased, and there was no ear ringing caused by power overflow, which was a surprising significant improvement.
However, the change in air pressure made people feel slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but it was very slight, even less than the feeling of weightlessness when getting out of a swimming pool. The human body could quickly adjust, after all, four hundred meters depth compared to the diameter of the entire Earth was like a speck of dandruff.
Yet, our arrival location was not the outpost laboratory.
Because the teleportation platform was expanded, placing it in the outpost laboratory would take up too much space. So, it was moved to the central square of the cave?
Little Jing opened her mouth, looking around and asking me, “Senior Sister Ling Meng, where are we?”
“This is the construction site of the deep research institute. Senior Sister Bifang prepared the operating room here. Grandma is already here. Once that kidney is adjusted, we can start the surgery.”
Noticing our arrival, Sister Ling Qing and Miss Ke Man approached, the latter showing signs of fatigue.
I asked, “Has the kidney been sent down?”
Sister Ling Qing nodded.
“Yes, the surgery can start anytime. But before that, you should see the old lady again.”
Miss Ke Man followed up, “The elderly haven’t entered the operating room yet. We’ve rearranged Lab Three into a care ward. Come quickly once you arrive.”
I asked, “Where’s Mom and ‘Qian Xia’?”
“Miss Xiao Wei is helping take care of the elderly. ‘Qian Xia’…”
Miss Ke Man hesitated when mentioning Old Lady.
But she continued, “…is preparing for the surgery, handling the kidney you brought, and assisting with the operation. Currently, she cannot see you.”
