Scholar's Advanced Technological System

St. Petersburg hospital.

Ward entrance.

A skinny elderly man covered his face while sobbing silently.

“This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have voted, if it weren’t for the Fields Medal… If it weren’t for the Fields Medal… we wouldn’t have lost the kind, intelligent, beautiful Vera.”

“Calm down.” Professor Fefferman patted the old man and sighed. He was also in pain, but he said, “Think about it from another perspective, if we didn’t give her this award, we might have never gotten another opportunity to give her this honor. You should be glad you voted for her.”

“I guess that’s right…”

The atmosphere outside the ward was depressing.

The atmosphere in the ward was also full of sadness.

Lu Zhou sat on the stool by the bed in which Vera lay unconscious. He stayed silent for a long time.

After a while, the doctor broke the silence.

“Sir, visiting hours is over.”

Lu Zhou looked at the doctor and spoke in a calm tone.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong with her?”

Doctor: “Are you her relative?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

Doctor: “Then I’m afraid I’m not allowed to disclose the patient’s information to you. We have contacted her immediate family, they will be here soon.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

He took a final look at Vera’s pale face and spoke.

“I will take care of you.

“Trust me.

“I don’t know if you can hear me… but please don’t give up.”

Lu Zhou was speaking in Chinese, so the doctor didn’t understand him. The doctor spoke again.

“Sir?”

“… Nothing.”

Lu Zhou stood up from his stool and left the ward.

It didn’t matter if the doctor refused to tell him Vera’s condition, he had his own way of finding out things.

That was easy for him.

As for the medical costs, he had more money than he knew what to do with. He was willing to spend any amount it took.

As for her medical information privacy…

That was a right only conscious people had.

If she really cared about such trivial matters, Lu Zhou could just apologize when she woke up.

…

Professor Fefferman saw Lu Zhou come out of the ward. He immediately stood up and asked, “How is Miss Pulyuy doing?”

Lu Zhou: “She’s still in a coma… it’s not looking good.”

“Oh my, this is…” Professor Fefferman sighed. He took off his glasses and wiped them. He didn’t know what to say.

The old professor sitting next to him suddenly stood up and grabbed Lu Zhou’s hand.

“Please tell the doctor to cure her, no matter what disease she has! If this is about money… I can take it from my pension. If something happens to her, it will be a great loss to the mathematics world… please!”

Lu Zhou nodded toward the old professor and looked confidently at him.

“Don’t worry.

“I know what to do.”

Lu Zhou and Wang Peng began walking toward the stairs.

When he reached the stairs, he heard someone shout.

It seemed like the old professor, Shigefumi Mori, was arguing with someone.

“You can’t do this, her life doesn’t only belong to her, her knowledge—

“I don’t care whether it’s the Fields Medal or the Nobel Prize, if she’s so important to you guys, why don’t you pay for the treatment!”

Standing across from Shigefumi Mori was a middle-aged man around six feet two inches tall.

He had a beer belly and a scruffy beard, indicating his poor lifestyle. His brown leather jacket and stained jeans looked like he just got off a motorcycle.

Standing in front of this huge man, Shigefumi Mori felt even smaller.

He tried to appease the grumpy man.

“We will definitely contribute some—”

The tall man interrupted him and said, “Accept the reality, you’ve read the diagnosis, she can’t be saved!”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

“Who said that?”

The burly man turned his head and squinted at the young man.

“Who are you? Mind your own business.”

Lu Zhou walked up and looked at the document on the table.

Iric… Pulyuy.

That’s probably the man’s name.

Judging by his name, he was Vera’s relative. However, his tall and large figure was the complete opposite of Vera’s slim figure.

Lu Zhou looked at the first few lines of the document.

[Consent form to forgo treatment…]

Lu Zhou frowned and looked at the man towering above him.

“You plan on forgoing treatment? What gives you the right to do that?”

“I’m her father, I brought her to this world, of course I have this right!” Iric lifted his chin and said, “I’m not going to let her suffer, I want to end her pain.”

Shigefumi Mori said, “You don’t have to pay anything. Miss Pulyuy has a sizable amount in her savings. The Fields Medal prize also has an award of 15 thousand Canadian dollars, which can be used for her treatment. We can also start a fundraiser—”

Suddenly, the man squinted.

A flash of greed appeared in his eyes.

“She has savings?

“Which bank?”

Lu Zhou noticed the greed in the man’s eyes, and he suddenly realized what was going on.

This was why Vera was struggling financially when she was at Princeton, even though she had a good salary.

He finally realized why she never talked about her family, never even mentioning her middle name…

Even though Lu Zhou knew that anger would only make the situation worse, he couldn’t help it.

“F*cking pathetic…”

Everything froze.

The man looked at him with a dangerous look.

“What did you say, kid? Say it again.”

“I said you’re pathetic.” Lu Zhou stared at the man and said, “I would be ashamed to have a father like you. You bring shame to the Pulyuy name.”

Iric’s face turned red, like he was about to explode.

He cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists. He took a step toward Lu Zhou as a nurse came up and tried to persuade him.

“Do you want to die!

“You’re nothing more than a tiny bug, I can squash you with one hand!”

Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

“Sound fun, how about… you try me?”

Iric was faced with a challenge.

Iric knew he wouldn’t win a debate with Lu Zhou, so he threw a fist toward Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn’t have the slightest fear on his face. He didn’t even try to dodge the punch.

The punch was quite fast, he might not have been able to dodge it.

But it was no match for his professional bodyguard…

When Iric saw his fist getting closer and closer to Lu Zhou’s stinky face, he had a malevolent smile.

Someone dares to call me pathetic?

No one in the town of Nosovka would dare to say such things to me.

I swear I’m going to break this guy’s jaw.

However, when his fist was getting close to Lu Zhou’s face, a huge wave of force hit his elbow joint.

He heard a click, then felt a blow to his abdomen. He flew across the floor.

Duang!

His body crashed into a trash can.

A security guard heard the nurse’s scream.

Wang Peng stretched his wrist and looked at the man lying on the ground. He spoke in fluent Russian.

“There’s no need to throw hands.”

Even though Lu Zhou was the one that provoked Iric…

Wang Peng didn’t care.

Iric couldn’t feel his right hand. He got up and shouted, “You’re finished! How dare you hit me! I’m going to end you! Ouch—”

It seemed like Wang Peng was being merciful.

If Wang Peng had struck his throat or kneecaps instead of kicking him in the belly, Iric would be in the emergency room by now.

Lu Zhou ignored the man screaming on the ground. He picked up the treatment consent form and tore it to pieces.

He was about to throw it in a trash can when he caught a glimpse of a piece of paper that fell to the ground.

It looked like it fell out of the chubby man’s pocket.

By the looks of it, it seemed like a medical certificate.

The security guards had surrounded the scene. People from the Federal Security Service had also arrived, and they were talking to Wang Peng.

Lu Zhou picked up the piece of paper that fell out of Iric’s pocket.

When he read the paper, his heart dropped to his stomach.

Lung cancer.

Stage 4.