Chapter 98 So shameless, he obviously didn't get anything out of it yesterday...

When Zhao Shuyi talked to Gu Yan about her past experiences, she felt as if she were talking about someone else's story.

It was after hearing about her experiences that Gu Yan understood why Zhao Shuyi had always been so understanding of him.

She was just a young girl in her early twenties, and her parents doted on her so much.

In fact, he had already guessed this possibility when he found out that Zhao Shuyi was not the original Zhao Shuyi, but when he actually heard her say it, Gu Yan still felt heartache.

He felt extremely unfortunate about what he had endured, but compared to Zhao Shuyi, his own suffering seemed insignificant.

After all, other people's mothers may treat her badly, but Zhao Shuyi's family members are all her own flesh and blood. How could her parents bear to treat her like that?

"Could it be that you're not their biological child at all?" Gu Yan said with a feeling, but then realized that his words were inappropriate and he subconsciously looked at Zhao Shuyi.

Zhao Shuyi burst out laughing and said, "I think so too. If I were their biological child, wouldn't they love me dearly?"

Gu Yan's question had also been a source of confusion for Zhao Shuyi.

But after coming into this world, she realized that some things cannot be obtained by asking for them. Whether they care about her or not, she doesn't care at all. She only needs to care about those who are worth caring about.

Zhao Shuyi changed the subject, "By the way, I've told you before, I also dreamed about the Zhao Shuyi from before. It seems like she switched places with me. She went to my world, and then she resolutely left that family and went to the place in the book where her parents would have lost their lives. It was seeing how strong she was that I decided to pull myself together."

Zhao Shuyi had mentioned this to Gu Yan, but she hadn't explained it in detail before. Now, he truly understood why Zhao Shuyi had changed her attitude towards him.

“She’s amazing, even more amazing than me,” Zhao Shuyi said.

“You’re different, there’s no need to compare. No matter who it is, everyone grows after experiencing certain things. At first, I felt like I had nothing to say to her, but when she mentioned breaking off the engagement, I was actually a huge relief,” Gu Yan said with a smile.

"So when I came to find you later, were you terrified?"

Gu Yan's lips curled up slightly. "Fortunately, I didn't say anything bad."

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Let's think about how to find Xu Wanqing in Hong Kong and how to contact her. Do you know where Xu Wanqing is? Did you find any relevant clues during your investigation?"

"I only know the general location, not her exact location, but once we get there, there's always a way to find out."

Zhao Shuyi raised an eyebrow and joked with him, "You still have connections in Hong Kong?"

Gu Yan was indeed amused and pinched her still smooth cheek.

“In that kind of place, you can create connections with money even if you don’t have any. It’s not difficult.”

Gu Yan is right. Zhao Shuyi said, "Indeed, it should be easier to get things done in a place like Hong Kong if you have money. If all else fails, we can hire a private investigator."

"Yes, that's right. Anyway, you'll just go with the main group when the time comes. If I find out what's going on, I'll definitely tell you."

Zhao Shuyi glanced at him sideways, "Don't leave me behind and act alone. I'm going with you to help you out."

Zhao Shuyi made an attacking gesture and said, "Don't forget, I'm not afraid of anything either."

Gu Yan rubbed her head: "I know, I know. I definitely won't leave you behind and act alone. We're a couple, and we'll definitely take care of the bad guys. No matter what opportunities she gets, she definitely can't beat us."

Upon hearing his words, Zhao Shuyi had a bad feeling.

"You can't underestimate her. We can't be careless when dealing with the female lead, or things could easily go wrong."

Moreover, in such a remote and inaccessible place, if something were to happen to either of them, no one could help them.

"But it's too early to discuss this now. We'll talk about it when we get there."

They had visited the Hua family before and found them to be trustworthy.

Zhao Shuyi mentioned her upcoming trip to Hong Kong to Teacher Tan, who suggested that she place her child with the Hua family. It turned out that Hua's mother was a good friend of Dr. Tan; the two had been good friends before their marriage and had maintained contact over the years, having a very good relationship.

Based on Dr. Tan's words and Zhao Shuyi's own judgment, she originally still wanted to put the child in the Hua family's care.

But Gu Yan couldn't bear to part with it.

So the two discussed it and decided to keep the child with them.

After all, the child is still young, and nowhere is as safe as being at home.

While they were in the space, Zhao Shuyi could sense their situation at any time. The only thing she needed to worry about was how to let everyone know without making a fuss that the child was being well taken care of.

It's simply a matter of doing more preparation beforehand.

Over the next few days, Zhao Shuyi and her partner visited various friends, including Gu Yan's and Zhao Shuyi's friends. With more acquaintances, they had more people who could help them take care of their child.

The two also visited Zhu Yao's home. Zhu Yao had asked Zhao Shuyi to bring back some local specialties, but Zhao Shuyi and the others had been too busy to go. Fortunately, the items wouldn't spoil if stored in their spatial storage, so they took this opportunity to visit.

The Zhu family was very surprised to hear that they had been sent by Zhu Yao.

"Is she...is she alright?" The woman was in her forties and looked quite gentle. When she spoke of Zhu Yao, her expression became somewhat complicated. Looking at the things Zhao Shuyi and the others had brought, her eyes became even more complicated.

Zhao Shuyi pretended not to see it and said with a smile, "She's fine, and she has a very good relationship with her husband."

She didn't mention Zhu Yao's pregnancy, since it's better for her to say it herself.

"That's good, that's good."

After talking to the other party about Zhu Yao's situation for a while, the two prepared to say goodbye and leave. The other party invited them to stay for dinner, but they declined. They had only come to deliver something and were not that familiar with each other, so there was no need to stay and exchange pleasantries.

"I feel like there's something strange about the relationship between the mother and daughter, don't you think so?"

Gu Yan didn't answer immediately, but glanced at Zhao Shuyi. Seeing his expression, Zhao Shuyi raised an eyebrow, "What do you know?"

“I know a little,” Gu Yan said. “Because when we met before, I was worried that she might have some problems, so I asked Fang Qing to help me look into it. Actually, her family situation is very simple; it’s related to relationships.”

There was something Gu Yan didn't mention to Zhao Shuyi: during that period, a large number of enemy agents had appeared in Beijing and spread among the people.

Therefore, the military will be more vigilant when it comes to people in Beijing.

Gu Yan said, "At first, I didn't know it was related to Zheng Jingcheng. Fang Qing told me that the two sisters both had their eyes on the same man, but the family favored the older sister and wanted to match her with that man. So the younger sister went to the countryside in a fit of anger and got married there."

Later he learned that the person was Zheng Jingcheng, and that it was actually Secretary Zheng and the elders of the Zhu family who wanted to arrange the marriage; Zheng Jingcheng had no idea about this at all.

Just when the two families were ready to discuss marriage, Zheng Jingcheng met Xu Wanqing again, so the marriage between the two families was not settled.

The Zhu family still harbored many grievances against the Zheng family.

Zhao Shuyi hadn't expected this connection. She asked, somewhat confused, "Is that so? Then why didn't you tell me? You weren't jealous, were you?"

Because she had told him that in the book, the original owner of this body married Zheng Jingcheng.

Zhao Shuyi felt that the reason why the original owner of this body married Zheng Jingcheng was probably because of what the Zhao family couple possessed.

In order to protect the original body, and to allow Zhao's parents to conduct their research with peace of mind.

As for feelings, these days people generally don't have much of a relationship when they get married. Even if they do, it's probably something that develops later on.

As expected, Gu Yan changed the subject.

"Anyway, I didn't notice at first, but their family's affairs were quite undignified, and everyone around them knew about it. But now it seems that it's not just a simple matter of favoritism."

If it were just favoritism, Zhu's mother wouldn't have had that expression just now. At least it was clear that the other party still cared about Zhu Yao and even asked them to take things back with them.

It's just that the two of them are going to Hong Kong, so they definitely can't help carry things for the time being.

Zhao Shuyi promised Zhu's mother that she would definitely come over to help bring things when she had time. The other party also expressed her understanding and seemed to be a polite and easy-going person.

After visiting the Zhu family, Zhao Shuyi and Gu Yan visited several other friends, some familiar and some not, before finally taking their child for a run in the nearby mountains.

When Qiu Jiawen asked about the child, they only said that they had given him to Gu Yan's friend.

Since all the Hua family members have jobs, the main help they get along with the children is actually the aunt who cooks at their house.

So when Zhao Shuyi mentioned that they had someone to help take care of the child, the Hua family felt regretful but didn't dwell on it too much.

Time flew by, and the day of their departure arrived. Zhao Shuyi and Gu Yan made all the arrangements and then joined the rest of the group to go to Beijing Airport to catch their flight.

If it were Zhao Shuyi from the 1960s, she wouldn't have dared to ride in that plane. But having lived in this era for so long, she has become accustomed to some of its features.

The airplane experience in this era was certainly not as good as in later times, but the difference wasn't that great.

After boarding the plane, Zhao Shuyi immediately closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, using her mind to enter the space.

She couldn't bring Gu Yan with her at this time, so she could only enjoy it by herself.

However, Beijing is not too far from Hong Kong; it seems they would arrive after a nap.

As soon as they got off the plane, everyone could clearly feel the differences between the two sides of the strait.

Here you'll find bustling streets, skyscrapers, and cars everywhere.

In Zhao Shuyi's view, Hong Kong at that time was still quite chaotic and did not have the feeling of an international metropolis that she had imagined. It was more like a county town in mainland China in later years, but this was the 1960s.

Even though most of them came from Beijing, a relatively prosperous city in mainland China, it was still nothing compared to Hong Kong at that time.

Even their somewhat dusty clothes seemed out of place with their surroundings.

Their current attire is considered high-end even in Beijing. Not only were the group from the military hospital shocked, but even several comrades from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were stunned by what they saw.

"Gentlemen, let's go to the hotel and check in first."

They had already arranged for reception before they arrived, so they weren't entirely without a guide.

Leading them the way was a young man named Pete who spoke with a Beijing accent. He was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, looking much like an insurance salesman in later generations. Compared to them, who had just gotten off the plane, he was quite fashionable.

Fortunately, they were all compatriots, and the other party did not seem to look down on them. They tried to tell them some interesting stories about Hong Kong, as well as some customs and habits that needed to be observed.

"I've already contacted several pharmaceutical companies for you. We can just go there and talk to them directly."

Someone asked, "Don't we need to go for a tour first?"

Pete said, "You can visit, but I don't think it's necessary because people won't let you visit freely and you won't see the core stuff. But if you show an intention to buy, at least you'll see some real stuff."

“This is not what we agreed on at the beginning.” Dr. Cao put on a stern face, and the people around him also stared at Pete.

When it came to whether the purpose of this trip would be achieved, everyone looked at Pete with unfriendly expressions. Whether it was the comrades from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or their colleagues from the military hospital, they all began to try their best to fight for their rights.

During this process, young people like Zhao Shuyi and Qiu Jiawen had no say, and the roughnecks like Gu Yan had even less say. Even Hua Shilei, who clearly had more say in the group, didn't get a word in edgewise. They could only listen to the negotiations from the sidelines.

Zhao Shuyi listened attentively, hoping to help if needed, but it was clear that the Chinese were first-rate negotiators and didn't need her help at all; the deal was quickly reached.

Pete said they could go to the hospital first before buying anything, or at least try out the equipment there.

“But you need to be careful lately. There are strikes and demonstrations everywhere outside, protesting against the British Hong Kong government. There is a curfew at night, so don’t go out unnecessarily.”

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned somewhat solemn. They knew about the situation before they came, but since their superiors had ordered them to come, they naturally had to.

If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known that Hong Kong has developed into this state.

Soon they arrived at their hotel, which had better facilities than many guesthouses at the time.

Everyone looked rather dejected before returning to their rooms.

She only told Gu Yan about it after they got back to their room.

"This time everyone has probably suffered a great blow. I have a feeling that our mission this time is probably not so simple."

They had discussed this issue before they came.

Why did the higher-ups send them out to buy medical equipment during such a sensitive period? Why did they send more than twenty people to Gu Yan's supposedly simple task?

Moreover, they are protected by bodyguards of equal stature.

This shows that the higher-ups also knew that their mission was very dangerous.

Gu Yan's expression turned serious.

"It might be related to the Hong Kong riots. You need to stay by my side the whole time."

They and the two groups that came to chase after the smuggled cultural relics were likely just a smokescreen.

"Yes, I'll be careful."

Zhao Shuyi didn't ask for anything else; she just wanted to buy some useful things for the hospital and get back safely.

"If we can't find Xu Wanqing, then forget it. Our safety is the priority."

Gu Yan said he would consider it.

As they talked, the conversation turned to Pete.

Zhao Shuyi had heard before that the country had been cheated by many foreigners in the early stages of its development, not only in the field of medical devices, but also in various other industries.

Many companies in Hong Kong are now foreign-owned, so it's unlikely they'll receive much preferential treatment.

These people sold outdated production lines, technologies, and other equipment to the Chinese people at exorbitant prices. Due to the backwardness of the production technology, the Chinese people had no choice but to accept these outdated products. It was a very frustrating period in history.

Zhao Shuyi's arrival this time, while not guaranteeing complete avoidance of such situations, she felt she should still be able to distinguish between good and bad medical devices. She just didn't know if her senior colleagues would believe her.

These thoughts only flashed through Zhao Shuyi's mind.

Regardless, she will definitely try her best to help the hospital purchase more advanced equipment. This is not only helping the hospital, but also helping herself and countless patients who need treatment.

The young couple had mixed feelings.

Gu Yan, like his companions, was deeply impressed by what he saw in Hong Kong.

He had heard Zhao Shuyi talk about many things and could guess that his country was still relatively backward for the time being, but he did not expect it to be so much worse than Hong Kong. How did it compare to more developed countries and regions such as Britain and France?

Seeing his wife's calm expression, he felt a little more at ease, thinking that their country could develop like Hong Kong in the future, or even better.

Upon asking, Zhao Shuyi gave him an affirmative answer, just as he had expected.

"Although it is not easy, our country cannot remain stagnant forever."

The two were chatting about how the future would change so rapidly when there was a knock on the door.

Qiu Jiawen stood at the door and told Zhao Shuyi and the other person to go to the meeting.

"You all saw Pete's attitude today. I guess they're trying to scam us. So before that, we need to find out the specifics of the medical equipment here. We can't just let ourselves get taken advantage of. Does anyone have any good ideas?"

The group looked at each other, and finally a doctor suggested, "We should still go to the hospital and experience it for ourselves. Even if we can't buy equipment as advanced as that in the hospital, at least it shouldn't be too far off."

Zhao Shuyi said, "If they really wanted to scam us, they would probably have made arrangements with the hospital beforehand, so we wouldn't be able to see the real thing when we went there."

She had been thinking about this all along, and she felt that such a situation was very likely to happen.

The crowd's expressions turned serious, and they asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"

"Special circumstances call for special treatment. Perhaps we can accomplish this under a new identity."

Zhao Shuyi didn't understand why the leaders didn't contact some of the pro-mainland people here, but instead contacted Pete, who was clearly not biased towards them.

But there must be a reason why the leader made this arrangement, so she could only try to deal with this so-called Pete.

"A new identity? What identity?"

Zhao Shuyi said, "Hong Kong is now a mixed bag, and many people from the mainland come here to seek refuge. They have a business here."

That means providing fake identity documents, or directly helping to obtain identity documents, which naturally include both real and fake ones.

They need it done quickly, so I guess they can only get a fake one. If it were real, they might be able to get it done.

"Once we have identification, we can go directly to the hospital for various examinations or treatments."

Where can I get this certificate?

Zhao Shuyi said, "For the next two days, we can have free time and go shopping or other places. Gu Yan and I will quietly take care of this matter."

"Once we get the certificates, the doctors will disguise themselves and go to several hospitals to conduct investigations."

Everyone had no objections, but some were still worried that the two of them wouldn't be able to handle it. "Are you two sure you can complete this task on your own?"

Zhao Shuyi nodded, "The two of us are more suitable. We are both skilled, and if we go out as an ordinary couple, no one will notice anything amiss. Moreover, we are confident that we can get rid of surveillance."

Everyone's expression turned sour when she mentioned surveillance.

What Zhao Shuyi could guess, they could guess as well: ever since they set foot on this land, they had probably been closely monitored.

Therefore, Zhao Shuyi's method was probably the safest approach. After discussing it further, everyone decided to adopt her suggestion.

So their next plan was to stay in the port city for two days to rest, and then go back to China after buying what they needed.

The next day, when Mr. Pete learned of the result, he was very surprised. "Weren't you in a hurry? Why did you still want to go out for a stroll?"

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, "We are in a hurry, but we can't just buy such expensive things here without knowing anything about Hong Kong. We want to familiarize ourselves with the local customs and culture first, so that it will be easier to negotiate prices later."

The other person immediately guessed their intentions and said, "Are you still planning to go to the hospital for a check-up first?"

No one denied it. "Let's get used to it first, then we'll go shopping today and go to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow."

Pete seemed particularly helpless, shrugging and saying, "Okay, then do you need us to come with you?"

"No need, we'll explore on our own, but it would be nice if Mr. Pete could come with us, at least that way we won't get lost."

Pete was quite pleased to see so many of them going shopping. As a real estate agent, he didn't just take on one lucrative job; he could also earn commissions by taking these people from the mainland shopping. So he was particularly eager to lead the group out.

The crowd followed him, showing their excitement.

When they arrived at the destination, some people wanted to see this and some wanted to see that, so they were too busy to keep up. Gu Yan and his companion took the opportunity to break away from the group, then turned into an alley and hid in the space.

Upon closer inspection, the two realized that, sure enough, someone was indeed following them.

They stayed in the space for quite a while, making sure that the people who were following them had disappeared, before they left the space with faces that were completely different from before.

Looking at the handsome Gu Yan, Zhao Shuyi felt that even his comrades might not recognize him if they came.

Zhao Shuyi personally gave him a haircut, and the clothes were also designed by Zhao Shuyi herself. Gu Yan stayed up all night making them in his space. The two of them are now considered handsome and beautiful even among people in Hong Kong.

Money makes the world go round, and they were willing to spend money, so they quickly found a place where they could [illegible].

To avoid trouble, they spent a lot of money to prepare two real identities. Of course, real identities refer to the real identities on the ID cards, not their actual identities. It cost the two of them a lot of money, and even Zhao Shuyi, who had saved a lot of money, felt a little pain. But compared to the money, the things they were going to do this time were nothing.

They also asked someone to check on Xu Wanqing's whereabouts, which added to their expenses.

Zhao Shuyi sighed, "Money really doesn't last long. When I can start a business in the future, I must earn more."

Gu Yan said, "Leave this to me, you don't need to bother."

Zhao Shuyi was appeased.

Instead of going back to their colleagues, the two took the fake certificates and went straight to the hospital.

They came here mainly for a CT scanner, an electron microscope for surgery, and ultrasound diagnostic equipment.

However, according to Zhao Shuyi's understanding, these devices were not actually successfully imported into China during the 1960s and 70s.

She didn't know if it was because of the parallel universe or because their introduction had failed in history, but in any case, since she was here, she still hoped to gain something.

When they went to the hospital for examination, Zhao Shuyi clearly found that although these medical devices were not as advanced as those of later generations, they were indeed quite advanced. If they could import such equipment, this trip to Hong Kong would not have been in vain.

Zhao Shuyi noted down the appearance and functions of those machines, as well as the final test results. She visited several hospitals, and the results were all similar.

Fortunately, there was no online medical record system at that time, so even if they went to hospitals all over Hong Kong, no one could suspect that they were wrong.

After receiving the results, Zhao Shuyi didn't rush back with Gu Yan. Instead, the two of them went into the space to communicate for a while.

They took advantage of this time to organize the equipment they wanted to import.

When everyone returned to the hotel that evening and held another meeting, they were all shocked by the results the two of them presented.

"You found out so much in just one day?"

Zhao Shuyi said, "We had identification documents and went to the hospital to inquire. The doctors there weren't too wary of us. But we definitely can't use this trick forever; it's still quite risky, so we acted as quickly as possible."

Everyone agreed, but the results Zhao Shuyi obtained were enough for them to express their own purchasing intentions.

The next day, they split into three groups.

They proceeded according to the original plan, using their original identities to investigate the hospitals. If what the other party revealed differed significantly from what Gu Yan and his group had seen today, it would mean that the other party might indeed be planning to scam them.

But if they've had a similar experience, then they can negotiate to buy directly.

Another group of people continued their undercover investigation using false identities. They couldn't reveal their identities; they just acted as ordinary passersby and didn't even pay too much attention to the machines.

The third group was arranged by the older seniors, who went directly to the company to negotiate, following Pete's wishes. If they could reach an agreement on a price, that would be great; if not, they would have to proceed slowly.

Gu Yan and the others followed the last group of seniors.

Zhao Shuyi was worried that the other party would come up with a new design but then try to scam them elsewhere, so she went back to her room to sleep early in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

Gu Yan said, "Would they really be so shameless as to cheat us?"

Zhao Shuyi glanced at him but didn't say anything. Gu Yan knew the answer himself. These people don't care about having any shame. Once the money is exchanged for the goods, who will recognize whom?

Back in the space, Gu Yan pestered Zhao Shuyi, asking her to tell him a lot of related knowledge, hoping that he could be of some help tomorrow.

Zhao Shuyi thought that Gu Yan was actually quite capable; he had a strong learning ability, except in the field of medicine.

For example, his English.

At first, when Zhao Shuyi heard Gu Yan speak English, it was quite stiff. But after Zhao Shuyi taught him some basic pronunciation and usage, not long after, his English had become much less accented, at least enough to deal with these Hong Kong people.

Gu Yan wanted to learn about those things, so Zhao Shuyi told him.

Not only did I tell him about the development of those instruments, but I also hypothesized some traps that the other party might set for them, including but not limited to passing off defective products as good ones, or putting expired and obsolete parts on good machine casings.

Actually, Zhao Shuyi didn't know much about these things. She had been cramming on some knowledge during this time, but Gu Yan had actually learned more about them than she had.

He seemed unusually interested in machinery, and Gu Yan listened very attentively when Zhao Shuyi explained things to him.

When Gu Yan heard Zhao Shuyi mention the traps those foreigners might set for them, he became particularly angry, and his gaze towards Zhao Shuyi became less friendly.

Zhao Shuyi teased him, "Are you going to yell at me?"

Gu Yan immediately deflated.

"I just didn't expect them to be so shameless."

Zhao Shuyi smiled faintly and said, "What I've said is just the tip of the iceberg. You'll see when you go tomorrow, and you'll know that they'll be even more shameless."

Zhao Shuyi felt she couldn't possibly be wrong; if these people were truly so moral, the country's medical standards wouldn't have developed so slowly.

Gu Yan fumed, and in the end, he took advantage of his anger to bully Zhao Shuyi.

Zhao Shuyi left a deep bite mark on his shoulder before stopping.

Because they were exhausted from working in the space, the couple still felt energetic when they woke up the next day.

The other comrades in the team, however, seemed to have slept poorly due to worry about today's operation, and all of them appeared somewhat listless.

Zhao Shuyi then distributed the sugar pills she had made with spiritual spring water to them. After eating them, they thought it was just their imagination because they felt like they had become more energetic.

Zhao Shuyi certainly didn't shatter their illusions; at least everyone was in high spirits when they went out.

Soon, Pete arrived, and just as Zhao Shuyi had predicted, he strongly urged everyone to go and take a look at the pharmaceutical company first.

It's clear they didn't make any money yesterday.

Even if you don't buy it, it's good to know about it in advance.

After everyone pretended to be in a difficult position, they split into two groups as originally planned, and upon seeing this, the other party's smiles deepened.