The Omniscient

Chapter 36: The Mysterious Swindler

Huang Ji spent a total of four hours with Academician Pan before finally leaving, completely satisfied.

Although Academician Pan only considered medicine a supplementary field, his expertise in cell synthesis, organic chemistry, and gene engineering was unparalleled, making him the leading figure in the field domestically. Despite being just 47 years old, which placed him among the younger generation of academicians, this was precisely his prime.

The peak period of creativity for scientists usually falls between their 30s and 40s. Globally, the average age at which scientists publish significant academic works is 34.9 years, a number that continues to trend downward.

With Pan's assistance, Huang Ji finally broke through his last “bottleneck.” His knowledge in medicine, chemistry, and biology was now at the cutting edge of global research.

Among these, his overall medical skills ranked fourth in the world.

This ranking, however, did not impress Huang Ji—in fact, he found it to be quite low.

After all, he had reached the level of a top-tier domestic full professor in virtually every subfield of medicine. On top of that, his unique integration of traditional Chinese medicine, combined with his unparalleled knowledge of the human body’s special acupoints, gave his practice a distinctive and unmatched style.

By all logic, no one on Earth should have a higher comprehensive ranking than him. Yet, there were apparently three individuals above him.

This led Huang Ji to realize that these three people must be far from ordinary—they were likely connected to extraterrestrials in some way.

April 29th.

Huang Ji arrived at Huashan Hospital. Over the past few weeks, he had managed to secure access to observe and learn there.

Dr. Li, the wife of Professor Lin, was one of the attending physicians at the hospital. Mistaking Huang Ji for one of Professor Lin’s graduate students, she brought him along to assist her under the pretext of providing him with “hands-on observation.”

Although the work didn’t come with any financial perks, Huang Ji was happy to do it. This opportunity allowed him to interact directly with the hospital's top experts in various specialties.

Of course, Huang Ji had already extracted all the knowledge he needed. His continued presence was solely to obtain certain medications that Zhang Junwei had been unable to acquire.

“Hm?”

From a distance, Huang Ji spotted Dr. Li and paused to observe her for a moment.

This had become his habit—whenever he approached experts in the medical field, he first confirmed whether his fake identity had been exposed.

This time, after a brief observation, he smiled and turned to leave.

He had been exposed.

Starting from Professor Lü Qinggong, Huang Ji had spent the last nine days meeting nearly every authority figure in the medical field in the area. Most of the top doctors and professors in Shanghai had crossed paths with him.

Through this week of interconnected scams, his name—Hua Xu—had become a hot topic in hospitals and research institutes across the city.

“Exposure was inevitable,” Huang Ji thought with a smirk. “But I’ve already achieved my goals.”

Indeed, Huang Ji never intended to keep up his deception indefinitely.

The unraveling of his web of lies had begun at an academic exchange meeting, where several prominent figures in medicine were gathered.

Professor Lü Qinggong said, “Ah, I met this remarkable graduate student recently! Incredible talent! I wanted to take him on as my student, but it turns out his identity was fake. Can’t find him anywhere now.” ṘἈ𐌽ȰᛒÈꞩ

Dean Hong immediately chimed in, “Oh? You’re short on students? A few days ago, you recommended an undergraduate to me for an interview. He seemed excellent, so I’ve already arranged for Tongji University to accept him. What’s your relationship with him?”

Professor Lü froze. “What? I recommended an undergraduate? That’s impossible! I’ve never made such a request.”

Dean Hong was puzzled. “It was just last week. His name was Hua Xu. Don’t you remember?”

“What?! Hua Xu? He’s at your place? Fantastic! That’s the very person I wanted as my student!” Lü exclaimed.

Dean Hong chuckled, “Don’t even think about it. Now you know? Too late. You’re the one who passed him on. He’s going to be Lin Tao’s student.”

“That’s nonsense! Impossible! I’ve been looking for him all this time. Ask Yang Qizhong,” Lü said, growing frustrated.

Professor Yang Qizhong added, “It’s true. Hua Xu claimed to be one of my students before meeting Lü. Lü, impressed by his skills, even asked me about him. But get this—he’s not even a Fudan student!”

“What? He’s not from Fudan? Then which school is he from?” Dean Hong was equally bewildered.

The other professors soon joined the conversation, revealing that they too had encountered Hua Xu.

“Are you talking about Hua Xu? He can’t possibly be from Fudan—he’s from Tongji University,” one professor interjected.

“Ridiculous! He’s definitely not from Tongji,” Dean Hong retorted.

“How can he not be? He’s Lin’s student, after all,” the professor argued.

Dean Hong hurriedly clarified, “He will be, but not yet. He’s enrolled in an on-the-job master’s program, and the exam isn’t until October. For now, he only has an undergraduate degree from Fudan.”

“Rubbish!” Lü and Yang exclaimed in unison.

“We’ve checked all Fudan students. There’s no such person! Why do you think I’ve been saying I couldn’t find him?” Lü said exasperatedly.

At this point, another professor joined in, shaking his head. “Ah, I have no idea what you’re all arguing about. Are we even talking about the same Hua Xu?”

“Do you know him too?” the group asked.

“Of course! He even delivered lunch to me twice!”

Confidently, the professor declared, “He’s from Jiao Tong University! You can ask Professor Zhu if you don’t believe me.”

Professor Zhu, caught off guard, stammered, “Huh?”

“What do you mean, huh? He’s your student!”

“Who’s Hua Xu? I’ve never heard of him...” Zhu said, confused.

A specialist from an affiliated hospital chimed in, “Nonsense! He’s not from Jiao Tong—he’s Lin’s student from Tongji!”

The debate became increasingly chaotic.

Finally, Dean Hong banged the table and declared, “Enough! Has anyone else met this Hua Xu?”

To his surprise, all twelve professors present raised their hands.

Professor Zhu chuckled, “Are we even sure this ‘graduate student’ is the same person?”

Dean Hong corrected him, “He’s just an undergraduate.”

“Impossible! He must be a doctoral student.”

“What? Hasn’t he already graduated?”

“He’s graduated?”

The room dissolved into a cacophony of voices once more.

Professor Zhu laughed, “Could it be that all of this is fake? Maybe he’s just a swindler who fooled all of you! Did any of you pay him money?”

“His identity might be fake,” someone said. “But to call him a scammer? No way. He didn’t take a cent from me—he even treated me to a meal.”

“Definitely not a scammer. He must have his reasons for hiding his identity. After all, his abilities are real! You don’t know—his surgical knowledge is more solid than that of two of my doctoral students combined.”

“Surgical skills? I think his understanding of endocrinology is even deeper.”

“Endocrinology? You clearly haven’t read his pharmacological papers.”

“Pharmacology? You have no idea about his expertise in orthopedics.”

The arguments raged on.

When the topic of Hua Xu came up, everyone seemed to have their own unique impression of him, creating an incredibly chaotic scene.

It didn’t take long, however, for the group to collectively realize: this man was a master con artist.

Over time, Huang Ji had managed to deceive dozens of Shanghai’s top-tier and world-class doctors and professors in the medical field.

What school was he from? What major? What degree? There were multiple conflicting accounts. His true identity was a complete mystery.

“Quick, Old Hong, contact your student and ask where Hua Xu is right now!”

“And the rest of you—didn’t some of you meet him recently? Track him down!”

The professors sprang into action. Those who had interacted with Huang Ji began comparing notes and reaching out to each other. Word spread like wildfire across their professional circles.

“Good heavens, even the Chinese Academy of Sciences got tricked! A returning Ph.D. named Li Wensi was coaxed all the way to the airport, carrying papers for an entire afternoon. Meanwhile, someone impersonating Li Wensi entered a lab, worked there for four hours, and even finished a semi-synthesis project before walking out as if nothing had happened.”

“Wait, what? The Academy didn’t even realize someone was impersonating Li Wensi?”

“You’re one to talk. Didn’t a ‘student’ fool you into circles?”

“That’s different—Hua Xu is genuinely skilled.”

“Well, so was this impersonator! Honestly, I suspect it was Hua Xu himself. You know, Academician Pan didn’t believe it at first when he learned the truth. When he met the real Li Wensi, he refused to acknowledge him and kept asking where yesterday’s ‘Li Wensi’ had gone. He even got into an argument with Director Zhao over it.”

The sheer number of people duped by Huang Ji caused an uproar within the medical community overnight.

But upon closer reflection, they realized that none of them had really lost anything to him.

Hua Xu had never asked for money—not a single cent. On the contrary, he had even gone out of his way to provide small gestures of kindness here and there.

Harmed anyone? Not at all. In fact, everyone found him incredibly considerate and polite.

What’s more, Huang Ji had done volunteer work in several hospitals and had even run errands in various school laboratories, tirelessly serving tea and assisting others.

In terms of his academic knowledge, there was no question about his capabilities. While his credentials were fabricated, his expertise was genuine.

When the professors pooled their accounts together, they came to a striking realization: this was no ordinary individual.

In fact, he seemed to be a polymath—a talent who possessed profound theoretical knowledge in every area of medicine. In some fields, his practical skills were exceptionally advanced as well.

With this realization, the mystery deepened.

What was his goal? Why had this enigmatic “graduate student” lied to so many esteemed professors in the medical community?

It wasn’t for money. It wasn’t to cause harm. Could it have been to steal something?

No, nothing seemed to be missing. After much deliberation, the professors confirmed that no tangible items had been taken.

The answer to this question would elude them for the rest of their lives. They simply couldn’t conceive of someone “stealing” knowledge.

But was it even theft? In academia, could knowledge ever truly be stolen? Once someone learned something, it became two copies instead of one. They had lost nothing.

Ultimately, the sheer number of unanswered questions earned him a unique nickname: “The Mysterious Graduate Student.”

His academic qualifications remained the subject of multiple, conflicting accounts. It was as if he had dropped out of the sky, mystifying everyone, fooling countless experts, and yet leaving behind not even a single clear photograph of his face.

Those who had never met him could only rely on a single blurry image—a shot of his back captured by a hospital surveillance camera.

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