Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 188: Examination by Proxy

[Today's Intel: While technological advancements bring convenience, they also leak our personal information—especially our phones...]

After reading the intel, Li Xu had an epiphany. "So that's how it is..."

He'd had similar experiences in his daily life.

It always seemed like his phone's apps could precisely capture his conversations. Whether it was a casual chat with a friend or a call with a stranger, the apps would react accordingly, as if they possessed some kind of extraordinary "hearing."

They would even use big data to push related products.

For example, say you were planning to buy an air fryer.

Before this, you definitely hadn't searched for anything about air fryers on your phone.

You just mentioned the idea to your family.

But the next time you opened a shopping app, product listings for air fryers would pop up like crazy.

And that was just commercial software.

The forces behind the hospital must be even more powerful.

Over the past two days, his phone calls with Xia Lei, as well as their conversation at the clinic yesterday afternoon, had all been bugged.

That's why they were able to send someone to threaten him so quickly.

All sleepiness vanished as Li Xu analyzed the situation in his mind. 'They must have been monitoring Xia Lei initially... His trip to the hospital, his visit to my clinic—he was being watched the whole time... And now, I'm being monitored too.'

But now that he knew their methods, he could come up with a counter-plan.

'I can't let Xia Lei go to the provincial capital anymore.'

'Otherwise, they might actually kill him on the way.'

'I also need to find a way to let Xia Lei know the truth as soon as possible. If he makes a scene, a big one, they won't be able to keep a lid on this.'

Li Xu quickly thought of a plan.

「The next morning.」

He called Xia Lei. "Mr. Xia, are you free to come by the clinic again today? I made a mistake in my diagnosis yesterday. Your problem isn't serious. I can prescribe some medicine that will cure you."

...

"Sir, that traditional Chinese medicine doctor has given in."

The young man stood before a large desk and pushed a phone across to the middle-aged man opposite him. "This is a recording of a call from this morning. He told Xia Lei to go to the clinic today to pick up medicine, saying it wasn't a big deal."

The middle-aged man tapped his fingertips on the mahogany desktop.

He was in his early fifties, with impeccably trimmed silver-grey sideburns and eyes slightly narrowed behind gold-rimmed glasses.

"Are you sure it's his voice?"

"The voiceprint match is 98.7%." The young man's lips curled into a smirk. "He should understand the consequences of opposing us now."

The middle-aged man took off his glasses and began to slowly and deliberately wipe the lenses with a silk handkerchief. "Continue monitoring Xia Lei for at least a year. As for that traditional medicine doctor's clinic..."

"We can have him shut down anytime."

The young man nodded in understanding.

...

When Xia Lei pushed open the clinic door, his displeasure was obvious. "Doctor Li, what the hell is going on? Yesterday you told me to go to the provincial capital, and today you're saying it's not a big deal?"

Li Xu didn't answer immediately. Instead, he glanced outside and saw there were no other patients for the time being.

"Sisi, keep an eye on the door."

"Mr. Xia, please follow me."

He lowered his voice and gestured for Xia Lei to enter the inner consultation room.

Inside the consultation room, all electronic devices had been powered down.

The curtains were drawn tight, with only a single emergency lamp providing dim light.

Xia Lei noticed that even the Wi-Fi router had been unplugged.

"What's this...?"

"SHHH—" Li Xu raised a finger to his lips. He took a metal box from a drawer. Inside was a piece of paper on which was written: "Turn off your phone, then put it in here."

Puzzled, Xia Lei did as he was told.

Li Xu placed both their phones into the metal box—it was a Faraday cage, capable of completely blocking all wireless signals.

"We can talk now," Li Xu said, letting out a long breath. "But we still need to keep our voices down."

"What on earth is going on? Why all the secrecy...?" Xia Lei's brow was furrowed.

Li Xu no longer held back and got straight to the point. "Based on my diagnosis, I suspect your left kidney... is gone."

"What?!" Xia Lei shot to his feet, both shocked and terrified. "Doctor Li, you... you can't be serious."

Li Xu shook his head, his expression grave. "Of course I'm not joking. This is why I kept telling you to get it checked at a hospital."

"That... That's impossible..." Xia Lei's voice was fragmented. "The ultrasound clearly showed..."

"It's simple. They could have given you someone else's ultrasound results, and you wouldn't have known the difference," Li Xu analyzed.

"But..."

Xia Lei's mind was in chaos, a whirlwind of anger and indignation.

'No wonder I've been feeling so weak all this time.'

'Fucking hell, I've only got one kidney.'

He turned to run out. "I'm going to find them."

Li Xu stopped him just in time. "You have no evidence. What will you confront them with?"

Xia Lei calmed down slightly, his face a mask of misery. "Doctor Li, what should I do now?"

Li Xu offered him a plan. "You need concrete evidence. So, you have to get another ultrasound, but this time, you absolutely must avoid them."

"How can I avoid them? They can even listen to our phone calls!"

Li Xu: "Listen carefully. Here's the plan..."

...

「Two hours later, in a residential complex in the eastern part of the city.」

Xia Lei knocked on the door of his friend, Song Qiang.

Song Qiang was his college classmate, and the two were very close.

"Old Xia? What's with all the secrecy?"

Song Qiang stared at Xia Lei, who was standing outside his door wearing a baseball cap and a face mask, with a baffled expression.

Xia Lei slipped into the apartment, shut the door behind him, and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. It read: *Don't talk. Turn off your phone.*

"Huh?"

Song Qiang had no idea what was going on.

But seeing Xia Lei's furtive demeanor, he took out his phone and turned it off.

Xia Lei let out a sigh of relief and said in a low voice, "Qiangzi, you're the only person I can trust. I need you to do me a favor. Don't worry, you won't be in any danger."

Song Qiang's playful expression vanished. "Tell me."

...

Ten minutes later, Song Qiang nodded, his face grim. "Damn it, those bastards! I'll help you!"

The two of them left their phones at Song Qiang's apartment.

However, Xia Lei brought a miniature camera with him.

Song Qiang took his ID card, and he and Xia Lei went downstairs together.

Then they drove to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Song Qiang used his ID to register. "Urology department, a regular appointment."

After registering, Song Qiang handed the registration slip to Xia Lei.

Wearing a mask, Xia Lei walked into the examination room and said bluntly that his stomach felt uncomfortable and he wanted an ultrasound.

The doctor on duty didn't think much of it and wrote him a requisition for the test.

The Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine wasn't crowded.

Xia Lei didn't have to wait long before he was called into the ultrasound room.

Throughout this process, he kept the miniature camera recording the entire time.

In the examination room, a middle-aged female doctor was preparing the equipment.

"Lie down, pull up your shirt," the doctor said without looking up.

Xia Lei's palms were slick with sweat.

He lay down as instructed, and when the cold coupling gel was applied to his abdomen, he almost started to tremble.

As the probe glided over his skin, the doctor's expression began to change.

She adjusted the angle several times, her brows knitting tighter and tighter.

"Have you... had kidney surgery before?" the doctor finally asked.

Xia Lei's heart was pounding like a drum. "Yes. My kidney was bad, so I had an operation."

The doctor was silent for a moment, then continued the examination.

Five minutes later, she printed out the report and handed it to Xia Lei. "Go see your attending physician."

Xia Lei took the report. It clearly stated:

No renal image detected in the left renal area;

Right kidney exhibits compensatory hypertrophy, mild dilation of the renal pelvis, further examination recommended.

...

P.S. Thank you to 'Rui GS' for the 100-coin tip.

Also, I can't really expand on this plotline... What I wrote last time (Chapter 74) still hasn't been unbanned.