The wait was long. But because the people suffering the accident were Japanese with whom they shared a deep-seated grudge, Sang Zhi and the others felt unusually calm, aside from their curiosity about the effects of Acupuncture Anesthesia. If they’d had a bag of melon seeds, they could have spent the time cracking and eating them while they waited.
Uncle-Master Huang Qian was smarter than her master. While the surgery was happening inside, he stood outside, chatting amiably with Sang Zhi. He asked things like what she liked to eat, how many people were in her family, and where she worked. Since he suspected she might be the "illegitimate daughter" his uncle had left behind—a younger sister he had never met—he seemed like a changed man. He spoke in a soft, gentle voice, his face wearing a look of "benevolence" that didn't quite suit his usual image.
Huang Qian thought he was being subtle and that his intentions were invisible to others. In reality, how could Sang Zhi fail to hear what he was really asking? He wanted to piece together her background from these details. But she saw through his game without calling him out. When he asked, she answered, though she intentionally spoke vaguely on the points he cared about most, keeping everything ambiguous.
Chapter 235