48 Hours a Day

Seventy-two days had passed since Zhang Heng’s admission to the hospital.

The female doctor flipped through the test report in her hands, still unable to believe the numbers on it. Although there were still some variances between the numbers and ordinary people, this was because Zhang Heng’s body had been bombarded by nuclear radiation, one that would permanently leave traces on his body. Other than that, there were other changes that required more time to observe.

However, for the time being, even with the most cautious scientific attitude, the female doctor had to admit that Zhang Heng was recovering very well. Most of his vitals had returned to normal, and his bodily functions were improving every day. As of now, he had already reached the stage where he was eligible to be discharged.

The female doctor nodded at Mr. and Mrs. Dima.

“Congratulations, you can now go through the discharge procedures. However, it’s best you come here once every six months for a check-up. We still have a lot of things that we haven’t studied clearly about radiation sickness. It might just flare-up in the future, so we can’t let our guard down just yet.”

As the female doctor spoke, she glanced at Mrs. Dima. The latter’s face was filled with surprise. If it wasn’t for the series of things she had done after Dima was admitted into the sterile ward, the female doctor would have been shocked. Now, she really looked like an excited wife, thankful for her husband’s safe discharge from the hospital.

However, for a person like the female doctor who “knew the inside story,” she somehow felt uncomfortable when she saw the joy on the receptionist’s face.

The receptionist didn’t know that she had been blacklisted by the female doctor. At the moment, she was in high spirits. Since Zhang Heng was still alive, it meant that the agreement between the two of them was still valid and her job as a translator and language teacher could continue.

She was not worried that Zhang Heng would ditch her after she lent him the dictionary because even if he understood Russian through self-study, he wouldn’t be able to open his mouth. In the end, it was up to her to teach him spoken English.

Therefore, the receptionist continued to play the role of a good wife and thanked the female doctor profusely.

“You don’t have to thank me. There’s not much I can do. It was your man who defeated the god of death with his strong willpower and amazing physical fitness,” the female doctor said lightly. “I hope you can love your man as much as he loves you.”

The receptionist was a little confused by the doctor’s last sentence, but then she did not intend to explain herself. She turned around and walked out of the ward until Zhang Heng was discharged. She didn’t tell Zhang Heng about what she saw in the corridor. Perhaps being a doctor, she had gotten used to white lies, but she didn’t know if what she was doing was the right thing.

After the doctor left, the receptionist helped Zhang Heng pack up his things while thinking about the doctor’s words.

What did she mean by loving him as much as her man loved her? Wasn’t their relationship purely financial? Since when did Zhang Heng show his love for her?

In order to confirm this question, the receptionist turned to look at Zhang Heng, only to find that his expressions remained the same as usual.

Could it be that when he was in the sterile ward, Zhang Heng felt that he would die, and he told the doctor about his feelings for her, no holds barred? But that didn’t make sense. When she was admitted to the hospital, she had already told the female doctor that her man was mute to solve the problem of Zhang Heng being unable to speak.

The receptionist couldn’t figure it out, no matter how much she thought about it. She stuffed the fashion magazines that she had bought into her suitcase and helped Zhang Heng with the discharge procedures.

When the two of them walked out of the hospital and arrived at the street in front of the door, Zhang Heng subconsciously raised his hand to block the dazzling sunlight. Looking at the busy street, he couldn’t help but feel like a lifetime had passed.

In the past 70 days, he had already been on the brink of death one time too many.

“Where are we going next?” the waitress asked.

“Back to Pripyat,” Zhang Heng answered without hesitation. “But there’s no rush. Coming to Kiev is a rare thing, so let’s just treat it as a trip. Let’s go around the city first. By the way, do you know where Kiev’s biggest shopping mall is? I saw you reading that coat in the magazine.”

“Oh, I haven’t decided if I should buy it or not,” the waitress said with some hesitation. “I really like its color and style, but in terms of price… it’s still a little too expensive.”

Although the waitress had already earned her first pot of gold from Zhang Heng, enough to buy the coat, and that the latter had been discharged from the hospital successfully, which meant a steady stream of income, she was still considered to have become rich overnight and hadn’t changed her mind about spending.

“It’s okay. I’ll give you a ride,” Zhang Heng said. “Consider it a reward for your recent performance at the hospital.”

Actually, the main reason was that Zhang Heng’s medical treatment and the receptionist’s salary had already depleted most of the money he had previously earned. Zhang Heng planned to find a few more wealthy customers at the mall and borrow their wallets for a while. The fee for the latter part of the trip would cost a lot, after all, so he had better be prepared.

“Really?!” The receptionist was elated. No matter the time, the things she bought with her own money would definitely not be as good as others bought with theirs. Since Zhang Heng was willing to pay, of course, she would not worry about the price anymore. Hearing that, she immediately hugged Zhang Heng’s arm happily.

The next afternoon, the two returned to Pripyat by train. With the help of the receptionist, Zhang Heng chose a small-ish but well-furnished apartment. It would be his place of residence for the next four years.

After that, he started to learn a foreign language from the receptionist.

Zhang Heng first learned Russian. Since Russian was the official Soviet language, he could communicate with people wherever he went. Thus, he spent about half a year focusing on learning the language.

In the past half-year, he lived and ate with the waitress, and he had managed to practice his Russian to a level where he could communicate with others fluently.

The waitress had helped him correct some of his intonation problems, making his pronunciation sound more standard, almost on par with the Russians. Coupled with his skin color, Zhang Heng was finally able to perfectly blend into this parallel dungeon.

This also allowed him to proceed with the next step of his plan.

“What? You’re really going to work at the Nuclear Power Plant?”The receptionist was shocked when she heard someone’s next step.

“Yes, I want to truly understand Chernobyl. Not only from the future news or interviews with the parties involved, but I also want to fully understand the design and operation of the plant,” Zhang Heng said in a tone the receptionist could not understand.