Peach Blossom Unmatched

Chapter 14 The Genius with Three Doctorates

After that day, Fang Fang became the envy of everyone on Laosan Street.

Li Ru and Fang Yuan—Fang Fang’s parents—were over the moon, telling anyone who would listen that their eldest daughter was now the CEO of Qin Group’s assistant and a close friend of the company’s young master.

Qin Feng and Hou Bao went to Qin Building, which was located in the city’s central business district. After a brief tour of some departments, Qin Feng admitted he knew nothing about how the company operated and made it clear he wouldn’t interfere in any of its daily operations.

Seeing that Qin Feng wasn’t interested in the day-to-day work, Hou Bao took him straight to the elevator.

But instead of going up, the elevator went down.

Most office buildings had parking lots on the first and second basement levels (B1 and B2), but Hou Bao was taking him to B3.

From B2 to B3, the elevator descended for a full 2.6 seconds.

Qin Feng suddenly asked, “This level is 30 meters below ground, isn’t it?”

“How did you know that?” Hou Bao looked surprised—Qin Feng was exactly right.

Qin Feng smiled and explained, “The elevator’s speed is 0.7 meters per second. It took 2.6 seconds to get from B2 to here. Adding the 4-meter height of each floor (B1 and B2), it’s easy to calculate that this level is 30 meters underground.”

Hou Bao gave him a thumbs-up, “You’re absolutely right—it is 30 meters. But do you know what this depth means?”

Qin Feng didn’t hesitate, “It meets the requirements for basic nuclear protection. With a few extra concrete layers, it could also withstand over 80% of currently used bunker-busting bombs.”

Hou Bao fell silent for a moment, then shook his head, “Xiao Feng, you’re becoming more and more of a mystery. I really want to know what you’ve been through all these years.”

“Hehe, and I find it strange that you’d build a top-secret nuclear, biological, and chemical defense lab under an office building,” Qin Feng shot back.

Hou Bao laughed, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

In the entire Qin Building, only Hou Bao and Mei Hui had access to B3. Qin Wei had been the third person with permission when he was alive—and now that spot belonged to Qin Feng.

The lab was filled with all kinds of experimental equipment—so many that Qin Feng couldn’t even name some of them.

On a metal display case, three doctorate certificates lay neatly side by side. They had been issued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, the University of Cambridge in the UK, and Capital Medical University in China.

One certificate was for a PhD in Physics, another for a PhD in Mechanical Dynamics, and the third for a PhD in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). And all three bore the same name: Hou Bao.

Physics, mechanics, and TCM—three completely unrelated fields. How had this old man managed to get doctorates in all three?

“Surprised?” Hou Bao smiled and explained, “Don’t feel bad—I can barely believe it myself. Take a look at the dates on the certificates. Maybe that will help you figure it out.”

The Physics PhD had been awarded nine years earlier, the Mechanical Dynamics PhD six years earlier, and the TCM PhD three years earlier—all after Hou Bao had started working for Qin Wei.

“That’s right,” Hou Bao said, lost in thought. “I never would have gotten these degrees without Ah Wei’s encouragement. Back then, I only knew a little about TCM. In physics and mechanics, Ah Wei’s knowledge was far beyond mine.”

Qin Feng’s expression softened from surprise to curiosity, “If you’re a TCM doctor, Uncle Hou, why did my father die so young? He was only forty-three—still in his prime.”

Hou Bao shook his head, “By the time I earned these degrees, your father’s health was already failing. To be honest, he’d been suffering from a rare illness even before I met him. I did everything I could to extend his life, but fate is fate—he still left us too soon.”

Without Hou Bao’s efforts over the years, Qin Wei would have died a decade earlier.

It was precisely because of his illness that Qin Wei had let go of his grief over losing his son and wife and thrown himself into building his business. With nothing to lose, he’d charged into the business world like a fearless young man and built an empire from scratch.

Besides being a top executive at Qin Group and holding three doctorates, Hou Bao had another secret identity—one that even Mei Hui didn’t know about: he was a master thief.

Or, more precisely, a “flying thief”—skilled in scaling walls, picking locks, and sneaking into even the most secure places. Over the years, he’d stolen countless treasures, antiques, and confidential documents.

But no one can fight against aging. Fourteen years earlier, he’d botched a heist and nearly lost his life. If Qin Wei hadn’t found him while out for his morning run and saved him, he would have died that day.

After that, Hou Bao had vowed to give up his life of crime and dedicate himself to repaying Qin Wei’s kindness.

“Uncle Hou, you’ve led quite a life—even being a thief,” Qin Feng said after hearing Hou Bao’s confession. Then he changed the subject, “Cheng Mei is still so young-looking, and my useless brother doesn’t look fourteen at all. You must have had something to do with that, right?”

Hou Bao nodded, “Just a few small tricks. I gave Cheng Mei some anti-aging pills and Qin Yu some supplements to speed up his growth. Xiao Feng, don’t you think you owe me an explanation too?”

Qin Feng shrugged, “Of course. I have nothing to hide from you.”

He told Hou Bao everything—from the day he’d been abducted, to the deadly training he’d endured, to becoming a hitman, and all the missions he’d completed. He held nothing back.

After listening, Hou Bao slapped his forehead, “I should have guessed it was Death Island! Every year, they kidnap children with exceptional physical abilities from all over the world and train them to be killers. Your father was a boxing champion—he must have been one of their key targets. If I’d realized this earlier, maybe I could have saved you!”

Qin Feng shook his head, “That would have been impossible. From the day Death Island was founded until the day it was destroyed, no one had ever managed to infiltrate it—let alone rescue someone from it.”

Now it was Hou Bao’s turn to ask a question, “If their security was so tight, how did you manage to take the whole island down?”

Qin Feng smiled mysteriously, “Even the strongest fortress can’t withstand an attack from within. I found a loophole in their self-destruct system. I fired a rocket at the island, and their computers misjudged the situation—thinking the island was under a massive attack and about to fall. So they activated the self-destruct system automatically. Boom—everything was gone.”

As he spoke, he mimed an explosion with his hands.

Hou Bao had lost count of how many times he’d given Qin Feng a thumbs-up. He said sincerely, “Xiao Feng, you’re brilliant! Who would have thought the invincible Death Island would be destroyed by its own self-destruct system?”

Qin Feng waved his hand modestly, “It sounds easy when I say it like this, but it was actually a lot harder than it seems. To find that loophole in the self-destruct system, I had to seduce the head programmer in the main control room. Lucky for me, she was a beautiful woman—and she was pretty wild in bed. All in all, I guess it wasn’t a bad deal.”

Hou Bao stared at him in shock. Bad deal? He’d clearly gotten the better end of it!