Chapter 76

After leaving Bergman's office, John was quite excited. Indeed, the pioneering surgeons who used steam sterilization were not the kind of people who stuck to the rules. After examining John's basic knowledge on the spot, Bergman readily agreed to his request: he would conduct a series of rigorous exams over the next two weeks, and if John passed, he could follow Bergman himself for surgical training. However, after John's strong request and earnest explanation, Bergman also agreed that if he succeeded, he would only arrange for two days of training per week, with the rest of the time left to John's own discretion.

It had to be said that this bigwig in the field of surgery was indeed very enlightened and very supportive of John's idea of conducting blood research simultaneously. After all, the progress of surgery was inseparable from basic medical science. However, Bergman couldn't help him in this area, and John could only seek the support of a professor of physiology!

"Or, maybe I should just do it on my own?"

At the thought of having to persuade another bigwig, John couldn't help but feel a headache. Actually, with the current conditions and his financial resources, building a physiology laboratory was not impossible, but spending such a large sum of money would definitely attract the attention of old Hunter, and John didn't want that for now. Besides, if he were to conduct physiology experiments, he would definitely need to use animals. Although this era was not as strict as the future, due to a debate in Britain ten years ago, animal protection was already quite advanced, and using them for experiments required approval, which was quite troublesome.

After thinking for a while without any clear direction, John decided to do some basic preparatory work first and deal with other matters after passing Bergman's exams...

...

Time flew by, and the weekend was approaching.

In the afternoon, one of John's best friends, Pick, walked up to him quickly and asked with a smile, "John, do you have any other plans for the weekend?"

John was slightly taken aback by this and nodded, saying, "I need to buy some things tomorrow morning... What's up, do you need something from me?"

"There's a ball tomorrow night, are you interested?"

Pick's voice suddenly lowered, and he asked with a grin.

"A ball?"

Hearing this word, John's heart suddenly stirred.

It had been a long time since he last attended a ball like the one at Koch's. However, the "fun" ball that Pick had mentioned had never materialized. After all, with his family's wealth and status, it was indeed not easy to attend high-level balls.

Sure enough, Pick leaned in closer, his voice even lower, "John, I promised to take you to an interesting ball, and tomorrow is a great opportunity! The ball tomorrow is on a large scale, with many big merchants and entrepreneurs attending, as well as a good number of nobles. I had to go to great lengths to get two invitations..."

Hearing this, John immediately understood why Pick was being so quiet.

For young people, a luxurious ball was undoubtedly very attractive, but the difficulty of attending one was also considerable, which was why Pick hadn't come to John for so long. It was easy to imagine that if Luther or someone else overheard this news, they might complain that Pick wasn't being fair.

So without hesitation, John nodded, "Of course I'm interested, tomorrow night, right? Where is it?"

Feeling that his life was monotonous and boring, and thinking about Joshua's urging, John was a bit desperate.

"Hehe..."

Seeing John's reaction, Pick suddenly grinned slyly.

This grin left John puzzled, and he glared at him, scolding, "What are you laughing at?!"

Pick didn't mind his friend's scolding, his eyes narrowing into slits as he chuckled, "John, I heard that many noble ladies will be attending this ball. You should dress up nicely, maybe you can take one back to America..."

"Uh..."

Seeing his friend's suddenly lecherous expression, John was speechless. However, deep down, a sense of curiosity and anticipation arose in his heart: after all, he had never really interacted with nobles before...

...

The next morning, John left home after having breakfast.

Today, he didn't ride his bicycle but had Hans help him book a carriage, heading straight for a commercial street in Berlin. About half an hour later, the carriage stopped in front of a shop.

"Wait for me here for a moment."

After getting off the carriage, John instructed the driver, and only after the driver agreed did he step inside.

As soon as he entered, a neatly dressed clerk approached, greeting him respectfully, "Sir, is there anything I can assist you with?"

"I need a microscope!"

Without looking around at the other items, John directly stated the purpose of his visit.

"A microscope?"

Hearing this word, the clerk was momentarily stunned, blinking his eyes and looking at John with surprise.

"Is there a problem?"

John felt a bit displeased, his face turning cold as he asked.

"No, no, of course not."

The clerk was startled and quickly waved his hands, smiling apologetically, "However, sir, microscopes are expensive items, and we usually don't have display models. Do you have any specific brand or model in mind?"

"Do you have a price list?"

John frowned, hesitated for a moment, and then asked. It would be strange if he knew the brands and models of microscopes from over a hundred years ago. However, he had done his research and knew that this shop was the largest in Berlin that sold microscopes, so it was more practical to look at the prices directly.

"Of course, please wait a moment!"

Tilting his head and looking at John seriously, the clerk nodded and went to the counter to search. It was clear that people who bought microscopes were not common, otherwise, the clerk wouldn't have taken several minutes to find it. Finally, the clerk brought out a thin piece of paper and respectfully handed it to John.

Taking the price list casually, John's eyes scanned it, and he was immediately startled, his whole body becoming alert.

"Are these the prices for microscopes?"

Staring wide-eyed, John couldn't help but swallow, feeling as if a thousand yaks were stampeding in his heart. If he hadn't maintained his composure, he would have almost grabbed the clerk by the collar and shouted, "Are you sure this list isn't for an electron microscope from the future?"

"Sir, is there a problem?"

The clerk asked with a smile, seemingly a bit worried.

"No, no problem."

Taking a deep breath, John finally understood what a microscope meant in the 19th century and why the clerk had looked at him that way. For a young man to suddenly come in and say he wanted to buy such an expensive item, the clerk had already been quite polite to find the price list for him. John also guessed that his well-dressed appearance had played a significant role.

"Sigh, looks like I'm going to bleed a lot this time!"

Sighing inwardly, John reluctantly began to seriously examine the prices on the list.

No matter how expensive it was, John had to buy a microscope. This expense was necessary because he needed to conduct blood research, and a microscope was essential equipment. Initially, he knew that microscopes, while common in the future, were very expensive experimental equipment in this era. He had planned to buy one himself because he couldn't use them freely at the University of Berlin, but he never expected the prices to be so outrageous. The price of a single microscope was enough to buy dozens of bicycles.

"Ladd, Wenham..."

Reading through the brands and prices of the microscopes, John's head started to spin. He didn't recognize these brands, even from the future.

However, when John's eyes landed on a particular word, he suddenly brightened and pointed to it, turning to ask, "Do you have this brand of microscope in stock?"

...