Qiming Chapter 47

Chapter 47

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Dark clouds loomed over the city as the long night descended. A sixteen-year-old boy frowned as he paced back and forth in his small apartment. After walking for over half an hour, he heard the rumbling of thunder outside the window, followed by a torrential downpour, the sound of the rain drowning out the honking on the streets.

He knelt on the bed, pulled open the curtains, and saw the city's lights stretching out for miles, though the lights in his home had long been extinguished. Hearing light footsteps outside the door, he quickly turned around, jumped off the bed, and ran to open the door. Sure enough, he saw Lin Xiangrong unlocking the door to the adjacent apartment with her keys. She was wearing a black suit, the well-tailored skirt accentuating her curves, black flat shoes on her feet, and carrying a small suitcase in one hand while holding a burning cigarette in the other.

"A'Quan? Come in first," she said gently, extinguishing the cigarette butt and tossing it into the bin at the door. She turned the key to open the door and walked in, dragging the suitcase behind her.

These two apartments were properties owned by the Jiang family, originally intended as employee dormitories, but before they could be fully renovated, the current situation had arisen.

"Xiangrong Jie, where did you go today?"

"I went to the Public Security Bureau to assist with their investigation," she took off her coat and hung it on the coat rack, wearing a white shirt as she boiled a pot of water.

He lowered his head, trembling, and said, "The school is urging me to return to classes, but I don't know if I should go."

"Take another week off, I'll speak to the school," she said, finding a box of tea leaves in the cupboard, brewing two cups of tea, and placing them on the table. She then turned on the air conditioner and the TV, closing the windows but drawing back the curtains.

"Your father is still under investigation, and the others have just been laid to rest," she paused, "But you must continue your education, don't even think about dropping out."

"Mhmm-hmm," he relaxed his brows and nodded as he stood by the table, accepting the teacup Lin Xiangrong handed him. Jiang Quan had studied abroad for many years, and his academic performance was mediocre. He was also quite uninformed about family matters. One year ago, he had heard from his father that the relationship between his second brother and sister-in-law had been very tense for the past few years. They never had children and later hardly saw each other. However, as they were half-siblings, their bond was not that strong, and the strained relationship between his second brother and sister-in-law didn't affect him much.

"Today, I spoke with your elder brother's attending physician, hoping to transfer him to Ruihe Hospital," she said, crouching down and opening the small suitcase she had brought back, which contained Jiang Hai's medical records and some medication. When Lin Xiangrong went to Jinping Hospital to collect the records, the doctor mentioned that the police investigating their case had also made a copy.

She found it odd since the case shouldn't have any connection to Jiang Hai. The police seemed fixated on him, even though he had been in a coma for several years, unable to speak or feel anything. He was a complete outsider to the situation.

"Ruihe Hospital?" Jiang Quan looked surprised at the box of medical records and observation reports.

"Given the current state of the Jiang family, although my relationship with them has been strained over the years, the Jiang family still holds a special meaning to me. I still want to do something, especially for your brother."

"But..." He scratched the back of his head, hesitant.

"But what?"

"I don't want my brother to go there."

She looked at the young boy, who still bore traces of childishness, in astonishment.

"I heard..." He cautiously leaned in and lowered his voice, "I heard that Ruihe Hospital conducts experiments on living people."

"I don't know what kind of experiments..."

Crash–

The glass in her hand accidentally tipped over, spilling hot water onto the table and running down the edge onto the wooden floor. Jiang Quan quickly picked up the fallen glass and used a heap of tissues to soak up the spilt tea.

"Who told you that?" She drew a sharp breath, cautiously looking around.

"My second brother said it..." Jiang Quan nervously threw the tissue into the bin.

"When did Jiang Yang say that?"

"About... a month ago?" He was startled by the expression on Lin Xiangrong's face, the always gentle face now bore an unprecedented anger. Jiang Quan took a few steps back and then grabbed the edge of the table to sit on a chair.

"He said it when I was on the phone with him. At that time, my father hadn't had his accident yet." He was stunned for a few seconds, and then, seeing Lin Xiangrong's angry face, he became less emotional.

"You haven't told anyone else, have you?" She took a few seconds to compose herself, her expression returning to gentleness. The rain continued to batter the windows, mixed with distant and intermittent thunder.

"No, I didn't even know which hospital Ruihe was..." Only when he heard her mention 'Ruihe' did he remember. When Jiang Quan lived in the country, Ruihe Hospital hadn't been established yet, so he had never heard of it.

"Then don't tell anyone in the future either." She shut the windows tightly, and after some thought, she drew the curtains halfway closed. She had originally thought that the Jiang family had been harmed because Jiang Yang had caused trouble outside again, but hearing what Jiang Quan said, she began to waver.

Regardless... she smiled bitterly. "Your second brother and the others just hate that hospital."

"If they were really experimenting on living people, how could no one know? It's not like decades ago, information spreads faster than we can imagine."

"My second brother said they were living people who couldn't talk..." he cautiously added.

"That's nonsense."

"A'Quan, remember, there's no such thing as experimenting on living people." She bent down and placed her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't repeat these hearsay stories to anyone, Jiang Yang's words are not trustworthy."

"Okay..." He nodded doubtfully.

"They simply hate Ruihe Hospital." She explained to Jiang Quan, "Let me explain it to you thoroughly. Ruihe Hospital is a private hospital, and its major shareholder is Zhiyin Technology."

She knew the Jiang family's aversion to Ruihe Hospital stemmed from this. Moreover, the renowned doctor who had performed surgery on Jiang Hai back then, Ying Han, had joined Ruihe Hospital after what the Jiang family called a 'failed operation', becoming the director of neurosurgery and successfully treating a patient diagnosed as brain-dead.

"Zhiyin holds sixty per cent of Ruihe's shares, giving them direct control. The biomedical research department established by Zhiyin is the main culprit behind driving Ronghua Biotech out of most of the market in recent years."

She continued, "That's why your father refused to send Jiang Hai to Ruihe, even though there were successful cases. Your second brother's nonsense about human experiments also stems from these reasons." Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, rain pounded on the windowsill. The city, washed by rain, still had countless lights, still hid its filth.

"They didn't want to hand your elder brother over to a competitor, unwilling to admit their failure, even if it was the best hope."

"Really?"

"This is how adults think." She reached out and ruffled the boy's hair. "It's getting late, go rest. Give me your school's contact information tomorrow, and I'll explain the situation to them."

She glanced at the clock on the wall, it was exactly ten o'clock. The rain had gradually lessened, with the distant sound of a bell mingling with it, as if someone were weeping, making her uneasy. After her bath, she closed her eyes and lay on the bed, her mind filled with images of the sky and earth from her school days.

Back then, the clouds were colourful, the sky was high, and the land was vast. They would lie on the deserted grassland, pointing at the sky at sunset, watching birds fly past their fingertips. But now, after more than a decade, such colourful clouds and birds at their fingertips would only appear in her dreams and memories.

Even if Jiang Hai woke up one day, their relationship would remain static under that sky.

—————

"How could it be Lin Xiangrong's blood?"

"How was she in Jiang Yang's car on the day of the incident?"

"Did she teleport?"

"Superpowers?"

"Did someone plant evidence to frame her?"

Gu Yunfeng muttered all the way, pondering deeply. When he reached his door, he even took out the wrong key, fumbling for a long time, almost resorting to using a wire to pick his own lock.

"Go to the bureau tomorrow and take another look," Xu Chengyue said, having listened to his ramblings all the way, finding it both amusing and frustrating that he couldn't stop him.

"The problem is that I'm really upset right now." Gu Yunfeng collapsed on the sofa as soon as he entered, looking utterly despondent.

"I feel like my thoughts are about to be overturned."

"They won't be." Xu Chengyue sat beside him, wanting to offer some comfort. He raised his hand halfway, then hesitated and put it down, unsure of the appropriate gesture.

"Let's not talk about this any more." He sat up straight, and turned on the television and lights. Outside, the wind howled and the rain lashed against the glass, the sound of the rain drowning out the city's noise. Suddenly, he found the place incredibly quiet.

After a while, he pulled out a cardboard box from somewhere and placed it in front of Xu Chengyue. "I have something for you."

He placed the box on his palm, hiding the scar in his hand, and opened the lid.

Inside was the watch Xu Chengyue had discarded. The rose gold strap glistened under the light, and a few tiny diamonds sparkled on the watch face, a perfect example of returning a gift.

Is this considered giving me something? It's just returning my own thing, finding a cardboard box to put it in. Xu Chengyue was drinking from his thermos cup and almost choked on his water.

"I asked Shu Pan to search the grassy field, and luckily it hadn't been picked up by anyone." Gu Yunfeng took out the watch, intending to help Professor Xu put it on.

"Aren't you moved? This is an important item."

"Aren't you just... returning a time bomb to me?" Xu Chengyue had no desire to take the watch, but Gu Yunfeng still helped him put it on. He was still haunted by the recent incidents where he had been targeted by driverless cars, as if wearing this thing would attract cars from all directions to crash into him.

"I had a colleague from the technical investigation team check it, it contains a GPS tracker and a smart chip that records vital signs, you've been monitored for a long time, I suspect... someone installed it while you were unconscious after that accidental fall."

"The other party monitors your movements through the GPS and observes your behaviour through the data recorded by the smart chip." He explained unhurriedly, "I originally wanted to remove the device before returning the watch to you since it's a keepsake from your parents and very valuable. But if the monitoring device is really removed, it won't be long before they notice your loss of control."

"That would be the most dangerous situation." With his arms crossed behind his head, Gu Yunfeng said, "From the current situation, it seems they don't want to kill you, just control you."

He stared at the rain pounding on the window, surging and unstoppable.

"So let's give them what they want, continue being monitored."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 28, 2024 by Angel

Edited: September 26, 2024 by Angel