Qiming Chapter 51

Chapter 51

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When Xu Chengyue pushed open the door, he found the living room in complete disarray.

Scattered on the floor were dozens of screws, and Gu Yunfeng was holding tools, continuing his morning task of assembling a small wooden bed of questionable quality.

He deeply regretted buying the thing. It was difficult to assemble, couldn't be returned, and even throwing it away would incur a hefty garbage disposal fee. He was drenched in sweat, looking thoroughly displeased.

When he looked up and saw Professor Xu, he instinctively asked why he was home so late. Then, inexplicably, his face reddened. He quickly looked down, tidying up the mess on the floor. It seemed the bed wouldn't be assembled today, and he would have to spend another night on the sofa.

"I went to Ruihe Hospital to get some reimbursement documents, but I didn't manage to get them."

Seeing his odd expression, Xu Chengyue poured a glass of water and handed it to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." 

But his whole body seems to be out of sorts. Xu Chengyue pondered for a moment, wondering if it was because he had kissed him yesterday. But he had told him not to take it seriously. At that moment, he simply felt like doing it, seeing Gu Yunfeng's flustered reaction made him want to hug him.

"Is it because I kissed you yesterday?" he asked bluntly.

"No no no!" Gu Yunfeng jumped up in a panic, waving his hands like a fan. "I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it."

"I really had." He looked at Xu Chengyue with a complex expression, rubbing his hair. After a long pause, he asked, "Professor Xu, have you ever been in love before?"

"No."

"Then have you ever kissed anyone else..."

"No."

Gu Yunfeng sighed, thinking, so I'm the first one? How could he kiss someone so casually, especially a man? Has he lost his mind from too much studying? But knowing he was the first... somehow made him feel a strange sense of honour.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat twice. "In that case, let's just move past this. Don't dwell on it anymore. You should also interact more with others, especially with women. Look at all the students around you who admire you..."

"I'm not dwelling on it, aren't you the one who is?" Xu Chengyue interrupted him. He truly wasn't dwelling on it. From the moment he walked in, he wouldn't have remembered it if not for Gu Yunfeng's odd behaviour.

Watching Gu Yunfeng silently resume hammering nails, Xu Chengyue squatted down and sat on the still-unfinished bed frame. "Are you going to keep sleeping on the sofa?"

"What else can I do?" Gu Yunfeng looked frustrated. "Sleeping on the sofa for so many days is really uncomfortable for my back."

"Then sleep on the bed."

"What about you?"

"I will too, what's the problem?" Xu Chengyue looked at him with a puzzled expression. He had been wondering since moving in why Gu Yunfeng insisted on sleeping on the sofa. It wasn't like that bed was too small for two people, it was more than spacious.

"I refuse." Gu Yunfeng stood up righteously. "I absolutely refuse to share a bed with another man."

"Professor Xu, I think you need to consider why you've been single for so many years." He grasped Xu Chengyue's wrist and spoke to him earnestly, "Whether you like men or women, you have to understand your inner self, analyse why you have these strange actions and thoughts."

"My inner self is very simple," Xu Chengyue shook his head, confused. He wondered why Gu Yunfeng was reacting so strongly.

He felt that he was quite obtuse when it came to emotions, and Ying Xizi had often said the same about him. He had pondered whether he might have some feelings for Gu Yunfeng, but what was liking someone supposed to feel like? Was it like yesterday when he looked at this person's face, into his eyes, and couldn't help but want to get closer?

He closed his eyes gently. Now, with Gu Yunfeng asking if he liked men or women, this was something he had never considered. To him, gender didn't seem to matter much, it was just a label, not an intrinsic quality of a person.

"I really haven't thought much about it," he said after a long while, opening his eyes and repeating, "You're overthinking it. Focus on your work, Captain, the case hasn't been solved yet."

Gu Yunfeng pursed his lips, feeling that he indeed was overthinking. He bent down to search for nails on the floor and suddenly caught a whiff of disinfectant mingled with the smell of rubber and wood. He looked up and asked, "Did you go to the hospital?"

"Yes, I just went to Ruihe Hospital, and I actually ran into Lin Xiangrong."

"What was she doing there?"

"She said she was arranging for Jiang Hai to be transferred." Xu Chengyue stood up, feeling hot, and took off his black trench coat, hanging it on the coat rack by the entrance. He finally remembered to change into slippers and sat on the sofa as if he were at home.

"She was with Wang Kun, Dr. Ying's assistant. Do you remember him?"

"He came for ward rounds before, right? How do they know each other?"

"I'm curious too. It might have something to do with the transfer." He thoughtfully stared at the wall clock, swaying slightly, and picked up an apple from the fruit bowl.

Gu Yunfeng generally kept the place well-stocked with food and drinks. There were always plenty of clean fruits, and the fridge seldom had snacks, mostly milk and fresh ingredients. Unfortunately, they had both been so busy lately that they hadn't cooked, and the vegetables inside were almost spoiling.

"I could tell he wasn't the same as the last time I saw him," Xu Chengyue said softly.

"How was he different?"

"He's sick, though I don't know what kind of illness it is." Xu Chengyue took a bite of the apple and turned to look at his silhouette in the glass window. The moment the elevator doors opened, he had noticed Wang Kun's illness. His complexion was much worse, more gaunt and pale than before, and there was a conspicuous bruise on his arm, deliberately concealed but still caught by Xu Chengyue's sharp eyes.

"It doesn't seem like an easy illness to treat."

—————

Gu Yunfeng tossed and turned on the sofa, unable to sleep.

He always found Lin Xiangrong a bit strange. Just after the Jiang family incident, she was busy arranging for Jiang Hai's transfer. Even if there wasn't much emotion involved, the deceased were still her family in name, her benefactors, as she called them. Choosing to transfer Jiang Hai might have been inspired by Xu Chengyue, showing no fear of public opinion or risk. This person was born to do great things, being a full-time housewife in the Jiang family was a waste of her talents.

Jiang Hai was a core member of Ronghua Biotech's research and development team back then. Lin Xiangrong was his junior and girlfriend, holding a considerable amount of key technology within the team. After Jiang Hai's incident, the artificial neural prosthesis was completed and commercialised on time, and Lin Xiangrong must have played a significant role. Gu Yunfeng guessed this was the main reason Jiang Yang married her.

A few years ago, Ronghua Biotech began to decline, mainly because its market position was shaken, and its share was severely eroded. The competitor that defeated them was the newly listed company, Zhiyin Biotech. Initially, it only worked on genetic mapping but gradually expanded its main business to include artificial biological nerves.

For years, this technology was monopolised by Ronghua Biotech in China. Then, almost overnight, Zhiyin Biotech suddenly initiated research and quickly succeeded. There were always rumours in the industry that Ronghua Biotech's research results were stolen and that there were commercial spies planted inside the company.

If it were true that there was a so-called corporate spy, as the rumours suggested... who could it be?

Gu Yunfeng tossed and turned, his back drenched in cold sweat. Suddenly, he sat up, walked to the bookshelf in the small room, and pulled out a thick stack of paper documents from a hidden corner.

These were the medical records of Jiang Hai that he had brought back from the team.

He flipped through them with a flashlight. In August 2016, Jiang Hai had a car accident on the highway, resulting in severe intracranial injury and a fractured right skull. His surgery was performed by Ying Han, then the deputy chief neurosurgeon. The operation went smoothly without any complications, so theoretically, the likelihood of him waking up was very high.

However, in reality, Jiang Hai had remained comatose until today. According to the medical records, his physical functions were mostly normal, and his brainwave patterns were similar to those of a healthy person. Yet, he was just unlucky, perpetually asleep.

Gu Yunfeng squinted at the scrawled handwriting on some parts of the medical records, rolling his eyes at the illegible notes. Fortunately, most diagnostic results and observation records were now printed, and he could understand most of the content. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he was adjusting the flashlight when the door suddenly opened. Xu Chengyue stood at the doorway, rubbing his eyes.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I suddenly thought of a few questions..."

"Then at least turn on the light, the flashlight is too dim." Xu Chengyue said as he turned on the light, seeing Gu Yunfeng in a white vest and grey shorts sitting on the floor. He hadn't slept well for several days, and his dark circles made his eyes look even bigger.

"Professor Xu, why are you up?"

"I had a nightmare and woke up." Xu Chengyue paused, looking somewhat pale. He rubbed his eyes and said, "I got up and saw you weren't in the living room, so I came to see what you were doing."

"I still feel a bit guilty, always making you sleep on the sofa."

"Oh, you know how to feel guilty?" He laughed and patted the pile of medical records on the floor, indicating that they should stay up and work together. Professor Xu was one of a kind, despite staying under someone else's roof, he did everything with ease and without the slightest hint of courtesy. Was it low emotional intelligence or just thick skin?

"Are these all Jiang Hai's medical records?"

"Yes, seven years' worth."

Xu Chengyue squatted down and then sat on the floor, casually picking up a few medical records and attached examination results to browse through.

The night was particularly quiet in the early morning. Summer was almost over, and the cicadas had mostly disappeared. A few faint stars flickered in the dark red sky, and a breeze lifted the hanging curtains.

"What kind of nightmare did you have just now?" Gu Yunfeng asked him.

"I dreamed I was working overtime, for a full twenty-four hours straight, without sleep."

"Is that considered a nightmare?"

"No... The scary part was what I was working on." He said with lingering fear, "I dreamt I was writing an algorithm, and I looked closely at it, it was the neural network for the AI detective system."

"How... is that a nightmare?" Gu Yunfeng asked again.

"It felt like I had already completed it. This is something I've already done." He gestured to explain, "But in reality, we haven't finished this part of the project... How could I dream about it? The feeling was so real, as if I had truly completed the work."

"You said it yourself, it was a nightmare, dreams are fake." Gu Yunfeng shook his shoulder. "These medical records in front of you are real."

"These medical records are also quite strange." He read at an incredible speed, flipping through pages rapidly.

"According to the observation records, Jiang Hai's surgery was very successful, and he should have recovered quickly. In fact, all his physical indicators were normal, there's no reason for him not to wake up."

Xu Chengyue tapped a pen against the medical records, hesitating for a long time before turning to look at Gu Yunfeng.

Cautiously, he asked–

"Do you think, Jiang Hai might have already woken up long ago? He's just pretending to be comatose, lying there for years."

—————

The author has something to say:

What you fear will come true.

‿︵‿︵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 30, 2024 by Angel

Edited: September 26, 2024 by Angel