Qiming Chapter 87

Chapter 87

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Xu Chengyue held a book in his hand and sat by the window, watching the students on the basketball court below. They were all freshmen or sophomores, wearing short-sleeved t-shirts, their faces full of youthful innocence, playing ball under the low-hanging clouds.

After a few minutes, it started to rain. The boys continued playing for a few more minutes before shivering in the cold and leaving the court. The weather has been bad lately, either cloudy or rainy, with fluctuating temperatures, making it easy to catch a cold.

The sound of the light rain mixed with the hum of machines and occasional coughs, making him feel like he was back in the scene when he first arrived at the AI lab.

It was the autumn of seven years ago, late October. At the time, Lu Yong's voice didn’t sound quite right either, with occasional light coughs, probably from a cold. Xu Chengyue had approached the window holding a few books and greeted Lu Yong, who was engrossed in his reading, hoping to become his student.

Xu Chengyue remembered it was a sunny day. The sunset shone on Lu Yong's face, making the teacher appear particularly gentle and refined, with a soft gaze. He had stood before him, proud and aloof, clearly an inexperienced and naïve young man.

He turned his gaze back inside. The setup hadn’t changed much in seven years, the equipment had been replaced several times, and students had come and gone. The once arrogant youth had become a completely different person, and the once refined teacher now felt increasingly unfamiliar.

In fact, Xu Chengyue wasn’t even sure if these memories were real anymore. Since his brain had been replaced by an AI chip, his memories were also artificially set. There were no disturbing details about Lu Yong in these memories, most were warm and pleasant scenes. So he couldn’t confirm whether Professor Lu was really the one responsible for his fall.

According to Lin Xiangrong, his "brain death" had been personally overseen by Lu Yong, turning his most trusted student into a robot with erased memories.

In many of his dreams, the wind swept across mountains and rivers, and he stood on the rooftop of the lab, holding a laptop, taking steps backward. Out of the dark shadows, Lu Yong walked toward him, his face showing nothing but cold indifference and pity.

Then, with trembling hands holding a knife, amidst the raging storm behind him and the dark currents in front, he made the worst possible choice in his panic.

So no matter how he looked at it, Lu Yong seemed highly suspicious. Even if he hadn’t been physically pushed, he must have been forced to jump. There was no way it was an accident or suicide.

"Professor Lu, where are the other students? Why aren’t they in the lab today?" He put down the book in his hand and asked Lu Yong, looking around at the empty lab.

"They had an outdoor team-building activity. They invited me too, but I’ve had a cold recently, so I didn’t go."

"When can I come over for a meal? Your wife seems to miss me, and so does Ran Ran."

"When’s convenient for you?"

"This Friday should work."

"Alright." Xu Chengyue nodded, then glanced at the swinging clock on the wall. He crossed his legs and sat upright, flipping through the book absent-mindedly. Looking up at the increasing strands of white in Lu Yong's hair, he said, "Professor Lu, have you heard about the matter with Zhiyin Biotech recently?"

"Accused of illegal human experimentation?" Lu Yong asked, his expression unchanged.

"Yes, they’ve even replaced the CEO. The former CEO, Fang Xing, is now on the wanted list, they should catch him soon, right?" He stared intently at Lu Yong’s face, hoping to catch some reaction.

But Lu Yong merely frowned slightly, without breaking a sweat, showing no signs of alarm. He brushed the dust off his sleeve and wiped the table with a few tissues, expressing his regret that, if it weren’t for this issue, he actually admired Mister Fang.

"What do you think about the human experimentation issue?"

"Human experimentation?" Lu Yong’s face noticeably changed at the mention of the term. He touched his nose, his gaze drifting. Finally, he sighed, staring at the half-open door.

"Depends on whether there’s evidence," Lu Yong smiled. "I guess they’ll deny it to the end."

"Of the two victims who were exposed, one is a girl, and her family clearly only cares about the money, not the truth. The other, a boy named Wei Yi, has already passed away. He used to rely on his brother, but his brother has also died, leaving him with almost no family," Xu Chengyue said.

Among the layers of relatives they uncovered, there were only those crazily chasing after compensation, and a few distant relatives who weren’t even aware of the compensation issue.

There was no hope left in these families. The only thing that could be relied upon were the families of other hidden victims, who might one day step forward, stand in front of everyone, and accuse those responsible for the pain their loved ones had endured.

Thinking of this, Xu Chengyue suddenly realised that he himself was one of the hidden victims. Although he didn’t have any family, he was still alive. As long as he lived, they could always be accused, never finding peace, always living in fear.

"What do you think the future holds for Zhiyin Biotech?"

"I think they'll replace a batch of senior executives and continue down the same path," Lu Yong said.

As he spoke, he pulled up a video of a senior management meeting from Zhiyin Biotech. In the video, Lin Xiangrong appeared after a long absence, wearing a black dress and light makeup, representing Zhiyin Biotech at the group’s headquarters meeting.

In the video, General Manager Wan of Zhiyin Biotech gave a sombre self-reflection, swearing that he would clean up the team and ensure no one or any group would become a scourge to the industry. Xu Chengyue found it somewhat amusing but didn’t laugh.

He smiled at Lin Xiangrong for a few seconds before walking over to Lu Yong, bending down to ask, "Professor, do you know this person?"

—————

Gu Yunfeng was warmly welcomed back upon his discharge from the hospital.

The day he returned to the criminal investigation team, he was extra cautious. As expected, after enjoying the warm reception, Director Zhao gave him a stern dressing-down. The missing Type 92 pistol still hadn’t been found. They had reviewed the surveillance footage around the building and along Fang Xing’s escape route, eventually discovering that Fang Xing had briefly exited the vehicle at one point, though the cameras didn’t capture what he did.

Based on his experience, some people discarded their guns midway to avoid the possibility of them being bugged or something. Fang Xing had risked stopping during his escape, likely to dispose of the weapon.

They investigated the scene, gradually narrowing down the search area based on these clues, focusing on several streets, and searching the garbage bins along those streets. Unfortunately, they still didn’t find it.

Has someone else taken it?

Gu Yunfeng sat in his office with his laptop, considering everyone from the janitor to Fang Xing’s son, to the various senior executives at Zhiyin Biotech, and even Lin Xiangrong.

Could it have been her?

A gust of wind blew in from the window, and he clutched his abdomen in pain. Although he had been discharged, his fractured ribs hadn’t fully healed. He had inadvertently inhaled some cold air, which went straight through his windpipe, into his chest, and down to his abdomen, aggravating the injury.

He felt a sharp pain and a chilling cold.

The news pushed a few more updates about Zhiyin Biotech, mostly rumours about the illegal human experimentation. He had managed to suppress the matter concerning Xu Chengyue, so no one outside knew about it. As long as Xu Chengyue didn’t speak up, no one else would ever find out.

Zhiyin Biotech, along with Ruihe Hospital, in which they held shares, had faced a lot of criticism recently, and reporters were constantly filming at their doors. As he watched the reports, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Just then, the door was flung open, and Shu Pan, bundled up in his coat, burst in, shouting–

"Captain Gu, we’ve found Fang Xing’s whereabouts."

"Where?"

"Longitude 102.27, latitude 27.9. Fang Xing’s driver made a credit card transaction five minutes ago at a scenic spot in the Sichuan mountains."

Five minutes ago... Gu Yunfeng took the map showing the coordinates and calculated that it would take about five hours, combining flights and buses, to reach that location. In five hours, where would the suspect flee to?

"Notify the local police, get a copy of the detention order and your police ID."

"And Wen Xin, book the flights, we’ll leave in half an hour." He slapped the map on the desk and threw on a coat over his t-shirt. The mountains would be cold this time of year, so he needed to dress warmly.

As he reached the door, he saw an old man pushing a cart selling candied hawthorns, their red fruit covered in sugar. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen such a thing, so he quickly snapped a picture and sent it to Xu Chengyue.

"Do you want to eat some?"

When there was still no reply after five minutes, he sent another message with a hint of complaint–

"I’m heading out on a mission, in half an hour."

Miraculously, this time Xu Chengyue replied immediately, typing a few punctuation marks and asking, "Have you found Fang Xing? Where is he?"

"Sichuan."

"Am I going?"

"Aren’t you resigning..." Gu Yunfeng stared at his response in confusion, then the other party didn't follow for a long time.

What did he mean?

Baffled, he finally couldn’t resist sending the exact address.

‿︵‿︵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: September 14, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 5, 2024 by Angel