Qiming Chapter 101

Chapter 101

---

Xu Chengyue lowered his head, his long eyelashes casting a shadow. He hadn't expected Gu Yunfeng to discover his actions so quickly. Only fifteen hours had passed since he had obtained the information.

He turned his face to the side and realised that the sky had already turned completely dark.

"I've entered into a partnership with her, you're aware of that."

"Yes, I remember, you told me before – Lin Xiangrong wanted you to act as a hidden intermediary, feeding Lu Yong's movements to them." Gu Yunfeng raised his voice. "I didn't ask more about it before because it was your business, and if you didn't want to talk, I wouldn't interfere."

"But your so-called partnership shouldn't include criminal offences like theft! I'm a police officer, and this happened in my jurisdiction, are you asking me to turn a blind eye or flush the evidence down the toilet?"

Xu Chengyue was stunned for a moment before replying, "Haven't you already done that?"

Gu Yunfeng ignored his response. It seemed as though the emotions he'd been suppressing for a long time had finally erupted. Desperately struggling to maintain control over his tone and feelings, he said, "You've kept many things from me, and that's unfair to me. I'm your boyfriend. I have the right to know everything about you."

In the past, he had always backed off, thinking that everyone was their own person, and no one should invade another's space, keeping secrets was normal.

Even though he had no secrets in front of Xu Chengyue.

Gu Yunfeng realised that he increasingly wanted to know more, he wanted to possess everything about the other person, including every secret, every unknown struggle hidden in the shadows.

This desire for possession grew stronger and stronger, to the point where he was nearly shedding the façade of calm and courtesy, desperate to uncover Xu Chengyue's unspeakable secrets and the soft heart beneath the control of the program.

Xu Chengyue tried to step back, but his back was already against the wall. He could only raise his head to meet Gu Yunfeng's gaze. Words failed him. In the end, he softly murmured, "I'm sorry."

In Gu Yunfeng's eyes, he saw many emotions, anger, frustration, and pity. These complex expressions, mingled together, suddenly made Xu Chengyue feel a deep sense of guilt.

"You don't need to apologise, just need to tell me everything."

"What did Lin Xiangrong offer you that made you give her information about Lu Yong's movements?"

Should he reveal everything?

It didn't seem right. Speaking of things that couldn't be resolved would only add to the burden. But if he stayed silent, these secrets standing between them would push their similarly reserved natures even further apart.

Despite the bleak outlook, he still wanted to be closer to Gu Yunfeng, closer than ever.

So close that they could no longer be separated, so close that they became indistinguishable from one another.

After a long silence, Xu Chengyue hesitated for a while before finally speaking. "Lin Xiangrong provided me with a drug. This drug was synthesised by Ronghua Biotech several years ago. Its effect is to paralyse the central nervous system, and long-term use would damage the entire brain's neural pathways."

"The illegal drug that Ronghua Biotech was initially reported for developing, it was this one."

"Jiang Hai hasn't woken up because Jiang Yang had been giving his comatose brother this drug for an extended period." He continued, "If I did the same, I could live as this person forever. After all..."

He lifted his head, his eyes suddenly wet. "Xu Chengyue never experienced brain death. If he wakes up..."

"Would that still be me?"

"Where would I go?"

"If he replaced me, would you fall for him, or continue to love the version of me that may no longer exist?"

He extended his arms, wrapping them around Gu Yunfeng's neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. In a low voice, he murmured into his ear, "I thought about it for a long time, and just recently, I ended the deal with her."

"This was the last thing I did for her. I figured it out, I can't destroy someone else's life. As for my own fate, I'll leave it to chance."

He paused and added, with a heavier tone, "I'm sorry."

By the time the takeaway arrived, it was already very late. Gu Yunfeng ate the steaming, spicy hotpot while listening to Xu Chengyue recount the things he hadn't known, feeling as if a great deal of time had passed.

But in reality, not much time had gone by. When they first met, it was early summer, and now it was only deep winter. Yet, in less than a year, he was being forced to unravel the details of Xu Chengyue's life over the past few years.

"What do you plan to do about the lab data leak?" Xu Chengyue asked cautiously. Looking back, he also felt that he had acted impulsively. All for the sake of a symbolic break, he had pushed both Gu Yunfeng and himself into an awkward situation.

"Where's the IP address you forged? It's not domestic, is it?"

"In Geneva." He explained, "I have a classmate there who specialises in this kind of thing. I asked him to press a button for me..."

"Let's leave it at that." Gu Yunfeng rubbed his eyes and, after an intense internal struggle, relented. "There's no funding or treaty in place to catch someone in Switzerland. If I wanted to accuse you now, there's no evidence."

He pretended to sigh unwillingly, "But if one day new evidence is found, I won't show you any mercy."

In truth, he felt quite troubled by the case, a case that could obviously be solved had landed in his lap, but even if he were given ten thousand chances, he wouldn't hesitate to toss the tinfoil that might have fingerprints on it into the toilet.

Gu Yunfeng stared absent-mindedly at the lanterns lining the street outside the window. Not far away, the glass façade of the shopping mall was adorned with colourful decorations. A giant Christmas tree stood in the centre of the central business district, covered in gifts of various colours, while girls in red dresses danced around it.

"Today seems like a special day."

"Christmas Eve?" Xu Chengyue pulled out two apples from the takeaway box, both of them with stickers that said "Merry Christmas." He found it quite odd, why did people eat apples on Christmas Eve? There was clearly no direct connection between the two, except that in Chinese, the term carried a positive connotation.

"That's right, tomorrow is Christmas."

"And in a few days, it'll be New Year's, do you get any time off?"

"Nope." Gu Yunfeng shook his head helplessly, a little heartbroken.

"How about we do something to celebrate Christmas Eve?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Maybe eat some cake? Make a Christmas wish? Who knows, you might find a present in your stocking tomorrow."

"Come on." Gu Yunfeng couldn't laugh or cry, "If there's a gift, it'll be from me."

———

Gu Yunfeng now finally understood the entanglement between Zhiyin Biotech and Lu Yong's laboratory. This storm, sparked by Lu Yong unilaterally breaking their agreement, had nearly pushed Zhiyin Biotech to the point of no return. Although both sides shared responsibility for their criminal activities, Lu Yong had attempted to shift all the blame onto Zhiyin Biotech, turning on them at their lowest point, before quietly leaving to seek bigger opportunities and new partners.

Aside from the grudge between Zhiyin Biotech and himself, this highly respected professor in the academic world had stood by a year ago, watching as his most prized student fell from the top of the laboratory to the cold concrete ground below.

Whether directly responsible or indirectly, by the time of that incident, his relationship with Xu Chengyue had hit rock bottom, there was no room for reconciliation.

"What kind of grudge does Lu Yong have against you?" Gu Yunfeng asked, his face full of confusion as he exchanged looks with the equally puzzled Xu Chengyue.

"Those assassination attempts you mentioned earlier, were they also orchestrated by him?"

Xu Chengyue nodded with difficulty. He had found it hard to believe at first, but as he gained more understanding of his body and mind, he had to admit that machines don't dream. If those images weren't just fleeting dreams, then they must have come from the original Xu Chengyue.

He believed those events had really happened. But those fragmented dreams were just images, unconnected snippets. He truly didn't remember what had happened between him and Lu Yong.

How had they become enemies? How had they reached the point of no return?

All the grudges had vanished on that fateful night of the fall.

The memories after the fall were his own. Unless the original Xu Chengyue regained consciousness, the past conflict between him and Lu Yong will always be a mystery that no one knows.

Gu Yunfeng set up a platter with the two apples. After arranging it on the table, he took a bite, then suddenly paused, his eyes widening as he looked at Xu Chengyue.

"I just thought of someone."

Before his words even finished, he quickly pulled out his phone and began sending a message to Ying Xizi.

– That baby-faced guy you went on a blind date with last time, Xu Chengyue's junior, do you have his contact information?

Soon, Ying Xizi sent over a contact card: Xie Yu'an, Front-End Engineer at Zhiyin Technology.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

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 26, 2024 by Angel

Edited: January 7, 2025 by Angel