Qiming Chapter 108

Chapter 108

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Three years ago.

On a rainy night, Xu Chengyue received a call from an unknown number. His first instinct was to hang up, and in fact, he did. At the time, he was completely absorbed in writing a complex algorithm with over a thousand lines. After numerous failed debugging attempts, his frustration was mounting, and the last thing he wanted was to be interrupted.

But no matter how much he tried to ignore it, both his cell phone and landline continued to ring incessantly, alternating with a relentless persistence. He had no choice but to put aside his work and answer the call.

"Help me." A woman's voice, breathless and panicked, came through.

He froze for a moment.

He recognised the voice, but the number was unfamiliar. He couldn't immediately place who it was.

"Sorry, who is this?" Xu Chengyue found it strange. If she was in danger, calling him wasn't going to help. She would have been better off dialling 110 or 120, surely that would have been faster and more effective.

"It's Lin Xiangrong."

Once she introduced herself, it finally clicked. Two years ago, he had interned at Zhiyin Technology for a while. Lin Xiangrong had been his supervisor at the time.

The problem was that after all this time, they hadn't had any contact since. Why was she calling him now, asking for help?

Before he could figure it out, Lin Xiangrong had already given him an address, pleading for him to arrive within thirty minutes.

By nature, at this time of night, he would normally have just called the police for her and stayed out of it. But that night, for some reason, he found himself compelled to act. Perhaps the heavy rain had stirred a real sense of concern, or maybe the helplessness in her voice had sparked a rare protective instinct in him.

The result was – that he grabbed an umbrella and headed out the door, driving to the location she had mentioned.

Looking back on that night much later, Xu Chengyue often thought that phone call had been the catalyst for everything. It was like opening Pandora's box, releasing chaos and danger, dragging him deeper into a quagmire that nearly cost him his life.

When he arrived at Lin Xiangrong's residence, the door was unlocked, and everything around was eerily quiet. The apartment, located in one of the Jiang family's upscale properties in the city, was part of Jiang Yang's personal portfolio, back when Ronghua Biotech hadn't yet suffered its financial collapse. Lin Xiangrong usually lived there.

But when he pushed the door open, what he saw gave him a shock. There were bloodstains on the floor, dark red, almost black, indicating that they weren't fresh. Lin Xiangrong was sitting on the sofa, her eyes red, gritting her teeth as she disinfected a wound with alcohol. After cleaning it, she wrapped it in gauze, sitting still, her face etched with exhaustion, her gaze filled with bitterness and resentment.

Yet, the moment she noticed Xu Chengyue, she straightened up, adjusted her posture, and forced a gentle expression onto her face.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I was beaten by Jiang Yang," she said, her tone extremely calm, completely different from the panic in her earlier call.

"When I called you, I was terrified... But now he's gone, so it's nothing."

Xu Chengyue bent down to check her injuries. Her arms and calves were covered in large bruises, her wrist was dislocated, and her skin bore visible lacerations. The wound on her leg was deep enough that he could faintly see the bone in her shin.

From what he remembered, Lin Xiangrong's relationship with her husband had always been strained, and her work at Zhiyin Technology hadn't seemed entirely above board, her hours were irregular and she always appeared to be hiding something. However, at the time, he had only been there to complete his thesis during a brief six-month internship and hadn't paid much attention to such matters, let alone imagined the hidden violence in her personal life.

Frowning, his face clouded with concern, he asked, "Do you want me to help you report this to the police?"

To his surprise, Lin Xiangrong shook her head. After tending to her wound, she stood up with some difficulty and hobbled to the kitchenette to pour Xu Chengyue a glass of water.

"My injuries aren't severe enough to warrant legal action, reporting it would just result in a protective order, but they can still find me anytime."

She gave a bitter smile. "I've already called the police twice this year."

The temperature wasn't too high, nor was it particularly cold, but a gust of wind swept through, bringing a distinct chill. Xu Chengyue buttoned up his coat, still feeling a bit cold. He couldn't tell whether the chill was from the northern wind or from Lin Xiangrong's cold, despairing gaze and tone.

"Even so, you should still report it... at least to leave more evidence against him." He awkwardly held the cup of tea she had brewed, unsure of what to do. He wasn't very skilled at interacting with others, didn't know how to offer comfort, and had no clue how to care for a woman in distress.

Fortunately, Lin Xiangrong could handle most things herself and didn't need meaningless comfort that wouldn't solve anything. She pulled a small card from her bag, which had Xu Chengyue's name, phone number, and address printed on it.

"Let's leave that aside for now. The reason I called you here is for something else – someone gave me your business card this morning."

Xu Chengyue took the card she handed him. One glance was enough to tell it wasn't something he'd made himself. He was very particular about privacy and preferred to keep a low profile, disliking the outdated and dull practice of exchanging business cards. Moreover, he would never have printed his address on one.

After eliminating all possibilities, he could only guess that his mentor, Lu Yong, was responsible.

"I heard you're working on an AI detective project now," Lin Xiangrong smiled gently, despite the pain she was enduring. "I'm representing Zhiyin Technology, and we'd like to collaborate with you."

"Collaborate on what?" He was utterly confused. How had a distress call turned into a project proposal? He felt like he was being completely led by this woman.

"We want to test if AI detectives can replace the human brain."

"What do you mean?"

"The biomedical department at Zhiyin Technology has made significant breakthroughs in artificial nerves over the past few years. We've conducted experiments on humanoid animals, connecting artificial nerves to a chimpanzee's brain and linking the other end to an external device, then severing some of the original nerves."

"In the end, we found that the external device successfully replaced part of the brain's functions."

Seeing the blank look on Xu Chengyue's face, she clarified, "I have a friend who has been in a vegetative state for a long time. His family has given up hope, but I want to try your AI chip to see if it can give him a new brain."

"Just think of it as saving someone, right?"

"No."

"This goes against current scientific ethics." Xu Chengyue quickly understood her intent and flatly rejected it.

"I know." She seemed to have expected this response, glancing at her still-bleeding wound, her expression calm and untroubled. "I've already spoken with Professor Lu Yong, your lab director, we'll take full responsibility on our side, and he's very willing to work with us."

"I'm here to persuade you to join this collaboration."

"Then just go through him, I'm not interested."

Despite his second rejection, Lin Xiangrong didn't show any sign of panic. She simply gazed at him with indifference before turning to look at the clock swaying on the wall, as if victory was already within her grasp and everything was under her control.

"Professor Lu will likely offer you a deal you can't refuse." She took a dark coat and hat from the hanger, covering the bruises and wounds, then changed into a pair of comfortable shoes.

"What deal?"

"If you agree to collaborate, he won't add his name to any future papers you publish."

—————

Lin Xiangrong did go to the nearest police station to report the incident. She wore a large black hat, the brim covering most of her face, and a white mask concealed the bruises on her face.

Using her bandaged arm, she pushed open the door to the duty room on her own. Xu Chengyue stood waiting outside.

The weather that day was really unpleasant, light rain kept falling, and a foggy mist hung in the night, making even the streetlights appear dim and blurry.

While she was giving her statement, a young man in a blue police uniform passed by. His eyes were large and alert. He glanced deliberately at Lin Xiangrong's face before whispering something to the person beside him and hurrying away.

At that moment, the rain suddenly stopped, and even the wind blew gently.

Xu Chengyue was curious about what the young officer had said, but he didn't dare approach. He was even tempted to call out to the man and ask for his name.

But that would have been too presumptuous, after all, he had no reason to get to know such a stranger.

Yet, when he saw this man in police uniform, calmly and gently walking past, he suddenly felt as if fate had intertwined their paths.

What was the scene when he last saw this man?

It was too long ago, and the scene was far too different from now. Back then, this man was just a little boy. What was his name? His surname was Gu, and he had a sister who met a tragic end. Xu Chengyue clearly remembered her name, Gu Chunqiu.

At that time, Xu Chengyue was also just a child, in middle school. He had snuck off to his parents' workplace and witnessed an unbearably distressing scene.

– A middle-aged couple, having lost their daughter, knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. And their remaining son stood beside them, calmly communicating with the criminal investigators, his face devoid of expression, his eyes filled with boundless fear and anxiety.

That gaze left a deep imprint on Xu Chengyue's mind. The immature face, forced to mature overnight, was forever stored somewhere within him.

For a long time after, Xu Chengyue tossed and turned through countless nights, unable to understand. What was the point of life being created? It was fragile, insignificant, and often stirred up into chaos by the emotions gifted to it. Any random accident, any stroke of misfortune, when compounded with emotion, could destroy an individual, or even an entire family.

But just now, when he saw the grown-up version of that little boy in his police uniform, it seemed as though he had finally resolved his long-standing confusion. The boy's eyes were no longer filled with the anxiety they once held, no fear, no hatred.

Only a righteous determination and an undying passion.

What could time change? Xu Chengyue stretched his hand out to catch the water dripping from the eaves, letting it flow down his fingers into the grass at his feet.

"Xu Chengyue, what were you just daydreaming about?" Lin Xiangrong sighed with relief after completing her statement. She declined the police officers' offer to take her to the hospital, insisting on returning home to recover on her own.

"I saw someone I knew."

"Who?" She leaned against the wall and slowly made her way over.

"That officer who just walked by."

"Oh~" She responded with interest, her gaze shifting to the distance beyond the door.

"He's quite handsome, an old friend?"

"We've never spoken."

In the coolness of the late night, he sat helplessly in the waiting room chair. Facing Lin Xiangrong's shocked expression, he eventually, after a long pause, began to speak about the past in a calm tone.

"Did you know my parents used to work on the front lines?"

Lin Xiangrong shook her head. "Then now...?"

"They died in the line of duty three years ago."

"I'm sorry." Lin Xiangrong offered her apology.

"More than a decade ago, my parents were involved in a major case, human trafficking, and the victims were all young girls." Xu Chengyue showed no emotion as he continued, "I remember it very clearly, he was the family of one of the victims, and the girl died terribly. He was younger than me, still just a child, yet he didn't cry or throw a tantrum, instead, he had to support his devastated parents."

Xu Chengyue smiled. "I don't know why, but after all these years, I could still recognise him."

"That really was a long time ago." Lin Xiangrong's tone was gentle and calm as she looked at his face, in stark contrast to the violent rage she had shown while giving her statement. "When you interned with me before, I always wanted to ask you something."

After saying this, she paused for half a minute, hesitating, her tone ambiguous with a hint of embarrassment. Seeing that Xu Chengyue was growing impatient and uninterested, she quickly asked with great interest, "Have you never... liked a girl?"

Time seemed to stand still.

"Well... now that you mention it, I suppose that's true." He nodded awkwardly, running a hand through his hair as he said, "I'm passionate about my field, passionate about science, passionate about my work, and that's enough for me."

"Is that so?" She blinked, her bright eyes seemingly glimpsing an unknown secret.

"Yes, of course."

‿︵‿︵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: October 2, 2024 by Angel

Edited: January 7, 2025 by Angel