Controlled Experiment Chapter 13

Controlled Experiment – 13

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After Jing Mo left, Li Yao remained seated on the soft sofa in the living room.

When Jing Mo wasn't around, Li Yao would go looking for him everywhere. But once the man was standing right in front of him, Li Yao suddenly didn't know what to do with him. The thought of telling Du Yusheng about Jing Mo flashed through his mind for a few seconds, but he ended up dismissing it. Others might not know much about Jing Mo, or may not even know such a person existed in the world, but Li Yao, as his own brother, knew Jing Mo all too well. If he dared to speak up and reveal the truth, Jing Mo would be capable of vanishing from this world completely, making sure no one ever found him again. He had the means to do so, Li Yao had seen it with his own eyes. In the end, all consequences would fall solely on Li Yao, so without absolute certainty, this layer of window paper should be left until the end.

With one person gone from the house, Li Yao suddenly felt a kind of emptiness.

He opened the drawer of the glass coffee table. Inside, cups were neatly arranged in rows. Li Yao took them out one by one, then pulled out a piece of velvet cloth and began to carefully wipe them clean, before putting them back in the drawer one at a time. On top of the glass table sat another glass, the one Jing Mo had used as an ashtray. In fact, Li Yao had smoked once, too, but had since quit, he'd given it up after his father mistook his smell one time. Li Yao had simply stopped, he hadn't touched a cigarette since.

Li Yao tossed the glass into the garbage bin, then leaned back on the sofa and undid the top two buttons of his shirt.

He was waiting for a phone call.

That phone call didn't come until ten in the evening, half an hour after Jing Mo had left.

And one hour after Luo Yang's accident.

The phone vibrated twice before Li Yao answered.

It was Du Yusheng.

The two of them had only parted less than two hours ago.

"Dr Li, I'm really sorry to bother you so late," Du Yusheng apologised. "You're not asleep yet, are you?"

"I am."

"......"

It seemed he hadn't expected the usually mild-mannered Dr Li to turn him down. Du Yusheng was clearly caught off guard.

"Well... Luo Yang's been in a car accident," Du Yusheng scratched his head. "It seems rather serious, would you mind coming over to take a look?" Du Yusheng added, "I'm not at ease with the other doctors."

On the table in the living room was a lighter Jing Mo had left behind. Li Yao held it in his hand and flicked it on.

"It's not my shift today. There's a doctor on duty."

Li Yao leaned his head against the back of the sofa, lazily watching the flame of the lighter. He could almost picture Jing Mo sitting here just moments ago, smoking. Suddenly, Li Yao felt that, at this very moment, there was something overlapping between him and Jing Mo. In truth, Li Yao didn't care in the slightest whether Luo Yang lived or died, what he really cared about was what Jing Mo would do next.

"But the one lying on the operating table is Luo Yang..."

Du Yusheng was still rambling on the other end, but Li Yao hung up before he finished.

After ending the call, though, Li Yao felt the room had grown even emptier. He suddenly regretted hanging up so quickly.

Having someone nearby who kept talking on and on wasn't such a bad thing after all.

It was certainly better than being alone.

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Du Yusheng stared at the dark screen of the disconnected call, unsure what expression to wear.

Xiao Bai stood to the side, not daring to utter a single sound. Du Yusheng's face was darker than the phone screen.

"He hung up on me?" Du Yusheng snorted. "Back when I treated him like a suspect and kept pestering him, he didn't hang up on me. But now, for the sake of someone like Luo Yang, he actually hung up on me, what's wrong with him?"

Xiao Bai's eyes widened, but he said nothing.

Just a moment ago, Du Yusheng had rushed in like a storm. Upon hearing that Luo Yang had been in a car accident, he didn't say a word before giving Xiao Bai a full-blown scolding from top to bottom with quite a variety of insults, none of them repeated. Xiao Bai was still shaken. It wasn't until the doctor said Luo Yang's injuries weren't fatal that he started to look somewhat human again.

"But Li Yao really is clever. Now that he's done this, I honestly don't know what to do."

Xiao Bai still didn't dare speak.

"I wanted him to perform the surgery on Luo Yang. First, because no one wants Luo Yang to live more than Li Yao does, so I'd feel reassured if he were the one operating. Second, the timing of this car accident is suspicious, I'm genuinely worried someone's paid off the doctors inside, and I'm not familiar with the inner workings of this hospital." Du Yusheng laughed. "But now Li Yao won't even respond, and I don't know what's going on with him."

Xiao Bai sniffed and said, "Isn't it simple? If Luo Yang survives, we can interrogate him. But if he dies, then Li Yao's the murderer, we'll just go in and arrest him."

"Yo, aren't you clever?"

Outside the operating room, the corridor was deserted, and the sound of Du Yusheng's shoes striking the floor echoed clearly.

Du Yusheng leaned his head against the wall, tilting it slightly as he looked at Xiao Bai and said, "I fucking told you to keep an eye on him and not let him out of your sight, do you even understand what that means? And look at you, you let him end up in a fucking car crash. If the doctor hadn't just said he could be saved, I'd honestly think you were the one who ran him over."

The second half of that sentence wiped the smile clean off Xiao Bai's face.

He shrank his neck stiffly and explained timidly, "He went through the VIP exit, I couldn't catch up."

Du Yusheng glanced at Xiao Bai but didn't say anything else.

The surgery took four hours. When the patient was wheeled out, Du Yusheng didn't even go over to ask. Just by looking at the lead surgeon's expression, he could tell, the man had survived.

From the end of the surgery to the monitoring period, and then to regaining consciousness, it would be dozens of hours at the very least. Du Yusheng called two officers from the bureau to guard the entrance to Luo Yang's hospital room. After all, a car accident was no trivial matter, he couldn't afford to not be cautious. Once all the arrangements were in place, Du Yusheng went home, had a shower, slept for a few hours, and changed into fresh clothes.

Du Yusheng slept deeply and didn't wake until noon.

Xiao Bai had called three times, but he hadn't heard a thing.

As he brushed his teeth, Du Yusheng called him back.

"Brother Yu, Luo Yang's awake."

That was good news. Du Yusheng rinsed his mouth and wiped it with a clean towel hanging nearby.

"What about the matter I asked you to look into yesterday?"

"Already checked," Xiao Bai replied, deliberately stifling a yawn. "That big-shot lawyer of Mr Luo's really did receive a large, questionable payment. And the account that transferred the money, it belonged to Luo Yang."

Even though he couldn't see it, Du Yusheng still nodded.

"Luo Yang's quite rich."

Xiao Bai chuckled. "Exactly, you people don't even think when spending money."

Du Yusheng's home was large, he had four closets alone. In truth, he wasn't much of a shopper himself, most of the clothes were bought for him by Mrs Du. Fortunately, she had good taste and always managed to pick things he actually liked.

Though Du Yusheng was the sort who spent money freely and without much thought, his home was rather traditional. Aside from being spacious, there really wasn't much else about it that stood out.

All the household appliances were old models, yellowed with age and never replaced. The furniture was of the most ordinary style, the flooring still bore the look of the 1980s, and even the chandelier was so worn that its brand was barely visible any more.

In Du Yusheng's own words, the most valuable thing in the entire house was that drawer full of watches.

Just like in his office, the drawer in the bedroom was filled with wristwatches, all neatly arranged. Bare-chested, a towel slung over one shoulder, Du Yusheng looked like one of the old men downstairs. He had the phone on speaker as he wiped down a watch with a piece of velvet cloth, occasionally lifting it to the sunlight for a better look.

"Brother Yu, when are you going to visit Luo Yang today?"

"I'm not going today." Strapping the freshly polished watch onto his wrist, Du Yusheng admired himself in the mirror with satisfaction. "I have other things to do."

"... What could you possibly be up to?" Xiao Bai reminded him, "What's more important than Luo Yang right now?"

With the towel in hand, Du Yusheng rubbed his hair dry.

"Keep an eye on Luo Yang for me today. If he disappears or runs off, we'll see each other in the next life."

With that, Du Yusheng hung up.

He felt that Xiao Bai would get the message.

Du Yusheng took a coat out of the closet, thinking it matched rather well with the watch.

Then he cooked himself some noodles. Du Yusheng's cooking skills were strictly preschool level, but thankfully he could still finish whatever he made.

After eating, Du Yusheng headed out. In the garage, he pondered for a moment before finally deciding to drive the old car.

What Xiao Bai said wasn't wrong, there really wasn't anything more important than Luo Yang right now. And it was precisely for Luo Yang that Du Yusheng went out today.

Luo Yang owned a property under his name, and he usually lived there, a luxury residential estate near the city centre. Rather than sparring with the suspect in a hospital, Du Yusheng thought he might as well go to the man's house for a look. After all, a single asset allocation document didn't prove much. Even if Luo Yang had forged it, with his identity as an illegitimate son, he could easily come up with a dozen reasonable explanations.

The estate was too upscale for Du Yusheng's old car to get through the gates.

He had no choice but to park outside.

Luo Yang lived on the middle floors of a high-rise. Seizing the moment when no one was around, Du Yusheng pulled a tool from his pocket, and within seconds, the door was open.

The moment it swung inwards, a strong smell greeted him.

The smell hit Du Yusheng immediately and his head buzzed. It was a scent he knew well, it was the smell of recent renovation.

In other words, Luo Yang's home had just been renovated.

Du Yusheng reached back to shut the door, then stood in the entranceway, scanning the place up and down.

It was a standard three-bedroom apartment with a lounge. The cabinets were new, the bed was new, the television was new, even the air conditioner was new, the protective plastic film still unpeeled. Du Yusheng walked into the bedroom. It wasn't very large, and the closet was small. Du Yusheng opened it to find clothing in Luo Yang's size. There were even a few items he recalled seeing him wear on television. Finally, something old in the apartment. Luo Yang's study sat right next to the bedroom. Like the other rooms, every piece of furniture was brand new, except for the items placed on the desk.

There were just a few dull specialist textbooks. After flipping through a couple of pages, Du Yusheng gave up.

These old things felt more like an afterthought, added in for show. The whole apartment felt like a newly moved-into apartment, everything was new apart from the owner's personal belongings.

Standing at the doorway, Du Yusheng felt like he'd come for nothing.

Clearly, Luo Yang knew exactly what he was doing.

Perhaps the renovations had already been done before the day he left the country.

Or even earlier.

Du Yusheng couldn't work out what Luo Yang was trying to cover up.

Luo Daheng died from an overdose of nitroglycerin, a cause of death with almost no situational limitations. There was no need for Luo Yang to go to such lengths for this. He'd practically changed his entire home, would he even feel comfortable living in it like this now, after coming back? That thought crossed Du Yusheng's mind.

From the hallway, Du Yusheng called the police station. Ten minutes later, they called him back.

"Brother Yu, I just went to ask, the housekeeper said Luo Yang was fond of gambling, but his luck wasn't great."

Du Yusheng frowned. "Why didn't he mention the gambling before? And only now remembers?"

"The housekeeper said he did mention it last time."

"Last time?" Du Yusheng had a bad feeling. "Who was the one questioning him last time?"

There was the sound of someone rifling through records on the other end.

After a long pause, the voice replied, "Oh, found it, it was Xiao Bai."

Just as Du Yusheng suspected.

Looked like he'd have to have a proper conversation with Xiao Bai once this matter was over. Gripping his phone tightly, the tips of Du Yusheng's fingers turned pale.

"Send me the casinos he frequents. And remember, no one is to hear a word about this."

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Author's Note:

You can guess what happened in Luo Yang's room.

‿︵‿︵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: May 18, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 5, 2025 by Angel