Controlled Experiment Chapter 19

Controlled Experiment – 19

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Du Yusheng was woken up by Li Yao.

He wasn't sure if it was because he'd been too absorbed in his thoughts, or simply too tired lately, or perhaps because Li Yao's car was too comfortable, but when Du Yusheng woke up, it felt as though he had been asleep for ages. Li Yao drove steadily and quietly, allowing him to sleep soundly.

Rubbing his eyes sleepily, Du Yusheng yawned.

"How come you're here so soon?" Du Yusheng, still wishing to continue, turned around and said impatiently, "Finally managed to get some sleep."

Li Yao pulled the car over and brought it to a smooth stop. He turned and looked at Du Yusheng, whose eyes were only half open. Li Yao didn't say anything, his expression unreadable, and just stared at him. After a few seconds, Du Yusheng realised it meant he was being asked to get out. He'd thought today might bring them a little closer, but clearly, there were still miles between them.

It was cold outside. Just before stepping out of the car, Du Yusheng tugged his collar tighter. He hunched down and peered through the window. The buildings outside looked familiar, not the apartment opposite Li Yao's, but the house where Du Yusheng had lived for over twenty years. So Li Yao had found him out. Feeling a little awkward, Du Yusheng touched his nose.

"... When did you find out?"

Li Yao gestured with his lips and shook his head. "At first I really did think you were my neighbour, I only just moved in, after all. But recently, I noticed the apartment you said you lived in was under renovation, it's been keeping me up at night. Then I looked into it and found out that that apartment's actually a bare shell, a brand-new one. One quick search showed the owner bought it less than a month ago."

Du Yusheng sniffed. He really should have anticipated that his second uncle would do whatever he liked, his instructions had clearly gone in one ear and out the other. All that effort had been for nothing.

"Oh, I just..." Du Yusheng lowered his head and pretended to check his shoes. "I really am planning to move. Sooner or later, we'll still end up as neighbours."

Li Yao didn't say anything, just nodded and smiled politely.

Before leaving, Du Yusheng tapped on Li Yao's window. The latter opened it with a helpless look.

Li Yao said, "Something else?"

Du Yusheng shook his head and smiled. As if afraid Li Yao might close the window, he reached out and placed two fingers against the glass, then said with a grin, "Could you not be so distant with me in future? I think we're already quite familiar with each other now, don't you think so?"

Li Yao didn't know what to say. There was something deeply sincere in Du Yusheng's eyes. Truth be told, Li Yao was a little afraid of that kind of sincerity. Saying yes wouldn't feel right, nor would saying no. Li Yao knew he could easily smile and say whatever Du Yusheng wanted to hear, but he didn't want to do that.

Luckily, Du Yusheng took his hand off the window and waved at Li Yao. "Forget it, don't say anything. Go on, I'll see you later."

He left decisively. Li Yao closed the car window again, watched the small white figure disappear at the end of the street, and sighed, starting the car slowly.

In fact, Du Yusheng hadn't gone far. He watched from the corner of the building until Li Yao's car drove away, then wandered out and slowly took a cigarette from his pocket. Lighting it, he exhaled a slow plume of smoke and held the cigarette between his fingers. Suddenly, he regretted the things he'd said to Li Yao before parting, he acted like an idiot.

In a few more hours, the dreaded morning rush hour would begin. Du Yusheng headed to the garage, where a neat row of cars was lined up, even the licence plates in sequence. He went down the line one by one, finally choosing the Bentley, the same model as Li Yao's. Just before leaving, Du Yusheng glanced at the old car once more, then stubbed out his cigarette and tossed it into a nearby garbage can.

It had been two days since Du Yusheng last showed up at the bureau, and given the morning rush hour ahead, there might still be people working overtime.

Qin Yan was one of them.

On the way to the forensics office, Du Yusheng grabbed a new intern and asked, "Where's Qin Yan?"

The intern was startled by the bloodshot state of his eyes and took a while to get a sentence out.

"Team A has a case, Brother Qin's in there doing the autopsy. Can you wait a bit?"

Waiting was fine. Dragging a chair to the wall, Du Yusheng slouched down and sat. When the body settles, drowsiness follows. But Du Yusheng didn't dare sleep, he feared that if he dozed off, the whole day would vanish and he'd forget everything by the time he woke.

It was an hour before Qin Yan finally emerged. He looked like he was in a hurry, his hands not even dry after washing, still dripping wet.

"Coming to find me first thing in the morning." Qin Yan poured Du Yusheng a glass of water and asked, "What's going on?"

The intern spoke to him just now, but the kid hadn't explained himself properly. Qin Yan assumed something serious must have happened to Du Yusheng. It wasn't until he saw him sitting there safe and sound that Qin Yan finally relaxed.

"Xiao Bai didn't come with you?"

"No." Du Yusheng shook his head and stood up. "Xiao Bai can't be trusted right now, I don't even know which side he's on."

As he spoke, Du Yusheng pulled out the book he'd taken from Luo Yang's car. Before coming over, he'd already removed the two photos of Li Yao so now it was just an empty book. He tossed it onto Qin Yan's lap, then sat back down and crossed his legs.

"I dug this out from Luo Yang's car," Du Yusheng said. "Take a look for me, see if there's anything odd in it."

"Just a book?" Qin Yan flipped through a few pages and looked up. "You want me to read it for you?"

"Aren't you more cultured than me?" Du Yusheng took a sip of water. "I just feel like there's got to be something in it. Otherwise, why would Luo Yang keep it in his car?"

Qin Yan nodded in agreement. When he saw that Du Yusheng's glass was empty, he picked it up and refilled it with hot water, adding two chrysanthemum flowers as well. The chrysanthemums might have gone unnoticed, there was a dullness in Du Yusheng's gaze, and his mind was clearly elsewhere.

Noticing Du Yusheng's bare wrist, Qin Yan asked, "Where's your watch?"

Du Yusheng had always loved his watches, except for when showering, he never went without one.

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even have noticed." Du Yusheng touched his wrist and frowned. "Probably left it somewhere."

The watch had been left at that casino.

Du Yusheng left it on purpose.

Leaving it behind would make returning easier.

Just as he was about to leave, Qin Yan called out to him.

He took an unopened bottle of eye drops from the drawer and tossed it to Du Yusheng.

"The bloodshot look in your eyes scared the hell out of our interns," Qin Yan said helplessly. "Either go get some sleep or use this."

The eye drops still seemed to carry Qin Yan's warmth. Holding the tiny bottle in his hand, Du Yusheng looked up and gave Qin Yan a big thumbs-up.

Handing the book over to Qin Yan gave Du Yusheng a measure of relief. Qin Yan was more meticulous than he was and had the patience to sit still and think things through. Leaving it with him, Du Yusheng felt at ease. In a society like this, anyone could stab you in the back, but Du Yusheng knew that Qin Yan never would.

Before heading to Huan Island Central Hospital, Du Yusheng had a bowl of noodles by the roadside.

It wasn't that he was starving, it was more to keep himself from falling asleep. As long as there was something to eat in his mouth, he wouldn't want to sleep. Who would want to sleep when there was something tasty?

That night, Luo Daheng met both Li Yao and Luo Yang in succession and afterwards died from an overdose of nitroglycerin. From Luo Yang's side, he had bribed a lawyer, forged a will, and incited the housekeeper to kill, this was one thread. If the assumption was correct, that thread ultimately led to the murder of Luo Daheng. As for Li Yao, he had a medical background that included knowledge of using nitroglycerin to kill, was meticulous by nature, received a large unexplained monthly income, owned additional properties, and had been Luo Daheng's private doctor. He was a doctor, yet didn't quite act like one. But that thread remained incomplete.

Zhuang Hao's death occurred after Luo Daheng's. There was no known connection between him and Luo Daheng, making his case a separate line altogether.

The Bentley explosion took place at the scene of Zhuang Hao's death, at Luo Yang's house. Tape used to make a bomb had been found both in his home and in his car. Judging by the photographs discovered that night, his ultimate target had been Li Yao.

And Xiao Bai had concealed what Luo Yang had been doing at the casino.

What Xiao Bai kept hidden might point to one thing, he was helping Luo Yang.

If Xiao Bai helping Luo Yang meant that he was actually on Luo Yang's side, then that led to two conclusions. First, Xiao Bai feared that Du Yusheng would find something in the casino that would be unfavourable to Luo Yang. The only valuable thing he brought back from there was that book, so the first thing he did on returning was to give it to Qin Yan.

Second, the bomb in the Bentley that day had been planted by Xiao Bai.

At that thought, Du Yusheng took a sip of the noodle broth and licked the corner of his mouth.

If that really was the case, then Xiao Bai's heart was colder than he'd imagined.

Whether or not Xiao Bai actually made the bomb, and however it ended up in Xiao Bai's hands, Du Yusheng was fairly certain that Xiao Bai was the one who planted it, and that he must have some connection to Luo Yang. But mere speculation couldn't solve any real problems. Du Yusheng couldn't confront Xiao Bai face-to-face, nor could he use Xiao Bai's slip-ups as evidence. These guesses were just guesses, they didn't hold up, and making things clear might only alert the enemy.

Huan Island Central Hospital wasn't far from where Du Yusheng ate.

After parking the car, Du Yusheng got in the elevator.

After circling around for a while and running through everything in his mind, he was finally about to meet Luo Yang.

Two plainclothes officers were sitting outside Luo Yang's ward, and Xiao Bai was dozing beside them.

Du Yusheng walked over and kicked Xiao Bai's foot, muttering in exasperation, You look like a clean, sunny kid, how come you're such a snake?

"Hey, hey." Du Yusheng kicked a few more times. "I told you to watch Luo Yang, what are you doing here? Watching him in your dreams?"

Startled awake, Xiao Bai scrambled to his feet and glanced through the glass window, then sighed in relief.

"He's still inside." Rubbing his eyes, he said, "You scared me."

"I told you to watch with your eyes!" Du Yusheng pointed two fingers at Xiao Bai's eyes. "If he runs off, I'll throw you off the tenth floor."

Xiao Bai's mouth moved silently, but Du Yusheng's fierce red eyes and pale face sent him scurrying back.

Luo Yang was a rich kid, his ward had five-star treatment.

Once inside alone, Du Yusheng shut the door firmly behind him.

The ward was the sunniest room on the whole floor. Inside were some fruit baskets sent by visitors and a pile of flowers stacked so tightly they barely fit, wilting and drooping together. On the floor were countless health supplements, stacked nearly as tall as a person. Because it was the top floor, there was even a skylight above; at night, you could see the stars outside. Du Yusheng had never seen such treatment before, almost forgetting the various monitoring devices by the bedside and the man half-lying on the bed.

Luo Yang was smiling.

From the moment Du Yusheng entered, Luo Yang had been looking at him with that smile.

"Hello," Du Yusheng heard Luo Yang say. "My name is Luo Yang."

‿︵‿︵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 23, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 12, 2025 by Angel