Controlled Experiment Chapter 24

Controlled Experiment – 24

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Li Yao only had one living relative left in the world, Jing Mo.

But this younger brother who looked exactly like him was a troublesome piece of work.

Li Yao glanced at Du Yusheng in his arms, then at his brother.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he thought Jing Mo looked thinner. Twins were said to have a kind of telepathy, despite not seeing each other for years, they somehow managed to maintain the same weight and appearance.

Jing Mo bent over and dumped Du Yusheng onto the long sofa in Li Yao's living room. Aside from his deliberate imitation of Li Yao, Jing Mo never wore his clothes properly, always looking like he was ready to strip at any moment. Li Yao looked at the half-exposed waist of his brother and was certain that Jing Mo had lost a lot of weight.

Tossing Du Yusheng from his body to the sofa had been a physically exhausting task.

Jing Mo collapsed onto the sofa, panting heavily.

Looking up at Li Yao, who was wearing a bathrobe, he smiled, "Still haven't made up your mind?"

Li Yao didn't say anything.

Jing Mo pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and said, "You've got two choices now. Haven't you always wanted to know what I've been up to? Either you let Zhuang Hao tell you what exactly I've done, or you leave Du Yusheng with me and I'll keep him for my own amusement. Two options, up to you."

Just as he was about to light the cigarette, Li Yao walked over, took it from his hand, snapped it in half and threw it into the garbage.

"You've lost weight," Li Yao said.

Jing Mo stiffly withdrew his fingers and froze.

The truth was, just like Li Yao, Jing Mo only had this one brother left.

He loved him, but he also hated him.

Jing Mo shook his head and laughed. "Then I'd better put on some weight, otherwise we won't look alike any more."

Li Yao didn't respond. His hair was still damp and a large patch of his white bathrobe had soaked through, clinging uncomfortably to his skin. He glanced at Jing Mo. Without a cigarette, his brother didn't even seem to know where to put his hands.

Returning to the bedroom to change, Li Yao brought back a clean blanket and draped it over Du Yusheng.

Du Yusheng was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling steadily.

As he slept, he looked obedient and quiet. The usual irritating presence was gone, and in its place was something almost pleasant.

"He hasn't slept for nearly two days," Jing Mo said. "Even without drugging him, he would've passed out."

On Li Yao's coffee table sat a stylish tea set. Jing Mo picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup.

"Have you made up your mind yet?" Jing Mo took a sip and smiled. "Two choices."

Over on the sofa, Du Yusheng was sound asleep, light snores already beginning to rise. Li Yao found it amusing. He sat on the sofa and looked at Du Yusheng's face, imagining what expression he might make if he suddenly woke up and saw two versions of him. He was, in fact, quite simple; when he liked you, he would hover around constantly, talking non-stop. It could be rather annoying at times, Li Yao chuckled. But now that this chatterbox had suddenly gone quiet and fallen asleep, it was oddly unsettling.

Li Yao pointed at the cup of tea in Jing Mo's hand and said, "Highly concentrated nitroglycerin, is it tasty?"

Jing Mo paused, looked at the tea in his hand, and then realising Li Yao was teasing him, he suddenly laughed.

He placed the cup back down on the table.

"I really want to die like that, turning Li Yao into a murderer," Jing Mo smiled. "Then you'd have to live on using my name."

At the time, it sounded like a joke, but later, Li Yao never imagined it would actually come true.

Jing Mo finished the remaining half cup of tea, then stood up and properly put his jacket back on, zipped it up, and removed the glasses perched on his nose, placing them into the drawer beneath the tea table. The drawer was filled with glasses, all neatly arranged inside.

Looking at them, a sudden sour ache rose in Jing Mo's chest.

"Brother, have you really kept everything I ever left behind?"

Li Yao didn't respond. He simply reached out and closed the open drawer.

Jing Mo smiled slightly, walked to the doorway, and changed his shoes.

There had always been two pairs of slippers in Li Yao's shoe cupboard by the entrance, Jing Mo knew this. Li Yao was a single man, the other pair had clearly been prepared for him. His nose souring slightly, Jing Mo pinched it and forced down the foolish wave of emotion rising in his chest. Truthfully, he too had longed to live like an ordinary family, just two ordinary brothers staying together. But the path they'd taken had gone too far. There was no turning back, and he had long forgotten the way back.

Before leaving, Jing Mo turned to glance at the man on the sofa, the one who looked exactly like himself.

He thought to himself that maybe after tonight, they'd never sit and talk like this again.

"Brother."

Jing Mo called out softly.

Li Yao looked up at him.

"I'm off now."

Li Yao nodded.

He wanted to say, Come by next time for a meal, but the words reached his lips and he shook his head, waving a hand to bid Jing Mo goodbye.

There was no need for a choice between two options. Jing Mo looked at Du Yusheng, still sound asleep on the sofa, it seemed he had already made his decision.

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Leaning against the window and watching his younger brother drive away, Li Yao sighed.

Although he didn't know exactly what Jing Mo had done, he understood that Jing Mo could no longer turn back.

He walked to the bathroom and found a clean towel to wrap around his head. He hadn't had a chance to dry off earlier, and now his scalp felt chilled. Du Yusheng, asleep in the living room, was snoring more heavily than before.

Li Yao sat on the other sofa, watching him, caught between laughter and exasperation.

"Would you say he's just incredibly careless?"

Li Yao looked towards Zhuang Hao, who had just stepped out from behind the curtain, and asked, "Are you thinking of making a move on him too?"

Zhuang Hao immediately shook his head, "No, no, I really wouldn't dare."

Li Yao said nothing more and tossed the towel in his hand to Zhuang Hao so he could wipe the sweat off his forehead.

Zhuang Hao was a smart man. Before coming, he'd deliberately leaked news that he planned to escape by boat, otherwise, Jing Mo wouldn't have shown up today with others to make Li Yao choose, he would've taken care of Zhuang Hao before he ever had the chance to reach Li Yao. That would have been the safest outcome for Jing Mo.

The tea had cooled. Li Yao poured himself a fresh cup. He looked at Du Yusheng again, then glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Less than six hours left." Li Yao slowly sipped his tea, then looked at Zhuang Hao and continued, "Don't you want to tell me something?"

Zhuang Hao knew exactly what Li Yao meant. He had thought it through before coming and didn't plan on hiding anything.

"I'll take you," Zhuang Hao said. "But not here, we need to go somewhere else."

Li Yao understood. The somewhere else Zhuang Hao referred to meant the journey alone would take more than six hours. In other words, they wouldn't be back before Du Yusheng woke up.

Li Yao rubbed his fingers together. There was still half a bottle of sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet. He looked at Du Yusheng's sleeping face and suddenly felt reluctant to force any more down his throat.

Give him too much and he might end up brain-damaged, and then he'd be stuck taking care of him for the rest of his life.

Just as he was thinking this, Li Yao's phone on the table buzzed.

Although the number was encrypted, Li Yao could still tell it was from Jing Mo.

Two short lines, sent in separate messages.

"You admitted a patient surnamed Chen this morning, I know he wasn't there to see a doctor."

"Don't you want to go check on him now?"

Li Yao scratched his nose, then tossed the phone wordlessly to Zhuang Hao.

He stood up and looked over at Du Yusheng. He was fast asleep, and at some point, without anyone noticing, he had shifted position, his feet now stuck out from under the blanket. Li Yao fetched a slightly thinner blanket from the bedroom, tucked his feet back under the cover, and wrapped him up in it before lifting him into his arms and carrying him to the bedroom. Du Yusheng looked light, but he was actually quite heavy. Li Yao placed him gently on the bed. Perhaps sensing a bit of unease, Du Yusheng instinctively nestled closer into Li Yao's chest.

Li Yao glanced down at his bare chest, then at the black head of hair pressed against his skin, and suddenly felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Someone's already held a knife to your throat, and you're still sleeping like a baby.

Is that how a police officer is supposed to behave?

Tucking in the edges of the blanket, Li Yao closed the bedroom door behind him as he stepped out.

Zhuang Hao, at some point, had gotten up. He was now standing by the entrance, jacket in hand, hurriedly changing his shoes and looking even more anxious and sweat-soaked than before.

When he saw Li Yao come out, he urged, "Hurry up! The message clearly says something's happened, why aren't you rushing to the hospital?"

Li Yao shook his head and sat back on the sofa, finishing the cup of tea he hadn't yet finished.

"You can trust Jing Mo to handle things," Li Yao said. "That Chen guy's already a dead man, no matter when you go, he's still going to be dead."

Zhuang Hao froze, clearly not following. He blinked at Li Yao in confusion.

Li Yao beckoned him over and asked, "Tell me, the guy with the surname Chen was my patient, now he's dead, who do you think the murderer is?"

Zhuang Hao stared into Li Yao's eyes, then slowly raised a finger and pointed at him.

Li Yao nodded and let out a long breath.

So it seemed he'd been naïve tonight. Jing Mo hadn't come to him out of guilt, nor was it to reminisce. His only purpose in coming was to make sure Li Yao wasn't at the hospital. Clearly, he'd succeeded.

Gradually sorting out the facts, Zhuang Hao began to panic.

"Then... what do we do now?"

Li Yao pointed towards the bedroom he had just come out of.

"There's a clock on the wall, go take it down."

Zhuang Hao had no idea what Li Yao was planning, but he followed his instructions.

Li Yao's bedroom was plain. The bed was the simplest design, square-edged, stylish, but devoid of any decorative patterns. Even the sheets were a plain, minimalistic colour. It was clear the room's owner didn't care for embellishments. Beside the bed stood a small European-style side table. On it sat a night lamp emitting a warm yellow glow, which was currently switched on, casting a cosy light. Before stepping out, Zhuang Hao cautiously checked on Du Yusheng again, confirming that he was still fast asleep and hadn't stirred.

Zhuang Hao brought the clock over to Li Yao, who turned it over and adjusted the hour and minute hands to the time before Jing Mo had arrived.

Once he'd finished, Li Yao told Zhuang Hao to hang it back up.

Under the coffee table in the living room was a nearly new remote control. Apart from switching on the television on moving day to check the quality of the furnishings, Li Yao hadn't used it since. He picked up the remote and randomly selected a channel. The TV happened to be replaying the evening news.

It was Friday, prime time for working people to unwind.

On Fridays, prime time usually featured entertaining live broadcasts.

Li Yao turned up the volume and glanced at the time on his phone.

Then he searched online for the schedule of tonight's programmes on the major channels, as well as a summary of the late-night news.

Li Yao was a doctor, and it had to be said that doctors sometimes had a natural knack for memorisation. Compared to all those tongue-twisting technical terms, Li Yao found this information much easier to remember. After going over it roughly three times, Li Yao returned to the bedroom where Du Yusheng was sleeping and changed his clothes.

After thinking about it, he poured a cup of warm boiled water and set it on the bedside table for Du Yusheng.

When everything was done, Li Yao let out a long breath. He glanced at Zhuang Hao, who was sitting rather stiffly on the sofa, then looked at the watch on his wrist.

"There's still time," Li Yao said. "Take me to the place you mentioned."

‿︵‿︵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 26, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 12, 2025 by Angel