CM | Chapter 9

Gu Yao stared at the automatic door for a long time, thinking maybe she just hadn’t closed it properly, or maybe its smart system had glitched?

She set down her lesson plan, rebooted the computer tower inside, then used the remote to lower the projector screen again.

But just as Gu Yao was about to shut it down once more, the cursor on the screen suddenly stopped obeying her.

It moved on its own, slowly heading toward a folder on the desktop.

Gu Yao gripped the mouse and dragged it rapidly across the desk, but the cursor ignored her. As if it had a life of its own, it stubbornly clicked open a folder on a partitioned hard drive, and inside was only one image.

Gu Yao froze. Her first reaction was that the computer had been hacked.

She had no other choice but to force a shutdown. She crouched down and reached for the hard power button. Once it was off, she would contact the school computer room and have them send someone over to wipe out the virus.

Because she was crouching, her face was very close to the monitor.

By then, the projector screen had already lowered completely, clearly reflecting the image on the monitor. The cursor had opened the picture too, enlarging it from a thumbnail to full size, right in front of Gu Yao’s eyes.

There was no avoiding it. She saw it up close, and the hand that had just touched the hard power button froze too, her whole body turning to stone.

It was a photo. The person in it was no one else, just the man she knew best, Zhu Shengxi.

Zhu Shengxi in the photo seemed to be in a bar. He sat in a chair with his legs crossed, a glass of wine in hand, but he didn’t drink. He only held it on his knee. His calm, cool gaze looked off into the distance, or perhaps not at any real object at all. His pale lips were slightly pressed together, carrying not a trace of warmth.

There was also a woman beside Zhu Shengxi. She was young, no more than twenty-four or twenty-five, and a white-collar suit wrapped around her soft, seductive figure.

One of her hands rested lightly on Zhu Shengxi’s arm, while the other propped up her cheek. She tilted her head, eyes bright, smiling as she looked at his profile.

Her eyes were full of adoration, but Zhu Shengxi did not look at her.

Even so, Gu Yao still frowned. A wave of discomfort rose from the bottom of her heart, an intense resistance.

If it was just that the girl was in love and the man felt nothing, then how had the two of them ended up drinking together in a bar?

Besides, Zhu Shengxi was not the kind of man who would let a woman touch him. He was usually not only proud but also cold, and he did not smile much. When handling business, he was always swift and decisive. Even if his most capable assistant made a mistake, he would deal with it strictly as a matter of business. That was why many people regarded him as a work machine with no sense of romance.

Gu Yao drew in a breath and slowly stood up, turning back to look at the projector screen.

The photo was projected onto the screen, enlarged, and many details were easier to make out.

Gu Yao refused to miss a single blind spot. She looked very carefully, but unfortunately the area around the two of them was blurred. Only there was a card on the table. Several small words were printed on it: Jeane bar.

Gu Yao thought about it. She had no memory of this bar.

Then she remembered that she’d been staring at it for so long without taking a photo on her phone. She immediately grabbed the phone from the lectern, opened the camera mode, and came back.

But at the same time, the cursor on the monitor started moving again. It closed the image, sent it to the recycle bin, and clicked the empty button.

Gu Yao was startled. She immediately gripped the mouse, trying to stop it, but it was useless.

The recycle bin was emptied, and the cursor still didn’t stop. It even directly formatted the hard drive the folder had pointed to.

Once. Twice. Three times. Four times.

Four formats meant there was no way to restore it.

Gu Yao could only watch helplessly as it happened. Her mind went blank for a moment.

Then the cursor moved to the shutdown button, and the projector screen behind her slowly rose again. After the device shut down, the automatic door closed by itself, and the green light on the projector hanging from the ceiling turned red.

Everything happened silently, carrying an eerie, stealthy air.

Gu Yao stood motionless in place, staring at the closed-up equipment, not moving for a long time.

She endured the urge to curse at the air. After a long while, she slowly walked to the lectern, put on her coat, then picked up her lesson plan and phone, walked out of the classroom, and closed the door.

Gu Yao made her way out of the teaching area and, with an umbrella in hand, headed to the ground-level parking lot.

The wind and rain were fierce, coming down in sheets, pounding hard against her umbrella, the car, and the ground. Countless puddles were splashed open under the impact. By the time Gu Yao reached her car, the hems of her pants were soaked up to her knees.

Gu Yao struggled into the driver’s seat, set her lesson plan aside, pulled a box of tissues toward her, and started wiping herself off.

Her movements were mechanical. As she wiped, her mind drifted. Her gaze was fixed and straight, staring at the windshield while listening to the rain hitting the car body. In her mind, what kept flashing was the scene of Zhu Shengxi and that strange woman in the bar.

After the initial shock passed, her reason and analytical ability started kicking back in.

The photo was a candid shot, and there was only one of it, not a continuous series, so the “fact” she saw was only the instant when the woman had placed her hand on Zhu Shengxi’s arm. What happened after that, she didn’t know.

With Zhu Shengxi’s personality, if he had any interest in that woman, he wouldn’t have “ignored” her presence, keeping his eyes only on the distance with that icy expression on his face.

So it was very possible that after the woman made a move on him, Zhu Shengxi had gotten up and left, or simply avoided her touch.

Thinking of that, Gu Yao blinked, put the used tissues into a plastic bag, then started the car, turned on the wipers, and prepared to drive home.

The rainstorm had come too fast. Jiang City’s underground drainage system couldn’t keep up with the pace of the downpour. Many roads were already flooded, and some low-lying areas under residential complexes and overpasses, even those with drainage measures, had turned into little lakes in an instant.

The cars stuck on the bridge were all blocking one another, each of them eager to get home.

Police from every district, along with the fire department and urban rescue teams, had already been dispatched and were rushing to the worst flooded areas to guide traffic and carry out rescues. Not to mention stray cats and dogs, even people could sink straight into places where the flooding was severe.

Gu Yao had originally planned to get onto the overpass, but just before she did, she received a call from Qin Song.

Qin Song first asked Gu Yao whether she was outside. If she wasn’t, then stay home obediently and don’t order takeout. The whole city was basically paralyzed right now. If she was outside, then she absolutely could not get onto the main roads or the overpass. The news had just said the cars up there would be jammed for at least four to seven hours.

As soon as Gu Yao heard that, she immediately turned around.

But the other roads weren’t any better. The car moved slower than a person walking. After a long struggle, Gu Yao found a gap by the roadside to park, and then sat in the driver’s seat staring out the window in a daze.

The radio was broadcasting live updates. Almost every channel was talking about traffic conditions, and some were discussing the Chen Feiyu incident as well as “Jiangcheng Gene,” which had stirred up a huge storm today.

Gu Yao listened idly, while in her mind she kept turning over two questions repeatedly. Who was the person who hacked the classroom computer, and what exactly was their purpose?

Clearly, that person had come to stir things up, to make her doubt Zhu Shengxi’s private life.

If it had been another woman, at this point she probably would already have slapped a call straight at Zhu Shengxi, whether to accuse him or pressure him.

But Gu Yao didn’t call. She held her phone, opened the few apps she used most often, and even checked the camera position. She even suspected that her phone might be under surveillance too.

And more than that, the person behind this had chosen this exact moment, the crucial point when “Jiangcheng Gene” was in trouble, to use this method to sow discord between her and Zhu Shengxi. Could this matter have something to do with “Jiangcheng Gene” too?

Gu Yao picked up her phone. After a quiet few seconds, she filtered through the names in her head, Dad, Mom, Zhu Shengxi, Qin Song.

In the end, she still chose to call Qin Song.

The call connected quickly. Qin Song’s speech was a little slurred, clearly because he was eating: “Hello, Gu Yao, what’s up?”

There was still the voice of the news anchor in the background.

Gu Yao drew in a breath and said, “Something strange happened to me today.”

Qin Song asked casually, “Oh? What happened? Related to your boyfriend’s ‘Jiangcheng Gene’?”

Actually, Qin Song had wanted to ask Gu Yao about Jiangcheng Gene during the day, but after thinking about it, he held back.

“Probably related.” Gu Yao’s brow unconsciously furrowed. “I was followed.”

Qin Song choked. “What?!”

After a two-second daze, Qin Song picked up the remote and turned the TV volume down, then heard Gu Yao say, “This afternoon, after I finished class, the projector and computer in the classroom were hacked. Someone was operating them in secret and let me see a photo. But before I could take a picture of it, that person deleted the photo.”

Qin Song listened until his scalp went numb. His mind was buzzing. That was way too exciting, way too intense.

“What photo?”

Gu Yao said, “It was Shengxi and a woman.”

“…… Cheating?”

“No, it was just a candid shot. The two of them were in a bar, sitting at the same table. Shengxi was looking elsewhere, and the woman was looking at him, with one hand resting on him.”

Qin Song was silent for two seconds. “Well, that doesn’t prove anything, does it? Could it have been some admirer of Zhu Shengxi’s, deliberately showing it to you to make you two break up?”

Gu Yao said with a faint, half-smile, “If that’s the case, then they were really going to great lengths, not only knowing my class schedule, but even hacking into the school computer in my classroom, and specifically choosing a time when no one else was around, so I could enjoy it all by myself. This admirer is a high-tech talent.”

After a moment of silence, Qin Song said, “So you think it has something to do with ‘Jiangcheng Gene’?”

Gu Yao said, “I do have that intuition, but that’s where the problem is. If it’s unrelated, then the timing is way too much of a coincidence. Every arrangement fits together seamlessly. If it’s related, then the reason is a little far-fetched. What was this person’s purpose? Even if I broke up with Shengxi because of a photo, what effect would that have on the ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ incident? I rarely ask about Shengxi’s work. I know even less than those media reporters do. Starting with me makes no sense.”

Gu Yao laid the key point out directly.

She thought that she couldn’t make sense of this herself. Maybe Qin Song could help. He was the only friend by her side whom she could trust and who had the ability to help her analyze it. If it were her parents, that would only make things more complicated. Naturally, she also wouldn’t ask Zhu Shengxi about it over something so minor, especially at a time like this.

Qin Song was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, he was a little hesitant. “Maybe, uh, I’m saying maybe… let’s assume…”

Gu Yao said, “If you thought of something, just say it. You don’t need to choose your words.”

Qin Song sighed. “Maybe, you really do know something about ‘Jiangcheng Gene,’ or maybe the person hiding in the dark thinks you know something? Of course, this past year you haven’t had much contact with ‘Jiangcheng Gene,’ but what about a year ago?”

“A lot of what happened a year ago, I don’t remember. You know that.”

“I know, but outsiders may not know. Even if they do, they may not believe it.”

“Fine, let’s say I really do know something. Then what could he possibly get out of me by using a photo to provoke me?”

Qin Song said offhandedly, “Then I don’t know. Maybe he hacked your phone too. He thought you’d call Zhu Shengxi, have a huge fight, and incidentally spit out some hidden bombshell?”

As soon as he said that, Qin Song himself froze.

“Damn, could it be…”

On the other side, Xu Shuo and Xiao Chuan also arrived in Jiang City in the afternoon.

Toward evening, the two of them finished touring the newly rented office. After walking around, they were fairly satisfied. The furniture and stationery were all in place, and the space was bright, well-ventilated, and full of green plants.

Xiao Chuan had a lollipop in his mouth and didn’t say much else. He plopped down cross-legged on the sofa and opened his notebook to start working.

Xu Shuo walked straight through the hallway to the office at the very back, pushed the door open, and after only glancing twice at the furnishings inside, went directly to the small door connected to the office.

Inside was an enclosed lounge with no windows, and the door barely left any gap. If the lights weren’t on, the room would be pitch-black, making it very suitable for resting.

Xu Shuo yawned. He didn’t even change his clothes or turn on the lights. He took one long stride onto the bed and collapsed face-first into the blankets.

Outside, the wind was fierce and the rain urgent, traffic was at a standstill, and the city was flooded.

Ten years ago, the day Xu Shuo returned to Jiang City was also this kind of ghost weather. Only back then, Jiang City wasn’t as developed as it was now. Technology and medicine had already entered the age of smart systems. People in Jiang City no longer measured status by buying cars, but by houses and medical care and the like.

In his dream, funeral music began to sound slowly.

In the solemn funeral hall, there was a black-and-white photo of a middle-aged man. He wore a police uniform and smiled faintly. The wrinkles on his face were deep, and every single one seemed like a medal accumulated from years of solving cases.

Xu Haizhen lay in the coffin. With his eyes closed, he looked much kinder than usual. Around him were his other colleagues from the police team, all paying their respects to him.

Xu Shuo walked very, very slowly. He approached the coffin cautiously, his face wooden, watching Xu Haizhen’s features emerge bit by bit before his eyes.

Xu Shuo didn’t move and didn’t say a word. He stood completely out of step with the solemn, grieving atmosphere around him. Some people were crying, some were trying to comfort others, some were sighing, but only Xu Shuo stood rigidly in front of the coffin, staring at Xu Haizhen.

The music grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, with a crash, the door opened and a gust of wind blew in.

Xu Shuo, sunk deep in the bedding, jolted awake at once. He flipped over and glared at Xiao Chuan standing in the doorway.

“Ge, you took the bait…”

The lounge was pitch-black, while the office behind Xiao Chuan was brightly lit. Backlit like that, he could see the expression on Xu Shuo’s face clearly.

Xiao Chuan: “Uh, you, uh… had a nightmare again?”

Xu Shuo’s face was dark and terrifying. His temples and forehead were a little damp, and his eyes were bloodshot. The way he glared at people made him look like an envoy returned from the underworld.

“……”

The two of them stared at each other for several seconds. Xu Shuo closed his eyes, drew a breath, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse to the extreme. “If you fucking scare me like that again, I’ll chop your dick off!”

Xiao Chuan instinctively clapped a hand over his crotch and let out an awkward “heh-heh.”

Xu Shuo had already gotten out of bed. While running a hand through his hair, he walked out and asked, “Gu Yao took the bait?”

Xiao Chuan immediately trotted after him. “Yeah, that photo scared her stiff! She even called Qin Song just now…”

Xu Shuo and Xiao Chuan went into the outer room together and sat on the sofa.

Xiao Chuan enthusiastically praised himself for a while, then played back for Xu Shuo the sounds he had just recorded through the car’s bug.

Xu Shuo listened in silence for a long time.

After a while, Xu Shuo asked, “Will Gu Chengwen go to tomorrow’s investors’ association awards ceremony?”

Xiao Chuan said, “Yes. His secretary confirmed it with him only this evening.”

After a beat, Xiao Chuan added, “But this old bastard’s mental fortitude is pretty strong. His future son-in-law’s company has only just run into trouble, and he’s already planning to show up in public. What is he trying to prove? That Zhu Shengxi’s ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ has no problem?”

Xu Shuo yawned and rested one hand against his head. He looked lazy, but his eyes were sharp.

“Jiangcheng Gene was able to rise out of nowhere in just a few years not only because of support from several investors including Gu Chengwen, but also because of media packaging, medical technology backing it up, and the public’s blind hope for gene research. That’s how this interest group was formed. But when one prospers, all prosper, and when one falls, all fall. The more people this food chain involves, the greater the risk. Once it breaks, the consequences would be unthinkable. Gu Chengwen understands this better than anyone, so at this crucial point, he definitely won’t allow ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ to make any mistakes.”

Xiao Chuan said, “But Ge, from what Gu Yao means, it seems like she doesn’t know anything right now. Are we still going to target her?”

Xu Shuo narrowed his eyes. The corners of his lips dropped.

“If she doesn’t know, I’ll help her know.”