CH 106

Lin Yuan laughed drily, saying, “There are actually such coincidences, huh.”

Was it really a coincidence? 

This was basically far beyond coincidence, when the purpose of these ‘coincidences’ was, without a doubt, to sprint straight towards him.

He didn’t use that shuttle ticket when he first awoke but entered Southcross Law Firm. If his landlord had been covertly keeping tabs on his movements, it wouldn’t be hard to know this.

And when his rental lease was up, he naturally would have to find a new accommodation.

His landlord could bide his time, and make an appearance under an appropriate identity. 

He had said before that he had come across many students who worked at Southcross. Through these connections, it was only too easy for him to stage a meeting with Luke, who was looking for an apartment for Yan Suizhi.

It was no wonder that despite missing the flat viewing due to his business trip, the landlord was willing to reschedule it for him.

It was also no wonder then that he was willing to offer a seven-day trial lease, letting Yan Suizhi settle in first, even adjusting the rent payment method accordingly.

“Did you sense it before?” Lin Yuan said.

Yan Suizhi shrugged. “It was hard not to. After all, apart from the original rent being beyond my budget, everything else seemed perfectly tailored to me. The timing was perfect, and even the photographs and the decorations in the bedroom happened to be to my tastes.”

“How much was the rent?” Lin Yuan was a little surprised. “Since he was already gunning straight for you, why would Uncle Braids set the starting rent high? Was it so that he wouldn’t stand out? Wasn’t he afraid that you’d run off after seeing it?”

Yan Suizhi silently sipped his milk, then said vaguely, “It doesn’t sound like much, but he might have forgotten that I’m only an intern now.”

Lawyer Gu couldn’t bear to keep watching on, and he spoke up for the landlord, “With all due respect, the rent was actually very niftily set as well, right on the borderline of what an average intern can afford after a bit of negotiation. He obviously considered that you’re an intern, only he didn’t expect that you’d dare to rent a flat without even having saved money.” 

Yan Suizhi, “…”

Why had he found a person this good at picking apart his excuses to sit next to him??

Lin Yuan eased the atmosphere. “…Such a tenant is indeed unheard of.”

Yan Suizhi, between laughter and tears, “Your breakfast is turning cold, doctor.” 

Put in other words—Can’t you stuff your mouth full and zip it?

Lin Yuan lowered his head and bit into his pan-fried meat and veggie roll.

After a few bites, he chuckled. “When considering that, in spite of Uncle Braids’ best efforts, it was still down to dumb luck that the two of you managed to cross paths.”

Tjc Velhtl, “…” 

As he had his breakfast, he sent a message to his landlord: [When will you be back to De Carma?]

Llr ijcvibgv bcis gfqilfv joafg olnf wlceafr:

-I just had fifty thousand geese honking in my ears. I was meant to be back in De Carma today, but something cropped up last-minute, so I had to extend my trip by a day. Probably back tomorrow.

[Yan Suizhi: Fifty thousand geese?] 

[Landlord: I’m being hounded by a room full of people, forcing me to hook up when I’m old and creaky. Enough about that. What are you looking for me for?]

[Yan Suizhi: Nothing much, just wanted to invite you for afternoon tea.]

Qfgf atfs mibrf fcbeut ab rla vbkc obg joafgcbbc afj? Rba ja jii. Ktlr kjr bynlberis lcvlmjalnf bo tjnlcu rbwfatlcu ab vlrmerr.

Llr ijcvibgv bynlberis gfjilrfv atlr vlrmgfqjcms jr kfii, bcis atja tlr atbeutar nffgfv vbkc atf kgbcu vlgfmalbc: 

-Why? Did you change your mind? Between having a boyfriend and a flat, you chose the flat?

Tjc Velhtl vlvc’a aegc bc jcs bo tlr rmgffc qglnjms rfaalcur obg Xe Tjc. Vb, mblcmlvfcajiis uilwqrlcu atlr mbcnfgrjalbc, klat j oilmx bo tlr olcufg, Ojksfg Xe abbx la lcab tlr bkc tjcvr, mibrlcu atf wfrrjulcu lcafgojmf.

Across from them, Dr Lin’s bite of meat and veggie roll got stuck in his throat.

He choked until his whole face flushed ruddy red, and as he chugged down his black coffee, his smart device rang. 

“Hello…” He hastily accepted the call, only after then noticing that it was actually a video comms. “Uncle Braids?”

Before he could stuff his earpiece into his ear, the other’s voice faintly drifted out. “What made your face so red? Is there a pretty lady sitting opposite you?”

Who else could this voice be but his landlord’s?

Lin Yuan awkwardly glanced at Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan. “No, nothing like that. I just choked on my breakfast. As for who’s seated opposite me—” 

Before he could finish his words, Yan Suizhi’s landlord spoke again, “I’ve something quite urgent to tell you; listen to me first. Are you in a cafe?”

The landlord was probably able to roughly see Lin Yuan’s background through the video feed.

“Yes. What is it?” Lin Yuan asked.

The landlord said, “I had a bit of contact with that guy recently.” 

“Which guy?” Lin Yuan wasn’t able to react immediately.

The landlord clicked his tongue. “Which other guy can it be? It’s the guy I got you to help out with; how can I say it when you’re out dining?”

Lin Yuan finally reacted to that; he was speaking of Yan Suizhi.

He glanced over at Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan again. Right as he was about to speak, the landlord spoke again, “I think that he might have sensed something. It’s been chaotic recently, so just be careful of what you say and do. Don’t let him pull at your pigtails or raise his suspicion.” 

“Uncle Braids, I think that this—” Lin Yuan said.

The landlord, “What do you mean by what you think. Just treat it as a one-off side job. Don’t stick into the rest of it. I’ll explain it to him next time.”

Lin Yuan attempted to speak again. “What I mean is—”

“No matter what you mean, just remember, you don’t know anything, so there’s nothing for him to know. But you don’t have to be nervous. I’m just calling over to say this just in case. He probably wouldn’t catch you so quickly; I’m still quite confident about—” 

Dr Lin, completely unable to find an opportunity to interject, directly changed the camera lens of the video feed to panoramic mode, then slid his finger.

And so his face on the screen switched to become Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan.

The landlord, “………………this.”

There was a loud series of crashes on the other end as the lens spun haywire. 

Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan duly expressed their doubts with their eyes.

Lin Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose, explaining, “He dropped his smart device.”

After the dust settled, the lens on the landlord’s end was restored to normal, and they could see him sitting at a garden of a small courtyard, with a bunch of unidentified elderly men and women chatting loudly in his backdrop.

The landlord seemed to be sitting on a swing, holding its rope and swinging slightly. He glared at Lin Yuan for a long time, then at Yan Suizhi for an equally long time, before sighing deeply. “Man… why do you have such good timing.” 

Yan Suizhi smiled, “Thank you for the high praise.”

Anger gave his landlord a toothache. “Was I complimenting you?”

Then, he turned back to look at the crowd of elderly, waving at one who bore remarkable resemblance to him, waving. He said, “Is the rainbow fruit tasty?”

“Super sweet!” They chorused back at him obligingly. 

“I’ll bring back two crates for you next time,” the landlord said. “Do you still remember what I’ve been telling you? Don’t randomly eat stuff, hydrate yourselves loads. Don’t run around wily-nily and don’t get in contact with infected people. Mr Maugham will be over soon. You don’t have to be polite with him, just treat him like he’s me and order him around. Don’t stray too far out of his sight.”

“Also, mom, stop pretending that your leg hurts. I don’t want to have Mr Maugham shove you into a hospital because he’s at his wit’s end. He used to be a military man, not a military doctor.”

The old madam who was waving just now shouted at him, “I didn’t fake it because I wanted to.”

“What? Was there someone forcing you?” The landlord said. 

The old woman continued to shout, “Forget it, I’m not telling you.”

The landlord shook his head in exasperation, then turned back to speak to Yan Suizhi through the video feed. “My mom was reluctant for me to leave in the morning, so she faked leg pain to get me to stay longer and forced me to scrap my shuttle ticket.”

The old madam walked over with her hand stuck on her waist, knocking the back of his head. “I’ve already said that I’m not faking it on purpose.”

“Got it, got it.” The landlord threw up his hands in surrender, mumbling in agreement. 

“I’ve already made arrangements for the people here. I’m heading to the port now and should be back at De Carma tomorrow morning,” he carried on and winked, then stressed, “I’ll drop you a call when I arrive. You can come together to see my flat and have a good chat about the rent.”

Though it wasn’t convenient to talk directly through comms, speaking openly under this dual identity made everyone happy.

After the comms line was cut, Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan continued to chat with Lin Yuan for a while.

“Were you the one who modified the data that was uploaded into the cloud?” 

“Who else could it be, otherwise?”

“Did you see the view count for that record? It was indicated that it was viewed six times. Apart from when I clicked in, were the remaining five times you?”

Lin Yuan looked completely unsurprised. “After I uploaded it, I only checked it on the kiosk once to make sure that the results weren’t updated. The remaining four were other people.”

While he said that he only helped with the genetic modification surgery and wasn’t involved in anything deeper, from the way he behaved, he didn’t just get it over and done with. 

“Do you know anything else?” Yan Suizhi asked. “For example, was the power failure that day really an accident?”

Lin Yuan shook his head. “It’s hard to say. I asked around after discovering the power went out and it was purportedly caused by an equipment breakdown in a research lab downstairs. But the timing is quite something. I think… there might be someone looking into you. Speaking of which, before that, did you do anything that might arouse suspicion? Such as things that might make people feel that you’re a bit off for an intern or suchlike?”

The esteemed Professor Yan coughed, very much self-aware. “If we’re really going there, there are probably a couple of incidents every day.”

Lin Yuan, “…”