CH 170

To begin with, it wasn’t as though they were putting on an act as sweethearts, and so their kiss deepened with the passing of time.

As the hovercar sped out of the eastern outskirts, Yan Suizhi released Gu Yan’s collar, reclining back into the driver’s seat. 

He unfastened a button on his shirt, lowering the temperature inside the car, and only then did the faint blush colouring his neck gradually recede.

The rearview mirror was empty; the dodgy cars from before had already vanished.

Lawyer Gu was rendered mute by this advanced car dumping tactic that was unlike any he had come across before.

Though there were no suspicious vehicles within sight, Yan Suizhi still switched back to manual just in case. 

He folded the shirt cuffs above his forearms, then took the steering wheel and turned sharply into a highway.

The moment he started to drive, he regained his calm and composure.

And his collected expression was in stark contrast to the lightning speed at which the car was moving.

After shuffling through several roads in quick succession to ensure that they weren’t being chased, Professor Yan then unhurriedly switched the car back to autopilot, saying without a lift of his head, “I can’t let you sit on the passenger side next time.”

Gu Yan’s gaze flickered. “Reason being?”

“Beauty is distracting,” said Yan Suizhi.

Gu Yan, “???”

The distinguished Lawyer Gu’s first reaction was to check the screen of his smart device. 

Yan Suizhi gave a start, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“I was checking if I’d cut the line on Joe yet,” Gu Yan said.

Yan Suizhi, “…You’ve been on the line all this time?”

“I was just making sure.” Gu Yan raised his eyes and asked him, “What if he was still on the line?” 

The esteemed Professor Yan touched his face, saying nonchalantly, “…I don’t really mind, but if you really did forget to cut the line, you’ll probably have to inquire on the mental well-being of that little fool.”

Gu Yan lifted his brows.

While they had safely extricated themselves from danger, Lawyer Gu’s precious hovercar did not come out of it unscathed.

The first thing they did upon returning to Fa Wang District was drive to a car care shop. 

The boss knew Gu Yan well, and he immediately exclaimed, “Oh my god! Is this your car? I’d never have believed that you’d actually trash your car like this! Did you hit the road while completely plastered?”

The true culprit was buying water from a vending machine a short distance away, and so Lawyer Gu silently took the blame, briefly explaining to the boss, “I was out on a mountain pass for business.”

“See, I called it.” The boss yelled at his employee to send Gu Yan’s car into the car wash. “It’s been rainy recently; a lot of mud has slid down. I drove through a mountain road the other day. I don’t know if the autopilot system was waterlogged or what, but it was a disgrace to artificial ‘intelligence’. It didn’t know to avoid the mud and convulsed me to hell and back. It felt as though I was riding on a bucking horse, and even today my butt still hurts when I walk.”

Gu Yan, “…” 

Yan Suizhi leaned against the vending machine, gazing this way with a smile on his lips.

He was starting to find that he took great pleasure in watching Gu Yan interact with his friends from different walks of life. Despite the lack of obvious tells in Gu Yan’s expression, Yan Suizhi could still read the mental acrobatics from them, and it amused him more than anything else had.

After the boss complained to Gu Yan about the mountain road, rainwater, and his aching bottom, he was called over by an employee.

Gu Yan turned his head around and saw that Yan Suizhi was holding two bottles of water with his eyes crinkled at him. 

“Watching the show?” Gu Yan walked over. While no one’s attention was on them, he propped a hand on the vending machine pane, dipping his head down to kiss Yan Suizhi.

“How can any show be more attractive than our Teacher Gu?”

Yan Suizhi pointed with his chin at the boss in the distance. “This boss is quite chirpy.”

Gu Yan, “…” 

God knows what expression the bearded, ripped car wash owner would have if he knew that the label ‘chirpy’ was being tagged onto him.

“I’ve noticed that though you yourself are quite the frosty brooder, the friends you make tend to be very chatty. As soon as the boss started to speak just now, I thought I was looking at a version 2 of Joe the Little Fool.”

Gu Yan was completely silent.

‘Frosty brooder’ and ‘little fool’ right after. It took some skill to be able to verbally attack two people in one short sentence. 

He turned it over, then replied, “Using your words, if I make a friend who’s also a frosty brooder, wouldn’t we just stare each other down in meditative silence?”

Whatever it was that Professor Yan imagined, he supported himself on Gu Yan’s shoulder, bursting into laughter.

The two of them conversed while waiting for the car, and the boss came back around to them.

“The car wash is quick; it won’t take too long. But feel free to make yourself comfortable, there are snacks over there if you’d like. I’m making a trip back home.” The boss jokingly complained, “My love got stuck en-route for many days due to a space shuttle accident on her way back from vacation. She’s resting at home now but still a bit jet-lagged, so I’m going back to whip up a meal for her.” 

Yan Suizhi started when he heard this. “A space shuttle accident?”

“Yeah, wasn’t it on the news?” The boss said, “Just that it’s easy to miss because the headlines have been occupied with talk about the infection treatment centres and whatnot. The accident was quickly resolved anyway, so there’s not much mention of it.”

“I have heard of it. Has the space shuttle arrived at the port yet?” Yan Suizhi asked.

“Yeah, yesterday morning thereabout. Or was it the previous day?” The boss knocked his head. “My love has got me a bit jumbled about the time, too. Anyhow, not too long ago.” 

The boss bid them goodbye and left like the wind, temporarily handing over shop operations to his employees.

Yan Suizhi exchanged a look with Gu Yan.

As the boss said, they were too busy in the past couple of days, almost losing track of time.

Neither of them had the capacity to check the news online and were completely unaware that the space shuttle was already moored at port. 

“Have you messaged the landlord recently?” Gu Yan asked.

Yan Suizhi, “As luck would have it, I did send one the previous day, but didn’t follow up yesterday or today.”

But similarly, there was nary a peep from the other end. This was easily cause for worry.

Could he have been met with any danger? 

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Just for that split second, Yan Suizhi actually felt that it had been ages since he last heard this voice.

“Are you back in De Carma yet?”

The landlord said, “Yeah, my flight just touched down yesterday morning. You have no idea how many messages came flooding in, numbing my finger for the rest of the morning. My smart device storage space is going to burst.”

He sounded very natural, more or less the same as he usually did; it was difficult to discern if there was anything amiss. 

Yan Suizhi glanced at Gu Yan and said, “It’s good enough that you’ve safely landed. It’s been a little chaotic these days, so not receiving your text worried me slightly.”

“I didn’t text you?” The landlord froze before adding, “I received too many messages; could I have replied to so many that I forgot to reply to yours?”

“I’ll grudgingly take your word for it,” Yan Suizhi arched his brow, as though in jest. After which he said, “Then take a few days off to rest and reset your body clock. You sound a little sluggish; have you not gotten any sleep yet?”

The landlord said, “Did you install surveillance in my house? You even know of this?” 

“Are you really not going to sleep?”

“Yeah, I’m packing.” The landlord laughed, then asked, “Are these two distinguished lawyers able to spare some time now?”

“We can,” said Yan Suizhi.

“Then can I trouble you to lend me a hand?” 

“Sure.”

Yan Suizhi was about to cut the line after this response when the landlord supplemented, “Don’t hang up just yet. It isn’t at the apartment that was supposed to be rented to you; I’ll send you an address in a bit, take care not to go to the wrong place.”

After hanging up, apprehension leaked into Yan Suizhi’s expression.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Yan asked. 

“My landlord’s acting off,” Yan Suizhi said.

“How so?”

“It’s hard to put a finger on it.” Yan Suizhi considered it, saying with a frown, “But I’m getting the feeling that he should have met with some trouble or other.”

A moment later, Yan Suizhi received a message on his smart device. 

The sender wasn’t the number that Mervyn White usually used.

-115 Poplar Grove Avenue, Red Maple District. Go in from the side gate, the password is a picture, I’ll send it over to you.

This message was immediately followed by a charcoal drawing.

— 

Gu Yan’s car was soon restored back to its usual understated and subdued matte black, not a speck of mud to be seen. It took them close to two hours to cross the entirety of Fa Wang and find the aforementioned Popular Grove Avenue on a waterfront in Red Maple District.

This waterfront wasn’t suited for sightseeing. There were too many sea stacks that obstructed the sight, and the scenery was mediocre. From the residences to the stores, all the buildings here appeared weathered-beaten.

Thick efflorescence was even deposited on the sea-facing side, dispersing the miasma of salted fish. All in all, it wasn’t a picturesque place to be at.

Poplar Grove Avenue had buildings pressed against more buildings. Due to the uneven terrain, the houses were messily stacked high and low, and it was difficult to tell which unit number each was. What was worse was that it was easy to lose one’s sense of direction due to how similar each narrow alleyway looked. 

Yan Suizhi didn’t dial him this time but sent the unknown number a text: [Did you trick me into entering a labyrinth?]

A response swiftly came from the other end: [I can already see you. Turn left into the alley next to you, and turn right at the second last building. Keep going until you count four blocks, then raise your head.]

Following the description in the message, Yan Suizhi dragged Gu Yan along as he navigated through the maze.

“The fourth block…” He counted each block until he reached it, then stopped and looked up. 

And so he saw someone wearing a mask on the second floor of a small building on his left, waving at them. Noticing that he wore a mask, Yan Suizhi unconsciously took greater care when going over to avoid calling trouble upon the other.

He checked around to make sure that no one was following them before finding the fabled side door. Then, he took out the charcoal drawing and held it in front of the security scanner.

The heavy side door opened a crack with a soft click.

Yan Suizhi shut the door behind him and when he turned around, was stunned by the state of the ground floor in the building. 

Running photon computers, machines, and countless floating holographic papers cluttered the area, as imposing as landslides and tsunamis.

Footsteps shuffled down the stairs.

Yan Suizhi said to Mervyn White who had come downstairs, “Are you doing disaster recovery?”

“Tch.” Mervyn White snapped, “Why is your tongue so caustic, young man?” 

Yan Suizhi humbly said, “Thank you for the compliment, but I’m still lacking.”

Mervyn White, “…”

He swept a look around the room, asking, “Do you stay here?”

“I used to,” Mervyn White thought for a moment, then said, “Not too long ago. I asked someone to upkeep this small building after I retired, but I don’t stay here myself. I only use the space to store some materials.” 

Even if the paperwork filling the space were holographic and could be stacked, it was discernible that it would pile mountains upon mountains.

Using ‘some’ to describe this was wildly downplaying it.

Gu Yan respected the owner’s wishes and put on a mask as well. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see that the papers mostly consisted of documents, signed contracts, and volumes of research papers with diagrams and graphs crammed on them.

He could pull one towards him with a casual reach, but out of courtesy, unless explicitly requested, he wouldn’t intrude on the landlord’s privacy, his attention never straying to them. 

“So, what was it that you needed our help with?” Yan Suizhi asked.

Mervyn White casually pointed around him. “I’ve too many materials, I need help organising them.”

“How?”

“Lump the research papers together; they don’t have to be put in sequence.” Mervyn White explained briefly, “The other documents can be swept aside, but focus on those with signatures. If you see any, help collect them for me.” 

“Got it.”

In turn, Yan Suizhi saw some research papers that were signed off by parties such as Iris Medical’s research institute.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with this name. He had frequently come across it back when he was investigating the truth behind his parents’ gene surgery.

“Did you use to work here?” 

Since he was helping to organise the paperwork, it was impossible to ignore the contents of the research papers. Yan Suizhi roughly flipped through a few pages, asking Mervyn White, “Was this your research focus?”

“Yeah.” Mervyn White nodded. “But this is only a part of it. After I resigned, while I wanted to wash my hands clean of them, I also felt that some of these might be useful in the future. These conflicting emotions led me to keep only a portion of the work I handled.”

Although he said that they didn’t have to care about ordering them sequentially, Yan Suizhi still arranged them according to their page numbers, as did Gu Yan.

This caused them to look at the page contents a few more times. 

Soon, Gu Yan spotted something useful in one of them.

“This gene segment diagram…” He handed the page to Yan Suizhi, frowning. “Isn’t it the same as yours?”

The landlord walked over when he heard this and quietly uttered an “ah”. He pulled the page over, studying it for a moment. “This is the core segment in the early stages of research…”

He quieted down, then asked Yan Suizhi. “You still have traces of this gene segment in you?” 

Yan Suizhi nodded. “Lin Yuan has been helping me analyse it. It caused the genetic modification from my two surgeries to conflict with each other, triggering some… not-quite-pleasant reactions. We’re trying to get rid of it but haven’t found the way to go about it yet.”

His words jogged the landlord’s memory.

Shrill screams of frenzied lab animals echoed in his ears, in the likeness of ‘junkies’, looking dishevelled, twitching on the floor with bloodshot eyes, their claws producing teeth-rattling screeches as they scratched the glass enclosure.

These responses were mostly triggered by their initial research. 

Of course, during those years, they were termed as failures, and up to his retirement, Mervyn White didn’t see any successful experimental products.

The difference lay in the length of the incubation period.

Some were able to remain inert for a long time, with no visible abnormalities or genetic problems discoverable. However, some were shit out of luck, and the symptoms flared soon after, causing them to die miserably in pain.

“How is it possible that they still exist in your genes?” Mervyn White questioned. 

Yan Suizhi started. “What? Is it not meant to?”

The landlord was silent for a while. “How should I put it… This was actually a research project I was involved in a long time ago. When I received it, the research objective was normal—the part I was allowed to touch at least—which was to artificially create a perfect universal gene segment that could be used to replace a problematic gene in the patient, thereby circumventing the need to find a matching gene source for the surgery.”

“But this type of research is like building a nest, taking a twig from here and a twig from there. It’s hard to notice if the general direction deviates. By the time I noticed that the research wasn’t progressing in the expected direction, it was too late. Actually, it can’t be considered that. The Manson brothers’ goal had never changed, but we were too ignorant back then, falling for their carefully packaged rhetoric.”

“However… though we didn’t have control over the subsequent development, the roots were still there. When constructing the base, we’d designed the gene segment such that it could be perfectly excised or overwritten, giving room for reversal in case the replacement doesn’t produce the intended effect.” 

The landlord said with a frown. “But leaving residual traces… is slightly beyond my expectations.”

As he explained, Yan Suizhi just happened to turn to the page describing the subsequent reactions and complications, ‘mental disorder’, ‘drug addiction’, and suchlike among which, and his brows creased faintly upon reading it.

He smoothed his expression before Gu Yan could notice it; then, without batting an eyelid, slid this page to the bottom of a stack.

“If that’s the case… is there still any chance for its perfect excision?” Yan Suizhi asked. 

The landlord said, “I can’t give you an accurate guess without anything to go on. Tell you what; didn’t you say that Lin Yuan was working on the analysis? I’ll send him these early-stage research manuscripts later and see if we can find something applicable.”

“That’ll be splendid.” Yan Suizhi said, “Actually, I’m not the one who’s in a hurry. There are many people waiting for this result to renew their lease of life. With your help, Lin Yuan should be able to make some breakthroughs.”

Mervyn White waved his hand. “Don’t try to irrigate my soul with chicken soup.  Sucking up doesn’t work with me. I’ve been out of employment for more than twenty years, so my memory might be rusty. At best, I can offer a little help when it comes to the preliminary research.”

There were countless research papers in this small building, each carrying a trove of information. 

Unfortunately, their contents were too technical for the two lawyers to absorb in this short period, otherwise, they might as well apply for a career switch.

Even if Lin Yuan came over, it wouldn’t be possible for him to understand all this research in a day. After all, these were the fruits of research that Mervyn White and others had worked on for years.

As requested by the landlord, they collated all the manuscripts and didn’t spare a second glance for those other documents.

What really caught the lawyers’ attention were the signed documents in the room. 

“Surgical consent forms?” Yan Suizhi scanned the general contents. “Are these the contracts that you signed with the hospital?”

Mervyn White nodded. “Yeah. The success rate of gene surgery at that time was very low. Every patient that undergoes surgery needs to sign a liability agreement with the hospital. This is general knowledge for anyone with a lick of sense, but most people wouldn’t know that we, as the people driving the research and development, have to sign contracts with the hospital as well.”

“For every surgery?” Yan Suizhi checked.

“Yeah,” said Mervyn White. “Especially for riskier operations, so that the responsibility is shared between us. For example, if a surgery today uses Product A, then we have to sign a contract authorising its use. If Product B is used, then there will be an additional clause for Product B. In short, we will list them all. In other words, they’re using our tech, so if something goes wrong, we can’t escape.” 

Yan Suizhi nodded, and as he read the contract, his thoughts wandered slightly.

This actually gave him an idea.

“Did you also sign a contract like this for my parents’ surgery?” asked Yan Suizhi.

Any mention of this never failed to evoke deep-seated remorse in Mervyn White. He dropped his gaze, saying softly, “Yeah, I signed it. In the name of the research institute.” 

“Do you still have it?” Yan Suizhi continued to ask.

“I’m not sure, I’ll have to dig around. Why?”

Yan Suizhi said, “Mr Yves has collected some evidence over the years, and I’ve been able to supplement it with some bits and pieces I previously looked into as well. However, we still lack several pieces of key evidence. One of which is the connection between the Manson brothers and the problematic gene segment.”

He gestured at himself. “The fact that I have this gene segment residing in my body is living proof, which can serve as evidence that these residual traces originated from the surgery back then, also that the technology used in that surgery was under your research institute’s purview. I think… finding the connection between the Manson brothers and your research institute shouldn’t pose too much of a challenge, right?” 

And with that, the whole chain of evidence would be linked together.

The landlord jolted, then slapped his forehead. “You’re right! Exactly! The chain of evidence would be complete! Come on, chop-chop. Let’s find that contract.”

If stored in a single database, it wouldn’t be difficult to search with keywords for the contract.

Regrettably, when dear Mr Mervyn White quit his job, he was so repulsed and disgusted by these mountains of documents that he didn’t even bother organising them. As such, the countless documents were stored across innumerable photon computers, storage disks, personal drives, encrypted drives, and physical databases—every one of which with a different passcode. 

Such that they couldn’t run a one-click search. They had to decode them individually before running constrained searches.

Mervyn White rubbed his neck, pounding his back, cursing, “Past me was a pig-headed brute back then. Fuck me for making things so difficult…”

It took them until twilight had receded into a starry band across the sea-facing Poplar Grove Avenue for them to finish going through half of it.

But with hope just within reach, their spirits remained high. 

Around eight in the evening, Gu Yan received a call from Tian Qin.

Joe got straight to the point. “I’ve arrived and am now at the hotel, less than a kilometre from the detention centre. But it’s late night at Tian Qin now; it’ll be tricky to visit at this time, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

Yan Suizhi leaned over, reminding him, “It’s hard to say if the Manson brothers will make a move. After all, you stayed overnight at the Villa Hotel; it’s possible that someone will leak word that your relationship with Mr Yves has been restored.”

Hearing this, Young Master Joe deadpanned, “Dean Yan, have you seen the top articles on the news today?” 

Yan Suizhi blanked. “No. Why?”

Joe continued in this numb tone, “If you’ve seen it, you definitely wouldn’t utter such a supposition. Hang on, I’ll share this remarkable piece of writing with you.”

Ding.

Young Master Joe’s fingers were nimble, sending screenshots of a few articles in the blink of an eye. 

Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan opened and quickly skimmed their contents, and were eventually unable to contain their mirth.

“Spring Ivy’s wayward princeling went on a wild rampage this morning, slamming doors and pounding cars, stalking off with his head in the air.” Joe was on the verge of a meltdown. “The subject of the report might not be me but a volatile firecracker. Did I have some kind of manic freak-out early in the morning, huh? Dean Yan, you tell me!”

Yan Suizhi, “…”

“Gu Yan, you tell me!” 

Gu Yan, “…”

Their silence wounded this young master.

Fortunately, Gu Yan noticed a pertinent point in time to salvage their precarious friendship. “If memory serves me right, Mr Yves had the hotel security clear the premises. So who could have gotten past the heavy security to take such photos?”

Joe froze, then it all clicked. 

There were only two ways that photos could be obtained under those circumstances. To keep the Manson brothers from questioning the father-son relationship between Joe and Old Fox, certain businesspeople were willing to pull all stops:

Such as a sister betraying her younger brother.

Such as a father betraying his son.

And that was it. 

Joe was silent for a moment before shouting indignantly, “I’m hanging up first! I’ve got a bone to pick with Ms Eunice and Mr Yves.”

“Hold on,” Yan Suizhi said.

“Is there anything else?” Joe asked.

Yan Suizhi initially wanted to ask him to pass on the message to Mr Yves that the long-awaited evidence to close the chain of evidence might soon be upon them. 

But after a moment’s deliberation, he simply said with a smile, “Nevermind, I’ll let you know again when we get actual results. After all, I’ve a crow’s mouth.”

Joe, “???”

Upon cutting the line, the three men who had been buried in search of a document belatedly felt the pangs of hunger.

The landlord’s stomach humbly rumbled. 

“Are there any restaurants around here?” Yan Suizhi asked flippantly.

Gu Yan was about to search on his smart device, but the landlord said with a wave of his hand. “Don’t bother, isn’t there a kitchen right here?”

Yan Suizhi doubtfully glanced at the pitch-dark kitchen. “It looks like it’s been through an explosion. Are you sure that it’s functional?”

The landlord said, aggrieved, “…It is.” 

He got up and rummaged through the convenience store bags on a table, looking for something edible while saying, “What was I thinking back then, I actually wanted to let you be my tenant. Now I’m relieved that it hadn’t worked out, or my life expectancy would be halved.”

Yan Suizhi put on an innocuous expression.

Lawyer Gu was reluctant to trouble anyone. Seeing that the landlord was having a hard time going through the bags, he proposed, “There’s a restaurant 150-metres left from here.”

The landlord finally straightened up. “Let’s just make do with that first then. Hopefully we can finish tidying up this place by tonight, or else it’ll be hard to say when we’ll next have the opportunity to do so.” 

Sensing a deeper meaning behind his words, Yan Suizhi asked with a frown, “Did you run into anyone? Or receive anything?”

Mervyn White, “Not bad. You lawyers must get a lot of threats in the mail to suss it out so quickly.”

“When did you receive it? Who sent it? What did it say?” Gu Yan succinctly got straight to the point. 

Mervyn White pulled out the email and turned it over, letting them have a look. “I received it immediately after stepping off the space shuttle, though I’ve no idea when they sent it. It doesn’t affect me anyway. The sender field is blank and it has no data tagged to it. Even a smart device from the black market would display a signal or a number, but this has none of this, so it’ll be a pain to trace. And that also doesn’t affect me. As for its contents…” 

He paused and then said, “It’s just the usual. Warning me not to say or do anything that I shouldn’t. Put bluntly, not to get on the wrong side of those two Manson bastards, else I’ll only meet two ends. Either put down by Manson’s minions in some hush-hush manner, or imprisoned due to some paperwork with my name on it.”

Yan Suizhi was taken aback. “Imprisonment?”

“It’s actually quite hard to clearly explain those past documents now. Even if I claim that I was unaware of the research objective, would anyone believe me? Would the judge believe me? Besides, the Manson brothers are not lacking in means to stop me from seeing the light of day. But this still doesn’t affect me.”

With that said, he cast his gaze down and snorted. It sounded wry and derisive. 

This man who was already past his prime looked slightly gaunt. His silver hair was casually swept into a ponytail behind him, strongly imbuing him with the flair of a free-spirited artist. And yet his blue eyes were unclouded, remaining as bright as it was in his youth.

“An unseemly funeral or standing alone and unaided on the defendant’s dock?”

He turned the threats over in his head again, then chuckled in the glow of the light, unconcerned.

He said, “To hell with their threats. I, Mervyn White, have never feared threats in my life.”