The black business car was still parked in the same spot.
Shen Huaixue sat inside, not leaving immediately.
From a distance that was neither close nor far, Lin Jianqing couldn’t see her expression clearly.
He only saw a faint light inside the car window.
It looked like an eye quietly staring at him.
Lin Jianqing quickly averted his gaze.
‘Forget it.’
‘Can’t let my guard down.’
‘Today didn’t seem so bad, after all.’
Thinking this, his steps felt lighter than when he came.
Only when he entered the dormitory building did he suddenly realize that the corners of his mouth seemed to be curling upward.
Lin Jianqing froze for a moment, then immediately raised his hand to rub his face.
“Are you crazy?” he muttered to himself.
“Getting this happy over a meal.”
After scolding himself, he glanced around guiltily, confirming no one heard him, then continued up the stairs as if nothing had happened.
But even he didn’t notice that tonight, his back wasn’t as tense as in previous days.
At least for now, he was still willing to temporarily understand this absurd transaction as a strange job.
Not a cage from which there was no escape.
At the same time, Shen Huaixue did not immediately return to her residence.
She parked the car by the roadside and looked down at her phone. On the screen was the information she had someone investigate.
Lin Anping…
The original information had been altered. Shen Huaixue had to use some methods to obtain the correct data.
Previous occupation: Researcher at Linzhou No. 7 Human Psychic Research Institute.
Research directions: Fissure factor compatibility rate, psychic expression stability, special individual gene sequence comparison.
The car fell quiet.
The smile that had lingered on Shen Huaixue’s face slowly faded away.
She stared at those few lines of text for a long time.
Lin Anping.
This name was not unfamiliar. At least, to Shen Huaixue, it was not unfamiliar.
Shen Huaixue blinked slowly.
Certain fragments she had deliberately forgotten were dragged out from the depths of her memory by something.
A few years ago.
Capital City.
A secluded study in the Shen residence.
She had been very angry at the time, but more than anger, it was the panic of having her secret discovered.
However, later on, this matter was not made public. It was only known to people within the Shen family.
After that, she was sent to Linzhou City.
Later, she learned that batch of research data had been sealed.
The people involved in the experiment were also cleanly dealt with by the Shen family.
“Dealt with” did not necessarily mean killing.
The Shen family never needed to make things too ugly.
Transfers, silencing, accidents, monster attacks in border cities.
There were too many seemingly reasonable accidents in this world. Even accidents manufactured by premeditated intervention, as long as they were plausible and accompanied by a little underhanded trick, no one would investigate too much.
Shen Huaixue’s breathing gradually became lighter.
She looked down at the name on her phone, and for the first time, hesitation appeared in her eyes.
Lin Anping.
Lin Jianqing’s mother.
Fissure factor compatibility rate, special individual gene sequence comparison…
These words linked together made cold sweat break out on Shen Huaixue’s forehead. It was so coincidental that an uncomfortable premonition arose in her heart.
She continued scrolling down. The information was written simply.
Lin Anping and her husband had once participated in a border city joint research project, and later encountered a mutant attack during transfer.
The husband died on the spot. Lin Anping was severely injured and developed serious mental disorders, requiring long-term hospitalization.
Shen Huaixue looked at this text, her fingertips tightening slightly.
Border city, joint research project, mutant attack.
She suddenly felt the air in the car was stuffy, as if something invisible was slowly pressing against her throat.
‘It shouldn’t be this coincidental. Lin Jianqing is just a man who looks a bit like that person. And… if he really encountered…’
‘Impossible.’
Shen Huaixue thought this in her heart, but inexplicably, an answer she didn’t want to see emerged in her mind.
‘No, no… Lin Jianqing is merely a temporary substitute I took a liking to, or a toy I keep by my side with a contract. He shouldn’t be connected to that matter.’
Shen Huaixue was silent for a moment, then dialed a phone number.
The call was quickly answered.
“Miss Shen?”
“Reinvestigate Lin Anping’s detailed information.”
Shen Huaixue’s voice was very low, with little emotion detectable.
The person on the other end paused.
“Is there a problem?”
“You could say that. Her information was altered. I want to see the modified information.”
Shen Huaixue looked at the name on the screen, her gaze darkening.
“Especially look into her previous projects at the research institute. The more detailed, the better.”
The voice on the other end became noticeably more cautious.
“Alright, I’ll arrange it now.”
After the call ended, the car fell silent again.
Shen Huaixue leaned back in her seat, making no extra movements, appearing to be thinking.
Outside the window was the wall of Linzhou University. Inside, the lights of the dormitory building could be faintly seen.
Lin Jianqing should be back in the dormitory by now. Maybe he was washing up, or carefully checking whether the suitcase under his bed had been discovered, after all, he was thin-skinned and somewhat cautious.
At this moment, Shen Huaixue was lying lazily in the car seat, her mind full of Lin Jianqing.
But that softening quickly disappeared. If Lin Anping really was one of the researchers back then, and if Lin Jianqing’s parents’ accident was really related to the Shen family, then this matter would be a huge trouble.
Shen Huaixue wasn’t afraid of trouble. She had caused quite a few disasters since childhood, and the Shen family had cleaned up after her many times.
But this time was different.
This time, the center of the trouble was Lin Jianqing.
Shen Huaixue’s fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel, the rhythm slow and irregular.
She didn’t like this feeling.
After a moment, she opened her eyes again, her gaze returning to calm.
“Just a coincidence,” she said softly, as if convincing herself.
But after saying this, she looked down at the name on her phone again.
Lin Anping.
Shen Huaixue suddenly remembered Lin Jianqing’s quiet “thank you” before getting out of the car.
The voice wasn’t loud, even a bit awkward.
But she heard it clearly.
Shen Huaixue’s hand holding the phone slowly tightened.
What if it wasn’t a coincidence?
Or… what if Lin Jianqing found out?
The light inside the car cast a very shallow shadow in her eyes.
After a long time, Shen Huaixue turned off the phone screen.
Regardless of whether it was a coincidence, at least for now, Lin Jianqing still knew nothing.
And before he knew, she still had time. Time to investigate clearly, and time to push this thread back into the darkness. Lin Jianqing was just an ordinary person. If no one specifically reminded him, he would never know about this matter in his lifetime.
Shen Huaixue looked up at the dormitory building of Linzhou University with scattered lights.
The expression on her face slowly returned to her usual calm and nonchalant demeanor.
But this time, she didn’t smile.
“Lin Jianqing.”
She murmured the name.
The tone was very soft, yet it sounded like she was confirming ownership.
“You’d better not know about this.”