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Chapter 42: “Is that what you wanted to see?”
Leaving the Crisis Management Office, Qin Ge drove directly to Gao Tianyue’s home.
He only remembered that Qin Shuangshuang had brought him here before, and every time they entered Gao Tianyue’s house, Gao Tianyue and his wife would be waiting at the door. Without saying a word, they would first touch Qin Ge’s face and say, “This child is so handsome.”
Gao Tianyue often said, “Uncle Gao has watched you grow up,” which wasn’t entirely untrue. He not only knew Qin Shuangshuang but also Qin Ge’s father, Yang Chuan, and mother, Wen Xian. Many people in the Falcon Unit were only admitted to the Crisis Management Office after Gao Tianyue’s approval.
Although he had been here before, Qin Ge couldn’t quite remember the exact location. He drove around for a while before finding the visitor’s entrance to this row of townhouses.
After parking the car, Qin Ge took a moment to organize the issues he wanted to discuss with Gao Tianyue. While the focus was on Lu Qinglai and Xie Zijing, he still thought about it carefully. Gao Tianyue was on their side, and he also wanted to uncover the truth behind the Luquan incident, although this was only speculation on their part, and he couldn’t be certain.
Gao Tianyue was a complex person, and Qin Ge couldn’t easily trust him.
Following his memory to a small building, Qin Ge called Gao Tianyue, but he didn’t answer. After hesitating in front of the courtyard for a moment, Qin Ge rang the doorbell.
Gao Tianyue’s wife, who was in the business, welcomed Qin Ge as she happened to be at home today. She hadn’t seen Qin Ge in a long time and asked about his recent situation affectionately, but her face couldn’t hide the worry that she kept glancing back at the second floor.
As Qin Ge entered the house with her, he immediately heard Gao Tianyue’s furious shout from upstairs, “Then you can get out right now!”
This was followed by the sound of a heavy door closing. Someone quickly descended the stairs.
Qin Ge and Gao Tianyue’s wife exchanged glances, and both of them looked somewhat embarrassed.
Gao Shu descended the stairs in large strides, grabbed his coat from the couch, and shot a glance at Qin Ge. Qin Ge didn’t dare to move; he was facing an enraged sentinel.
“Where are you going, Gao Shu? Stop!” Mrs. Gao grabbed Gao Shu’s hand and said, “Your father was just saying that out of anger. You should listen to him and let it go. Why are you holding onto it like this?”
“I’ve been listening for over ten years.” Gao Shu shrugged off her hand, “If he wants me to leave, then I’ll leave.”
“Are you going to hurt your mom’s feelings again?” Mrs. Gao hurriedly went over and held Gao Shu’s hand. “Releasing the spirit body outside without authorization was your mistake, and you know your spirit body is frightening. It’s nighttime, and we’re near the Crisis Management Office. Are you afraid people won’t see it or that they won’t know you’re the director’s son and deliberately want to embarrass him? You weren’t like this before; why won’t you even admit your mistake now?”
“What did I do wrong?” Gao Shu turned to look at his mother. “The spirit bodies of sentinels and guides can be released wherever they want. It’s not restricted. Normal people can’t see them, and those who can naturally know what they are. Who would care? If the duty officer at the Criminal Investigation Department found out, it was just something he casually mentioned, and he made a big deal out of it himself!”
Mrs. Gao finally got angry: “You shouldn’t have released it to frighten people in the first place!”
“…Mom, I know you don’t like it either,” Gao Shu shook off her hand. “There’s no need to say anymore; it’s pointless.”
He left.
Qin Ge stood in the living room and instinctively looked up at the stairs. Gao Tianyue was standing on the stairs in casual home attire, staring at the wide-open door, and shouting loudly at his wife, who was about to chase after Gao Shu: “Don’t chase! Let him go!”
Qin Ge had never seen Gao Tianyue so angry, and for a moment, he couldn’t even find the right moment to greet him.
Gao Tianyue didn’t even notice him. He turned and went back upstairs, but after a while, he rushed down the stairs: “Qin Ge?”
“Director Gao,” Qin Ge awkwardly smiled.
Gao Tianyue’s expression was constantly changing, as if he were unhappy because he had been seen in a truly embarrassing moment. He seemed a bit uneasy.
“Come upstairs.”
Qin Ge quickly nodded in acknowledgment to Mrs. Gao and followed Gao Tianyue up the stairs.
Opening the door to the study, Gao Tianyue said with a somber tone, “You’ve witnessed a jock.”
“Every family has their own difficulties,” Qin Ge replied in a rehearsed manner.
Gao Tianyue burst into laughter. “Alright, I know you don’t speak empty words. Have a seat.”
He poured himself some tea, handed a bottle of water to Qin Ge, and then went to the desk, fiddling with something below the tabletop.
Qin Ge heard a faint buzzing sound coming from the study’s only window.
“You can talk now,” Gao Tianyue returned to sit in front of him, ran a hand through his sparse hair, and said, “This study is soundproof; no one can hear our conversation.”
Qin Ge was taken aback, “…You’re being monitored?”
“You’ve been living with Qin Shuangshuang for so long, don’t you know?” Gao Tianyue chuckled bitterly, “All high-ranking personnel in special human management organizations are closely monitored. There are too many little creatures flying around, and I have to be vigilant. It’s fine at work; there are people everywhere, and spiri bodies with unknown origins are easy to spot. But here, there are fewer people, more trees, and all kinds of birds, insects, and flies outside your window, and you wouldn’t even notice.”
Qin Ge felt a sinking feeling in his heart: Gao Tianyue’s ability to help was very limited.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Gao Tianyue was trying to bring the four of them together in any way he could.
Qin Ge told Gao Tianyue about Xie Zijing’s “sea area” and their speculations about Lu Qinglai.
“I trust Lu Qinglai very much; otherwise, I wouldn’t have chosen him for the high-stakes evaluation. But ultimately, I trust not Lu Qinglai himself, but the person who conducted the evaluation of Lu Qinglai’s ‘sea area,’ which was Xiao Zhang.” Gao Tianyue looked at Qin Ge, “Xiao Zhang said there was no problem with Lu Qinglai’s ‘sea area,’ so at that time, there definitely was no problem.”
…At that time. Qin Ge immediately caught the significance of the phrase.
“If Lu Qinglai truly attempted experiments to destroy and reshape one’s personality, this thought and his actions must have occurred after Xiao Zhang’s evaluation, that is, after he became a certified psychological adjustor.” Gao Tianyue spoke in a deep voice, “When you go back, investigate this time frame thoroughly—whom he came into contact with and what events transpired.”
Qin Ge nodded, “What about Xie Zijing? Do you think when he was transferred to the Crisis Management Office, they already knew his ‘sea area’ had been destroyed?”
“I don’t know.” Gao Tianyue was quite candid. “What I do know is what the guide from the Western Division, who forcibly entered Xie Zijing’s ‘sea area,’ said. He mentioned that Xie Zijing’s ‘sea area’ was abnormal.”
“So…”
Gao Tianyue took a deep breath, furrowing his brow slightly, and began talking about the past.
“Qin Ge, I know you all weren’t pleased when I became the director of the Crisis Management Office. You thought I was sent from the Special Management Committee to control you.” He lightly tapped his teacup with his fingers. “In reality, I was abruptly transferred out of the Special Management Committee.”
At the time of the Luquan incident, Gao Tianyue was still working at the Special Management Committee, responsible for managing the medical affairs of special humans. The highly classified Luquan incident shocked him when he planned to visit his friends several days later and realized they hadn’t returned. After grieving and feeling anger, Gao Tianyue attempted to access the Luquan incident files within the Special Management Committee. He raised objections multiple times in meetings, arguing that the number of casualties in the Luquan incident was too high and that there should be an official investigation report within the upper echelons of the Special Management Committee.
When Qin Shuangshuang took the blame and resigned, Gao Tianyue opposed it. During the meeting on that day, he expressed his own thoughts, praising Qin Shuangshuang’s many years of work and firmly supporting her continued role as the director of the Crisis Management Office. However, to his surprise, the final agenda of the meeting was the announcement that he would be transferred to the Crisis Management Office as director.
“For many years, I indeed never gave up on investigating the Luquan incident, but I couldn’t be too open about it. The Special Management Committee was obviously concealing this matter, and there must be crucial secrets that I dare not touch.” Gao Tianyue fell silent for a moment and then smiled. “The only thing I’ve managed to investigate more than others is the accidental incident involving Xie Zijing’s family.”
Xie Zijing, in a coma, was found outside Jiwu Temple, which was more than ten kilometers away from Luquan. Another group of people from the Western Division, not the part searching for the Falcon Unit, discovered Xie Zijing. Once the bodies of the Falcon Unit were found, the incident was immediately reported to the Crisis Management Office and classified as highly confidential, so there was no communication of information between the two groups. The people who found Xie Zijing didn’t even think that this boy could be related to another top-secret incident.
It was a matter of chance. Last year, a batch of materials sent from the Western Division arrived at the Crisis Management Office. Gao Tianyue had always been concerned about the Luquan incident, so he thoroughly examined the materials from the Western Office every year. One incident report in particular caught his attention. It was a summary of a search case that had lasted for ten years and was only downgraded to a regular case last year.
“It’s about the incident when Xie Zijing’s parents went missing near Jiwu Temple that year,” Gao Tianyue explained. “According to the regulations on the management of special humans, if someone remains missing for ten years, they can be declared deceased. So, it wasn’t until last year that I found out that two people had gone missing on the night of August 7th near Luquan, and one child was obviously injured, leading to memory confusion and even memory loss.”
Gao Tianyue couldn’t help but get excited. This was almost the only lead he had found over the years that might be related to the Luquan incident.
So, taking advantage of his opportunity to work at the Western Division, he finally got in touch with Xie Zijing and learned about the abnormality in Xie Zijing’s “sea area” from the office.
“…So you tried your best to bring him back,” Qin Ge thought, “and get him close to me.”
“I’ve talked to him several times, and our conversations never touched upon the Luquan incident. I simply asked him if he wanted his sea area to return to normal. There’s a super-skilled adjustor over at headquarters who can do anything.”
Qin Ge: “…”
Gao Tianyue: “Interestingly, he originally refused. I thought he didn’t trust you, so I showed him your adjustor certificate. That immediately piqued his interest.”
Qin Ge suddenly recalled that around the end of last year, Gao Tianyue had indeed urgently called him, asking him to take a photo of his adjustor’s certificate and send it over. The certificate had a photo on it, and now Qin Ge realized that Xie Zijing had noticed the “super-skilled adjustor” Gao Tianyue was referring to was himself.
So he had come, filled with a fabricated sense of affection.
Qin Ge didn’t reveal the truth about Xie Zijing’s infatuation with himself to Gao Tianyue. However, he was almost certain that this infatuation was likely planted by someone else, such as Lu Qinglai.
Just like how Lu Qinglai constantly told Xie Zijing during every patrol to let go of his parents’ disappearance, not to let it affect him anymore, to be more indifferent, to lighten his useless feelings, and that it was okay not to remember those painful things. Xie Zijing had taken it all to heart; he had to accept what Lu Qinglai said.
“Speaking openly is good.” Gao Tianyue’s face showed a gentle smile. “If we can restore Xie Zijing’s ‘sea area,’ we might find out what really happened in Luquan that night.”
A massive perplexity was rolling in Qin Ge’s mind, leaving him deeply troubled.
“Director Gao, how can you be so certain that Xie Zijing witnessed the Luquan incident?” Qin Ge asked. “What if it’s all just a coincidence? What if his ‘sea area’ was damaged and his memories became confused due to some other accident, and his parents disappeared because of an unrelated event, completely unrelated to the Luquan incident?”
“No one can be sure,” Gao Tianyue said frankly. “That’s why we want to seize the possibility represented by Xie Zijing, isn’t it?”
Qin Ge finally caught the thread of that perplexity. Throughout his conversation with Gao Tianyue, Gao Tianyue remained indifferent to the harm that Lu Qinglai and the past events had brought to Xie Zijing. He was only focused on figuring out the Luquan incident.
“If… I can restore Xie Zijing’s ‘sea area,’ but after the restoration, he remembers all those terrifying memories he wanted to forget, it might lead to the collapse of his ‘sea area.” Qin Ge stared at Gao Tianyue. “Even in that case, do we still want to repair his ‘sea area’?”
Gao Tianyue didn’t hesitate. “Of course.”
Qin Ge asked, “Have you not thought about the worst-case scenario? He might… you haven’t considered this most horrifying outcome?”
He couldn’t continue; this possibility was too terrifying, and Qin Ge was even afraid to tell Xie Zijing.
Gao Tianyue remained calm, “I haven’t thought about it. For me, the worst-case scenario isn’t Xie Zijing going insane; it’s me never finding out the truth about the Luquan incident, even until my death.”
He glanced at Qin Ge and frowned, “Don’t look at me like that; it’s you who’s being overly emotional.”
Qin Ge closed his mouth. He wanted to trust Gao Tianyue, but he simply couldn’t.
Faced with Qin Ge’s silence, Gao Tianyue began to talk about Gao Shu’s defiance and his own helplessness.
Gao Shu’s gym was located in a four-story building. The first and second floors were occupied by a hotpot restaurant, while the third and fourth floors were all rented by him. The third floor served as the gym; the fourth floor was his living quarters; and it had direct access to the rooftop.
During the weekend, the gym was not crowded, as most families either had their parents and young people going on dates or lounging at home. This made it easier to secure the exercise equipment.
Gao Shu headed straight for the fourth floor. Since starting college, he has lived on his own, enjoying a sense of freedom. However, he still felt a lingering sense of frustration following his argument with Gao Tianyue. While the anger had mostly dissipated along the way, something else still weighed on him.
Gao Shu took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Tang Cuo’s number.
[Mr. Tang, are you coming to the gym today?]
Even after having two cans of beer, Tang Cuo hadn’t replied.
Gao Shu became increasingly restless. He paced around at home for a while, and the lingering tension from his argument with Gao Tianyue still troubled him. This wasn’t about anger, but something else.
After a while, Gao Shu felt more agitated. He decided to go downstairs and work off some steam.
He did some heavy bag punching for half an hour. Gao Shu observed that there weren’t many people at the gym on the weekend. Most of the parents and young people were either on dates or lazing around at home. This made it easier to occupy the exercise equipment.
As he continued his workout, Gao Shu noticed the gym attendants were hanging around him, sometimes strolling near the treadmills by the window and at other times giggling and walking back.
“Can we still see the pandas today?” He heard one of the girls say.
Gao Shu’s eyebrows twitched, and he immediately stopped punching the heavy bag, steadying it.
A row of treadmills and elliptical machines near the window had the best view. Tang Cuo was exercising on one of them.
Gao Shu stared at him in silence, looking at him from the back of his head to his spine, trailing his gaze down his buttocks, thighs, and all the way to his ankles.
“Mr. Tang, you’re here.” He kept his face composed, put on a welcoming smile, and walked toward Tang Cuo.
Tang Cuo was startled and nearly fell off the treadmill. He quickly pressed the stop button, then looked at Gao Shu with an embarrassed expression and said, “Coach, hello.”
Gao Shu said, “I sent you a message, but you didn’t reply.”
Tang Cuo replied, “I left my phone in the locker room; I didn’t bring it with me.”
Gao Shu nodded and smiled. “It’s been a while since you last came. Have you been busy with work?”
He smiled so charmingly that Tang Cuo could only focus on Gao Shu’s eyebrows as he replied, “Yes, very busy.”
Gao Shu nodded and smiled. Tang Cuo also nodded along and smiled.
Both of them knew that “busy” was just an excuse, that Tang Cuo was avoiding Gao Shu, and that Gao Shu was aware of Tang Cuo avoiding him. But since Gao Shu was the coach, he had to do what a coach was supposed to do.
“Alright, we’re warmed up. Let’s start the lesson. I don’t have any private coaching sessions today,” Gao Shu said.
Tang Cuo replied, “Okay.”
They followed Gao Shu to the private coaching area. Tang Cuo asked as they walked, “Are there many students with the coach?”
“Not too many,” Gao Shu retrieved Tang Cuo’s personal file. “They are all quite busy, and their workout times aren’t fixed.”
“I saw one of them last time,” Tang Cuo said, “He’s really handsome.”
Gao Shu turned to look at him, a mischievous smile on his face. “Who did you see?”
Tang Cuo mentioned the actor’s name. Gao Shu raised an eyebrow and said, “He’s my good friend.”
Tang Cuo nodded, showing no particular expression on his face. However, during the following lesson, he frequently lost focus and even had a nosebleed. After swallowing a suppressant pill, Gao Shu gently pressed down on his legs to make him do sit-up exercises. Each time Tang Cuo sat up, he felt like he was about to collide with Gao Shu’s face, and Gao Shu kept looking at him with an unusually focused and serious expression.
“Hold on! Your form isn’t correct!” Gao Shu whispered, “If you give up now, we’ll start from the beginning!”
Tang Cuo was torn between crying and laughing. If he wanted to maintain a perfect form, he felt like he would be kissing Gao Shu’s face. Well, he thought, if it’s like this, he might as well make Gao Shu’s face the target. So every time he sat up, he stared directly into Gao Shu’s eyes, getting as close as possible to him. Then, just as it seemed like he would touch Gao Shu’s nose, he would slowly relax and lie back down.
“…Very good,” Gao Shu praised him. “Your form is excellent, very precise.”
Tang Cuo said, “…I’m sorry.”
The precise movements led to his reactions breaking through the suppressant’s effects, and he had a second nosebleed today.
Tang Cuo decided to stop the training, sitting alone in the rest area, feeling frustrated and dejected. It was already late in the evening, and Gao Shu noticed that his mood wasn’t great. He knew Tang Cuo felt embarrassed and anxious about the nosebleed incident, so he didn’t tease him any further. Instead, he asked if Tang Cuo wanted to go up to the rooftop to relax and get some fresh air before resuming the training.
“Taking a break and getting some fresh air can be beneficial for your condition,” Gao Shu said in a professional tone. “Nosebleeds are a common physiological response when starting training, which is why we prepare so many suppressants, right?”
Tang Cuo replied, “I’ll pass. I… I think I’d better go back.”
He got up and rubbed his nose. After a moment, he turned around and, gathering his courage, said, “Coach, can I get a refund? I don’t want to continue with the lessons.”
Inwardly, Gao Shu thought, ‘Of course not!’
However, he maintained a smiling expression. “I’m the owner, so we can discuss this. Would you mind chatting for a bit? The rooftop is right upstairs; it has a great view and is very beautiful.”
Tang Cuo, who heard that he could get a refund, immediately let his guard down and agreed to follow Gao Shu upstairs.
“You live here?” Tang Cuo was taken aback. “Aren’t you Director Gao’s son? I heard that Director Gao’s family has a luxurious villa. Why aren’t you staying there?”
Gao Shu’s expression suddenly darkened. “You know I’m Gao Tianyue’s son?”
Tang Cuo was looking at the banners on the wall and didn’t notice the undertone in Gao Shu’s words. “I didn’t know at first, but my colleague later told me.”
Gao Shu asked, “So, is that why you didn’t come for classes?”
Tang Cuo hesitated for a moment and then chuckled awkwardly. “It’s not entirely because of that.”
Gao Shu’s expression softened, and he whispered, “I am who I am, and he is who he is.”
Tang Cuo looked at the calligraphy that Zhu Jingyi had written, “It’s a crime to make money slowly,” and couldn’t help but smile. He pointed to the words and said to Gao Shu, “I really like his calligraphy too.”
Tang Cuo didn’t catch Gao Shu’s words, and Gao Shu smiled at him, visibly in a better mood. Tang Cuo thought that the coach’s emotions were quite unpredictable, much like Bai Xiaoyuan.
“I’ve arranged everything here myself,” Gao Shu said as he led Tang Cuo up the metal staircase and opened the door. “The rooftop is my favorite place.”
As the sun set, Beijing was bathed in the hues of pale yellow and orange. A flock of homeward-bound pigeons flew across the sky, making graceful turns as they brushed past the tall tree branches. On one of the treetops, there used to be a bird’s nest, but now it was completely hidden by the lush green foliage.
Distant sounds of people and cars could be heard, and the joyful laughter of a child watching Peppa Pig echoed through the air. A colorful pinwheel was stuck to a window of the building across, spinning in circles with each gust of the evening breeze.
Gao Shu turned to look at Tang Cuo. Tang Cuo was leaning over the railing, and his youthful face was illuminated by the evening sun. There was a twinkle of golden light in his smiling eyes as he said, “The view here is so much better than on the treadmill.”
Gao Shu couldn’t help but smile involuntarily, receiving his appreciation.
“My relationship with my dad is very strained,” Gao Shu suddenly said. “He doesn’t like that I live outside, and he doesn’t approve of the business I’m in. But ultimately, the biggest reason is that he really despises my spiritual body.”
Tang Cuo, who was still enjoying the scenery, paused for a moment, wondering why Gao Shu had suddenly brought up such a heavy topic. But since it was Gao Shu talking, Tang Cuo was curious and asked, “Why?”
“My little fish is very ugly,” Gao Shu chuckled, leaning on the railing, very close to Tang Cuo. “I rarely hear people praise it; not even my mom likes it.”
Your little fish… what exactly is your little fish? Tang Cuo, ever since he encountered the mutated octopus spirit, felt that all normal spiritual bodies in the world were incredibly beautiful.
But thinking about the “little fish,” he immediately remembered the massive shark spirit that cruised the night sky.
“I’ve seen a spiritual body before,” Tang Cuo leaned in, enthusiastically explaining to Gao Shu. “It doesn’t look very attractive; it has a really long nose… or is it a nose? Its face is all wrinkled, but it’s a massive and majestic shark.”
He raised his hand and gestured in the sky painted with the evening glow.
“I think it’s very beautiful. It’s a big fish; maybe you’ve seen it too,” Tang Cuo said, gazing at the sky. The setting sun was sinking behind the buildings, and night crept in from the east. “When it swims, it’s very graceful and elegant, like a ruler of the sky and the ocean.”
Gao Shu turned his head to look at him, and for a moment, Tang Cuo couldn’t quite tell if he was smiling or skeptical.
“I’m very curious about its owner. It always appears at night, like it’s patrolling the city, and then it vanishes,” Tang Cuo had to explain. He hated that his ability to express himself was so limited, unable to convey even one-thousandth of the awe he felt in his heart. “As I’ve told you, it saved my life. I don’t think it’s ugly at all.”
Gao Shu asked, “It seems like you really like that big fish.”
Tang Cuo pursed his lips, lowering his head regretfully. “But seeing it requires a lot of luck.”
“So, do you want to see it?” Gao Shu pointed above his head.
Tang Cuo was taken aback, and he immediately looked up.
A billow of mist rose from Gao Shu’s body, resembling an animal yet also like a large fish. The mist was illuminated by the golden rays of the setting sun, and it formed into the enormous shark that Tang Cuo had seen twice before.
It was encased in a transparent aquatic barrier, and the energetic golden form looked like it belonged in the sky. The little eyes gazed at Tang Cuo, and it playfully flicked its tail towards him.
The author has something to say:
A short off-stage scene:
Panda: I’ll roll around for you to see!
Shark: I’ll swim for you to see!
The panda rolls around, and the shark swims…
Bai Xiaoyuan: Aren’t you two in love? What’s with the circus?!
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