Chapter 80: Replication Experiment 4
…
At eight in the morning, the timed electric curtains slowly opened to either side. Sunlight streamed through the window sheers onto the bed. Yi Ke raised an arm to cover his eyes, and after a moment, he propped himself up. Zhuang Ningyu was still asleep, most of his face buried in the covers, revealing only a bit of his fringe. The large bed and large quilt made him seem exceptionally slender. Yi Ke pulled the quilt down slightly so he wouldn’t get stuffy, then quietly leaned over and kissed him on the side of his face.
The warmth from the covers hadn’t dissipated, steaming the originally fresh scent of jasmine after the rain into something a little richer and sweeter. Yi Ke’s heart softened. His palm caressed the back of his head, wanting to pull his wife into his arms and sleep a little longer, but the touch felt a bit off—
Zhuang Ningyu, having been disturbed, opened his eyes. He looked up to see Yi Ke hovering over him, his hands propped on either side of the pillow, the front of his pajamas hanging down, revealing the strong chest muscles under the open collar. It was a rather novel seduction technique. It would be impolite to refuse. He immediately reached his hand under the hem of the shirt, felt around a bit, and then slid his hand down along the two lines of his abs towards the loose waistband of his pants.
Yi Ke sucked in a breath of cold air, grabbed his hand, and sat up straight, pulling him into his lap. Zhuang Ningyu chuckled, stretched languidly, and leaned against him, resting his chin on his shoulder and saying lazily, “Morning.”
“Morning.” Yi Ke’s hand was still stroking his head. He asked with concern, “How did you get such a big bump? Where did you hit it?”
Since he had asked, Zhuang Ningyu’s eyelids lifted. “Hah, you guess.”
Yi Ke was immediately struck with guilt by the “hah.” He frantically tried to recall what he had done yesterday, but his mind was a blank. He didn’t know if the expert’s claim about his thickened gray matter density was just nonsense, but he did feel he was showing signs of dementia at the moment. So, he mustered up the courage and asked, “Did I hit you?”
Zhuang Ningyu: “?”
Zhuang Ningyu: “You even thought about hitting me.”
Yi Ke: “I didn’t!”
He was so wronged he was jumping up and down. Lust making one’s mind go blank and hitting somewhere else was one thing, but hitting the head was absolutely impossible. I’m just evolving, not going crazy!
Zhuang Ningyu pressed, “Where is ‘somewhere else’?”
Yi Ke immediately quieted down, kneeling obediently back on the bed, his hands resting on his knees, a suspicious blush appearing on his face.
Zhuang Ningyu: “Get lost.”
Yi Ke: “Alright!”
Time to go make breakfast for wifey!
Zhuang Ningyu watched him go into the bathroom, then pulled the covers over his head and lazed in bed for a little longer. Although it was Saturday and he didn’t have to work, after breakfast, Zhuang Ningyu still strolled over to the research group, placed a lunchbox on He Mo’s desk, and fed the single man. “I brought you some seafood congee and pastries. What’s this on your computer?”
“Just sent over by the investigation team,” He Mo said, pulling out a few disinfectant wipes to clean his hands before picking up a char siu bao to eat. “Ten days before U-Shield was taken in by He Yu’s shelter, someone had already posted about him online, asking whose beagle had gone missing.”
Zhuang Ningyu enlarged the image on the computer. The puppy was standing in a farmers’ market in the early morning before dawn, staring eagerly at the butcher. At this point, U-Shield looked relatively healthy, not miserable. It should have been before the drug’s effects kicked in. So most of the comments were jokes, with a couple of mentions of rescue organizations. And, three days after the post was made, someone replied—”Looks like my friend’s dog. Where is it?”
The poster was very enthusiastic and replied the same day—”District Three, Bay Farmers’ Market, Area A, Gate Three, right by the meat stalls.”
“Who is this person who asked?” Zhuang Ningyu asked.
“New account, registered at ten, commented at three minutes past ten. Clearly just for this,” He Mo said. “Didn’t use a phone to register, left a fake email, and the login IP was also a foreign virtual number. With this level of precaution, it would be strange if there wasn’t something fishy.”
District Three, Bay Farmers’ Market, Area A, Gate Three—Zhuang Ningyu felt this place sounded a bit familiar. After pulling it up on a real-time map, he found that there was indeed an Evolver Emergency Response Center diagonally opposite this gate. It was a community service facility, with a very small storefront, but no matter how small, it was still a regular institution. And the government required that all institutions and public places related to evolvers must keep surveillance data for at least eight months, so the data should still be there.
“If they really went to look for the dog, do you think this camera might have recorded them?” Zhuang Ningyu asked.
He Mo gave a thumbs-up. “What can I say, a tiger’s grandson is no dog. The investigation team is already reviewing the surveillance footage.”
Although the surveillance camera was a bit far, the investigation team members were all hawk-eyed. The poster had replied at 4:15 PM, and at 4:45 PM, a green taxi had stopped at Gate Three of the market. Zhong Pinghe watched the blurry video. A passenger made a motion of taking out a wallet. He didn’t choose to pay electronically, but dropped some bills and entered the market. He was completely bundled up—black executive jacket, black hat, black scarf—all his actions aimed at avoiding leaving any traces.
The Bay Farmers’ Market was a wholesale market for fresh produce. Vegetable vendors and restaurants mostly did their purchasing in the early morning. After noon, apart from dried goods and fruits, other categories were basically deserted. And the dried goods and fruits were in Area D; regular customers wouldn’t enter through Area A. The market’s entrance blocked the man’s subsequent movements. Twenty minutes later, he walked out of Gate Three empty-handed, stood by the roadside, hailed a taxi, and left.
“Let’s check these two taxis first,” Zhong Pinghe said. “Xiao Zhang, you and I will go to the market tomorrow morning.”
Zhuang Ningyu also wanted to go. Influenced by his grandfather, his childhood dream was actually to join the investigation team. But the investigation team required a lot of field visits, and most of the time it was not convenient to reveal one’s identity. And Zhuang Ningyu’s face was really not one for keeping a low profile. For example, right now, he was being stopped by his dear grandfather. “Stay at home, don’t cause trouble!”
After Yi Ke learned of this, he spent a long time admiring his face that evening, finally concluding that he was indeed not suitable for the investigation team, nor the action team, or any other team. My precious wife shouldn’t be working outside at all, he should just be well hidden by me!
Zhuang Ningyu asked, “Hidden in a dark attic?”
Yi Ke held his hand and solemnly promised, “Hidden in a sun-drenched beach villa. Wifey, I will definitely work hard to earn money!”
What beach villa? Zhuang Ningyu pulled his hand back and moved to the side of the bed with his book to continue reading. Yi Ke relentlessly stuck to him, and after reading two pages with him, he immediately offered his opinion. “This story of yours is too twisted. Physical imprisonment and mental torture are basically the epitome of sadistic totalitarianism. No wonder you think I’m going to lock you in an attic! You’re not allowed to read it anymore!” After saying that, he forcefully tossed the book aside, gently kissed his face to soothe him. What a perverted, broken book, it’s scared my wife so badly. Look at his face… it’s still quite rosy but I don’t care, he must have been scared!
“…” Zhuang Ningyu let out a deep breath.
Tired. Time for bed.
The next day, Zhong Pinghe and Xiao Zhang went to the District Three Bay Farmers’ Market together. At a little past five in the morning, the market was filled with bright, bare incandescent bulbs hanging everywhere, and the air was filled with the noisy sounds of haggling. But even with the environment being so noisy, the “werwerwer” sound was still particularly piercing, attracting many people to look over in shock, thinking someone had brought a donkey for some retro-style purchasing. And soon, a butcher ran over. He didn’t even bother with his business, anxiously squatting down to look at the dog.
“Big brother, what are you doing?” Xiao Zhang asked warily, holding the leash.
“Is this your dog?” the butcher asked.
“Yeah,” Xiao Zhang nodded. “What’s up?”
The butcher didn’t answer, but he didn’t leave either. He wiped his hands on his apron, took out his phone, and carefully compared it with a photo. Xiao Zhang leaned over and saw that the screen showed a picture of U-Shield. He asked, “What’s the matter, brother? Did you lose this dog?”
“Hiss…” The butcher compared them for a long time, and finding that they were indeed not the same dog, he put his phone away resentfully. “I didn’t lose a dog. Someone else’s dog is lost, looks a lot like this one, same breed. He came looking for it a while ago. It’s quite valuable, the reward is eight thousand yuan. Or even if you don’t catch it, as long as you see the dog and give him a call to provide a clue, you can get five thousand.”
“What’s the number?” Xiao Zhang handed him a cigarette. “I live around here too. Maybe I’ll see it.”
The butcher rattled off a phone number with practiced ease.
Mission accomplished. Xiao Zhang was about to leave with the borrowed beagle when he heard his old leader in his earpiece say, “Ask him whose number he just gave.”
Xiao Zhang was puzzled, but he did as he was told.
The butcher: “Mine.”
Xiao Zhang: “…” Yours?
The butcher made a ‘six’ gesture by his ear. “If you see the dog, remember to call me.”
His awareness of protecting his money was extremely high. He absolutely refused to reveal the dog owner’s information, lest the reward be snatched by someone else! He bargained with Xiao Zhang, “You find the dog, you contact me, I contact the dog owner. Then neither of us can run off. We split it fifty-fifty. Otherwise, what if you secretly bypass me?”
“Okay,” Zhong Pinghe said. “Just like that. Come back.”
Xiao Zhang returned to the car. Zhong Pinghe handed him a bottle of water. “Don’t be discouraged. This is the best outcome.”
“Huh?” Xiao Zhang looked back at him. “Weren’t we supposed to ask for the phone number?”
“If you got the number and you called, he might not have believed you,” Zhong Pinghe said. “But the butcher is the ‘informant’ he chose himself. If we let the butcher call, he’ll be less on guard. Do you understand? So even if the butcher had given you the correct number just now, you would still have had to call the butcher and let him be the ‘middleman’.”
“I get it,” Xiao Zhang said, scratching his head in embarrassment. “Old Zhong, are we going back to the office now?”
“Yes,” Zhong Pinghe said. “But first, take me back to the guesthouse.”
Zhuang Ningyu and Yi Ke had woken up early today. They had gone to the morning market in Fuxing Court to buy the fried sweet dough sticks and buns that his grandpa and grandma used to love. They also packed a few bowls of sweet soy milk and side dishes, and brought them over, still hot. The dining table at the guesthouse was small. Yi Ke opened a lunchbox. “I made these scallion pancakes myself. Grandma, you should try some.”
The young man was handsome, a sweet talker, polite, and he could cook. The more Grandma looked at him, the more she liked him. But she was at a loss for what to give this grand…son’s… partner. She had an ancestral jade bracelet with good water quality, but it was obviously not suitable now. And she didn’t have the ability to learn from Deng Zongyun and buy a “Night Judge” that could cut off 99.9% of the target’s survival path, or some other “Judge,” from Europe. After racking her brain for a long time, she could only take Yi Ke’s hand and ask, “There’s a photo album of Ningyu from when he was a child here. His grandpa and I had them specially developed. Do you want to see it?”
Zhuang Ningyu: “He doesn’t!”
