Chapter 56

Shen Yao was eventually sent to the research institute. The appearance of the humanoid contaminant put all those in the know on high alert, and the Supernatural Abilities Bureau ordered that a method for detecting the humanoid contaminant be developed as soon as possible.

Although there is a lot of work backlog, the action department has been filled with a cheerful atmosphere these past few days because the Spring Festival is just around the corner.

Each member may only get one or two more days off than usual, but the holiday itself is like throwing a pebble into the stagnant water of daily life, making things lively whether you're busy or not.

After completing their mission, the group wanted to take a break, but they still had a lot of documents and case reports to review.

"There's so much stuff! My fingers are about to break from typing all this." Huang Yu sat up straight, feeling like his bones were about to stiffen after sitting in front of the computer all morning.

Have you decided where you're going for the holiday?

"Just a reminder, we only have three days off for the Spring Festival—New Year's Eve and the first and second days of the Lunar New Year. That's assuming there are no urgent missions. So just stay home obediently." Yang Xiao looked up from behind his computer.

"Sigh, I never imagined it would be this tiring when the captain tricked me into coming here!" Huang Yu said with a bitter face.

"So how did you get in back then?" Xiao Shengyun asked. Huang Yu and Chen Buyan were about the same age, but Chen Buyan got in through normal channels, while Huang Yu, given his level of education, seemed to have not even completed compulsory education.

This is quite a long story.

"Do you want to be a hero? Do you want to save the world?" Ye Ting arrived gracefully on a seven-colored white cloud, delivering a passionate speech that stirred the young yellow bird's blood.

Which immature teenager hasn't had this kind of dream when they were young?

In short, Huang Yu was lured into the action department.

However, Captain Ye soon paid the price.

Huang Yu seems quite clever, but his education is actually limited. Every time he writes a task report, it's full of nonsensical sentences and typos.

Then Ye Ting sent it back to him, and Huang Yu revised it again.

Fight back.

Revise it again.

No matter how many times the Little Yellow Bird was modified, its skill level remained the same. In the end, Ye Ting had no choice but to modify it himself.

This is the price paid for employing child labor back then.

Thinking of the clues obtained from retracing the events, Xiao Shengyun quickly finished the copywriting work and applied for two days off.

He had too many unanswered questions, such as whether he and Shen Yao came from the same place, and whether his adoptive parents were the same as Shen Xiuping.

The thought of this possibility gave Xiao Shengyun a sense of absurdity. It seemed that he had also been living in a cage all these years, surrounded by ubiquitous surveillance cameras.

Xu Qing used to teach at a middle school, and her house was in an old neighborhood next to the school.

Upon seeing the familiar scenery, Xiao Shengyun felt a mix of emotions.

"Xiaoyun is back."

As soon as he arrived downstairs in the residential area, the owner of the dumpling shop recognized Xiao Shengyun.

This restaurant serves dumplings with generous fillings and delicious sauces, and the prices aren't too expensive, so Ms. Xu often ate here when she didn't have time.

"Um."

Xu Qing had just returned from dancing downstairs when she opened the door and saw her son sprawled on the sofa.

"You brat, you're back and you didn't even call. You're never home, and you only come back now that it's a holiday."

Xiao Shengyun was awakened by the noise, and his complicated emotions were completely dispelled by Xu Qing's loud shout.

"I'm too busy with work," he said, not daring to tell Xu's mother that he had joined the action department, otherwise it wouldn't have been as simple as having his ear twisted.

"I'm a little sleepy, I'll go back to my room and sleep for a while."

He was about to turn around, but Xu Qing stopped him: "It's almost time to eat, what are you sleeping for! You didn't even tell me you were coming back. I'm going to cook now."

Xu Qing rolled up her sleeves and walked into the kitchen. When Xiao Shengyun saw the figure wearing an apron, he silently clenched his fist.

Should we indulge in the happiness before our eyes, or smash the cage and find the truth?

After a few minutes of silence, he made a decision.

After lunch, while Xu Qing was taking a nap, Xiao Shengyun entered the storage room. The room was locked, but that was no problem for him.

"Cough cough." He coughed twice, choking on a mouthful of ash.

There was a bed and a broken wardrobe in the room. There were many boxes piled up at the corner of the bed, containing some papers, books, and other miscellaneous items.

These are all things left by his father.

He didn't have many memories of Xiao Cheng, because Xiao Cheng left when Xiao Shengyun was three years old. He only remembered that Xiao Cheng was a rough-looking man with a stubble beard.

Contrary to his appearance, Xiao Cheng was calm and gentle, and he took care of most of the housework. As a result, Xu Qing only started learning to cook after he left, which almost caused several fires.

Xiao Shengyun quickly flipped through the map; it was mostly geographical maps. He still didn't know what his father did, only that he seemed to be involved in surveying and mapping and rarely got a hot meal throughout the year.

These papers must be quite old. With the advancement of internet technology and hacking techniques, some important documents still have a paper copy.

On the first page of a bunch of incomprehensible files, he saw a few names.

Xiao Cheng, Yin Wenshan, He Ping...

The names were listed densely across two pages, and it seemed to be some kind of list, but unfortunately the handwriting was blurred due to its age.

Xiao Shengyun didn't get any useful information, which wasn't surprising, since important things are usually not left at home. He didn't ask Xu Qing any questions either, and the two ate several meals in peace.

Let's at least finish celebrating the holiday first.

After leaving home, Xiao Shengyun threw himself back into his demanding work.

On his first day back, a bolt from the blue struck him on the head.

"No, why do we have to be on duty on New Year's Eve?"

"This is the usual practice. Although we get three days off, the operations department can't be left unattended, so everyone takes turns."

"How come I didn't know about this?"

Xiao Shengyun was puzzled. Logically speaking, he should be present when the shift change is done. It's impossible for him to be arranged so clearly even when he's not there.

"The schedule was set for the two days you took leave. We don't want to disturb you, so we'll draw lots first, and you can go to work on the remaining days."

"But I don't know if we were just lucky or you were unlucky, because you were the only one left in the online lottery."

Huang Yu showed the phone screen to the group of dozens of people. During the half-month Spring Festival, everyone else had drawn their cards, and only New Year's Eve was left.

"All right."

I guess I'll just have to accept my bad luck.

This year, S City lifted the ban on fireworks, perhaps because the authorities felt that air pollution was nothing compared to other forms of pollution.

The office was empty. Xiao Shengyun played games in the office for a while. There weren't many people playing games today, and he couldn't find anyone to match with for a long time.

No one knows whether tomorrow or an accident will come first, and everyone wants to be with their families more right now.

Looking out the window, colorful fireworks illuminated the night sky, as if foreshadowing the end of the long night and the approach of dawn.

It's too bright.

Zhou Zhi held his phone tightly. The room was extremely dim, with only a ring of small orange lights on, making the text on the screen particularly glaring.

His finger hovered over the chat interface. He had sent many messages to the other end, but no one replied, because the person who replied was long gone.

At the very top is the contact's name—Tang Rong'an (Mom).

The large printout is less like a chat log and more like a letter. Every year on this day, Zhou Zhi writes two letters: one to send to his mother on his phone, and the other printed out and burned for his father.

He didn't think burning paper money on New Year's Eve was unlucky, as the person opposite him was the one he loved most.

His face was shrouded in darkness, but the laughter of the crowd downstairs, along with the fireworks, reached out the window, illuminating a few inches of the room.

Bang bang—

The familiar knocking startled Zhou Zhi for a moment, then he realized who it was. At this time, there should only be one person looking for him.

Sure enough, Xiao Shengyun was standing in front of the door with a bunch of things in his arms, smiling broadly.

"Happy New Year, Dean Zhou."

"You didn't go home?" No normal person would visit a friend's house on New Year's Eve.

"I just got back from my shift. I was unlucky; out of dozens of people, I was the only one who got to draw a number for today. Plus, the operations department has been really busy lately, so I haven't had time to go home. It would be so lonely to spend the New Year alone. I saw your lights were on, so I came to check on you. I hope I'm not bothering you."

Xiao Shengyun said pitifully that he could feel the source core throbbing violently a few times the moment the door opened.

He doesn't dislike me.

This idea pleased Xiao Shengyun. He was like a player with cheat codes in a game, easily sensing the emotional fluctuations of his target.

"No, it's just me, you can do whatever you want."

Zhou Zhi lowered his eyes. Everything around him seemed about to be disrupted, but he didn't dislike this feeling.

"That's great." Xiao Shengyun put down the boxes in his hand. "I guess you don't lack anything here. There are some apples and oranges inside, oh right, and some Spring Festival couplets."

No normal person would give someone Spring Festival couplets on New Year's Eve, but fortunately, neither of these two are normal people.

Zhou Zhi opened the box, and inside, besides the Spring Festival couplets, there were also bright red paper-cuts and other items.

"How about we stick it on now?" he suggested, otherwise the two of them would just stare at each other watching a boring TV program.

Both of them were very efficient, and this thing didn't require much skill. Xiao Shengyun held the tape below, while Zhou Zhi stuck it on.

Based on my usual experimental skills, the paper was pasted perfectly straight.

The bursting fireworks shone into the room through the huge glass windows, offering a great view of the brightly lit buildings and the dark sky in the distance.

"About last time—" Zhou Zhi suddenly brought it up.

Xiao Shengyun felt a little nervous.

"Thank you, I'm sorry to trouble you."

"It's not troublesome. But your body simply can't withstand so many backlashes."

Even though the heart is the source of the virus, it is still human flesh and blood and cannot withstand so many rounds of pollution.

When Xiao Shengyun said those words, he felt inexplicably sad.

Once the person in front of him dies, he can smoothly reclaim his source core. Why be sad?

“I know, but there’s just so much to do. I thought that once we developed the antagonist, humanity would no longer be afraid of pollution, and this nightmare would finally end soon. But, as you know, humanoid pollutants reappeared before the new year. Their body structures are 90% similar to humans. The Supernatural Abilities Bureau has issued an order to develop instruments to detect human pollutants as soon as possible. There’s still so much to do…”

Zhou Zhi gazed at the distant sky.

Xiao Shengyun's nerves tightened the moment he heard about the humanoid contaminant. The instrument would be developed because the person in front of him was a genius, but where would they go then?

He should have killed the other person long ago.

Otherwise, we wouldn't be in this dilemma now.

"Forget it, let's not talk about work during the New Year. How about we go down and set off fireworks?"

He glanced at Xiao Shengyun. The other party had probably been through a lot of battles these days, as his originally gentle eyebrows and eyes had become more sharp, but his eyes were as clear and bright as before.

Kids this age should all like these, right?

Zhou Zhi was somewhat uncertain, completely forgetting that the two were not much different in age. If one had to determine age, the person in front of him might be several times older than him.

"There shouldn't be any fireworks being sold at this time, right?"

I bought some when I left work today.

The fireworks Zhou Zhi bought were the large kind, the kind that could light up the sky when set off; there were only three boxes of them.

The two moved the fireworks to an open area before realizing they hadn't brought a lighter. Luckily, there were many people setting off fireworks there, and they were able to borrow one.

"Would you like to give it a try?"

After borrowing the lighter, Xiao Shengyun walked back and saw Zhou Zhi standing in the shadows in the distance.

The lights were flashing, but none of them shone on him.

He seemed inexplicably...lonely.

He handed him the lighter.

The other person hesitated for two seconds before taking it. The chill from the fingertips traveled along the skin that touched it, causing Xiao Shengyun's hand to tremble, and he almost dropped the lighter.

Lighting the fuse is like lighting a birthday candle.

Colorful lights kept flying out from in front of me, winding their way up and blooming with dazzling brilliance in the sky.

Because of one person's favoritism, the light ultimately fell on Zhou Zhi.

"Dean Zhou, have I ever told you that you are very good-looking?"

Seeing the man's relaxed expression, Xiao Shengyun blurted out.

By the time he wanted to take it back, it was too late.

Zhou Zhi gave him a strange look.

The surrounding air fell silent for a moment; the loud explosions of fireworks, the laughter from afar, and the sounds of children playing all seemed to be shut out.

Then he smiled faintly, like the first melting of snow and the gentle breeze of spring.