Chapter 16

Su Yue slowly pushed open the door, feeling both excited and nervous.

Could it be Alibaba's cave? Will we discover that Noah is actually a hidden billionaire? Or will it be like in "Fifty Shades of Grey," where we step into the protagonist's secret "game room"?

Once the door was open, a glance revealed neither of them.

The interior is spacious. The walls are covered with framed pictures and paintings, like a small exhibition hall. Decorative potted plants are placed at varying heights along the walls, and bamboo baskets filled with green leaves and flowers hang upside down from the ceiling. Soft light shines down, making the whole space warm and elegant.

The comfortable layout made people relax unconsciously. Su Yue walked along the wall covered with paintings, looking at them one by one.

Each photograph or painting was carefully framed and covered with a blue and white electronic halo, clearly for protection and reinforcement.

And in every painting... there is the same person.

Su Yue was astonished to discover that the person looked exactly like herself.

But it's definitely not—the person in the painting is a woman, with more delicate features, and wearing a dress.

His first reaction: Is this my twin sister (or sister)?

It should be the older sister. The person in the painting is always smiling—sometimes showing a bright smile, sometimes a gentle upturn of the corners of her mouth, exuding a confident and elegant aura, much more mature than this immature teenager.

Su Yue knew he was an adopted son, so... the person in the painting was 99.9% his blood relative!

But soon, he saw his "blood relative" in a high-resolution photo, wearing an academic gown, holding flowers in one hand and a certificate in the other. The certificate read:

Honorary Doctor of Psychology from Oxford University

Pat Claire

May 18, 1930

Su Yue was initially amazed: "A photo from 1930 with such high resolution? It must be a camera developed by Crystal Group itself."

Wait a minute—1930?!

The person who is suspected to be his twin sister went to university in 1930?

Su Yue Petrochemical felt that his A+ academic genius brain wasn't enough.

He then saw the dates on other photos as being between 1920 and 1935.

The "twin sister theory," which had just been launched a minute ago, was immediately aborted.

*Slap.* He felt his face was a little swollen.

I don't have an older sister who's nearly a hundred years older than me. Even if we were mothers, the time difference would be too great...

However, this person also shares the surname "Pat" and looks remarkably similar, so there's a 99% chance she's his great-grandmother...

No, let's change it to 80%. Let's wait for Noah to come back and confirm, so we don't get proven wrong again.

But if that happens, will Noah blame him for trespassing into this underground exhibition hall?

Well, it's not really his fault—the door lock was broken. Noah should blame the poor quality of that fingerprint lock.

The sudden "recognition of ancestral roots" makes this adventure seem worthwhile.

Su Yue calmed his heart, which was pounding with excitement, took a deep breath, and slowly moved forward to carefully examine all the paintings.

On the innermost wall, he saw several photos of Noah and Claire together.

Su Yue was startled, and her heart stopped beating.

That man was definitely Noah—the three moles on his left eye, the side of his neck, and his right wrist were perfectly positioned and sized. He knew this clearly after spending the last two weeks together and observing him closely during the purification process.

And then there was that four-hour "half-body sketch"... Not to mention these three moles, he remembered the location of all the moles on Noah's upper body.

Why did Noah take a photo with Pat Clare, who was in college in 1930?

By the way, Noah said that the Crystal Clan has a long lifespan... He looks like he's in his early twenties, but he's probably old enough to be his great-grandfather.

No, that's not the point.

The key question is: Why did Noah take a photo with Claire?

In these photos, the two are intimately close: shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, embracing and laughing... Noah in the paintings looks at Claire with an unprecedented tenderness and affection in his eyes; Claire looks at Noah with eyes full of sweet joy.

Even a blind man could see that they loved each other deeply.

Two photos in particular are particularly striking: one shows two people holding hands, and the other shows them passionately kissing.

Su Yue stared blankly, her heart growing colder and colder, filled with an indescribable sense of loss.

He inadvertently stumbled upon a sad truth: Noah loved Pat Clare.

All my strength seemed to have been drained away; my fingers loosened, and the paintbrush fell to the ground.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, but when his legs regained some strength, he fled in a panic.

He staggered out of the room without looking back. The motion-sensor lights gradually went out behind him, and the door closed silently.

He had a very poor appetite that day. He didn't eat lunch and only ate one bite of dinner.

That evening, Noah returned with the Wolf King and Da Bao, unaware of the strangeness in the basement. He noticed that the food plates were almost untouched and was a little angry that the little brat wasn't eating properly.

But the little brat was lying on the bed pretending to be dead, with a metal brace hanging on his body, acting like "I'm still the wounded, I'm the boss."

Noah didn't dare to really scold him, he only reminded him, "You need to eat more to grow and you need nutrition to recover from your injury." When he didn't get a response, he left dejectedly.

The wolf king gently wagged its tail and rubbed its large head against Su Yue's head, its long fur tickling his nostrils.

Su Yue finally couldn't hold back and sneezed, then hugged the wolf king tightly without saying a word.

The wolf king was exceptionally considerate this time, letting him hug him tightly and obediently serving as a pillow for half the night.

Only when Su Yue was too tired to think anymore and drifted off to sleep did the Wolf King get up and leave to return to his own private wolf den next door.

The next morning, Su Yue woke up drooling. Yesterday's events felt like a century ago, distant and blurry.

Anyway, I'm leaving in two days. Noah never says anything, so why should he worry about it?

I'm too lazy to think about it anymore.

His stomach, which had been empty for a day and a night, surged back in that instant of enlightenment. Under Noah's astonished gaze, Su Yue devoured his breakfast like a whirlwind, even faster than the wolf king.

The cafeteria manager, who scolded him yesterday for not eating properly, had to change his tune today, advising, "Eat slowly, it's bad for your stomach. The wolf king won't fight you for it."

The wolf king raised its head and howled, loyally declaring: I will never steal.

Every mammal with a modicum of sense, inside and outside this house, knows that Noah spoils Su Yue rotten. Trying to steal food from "Empress Su"? Are they courting death?

After eating and drinking his fill, Su Yue was fully revived.